As soon as Zhou Hexuan walked into the house, Li Shoumin said to him happily: "Brother Hexuan, are you willing to be a newspaper proofreader?" The monthly salary is 36 yuan. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoI'm going to be promoted to editor in a few days, and there is a vacancy for proofreader, so I'm sure I'll be able to hire it with your ability. It's just a bit condescending. ”

"Congratulations to Brother Shoumin on his promotion." Zhou Hexuan hugged his fists.

"It's just a small editor, what congratulations can I say." Li Shoumin waved his hand and smiled. It's really not uncommon for him to be an editor, and the only thing he's happy about is that his salary has risen a little, which can alleviate his family's financial situation.

Zhou Hexuan took out his manuscript of the novel: "Since Brother Shoumin has been the editor, please help me take a look." ”

"Be sure to read the masterpiece." Li Shoumin took the manuscript and was quite curious about what kind of work Zhou Hexuan would write.

Mrs. Zhou had already brought the food to the table and said, "Let's eat first." ”

After everyone finished eating, Zhou Hexuan chatted with Mrs. Zhou for a few words, and then said goodbye and returned to his bedroom to continue coding.

Li Shoumin read the manuscript with his hand, and "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" opened with a storytelling plot, which gradually led to the loyalty of Guo and Yang, mixed with the feelings of the family and country invaded by Hulu. Zhou Hexuan's more than 10,000 words only wrote that Qiu Chuji appeared on the stage, and named his two unborn children Guo Jing and Yang Kang.

After reading the manuscript, Li Shoumin felt a little interesting, but that's all. Because the storyline has not yet unfolded, I can only infer between the lines that Guo Jing and Yang Kang should be the protagonists of this book.

About four years ago, Pingjiang Buxiao Sheng (Xiang Kairan)'s "The Legend of Jianghu Heroes" came out, marking the birth of China's first martial arts novel in the true sense, breaking away from traditional chivalrous novels in terms of story content, and becoming popular in southern provinces for a while.

The martial arts novelist in the north is represented by Zhao Huanting at this time, but his works are still the set of three heroes and five righteousness in his bones.

These two people are known as "South to North Zhao", and they are considered the top martial arts writers.

In Li Shoumin's view, Zhou Hexuan's "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" is exactly the path of "southbound" Pingjiang. This kind of novel is very popular now, and it must be no problem to serialize it in the newspaper, and he plans to wait for Zhou Hexuan to write more words, and then take it to the newspaper to find the editor-in-chief.

The next morning, Li Shoumin practiced the spitting technique in the courtyard on time. When he finished finishing his work, he saw Zhou Hexuan coming with a smile, holding a few manuscripts and saying, "Brother Shoumin, I went back last night to complete the first chapter, a total of more than 26,000 words. ”

"So fast." Li Shoumin was a little surprised.

He didn't think much about it, and went to work at the newspaper office with the manuscript. By the time I finished the work at hand, it was almost noon, and I finally had time to read the second half of the chapter.

Guo Xiaotian died in order to cover his brother's escape, and Yang Tiexin resolutely gave up his pregnant wife in tears in order to save his sister-in-law, and his life and death were unknown after being seriously injured. This paragraph is written with great enthusiasm, and later readers may have become accustomed to it, but the Republic of China in the 20s was particularly wonderful.

Li Shoumin read this and felt proud, and at the same time he felt lamented for the characters in the book.

The wives of the two righteous men survived, and each of them was pregnant with a child, which made the reader look forward to it.

Li Shoumin put away the manuscript and went straight to the deputy editor-in-chief Tao Jincheng: "Mr. Tao, take a look at this novel." ”

Tao Jincheng put on his glasses and read it carefully, quickly finished reading the manuscript, and asked happily: "Which master's work is this?" It's a bit similar to Pingjiang Buxiao, but with its own unique style. ”

Li Shoumin said: "A friend of mine wrote that he had just returned from a study tour in the West. ”

Tao Jincheng said: ""The Thirteen Heroes of Jiangnan" is almost finished, and this "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" is just connected. ”

"How is the remuneration determined?" Li Shoumin asked.

Tao Jincheng thought about it for a while and said: "The manuscript is of high quality, how about you look at the 8 corners of a thousand words?" ”

"Less." Li Shoumin took the initiative to help Zhou Hexuan negotiate the price.

Nowadays, when publishing articles in newspapers and magazines, the manuscript fee is generally 1 yuan to 3 yuan per thousand words, and the manuscript fee of a master like Lu Xun can reach 5 yuan per 1,000 words, or even 6 yuan per 1,000 words. But that's the price of prose, poetry, criticism, and essays, and novels are generally paid less.

Tao Jincheng said with a smile: "Let the author come to the newspaper, and I will talk to him in person." ”

……

The "New Tianjin Daily" was founded by Liu Fugong two years ago, and its policy of running the newspaper is civilian, and to put it bluntly, it is a newspaper for ordinary people, and it does not mix with political and academic disputes.

The newspaper has grown rapidly, with sales increasing from more than 1,000 copies at the beginning to more than 20,000 copies now, making it one of the largest newspapers in the Beijing-Tianjin area. Liu Fugong struck while the iron was hot, and successively added the "New Tianjin Evening News" and "New Tianjin Xiaobao", and the sales of the two new newspapers have also reached 5 or 6,000.

Of course, the "New Tianjin" series of newspapers has developed so rapidly, thanks to the closure of "Ta Kung Pao".

Ta Kung Pao was originally a royalist base, with its headquarters in Tianjin, and later it had deep ties with the Anhui warlords and had a huge circulation in the Beijing-Tianjin area.

Three years ago, Ta Kung Pao's second boss was killed in the Japanese earthquake, and coupled with the defeat of the Anhui warlords in the Zhiwan War, Ta Kung Pao lost its financiers and backers one after another, and finally ceased publication last year. Taking advantage of this gap, the "New Tianjin" newspaper department expanded rapidly and occupied the newspaper market in the Beijing-Tianjin area.

It was already the fourth day when Zhou Hexuan came to the newspaper office, and he also brought the manuscripts of the second and third chapters, which added up to more than 70,000 words.

"Mr. Tao, this is Zhou Hexuan, a young talent who returned from the West." Li Shoumin introduced.

Tao Jincheng warmly shook hands with Zhou Hexuan and said with a smile: "Mr. Zhou is really young." ”

Zhou Hexuan's actual age is 28 years old, and due to his perennial travel around the world, he often experiences wind and sun exposure in the wild, and his skin is dark and slightly rough. But for some reason, after crossing over, his skin became much whiter, and even some wrinkles on his face disappeared, as if he had returned to his youth.

"Hello Editor-in-Chief Tao," Zhou Hexuan greeted, took out the manuscript he brought, and said, "This is the follow-up content, please take a look." ”

Tao Jincheng saw that he went straight to the point, so he smiled and said: "Then forgive me for being sloppy, Mr. Zhou, please sit down, I will talk after reading the manuscript." ”

After Li Shoumin brought people in, he went to deal with the work at hand, and only Zhou Hexuan and Tao Jincheng were left in the office. The secretary brought a cup of tea, and Zhou Hexuan sat on the sofa and slowly sipped the tea, his eyes looking at the furnishings in the room.

In the novel, the Seven Monsters of Jiangnan and Temujin appeared one after another, and these plots made Tao Jincheng's eyes shine. After reading the manuscript, he smiled and said: "Mr. Dacai, "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" is indeed new compared to the current martial arts novels. ”

"Editor-in-chief Tao praised it." Zhou Hexuan said modestly.

Tao Jincheng took the initiative to introduce the current situation of China's manuscript fees, and then said: "I hope that "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" can be serialized in the "New Tianjin Evening News", how about 1 yuan for 1,000 words? ”

For martial arts novels, this is a relatively high price, not to mention that Zhou Hexuan is still a newcomer and has no fame at all. He didn't bargain anymore and nodded, "Yes." ”

As for the price increase after the novel becomes popular, that's for sure. Even if Zhou Hexuan doesn't say it, the newspaper will take the initiative to mention it, because they have to trap Zhou Hexuan with a high salary, so that other newspapers don't come to poach the author.