Revive it!Wenhao Press

The news that Noguchi Satoshi will step down in late November quickly spread throughout Bailang Club.Even the media got wind of it and reported it.

However, under the control of Satoshi Noguchi before leaving office, the editorial department still completed the release of the new issue of "Literary Times" on November 11, and the quality of the magazine was also the same as before.

November 11th was the last day of Satoshi Noguchi's tenure as the editor-in-chief of "Literary Times", and it was also the time when the editorial department held regular meetings every month to discuss the published works.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the lights in the meeting room were turned on. Noguchi, the deputy editor-in-chief, and several editorial team leaders filed into the meeting room and sat down in their respective positions.

Scanning the faces of everyone in the conference room, Noguchi Tomohime spoke slowly.

"This is the last publishing meeting during my tenure." He said, "Since I am still the editor-in-chief of "Literary Times" today, the meeting will be as usual."

"Yes." The deputy editor-in-chief nodded calmly, took out the planning documents and copies of the works to be selected, and distributed them to the editorial leaders.

"Everyone should also know," said the deputy editor-in-chief, "Ms. Narita Sakura's "Farewell, Rose" has ended in the last issue. So there must be at least one serialization to fill the gap..."

"There are also short works that are expected to be published, just select from these few..."

"The candidates for the next serialization have also been sent to everyone. First of all, the first article, "Love on the Skin" proposed by the Sangbugumi..."

"Such as the sky and sea of ​​that day proposed by the Shinohara group..."

"Sato Gumi proposed..."

The deputy editor-in-chief presided over the meeting in an orderly manner, while Noguchi Satoshi sat at the top of the long conference table, flipping through the manuscripts in his hand, and kept silent except when a full vote was needed.

Until the last serialization candidate was proposed by the deputy editor-in-chief.

"Line of Sight" proposed by the Nishimura group." The deputy editor said, "This article is the work of Mr. Qingshuiming, who won the Newcomer Award some time ago. A young man who is afraid of sight can feel the wandering in the sight, The monsters that are invisible to everyone else, but because of fear and panic, they appear to be different from ordinary people, constantly attracting terrifying sights..."

Tomo Noguchi paused, and opened the original manuscript of "Line of Sight".

The conference room was silent, and everyone was reading the original manuscript of "Sight".

The "Line of Sight" sent by the Nishimura group is the first five chapters for serialization, two chapters more than the three chapters required by the editorial department.It took longer than usual for editors to go through the manuscript.

After that, the shock and silence lasted for a long time.After about two or three minutes, someone started talking.

"It's pure literature..." someone whispered, "And it's completely different from the style of Shimizu's award-winning works..."

"For ordinary readers, it is a bit obscure..."

"But compared with "Flying Diary", "Sight" has really improved a lot, it can be called a big breakthrough! I have never seen the fear and tension shown in the novel in the works of young writers of the same age! "

"I'm still more inclined to "Skin-to-Skin Love". The love theme of "Skin-to-Skin Love" is much easier to understand than "Sight", and it will definitely be more popular with readers..."

"However, it is also very important to publish works of different styles, which can expand the readership. Originally, there were too few pure literature published in our magazine recently... Shimizu-sensei is also, even if the style is different from the award-winning works, it doesn't matter, because if there is no new work , maybe it will be forgotten by readers..."

After discussing for a while, the deputy editor-in-chief finally said, "Let's vote with a show of hands. Between "Skin-to-Skin Love" and "Sight", one will be serialized, and the other will lose the selection."

"Hands up whoever chooses Love on the Skin."

The deputy editor counted carefully: "There are three people in total. You can put your hands down. Then, the person who chooses "Sight"..."

While speaking, he himself raised his hand: "...there are also three people."

In the next second, all the editors present turned their attention to Satoshi Noguchi who was sitting at the top.That's because when different opinions are evenly matched, the person who makes the final decision is the editor-in-chief.Even the editor-in-chief whose term has more than an hour left.

Among them, Nishimura, who proposed "Line of Sight" as a candidate, was particularly nervous.

Because Nishimura knows that what is reflected in "Line of Sight" is actually...

Noguchi Satoshi's eyes still stayed on "Line of Sight".

"Nishimura," he said suddenly, "the monster that frightens the protagonist reflected in Shimizu-sensei's "Line of Sight" is probably me."

"Mr. Shimizu knew that I would see the manuscripts that were sent to the meeting for discussion, so he wrote them like this. The purpose is to tell me that in his eyes, I am a monster, and he will not give up fighting against me." Satoshi Noguchi He said sharply, "And Nishimura, you also acquiesced in his behavior and submitted this manuscript as your group's proposed work."

Nishimura's scalp tightened, and he fell silent.

"About Mayuka Watanabe's "Love on the Skin" and Akira Shimizu's "Line of Sight," Satoshi Noguchi said slowly, "The one that will eventually be serialized is..."

……

In Qingshui's home, Qingshuiming is sitting in his room, anxiously looking at the mobile phone on the table.

He knew that today was the day of the monthly routine meeting of "The Age of Literature and Art".The meeting will decide on the works to be published next.

Ever since he got inspiration in the family restaurant that day, when Akira Shimizu returned home, he kept his ears shut and kept writing, until Nishimura reminded him that "The Age of Literature" had finished works, and if he wanted to serialize as soon as possible, he had to The manuscript was handed over immediately, and Qing Shuiming handed over the first five chapters to Nishimura.

Nishimura promised to tell him the news as soon as the meeting was over.But Qing Shuiming waited until almost five o'clock in the afternoon, and still hadn't received a call.

Just when he was getting more and more restless, the mobile phone on the table suddenly beeped sharply.The caller was Nishimura.

Qing Shuiming quickly picked up the phone and held it to his ear: "...Mr. Nishimura!"

"Teacher Shimizu."

Nishimura on the other end of the phone looked a little downcast: "It was decided at the meeting, yours, "Sight"..."

……

Brother Qingshui was sitting in the living room when he suddenly heard a series of footsteps behind him.

He turned his head and saw his younger brother walking over in a daze, holding the phone that hadn't ended the call in his hand.

"Brother, I..." Qing Shuiming murmured in a daze, "My..."

"It's about to be uploaded..."

After a short stunned moment, my brother jumped up from the sofa, rushed over and hugged him: "Great! Great!"

It wasn't until this moment that a sense of reality hit Qing Shuiming's heart.His stunned face trembled suddenly, and tears filled his eyes.

"I knew it!" My brother still hugged him vigorously, and said loudly, "As long as that Noguchi Satoshi is no longer the editor-in-chief, your brilliance will definitely be seen! He can no longer use the power of the editor-in-chief to bully you." !"

"Eh?"

Akira Shimizu was stunned: "Editor-in-chief Noguchi... is he no longer the editor-in-chief? What's going on?"

The hand holding him was released, and the elder brother looked at Qing Shuiming in a daze: "Didn't you follow the news?"

"No," Qing Shui said puzzled, "I've been writing all this time."

***

Inside the editorial office.

"Xicun, the editor-in-chief told us to go over there." Someone called to Xi Cun who was hiding in the tea room on the phone.

"Ah...Okay." Nishimura quickly hung up the phone and walked towards the office.

With less than 2 minutes left before the closing time at [-] pm, the editors of "Literary Times" have all gathered in the office.Standing in front of them were Noguchi Satoshi, who was about to leave office, and Deputy Editor-in-Chief Haneda.

"Everyone should also know that today is the last day that Editor-in-Chief Noguchi will work here." The Deputy Editor-in-Chief said, "Before leaving, Editor-in-Chief Noguchi still has something to announce."

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Noguchi Satoshi opened his mouth.

"After I leave office, the person who will be the editor-in-chief of "Literary Times" is the current deputy editor-in-chief Haneda." He said.

This is something everyone knows well.None of the editors disagreed.

"And, after Haneda was promoted to the editor-in-chief, the deputy editor-in-chief was..." Tomoku Noguchi paused, looking at one of the figures, "Chieko Aoyama."

"Eh?"

Standing among the editors, Chieko Aoyama couldn't help being stunned: "Me?"

In terms of seniority, she is only an editor who has entered the editorial department for the third year. The other editors are all seniors with longer working experience than her; I have always focused my work on cultivating newcomers, and I am not as good as other colleagues who hold several best-selling works.

Why was it that among so many qualified people, the least qualified self was selected?

"This is a joint decision between me and the deputy editor-in-chief Haneda...the next editor-in-chief Haneda. The personnel department has also approved it." Noguchi Satoshi glanced at Chieko Aoyama who was full of doubts, and he was still the same as before. Explain more, "In short, the next "Age of Literature and Art" will be left to you."

After all, under the astonished or complicated gazes of the editors, Noguchi Satoshi glanced at the clock that just reached five o'clock, picked up the bag he had prepared, and walked out without looking back, leaving the editorial department behind. behind.

All the way through the corridor, Noguchi Satoshi stopped in front of the elevator.

"Noguchi, are you ready to go?"

The man in a suit and leather shoes standing in front of the elevator is the president of Bailang Club, Shirakawa Mikio.He seemed to have been waiting here for a long time, and he was not at all surprised when he saw Tomomo Noguchi.

"Just 1 minute ago, I officially stepped down as the editor-in-chief of "The Age of Literature and Art." Tomo Noguchi replied, "What are you still doing here?"

Mikio Shirakawa was silent for a moment, then turned and walked towards Tomo Noguchi.He walked all the way across to Tomo Noguchi and stood in front of him.

"Next, I plan to create a new online literary magazine, focusing on business." He said, "The matter has been finalized, and the name of the magazine is "New Leaf."

"I want you to be the editor-in-chief of "New Leaf"."

Mikio Shirakawa looked at Noguchi Satoshi without blinking: "You have just turned 40 years old. Although there is no way to continue to be the editor-in-chief of "Literary Times", the directors don't want to give up on you."

"Although you have destroyed many people's literary dreams, there are also many people who have become professional writers under your high pressure and enjoyed the job of writing. Even if what they write is not what they really want to write, at least they really want to write. Being able to support themselves by writing. The success of these people has also inspired more people who want to become writers, giving them the courage to take a step forward. Mr. Shimizu decided to become a writer because of Mr. Koyama’s success.”

"In addition, the great sales of "The Age of Literature and Art" is also the reason why many publishing houses have added new literary magazines in the past ten years. The increase in the number of magazines also provides more opportunities and easier publishing for those who want to enter the literary world in this era. gone."

"The literary market can develop to its current scale, and the number of writers who rely on writing for a living can increase, which is also due to your credit."

"Stay here, Noguchi!" Shirakawa Mikio said solemnly, "Now is not the time for you to retreat!"

Noguchi Satoshi looked at Mikio Shirakawa silently, and finally said: "...I refuse."

"Why?" Mikio Shirakawa's expression did not change, "Aren't you unwilling to retire with a stigma all over your body?"

"Full of stigma?" Tomo Noguchi breathed out, "What do others think of me, what does it matter to me? But if I say I am not reconciled, I really am not reconciled."

"As long as there are works that can be published, serialized, and published, more works will be rejected. If one work gets a chance, at least ten will have to be rejected. Writers who are not liked by readers do not make money writers, don’t talk about writing dreams, they can’t even survive. And we editors must bury them with our own hands and sprinkle the last handful of dirt on their coffins.”

"There will always be more times to inform writers that they are not selected than to congratulate them on being selected. Who would really be willing?"

Tomo Noguchi looked at Mikio Shirakawa expressionlessly: "I'm already tired. Editing is such a fucking job."

After throwing down these words, Tomo Noguchi bypassed Mikio Shirakawa who was standing in front of the elevator door, and walked into the elevator.

The bright silver metal door closed slowly, squeezing his figure into the last line, and then disappeared.

***

After leaving Bailang Club, Noguchi Satoshi did not go home, but went directly to Shibuya.

He hasn't married yet and has no family. The house is not big, and no one is waiting for him.

Once again, Noguchi Satoshi entered the Aoyama Cemetery with a beer and walked towards Chiba Akira's tomb.

He stopped a few meters away from the tombstone.And the small figure sitting in front of the tomb also heard the sound and turned around.

"What a coincidence, it's you again." Noguchi said.