It was naturally wonderful to earn some manuscript fees.
What was the status of writers back then?! Plus, Xia's father was a semi-literary worker, so he paid close attention to the industry.
According to him, the Publications Administration Bureau had reinstated the manuscript fee system this year.
The "Notice on Trial Measures for News and Publication Manuscript Fees and Subsidies" stipulated a low manuscript fee system, with payment based on the quality and length of the work.
Manuscript fees were 2 to 7 yuan per thousand characters, and translation fees were 1 to 5 yuan per thousand characters.
For articles in "Children's Literature," which were short pieces of a few hundred characters, the manuscript fees would be paid at the highest rate.
An article might earn a few yuan? Alright, back then a few yuan was quite a bit, enough to buy some ice pops and ice cream.
Write! But what to write? Xià Tiān thought a lot. It had to be suitable for his age group and match the style of the magazine he was submitting to. So...
He picked up his pen and wrote three words...
Who used their real name to write articles these days? It lacked prestige.
Besides, what if someone showed up at his door for a real-life showdown? So, a pen name was necessary.
When Xià Tiān began writing the main text, he felt an unparalleled sense of comfort flowing from the tip of his pen onto the paper.
It was as if a great pressure that had been accumulating in his mind for a long time was being released through his pen! Xià Tiān had always had this feeling, that there were too many "revelations" popping into his head from time to time.
This made him feel "stuffed"! But this feeling wasn't very strong, and since he hadn't found a reason or a solution, he hadn't paid much attention to it.
However, writing this time seemed to have found an outlet!
"This feels so good!" Xià Tiān wrote in one go, almost without stopping. A short piece of over 300 characters in seven paragraphs was finished in minutes! That feeling of comfort was something to be cherished!
I have to write more! At that moment, Xià Tiān decided he would write a lot from now on!
This is what a proper person should be doing!
If all else fails, a diary would be good too.
...
In the evening, Xia's father returned from work and washed his face first.
When he heard that his son was going to write an article for submission, he immediately perked up.
His son was finally doing something serious; this had to be supported! If their family produced a writer, oh dear, his deceased father would be so excited he'd send him a dream!
Xia's father went into Xià Tiān's room and picked up the manuscript from the desk. He looked at the handwriting first.
Hmm! Good~ That calligraphy class at the Children's Palace wasn't in vain. Although he learned brush calligraphy, his hard-pen calligraphy was also quite good.
There were none of the usual problems of a young person's weak strokes or naive style.
A pleasure to behold!
It was worth giving him this fountain pen – Xià Tiān's grandfather bought it for Xia's father when he was alive. He had kept it for many years, reluctant to use it, and finally gave it to Xià Tiān.
Then he looked at the title of the article – "Gudong is Coming~", with the pen name Jīnghóng Kè.
"Gudong is Coming? That title is quite intriguing! Jīnghóng Kè... why did you think of a name like that?" Xia's father asked.
Who comes to this world as a startling swan? Just a humble mortal on earth.
This was Xià Tiān's way of reminding himself to take this life seriously, not to treat it as a game.
However, he couldn't say this to Xia's father.
"I thought, if the editor knew the submission was from a twelve or thirteen-year-old child, they might not take it seriously. So I chose a pen name that sounds like it belongs to a middle-aged person."
Xia's father nodded. No problem, whatever works.
Just then, Xia's mother also entered the room quickly, wiping her hands on her apron, and urged, "Where is it? Let me see!"
This "Gudong is Coming" was an old elementary school text from Xià Tiān's childhood.
It was about a papaya falling into a lake with a "gudong" sound, scaring a rabbit so much that it ran away. Then other animals saw it and ran too...
One caught another, and they all ran away without knowing what was happening, thinking "Gudong" was some kind of monster...
It was a story about following the crowd.
Of course, as a child from Yanjing, writing about papaya wasn't appropriate, so he changed it to an apple.
Friends who often time-travel as literary plagiarists should know – details, details determine success! Finally, Xià Tiān also added an afterword, similar to a postscript:
"This story teaches us a lesson, right? I asked my friend Dà Chūn.
Dà Chūn said: This story tells us that when an apple falls into the water, it goes 'gudong gudong'! I was speechless..."
"Well written!" Xia's mother praised loudly.
Xià Tiān waved his hand: "No, no, it's just average, worthy of being included in an elementary school textbook."
To put it another way, it was very suitable for children, and it even carried a hint of philosophy.
To increase his chances, Xià Tiān even included a watercolor illustration – an apple falling into the water and scaring a little rabbit away.
Xià Tiān took out the envelope with the stamp already affixed, put the manuscript and illustration inside, and decided, "Children's Literature" it is!
As for whether it would conflict with the original author, first of all, in the original timeline, this story was published in '79.
This is two years earlier.
Moreover, it's called the original timeline because this world is different from Xià Tiān's first life.
Although many events still align, the capital of this world is called Yanjing!
The gate tower of the imperial palace is called Min'an Gate, and the main street in front of the imperial palace is called Min'an Street...
Xià Tiān has always felt – it must be a parallel universe?
Who knows! Can't figure it out! Haven't found any other evidence.
He couldn't be bothered to figure out the specifics.
On August 10th, good news arrived.
The government issued a notice – raising the monthly wages of urban workers by 5 yuan per person.
This meant an additional 10 yuan for the Xià Tiān household each month. After work, Xia's mother excitedly discussed with Xia's father buying him a Qùeliáng white shirt, which had recently become available.
This was all the rage at the time! Nowadays, if a department store displayed "Qùeliáng Available," long queues would form.
Furthermore, buying this fabric required discounted fabric coupons; two feet of coupons could only buy one foot of Qùeliáng.
Qùeliáng was synthetic polyester.
It was precious at this time because the country's chemical industry was weak, and production was low. It was a case of scarcity driving up value. Before '76, people wore and used all-cotton products.
Later, the state realized that to ensure people were warm and well-dressed, new fiber materials had to be introduced.
To free up land for cotton cultivation and increase the acreage for grain and vegetable farming, the country began importing large quantities of chemical fiber equipment in '76.
Many factories operated at full capacity to produce large amounts of polyester, which led to the "Qùeliáng" fabric woven from polyester.
For an ordinary family's living standard at the time, owning a Qùeliáng shirt or a polyester jacket and pants was simply a "symbol of status."
It cost twelve or thirteen yuan!
Let's put it this way: soy milk was 3 fen a bowl, fried dough sticks were 4 fen each, and a bowl of plain noodles was 8 fen! A Qùeliáng shirt could buy one hundred and fifty to sixty bowls of noodles. Converted to today's price of 15 yuan per bowl of noodles, this shirt would be worth over two thousand yuan!
When Xià Tiān was in elementary school, his tuition for a semester was only 5 yuan.
These days, four or five people going to a restaurant and ordering a few substantial dishes wouldn't cost more than twelve or thirteen yuan! Having a Qùeliáng shirt back then could make you show off for a year.
Although Xia's father and mother had good incomes, totaling over 140 yuan a month, Xia's father had no intention of buying such a "luxury item."
Xia's father waved his hand: "I don't need it, I don't like it. Buy one for your son!"
Frankly, the couple doted on their child a bit too much~ What kind of family lets their child wear Qùeliáng?! However, Xià Tiān was even less enthusiastic about polyester.
"I don't like that stuff. It sounds good, but it's not breathable, and it doesn't absorb sweat. If you sweat, it sticks to your body. It's just overvalued because it's rare. I prefer cotton shirts!"
"Hey!" Xia's mother got anxious, "You two really don't know quality!"
Qùeliáng had many advantages: durable, crisp and wrinkle-free, didn't shrink, dried quickly, didn't deform, resistant to mold and moths, and required no ironing.
Initially, it was worn by women, mainly for making blouses, mostly in solid white and blue colors.
Now, fabrics of various patterns were continuously appearing, bringing more color to the dull hues of everyday life.
Women scrimped and saved money to buy "Qùeliáng" just because it looked good.
Men, unwilling to be left out, also started wearing pristine white "Qùeliáng" shirts, tucking the hems into their trousers to show off their sharpness and uprightness.
Mainly, it had a good cut and looked sharp.
But it wasn't necessarily comfortable to wear; it was stuffy and a bit stiff.This stuff was called Wholesome (cool), but it was very stifling! When it got wet, it was extremely transparent. On rainy days, fashionable girls who got caught in the rain would walk with their arms crossed to cover themselves, otherwise they would become completely "transparent"!
...
On the 17th, about two weeks after Xià Tiān mailed his submission, Zhāng Qílín, who had just been promoted to editor at the "Children's Literature" editorial department outside Jiàn Guó Gate in Chaoyang, received an assignment.
"Little Zhang, take a look at this manuscript."
Little Zhang took it from the senior editor and saw – Wow! The handwriting is good! Beautiful!
For a literary worker, beautiful handwriting was a godsend.
Some submissions were truly illegible, making the review process agonizing.
Then he saw, "Gudong is Coming"? A suspenseful title! Zhāng Qílín finished reading the 300-plus characters in minutes.
"What do you think?"
"Excellent! Concise, plain, full of childlike fun, and with a hint of philosophy. The quality of this manuscript is superb!"
"Children's Literature" had received many submissions since its relaunch.
But there weren't many writers specializing in children's literature back then, and other amateur submissions seemed too unprofessional.
Some were well-written and profound, but their content or style wasn't suitable for "Children's Literature."
This was for children; you needed a heart that was close to children to write articles they would like and that were suitable for them.
For the past half a month, after reading a sackful of submissions, Zhāng Qílín's head was about to explode from reviewing them.
Seeing such an article suddenly made him feel a surge of joy, making him feel thoroughly comfortable.
"Yes, that's right," the senior editor nodded.
"It's this afterword... Hmm, it's also very childlike, like communication between children, written from a child's perspective about their direct feelings about the story... The author's technique is quite special."
The senior editor stubbed out his cigarette butt: "Therefore, I think you should personally go and talk to this author. If they can provide us with a steady supply of manuscripts, that would be great!"
Zhāng Qílín had just started working and was eager to prove himself. He glanced at the address and agreed immediately: "Leave it to me! I'll go this afternoon!"
Jīnghóng Kè, right? In Zhāng Qílín's mind, an image of a thin, middle-aged man in his thirties, wearing an old shirt, with glasses, looking a bit reclusive but possessing a bright childlike heart, had formed. Teacher Jīnghóng Kè, here I come!