HPDBC Chapter 20 Important Figures in Shaanxi Province
Chapter 20 Important Figures in Shaanxi Province
At the end of the month, the latest issue of "Story Club" was released.
Following closely behind, it also sold out quickly, with Xinhua bookstores and newsstands across the country completely sold out.
No matter how much stock was restocked, it was all snapped up in a very short time.
The ultimate reason is simply that readers are extremely eager to see what kind of interesting stories Yu Zhen submitted to "Story Club" in one go.
The five stories selected by the editorial department for this issue of "Story Collection" are "The Message", "Shaolin Temple", "Father's Last Wish", "Kung Fu Panda" and "Rouge".
The author's name used is not Yu Zhen.
Instead, he used five completely different pen names at the same time: [Fool], [Zhen Dong], [Chen Xi], [The Whisperer], and [The Trumpeter].
However, with the full exposure of Yu Zhen's "unknown identity" issue.
The editorial department of Story Club's arrangement is, to some extent, a self-deceptive act of burying their heads in the sand.
After purchasing the latest issue of "Story Club," readers couldn't find a single work by the author Yu Zhen, leading to doubts and suspicions that they had bought the wrong book.
However, a discerning eye soon pointed out which stories were Yu Zhen's works.
After listening and confirming, the other readers immediately understood.
Indeed, a writer's words naturally bear the imprint of their own style.
Although the stories created by Yu Zhen vary in content, the unique flavor of his writing cannot be erased.
Furthermore, the stories by other authors in the same period of "Story Collection" always carried a stale, awkward, and inflexible quality, lacking crispness and purity.
Even when writing folk tales, there's always an element of whining and lamentation, a kind of melancholy that can never be concealed, an attempt to use the 'story' to convey some kind of sense of helplessness in reality.
After all, the current mainstream trend in the literary world is "scar literature" and "reflection." How many people who are caught up in it can truly break free and remain unaffected by the trends of the times?
Yu Zhen's story is relatively fresh and straightforward.
The latest issue of "Story Club" sold out quickly, reaching 150 million copies. However, due to insufficient supply, the publisher did not have enough paper for printing and could not supply the market in sufficient quantities.
Otherwise, selling over two million copies would be no problem at all.
Meanwhile, its sister journal, *Shanghai Literature*, found itself in an extremely awkward situation.
The three periodicals, which share the same office compound and are essentially triplets, saw their latest issue of "Harvest" nearly break the million-copy mark after the Spring Festival, while "Story Club" soared to 1.5 million copies.
In terms of seniority and the level of literary journals in the industry, Shanghai Literature is definitely a second-tier player.
As a result, the new issue barely sold a little over 200,000 copies.
The most direct reason for such a stark contrast.
The other two sister journals also published Yu Zhen's works at the same time.
The most direct influence an author has on magazine sales is vividly demonstrated in Yu Zhen's case.
This phenomenon has caused a stir not only within the three sister journals, but also among other journals in Shanghai, as well as local journals in other provinces and cities across the country, including Beijing's "People's Literature," "Contemporary," and "Yanjing Literature," all of which have turned their attention to Yu Zhen, who is still in seclusion working on his creative work.
……
The news reports about Yu Zhen's unknown identity have attracted a lot of attention from readers, but their focus is mainly on their concern that he cannot find his parents and family.
For the time being, no one has taken the opportunity to make a big deal out of his unclear identity.
The publisher's cautious wait-and-see attitude could not withstand the astronomical economic benefits brought by the simultaneous sell-out of "Harvest" and "Story Club," nor could it withstand the daily excited complaints from the editorial department of its sister journal, "Shanghai Literature."
Therefore, regarding the remaining 20 unpublished works, *Shanghai Literature* reneged on its promise and strongly demanded that the remaining 20 works be split equally with *Story Club*.
As for the journal "Harvest," with writer Yu's sequel "Brain in a Jar" nearing completion, it was naturally unnecessary for them to get involved further.
this day.
President Huang Gongliang returned from a meeting at the city government.
He immediately summoned the editors-in-chief and key personnel of his three journals and announced a new situation in a somewhat anxious tone.
"The Shaanxi Provincial Writers Association and the Shaanxi Provincial Public Security Bureau jointly sent an official letter to our city, demanding that our publishing house release Comrade Yu Zhen, a Shaanxi educated youth, and restore his freedom. The city leaders called me to a meeting today to instruct our publishing house to properly handle Comrade Yu Zhen's case. Let's all share our opinions and suggestions! The city leaders want a clear answer today regarding whether or not we should release him..."
Wow!
President Huang's words came out as soon as they were spoken.
The meeting room immediately erupted in chaos.
"President, when did we start detaining Comrade Yu Zhen?!"
"Exactly! That's pure slander from Shaanxi Province; they're making baseless accusations!"
"What the hell are you up to! Seeing that Writer Yu is becoming so famous in Shanghai, with one captivating story after another going viral nationwide, now you remember Writer Yu is supposed to be in Shanghai?!"
"How dare they even ask? They even sent an official letter to the city government directly. It's ridiculous! Where do they get the nerve?!"
"No matter what, Comrade Yu Zhen must remain in Shanghai, on the territory of our Literature and Art Publishing House..."
"Yes, yes, Comrade Yu Zhen is a creative genius discovered by our organization. Why is it that the golden goose we've fattened up is starting to lay golden eggs so often, and shameless people who want to take advantage of him are coming to our door..."
Seeing that the crowd was agitated and almost unanimously opposed to letting the great writer Yu go.
President Huang pinched his temples, feeling a headache coming on.
"Stop arguing, all of you stop arguing. There's no point in arguing with me."
The reasons given by Shaanxi Province were quite sufficient.
Since Comrade Yu Zhen's identity has always been unclear, they need to ask Comrade Yu Zhen to return to Shaanxi Province, and then say that they will conduct some kind of on-site investigation and survey together, to help Comrade Yu Zhen thoroughly investigate and trace his identity, find out his past, and give the people of the whole country a satisfactory explanation.
If our organization continues to refuse to release people, others will have reason to suspect that our motives are impure. We need to be careful that our organization isn't unfairly labeled and that people don't take advantage of the situation to escalate the issue. Do you understand?!
"President, but the truth is, we never forced Comrade Yu Zhen to stay or refused to let him leave!"
"Yes, yes, Comrade Yu Zhen has been in seclusion creating art all along. When have we ever forcibly detained him and prevented him from leaving? The Shaanxi side is just slandering him. They're just jealous. They even dare to interfere with Comrade Yu Zhen's creative freedom. We should expose their ugly faces!"
"Alright, alright, stop with the pointless arguments!"
President Huang frowned again, his face bitter, and continued, "Do you think I haven't argued these things rationally when I'm in meetings in the city? But right now, the whole country is paying close attention to the issue of Comrade Yu Zhen's unclear identity. The Shaanxi Provincial Public Security Bureau is under a lot of pressure. We have absolutely no reason to obstruct this matter. Otherwise, the whole country would be condemning our organization, do you understand?!"
"President, since that's the case, let's figure out a way ourselves and resolve the issue of Comrade Yu Zhen's unclear identity in advance. Wouldn't that solve all our problems?"
"What do you mean? You have a way to help Comrade Yu Zhen find his parents and family?"
"No, no, no, what I mean is, before Comrade Yu Zhen's amnesia recovers, let's arrange a proper home for him in Shanghai, so that he won't have a series of worries because of his unclear identity. Once Comrade Yu Zhen's memory truly returns to normal, we can provide him with further assistance. Wouldn't that be a perfect solution for both of us...?"