Chapter 162: Wen Watching Wen Leyu: At Most, We'll Pay Them a Salary

"Two Ks."

"Two As."

"Don't play anything below a 9! Li Ye only has two eights left."

"Old Wu, are you peeking at my cards again?"

"Who's peeking at your cards? Do your and Old Yao's cards even need peeking at?"

In Dorm 209, Li Ye was playing poker with several roommates.

Ever since Wu Wu Runfu and the other roommates collectively expressed their dissatisfaction with Li Ye "never being seen all day," Li Ye would eat, drink, and play cards with them every few days.

He came to Jingda to build relationships with his classmates; how could it work if he was too distant from his roommates?

However, Li Ye had done the right thing with eating and drinking, as young people could quickly get close, but he had shot himself in the foot with the card playing.

Because Wu Wu Runfu and the other two were from the Mathematics Department; don't look at them as if they were dull and not very smart all day, but when they played cards, they calculated cards extremely accurately, making people feel powerless to resist, just like cheating.

Anyway, now, as long as Li Ye appeared in the dorm after class, he would inevitably be dragged by these guys to play a few rounds, just to ravage him, the "Dorm Number One Brother," for fun.

Who told Li Ye to be so "flamboyant"?

Having money, looks, and a girlfriend—if he was also number one at everything, would that even let people live?

"Just one last round! After this, I have to go out for a walk and get some air; I'm about to be crushed to death by you guys."

Unsurprisingly, he lost this round too; Li Ye admitted defeat while shuffling the cards.

But his teammate Sun Sun Xianjin said: "Brother, we haven't won a single round all night; are you reconciled to this?"

Li Ye glared at him and said: "Why are you struggling against these number monsters? They can calculate your cards even with their eyes closed. Accept the loss, hurry up and take out the bet for them."

Sun Sun Xianjin turned around reluctantly, took two bags of sugar-coated peanuts from his bed, and threw them on the table as if he were angry.

Wu Wu Runfu and Chen Chen Sihai squeezed their eyes and collected them, deliberately biting the peanuts with a crunching sound.

A few cents a bag for sugar-coated peanuts wasn't much; the main thing was the "triumph."

"Draw cards, draw cards... Damn, that's it?"

In the new round, Li Ye's hand was full of 456, 789; how could he play this?

He wanted to renege and not play, but the two beasts opposite had long been eyeing them, determined to get the last bit of snacks from Li Ye and Sun Sun Xianjin.

"Li Ye, Li Ye, there's a letter, a letter from the publishing house!!"

Li Yang Huaisheng's voice suddenly came from outside, and then the door to Dorm 209 was slammed open.

Li Ye and Sun Sun Xianjin threw their cards down simultaneously, successfully reneging.

Wu Wu Runfu and Chen Chen Sihai didn't get angry, because the ones who entered were Li Yang Huaisheng and Yang Yang Yumin; these freshmen were still a bit reserved when facing seniors in their third year.

Li Yang Huaisheng entered the room, saw Li Ye, and said happily: "Li Ye, look quickly, the publishing house sent us a letter."

Li Ye smiled and said: "So they sent a letter, so what? Wasn't it officially published? Why send a letter at this time?"

"You don't understand this," Li Yang Huaisheng said quite proudly: "This is a reader's letter forwarded to us by the publishing house; our 'Wangxiang Wangxiang Gujun Looking Homeward' already has loyal readers."

"Oh!"

Li Ye responded, looking at the stack of letters in Li Yang Huaisheng and Yang Yang Yumin's hands, and asked subconsciously: "Is it just these few letters?"

"..."

Li Yang Huaisheng and Yang Yang Yumin were stunned, their proud expressions clearly stagnant, just like the lake water in early winter suddenly freezing into shards of ice.

"What do you mean 'just these few letters'? Do you know how difficult this is?"

Li Yang Huaisheng said with a darkened face: "If you want to get letters from readers, at least you have to successfully publish your work, right? Then the readers feel how well you wrote it, and they will write letters to communicate with the author..."

Li Yang Huaisheng gave Li Ye and the others a popular science lecture; whether it was Sun Sun Xianjin or Wu Wu Runfu, they all listened with stars in their eyes.

After all, Blue Sea Publishing House was also a formal domestic publishing house, and the sales and reputation of "New Wind" had also surged in the past few months. A student being able to publish work in it was definitely capital to be proud of.

"Oh oh oh, it's my fault, it's indeed quite rare."

Li Ye admitted his mistake smoothly, which made Li Yang Huaisheng and Yang Yang Yumin's faces rosy again.

After all, these two classmates really treated him as a little brother.

If Li Ye said—you two look down, yes, those two big boxes under the bed, they are all letters from readers to my 'Seven-Inch Blade',

They are all sent in bulk, one hundred letters per big mail bag! There are even photos in the envelopes! I don't have time to read them, let alone reply.

It is estimated that after Li Ye finished speaking, the friendship between them would end.

"Go, go, go, let's go to the activity room, let's reply to the readers together."

Li Yang Huaisheng pulled Li Ye and left, ignoring that Li Ye was still wearing slippers.

And Li Ye's little brother Sun Sun Xianjin naturally followed along.

After the few left, Wu Wu Runfu asked in confusion: "Why did a third-year student publishing work call Li Ye to go reply to readers together?"

Chen Chen Sihai said uncertainly: "I heard Old Yao say that Li Ye seems to like literary creation; maybe he participated in joint creation!"

"It's over, his title as Number One Brother is not easy to overthrow!"

Wu Wu Runfu threw away the good cards in his hand and suddenly felt bored.

Li Ye followed Li Yang Huaisheng to their literary activity room and found that everyone had already arrived.

It seems that authors in this era still value readers' opinions quite a bit, unlike some authors in later generations who, as long as they see readers asking for more updates, asking for additions, or asking for a harem, start to selectively go deaf and pretend not to hear.

"Come, come, come, everyone take one letter, look at it, and then carefully reply to the readers."

Li Yang Huaisheng and Yang Yang Yumin distributed the dozen letters to the students present, and Sun Sun Xianjin, who came along, also received one.

Li Yang Huaisheng opened one first, and upon seeing the beginning, he read it happily.

"Hello author, I like history very much; seeing your work, I feel genuinely happy... I hope to see more and better works of this kind in the future."

"Clap clap clap~"

Everyone actually applauded together, which surprised Li Ye, and Li Yang Huaisheng was also full of joy, as if he were more intoxicated than a poet reciting a good poem.

Yang Yang Yumin and the others also opened the letters, either reading silently or reciting in low voices, feeling the readers' enthusiasm.

But Li Ye suddenly noticed that Sun Sun Xianjin's face was wrong, looking as conflicted as if he were constipated.

"What's wrong?"

Sun Sun Xianjin handed his letter to Li Ye, and Li Ye took a look and stuffed it into his pocket.

But Li Yang Huaisheng had already noticed their anomaly, walked over, and asked for the letter.

"Author, are you writing a history textbook? Who is the protagonist? Is this book of yours pieced together?"

This was a "bad review letter" with vicious wording; the reader who wrote it felt that the characters in "Wangxiang Wangxiang Gujun Looking Homeward" were not lively enough, and that a large amount of historical knowledge was piled up in the main text, making it as dry and tasteless as chewing wax.

Li Yang Huaisheng read the letter from beginning to end twice before looking up at Li Ye.

"Li Ye, why is the opinion raised by this reader so similar to the one you raised at the beginning?"

【You thought readers would only give good reviews and not bad ones?】

Li Ye smiled and said: "You don't think I pretended to be a reader and wrote this letter, do you?"

Li Yang Huaisheng quickly said: "Li Ye, don't misunderstand, I don't believe you would do such a thing."

At this time, the tall girl spoke: "The reader letter I opened is also a similar situation; he feels that what we wrote is not a novel, but historical knowledge..."

"Mine is too..."

Four or five consecutive reader letters reflected the same problem.

Reader letters are actually equivalent to book reviews in later generations; where would there be uniform praise? Many readers' mouths are also very picky and sharp.

Everyone looked at Li Ye.

Before the manuscript of "Wangxiang Wangxiang Gujun Looking Homeward" was sent out, Li Ye had reminded Li Yang Huaisheng and the others that the beginning of the novel piled up too many world settings, which might affect the reading experience.

What year is it in the Great Tang, what is the origin of the reign title, is the emperor a good emperor or a bad emperor, who is the leader of the lone army in the Western Regions, who is his father, who is his grandfather...

It can be said that Li Yang Huaisheng and the others wrote very diligently, and the historical knowledge in the novel was very abundant... but it was indeed too dry to read.

Li Ye suggested at the time that it would be better to learn the opening method of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes," using the perspective of a storyteller in Niu Village to slowly unfold the era setting.

But Li Yang Huaisheng and the others did not follow Li Ye's advice, and now they were questioned by readers.

Finally, Yang Yang Yumin said solemnly: "Li Ye, how do you think we should write the content of the next issue?"

Li Ye no longer hid his clumsiness, took a piece of paper, and wrote on it.

"First, clarify who the protagonist is; all other supporting characters should be described according to the standard of 'green leaves'."

"Even if this green leaf is good, strong, and you like it, it is only a little brother assisting the protagonist; the stronger the little brother, the stronger the protagonist."

"Second, all historical knowledge can only be selectively added to the content; if it is not needed, do not use it."

"Third, there must be a female protagonist; the main readers of our novel are not monks, and those without emotional scenes are not liked."

Li Ye almost gave everyone a free writing skills class. Li Yang Huaisheng and Yang Yang Yumin listened and were thoughtful, while Sun Sun Xianjin and the tall girl who had just joined were stunned.

Li Yang Huaisheng suddenly said: "Li Ye, how about you take the lead on the rest?"

Li Ye shook his head like a rattle-drum and said: "I can't do it; I have many ideas and points, but my writing style is far worse than yours."

"What you said makes some sense, then come over after class in the future and give everyone some ideas. When the manuscript fee arrives, I guarantee your share will not be missing."

Li Yang Huaisheng and the others were sincere, but Li Ye said awkwardly: "I can only say I'll try my best, because I'm really busy recently, I really don't have time."

Seeing Li Yang Huaisheng and the others insisting again, Li Ye said again: "I have agreed with someone else to study together and progress together; you can't delay my big event!"

"..."

Everyone was speechless, because they generally knew who the girl who agreed with Li Ye was; Li Ye's lifelong event really couldn't be delayed.

Actually, Li Ye was really busy, because he had recently "dual-opened" a second novel.

In the evening, he met Wen Watching Wen Leyu, and after arriving at the library, Li Ye handed over a manuscript.

"Remember last time I told you that I wanted to write a 'masterpiece' and would need your big help? Now the time has come; see if you are willing to earn manuscript fees with me."

Wen Watching Wen Leyu, who was rummaging through Li Ye's lunch box looking for the sweetest fruit, suddenly became happy.

She picked up the manuscript and started reading it carefully, but just a few minutes later, she looked at Li Ye in surprise.

"A Song of Ice and Fire? You wrote a Western fantasy novel? I have never seen a similar subject matter; will readers in our country like it?"

Fantasy, similar to "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio," Wen Watching Wen Leyu had read many Western novels and felt that Li Ye's story was unique.

"You can call it Western fantasy, but I think it should be called 'fantasy'."

Li Ye said: "You don't need to consider whether domestic readers like it, because I need you to translate it into English and then publish it in Hong Kong."

"..."

Wen Watching Wen Leyu looked at Li Ye blankly, her big eyes wide open, and she didn't blink for a long, long time.

After a long while, Wen Watching Wen Leyu said with some amusement: "Li Ye, do you know that literary translation is not data translation? It is a very rigorous job, and ordinary people cannot do this kind of thing."

Li Ye nodded and said: "I know this; you just need to use accurate words and straightforward descriptive techniques to translate it into English."

"That won't work either! This is not the same thing at all."

Wen Watching Wen Leyu didn't know how to tell Li Ye, because for someone whose native language is Chinese, the difficulty of translating a stack of literary manuscripts from Chinese to English is much higher than from English to Chinese.

Otherwise, there wouldn't be the title of "translator."

In the process of translating a world classic, the translator not only needs a high level of foreign language, but the literary level of the native language is also very important.

The translator needs to use their native language to re-render and construct the artistic conception, emotions, and thoughts in the classic, rather than just doing a simple and straightforward account like translating data.

For example, a Chinese high school student and an excellent writer have the same level of English.

If both translate a foreign work at the same time, will the Chinese versions they translate be of the same grade?

Conversely, Wen Watching Wen Leyu's Chinese level is okay, but her English level does not reach the level of a translator; even many English professors do not reach that requirement.

They might translate the plot correctly, but if it "doesn't look good" to foreign readers, they won't buy it.

Li Ye waved his hand and said to Wen Watching Wen Leyu: "If you really can't handle it, ask Teacher Ke if she can help."

"My mom?"

Li Ye knew that Teacher Ke's English level was very high, and her literary literacy was also very high.

Wen Watching Wen Leyu thought for a while and said: "My mom might not be able to do it, and even if she could, she might not have time now. She does have a classmate whose level is very high."

"No, you can't find an outsider," Li Ye refused decisively: "Actually, you don't need to strive for perfection; just do an accurate preliminary translation according to my detailed outline, and then I will find a way to find a foreigner to do a secondary translation."

When "The Lord of the Rings" entered the Chinese region, the translation level was not good either; it was a young electrician who re-translated it, making that work even more popular.

That's why Li Ye had a similar plan.

Wen Watching Wen Leyu asked strangely: "Then why are you asking my mom? Just find a foreigner to translate it directly."

Li Ye said helplessly in a low voice: "In that case, there might be copyright disputes. Do you want a foreigner to take away most of the manuscript fees that should belong to us?"

Wen Watching Wen Leyu was stunned for a fraction of a second and blurted out: "That's not possible, at most we'll pay them a salary."

I have to accompany my wife to do something tomorrow, so the update tomorrow night will be later. I'll let you know here, and I hope everyone understands.

Also, thanks to the book friend for the 1000 coin tip, thank you brother.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 163 =====

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