novelden Chapter 167 Editorial Department Story
Chapter 167 Editorial Department Story
Chapter 167 Editorial Department Story
The next morning, Qiu Huoming put on the pair of "Huili" shoes given by his elder sister, went downstairs and started running along the East Lake.
The sky was just getting light, the street lights were still on, ripples appeared on the lake not far away, and the sounds of frogs, cicadas, and early birds could be heard all around.
As Qiu Huoming ran, his shoes stepped on the road, making a dull sound. There was no one nearby, so he could run happily.
I ran around East Lake and arrived at West Lake. There is a road between East Lake and West Lake. There is also a exquisite restaurant near the lake that was open early in the morning.
He walked around and just passed the road when the street lights by the lake went out one by one. In the sky in front of him, the morning glow began to spread. He looked up a few more times and suddenly heard the footsteps of other people running on the road.
After getting past the obstacle, he returned to the main road and saw a female student running like him a few dozen meters away.
The other person's ponytail was tied very high, and it swayed from side to side as she ran. She was tall and had a very good proportion from the back. The girl was wearing a short sportswear, revealing her long white legs. She had a white towel tied around her neck. Judging from her outfit, she should be someone who exercises regularly.
Qiu Huo immediately became interested, quickened his pace and chased after her.
He had long legs and accelerated, and soon passed the girl. At this moment, he suddenly felt a chill under his feet, and then he staggered and almost fell to the ground.
"Puchi" a girl's laughter came from behind.
After he took a few steps forward, he finally steadied himself. He looked down at his shoes and saw that the bottom of his right foot had separated from the upper. The forefoot of his foot stretched out from the opening, with half of his bare foot on the ground.
Qiu Huoming's old face turned red.
He lifted up his foot and pulled the shoe off with all his strength, but the girl had already passed him and was running ahead of him.
The morning glow by the East Lake was even brighter. Qiu Huoming carried his two shoes and walked back barefoot, enduring the gazes of some early risers. When he passed by a trash can, he struggled to throw his shoes into it.
Looks like I need to buy a pair of real sneakers.
Qiu Huoming returned to the second floor barefoot. Someone was already using water in the bathroom.
He went back to the room, picked up the unused thermos from yesterday, took the washbasin and towel, put on his slippers, and walked to the bathroom.
A boy was washing up in the bathroom. His hair was a little long and his sweatshirt had a hole in it, but he didn't bother to mend it. He looked rather unkempt.
He half-closed his eyes, as if he was not awake yet. He was brushing his teeth in a daze. He didn't say hello when he saw Qiu Huoming. After a while, he finished brushing his teeth, washed his face casually, and then walked away with the basin.
Qiu Huoming finished his shower, put on his shorts, wiped his hair casually, and carried his belongings. Just as he was about to go back to the dormitory, Zhou Haifu came over in slippers, yawning.
"Good morning! Are you going to have breakfast later?" He put the washbasin in the sink, turned on the faucet, and greeted Qiu Huoming.
"Okay, let's go and give it a shout."
"OK." As soon as he finished speaking, he took a big sip of water, raised his head, and made a "gurgling" sound in his mouth.
Qiu Huoming returned to the dormitory and put the washbasin and other items back in their original places.
I had been planning to get familiar with the campus today, but it seems I should go to the editorial office instead and buy a pair of sneakers.
He stuffed the manuscript of his most recent martial arts novel into his backpack and placed the map on the outside of the bag.
Open the window by the way.
"Let's go, Xiaoqiu." Zhou Haifu shouted from outside the door.
"I'm coming." Qiu Huoming put on sandals, walked quickly to the door and locked it.
Breakfast was still on the second floor. He got two taels of porridge, spent 3 cents to buy two steamed buns, and 9 cents to buy two sesame balls. After all, it was on campus, so the prices were much cheaper than outside.
Qiu Huoming ate with great satisfaction.
"Xiao Qiu, let's go play ball this afternoon, do you want to go?"
Zhou Haifu asked while eating steamed buns.
"I'm going to the city to meet a friend. I'll go there if I can..."
"Okay, let's play basketball in the court in front of Building 5. Come back and find me directly..."
"Okay." Qiu Huoming agreed with a smile.
On the first day I came here, a senior student asked me to play basketball with him. This is the first step to integrating into the big group.
After breakfast, Qiu Huoming went straight to the school gate.
There is only one train near the Institute of Technology, and there was already a long queue on the platform early in the morning.
After waiting for more than ten minutes, the bus slowly drove in. Not long after, the seats on the bus were full. Some people would rather wait for the next bus with seats available, so they stepped aside to let those who were willing to stand get on first.
Qiu Huoming followed these people onto the bus and walked inside after paying. After all, this stop was the terminal, and although there were many people, it was not too crowded.
Qiu Huoming stood in the aisle at the back, holding the handrail above with one hand, with his backpack slung across his chest.
After the car started, it drove out slowly.
He looked at the street scenes passing by outside the window. His mood at this moment was completely different from yesterday. He had successfully moved into the school dormitory. Everything was settled and he was just waiting for the next batch of new students to report.
Everything is moving in the right direction.
Qiu Huoming was thinking about random things when the car pulled over and arrived at the second stop. He looked at the young man who had just got on the bus. He had a deep impression of this man. He was the Tan Jialiang who had failed in his pick-up attempt. The person who got on the bus with him was a cute girl with a baby face. As soon as they got on the bus, they stuck together and looked like they were just dating.
Qiu Huoming glanced away. Forty minutes later, they arrived at the transfer station. When he got off the bus, he glanced at Tan Jialiang again. He and the girl were still on the bus. Many people got off at this stop, so they both got seats soon.
The transfer car came very quickly.
After a while, I got on the car.
The time on the road was about the same as he expected. He arrived at the station after nearly an hour. After getting off the bus, he took out the map.
After finding the page for Yangcheng, he began to look for his destination along the route on the map.
The editorial office is located in an old building with many alleys nearby. This should be part of the old city area. The buildings are not tall and are generally dilapidated.
After more than ten minutes, he finally found No. 25 on the street, which was on the second floor. He walked up the somewhat dark corridor.
When I got to the second floor, I saw the "Editorial Department" at a glance, with a sign hanging on the door.
The door was half-open, leaving a gap. Some people were talking inside, and it was hard to hear clearly.
Qiu Huo walked over and knocked on the door.
"The door is not locked, come in." It was a deep male voice.
As he pushed the door open, the people inside stopped talking and looked at him in unison.
The editorial office is a small room of about ten square meters, with several desks inside and a few cabinets against the wall. In the middle is a plaque with two large characters "Wulin" written on it, written in the shape of a dragon and a phoenix dancing.
There were four people in the room, three men and one woman, two middle-aged men, and the other two were young men and one woman.
"Hello teachers, I'm looking for Editor Ke." Qiu Huoming asked politely.
The middle-aged man in the middle pushed the young man next to him and said, "Here, it's for you."
"Come and sit down." Editor Ke walked over with a smile and dragged a chair to the window. There was also a table here, which seemed to be used for meeting guests.
Qiu Huoming followed.
"I'm Editor Ke, what's your name?"
"Qiu Huoming, pen name is 'Xinghuo'."
As soon as he finished speaking, Editor Ke slapped his thigh and said, "Xinghuo, you are too young." He pulled out a chair and sat opposite Qiu Huoming. "You said you would come to Yangcheng last time, are you really here?"
Qiu Huoming nodded and said, "I am studying at the Institute of Technology and will be based in Yangcheng in the future."
"That's great. Wait a minute. I'll go get the manuscript first for the part I said I needed to revise last time..." Editor Ke stood up, walked quickly to the corner, opened a cabinet, and started rummaging inside.
The young woman at the side asked in surprise, "Xinghuo, isn't he the author of the 'Young Immortal Heroes' that we serialized?"
The middle-aged man in the middle laughed and said, "Xiao Yang, I remember you clamored to read the manuscript, and you even took it home and stayed up late to finish reading it..."
"Shh, Teacher Zhang, the real person is still here." Xiao Yang's ears turned red.
Editor Ke smiled, dug out a folder, opened it and took a look, then took the folder in his hand and closed the cabinet door.
Qiu Huoming was currently flipping through a copy of "Wulin" magazine that was opened on the table. This page had a picture of boxing techniques printed on it. The biggest difference between "Wulin" and other magazines was that it not only published novels, it also shouldered the responsibility of promoting "martial arts".
(Boxing techniques published in Wulin magazine)
"Hey, Xinghuo, are you also interested in boxing?" Editor Ke walked over and asked with a smile.
"I am indeed somewhat interested in boxing, but I am a layman, only good at fancy moves and fancy kicks, not real combat..."
As soon as these words were spoken, Teacher Zhang, who had a voice as loud as a bell, stood up suddenly.
"Martial arts should be about hitting the flesh and engaging in actual combat. Nowadays, people just like to show off their skills. This is putting the cart before the horse!"
Qiu Huoming nodded, "Yes, the original purpose of martial arts is to kill the enemy..."
Teacher Zhang laughed and said, "You are an interesting young man. Tell me, what boxing techniques do you know?"
"I know a little bit of Muay Thai, but I haven't learned any martial arts moves from China..."
"Muay Thai? Show me?"
As soon as Teacher Zhang finished speaking, Editor Ke on the side said with a wry smile: "Teacher Zhang, your martial arts addiction has come back again. At least let me finalize the article with him first..."
Qiu Huoming looked at his watch. It was not yet 10 o'clock.
He stood up and said, "There's still time. Let me demonstrate it first."
"Okay!" Teacher Zhang became excited and helped Qiu Huoming clear a piece of space.
"Muay Thai doesn't require a lot of space to be performed, so this is enough."
Qiu Huoming warmed up on the spot, and then practiced the basic boxing moves...
"Why does your Muay Thai look more like Bajiquan to me?" Teacher Zhang frowned, thought for a moment and asked.
"Alright, alright, Xinghuo has already shown you. I have something else to do in the afternoon, so we have to hurry now..." Editor Ke saw that the situation was not good, so he immediately intervened and grabbed Qiu Huoming over.
She pushed him down on his seat and handed him a towel. "Wipe your sweat off. Let's discuss this outline you wrote first..."
Teacher Zhang looked at Qiu Huoming and then at Editor Ke, endured it and returned to his seat.
In 82, shortly after the reform and opening up, they were not aware of the martial arts trends in the outside world, and Muay Thai had not yet become popular in the mainland. He was proficient in some domestic schools, and the set of boxing that Qiu Huoming had just performed was indeed somewhat similar to the "Bajiquan" he had seen, but there was a big difference in essence.
That is, "Bajiquan" emphasizes horse stance and is more inclined towards traditional martial arts.
Muay Thai is more flexible and maneuverable...
Qiu Huoming over there had no idea that Teacher Zhang had already thought about so much at this moment.
He lowered his head and looked at the outline he had sent to Editor Ke earlier. Some parts of it were marked with red pen. These were the parts that he would focus on discussing today.
Editor Ke’s problem was actually very simple, that is, Qiu Huoming’s outline was a little ahead of its time. Last year, “Wulin” serialized four issues of “The Legend of the Condor Heroes”, which became very popular all of a sudden. Many readers had a great demand for this type of work, but for various reasons, the series came to an abrupt end after four issues.
The serialization of Qiu Huoming started in June this year. Previously, "Wulin" was published as a bimonthly, but due to the good response, it was changed to a monthly magazine this year.
It is now the end of August, and the first three chapters of his novel have been serialized. The response has been very good and he has received many letters from readers, but there are also controversies.
For example, the biggest controversy is "The Humiliation of Broken Engagement". Young readers love to read it, but older readers think it is inappropriate... The letters I received show two extremes.
Qiu Huoming communicated with Editor Ke for nearly an hour before they sorted out each other's ideas. For the subsequent outline, Qiu Huoming needed to be more restrained and try to be closer to the current ethical and moral values.
The two people finally reached a consensus.
Qiu Huoming showed the revised outline to Editor Ke, and this time he was satisfied.
"Okay, let's do this. Do you have any more manuscripts?" Editor Ke carefully put away the outline.
"Yes, I've written three more chapters. Together with the ones I sent you before, I now have ten chapters saved." Qiu Huoming handed the manuscript in his backpack to Editor Ke.
As the two were talking, Teacher Zhang's voice rang out, "It's time to eat. Come, Xinghuo, eat here too."
Qiu Huoming raised his wrist to check the time. It was already one o'clock in the afternoon. When he came to his senses, he suddenly felt hungry.
Teacher Zhang and his colleagues cleared out an area of the desk, placed four dishes and a soup on it, as well as five empty bowls and chopsticks, and a pot of steaming rice at the innermost.
Apparently, they had reserved his share.
"Come on, come on, let's eat together." Editor Ke touched his stomach and pulled Qiu Huoming over.
He filled a bowl of rice for him and handed it to him.
"Then..." Qiu Huoming was about to be polite when he heard Teacher Zhang say, "Don't be restrained. Treat this place as your home..."
Qiu Huoming nodded. He was indeed very hungry. Several people in the editorial department had good appetites. He was a little hesitant at first, but later he just followed the crowd and started grabbing things.
His favorite dish is "Sweet and Sour Pork", which is sour and sweet and goes well with rice. The soup is a traditional Chinese cooking soup. They packed these up and brought them back from restaurants outside, and after eating, they had to send them back to the restaurants.
"Today I am taking advantage of 'Xinghuo's' kindness. Normally, Teacher Zhang would not be willing to order so many dishes, so I have to eat to make up for it... Now, except for being a little full, I feel so satisfied." Editor Ke half-leaned in the chair, touched his stomach and shouted.
The pot of rice was almost empty. Qiu Huoming ate three bowls and couldn't eat any more.
"Xinghuo, next Sunday morning, go to a place before 9 o'clock. I'll give you the address and we can meet there directly. It's a martial arts exchange meeting." Teacher Wang took out a pen and paper from the drawer, wrote down an address, left his name, stood up and handed it to Qiu Huoming.
Qiu Huoming stood up and took it with both hands.
"Okay, I'll go next Monday. Well... I'll go back first." Qiu Huoming took off his backpack, put away the note, and said to the people in the room.
"Okay, I'll take you downstairs and help you digest your food... Oh, by the way, I have to go out this afternoon." Editor Ke hurriedly took a handbag from the cabinet.
When we got downstairs, Editor Ke rode away on his bicycle.
Qiu Huoming was the only one left and started to return along the same route to find the stop where he had taken the bus before. Next, he was going to the busiest commercial street in Yangcheng, where he would buy some shoes and some clothes as well.
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