Chapter 27: Double Awards and Media Interviews
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Within a day, Yun Ding High School had two gold award winners of the New Concept Cup Essay Competition.
Discussion Essay Competition Champion, Han Han.
Narrative Essay Competition Champion, Guo Jingming.
Thanks to live broadcasting technology, the two writers became famous before they even walked out of the examination room.
The names of these two teenagers spread all over the country as well as the names of their winning works.
With the end of the competition and the announcement of the awards, these two articles were widely publicized by various media outlets.
It spread to all the major High Schools in the country.
It became a model essay that had to be memorized in full for morning and evening self-study.
Countless numbers of calls from publishing companies were made at the first moment, hoping to discuss the matter of these authors writing and publishing with them.
In addition, there were also reporters chasing after them.
One of them rushed to the front: "Han Han, Han Han, please wait, I am a reporter from Penguin Publishers. We just read your work in the examination room, "Peeping Through the Cup", and found that the article quoted from the classics, with almost every paragraph having a very rich quote. I can see that you have read far more than your peers. May I ask how you have managed all this? Is there any secret that you can share?"
Han Han said, "If I must say it, there are two secrets. One is not to only read Chinese books, and the other is not to read documents."
The reporter was stunned. "Then... then what should we read?"
Han Han said, "Read casual books. Our school's library has over a million books, and we can borrow them as we please. What I have read so far is only a drop in the ocean."
The reporter continued, "But did you know that in many schools, reading books that have nothing to do with your studies is considered to be reading 'casual books'? It's a sign that you're not doing your job properly. Regarding this, what do you think?"
Han Han replied, "The so-called formal books are books that are useless after July and after the college entrance examination. The so-called casual books are books that can be used for a lifetime. I want to thank Principal Fang Yuan for giving us a relaxed environment and encouraging us to develop according to our interests."
The reporter asked again, "But we also heard that your math, physics, and chemistry results in school are not ideal, and you often fail the exams. Is this a drawback of Yun Ding High School's education? Because the students are allowed to pursue what they love, it leads to a drop in grades in basic subjects...?"
Han Han replied, "This is the craziness of the contemporary education system. If a student was good at math, physics, Chinese, and English, and had zero marks in music, sports, and computer studies, and couldn't even turn on a computer, they would still be a top student. But if my music, sports, and computer studies skills were so good that it made people's hair stand on end, and I spoke Portuguese as if it was my mother tongue, but failed math, physics, and chemistry, I would be a poor student. Whether a student is good or bad depends on which subjects they take the Chinese College Entrance Exam. If they make the Chinese College Entrance Exam in Portuguese, do you think anyone will learn English?"
"I'm afraid not." replied the reporter.
"So, this has nothing to do with subjects. I still remember that Principal Fang Yuan taught us in the article on learning at the opening ceremony. He said, History makes men wise; poetry, witty; the mathematics, subtle; natural philosophy, deep; morals, grave; logic and rhetoric, able to contend. Abeunt studia in mores. It means that every subject can shape a certain aspect of a person. But I think that it's impossible for a person to be a generalist at the beginning. Rather than not achieving anything, it's better to let one or two subjects become outstanding first." sad Han Han.
The reporter held the microphone in his hand and was speechless for a long time.
"Is there anything else? If there's nothing else, I'll go back to the school cafeteria for dinner." asked Han Han.
[Hahahaha. Han Han, this young man has too much personality.]
[The reporter from Penguin Publishers was directly insulted to the point where he couldn't even use vulgarities.]
[How far a person can go depends on who he travels with; how outstanding a person is depends on who he has to guide him; how successful a person is depends on who he has to accompany him. I feel that Yun Ding High School is a place that can produce talents.]
[I agree with Principal Fang Yuan's point of view very much. Give students the necessary space, and their development may far exceed the imagination of teachers and parents.]
...
On the other side, Guo Jingming was invited by the publishing company to a coffee shop.
The other party was the famous Jingcheng Literature and Art Publishing House, which published the youth literature civilization.
Coincidentally, he saw the work "Fleeting Times" in the new concept composition competition.
Therefore, he made the first move in order to get ahead of the others and secure the contract for this book.
"Guo Jingming. Good afternoon. I Am Fei Yu, editor-in-chief of Jingcheng Literature and Art Publishing House. I saw your work on the live broadcast. Although this essay only has a few thousand words, it has already fully demonstrated your literary talent
"Therefore, our establishment hopes to sign a long-term contract with you to help you publish your first book in your life
"The conditions we offer are a 12% royalties-sharing contract. The first print run will be 12,000 copies.".
"You may not know much about publishing. Generally speaking, newbies can only get 6% to 10% of the royalties. If the first print run is 5,000 copies, it's already considered a priority target. The conditions given to you by the society must be very favorable.". I suggest you consider it carefully."
Guo Jingming's bright and beautiful eyes were still looking at the sky at a 45-degree angle.
Then, he slowly turned around and looked straight into the editor-in-chief's eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I can't."
"Why?"
Fei Yu was surprised. The Jingcheng Literature and Art Publishing House was an old and powerful establishment with great influence. It had quite a large share of the youth literature market.
The other rookies were crying and wanting to sign over.
"Compared to publishing works, what I'm after is more progress in literature. So..."
Fei Yu quickly said, "Our society has the best-selling authors, the winners of various literature awards, and even a senior editor who has been in the industry for thirty years. "If we're talking about literature, every one of them is an expert. Is there any place where they can get more guidance than here?"
Guo Jingming nodded. "In terms of literature, I only believe in Mr. Shakespeare of Yun Ding High School and the principal, Mr. Fang Yuan."
-- Gift
received