At that moment.
Congratulatory phone calls came one after another.
Zhang Ye had taken first place for the Qilu Literature Prize!
The Qilu Literature Prize was also one of the highest literary prizes!
This award could be said to be perfect. It could be said to be the best of the best, the highest of the highest awards. There were no flaws at all. There was no honor higher than this in the domestic literary world!
Elder Qian called, "Congratulations, Little Zhang!"
Zhang Ye smiled and said, "You're not being nice, Elder Qian. If you knew my name was on the list, why didn't you tell me? My colleagues at the studio were so nervous that they thought I had nothing to do with it. But then again, how did I get first place for this year's Qilu Literature Prize? Who voted for me? "
Old Qian said, "Actually, I don't know. It's an anonymous vote. After the votes are cast, the sealed boxes are reported. There are people in charge, so it's not under the jurisdiction of our jury. I just heard from the radio that you got it, and you got first place."
"Thank you."
"You don't have to thank me. It's the books that are good."
"I'll treat you to a meal another day."
"Haha, alright, I'll be waiting."
Then, it was his mother's call. She sounded very excited.
"Son, you're the best!"
"Thanks, Mom."
"Your dad also congratulated you!"
"Alright, I'll continue to work hard."
Li Mei from Eastern Publishing House also called.
"Brother Zhang, let me congratulate you on behalf of the publishing firm. The leaders have asked me to convey their congratulations to you. Me too. You're really amazing!"
"Thanks."
"For the second edition, we can add the words' Qilu Literature Prize '. With the support of this most prestigious award in the literary world, Fortress Besieged will definitely sell like crazy!"
"Alright, you guys decide."
"I've already started. I'll show it to you after the cover is done."
"No need, I trust you."
"Thank you, Brother Zhang!"
More than a dozen calls came in!
Yao Jiancai, Zhang Xia, Dong Shanshan, Yu Yingyi, and many of his good friends congratulated him!
The news also came out at the same time!
"The Qilu Literature Prize nominees are out!"
"Zhang Ye reverses the trend and takes first place!"
"Zhang Ye ascends to the highest podium in the literary world!"
"The Yanhong Literary Prize gets a slap in the face!"
"The jury of the Yanhong Literary Prize expresses: No opinions!"
"Fortress Besieged — A Textbook of Marriage Literature!"
"Zhang Ye's face-slapping by the Yanhong Literary Prize jury: Are you going to ignore me today? Tomorrow, I'll make you unattainable! "
His Weibo was also flooded with congratulatory messages!
"This is too awesome!"
"He really took it down! He's still in first place! "
"Zhang Ye has ascended to the altar!"
"Another top award! Zhang Ye's popularity is going to soar again! "
"It's going to increase by quite a bit this time."
"There's nothing wrong with Fortress Besieged!
"That's right. Fortress Besieged could win every literary award in the country without a problem! Even if many people in the literary world had a grudge against Zhang Ye, this award had to be given to him! Let's not talk about this anymore. I'll quickly read it again. I won't be able to understand this book without reading it a few times! "
"So fast? I haven't finished reading yet! "
"I'm going to continue reading too! Congratulations, Lord Zhang! "
"Lord Zhang has not let us down!"
"The judges of the Yanhong Literary Prize are probably green in the face!"
"Hahaha, that bunch of idiots. Just thinking about the official explanation given by the Yanhong Literary Prize organizers at that time makes me want to laugh. Those people said that Zhang Ye was not qualified to win the Yanhong Literary Prize and came up with a bunch of reasons, like this and that, but what happened in the end? A few days later, their faces were slapped swollen by the Qilu Literature Prize! The Qilu Literature Prize is much more valuable than your Yanhong Literary Prize! The most prestigious literary award in the country has already recognized Zhang Ye, and it was even the first place winner, yet you guys are saying that Zhang Ye is not qualified to win the Yanhong Literary Prize? Are you kidding me?! "
"There was a quote in the news that said it very well! You're ignoring me today? Tomorrow, I'll make sure that you can't even reach me! Hahaha, awesome! "
"I have to give a Like to the Qilu Literature Prize. They must have been under a lot of pressure to award the award to Zhang Ye! Does this mean that the literary world has officially recognized Zhang Ye? "
"It doesn't matter if they acknowledge it or not. All I care about is whether I can buy a copy of Fortress Besieged tomorrow!"
"Me too. You guys are making it sound so weird, but I haven't even seen the book yet!"
"I'm dying of anxiety! Damn, I'll go line up early tomorrow morning! "
"Who still has a copy of the first edition of Fortress Besieged? I'll buy it at a high price! "
"I'd advise everyone not to rush to buy it. Let's see if you like it first. After all, not everyone can accept a purely literary work. Not everyone might understand it."
"Damn, this is the first place winner of the Qilu Literature Prize. I have to read it even if I don't understand it!"
"Most people can't even buy a copy these days!"
The people were heatedly discussing it!
The news was overwhelming!
The industry was also responding to the news!
Some of the industry peers were highly appreciative and amazed of Fortress Besieged. A lot of analysis of the plot and text of Fortress Besieged was also released. Of course, there was no lack of criticism as well. A few authors who had always looked down on Zhang Ye joined forces and started nitpicking. Among them were even two longtime judges of the Yanhong Literary Prize. However, no one took their words seriously. A lot of the people couldn't even be bothered with them. Since the Qilu Literature Prize had already recognized Zhang Ye, there was no point in these people harping on him!
Why did they give the award to him?
There was no why!
The truth was that they had given it to him!
...
On the same night.
The Qilu Literature Prize money arrived. It was 500,000 RMB, no more and no less.
The five Qilu Literature Prize winners were all "visited" by the media reporters without exception. Among them, Zhang Ye was of course the one who received the most "special attention."
The studio entrance was blocked by reporters!
"Teacher Zhang!"
"Are you there?"
"We're reporters from the Morning Post!"
"We're reporters from Beijing Television!"
"Please accept our interview!"
The door was not opened, but it could still be heard from inside.
Ha Qiqi smiled and said, "Director Zhang, do you want me to handle them?"
"Alright, I'll take my leave then." Zhang Ye was still on the phone. As he spoke on the phone, he went upstairs with a smile. "Thank you for your concern, Teacher Su. Yes, the reporters are here."
When the door opened, Little Wang invited the reporters in.
Ha Qiqi smiled. "Hello, everyone. Director Zhang has some matters to attend to. I'm the external affairs manager of Zhang Ye's Studio, so you can ask me if you have any questions."
The reporters immediately fired their cameras at her!
A Beijing Times reporter said, "Let's first congratulate Teacher Zhang on winning the highest honor in literature!"
Ha Qiqi nodded. "Thank you."
A reporter quickly asked, "What are your expectations for the sales of Fortress Besieged?"
Ha Qiqi shook her head and said, "We really don't have any expectations. We just want to do what needs to be done, and that's all that matters. Director Zhang's exact words were to sell as much as he could. This book was actually Director Zhang's first attempt at transitioning from a commercial novel to a pure literary novel. We didn't expect it to be recognized by the Qilu Literature Prize either."
A female reporter held up a recording pen and asked, "We would like to know what the creative process of such a literary work was like. How long did Teacher Zhang take to conceive this? How many years of creative time? Did you encounter any bottlenecks that you couldn't continue writing? "
Creative process?
How many years of creative time?
Ha Qiqi thickened her skin and said, "The creative process was very difficult."
The female reporter asked curiously, "How difficult?"
Ha Qiqi cleared her throat. "It was especially difficult."
Another television station reporter followed up, "Then how difficult was it?"
Ha Qiqi said without batting an eyelid, "The process is not to be told to outsiders. In any case, it was extremely, extremely difficult."
The corners of Little Wang's mouth twitched!
Wu Yi pretended to drink water and nearly choked!
At this moment, the studio's staff nearly cramped up with laughter!
Extremely difficult?
Extremely difficult, my ass!
Extremely difficult, my ass!
How was it difficult? When was there a bottleneck that you couldn't continue writing? Director Zhang shut himself in for less than two days and casually finished writing it. He didn't even fix any typos before tossing it to the publishing firm. If this was considered extremely difficult, then what could it not be?
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