(My royalties for public accounts are usually paid on WeChat)
More than 40 years ago, I was born into an ordinary peasant family. Although my family is not wealthy, my parents attach great importance to education. Especially my father, he is a veteran high school student and became a village cadre after leaving school at the age of 20. My father likes to read classics and historical books, and because of this, when I was seven or eight years old, I began to "gnaw" with a little knowledge of "The Five Thousand Years of China", "Journey to the West" and other tomes.
Because I am obsessed with literature, I have been among the best in Chinese since I was a child, while mathematics has become a weak point. Just when my parents were trying to help me reverse my bias towards science, my father suffered from liver cancer.
When I was 10 to 12 years old, my parents were constantly on the road seeking medical treatment, and my younger brother and I relied on my grandfather to take care of us. In the past three years, because no one helped me with math tutoring, my partiality in subjects became more and more serious.
When I was 12 years old, my father passed away due to illness, and I became more introverted and withdrawn. Since I had nowhere to distract my mind, I wrote diaries and essays to record my life and express my emotions.
(The New Civil Code is a must-have book for me to write emotional stories)
Since I have read more books than other rural children since I was a child, my literary background is also deeper than theirs. While they were racking their brains to write their essays and couldn't get started, I had repeatedly submitted articles to the Provincial Composition and Guidance Newspaper.
Due to my partial focus on subjects in primary school, my grades in mathematics, physics and chemistry were never satisfactory after I entered middle school. However, I am a "one-legged phoenix". Every school composition competition and activity planning are my opportunities to shine.
When I was in my third year of high school, my house was demolished in my hometown because of the widening of the national highway. In those days, there was no compensation for demolition, and only homestead sites were allocated to the residents on the original site.
Seeing my bungalow being demolished into ruins, the three of us, mother and son, wanted to cry without tears. My mother sold all the livestock and food at home and built two small tile houses on the newly approved homestead. We finally had a place to stay.
After selling out all the food, food and clothing for the whole family became a problem. How could they still have money to go to school? So my brother and I both dropped out of school and soon joined the craze of going south to work.
(In order to submit a magazine, I bought a bunch of magazines to study)
In the factory, I worked day and night, hoping to make more money and build a new building at home as soon as possible. When not working overtime in the evening, all the workers went to the night market and the skating rink. I was the only one who hid in the workers’ dormitory reading and writing. (Those books were expired magazines that I bought cheaply from street stalls, including "Reader", " Yilin ", " Foshan Literature and Art ", etc.)
The genres I tried at that time included poetry, prose, and novels. . In the past two years, I wrote more than 180 poems when I was not working the night shift, and compiled them into a collection of poems. I also wrote the first novella in my writing history: "The Mistake".
At that time, I already knew how to find submission channels, but it was paper submission at that time, and it took a long time to wait for a reply.
I classified the poems I wrote and submitted them to some magazines, and then submitted the novella to a magazine in Jiangxi called "zalea". But full of expectations, what I waited for was the rejection from the editor of "Azalea". However, the editor responded sincerely, saying that my manuscript was too long, that no column in their magazine could accommodate it, and that there was no precedent for serializing it in installments. The editor also encouraged me to keep working hard and make my writing more mature.
It was the editor’s encouragement that made me become more courageous with every setback. Soon, I saw the light of day on the road to submission: four of my poems were published in the "Colorful Sun Youth Lyrical Poetry Anthology".
(In 2019, I have frequently published articles on multiple platforms)
I didn’t know about this at the time. It was my mother who asked me on the phone why there were so many people sending me letters. Only then did I find out that that poetry anthology had published four of my poems, along with the author’s address, name and postal code, so letters from readers from all over the country came to my home like snowflakes. Among those letters from readers, some wanted to discuss writing, while others admired me and wanted to make friends of the opposite sex.
When I finished reading the more than one hundred letters sent by my mother, although I was a little excited, I was still very rational. I only selected four or five worthy people to become pen pals, and ignored the rest. Later, there was a special reader’s letter that made me feel a little inflated: the letter was from “Star Poetry Magazine”, and the general content of the letter was to invite me to be their special correspondent. You know, this is , a well-known old poetry magazine in the country. This made me feel that I might be about to jump over the dragon's door.
I began to think about it, looking forward to the "grand blueprint" for the future, and then told my mother the good news that "Stars Poetry Magazine" had given me an "olive branch". My mother was very supportive and asked me to come back to discuss the matter.
She thinks that I will never have a way out by working part-time. Since I have the talent for writing, and now Bole appears, why not go to "Xingxing Poetry Magazine" in Chengdu, Sichuan to have a try? If it succeeds, it can be regarded as a turn of fortune.
Of course, my mother also considered what I would do if this trip failed. I said that in the worst case, I would switch back to work in , Shantou, , but my mother had other plans.
(In 2019, Chicken Soup Hot Topic began to request manuscripts from me)
She told me that my sixth grandfather joined the army in his early years and left his hometown. Later, he became a military doctor and settled in Dali City, Yunnan Province. Since my sixth grandpa was raised by his eldest brother and sister-in-law (my grandparents) when he was young, he always remembers this kindness. Although he has never been able to return to his hometown, he always conveys his thoughts through letters from home, and also tells his nephews and nieces to come to him if they have any difficulties.
For decades, my mother and uncles had not asked Grandpa Six for help. When I went to Chengdu this time, my mother planned an escape route for me: If I failed to find a job, I would go to Dali, Yunnan to find my sixth grandfather and ask them to help me find a job.
In order to pay for this long journey, my mother sold three sheep to collect 900 yuan for me (900 yuan was enough for the fare from Nanyang to Dali, Yunnan). He also asked me to memorize the genealogy of my grandfather’s family and bring back the family letters sent by my sixth grandfather, which can be used as evidence of identity when identifying relatives.
Then I packed up my clothes and my books and unpublished works and set off. Unexpectedly, I was in danger twice during this trip: the first time, when I was waiting for the midnight train at the train station square in transit, I was sleeping on my luggage and my trouser pocket was cut by a thief. Fortunately, I was awakened and the thief did not succeed.
Finally arrived in Chengdu. After some inquiries, he found the address of "Star Poetry Magazine" and climbed to the fifth floor carrying his heavy luggage. When the editor saw that the person they invited was actually a rustic rural girl, he was a little surprised, but he still poured me tea politely.
(This is the issue of the magazine where I published " Women's Life ")
After getting to know it, I found out that they were recruiting interns, and the salary was only 300 yuan. I was working in Shantou at that time, and I already had a salary of 700 to 800 yuan. I was a little hesitant, but I wasn't willing to go through the motions. So he volunteered to show his collection of poems to the editors and asked them if there were any that could be used. The editor browsed it and said that since there were so many poems, a collection of poems could be published. I was overjoyed at the time and thought I was finally in luck. When the editor finished the second half of the sentence, I was disappointed again. It turned out that what he said was that I would spend 30,000 yuan at my own expense, and they would print and publish 3,000 copies for me. Subsequent sales of the book are still the author's own business.
I am so frustrated! Don't say I don't have 30,000 yuan. Even if I did, I wouldn't be able to do such a risky thing. If the poetry collection doesn’t sell, wouldn’t I just buy a bunch of waste paper for 30,000 yuan?
I was extremely upset and had to implement the second step of my plan: move to Dali, Yunnan. After changing trains several times, I came to Dali City . Unexpectedly, I encountered more thrills:
(This is the issue of the magazine where I published the article "Marriage and Family")
After I got off the train, I was near the train station. While eating at a small food stall, my luggage was stolen by a thief in the blink of an eye.
I was so anxious that I almost shed tears, because all my belongings (including proof of family recognition, and ID card ) were all placed in my travel bag. I only have a few dozen yuan in change. If I can't find my sixth grandpa, I will be desperate.
Fortunately, I remembered the address where my sixth grandpa sent home letters, so I took a small three-wheeler to look for it. Who would have thought that after so many years, Grandpa Six and his family had already moved away. I was nervous and worried, squatting on the side of the road, racking my brains to think of a solution. Later, a man with ill intentions saw me looking tired and lost, so he smiled evilly and came over to strike up a conversation. He even pretended to be kind and wanted to treat me to dinner.
Although I was young at that time, I could tell good and evil by looking at people's faces and the way they spoke. I ignored it and ducked away from the gangster.
(Under my training, my daughter won the National Middle School Student New Composition Competition Winning Prize )
Later I thought: I can go to the local household registration office to check my grandfather’s current address, so I went straight there. Unexpectedly, it was Saturday, and they had a weekend holiday. If I can't find Grandpa Six, I will face the fate of wandering away. I can't help but feel horrified thinking about the harassment I just suffered from the gangsters.
I thought: I have to find a way to find a job and solve the temporary problem of food and accommodation. But I also considered that the working environment must be safe. After observing for a long time along the way, I decided to work for an old couple who ran a snack bar because they seemed kind-hearted and not like bad people. I also bluntly told them my difficulties. I wanted to work here for two days for free and just have a place to stay.
The old couple were very kind and agreed to my request. On Monday, I contacted my sixth grandfather’s daughter through the staff at the household registration office. She was dubious about my identity, but she still took me back. Although there was no evidence of identification, I was able to tell the names of all my relatives and the past events, so Grandpa Six and his family believed me.
(Nowadays, I still publish frequently on multiple platforms)
But here comes the next difficulty: Auntie said that Dali City is a border city, and the border defense certificate of immigrants is checked every three days to prevent illegal immigrants. I don't have an ID and living here will get them into trouble. Moreover, Yunnan is not as prosperous as coastal cities, and jobs are hard to find. The aunt said: "How about I give you travel expenses and you go back to your hometown!"
I got nothing from this trip and wasted 900 yuan in travel expenses. How can I have the honor to see my mother when I go back to my hometown? So I decided to switch back to Shantou where I worked before. My aunt gave me my travel expenses to Shantou and two pairs of clothes. After thanking me profusely, I set off on a new journey again.
After this adventure, I no longer dare to aim too high. Although I still love writing, I have become very pragmatic.
Later I got married, and because of housework and raising my daughter to study, I had less time to write. But I never stopped. In those years, I still contributed articles, and occasionally appeared in some newspapers, but I didn't receive much royalties.
Later I entered a private school to teach Chinese. Due to my own literary talent, the grades of the classes I teach are always at the top of the grade. Especially in the area of writing, I have tutored many students who have taken composition and , and have won many awards in county and municipal composition competitions. I have also been rated as an outstanding instructor.
(A Bole account owner first made a deposit of 1,000 yuan to request a manuscript from me, without requiring the number of articles)
It was also during these years of teaching that I began to develop in public accounts and magazines. I go to work during the day, and when I return to the dormitory after my self-study class every night, I have to read or write for two or three hours. And I have kept this habit to this day. It can be said that there is not a day without reading or writing.
After the economic conditions improved, I also bought various books that were helpful for writing, such as the Civil Code for writing stories, classics and Chinese studies books for writing opinion pieces. I even bought sets of magazines to study in order to capture them.
I either read magazines or public account articles every night, or write articles. Through reading, breaking down articles, appreciating, imitating, and practicing writing, I have successively mastered the writing methods of opinion articles, chicken soup articles, hot topic articles, and story articles. From the initial free submission, he was later invited by many Bole and became a resident author or contracted author on many platforms.When I was busiest, I published articles almost every day, and I published some explosive articles (such as the hot article "43-year-old teacher collapsed and threw himself into the river: "Students are awesome, parents are arrogant, and teachers are cowards" is the biggest tragedy in education today", opinion articles "Luxury is a sign of prodigality; laziness is the root of poverty", Mother's Day special "Parents are like a bird with a nest; parents are gone, it is like a kite with broken strings") has been reprinted by many large-scale newspapers with tens of millions of dollars.
(My daughter is taking care of her paralyzed grandma)
Two years ago, my old mother unfortunately suffered from a brain tumor, which caused aphasia, amnesia, and paralysis after surgery. In order to take care of her, I quit my job. Although I had to do all kinds of housework during the day and take care of my mother who couldn't take care of herself, and my back and legs were so tired that I still stayed up late at night to write.
So far, I have published more than 3 million words of various articles in many public accounts I have signed and in magazines such as "Marriage and Family" and "Women's Life". The fee for a single article I have received ranges from 200 to 1,000 yuan. The accumulated royalties over the years are almost 150,000.
My life has been full of misfortunes for more than 40 years. This article only describes my experiences on the way to writing. Regarding the pain I experienced, I never responded with a pessimistic, negative or resentful attitude, but faced it with strength. As the Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore wrote in " Birds Collection ": "Only fingers that have shed blood can pop up the last sound of the world. The world kissed me with pain and asked me to repay it with songs."
At the same time, I also I want to use my experience on the writing road to inspire friends who are eager for success: There is never overnight success in the world. Especially those of us who are not qualified to fight for our parents, we must make double or even multiple times the efforts of others in order to shine with the brilliance of life. Don't be too ambitious about your goals in life. Only by going down-to-earth can you hope to be closer to success.
No matter what industry, there is no end to learning. Never think of yourself as a thousand-mile horse buried among the horses. You will only lament that you are not recognized for your talents, and forget to improve yourself. It is better to grow in silence than to become decadent in complaining.
You must know that although there is a shortage of Bole in this world, there is no shortage of horses. If the flowers bloom, butterflies will come; if you are excellent, talents will come!
