When Harvey retrieved the copy of "The Count of Monte Cristo" and was about to leave Leonard Press, a middle-aged man with a sparse beard greeted him, looked Harvey up and down, and his eyes were steady and oppressive: "You are Mr. Harvey Adrian, right?" ”

Poulan, who was standing next to the two, subconsciously frowned, the middle-aged man in front of him was Motley Evelyn, one of the veterans of the reviewers of Leonard Publishing House, who had been serving as a reviewer since the creation of Leonard's novel section, and his qualifications were higher than all the reviewers present. However, Motley's personality is dull and serious, and he doesn't please his boss and doesn't have a good relationship with his colleagues, so he hasn't climbed to a higher position so far.

Regardless of his personality, Motley's qualities as a reviewer are unquestionable, and any work he reviews is a good one, if not a big hit.

What does he want to do?

Puran remembered that he had mentioned in a casual conversation the other day that he had not put the effort into reviewing Harvey Adrian's work, and that Mottley had overheard him and scolded him for not doing his job as a reviewer. After all, if Motley wants to take over his auditing work, isn't it a slap in the face!

The unhappiness on his face swept by, and he secretly scolded Motley for really not being a human being, and deserving to be a reviewer for the rest of his life.

Harvey felt surprise in his heart, stretched out his right hand and shook his chin and said, "I am, what's the matter?" ”

Motley was serious, "My name is Motley Evelyn, and I am also one of the reviewers of Leonard Publishing, in fact, there is still a dispute between our reviewers about Mr. Adrian's work, and we hope to review your work again to decide whether to publish it or not." ”

Harvey pondered: "Isn't the publication list already decided?" ”

"Excellent works are indispensable to our Leonard Publishing House, and the rules and regulations are secondary to a good work, and if Mr. Adrian's work passes the review, I will apply to the above for an additional number of publications." Motley spoke in a sonorous voice.

Harvey turned his head to look at Puran, and after thinking about his forced smile, he nodded: "Okay, then I will send someone to retrieve "The Count of Monte Cristo" the next day, I hope my work has not disappointed your society." ”

Leaving Leonard Press, the gloom in Harvey's heart dissipated a little, he didn't know what was going on inside Leonard Press, whether "The Count of Monte Cristo" had really been censored, and Motley's words gave him hope again. Compared to that Puran Garcia, Mottley Evelyn made Harvey feel more trusted.

In Leonard's publishing house, Puran caught up with Motley, who was holding a copy of "The Count of Monte Cristo", and asked aggressively: "Mr. Evelyn, what do you want to do, the list of novels has been confirmed and cannot be changed!" And what is there to review the work created by a playboy out of interest? ”

The other reviewers at Leonard's publishing house focused on the two, and neither of them spoke, and Motley Evelyn was highly qualified in the publishing house.

Motley returned to his office and put down the copy of The Count of Monte Cristo before asking, "Garcia, what do you think of the handwriting?" ”

Without hesitation, Puran replied: "A product of the backward times, it is now popular for all writers to write novels on the typewriter. ”

"All?" Motley's serious expression rarely showed a sneering and disdainful look: "Most of the writers I have met still retain the habit of writing novels by hand, and I have come from that era, and I can no longer understand the inconvenience of handwriting. ”

In a complicated tone, Motley added: "The slowness, the messy manuscript, the cumbersome printing, and the disadvantages are far more than that. ”

"Mr. Evelyn, why then..."

"Don't you ask this question to novelists who have retained the habit of writing by hand? Isn't it better than a reviewer that they don't know the shortcomings of handwriting, they are the real creators, the ones who personally translate the text into culture, so why do they keep the habit of handwriting? ”

"This..."

"Times are different, I can understand your point of view, but I also have my own insistence. Whatever the reason, I think that a novelist who can write by hand at least retains the enthusiasm for writing, and in this case, even if the work is worthless, it needs to be reviewed by the reviewer, and the value of the work is confirmed by the reviewer, which is the most basic respect for a novelist and the responsibility of the reviewer himself. This review is a personal request of mine, and you don't care. ”

Puran was speechless, unable to refute Motley's words and unwilling to lose face in vain, and retorted with a blue face: "This will only reduce the efficiency of novel review, during the solicitation period, we have to review dozens of works a day, these novelists who do not take into account the situation of the publishing house themselves are not sincere enough, how can the quality be good!?" ”

Motley shook his head and said slowly in a disappointed tone: "Novelists are only responsible for their own works, and reviewers are responsible for novelists, and that's it." ”

"Then we don't have anything to talk about." Puran turned pale and turned away.

After a brief period of quiet and lively in the open office, Motley's words made many reviewers think.

Motley Evelyn sighed silently as he looked at the folder-filled copies on his desktop, and the ideas he adhered to probably seemed to others to be a product of the past. This is the inevitable result of the progress of the times, and the popularization of literature has made people lose their respect for literature, because anyone can write beautiful poems and write their own imagination, but how many of them are works that can be accepted by others.

The reviewer, whose previous job was to help novelists write and solve all kinds of troubles, is now a person who selects and reviews novels in the true sense of the word, and his status and concept have changed radically.

······

At night, only two oil lamps are lit in the gray study, and the study is full of bookshelves filled with hardcover books, and the bookshelves can no longer hold more books, so that a small number of books are neatly stacked next to the bookshelves, and the neatly sorted and spotless books can be seen from the owner's love for these books.

Mottley, a reviewer at Leonard's publishing house, put on his glasses and white gloves and took out the novel "The Count of Monte Cristo", which he had received from Harvey today.

The Count of Monte Cristo

When he saw the title of the novel, Motley thought about the meaning of the title, was it a biography of a celebrity? Or a fictional character story?

Turning the first page, he reads the novel as a reviewer.

"The handwriting cannot be said to be beautiful, only the degree to which the meaning can be distinguished."

A spirited young acting captain, Edmond Dantès, returns to port, who is about to become the captain of a large ship and marry the woman he loves, but he has one more task to do, he is commissioned by the captain to meet with the exiled King Augustine, who has entrusted him with a secret letter to his cronies in his kingdom.

"It's a bit strange to write, otherwise I've never seen the words before, but the meaning is easy to understand." Mottley was keenly aware of the strange way in which The Count of Monte Cristo was written, and although many of it was easy to understand, there were also a few that he needed to ponder and understand in context, and he often suddenly marveled at the author's whimsical ideas for creating new words.

For the average reader, this is a minus item, but Motley reads it with relish.