Chapter 1285 The magazine's request, Su Mingzhe's conditions

Had dinner at noon.

After coaxing Cai Xiaoli to sleep, Su Mingzhe covered her with a coat and put down a protective shield before leaving the office.

Su Mingzhe rode his bicycle to Xiaoyue Magazine, carrying his briefcase, and walked all the way to the editor-in-chief Wu Yue.

In fact, when Su Mingzhe stepped into the door of the magazine, he was seen by the editor-in-chief Wu Yue.

However, Wu Yue was answering the phone. When Su Mingzhe approached her, she pointed to the meeting room next to her and asked Su Mingzhe to go in and wait.

After a while, Wu Yue came into the reception room carrying two cups of tea:

"My great writer, you are here!"

"Sorry, there's too much going on at the factory."

Su Mingzhe thought that Chief Editor Wu Yue was anxious because of the manuscript, so he smiled apologetically and took out the manuscript:

"These are the last ten chapters of The Passionate Years. I am also preparing the outline of the new book and will probably start writing in November."

"Mingzhe, I asked you to come here this time either for the manuscript or for the new book!"

Wu Yue took the manuscript, put it aside, and said solemnly:

"Our magazine has just received a task to write something with a main theme, such as essays, poems, novels, etc."

"You know, prose and poetry with this main theme are fine, they can be as short as a few dozen words or as long as a few hundred words. If everyone puts their brains together, they can come up with a few pieces to make up the number! But novels that reflect the times are really worrying me!"

"Mingzhe, you must help me this time!"

Su Mingzhe felt embarrassed when he heard Wu Yue's request.

Writing mainly relies on inspiration and interest. If you don't have personal experience, it is rare to express sincere emotions when writing about the main theme.

After thinking for a moment, Su Mingzhe recalled the pleasant cooperation between them in the past two years. He frowned and asked:

"Editor-in-chief, is this novel you want a short story or a novella?"

"It's better to be long!"

Wu Yue is one of the six founders of Xiaoyue Magazine. At the same time, as the editor-in-chief, he is also responsible for reviewing the novel section.

Wu Yue is the one who knows best how difficult it is to write a mainstream novel.

But no matter how difficult it is, now that the task has been given, the magazine must complete it.

When Su Mingzhe heard that Wu Yue wanted to write a long article, he smiled bitterly:
"Editor-in-chief, I'm already writing a long novel. If you ask me to write a new one, I don't have any ideas at the moment!"

"Great writer, your talent is obvious to all!"

Wu Yue also knew that it was a bit too much to ask, but he was forced to ask Su Mingzhe for help:

"I'll tell you the truth. The leaders above have said that if we can complete this mission, Xiaoyue Magazine, which was originally only a department-level unit, will be able to move up to become a department-level unit..."

"Mingzhe, I won't make big promises to you now. I'm telling you right now, as long as you can handle this matter, you can set any conditions! I'll give you a hundred dollars for every thousand words, how about that?"

"Editor-in-chief, this is not about the money!"

Su Mingzhe has already taken back his ancestral home, and with the added bonus of being the son of a wealthy businessman, he can get as much money as he wants by simply going abroad, without having to worry about any issues with unknown origins.

Therefore, Wu Yue's attempt to tempt Su Mingzhe with royalties was completely a wrong move.

However, Wu Yue's eager attitude also made Su Mingzhe a little greedy.

After a brief thought, Su Mingzhe sighed:

"Editor-in-chief, we have been working together for such a long time. If we talk about money again, it will hurt our relationship."

"However, I do have something that is bothering me recently. If the editor-in-chief is willing to help me solve it, it is not impossible."

When Wu Yue heard that Su Mingzhe had changed his previous style and didn't even want money, her heart tightened immediately, but she still asked:
"what's up?"

As the editor-in-chief of the magazine, Wu Yue is not afraid of Su Mingzhe asking for money.

When Su Mingzhe submitted his first book "Bloody Romance", he only paid 6 yuan per thousand words.

By the time of his second book, Glorious Times, Wu Yue had raised his fee to the level of top writers—25 yuan per thousand words. By the time of his third book, Wu Yue continued to pay more, at 30 yuan per thousand words.

The fourth book, 1,000 words and 40 characters.

Now, "The Passionate Years" written at the beginning of this year is the fifth book, and Wu Yue directly increased the remuneration to 60 yuan per thousand words.

This price is definitely the highest in the country, and can even be compared with international prices.

The reason why Wu Yue dared to offer such a high price was very simple: no matter how much money she gave to Su Mingzhe, it would be paid by the magazine and not a penny would come from his pocket.

However, if Su Mingzhe asked for something to be done, he would have to use all the connections in the magazine.

These personal connections are just like the organization of a unit, they are all quantifiable.

If Su Mingzhe leaves, there will be one less person for others.

So, when Wu Yue heard that Su Mingzhe didn't want money and wanted him to do the job, his expression changed immediately.

Su Mingzhe was well aware of these twists and turns.

So when he saw the editor-in-chief's expression change, he pretended not to know. After pondering for a moment, Su Mingzhe frowned and said:

"Editor-in-chief, as you know, I am now the director of the Propaganda Department in the factory. The tasks assigned by the superiors every day are extremely heavy. In order to complete these tasks, I spend a lot of time and energy every day. I usually use my passion and hobby to write novels, and I can barely stick to it."

"But if you ask me to give up my hobby of writing and write mainstream stuff, I'm afraid... I won't be able to finish it without racking my brains! Besides, if I put all my attention on writing, won't my work be delayed?"

Wu Yue was moved when she heard Su Mingzhe say this, and she couldn't help but ask:
"Do you want to transfer jobs?"

"Yes, it's a job transfer!"

When Su Mingzhe saw Wu Yue respond, he immediately said happily:
"This is what I think. If the editor-in-chief can assign me a job with less work and more free time, I will have more time to create!"

When Wu Yue heard Su Mingzhe say this, she began to murmur in her heart: "Don't think about it. The job Su Mingzhe wants must be a good job, and the level can't be low. After all, if it is an ordinary work unit with an ordinary job system, Su Mingzhe can handle it himself... After all, it still depends on personal connections..."

After thinking about the inside clearly, Wu Yue could only restrain his emotions and asked solemnly:

"Then I wonder...what kind of job do you want?"

Su Mingzhe didn't want to ask for too much, he just pondered for a moment, then smiled and said:
"Editor-in-chief, what do you think of me becoming a teacher at a university?"

When Wu Yue heard this, she instantly became energetic.

If it were any other workplace, Wu Yue might not have an easy time dealing with it.

However, the faculty strength of universities today is unprecedentedly weak and scarce.

As the calls for the resumption of the college entrance examination grow louder, universities have adopted a variety of approaches in order to compete for lecturer resources.

As the editor-in-chief of a famous magazine, Wu Yue was approached by several universities to serve as a visiting lecturer.

The leaders above have also given instructions on this situation, and some talented people can be "specially hired" as university lecturers.

And Su Mingzhe just happens to meet the requirements of "special recruitment for breaking the shell".

After all, his five best-selling novels are not fake.

Wu Yue felt more confident, and her eyes suddenly became gentle:
"Mingzhe, which university do you want to go to?"

Su Mingzhe was stunned. He didn't expect that he could choose. He immediately said happily:

"Of course Shuimu and Yanda are the best!"

"You dare to think!"

Wu Yue heard this and laughed:

"Forget it, I'll take this up with my boss and try to find you a good school. You go back and wait!"

"Okay, I'll think about the outline of a mainstream novel these days!"

Su Mingzhe and Wu Yue shook hands and said goodbye. When they returned to their workplace, they saw Cai Xiaoli still curled up on the sofa, not yet awake.

(End of this chapter)