Red Moscow

Chapter 2474

 From Vladimir to Moscow, there is only one stop in the middle, and the stopping time is less than five minutes. Therefore, the train that Sokov and Werner took took only two hours and thirty-eight minutes to arrive at the Moscow train station.

When getting out of the car, Sokov asked Werner curiously: "Comrade screenwriter, how do we get to the publishing house?"

“Before I came back, I had asked the studio to arrange for someone to pick me up.” Werner replied: “Comrade General, you can ride with me to the publishing house.”

 Sokov knew very well that there was no subway near the train station, only buses and trams, and he had to transfer twice to reach the publishing house. And if you take a special car from the studio, you can reach your destination quickly. Thinking of this, he nodded and said: "Okay, comrade screenwriter, then I will take advantage of you and give you a ride!"

As soon as the two walked out of the station, a middle-aged man who looked like a driver came over and greeted Werner: "Hello, comrade screenwriter! Welcome back to Moscow. I parked the car on the side of the road. Please come with me. !”

Soon, the three of them got into a black car parked on the roadside.

After the driver closed the door, he turned around and asked Werner, who was sitting in the back seat: "Comrade screenwriter, shall we go back to the studio now?"

“We won’t go back for the time being.” Werner shook his head and said, “Please take us to the National Literary Publishing House.”

Hearing that he was going to the publishing house, the driver had a surprised expression on his face, but he didn't ask anything, started the car and drove in the direction of the publishing house.

"Comrade General, let me introduce the situation to you." Werner said to Sokov: "The publishing house was established in 1930. Its original name was the National Literature and Art Publishing House. In 1934, it was renamed the National Literature and Art Publishing House. The chief editor was named Xie Keluo is an old friend of mine, and I will take you to see him. As long as he nods to this matter, the publishing work will soon be scheduled."

The car soon arrived at the door of the National Literary Publishing House, a tall stone building. There were two sentries standing guard at the door. When they saw Sokov getting out of the car, they immediately stood at attention and turned to him. Perform a gun salute. Sokov raised his hand to his forehead, returned the salute to the two, and followed Werner into the building.

After the two entered the building, Sokov asked Werner curiously: "Comrade screenwriter, why are there soldiers standing guard at the door of the publishing house?"

"The publishing house is an important department, so security is naturally very strict." Werner told Sokov: "During the war, not only were sentries standing guard at the door, but there were also sandbag fortifications on both sides of the door, and even the windows on the street side. There are also several machine guns mounted on the street to block the street in front of the publishing house. Now that the war is over, the security force has been greatly reduced, so that there are only two sentries at the door."

Soon, Werner walked into a room. He quickly came to a female secretary and asked politely: "I am Werner, a good friend of your editor-in-chief Xie Keluo. Is he in the office? "

"Yes, Comrade Werner." The female secretary nodded and said, "Wait a moment, he is on the phone inside."

Unexpectedly, after Werner listened, he turned to Sokov and said, "Comrade General, let's go in."

"But," Sokov heard what the female secretary said and said a little embarrassedly: "Didn't this girl say that Editor-in-Chief Xie Keluo was on the phone?"

"Yes, he is on the phone." Werner said carelessly: "But we can go in and sit down first. After he finishes the phone call, we can talk about things directly." After that, he opened the door and left. Go in.

Seeing that Werner had already entered an office inside, it was obviously inappropriate for Sokov to stay here any longer. He smiled apologetically at the female secretary and followed her in. As soon as he entered, he closed the door.

There is a desk directly opposite the door, and behind the desk sits a half-bald middle-aged man, holding a microphone in his hand and speaking loudly: "...I have already talked with Comrade Fadeev. The novel will be completed tomorrow, and you have to arrange the printing of the novel in advance..."

The middle-aged man mentioned Fadeev, which made Sokov raise his eyebrows. Could it be that the Fadeev he mentioned was the one who wrote "The Young Guards"? In my own impression, this book seems to have been published during this time period.

After another round of phone calls, the middle-aged man put down the phone, stood up, walked around the desk, walked up to Werner, shook hands with him, and said with a smile: "Werner, didn't you go to Vladimir? Did you come back in time?"

"I came directly to you as soon as I got off the train." After that, he pulled the middle-aged man to Sokov and continued: "Xie Keluo, let me introduce to you. This is Sokov. General Cove, I came here with him. Comrade General, this is Xie Keluo, the editor-in-chief of the publishing house."

“Hello, Comrade Editor-in-Chief.” Sokov waited for Werner to finish speaking, then took the initiative to extend his hand to Shekoro and said in a friendly tone: “Nice to meet you.”

"Hello, Comrade General." Knowing that Sokov came specifically to see him, Xie Keluo couldn't help but murmured in his heart. He didn't seem to know this general. What was he doing to see him? With such doubts, he asked tentatively: "I wonder what you want to see me for?"

Before Sokov could speak, Werner rushed to say: "Sekoro, General Sokov has written a novel and hopes to publish it. For this reason, I specially brought him here to see you."

Unexpectedly, as soon as Werner finished speaking, Shekoro's expression became cold. He looked at Sokov and asked in a polite and distant tone: "Comrade General, I wonder which university you graduated from?"

 Among the universities in Moscow, Sokov knows only the most famous Moscow University and Friendship University.

The full name of Moscow State University is Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov Moscow State University, also known as Moscow State Lomonosov University. It was founded in 1755 by the tsarist Russian educator Mikhail Vasily Initiated and founded by Viktor Lomonosov, it is the largest and oldest comprehensive research institution of higher learning in the Russian Federation, a top and world-famous institution of higher learning in Europe, the International Public University Forum, the Alliance of European Capital Universities, the European Member of University Association.

The Friendship University, the full name of the Russian People's Friendship University, is one of the famous national comprehensive universities in Russia. The school was founded in 1960. It is an emerging and famous institution focusing on the study of international relations and world culture. It is known as "The cradle of world statesmen". However, Sokov only knew about the two schools, but did not attend them. Therefore, when he heard Xie Keluo's question, he could only answer awkwardly: "I'm sorry, Comrade Editor-in-Chief, I haven't attended them." University!"

 Learning that Sokov had not gone to college, a look of contempt flashed in Xiekoro's eyes, and he then asked: "I wonder if you have any creative experience before, or have you published works in any journals?"

"No, I have never published any works." Sokov replied simply: "This is the first time I write."

"Comrade General, please forgive me." After understanding Sokov's general situation, Shekolo said in a polite tone: "Writing is different from commanding operations. Maybe you are an excellent general, but it does not mean that you You can be a good writer.”

"Comrade Editor-in-Chief, I agree with your statement." Sokov agreed with Shekoro's statement: "Every line is like a mountain. A good general may not necessarily become a good writer. Likewise, a good writer cannot You may not necessarily become an excellent general. However, there are exceptions to everything. Please read my manuscript first and then discuss whether there is a possibility of my book being published, okay?" After saying that, he took something out of the briefcase he was carrying. After publishing the manuscript, he held it in both hands and handed it to Xie Keluo.

But Xie Keluo did not reach out to pick it up. Instead, he said tactfully: "Comrade General, it is a good thing that you want to learn writing. But some things cannot be achieved in one step and need to accumulate over time. I suggest that you use two to three years of practice to learn writing." Take time to learn how to write, and then start creating when you have a sufficient foundation in writing. That way, you have a greater chance of success."

Facing Shekoro's indifference, Werner couldn't stand it anymore. He grabbed the manuscript from Sokov's hand, forced it into Shekoro's hand, and said in a rude tone: "I said Xie Keluo, don’t make the mistake of empiricism. Please tell me about General Sokov’s writing level after reading this manuscript.”

“Yes, Comrade Editor-in-Chief.” Sokov said next to him: “If you say that this book is not well written after reading it, I will immediately turn away and leave, and I will never pester you again.”

To be fair, Xie Keluo didn't think Sokov could write any good works, but considering the identity of the other party and for Werner's face, he could only reluctantly say: "Werner, for your sake , I can read one-tenth of the content first, and if it doesn’t suit my liking, I won’t care about our friendship.”

Werner, who had read the manuscript a long time ago, nodded when he heard what Xie Keluo said and agreed to the other party's proposal: "Xie Keluo, if you read one-tenth of the book and think this book is not good, what are we going to do?" Don’t say anything, just take your things and leave. Okay?”

After the two parties reached a consensus, Xie Keluo returned to his desk and sat down, opened the book and started browsing.

 At the beginning, he was a little absent-minded and had a completely perfunctory attitude. But as he read it, he was attracted by the plot in the book. Half an hour later, he had finished reading one-tenth of the content he planned to read, but he still held the manuscript and continued reading.

Seeing this, Werner turned and smiled at Sokov, indicating to him that the matter was already settled.

 A few minutes later, Werner coughed heavily, interrupting Xie Keluo's reading. After the other party raised his head, he said deliberately: "I say Xie Keluo, you should have read one-tenth of the content. Now you can return the manuscript to us, and we will leave immediately." After that, he stood up. He stood up and at the same time winked at Sokov, gesturing for him to follow his example and stand up.

Sure enough, when Sokov also stood up, Xie Keluo panicked. Because the reading just now made him fully understand that although the general in front of him was writing a book for the first time, the quality of the book was not bad at all. If published, it might become a popular bestseller. At this moment, his attitude towards Sokov has undergone a 180-degree turn. If just now he was still thinking about how to drive Sokov away, now he is eager for him to stay and have a good talk with him about creation. ideas.

"Comrade General, I was so rude just now, please don't mind." Xie Keluo said to Sokov respectfully: "I really didn't expect that it was your first time to write a novel, and you actually wrote it so wonderfully. You must have Writing talent.”

"Sekoro," Werner said proudly when he saw his friend's attitude toward Sokov changed: "When I went to Vladimir, the deputy director Comrade Eisenstein asked me to go find General Sokov. Reports said that I would help him adapt the novel into a movie script. To be honest, I was quite reluctant at the time. Just like you, a general commanding a battle may be a good person, but when it comes to writing novels, then He is an out-and-out layman. But when I read this book written by the general, I was immediately stunned. I never expected that a general who has experienced many battles can also create such wonderful works."

"Yes, yes, Werner, you are right." Xie Keluo nodded vigorously and agreed: "After reading the book written by the general, I realized that I was looking at people through colored glasses and almost missed a person. Excellent writer. Originally we already had a good writer, and now we have a writer like General. When we review it at the end of the year, the publishing results will be quite good."

“The other excellent writer you mentioned is the Fadeev you just mentioned, right?”

 “That’s right, it’s him.”

“Comrade Editor-in-Chief,” Sokov couldn’t help but interject after hearing this, “Is the novel written by this Comrade Fadeev the Young Guards?”

After hearing this, Shekoro's eyes widened in surprise: "Comrade General, how do you know? Yes, the novel written by Comrade Fadeev is "The Young Guards"."

"I've heard it said before," Sokov said: "In February and March of this year, this book was serialized in the "Flag" magazine. In early April, "Komsomolskaya Pravda" also started serializing it from the 83rd issue. I think you may have just been arranging the issue of a separate volume."

"You are right, Comrade General." Xie Keluo approved Sokov's speculation: "After this book was serialized in newspapers and magazines, its results have been very good. In order to facilitate more readers to read this good book, Book, I specially organized manpower to prepare a single book for publication."

"I have read this book and I know some of its content." Sokov said to Werner: ""The Young Guards" is a patriotic heroic epic. The novel is divided into two parts: the first part describes July 1942. The scene when the German invaders invaded the city of Krasnorton and the local residents retreated; the lower part describes a series of struggles launched by the 'Young Guards' under the leadership of the state senior official Prokhenko and the district senior official Liu Dikov against the enemy."

“Comrade General.” After hearing what Sokov said, Shekolo knew that he had really read the book, so he asked tentatively: “Do you like this book?”

"The story is quite well written, but I don't like the ending very much." Sokov remembered that the young resisters finally fell into the hands of the Germans and were all killed. He shook his head and said, "If they can Surviving until the day of victory is the most ideal happy ending. Unfortunately, they all fell under the German butcher knife in the end."

 (End of this chapter)