Chapter 81

After seeing the guest off, Editor Cheng's mood was far from peaceful.

Recently, he had quite a few things to worry about. A well-known old writer had recently sent him a new long work. After a cursory read, he found it not very good, with many unsatisfactory aspects.

He personally felt that this book by the author was not up to the standard for publication in their magazine, but out of consideration for their relationship, he thought he should try his best to salvage the work and not hurt the old writer's feelings.

Therefore, after much deliberation, he wrote a long list of suggestions for the author.

A lengthy list of suggestions, running into several thousand words.

It took him a lot of effort.

Following Editor Cheng's suggestions, the writer's new book would almost need to be rewritten. However, after major revisions, the quality of the work would significantly improve, and it might even become a influential masterpiece. Even if "Harvest" did not publish it, other literary magazines would be interested.

What he did not expect was that the old writer, upon receiving his letter, flew into a rage, thinking that he was nitpicking and looking for trouble. The old writer believed that this book was the result of his hard work and a new height in his creation, and how could it be revised extensively?

No revision!

Not a single word!

If "Harvest" likes it, they can publish it; if not, so be it.

The old writer's stance was very strong. He even went to see Editor-in-Chief Xiao, but of course, he received a negative response. This made the old writer angry, and he swore that he would never submit any more manuscripts to "Harvest" in the future.

There were many such messy situations.

Being an editor for "Harvest" was difficult, as he had to face various personal relationships and even sugar-coated bullets. To reject inferior works, he often had to offend people.

Offending people did not bother Editor Cheng, but what he found truly terrifying was that in recent years, "Harvest" had been slower in promoting promising new talents. The faces active in the magazine were all familiar ones. If this continued, would "Harvest" become a clique publication?

Sitting in his chair, Editor Cheng sighed. He was too lazy to do routine work and thought he might as well finish reading the beginning of Xiao Fei's long work.

Often, reading just the beginning of a book could determine its value.

But Editor Cheng had seen many works that started off impressively but deteriorated in quality later on, becoming unbearable to read.

He was not very confident about Xiao Fei, a young writer.

Xiao Fei's writing style was excellent, but the key issues of plot structure, character development, and story progression were massive tasks. He was unsure if Xiao Fei could handle them.

He brewed a cup of tea, calmed his mind, and began to continue reading.

This reading took him most of the afternoon. He sat in his seat without moving, finishing the manuscript in one go. Of course, this reading was just a rough read, not a rigorous review.

At this moment, Editor Cheng placed himself in the position of an ordinary reader, captivated by the plot and the characters' joys and sorrows, unable to stop turning the pages.

After finishing the book, he checked the time and found it was already past 4 PM. He had not even eaten lunch, and his stomach was growling in protest.

But Editor Cheng had no intention of finding something to eat. He thought he must quickly recommend this manuscript to the editor-in-chief for review.

He had not read such a good manuscript that could so engage his emotions in a long time! After finishing the book, he was still immersed in the story, unable to pull himself out.

Editor Cheng got up, holding the manuscript, and knocked on the door of the editor-in-chief's office.

"Come in."

A brisk female voice came from inside.

Entering the room, Editor Cheng said to the editor-in-chief sitting behind the desk, "Editor-in-Chief Xiao, I have discovered a work of genius. The author is just a 19-year-old boy. I have finished reading the manuscript and am now bringing it to you for review..."

"Put it on my desk for now, I'll look at it later," Editor-in-Chief Xiao said with a smile, still writing something.

Editor-in-Chief Xiao was in her early forties, with short hair and wearing glasses. Her face had a gentle yet firm look. Editor Cheng was a very picky person, so if he liked a work, it must be quite good.

Wait, the author is only 19 years old?

Editor-in-Chief Xiao realized something. She saw that Editor Cheng had sat down in the chair in front of her desk, still holding the manuscript, as if he had something to say.

She shook her head, put down her pen, and asked, "The author is really only 19 years old?"

Editor Cheng nodded, "His name is Xiao Fei, brought in by Dai Houying. This boy's essays are also excellent, with remarkable language skills."

"Oh, then I must take a good look," Editor-in-Chief Xiao became very interested, reaching out to take the manuscript and began flipping through it.

Editor Cheng sat in his chair, observing the editor-in-chief's reaction. He noticed that she was initially a bit casual, but her expression soon became focused, and he felt a bit smug.

As a pure literature editor, discovering and nurturing a promising new author would bring a tremendous sense of achievement.

Editor-in-Chief Xiao read very quickly, flipping through dozens of pages in just a few minutes.

She found that Xiao Cheng was right; this young author's work was indeed very good, captivating and hard to put down. The language, narrative, overall control, and depth of thought were all handled perfectly.

Such skill was something even some veteran writers with decades of experience sometimes struggled with.

It was truly an excellent work.

Editor-in-Chief Xiao was reluctant to put the manuscript down. Although she had only read the beginning, she was confident that the rest would be just as good.

"Really well written, the young are truly formidable!" Editor-in-Chief Xiao put down the manuscript, nodding excitedly.

"Does the editor-in-chief think it can be published?" Editor Cheng asked.

"Of course! Why shouldn't such a good novel be published in our magazine?" Editor-in-Chief Xiao raised her eyebrows.

Editor Cheng smiled bitterly, "We already have quite a few long works积压了, if we queue it, who knows when it will be published."

"Harvest" only publishes six issues a year, with one or occasionally two long works per issue, so at most, they could publish seven or eight long works a year.

"We can move it up in the queue. Of course, we should publish based on quality. Such a good long work, and the author is so young, we should definitely prioritize it!" Editor-in-Chief Xiao said decisively.

"But the current queue is full of well-known domestic writers, none of whom are easy to deal with. Are you not afraid they will complain?" Editor Cheng said.

"Harvest only looks at the quality of the work, not the author's fame. However, if there is a way to have the best of both worlds, that would be ideal," Editor-in-Chief Xiao said thoughtfully.

"What about launching a 'Special Issue for Long Novels' now?" Editor Cheng repeated Xiao Fei's suggestion.