Literary Master 1978

"Chess Master" is Lin Chaoyang's new novel published in "Yenching Literature". The full text is 130,000 words and is a novella.

The novel is based on the growth of Jiangnan Sheng, a chess fanatic, and tells the story of Jiangnan Sheng, who is obsessed with chess and sacrifices his life for his country when his country is destroyed and his family is ruined in Shanghai after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War.

When writing the novel, Lin Chaoyang had already anticipated the controversy that the plot of the novel might cause. This issue was also raised by editors such as Zhang Dening, but Lin Chaoyang finally insisted on his own opinion.

The reason and purpose for his insistence are also very simple, just to allow more people to see this novel.

In his opinion, appropriate debate will promote the influence of the novel. As a later generation, no one understands this truth better than Lin Chaoyang.

Tao Yumo ate and drank at Lin Chaoyang's house, and was very familiar with the creation process of "Chess Master". He was also present when Lin Chaoyang and Zhang Dening discussed the problems in the novel.

She knew why Lin Chaoyang arranged this plot, but others didn't. Listening to the arguments around her, Tao Yumo wanted to stand up and explain to the two people, but she didn't do it.

"Brother-in-law, why do you have to write like this? It's a thankless task!"

"It can't be considered a thankless task. If the novel is written like this, there will definitely be some self-proclaimed rational readers who will find fault. This can arouse readers' discussion and trigger widespread discussion.

At the same time, such a plot arrangement can easily arouse readers' patriotic feelings of common hatred of the enemy. The plot becomes popular, which greatly lowers the reading threshold of the novel, and more readers will see this novel."

Tao Yumo's mind flashed the conversation between her and her brother-in-law. She listened to the conversation between the two people and understood in her heart that this was actually the effect her brother-in-law wanted.

The distance from Yanjing to Beidaihe is not far, and the train takes more than three hours to arrive.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Beidaihe has always been famous as a sanatorium for leaders. In the past few years of reform and opening up, outbound tourism has gradually become popular, and Beidaihe has become a resort in the north. Many people from Yanjing will take advantage of the summer to come here to escape the heat.

Tao Yumo and others got off the train, and did not look for a guesthouse. They carried their luggage and did not even bother to eat lunch, and ran directly to the seaside tourist area.

Although Beidaihe was also a tourist area at this time, there were still few travel agencies, hotels, and restaurants, and there were not as many people as in later generations. When everyone arrived at the beach, looking at the sea not far away, stepping on the beach, they only felt relaxed and happy.

Li Junling came from a wealthy family. This time she came to travel, she specially brought her family's camera, a Seagull 120 camera.

When she arrived at the beach, she immediately took out the camera, first took a few beautiful photos of the sea, and then took photos of several classmates. Everyone happily posed for her camera.

After wandering around the beach for an afternoon, everyone was hungry and exhausted, so they thought about finding a place to live.

Not far from the beach is the Beidaihe District Government Guesthouse, which has simple conditions. A dozen people live in a large house, and they have to go to the yard to use the toilet.

Tao Yumo was spoiled at home and was not used to such accommodation conditions, but there was no way. The reality was like this. If she didn't live in the District Government Guesthouse, she had to live in the homes of fellow villagers. It was said that the conditions were much worse than those in the guesthouse.

The District Government hosted all the canteens. Because they were hosting foreign tourists, the food conditions were not bad, provided that they were willing to spend money.

When you come to Beidaihe, you can't miss seafood. The canteen has just the right sea crabs, which cost 50 cents per pound.

Tao Yumo wanted to order two for himself, but when he saw that Guo Jianmei and Liu Zhenyun didn't order, he ordered one more and gave one to each of them.

Guo Jianmei and Liu Zhenyun were born in rural areas and their family conditions were not good. They saved money for a long time to go on a trip with everyone this time, and they were reluctant to spend money on food.

Tao Yumo is considered a wealthy woman among her classmates. She doesn't need to spend money on meals at school, and she asks her parents for pocket money on weekdays. She even doesn't let her eldest brother Tao Yucheng off, saying that it's tuition for her two nephews.

In addition, she also sorts letters for her brother-in-law Lin Chaoyang. This semester alone, she has saved nearly 200 yuan, so she is naturally happy to spend money when she goes out.

After dinner, it gets dark quickly. There is no night view at the seaside at this time, only endless darkness, so everyone can only stay in the guesthouse to play poker.

The card game ended at 8:30. Yu Hui still picked up Tao Yumo's "Yenching Literature" to read, while Tao Yumo fiddled with the Seagull camera brought by Li Junling.

It's good to have a camera, she thought to herself, and she would buy one when she goes back.

Suddenly, there was a sudden cramp in her abdomen.

"Ouch!" Tao Yumo cried out while holding her stomach.

"Yumo, what's wrong with you?" Guo Jianmei asked.

"My stomach hurts so badly." Tao Yumo frowned and gritted her teeth.

"Didn't you eat crabs well?"

"Didn't you eat them too?"

Guo Jianmei thought about it and it was right. Everyone was fine after eating crabs.

"No!"

Tao Yumo endured it for a while, holding toilet paper and running to the toilet in the yard.

More than ten minutes later, she dragged her heavy steps back to the room.

Several female classmates asked with concern: "Yumo, are you okay?"

"It's okay. It's just diarrhea, I won't die."

Tao Yumo lay on the bed, just rested for a few minutes, the abdominal pain came again, and she had to run to the yard again.

This repeated three times, Tao Yumo returned to the room, her face was pale, bloodless, and her legs were weak.

"Yumo, take some medicine quickly."

Guo Jianmei handed her two pills, and Tao Yumo asked, "Where did these come from?"

"I asked the comrade at the guest house for it."

Tao Yumo nodded, swallowed the medicine with water, and lay on the bed, like an eggplant beaten by frost, completely different from the lively state during the day.

She looked at the other people talking and laughing safely, and she felt angry in her heart. I'm like this, why are they okay? If I had known better, I wouldn't have eaten that crab.

When you come to Beidaihe, it would be a shame not to eat crabs. Forget it, let’s eat shrimp tomorrow.

Thinking wildly, she fell asleep.

She didn't know how long it had passed, but she heard a sobbing sound in her ears. She opened her eyes drowsily and glanced to the side, and found that it was Yu Hui with tears on her face.

"Why are you crying?" Tao Yumo asked.

"Nothing." Yu Hui replied.

Tao Yumo was so sleepy that he couldn't care about Yu Hui, so he turned his head and fell asleep again.

The next morning, she got up and returned to her lively state.

"You are in really good health. I was afraid you wouldn't be able to get out of bed last night," Guo Jianmei said.

"It's just a little diarrhea. How can it delay my visit to the great places of my motherland?" Tao Yumo said proudly.

It's hard to understand how complacent she is. It's probably like a primary school student competing to see who can pee farther.

After eating in the morning, everyone went to the scenic spots with maps in hand. Yesterday they visited Laohushi Park and Jieshi Garden on the seaside. Today they were going to Lianfeng Mountain in the west.

On the way, Tao Yumo suddenly remembered what happened last night. She asked Yu Hui: "Why did you cry last night?"

"It's nothing." Yu Hui was a little embarrassed.

"Did someone bully you?" Tao Yumo asked.

"No, stop talking nonsense."

"Then why are you crying?"

Tao Yumo kept asking questions, and Yu Hui said helplessly: "I read the novel."

"What's the point of crying when reading a novel?" Tao Yumo said, and then realized, "You are reading "The Master of Chess"?"

"Um."

Tao Yumo immediately understood in his heart that some of the plots in "The Master of Chess" were indeed tearful. For example, it described the people's desperation after the war, such as the little beggar who was brutally killed by the Japanese...

Of course, the best thing to cry about was when Jiang Nansheng died without hesitation.

Every time Tao Yumo thinks of the scenes in the novel, Tan Sitong's words always come to mind.

"Reforms in various countries are all caused by bloodshed. Today, China has not heard of anyone bleeding because of reforms. This is why this country is not prosperous. If there is, please start from the same heir."

In that era when the country was destroyed and families were destroyed, although many people with lofty ideals rose up to resist foreign aggression, there were still countless people who faced the invasion indifferently, or even helped them.

How could Jiang Nansheng not know that he was powerless? Why didn't he know that his flesh and blood body was defenseless against the invaders' spears and cannons?

But he still chose to move forward bravely, because he knew deeply that if everyone was ignorant, chose to protect themselves wisely, and trembled under the gunfire of the invaders, what future would China have?

The destruction of the country is right around the corner. Only blood and sacrifice can awaken the spirit of resistance of our compatriots.

He uses chess as a weapon. Although he cannot kill the enemy in front of the battle, he can still attack the arrogance of the Japanese. This is the only thing he can do.

Tao Yumo couldn't help but think of his brother-in-law. Against the background of Sino-Japanese friendship, he decided to write a work like "The Master of Chess", which can be said to be going against the trend of the times.

Doesn't he know how much opposition and criticism a work like "The Chess Master" will attract after it is written?

With today's climate, maybe even the mainstream media will ridicule him.

But he still wrote the novel according to his own ideas. Even if the editor raised objections to the plot, he insisted on his own point of view.

The purpose is to let more people see this novel, so that more people will not easily forget the numerous crimes of the Japanese and those ancestors who shed their lives and blood.

"What do you think?" Tao Yumo asked Yu Hui.

Yu Hui recalled her feelings when reading the novel last night, "It's very well written! The character Jiang Nansheng is vividly drawn, from a chess fanatic who doesn't care about worldly affairs to a chess master who sacrifices his life for his country. It's moving."

"What do you think of the big plot of challenging Japanese chess players in the end?" Tao Yumo was most concerned about this issue.

"It's very good, soul-stirring, full of heroic and epic feeling. When I watched it, I even thought that Jiang Nansheng might really exist in history."

Listening to Yu Hui's praise, Tao Yumo felt a little joyful in his heart.

My brother-in-law is right. The average reader will not look at the plot of challenging Japanese chess players with a magnifying glass. Only a small number of people really find faults.

In this way, the dissatisfaction of a small group of people stirred up debate, but most people still had a positive perception of the novel, which not only gained discussion and influence, but also ensured the novel's reputation and evaluation.

Brother-in-law is tall!

"But I think it's a bit of a pity." Yu Hui said.

"What's a pity?"

"Your brother-in-law should actually stick to the more advanced creative methods of "The Summer of Raiko" and "The Death of Van Gogh". The narrative and style of "The Chess Master" are too Chinese and not Western enough."

Tao Yumo secretly cursed that if he wanted to write something high-quality, my brother-in-law could write better than anyone else. You guys don't understand his good intentions at all.

Chatting all the way, a group of people visited Lianfeng Mountain and then headed to the Pigeon Nest in the east.

In the afternoon, passing by the seaside, they met a fisherman selling crabs, 35 cents a pound, and processing points 5 cents, which was 10 cents cheaper than the canteen of the guesthouse.

Tao Yumo shouted: "It's a big loss!"

Everyone bought a few more pounds of crabs. Tao Yumo hesitated, but still couldn't resist her greed and ate another crab.

She waited tremblingly until the evening, and found that nothing happened. She laughed heartlessly.

After playing in Beidaihe for three days, she ran to the beach to buy 10 pounds of crabs before leaving, and brought them back to Yanjing for her family to taste.