Chapter 99: More Trouble When Your Face Is Red

This is ridiculous! How can any poem get into Poetry Monthly? Did they pay off the editors or is there some background connection?

Yin Maocai immediately started cursing loudly, drawing the attention of passersby who turned to stare. The shopkeeper at the newsstand shook the loose change in his hand, utterly bewildered by what had gotten into the man in front of him.

After catching the others’ curious glances, Yin Maocai snatched the change and left at a brisk pace, growing increasingly indignant with every step. Why had he submitted his poems over and over without a single acceptance, while this random stranger could publish whatever nonsense and land in Poetry Monthly?

Yin Maocai had always loved writing and composing poetry since his student days. He would regularly post his verses on WeChat Moments or Moments, receiving likes from classmates and friends with ease. Yet these pieces never earned recognition from professional magazines. Every time he submitted them, the responses were almost identical.

“There must be some dark dealings!”

Rushing back to his rented apartment, Yin Maocai immediately opened his computer to vent to fellow likeminded souls. The Writing and Composing section on Tianya Forum had once been quite lively, but after the great writers departed, post quality had plummeted.

Yin Maocai snapped a photo of Zhang Chu’s poem with his phone, edited it lightly, and posted it under the title Ask the great gods for help to appraise how good this poem is?

In the post, the young man who couldn’t write poetry expressed righteous indignation: “I haven’t read Poetry Monthly in ages, and I’ve discovered they’ve sunk to this level. Good poetry isn’t being published, what kind of garbage are they printing instead? I think Pear Blossom Style is far superior to this poem by Zhang Chu.

They say parody can’t stand on the grand stage, yet this poem is published so brazenly in China’s highest temple of poetry and even earns the chief editor’s praise.

No wonder Poetry Monthly’s sales are dropping every year. Maybe it’s better to cease publication and leave behind some memories.

Now, connections and popularity have become the standards for judging a poem’s worth. One has to say this is a kind of sorrow!”

Tianya Forum users tended to be older, always viewing the world through the lens of society’s darker sides. Although the Writing and Composing block was a gathering place for literature enthusiasts, many participants had low literary literacy and were there mainly to appreciate novels and prose.

In their eyes, this Sun Wukong version of Facing the Sea, Spring Warm Flowers Bloom was nothing but pretentious drivel with no redeeming qualities at all.

Seeing the netizens’ evaluations, Yin Maocai’s mood finally lightened somewhat. Being published in Poetry Monthly was a fact, but that didn’t mean he would receive any praise.

Unlike the mocking atmosphere on Tianya Forum, Weibo was filled with pure joy.

The wellknown blogger Love Poetry Like Life shared one unknown poem every day, most of them hidden away in the passage of time, all of them high quality. There were ancient poems, modern ones, and works by foreign poets as well.

As a internet celebrity, Love Poetry Like Life naturally bought this issue of Poetry Monthly. The moment he opened it, he spotted Zhang Chu’s work, which was simply born for the internet!

“Today I’d like to recommend a very interesting little poem written by this year’s top scorer in the college entrance examination, Zhang Chu. The title is Facing the Sea, Spring Warm Flowers Bloom. It’s supposedly the opening of his new book Journey to the West Diary. The poem has a whimsical, nonsensical flavor, told from Sun Wukong’s perspective, expressing his yearning for tomorrow with great charm. Moreover, Poetry Monthly chief editor Ma Qiw ei praised it highly, believing the poem uses virtual and absurd imagery to convey yearning for the future and helplessness toward the present.”

Most Weibo users were young, and few of them bought Poetry Monthly. Many had never even heard of the magazine.

Yet once they read the full text Love Poetry Like Life had shared, they instantly fell in love with the poem.

“Thank you for the recommendation. This poem is so interesting. I can’t wait to read the full version.”

“Hahahaha, Monkey Brother can’t possibly be that sentimental. He’s just making it up!”

“Monkey Brother must be texting some female monster. The female monsters clearly prefer the master.”

“There’s a pair of pilgrims on the other side of the mountain and the other side of the sea. 2333”

“It’s pretty good. Very interesting.”

“I’ve seen this before. Zhang Chu’s stuff only updates a little each day. Be careful when you get into it.”

“Poetry Monthly has grown young and progressive too!”

“Things on the internet can be printed in physical form. Why say this poem is bad?”

……

In Zhang Chu’s study, Chu Lan and Zhang Bowen had specially cleared out an entire bookshelf to display Zhang Chu’s works. It was empty except for one copy of Sherlock Holmes and a few pages of the main text and cover of The Death of the Red Rabbit.

Even Zhang Chu himself hadn’t received the sample of Psychological Crime yet, and Journey to the West Diary wasn’t even scheduled for publication.

Chu Lan placed the poetry magazine on the shelf with solemn care and smiled. “My son has become a poet again, though this poetry’s attainments still need some improvement.”

“Anyway, I’m not a real poet.” Zhang Chu pouted. Not one bookshelf, probably an entire shelf would be needed to hold everything he had written.

That poem had appeared in Poetry Monthly by pure accident. He hadn’t intended to write it; it had simply been content for a novel. He didn’t even know how Ma Qiw ei had discovered it on Weibo. As long as the result was good, he didn’t care.

An unserious poem suddenly appearing on a serious poetry magazine created far greater impact than any normal poem.

The rest of the poems in this issue were completely overshadowed by Facing the Sea, Spring Warm Flowers Bloom. Whether readers liked Zhang Chu’s work or not, everyone was paying attention, wanting to know what came next.

With a print run of only tens of thousands of copies, the reputation value it generated far exceeded its circulation. Discussions about it were everywhere on the forums.

Netizens, poets, and writers were all debating whether it was truly a good poem and whether it was appropriate for Poetry Monthly.

Zhang Chu watched the reputation value in the system steadily climbing, like a farmer waiting for the autumn harvest.