Revision

"Don't wash with cold water, pour in some hot water."

Old Mrs. Chen called out from inside the house. She had been watching outside from the window and saw Chen Weidong washing his face with cold water, so she immediately spoke up.

"I understand, Grandma."

Chen Weidong lifted the cotton curtain, went inside, took the kettle off the coal stove, poured some water into a basin, and washed his hair.

"There's breakfast your mother left for you in the pot, remember to eat it."

Old Mrs. Chen gave a reminder.

Chen Weidong nodded. "Where did my mother and the others go?"

"You went to the grocery store with your sister-in-law. They said they were going to buy some meat to make some dumplings for you."

Dumplings are a must-have food for every household at this time of year; they are usually only made during the Lunar New Year or other major holidays.

Chen Weidong nodded, finished his breakfast, took out the manuscript, and instead of writing it down immediately, read it again.

The document was filled with opinions discussed with Zhang Shouren yesterday. He reorganized his thoughts and then began to write them down bit by bit.

It felt like he was back in the period before the new year when he was revising his manuscript. It was particularly painful, but it was also the best way to improve an author's writing skills and basic abilities. He quickly became engrossed in it.

"Second Uncle, your handwriting is much better than my eldest brother's. What is it that you wrote?"

Chen Xiaoting ran in from outside, climbed onto the kang (a heated brick bed) as if he were a familiar person, stared at the paper, and, having not gone to school, felt that Chen Weidong's handwriting was better than Chen Xiaoteng's.

"Stop fooling around, get down now!"

Sister-in-law Chen scolded, saying that she wouldn't have cared in the past.

But ever since she learned yesterday that her brother-in-law had become a writer, she felt proud of him and couldn't let her son interfere with Chen Weidong.

"oh!"

Chen Xiaoting crawled backward.

"It's alright, sister-in-law."

Chen Weidong waved his hand and patted Chen Xiaoting's head.

"What? You like writing too?"

"dislike!"

Chen Xiaoting said firmly.

"Why?!"

Chen Weidong was somewhat surprised. He had expected Chen Xiaoting to say she liked him, but her answer was quite different from what he had anticipated.

"My older brother always makes a face when he writes, and sometimes the teacher even hits his palms. I don't want to write."

"Chen-Xiao-Ting!"

Chen Xiaoteng put down the rolling pin, his face flushed, and rushed towards Chen Xiaoting. He felt that his lifelong reputation was completely ruined in front of his second uncle, and he would definitely not be able to eat the peach shortbread and candy that his second uncle gave him in the future.

Chen Xiaoting nimbly dodged and, using her mother's body, ran out of the yard, with Chen Xiaoteng close behind.

Sister-in-law Chen's expression changed, and she gritted her teeth. If her mother-in-law and Chen Weidong hadn't been there, she would have given these two unruly...troublemakers a good beating on the spot and made them remember this.

"Xiao Rong, let's go to the east wing to make dumplings."

Chen's mother said to Chen's sister-in-law that she was very happy to see Chen Weidong working hard. If Chen Weidong's article hadn't been published yet, she would have definitely had a good talk with those acquaintances she met earlier.

"Mom, you can keep massaging here, I'm fine."

"No need, just focus on your writing."

After Chen's mother finished speaking, she took Chen's sister-in-law to the east wing.

"I'll go help you out. You can drink some water before you finish writing."

Grandma Chen slowly got off the kang (a heated brick bed), leaning on her cane. Her legs only hurt a little in winter or on rainy days, but she didn't need to use the cane at other times.

Making dumplings and cooking can still be helpful; as long as she can move, she doesn't want to sit around and eat for free.

"Okay, Grandma, I'll help you."

Chen Weidong escorted Old Lady Chen to the east wing and returned to the main room to continue his revision work.

He wanted to finish revising the document as soon as possible and go back home. Although he had only been away for a few days, he was already starting to miss Chen Xiaosui and the others.

……

"Grandma, I'm going out for a bit."

Chen Weidong tidied up the manuscript in his hand, said something to Old Mrs. Chen, and then went out.

After three days of hard work, the manuscript for "The Herdsman" was finally revised.

After leaving the alley, I hailed a rickshaw and soon arrived at the office of the October magazine.

This time, the old man at the door remembered him and didn't stop him.

"Editor Zhang."

"Comrade Weidong has arrived, please have a seat."

Zhang Shouren looked up and saw that it was Chen Weidong. He pulled over a chair from the side and said...

"This is the manuscript for 'The Herdsman,' which I have revised according to what we discussed the day before yesterday."

Chen Weidong handed over the manuscript.

So fast!?

Zhang Shouren was startled. He knew that when authors came to revise their manuscripts, even for a short story of a few thousand words, it would take ten days to half a month. This was considered fast.

"The Herdsman" is a novella, yet it was revised in just three days.

Could it be that Chen Weidong didn't make many changes and submitted it again?

This has happened before. Generally, after finishing their articles, authors are least willing to revise them. Sometimes, even changing a single word feels like a death sentence.

"Let me see, Comrade Weidong, you have some water first."

Zhang Shouren poured Chen Weidong a cup of hot water and began to read it. The more he read, the more alarmed he became. Not only had the manuscript been revised, but it had been revised remarkably well, essentially addressing all the issues the two had discussed last time.

That's incredibly fast!

Moreover, the handwriting is quite good; it truly reflects the person!

Not only are they good at writing stories, but they are also excellent at revising manuscripts!

"Editor Zhang, how did it go? Did it pass?"

Seeing Zhang Shouren raise his head, Chen Weidong put down his water glass and asked.

"That's excellent. Come on, I'll take you to the editor-in-chief and have her take a look."

Zhang Shouren still felt a little apologetic, feeling that he had wronged Chen Weidong earlier, so he wanted to get "The Herdsman" published in the newspaper as soon as possible.

The two arrived at the editor-in-chief's office, and Zhang Shouren gently knocked on the door.

"Please come in."

"Editor-in-chief, this is Chen Weidong, the author of 'The Horseman.' His manuscript has been revised and I think it is quite mature. Please take a look at it again."

Su Mao was somewhat surprised, because she had always thought of Zhang Shouren as mature, steady, and very disciplined.

This time, he not only brought the author directly to see him, but also praised him so much in front of the author, which made her very interested in the revised "The Herdsman".

"Comrade Weidong, please have a seat. Let me take a look first."

Su Mao addressed Chen Weidong and the other man. It was her first time meeting Chen Weidong, but the name was already familiar to her. Just a few days ago, she had heard Zhang Zhong'e in the office praise Chen Weidong as Xu Lingjun from the story.

She laughed it off at the time, but now that she saw Chen Weidong, she felt that the young man was indeed quite handsome, and his eyes occasionally revealed a sense of vicissitude, which was somewhat similar to Xu Lingjun.

Putting on his glasses, Su Mao slowly began to read.

Chen Weidong and Zhang Shouren exchanged a silent glance, and the room fell silent once again.

……

"It has indeed been refined considerably; the changes are quite good."

Su Mao put down the manuscript and said admiringly.

"Editor-in-chief, you don't know, I discussed this manuscript with Comrade Weidong the day before yesterday, and he has already revised it today."

Zhang Shouren said with some emotion, "Authors like Chen Weidong, who can write so fluently and in one go, are very rare."

……