Chapter 78: Stirring Up a Commotion in the Yanda Girls’ Dormitory (Seeking Monthly Votes)

Headache!

Cheng Xueming knew he really shouldn’t have come in person today!

Even though Bai Ling hadn’t gotten her way, she’d nonetheless sparked Feng Jiayou’s imagination!

Stay calm, stay calm!

At present, Cheng Xueming had only pocketed less than two hundred yuan in private earnings from “Shanghai Arts & Literature.” There were still two or three payments yet to come. He mustn’t collapse on the verge of his secret stash’s windfall, letting Feng Jiayou uncover and intercept it!

“My dear, I’d love to have a little private fund, to surprise you with something unexpected from time to time!”

“But as you told Bai Ling, that depends on me having the energy and squeezing out some inspiration!”

“And anyway, about inspiration—if you push me a bit, I might just explode with it!”

“But I also need the hand speed! If a private stash just came from imagining it, I’d get rich lying in bed all day just thinking!”

Truthfully, his hand speed was already impressive!

Under Feng Jiayou’s supervision, Cheng Xueming kept up with his daily ten-thousand-characters workload, while still secretly working on his side hustle.

Given such a daily output, Feng Jiayou never once suspected him of running a side job, quietly growing his secret stash!

After all, who else but Cheng Xueming could maintain that sort of pace and improve the quality of each piece?

If Feng Jiayou herself tried? For a review of less than three thousand words, she’d racked her brains, revising for nearly a month—even with the original author’s guidance—before she managed to finish and get it published.

As for the likes of Huang Beijia or Cha Jianying, there was no need to mention them. The writers around Feng Jiayou all worked at this pace, some even slower.

With such a comparison, if Feng Jiayou suspected her man of quietly growing a secret stash, she’d be doubting his very humanity!

“Hee hee, so you do want to, don’t you?”

Feng Jiayou was very pleased by his “defense,” hugging him tighter and pressing her little head against his back, sheltering from the wind.

“Of course I do! Don’t you want us to earn even more from our manuscripts?”

Cheng Xueming skillfully steered the conversation away from his private stash, aiming straight at his wife’s little miserly heart.

“I do!” she admitted. “But Xueming, you’re already working so hard. It’s enough. Before the New Year, just focus on writing the screenplay for ‘The Herdsman’ at your own pace.”

The screenplay for “The Herdsman” shouldn’t be very long. With two months until the New Year, Cheng Xueming could take his time. If it was accepted, it would mean two thousand yuan—much more than writing a dozen short stories like “The Herdsman.”

Moreover, Feng Jiayou hoped he could complete this screenplay independently and successfully.

If so, then “The Chronicle of Factory Director Qiao’s Appointment”—as a promotional piece—would surely be adapted for film as soon as possible!

By then, Cheng Xueming, as the original author, could handle the adaptation himself, another two thousand yuan in adaptation fees. What a delight that would be.

She was just curious how “Tender Grass in the Breeze” would fare in this issue of “Yan Capital Literature.” If it received a good response, perhaps it might also be adapted for film!

Thinking this way, Feng Jiayou felt her Xueming must master the art of screenwriting.

“Alright! I could do with learning more myself!”

Cheng Xueming agreed readily. Without the daily ten-thousand-character output, writing outside pieces would be a breeze!

At the same time, he resolved to boost his secret stash past a thousand yuan as soon as possible—perhaps by sneaking a major novella to “Shanghai Arts & Literature” when Feng Jiayou wasn’t paying attention!

One must know gratitude and repay kindness!

Last time, he’d played the pitiful card with “Shanghai Arts & Literature,” and they’d given him the highest manuscript fee.

Now it was only right for him to return the favor and submit a big piece, just as he had with “Yan Capital Literature.”

“The Loess Plateau?!”

When Cheng Xueming rode his bicycle back to Yanda, he habitually glanced at the porter’s office to check for replies to his outside submissions.

By rights, he should be receiving replies soon!

Noticing the name “Loess Plateau” on the blackboard outside, his eyes brightened!

At last, a reply had arrived for his “Loess Plateau” submission to his hometown magazine, “Yanhe Literature!”

It was surely a sample copy and payment slip. Cheng Xueming always had confidence in his tribute pieces.

They were all reflective works from this era, all award-winners back in the day, and he’d submitted them to the same journals that had published them originally.

“Loess Plateau” had first appeared in the sixth issue of “Yanhe Literature” in 1982, so he was confident this one would be accepted.

The only question was: how much would his secret stash grow this time? After all, he was submitting as a newcomer under a pseudonym.

Though he played the pitiful card, this time his excuse wasn’t elderly parents or hungry wolf cubs at home, so he wasn’t sure if “Yanhe Literature” would be moved to grant him a high fee.

Stay calm!

Especially as Feng Jiayou was on the bike with him—she’d just been questioning whether he had a side hustle, and now the reply for “Loess Plateau” had arrived!

He forced himself to act as if he hadn’t seen it. He’d drop her off at her dormitory and double back for the letter later.

“Xueming, look—so many Yanda students are following your lead and submitting manuscripts. The pen names are all ‘Old Li,’ ‘Old Wang,’ ‘Old Bai’!”

“Oh, here’s a ‘Loess Plateau’—must be someone from Shaanbei like us, right?”

Feng Jiayou glanced toward the porter’s office herself, noticing the riot of pen names on the blackboard.

When did Yanda’s porter’s blackboard become so chaotic? Wasn’t it her own husband who started this bad trend?

Unlike Feng Jiayou, who always submitted under her real name, she didn’t bother with flashy pseudonyms.

“Probably…”

What sharp eyes Feng Jiayou had! Of all the names, she’d honed in on “Loess Plateau,” which was neither eye-catching nor obvious.

Did women really have such keen intuition?

“So, Xueming, guess how many of these submissions will actually make it to publication?”

She grew smug, adding, “Anyway, those sent to ‘Yan Capital Literature’ will all be rejected!”

Yes, she was that confident!

Because this issue’s standards at “Yan Capital Literature” were far higher than previous ones!

The runaway success of “The Herdsman” had boosted “Yan Capital Literature” to fame, and submissions were pouring in from all over the country. Zhang Defining and her editorial team had to work overtime just to select the very best.

Even Huang Beijia’s revised piece, which should have been published, had been cut this time.

So, only the most insightful, original critiques made it in—otherwise, even with an inside connection, there’d be no guarantee.

“You just want to show off to Huang Beijia and Cha Jianying, don’t you?”

Cheng Xueming, hiding his own calculations, exposed Feng Jiayou’s as well. Why else would she hang the sample copy on the bike? She just wanted her friends to see it first.

See? Feng Jiayou’s published again.

“Hee hee, who’s showing off? You said you’d treat them to lunch—now I’ve got an excuse!”

With laughter and chatter, they arrived at the dormitory.

“Jiayou, Xueming, you two have impeccable timing—come, let’s eat!”

At that moment, Huang Beijia and Cha Jianying came down the stairs together, greeting them at the entrance.

“Beijia, Jianying, ‘The Herdsman’s’ Old Xu has a new piece out—it’s on the front page!”

To Cheng Xueming’s surprise, Feng Jiayou’s first move wasn’t to flaunt her review, but to announce to her friends.

“What? Jiayou, who published what?”

“Wait—did you say ‘The Herdsman’s’ Old Xu has a new piece? Front page? Which magazine?”

“No way! Already? And again on the front page?”

“Jiayou, where did you hear that? How do you get this inside scoop?”

It was lunchtime at the women’s dorms, so the news spread like wildfire.

“The Herdsman’s” author had a new story on the front page—soon, the whole dormitory was abuzz.

Girls who had just come down and those who hadn’t yet, all flocked to Feng Jiayou.

“Really? Old Xu from ‘The Herdsman’ has something new on the front page of ‘Yan Capital Literature’?”

“‘Tender Grass in the Breeze’? The title alone is poetic, full of poignant feeling!”

“Is it really ‘Tender Grass in the Breeze’? Let me see!”

“Don’t rush—there are several copies here, one at a time!”

Huang Beijia and Cha Jianying, unable to wait, grabbed the copies hanging on the bike and flipped them open.

Sure enough, there was Old Xu’s new work, front page. They squealed with delight, drawing others over to jostle for a look.

The commotion made Feng Jiayou retreat in alarm, afraid the crowd of girls would knock her over.

“You!” Cheng Xueming shielded her, shaking his head in helpless amusement.

“Hee hee, it’s your charisma, Xueming! What do they call this? A hero calling, and all the girls answer?”

“Flocking to you, you mean?” he teased her.

“As if I’d let them!” she replied fiercely, her dimples flashing with mock ferocity.

“Then try telling them Old Xu is right here!”

Cheng Xueming laughed.

“Hah! As if I’d fall for that. You’d be swamped with admirers!”

Could she possibly reveal his identity now, with all these girls around? They’d be after her man for sure!

“What’s so great about me?” Cheng Xueming muttered, dropping the subject. “Let’s go eat. Aren’t you hungry?”

“I am! But we promised to eat with Beijia and Jianying!” Feng Jiayou patted her stomach, glancing at her two friends, now mobbed by classmates. “They’re so heartless! All they care about is Old Xu—they didn’t even notice my piece!”

Though her review was at the back, her name was right there in the table of contents. Did all those girls really miss it?

“Beijia, Jianying, hurry up! There are enough copies—just save one for the others!”

She’d brought back five copies, not nearly enough for everyone to share.

“Xueming, Jiayou, how did you get this issue’s sample copies?”

“Did Bai Ling or Defining bring them over?”

Huang Beijia and Cha Jianying squeezed out, each holding a copy, heads bent over Old Xu’s new story.

It was odd—neither Jiayou nor her husband were authors for “Yan Capital Literature.” If Bai Ling or Defining brought samples, they wouldn’t deliver them here.

“Hee hee, lunch is on us at the Long March Restaurant,” Feng Jiayou said with a wink.

“Oh...wait, Long March? Jiayou, Xueming, what’s the occasion?”

The two friends looked at them in puzzlement. Treating everyone to the Long March Restaurant—not a holiday, not a celebration—what was going on?

…