Chapter 79

Editor Cheng never would have thought that a nineteen-year-old boy could really write a long novel of such high quality.

This was simply unbelievable.

He had been an editor for so many years and had seen countless young talents, but he had never before seen any literary newcomer in their twenties who could write so brilliantly, starting with a 300,000-word novel and writing it so outstandingly.

As a literary journal editor, he couldn't help but be excited.

What troubled him was that for such an excellent long novel to be smoothly published in the magazine, the difficulty was too great, and it was unknown when it would finally be published.

He also didn't know what the chief editor would think.

While Editor Cheng was in a dilemma, Xiao Fei and Dai Houying waited quietly.

Xiao Fei appeared very calm on the surface, but he was still quite nervous inside. He didn't know what kind of opinion Editor Cheng would give. From the expression on Editor Cheng's face while reading his work, it seemed that his work was still acceptable.

After pondering for a while, Editor Cheng finally looked up and nodded at Xiao Fei with a smile, saying, "This essay is truly groundbreaking, and the analysis of the current ills in the literary world is very accurate. However, isn't your judgment that 'the internet' will become the most important medium for literature and that online literature will become the mainstream a bit too hasty?"

Xiao Fei hurriedly leaned forward and repeated the explanation he had given to Dai Houying.

"It has some merit, but I would rather your prediction never comes true," Editor Cheng said with a laugh.

In his view, the collective demise of traditional literary media and the dominance of online literature would be an unacceptable disaster.

He didn't really believe or want to believe it.

But who could say what the future would be like?

He then asked, "How long did it take you to write this novel?"

Xiao Fei answered truthfully, "About twenty days."

"Ah? You can write such a large work in just twenty days?" Editor Cheng's eyes widened.

He knew that some writers were indeed fast, and when their ideas flowed smoothly, they could write a long novel in a month, but that was under the condition of having a rich accumulation of life experiences.

Like Mr. Mo Yan, a long novel would take years to accumulate, and then he would suddenly burst out in a short month, writing non-stop like a madman and producing the finished work.

But Xiao Fei was just a nineteen-year-old boy; how could he have so much life experience?

If he really wrote this 300,000-word novel in about twenty days, he would truly be a literary genius that hadn't appeared in decades.

"The writing was indeed a bit fast, but I had been thinking about this book for a long time, collecting relevant materials and thinking about the characters and plot since high school," Xiao Fei explained.

This was also true. His conception spanned two lifetimes, from his previous life to this one, and his life was filled with a magical quality.

"How did you come up with the idea to write this book?" Editor Cheng asked with great interest.

Xiao Fei organized his thoughts and spoke confidently, "I come from a rural area. My village is poor and isolated. My parents and relatives have lived a hard life, facing the earth and the sky. From a very young age, I have been thinking about the problem of finding a way out. I don't think I belong here, and I don't want to live a hard life like my parents and elders. I yearn for the outside world and want to get out. To leave my village, I know there are not many ways. Getting into college is the most stable, but for a rural child like me, it is a very difficult thing, requiring a hundred times the effort and the greatest support from my family. The problem of 'getting out' has troubled me for many years, so I decided to write a story with my pen, which led to this book."

So he was from a rural area, and his family and elders probably had no connection to literature. Editor Cheng was deeply moved after hearing Xiao Fei's words. What a wild literary talent!

If he were properly packaged and prominently featured in the magazine, it would definitely cause a sensation in the country.

By the 1990s, with the development of the market economy, many Chinese people had already gotten used to thinking about problems from a market economy perspective.

The magazine "Harvest," founded by Mr. Ba, had always adhered to the principle of "no fiscal subsidies, self-raising funds for the magazine, and自负盈亏" (自负盈亏 means self-financing and bearing profits and losses). When running the magazine, they had to consider things from the perspective of distribution and sales.

Editor Cheng nodded and then said, "I have read the first 10,000 words of this long novel. If the rest is of the same quality, it is definitely a masterpiece, a good work that our magazine needs."

"Thank you, Teacher Cheng," Xiao Fei hurriedly thanked him, feeling a surge of excitement.

"I think this way: I can give you an answer about your short essay now. It should be no problem to publish it in our magazine, but it depends on the final opinion of the chief editor."

"Thank you, Teacher Cheng."

Editor Cheng waved his hand and patted the long novel manuscript on the coffee table. "I also want to keep this long novel. I think it will pass the final review, but you need to be mentally prepared: the publication cycle might be quite long."

This was definitely great news.

If other ordinary authors heard such a promise from Editor Cheng, they would surely quickly agree, saying they could wait, no matter how long.

Being able to publish a long novel in "Harvest" would basically allow one to establish a foothold in the domestic literary world, which was a huge blessing. Why wouldn't they agree?

Dai Houying was delighted and nudged Xiao Fei, signaling him to quickly nod in agreement.

But Xiao Fei didn't do that. Instead, he said, "Teacher Cheng, I have a suggestion I would like to offer to your magazine."

"Oh? Go ahead," Editor Cheng nodded.

He never would have thought that Xiao Fei wouldn't quickly agree as he had expected but would want to give the magazine a suggestion. Editor Cheng rarely spoke so positively to authors, as it left little room for maneuver in the future.

What suggestion would he make? Editor Cheng was very eager to find out.

"Here's the thing: I think 'Harvest' should publish two special issues of 'Long Novels' each year, in addition to the regular issues, one in spring and one in autumn. This would greatly expand the magazine's influence. After all, long novels carry more weight, and publishing more excellent long novels can nurture more literary newcomers, and readers would likely welcome it. What do you think of my idea?" Xiao Fei shared his thoughts.

Currently, the editorial thinking of domestic journals was still quite rigid, and they hadn't adapted to the market economy.

Some very famous magazines, such as "Youth Digest" and "Reader," wouldn't think about changing to a biweekly format until a few years later.

To put it simply, increasing the number of issues was a double-edged sword, with both advantages and disadvantages. The advantages were obvious: it could rapidly increase circulation and significantly boost economic benefits.

The disadvantage was that with more issues, the number of excellent works might not keep up, leading to a decline in the quality of the magazine's content.

However, publishing two "Long Novel Special Issues" each year wouldn't have the worry of not receiving excellent works. All the writers in China were watching this magazine, and they all wanted their best works to be published in "Harvest." Only 7 or 8 long novels were published each year, but with China's large size and numerous writers, it was entirely possible to produce about ten excellent long novels each year.