Chapter 158 The Golden Age
Prince Xuding’s restaurant is on Binhai Road, a place reminiscent of the exaggerated descriptions by Guo Jingming in his famous works - a labyrinth-like city, white-skinned foreigners talking loudly, dazzling luxury goods, cold shop assistants, and streets filled with elegant sports cars such as Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Koenigsegg.
He was sitting by the window, and the expensive spotlights were shining with golden light, turning his A-grade suit into gold, giving him a high-end product atmosphere.
An old mother-in-law walked by the window, suddenly looked back, and looked at him through the window. This glance actually revealed the artistic conception of class barriers and identity gaps. If you find a good angle to take a photo at this time, it will definitely arouse strong resonance in people's hearts.
Wang Zixu felt that what this world is like actually depends on how you look at it. Just like him and the old lady, when everyone in the world looks at this picture with compassion and sighs about this materialistic little era, who knows if the old lady lives near Binhai Road and has 20 houses demolished and replaced?
Maybe Wang Zixu is the one who deserves sympathy.
The prince has no way of knowing what the old lady’s life experience is. For others, the life experience of Wang Zixu sitting in this magnificent window is also unknown.
What is happening in the world is the reality. Apart from the reality, it is all speculation. Guessing is fiction, and people's judgments about characters are mostly based on fiction in their minds.
Whether you sympathize with the old lady or sympathize with Wang Zixu, you just make up a reason for them to sympathize with in your mind, and forcefully assign your own feelings to them.
Both of them sympathize with each other, and then sympathize with all human beings. They feel that all living beings are suffering, and they are Buddhas. Neither of them sympathizes, and then they sympathize with any living thing, and they are demons. Both are steadfast and will not be easily influenced by external objects.
It is extremely difficult for human beings to become Buddhas and demons. Most of them wander between the two, projecting their limited emotions to a small number of people, so they are easy to be happy and sad.
When something makes you feel bad, looking at it from another angle may give you a completely different feeling. Because the fictional part is different. Humans are animals that create fiction all the time.
Wang Zixu is a person who sells fiction. Whether you write novels or pretend to be a little prince to create libido, you are secretly disguising what you feel as reality and selling it to people who are willing to pay. Of course, he tried to tell only the truth, which is the duty of a serious writer.
But, reality is also subjective. For him here and now, it is true that he can see tall plane trees growing on the roadside through the window. It is also true that he can feel the sea breeze blowing on his face on this street at night. It is also true that he cannot afford to buy any of the cars parked on the roadside.
These messy realities together constitute a complex and meaningless world. Human beings give meaning to the world with their own eyes. He extracts these realities, combines them into a certain shape, and then delivers them to people. This is his job.
In this sense, he feels that he has a great responsibility.
Wang Zixu will think when he is in a daze. When he thinks, he will think of these things. These thoughts make him easily become cold and unhappy.
Just when Wang Zixu’s thoughts were flying to the sky, the editor finally arrived. He looked about 40 years old, with a serious expression. He was wearing a brown shirt, with his sleeves rolled up neatly, revealing an old-fashioned watch.
Wang Zixu’s first impression of him was that he was a very decent person.
The editor walked to the table and sat down face to face with him. He put his briefcase on the chair next to him: "My surname is Hao. You can call me Editor Hao. You may not have heard of my name, but you You must have heard of the manuscripts written by me, including Yan Zishan and Xiao Mengyin. "
This opening statement was so arrogant and shocking that Wang Zixu was shocked in the first second. He quickly stretched out his hand and shook his hand: "Hello, hello."
Bian Hao added: "As for your situation, Chairman Shi told me, and I also know your concerns, so I got straight to the point... By the way, the food is ready to be served. Time is limited, let's talk while we eat."
Wang Zixu said: "The dishes haven't been ordered yet. I'm waiting for you to come over and order. Waiter!"
Hao Bian took the menu and smiled sarcastically: "Just order... I'll order an ancient method of braised sea cucumber with green onions, a Huaiyang gold lion's head, and a salt Squash pigeon, a small East China Sea yellow croaker baked with garlic, and then Wagyu bibimbap. "
These dishes are not cheap. Obviously, this person did not consider helping Wang Zixu to save money. He handed the menu to Wang Zixu, and Wang Zixu took it in pain and ordered two cold dishes.
Editor Hao took a sip of water: "By the way, where did you say that? You were introduced by Chairman Shi, so I'll just tell you... did you bring the manuscript?"
Wang Zixu quickly took out the manuscript and said, "Take it with me."
Editor Hao took the manuscript, glanced at it twice, then raised his head and said, "I'll be honest, you must be good at this." Yes, you understand. Can I take the manuscript back?"
He said it vaguely. In fact, Wang Zixu didn't understand and wanted to ask clearly, but seeing Editor Hao's serious expression, he didn't dare to ask too much. Carefully, for fear of irritating the other party, he just nodded and asked: "Yes. Do you mean, can I submit the manuscript for publication?"
Editor Hao sneered, neither saying he could nor said he couldn't, he only said: "Chairman Shi recommended it, and you are still worried about publication?"
The stone in Wang Zixu's heart fell to the ground, and suddenly the bill was no longer so painful.
Editor Hao flipped through the thick manuscript, raised his head and said, "Please briefly explain your thoughts. Your article is so thick, it will take a month just to review it. Tell me your thoughts, and I will sort it out when I get back."
Wang Zixu then told him his outline and ideas in great detail. Editor Hao didn't interrupt him. He nodded and said "Yeah" from time to time.
After finishing speaking, Editor Hao raised his head and said: "That's good!"
"Really?"
"This It's a good idea." Bian Hao lowered his head and ate the food. "Okay, I get it. I personally think it's pretty good."
Wang Zixu breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank you."
Bian Hao used chopsticks to open the lion's head, then used an iron spoon to scoop up the minced meat, dipped it in a little soup from the bottom of the plate, and brought it into his mouth. He flipped the Wagyu beef slices to mix the meat juice and rice thoroughly, picked up a sea cucumber, placed it on the rice, and put it into his mouth with a spoon.
Wang Zixu slapped his leg: "Hey, I forgot to order a drink."
Hao Bian said while chewing: "No need , I don’t drink sugary drinks, my blood fat is a bit high.”
He cut the pigeon open with a knife and fork, poured the scallion sauce on the meat, picked up one leg and chewed it, the sound was crispy.
In a blink of an eye, he had eaten both legs of sea cucumbers and squabs. Wang Zixu could only pick up a little cold dish. He had no intention of eating and asked: "Editor Hao, are there many submissions for you?"
"Many, very many, like snow flakes." Bian Hao said while chewing, "They are all piled up. The top priority of our interns there is , just go to the manuscript review mountain and sit there and read it every day at work. When the internship period is over, you don’t need to read it. " "Intern." Wang Zixu was a little disappointed, "Are there many high-quality manuscripts? "
Editor Hao put down his bowl and chopsticks, and his lips were still oily.
"Let me tell you this, the main source of manuscripts for our magazine is commissioned manuscripts. We also have channels for submission, but basically we do not use submitted manuscripts."
"Why?"
Editor Hao was stunned when asked: "Why Of course it’s because the quality is so bad. Most of the contributors were old cadres who suddenly recalled their literary dreams after retirement. They wrote something and sent it, but they couldn’t read it. ” Wang Zixu recalled what he saw in the editorial department of "Xihe Literature and Art" and lamented that it was the same everywhere.
Editor Hao added: "We mainly invite famous authors. The quality of their writings can be controlled and it is easier to review. Looking for manuscripts in public submissions is like gold mining."
Wang Zixu asked cautiously: "The manuscripts invited are not enough. What should I do? "
"Why is it not enough?" Editor Hao laughed, "We have quite a lot of manuscripts, but the space is not enough." "Then my article is so long, can it be uploaded?"
Editor Hao paused for a moment, as if he was considering his words: "You are really in trouble with this article. If you want to publish it, we will open a special long-form column for you. We don't have many long-form columns in our magazine, and generally only celebrities are eligible. Let’s start a long story!”
After hearing this, Wang Zixu felt even more uneasy: “Then… I’m sorry to bother you.”
After saying that, he sat in his seat feeling disappointed. In the past, he failed to submit articles everywhere, and you can probably think of the reasons. If it hadn't been for Shi Tonghe's words, he would not have been able to sit here and talk directly to the editor. Thinking about it this way, he seemed to be a backdoor man, and he was on pins and needles.
After finishing the meal and settling the bill, the two of them paid a total of 3,800, including a 5% service charge. Wang Zixu grinned when he paid. The clerk thought he had a toothache and asked him if he needed warm water, but Wang Zixu said no. What he needs is a calculator.
Nearly 4,000 yuan was spent on one meal, and one article could not earn that much in royalties. It was really a waste of money to publish in the magazine. The more Wang Zixu thought about it, the more he felt that he had been taken advantage of.
This place was not chosen by him, but by Zuo Ziliang. Zuo Ziliang knew a little bit about the inside story. When choosing a seat, he told him that since you are worried about offending others, choose a place where when others want to harm you, you can think of this meal and feel proud. So Wang Zixu decided to stay here.
Thinking about it now, at least 3,000 of the 3,800 yuan was public relations expenses caused by offending Shi Tonghe.
Shi Tonghe, you are so expensive!
Fortunately he has money.
After Wang Zixu paid the bill, he thought to himself that it would be a shame for him to write an essay. If Wen Ai hadn't made money, he wouldn't even be qualified to contribute. No wonder a top student like Sakura-chan also writes essays.
Before saying goodbye, he added Bian Hao on WeChat. After returning home, he sent an emoticon to the person, and the other person also sent an emoticon. Because he didn't know how to talk and was afraid of disturbing the other party, Wang Zixu didn't continue talking and waited with hope.
It’s been 5 days like this. There was no news from Bian Hao.
Wang Zixu finished smoking on the toilet in the bathroom, turned on the exhaust fan, washed his hands, and looked out the bathroom window. Half of it was a building, and half of it was the sky.
Seeing that the NTU postgraduate examination is approaching, the deadline for Fei Shi’s essay collection is also approaching step by step.
He stood up, packed his clothes, and set out for Nanda.
He contacted Editor Hao once yesterday, and he was asked to wait for news. He was embarrassed to rush him, but Fei Shi's impending date made him really anxious.
It would be quite embarrassing if you delay the submission of your manuscript for too long and miss this year’s essay collection and fall behind next year’s essay collection.
Park the car in front of the magazine, get out of the car and go upstairs. Wang Zixu took out the key and opened the door.
Recently, he works at the magazine every day. He is not a person who likes to get up early, but compared to others, he is diligent. He is the first to arrive and open the door every day.
This has caused him to become more proficient in opening and closing rolling shutter doors recently.
After mopping the floor, opening the windows for ventilation, arranging the tables and chairs, dumping the tea residue left over from yesterday, and doing the housework, the blackbirds outside the window began to chirp. He sat under the window sill and began to review the manuscript.
After he started editing work by himself, he gradually understood Bian Hao a little bit. New manuscripts are sent in every day, some are letters, and most of them are in the mailbox. If you are not careful, you will accumulate a lot of manuscripts, eventually forming a mountain of manuscripts.
The more the manuscripts piled up, the less they wanted to review them. In the end, they were simply thrown to the interns. The manuscripts that were condensed with hard work and hope lay there, quietly waiting for luck, and were finally thrown into the trash can. In order to avoid this situation, Wang Zixu insisted on reviewing the saved manuscripts every day.
Even if those manuscripts will be eliminated until none is left, he would rather read them before discarding them. At least those manuscripts will have one reader.
After finishing processing several accumulated manuscripts, Wang Zixu got up to move around, but saw a stack of manuscript papers on the Ningchun banquet table. He looked around and confirmed that this manuscript was not among the rejected manuscripts, nor among the accepted manuscripts. Could it be that one of the manuscripts to be reviewed was missing?
He picked up the stack of manuscript paper and began to read. With just one glance, his attention was attracted.
The text quality of this manuscript is completely different from the novice works he has just seen. The author's talent for text control can be seen with the naked eye. Even the punctuation marks in the text can reveal the author's delicate and sensitive soul.
Wang Zixu sat down in his seat and poured a cup of tea, without looking away from the manuscript in his hand.
This should be regarded as a love story, or a tragic love story like "Wuthering Heights". Wang Zixu believes that the era when "Wuthering Heights" was born was a golden age for novel creation. There was a blue ocean everywhere, and there were still so many stories in the world that had not yet been created. Novelists at that time were extremely happy, and they had countless new themes to explore.
In this era, all stories have been written, all themes have been explored, and the stories created by racking one's brains will inevitably become duplicates or repeat the same old tune.
The golden age has passed, and people can no longer regain the original shock.
And the manuscript in his hand was obviously a modern work, but it gave him a soul touch that could only be seen in the golden age. With the old-school solid style and the spiritual and vivid writing, Wang Zixu felt that this manuscript might even win a literary award, let alone being published in the "New Awards" magazine.
He looked through the manuscript and could not find the author’s contact information, only the title of the book. There was a noise at the door, and Wang Zixu shouted excitedly towards the door:
"Ning Chun Banquet, Ning Chun Banquet! I found a future literary newcomer award for our magazine! This article on your desk " Who sent "Beauvoir's Dedication"? Who is the author? "
With a soft click, the door was opened, and a cold face completely different from Ning Chunyan appeared at the door.
"Stop yelling, that is my manuscript, the author is me."
(End of this chapter)