Chapter 00040: Story Collection
# Story Collection
Chapter 40
Novel: 1979 Golden Age
Chapter 40: Story Collection
"Knock, knock, knock!"
He stood at the door of the upstairs room and knocked three times.
The noise inside the room suddenly stopped, followed by a creak as the door was pulled open, revealing a pretty face without any makeup.
"Comrade Xiao Chen!"
Gong Xue was wearing a sleeveless white dress and a pair of white high heels.
There was a hint of shyness and panic in her eyes, as if she had been secretly doing something in the room.
"Oh, you live upstairs from me?" Chen Qi really didn't know.
"Yes, do you need something from me?"
"I was just trying to write something, but I heard some noise upstairs, so I came to check."
"Ah! I'm so sorry for disturbing you!"
"No worries, no worries. I was just curious, what were you doing in the room?"
"I..."
Gong Xue's face turned slightly red as she whispered, "I was practicing walking in high heels. I've never worn them before."
"Oh, that's something you need to practice. If you're not used to it, it's like walking on stilts, and you can easily twist your ankle."
"I'm sorry, I won't practice in the room anymore."
"No worries, no worries. You make it sound like I'm being petty. Alright, I'll head back now..."
Just as Chen Qi was about to turn around, he suddenly remembered something and asked, "By the way, you're from Shanghai, right? Do you know if there's a magazine there called 'Story Collection'?"
"'Story Collection'?"
Gong Xue thought for a moment and said, "Are you talking about 'Revolutionary Story Collection'?"
"Are they the same thing?"
"I think so. I remember reading 'Story Collection' when I was a kid, and later it changed to 'Revolutionary Story Collection.'"
"Do you know if the magazine is still around? I mean, do they accept submissions for popular fiction?"
"I'm not sure, but I can ask around for you. Are you in a hurry?"
"No rush, thanks in advance!"
The two chatted at the door for a while.
Chen Qi didn't dare to enter the room, and Gong Xue certainly wouldn't invite him in.
At her age and my age, there are things that can be said but not heard.
Gossip can be deadly, and once it's out, it's hard to clear your name.
I have to be careful about this...
Chen Qi patted his face and quickly left.
Gong Xue closed the door and quietly took off her shoes.
After just a short walk, her foot had twisted a bit and was hurting.
She sat down at the table, gently massaging her ankle with one hand while picking up a pen and paper with the other to write a letter to her parents.
Her family was in Shanghai, so it would be easy for her to find out some information.
...
After the reform and opening-up, the environment for literary creation gradually relaxed.
Central and provincial-level literary journals were revived, and local areas also started their own magazines.
Even county-level units began publishing magazines.
From the late 1970s to the early 1980s, a magazine craze swept the nation.
During this period, it was easy to start a magazine—any organization could do it.
By 1981, there were 634 literary magazines nationwide.
However, the mainstream literary scene was still dominated by large journals like "People's Literature," "Sprouts," and "Harvest."
These journals pursued serious literature, emphasizing deep thought, strong literary quality, and reflecting the times...
There was nothing wrong with that.
But just like in the music and film industries, over time, some people naturally saw themselves as the representatives of the mainstream, looking down on newcomers and defining who was mainstream and who wasn't.
That said, the sheer number of magazines of varying quality created chaos in the market.
First, it greatly squeezed the space for mainstream magazines, meaning their sales dropped.
Second, it wasted paper—this wasn't a joke, as everything was in short supply at the time, including paper.
As a result, the authorities first cleaned up a batch of low-quality local magazines, and in 1984, they issued a regulation: these magazines had to be self-sufficient and would no longer receive funding.
To survive, these local magazines turned to popular literature, publishing martial arts, romance, and thriller novels.
This led to the flourishing of popular literature in the 1980s.
Of course, that hadn't happened yet.
At the moment, 99% of the magazines were focused on serious literature.
If there was a 1% exception, it could only be "Story Collection"!
"Reader," "Zhiyin," "Yilin," and "Youth Digest" were known as the four great literary magazines of the reform era.
Why wasn't "Story Collection" included? Because "Story Collection" was above them.
It had set a record for single-issue sales of 7.6 million copies, reaching the peak of single-issue circulation for magazines worldwide.
Before 2000, it averaged 4 million copies per issue.
Even today, when many people thought it had already faded away, it still maintained a monthly circulation of 500,000 to 600,000 copies.
Chen Qi didn't think submitting to "Story Collection" was lowbrow.
In fact, he quite liked it.
Now, back in his room, the upstairs had gone quiet.
Sitting at his desk, he continued to organize his thoughts.
He wanted to write a martial arts novel, but at the time, the term "martial arts" wasn't popular—it was called "action."
"'A Step into the Past' or 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes'? Too risque, and they're so long—I can't remember all that!"
"The abandoned disciple of Qingyun Sect, Old Demon Han? That's more about cultivation. Maybe in a few years."
"'Ghost Blows Out the Light'? I might get shot for five minutes for encouraging tomb raiding!"
"Shaolin Temple?"
The name suddenly popped into his head, and he fell into deep thought.
"Shaolin Temple" was probably already in the works, so it wouldn't be good to write about that, but he could still explore the Shaolin Temple theme.
There were many behind-the-scenes stories about "Shaolin Temple," and while Chen Qi couldn't get involved now, he was determined to be part of it because the film would be very useful!!
He didn't know what Gong Xue would find out, but he decided to start writing anyway.
With that thought, he picked up his pen and began writing.
The sound of his pen scratching on paper echoed under the light.
...
"Over here, over here, hurry up!"
"Excuse me, ma'am, could you move aside a bit? We're about to start filming!"
Three days later, the "Romance on Lushan Mountain" film crew officially began shooting.
Of course, in this era, there were no Hong Kong gang rituals like burning incense or offering pig heads.
Chen Qi felt bad just sitting around, so he came over to help move equipment and such.
Lushan Mountain was home to the famous White Deer Grotto Academy, where Zhu Xi had once promoted education.
The academy had a stream with rushing, turbulent waters, and a large rock lay across it, known as the Pillow Rock.
There was also a bridge over the stream, called the Pillow Bridge.
The words "Pillow Stream" were inscribed by Zhu Xi himself.
The crew only had one camera, which might seem shabby, but considering that the Beijing Film Studio had to shoot several films a year, sometimes simultaneously, having one camera per film was actually quite luxurious.
"The Journey to the West" was truly pitiful—they managed to shoot 25 episodes with just one camera.
"It's really hot today! Even in the mountains, it's not cool."
After moving some equipment, Chen Qi stood on the bridge wiping his sweat.
A crew member laughed and said, "There's no shade here, of course it's hot."
"There are trees over there. I'll go cool off in a bit... Hey, that mountain peak looks interesting."
He pointed to a peak to the north, which had a unique shape, resembling five old men sitting on the ground.
"Oh, that's Five Old Men Peak!"
"Five Old Men Peak?"
Chen Qi scratched his head.
Why did that sound so familiar?
After a moment, he remembered—oh, that's where Shun's master, Dohko, was stationed in "Saint Seiya."
A skinny old man who could transform into the Gold Saint of Libra!
Speaking of which, Shun wasn't much use in a fight—he always went for the eyes.
Andromeda was always looking for his brother, Hyoga was always thinking about his mom, Seiya was Athena's biggest simp, but Ikki was the strongest!
"Alright, let's get ready!"
"Let's run through it first!"
Film was expensive, so they had to save as much as possible.
They would rehearse several times before actually shooting to make sure everything was perfect.
Today's scene was about the first meeting between the male and female leads.
Zhou Yun comes to Lushan Mountain for fun and stands on the bridge, trying to take a photo of the Pillow Rock.
But Geng Hua accidentally walks into her shot, and they have their first conversation...
First, they shot Tang Guoqiang's scene.
He was wearing a long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up, paired with army green pants and black cloth shoes.
With his experience, he walked over with a book and sat on the Pillow Rock to read.
"Good, that's a wrap!"
It went smoothly, and Wang Haowei nodded in satisfaction, shouting, "Gong Xue, get ready!"
Gong Xue was visibly nervous.
She was wearing a light purple blouse with floral patterns and puffed sleeves, red bell-bottom pants, high heels, and a small Western-style hat.
Her naturally wavy hair had been permed to make the waves more pronounced.
As the saying goes, clothes make the man.
With this outfit, she looked quite fashionable—a kind of fashion that appealed to Chinese tastes, not the American kind associated with drugs, promiscuity, rock music, and biker gangs.
"Let's run through it first!"
"Ready, 3, 2, 1!"
Gong Xue carried a bag and held a map, looking around as she searched for the Pillow Rock.
She was supposed to walk down a small path, cross the bridge, and glance at the rock.
That was the shot.
But as she walked in her high heels, Wang Haowei frowned.
After a few more steps, she called out, "Cut! Cut!"
"Gong Xue, what are you doing?"
(Thanks to cry疯子 and 听说五月会有极光 for their support!
That's all for this chapter...)