Chapter 00265: World Fantasy Tales 3
# World Fantasy Tales 3
Chapter 265
Novel: 1979 Golden Age
Chapter 265: World Fantasy Tales 3
Several days passed like this.
Every day, readers from the capital came to the editorial office, leaving the staff both exhausted and delighted.
Meanwhile, the second advertisement in the China Youth Daily was also published.
This time, it included an excerpt from *Five Phoenixes Facing the Sun Blade*, cutting off abruptly at a critical moment to entice readers to buy the magazine.
Regardless of other regions, *World Fantasy Tales* quickly became a sensation in the capital alone.
The editorial office hadn’t installed a telephone yet, so bookstore sales representatives kept coming in person or reaching out through Chen Jianjun.
Chen Jianjun made eight trips in a single day, all for additional orders from bookstores.
Another week passed, and responses started coming in from Hebei, Tianjin, and Shanxi.
…………
In Yi County, Hebei, there stood Wolf Tooth Mountain—the very same mountain associated with the "Five Heroes of Wolf Tooth Mountain."
Deep in the mountain valleys, a military unit was stationed.
Among them was a 27-year-old soldier named Mo Sang—no, wait, Mo Yan.
His real surname was Guan.
That day, he and his comrades took leave to visit Baoding, as the Spring Festival was approaching and everyone wanted to stock up on goods.
After wandering around, they came across the Xinhua Bookstore.
His comrades weren’t interested, but he went in alone to browse.
The previous year, he had already published his debut work, *Spring Night’s Drizzling Rain*, which told the story of a young married woman missing her husband, who was stationed on a distant island.
He earned 72 yuan in royalties, bought a bottle of Liulingzui liquor and four Ma Family roast chickens, treating his comrades to a feast…
So, in his own mind, he was already a writer.
The hottest item in the bookstore was naturally *World Fantasy Tales*.
Since military personnel weren’t allowed to subscribe to publications privately—only through official channels—he casually picked up a copy and flipped through it.
He skipped the martial arts novels entirely, glanced at *The Puppet Masters* and *I, Robot* without much interest, and only paused briefly at *Journey to the Center of the Earth*.
Then he put it back.
"Too mainstream! Introducing Western literature is good, but this magazine only focuses on science fiction. What’s so great about sci-fi? It’s hardly highbrow literature…"
Shaking his head, he picked out a few books to mail back to his hometown in Shandong in advance, planning to visit during the Spring Festival.
…………
Yangquan, Shanxi.
Nineteen-year-old Da Liu had enrolled in North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power the previous year, already embodying the naive foolishness of a college student.
By 1985, he would graduate and be assigned to work at the Shanxi Nianguan Power Plant—and the rest, as they say, would be history.
During winter break, he lounged on his small bed, well-fed and content, legs crossed as he happily read a book.
Several magazines lay beside him.
Suddenly, his legs stopped fidgeting.
After a moment, he sat up straight.
A long while later, he closed the book, lost in thought, and couldn’t help but exclaim, "Damn, this is amazing!"
He had just finished reading *The Puppet Masters* by American writer Robert A.
Heinlein.
The story was set in the distant future—2007, yes, 2007—when an alien species called "slugs" invaded Earth.
Their method of invasion was unique: they didn’t wage war or engage in mass slaughter.
Instead, they parasitized human hosts, attaching to their backs and directly controlling their minds.
The protagonists struggled to convince the U.
S. government of their findings, hoping to mobilize the nation against the slug invasion…
What made this novel a classic was its concept of alien parasitism.
The slugs cunningly and silently infiltrated human society, manipulating thoughts and turning people into willing slaves.
This premise would later be borrowed in countless works.
Da Liu had first encountered science fiction in high school and instantly fell in love with it.
Now, he was utterly thrilled by *The Puppet Masters*: "This magazine is great! Is there a way to subscribe… Huh? There is? And there’s even a prize draw?"
He immediately sat at his desk, filled out a questionnaire, and prepared to mail it to the editorial office.
He had long wanted to try writing himself but didn’t know where to start, so he suppressed his restless creativity.
On a side note: Da Liu himself isn’t up for discussion here, as not much is known about him, but some of his works carry strong ideological themes.
Interestingly, there’s a later claim that *The Three-Body Problem* won the Hugo Award partly because of its opening segment.
Foreign readers saw it and thought, "Oh, this is definitely part of the 'scar literature' movement!"
But that wasn’t actually the case.
…………
Ten days before the Spring Festival.
It was the coldest time of the year, with biting northern winds that stung the face.
The freezing weather contrasted sharply with the festive atmosphere in the streets as people prepared for the New Year.
Chen Qi, despite being a high-ranking official, personally rode his bicycle out of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office compound.
He had just visited Liao Gong, presenting him with the inaugural issue of *World Fantasy Tales* and chatting briefly.
Now, he was heading to the Ministry of Culture to deliver another copy.
This was also a way to make an impression.
After leaving the Ministry of Culture, he stopped on his way back to Lechun Alley to buy some candies and snacks.
"A little to the left! More to the left!"
"Okay, stop! That’s perfect!"
When he arrived at the entrance, he saw Ji Chunhua standing on a ladder hanging red lanterns, with Li Jianqun directing from below.
Chen Qi watched for a moment before stepping inside.
The four junior editors were hard at work—two handling visitors, two sorting through letters.
With three rooms available and two left empty, they had plenty of space to store the letters.
In just half a month since the magazine’s launch, they had already accumulated several sacks of mail.
Chen Qi waited until the visitors had left before calling for a brief meeting.
"Have the orders from all regions been tallied?"
"Yes!"
"What about mail subscriptions?"
"Those are sorted too!"
"Good. Let me keep this brief—the Spring Festival is almost here, and you’ll all be going home for the holidays. The printing factory will also be closed, so everything else can wait until after the New Year. Today, our task is to finalize the numbers and see exactly how many copies of our inaugural issue we’ve sold in these two weeks!"
With a wave of his hand, they dove into the task.
Morale was high.
Everyone knew the magazine was popular, with new orders coming in daily, but they lacked a precise final count.
Liang Xiaosheng even brought out an abacus—yes, an abacus! Even in the '90s, many places still used abacuses.
The adoption of calculators depended heavily on regional availability…
"This batch is 500 copies!"
"That one too!"
"Are these from the post office for the next issue or this one?"
"Both! Didn’t I separate them? Don’t mess up the count!"
Between the abacus and manual calculations, they worked in a frenzy.
Chen Qi personally cooked, boiling noodles for everyone with several eggs, along with pickles, cold cuts, sausages, pig ears, a large chunk of braised pork head, and a bottle of liquor.
When the food was nearly ready, he went to check on the office.
"Done yet? If not, let’s eat first—the noodles will get soggy."
"Almost there!"
"Just a bit more… Done!"
One editor, sweat beading on his forehead, threw down his pen and grabbed a sheet of paper, announcing loudly:
"*World Fantasy Tales* inaugural issue, released January 1st—after exactly half a month, initial pre-orders totaled 30,000 copies. Additional orders from bookstores nationwide: 68,200 copies! Personal mail subscriptions: 2,092 copies! Our inaugural issue has surpassed 100,000 copies in total!"
"Clap clap clap—!"
Applause broke out spontaneously.
Chen Jianjun had said 70,000 to 80,000 copies would be excellent—100,000 was even better.
With the Spring Festival around the corner, it felt like a double celebration, filling the air with joy.
Chen Qi joined in the applause, smiling.
"Let’s eat! Dig in!"
(End of Chapter)