Chapter 34 Thirty-three

When I woke up, there was a colorful pattern on the ceiling, sometimes yellow, sometimes green, sometimes yellow and green interlaced.Looking at the window, the night has already closed.Turned over and got out of bed, walked to the window and looked down, it turned out that a large neon billboard had recently been installed on the roof of a four-story building across the street.Businessmen are omnipresent.In the not-too-distant future, when the novelty wears off, I must loathe this encroachment of colored light.However, now I welcome this sudden excitement.I appreciate this novel billboard with the mood of a child watching a kaleidoscope.

There was a knock at the door, and it was Mrs. Ray. Phone, she said. I hurried into the living room, picked up the phone, and it was Mehman.He asked me to drink tea at Lanxiang Pavilion. When I saw Mehman, my first impression was that he was thinner.Needless to say, the burden of "Avant-Garde Literature" must have been too heavy for him to breathe.Talking about "Avantgarde Literature", he said: The second issue has already been printed, but I still can't find a good manuscript for the creative part. Yes, everyone went to write popular texts. If things go on like this, the standard will get lower and lower, and the meaning of starting this magazine will be completely lost.

Not necessarily, I said.In fact, it is indeed quite difficult to solicit original works here and now.However, if the translation part can maintain the level of the first issue, the magazine itself is still of positive significance.How about the sales of the first issue? very bad. How bad is it? A thousand copies were shipped to the Xingma area. According to the letter from the agent there, only thirty copies can be sold at most. I hope that when we send books next time, one hundred copies will be enough. One hundred copies? Even if it was a hundred copies, the agent still made several requests.

any request? First, the cover cannot continue to maintain such a simple style. If rubber stamping cannot be used, at least three-color printing is required.Second, in terms of content, reduce translations and add a few more long serials. Long serialization? He said that readers don't like to read short stories, and if they want to increase sales, they must increase long-form serialization. It's not easy to find good short stories, how can I find good novels? What agents mean by novel is not what we mean by novel.What he asked for was Zhang Henshui's novel. Zhang Henshui's works belong to the school of mandarin ducks and butterflies; how can they be regarded as literary works?

In the agent's mind, martial arts novels are also a form of literature.A few days ago, wasn't someone still advocating some kind of martial arts literature? what do you mean Needless to say?If "Avant-Garde Literature" must publish novels of the Mandarin Duck and Butterfly School in order to sell numbers, what kind of avant-garde is that? Apart from Singapore and Malaysia, what is the release situation in other regions? A letter from an agent in the Philippines said that only ten copies of the second issue would be enough.As for Bangkok, three copies per issue will be enough in the future.It is said that these three books were taken in the face of the general agent here.

What about Hong Kong? The situation in Hong Kong is a little better, but there should be no more than one hundred copies. In total, less than two hundred copies? Yes. So how much is the second issue going to print? Five hundred copies. The number of sales is only 200, why print 500? The cost of printing five hundred and printing two hundred is about the same; in fact, there is not much difference between printing two hundred and printing one thousand.Therefore, although the number of sales is pitifully small, I still want to print five hundred copies.I hope that the number of sales in the second period will increase, although this seems to be an unattainable hope.If the sales volume of the second issue is the same as that of the first issue, I have no choice but to keep those remaining books in the bound volume.

Homen, we are old friends, can you allow me to say a few words of frankness? You say it. If a magazine can only sell more than a hundred copies per issue, there is no need to waste energy and money. No, no, as long as there is still a loyal reader, "Avant-Garde Literature" will definitely continue to be published!Unless the economic capacity is not enough, then Holmen's refusal to suspend the publication of the two words shows its firm attitude.I don't dare to put forward contrary opinions, just because his views and practices are correct.As far as I am concerned, I am a deserter in the field of literature, and I am not qualified to ask a warrior with a strong will to retreat.

Inspired by Holmen's spirit, I volunteered to spare part of my time to write a short story for "Avant-Garde Literature". Homen was very excited. But ask a question: What pseudonym did you use when you published it? Of course I use my usual pseudonym. However, you are currently writing four pornographic serials in four newspapers under this pseudonym. I'm not as serious about this as you are.I think a pseudonym is just a token.Readers will never read the pen name without reading the article.Before writing "The Sound and the Fury", Faulkner also wrote several popular novels, wasting a lot of energy in an attempt to cater to the interests of ordinary readers.When he discovered that his talent was not that of a popular writer, he published The Sound and the Fury.The result won unanimous applause from critics and won the Nobel Prize in Literature.In addition, Mu Shiying also published two novels with completely different styles under the same pen name at the same time: one is "The North and South Poles" in a popular form; Statue of the Female Body".As for Zhang Tianyi, he also wrote many Mandarin Duck and Butterfly novels in his early days.Therefore, "Avant-Garde Literature" should not insist on this.In fact, almost nineteen of today's Hong Kong literary and art workers have written commercialized texts.We should pay attention to the value of the work itself, and don't have to worry about the details.

Homen stared at me with wide eyes, as if he was still not convinced by me.From the looks of it, he didn't want the person who wrote "Pan Jinlian as a Chartered Woman" to publish his literary creations in "Avant-Garde Literature". My opinion is different from his.I think the important thing is the work itself. However, since Homen has this prejudice, I don't need to argue with him.In fact, the reason why I resolutely agreed to write a short story for "Avant-Garde Literature" was entirely because I was infected by Homen's stupidity.Since he objected to my publishing works in "Avant-Garde Literature" under a pseudonym for writing popular texts, I was happy to let it go.I have made up my mind to be a deserter in the field of literature, why should I squeeze in again.So I said:

Over the years, for the sake of living, I have written a lot of popular texts. Even if I want to write something seriously, I am afraid that I will not be able to do it. It is better to hide the clumsiness than to waste the space of "Avant-Garde Literature". Homen shook his head and said: I have great confidence in your creative ability, but the problem is: I do not agree with you to use the pen name of "Pan Jinlian as a Chartered Woman" to publish serious literary creations. In this case, forget it. Mehman explained everything with a sigh.I asked the guy for a drink.In such cases, only wine is a true friend.We stopped talking, as if we were looking for something in the silence.After two cups, Mehman ordered the clerk to pay the bill, saying that he wanted to go to the printing office to have a look, so he left first.I immediately felt an incomparable emptiness, and looked around with my eyes. Although there were many tea customers, I was very lonely.

Suddenly thought of Yang Lu.I don't have much cash on me.Walk out of the Lanxiang Pavilion and go to a newspaper office to borrow a manuscript fee. The host shook his head, saying that there was no way.I was very angry and left that newspaper angrily, went to another one, borrowed two hundred yuan for the manuscript fee, and hired a car to go to Wanchai. Yang Lu saw me and said I was angry.I didn't deny it, Yang Lu boasted about her intelligence.Actually, she was mistaken.She thought I was mad at her. I invited her out for a drink, and she readily agreed. While eating salted chicken in a Dongjiang restaurant, Yang Lu raised her neck and drank half a glass of brandy.She doesn't drink very well, and suddenly she is so drunk, there is no reason.I poured her half a glass, and she said: From the 1st of next month, I will not do it. Job hopping? no. Tired of your wax board career? no. In this case, why do you suddenly have the idea of ​​quitting dancing? get married! who?Who is your target? A young dancer you haven't seen. The word "young" is like two arrows, shooting straight into my heart, piercing and painful.I raised my wine glass and drank it all in one gulp, my mind was in a mess, but I didn't open my mouth.Yang Lu said I was drunk.I shake my head.Yang Lu tapped my cheek with her slender index finger and said that my face was as red as Master Guan on the stage.I know I'm excited; but Yang Lu's reaction to wine, I can't help but feel disappointed, because Yang Lu doesn't understand my feelings at all. Is the burden on your family not light?After quitting dancing, who will bear their living expenses? I can't live my whole life without getting married for them! They must survive. This is their business. From the tone of voice, Yang Lu was quite dissatisfied with her parents.After several inquiries, she found out that Yang Lu had quarreled with her gambling father because of her marriage. Yang Lu's stubbornness is like a pine tree.Generally speaking, her resistance is not only due; it is necessary.However, for me, things happened suddenly, like cold water on my head.I always thought that Yang Lu had a special affection for me, but now it's proven not.The relationship between Yang Lu and me is like a piece of thin paper, and it will be broken with a light tap of a finger dipped in saliva.