Chapter 33: *Story Monthly* Visitors (Seeking monthly tickets!)

After leaving the No. 2 Traditional Chinese Medicine Factory, Wei Ming took the bus the whole way. After leaving the TV station, he hit the evening rush hour; the bus was very crowded, and he stood the entire time.

He missed the toad-car driver a little.

After returning, Wei Ming immediately threw himself into new creation. As for the manuscript revision, he could put it aside for a moment.

Wei Ming, writing furiously, went downstairs to eat in the middle. He deliberately avoided the rush hour, ate the leftovers alone, and returned to his room to continue.

Just as he was writing, someone knocked on the door.

"Who is it?"

"Me."

It was Professor Qu.

Opening the door, it wasn't just Professor Qu; beside her was a refined young man.

Professor Qu introduced: "Ma Xiaowei, this is Comrade He Chengwei, the deputy editor-in-chief of *Story Monthly*."

"Oh my, Editor-in-Chief He, you are already an editor-in-chief at such a young age?" Wei Ming shook hands with him.

He Chengwei was 29 years old, but he was already the actual helmsman of *Story Monthly*. However, because he was too young, he held a deputy position. Later, relying on the glorious achievements of *Story Monthly*, he also served as the president of the Modu Literature and Art Publishing House, becoming a powerful figure.

Wei Ming invited them in, and He Chengwei explained his purpose: he had come to deliver the manuscript fee.

*Such Love* was about two thousand words. He Chengwei took out an envelope containing 15 yuan, calculated according to the highest standard of seven yuan per thousand words, with a little extra.

However, paying the manuscript fee before publication, and having the deputy president deliver it personally, was very unusual.

Afterward, He Chengwei told the truth about what happened today.

"The meeting we held today was a story-telling meeting. Storytellers from all over brought new stories, but our editors and several experts weren't very satisfied."

Professor Qu added: "They were all clichés, and then I thought of your story and took it out to ask a storyteller to tell it."

The result went without saying; this story won thunderous applause. After all, even among all the stories in *Story Monthly* over the years, this one was worth mentioning.

Everyone unanimously agreed that this was the most excellent and mature story of the day, and it was very inspiring for their creative ideas.

He Chengwei learned from Professor Qu that the creator of this story was a future star of the literary world, also from Peking University like Professor Qu, and a young writer invited by *Harvest* to revise manuscripts.

To be able to publish a novel in *Harvest* at only 18 years old, and to be from Peking University—his future achievements would be limitless; he would surely be a pillar of the literary world!

That such a person was willing to submit to their *Story Monthly* was clearly an act of condescension; his character was moving!

So He Chengwei immediately took 15 yuan and wanted to deliver it to Wei Ming personally; any more would violate regulations.

By the way, he also wanted to hear Wei Ming's views on the development of *Story Monthly*.

An author who could write such a good story must know what readers wanted.

"What do they want? They want good stories," Wei Ming said a platitude, then further explained his point of view.

"We all grew up listening to stories when we were young. Most of us still remember them today, and we are very likely to continue telling them to our descendants. The advantage of stories is that they can be passed down by word of mouth, giving them more lasting vitality. This is more grounded than novels." This "grounded" way of putting it was the first time He Chengwei had heard it, and he felt it was very vivid.

Wei Ming: "So the stories *Story Monthly* needs must inherit the strengths of folk tales, adopt forms that the Chinese people love to see and hear, use plain description to portray characters, have a structure that is clear and concise, have a complete and coherent story, preferably with a single-line development of the plot, and try to use short sentences."

He Chengwei recalled Wei Ming's *Such Love*, and it really perfectly matched the points he mentioned, especially the "try to use short sentences" part, which was particularly prominent. The reading experience was much more comfortable than those literary works that didn't want to break into paragraphs for a whole page.

"Regarding the subject matter, I also have some suggestions of my own, which is diversity. Taking *Such Love* as an example, I'm afraid *Story Monthly* hasn't had any stories specifically themed around love in the recent issues, right?"

He Chengwei nodded; it was indeed so. The editors were worried that lovey-dovey things would be denounced, but Wei Ming's piece itself was a critique and mockery of some wrong views on marriage and love, so it was very suitable.

Wei Ming said: "To capture the most users, it's best if every issue can have types like love, family, officialdom, suspense, jokes, horror, and foreign stories, so that readers who buy this magazine, even if they don't like everything, will feel it's not a loss because of the rich content. In addition, you can also serialize some novellas to increase the reader repurchase rate and cultivate a subscription habit."

And this was the stable style that *Story Monthly* gradually formed later on. With so many stories, there was always one that suited you.

He Chengwei listened and was enlightened. High insight, truly high insight!

He chatted with Wei Ming for more than an hour and felt he had benefited a lot. He sincerely invited Wei Ming to participate in their discussion meeting tomorrow.

Wei Ming politely declined. He pointed to his desk: "I suddenly had a novel inspiration and am at a critical moment of creation."

"Oh my, I'm really sorry, I disturbed you this time. Then let's leave it at that for today. Thank you very much, Comrade Wei Ming, for your unreserved advice. Is it convenient to leave a contact number in Jingcheng? It will be more convenient for communication later."

"Of course." Wei Ming left the number for the south gate of Peking University.

!

He Chengwei added, "We will arrange for your *Such Love* to be released in the upcoming November issue. You are also welcome to continue submitting; we are willing to offer the highest level of manuscript fee."

It was very difficult for Wei Ming to get top-level manuscript fees in publications like *Harvest* and *Jingcheng Literature*, but submitting to *Story Monthly* was a "dimensionality reduction strike." He Chengwei was also willing to pay a high price to set an example for other story creators.

"Okay," Wei Ming agreed, "but I hope I can use a pen name for my works in *Story Monthly*."

"Ah?" He Chengwei had wanted to wait for Wei Ming to become famous in the literary world and then use his name to promote the magazine, but now he wanted to change his pen name.

Wei Ming was afraid he would misunderstand and added: "This is my creative habit; I use different names for works of different styles."

Professor Qu said from the side: "That's right. You might not know, but Ma Xiaowei is also a children's literature writer. He uses another pen name for those fairy tales he writes, called Wei... something."

"Oh my, the gentleman has great talent!"

He Chengwei admired him even more. He could write serious literature, children's literature, and interesting stories for the common people—was there anything he couldn't do!

As for the new pen name, Wei Ming thought for a moment: "Let's call it Wei Kuangren (The Madman)."

He Chengwei thought to himself: As expected of a young man with sharp edges; even the pen name is so wild.

Wei Ming explained: "I like Lu Xun very much, especially *A Madman's Diary*."

"So that's it."

Wei Ming also liked Lao She very much, especially *Camel Xiangzi*. Between "Wei Kuangren" and "Wei Xiang," he decisively chose the former.

After sending Editor-in-Chief He out, Professor Qu asked Wei Ming: "Your creative desire is really strong. What are you writing now?"

Wei Ming smiled: "A short story."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 34 =====