[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-rising-in-1979":3,"chapter-rising-in-1979-rising-in-1979-chapter-75":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Rising in 1979",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2260783,4412,"Chapter 75: The Arrival of Contemporary (Requesting Follow Reads!)","rising-in-1979-chapter-75",75,"\u003Cp>Wei Ming thought, “Damn it,” could it be they won’t let me eat if I haven’t finished writing?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Auntie, this time what I wrote isn’t a short story—it’s probably a novella, tens of thousands of words, and it involves a lot of knowledge points, so you’ll have to let me take a little more time.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A novella? Then it’ll have to be serialized.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Probably,” Wei Ming said. Given the capacity of Children’s Literature, if they published it all at once, they’d probably have to reserve a third of the pages for me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Xiaoyan nodded, lost in thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After dinner, everyone talked about how the People’s Day and Guangming newspapers had backed Duck First to Know, sparking nationwide debate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Anping had anticipated Duck First to Know would be popular, but reality exceeded his expectations—Wei Ming had become a hot writer overnight, from an unknown nobody.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Duck First to Know had already been reprinted by nearly twenty outlets, and dozens of articles had been written reviewing the story; previously most were negative, but since Fan, the deputy chief editor of People’s Day, published his piece, the tone had mostly turned positive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Literary Gazette and China Youth Daily both want to interview me, Uncle—I’m a bit hesitant.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Anping: “Oh, tell me your thoughts.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming said: “Look, the state is pushing this story so hard because it wants the public’s attention focused on the story itself and the spirit it conveys. If I jump out now and steal some of the spotlight, that’s definitely not what the higher-ups want to see.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Anping nodded: “If this were earlier, I might’ve advised you to accept, but now the attention is too high—cooling it down is wise. Still, you should call both back and decline politely.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm,” Wei Ming then joked about his reader letters and the money inside them: “Uncle, should I send the money back? It’s burning a hole in my hand.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Lu Xiaoyan immediately leaned in, curious: “Xiao Ming, did you bring any photos?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then have you got anyone you like? Tell Auntie.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Like who? I’m still young—I haven’t thought about any of that.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Anping laughed heartily: “You should start thinking about it. Your father was already married at your age.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Xiaoyan: “Really? So early?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course. I was still in high school back then.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amid the gossipy chatter of the couple, Wei Ming quickly stood up to take his leave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t that he wasn’t thinking about it—it was just that now he was in the city, it wasn’t as easy as Old Wei’s generation to get married at eighteen or nineteen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if he didn’t marry, he couldn’t get serious—what’s the point of dating otherwise?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The uncle and aunt gave him no advice, so Wei Ming temporarily kept the money—he’d written down the amounts on the envelopes, and when he had money and free time, he could send small gifts in return.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On his way back to the dorm, Wei Ming ran into the two foreigners again, Li Aiguo and Li Kui.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Are they dating? Why are they always stuck together?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two Lis now knew Wei Ming wasn’t a student but a poet, and they could even recite a couple lines of “Ideal”—given their accents, it was impressive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Aiguo seriously invited Wei Ming: in a few days it was his birthday, and he wanted Wei Ming to come to Shao Garden for the party.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming readily agreed—he, a patrolman, couldn’t even enter Shao Garden, and he was genuinely curious about life inside this “country within a country.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back in the dorm, Mei Wenhua was telling colleagues the sequel to The Legend of the Condor Heroes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming noticed this kid was good at mimicking, so during patrols he’d tell him stories, and Mei Wenhua would retell them to the others—freeing Wei Ming up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though it was secondhand, Mei Wenhua told them well, sometimes adding his own twists; the colleagues’ cheers greatly satisfied his vanity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now he was more obsessed with opening letters, so he shooed away his audience and took full control of letter-opening duties—he’d received over a hundred letters today.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And this time, he even got letters from Sichuan and Chongqing—none had arrived the past two days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming quickly tucked away the local grain coupons—they’d be useful later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Feng Ge said: “Probably because it’s too far, so the mail’s slow. Wait another couple days—you’ll likely see letters from Yunnan and Guangdong.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming nodded. Limited by conditions, transport and mail were slow—back then, even slower.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, besides Mei Wenhua, even Biaozi wasn’t as excited; Wei Ming was actually worried—letters kept piling up, and his bed was buckling under the weight. He asked the others: “If I set up a cabinet in the dorm to store letters, will it be too cramped?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone had no objections—go ahead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Alright, I’ll head into the city sometime soon and buy a cabinet.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Biaozi hurriedly said: “Big Brother Ming, you’ve got to take me with you this time!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, combining their schedules, they set the trip for the day after tomorrow—to buy a secondhand cabinet, check out secondhand cameras, and pick up a birthday gift for Li Aiguo.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next day, Wei Ming was on morning shift; at noon, Liu Rulong arrived, bringing the completed illustration of Dan Sheng Eating Biscuits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming was very satisfied—the details were rich, far more refined than the illustrations in Children’s Literature.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But no need for color—it’s a black-and-white magazine.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Huh? Okay.” A Long was disappointed by his carefully chosen colors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Wei Ming showed him his character design sketches for several other key figures, earning another wave of praise from A Long—especially the three foxes, which were stunning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I feel like you’re my grandpa’s real grandson!” A Long thought Wei Ming had fully inherited his grandfather’s talent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His feeling wasn’t wrong—back in his past life, after returning to Yanjing at eighteen, Wei Ming, besides farming and odd jobs, often visited his grandfather’s place. Though he never formally became his disciple, over time he absorbed real skills.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Enough nonsense. Take a look at this.” Wei Ming tossed A Long the completed ten-thousand-word draft—this would be roughly the content for the first serialized installment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Pick out around ten interesting scenes or characters to illustrate.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Okay.” A Long eagerly flipped through it, and several times, moved by the brilliance, he held back from discussing it with Wei Ming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because Wei Ming was also working—he was writing the next part. This week, after finishing The Legend of the Heavenly Book, he could begin writing his parents’ love story.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two were each busy in the dorm when a duty officer came down and called for Wei Ming: “Big Brother Wei, someone’s here looking for you—says they’re an editor from Contemporary.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming was surprised—he hadn’t received many manuscript invitations; he’d assumed big-name publishers looked down on this upstart, but now Contemporary had sent someone directly to the campus to invite him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upstairs, standing before him was a middle-aged woman with considerable charm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hello, I’m Bai Shurong from Contemporary,” she extended her hand. “I didn’t expect you to be this young.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming knew she meant “handsome”: “Editor Bai, you flatter me. Are you here to commission a piece?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes. It seems many publications are chasing you lately—do you have any new works in progress?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Indeed. I haven’t started yet, but once I begin, I write fast—I should finish by early next month.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Editor Bai was overjoyed: “Could you consider Contemporary? We’re under People’s Literature Publishing House, same as People’s Literature.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was one reason Contemporary had risen so quickly as a new magazine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming smiled: “I know that. But I’ve also had very pleasant collaborations with Harvest and Yanjing Literature—they’re also watching my new work closely.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bai Shurong smiled: “Tomorrow, Yanjing Literature will be released. I deliberately came to you now—do you know why?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming shook his head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Because our entire editorial team holds your talent in the highest regard. Though the literary world has criticized you—claiming your success with Duck First to Know was pure luck—we don’t think so. We believe someone who can write both Duck First to Know and Ideal must possess exceptional literary cultivation. Your success isn’t accidental—it’s inevitable.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bai paused: “I also believe your new work will succeed even after Yanjing Literature’s release. Even though I haven’t read it yet, I’ve come here to personally invite you before it comes out—that’s our sincerity. I’m certain other comparable publications haven’t reacted yet.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The “comparable publications” she meant were Flower City, October, and Zhongshan—she was right.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming smiled slightly: “You’ve convinced me. But I have a small condition.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1455,"2026-06-19T16:30:57.111Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","5df1809e5283777e372034748d11cfd05d5b8fce306518ff803d6c2ba3e24490","rising-in-1979-chapter-76","rising-in-1979-chapter-74",509,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Frising-in-1979-cover.jpg"]