Literary Master 1978

The May 4th Youth Literature Prize Award Ceremony lasted for half a morning and ended at 10:30 in the morning. There was also a symposium in the afternoon.

Only the judges, award-winning writers and some guests attended the symposium, and the conference had just ended.

There were many acquaintances attending the conference. Lin Chaoyang first chatted with Li Tuo for a few words, and then was pulled by Wang Zengqi and asked: "Chaoyang, I remember that Yushu's father studied history, right? Have you studied Han history?"

"Han history is one of his research directions."

"That's great, I just have some questions I want to ask him." Wang Zengqi said happily.

Lin Chaoyang was about to ask him what he wanted to ask for, but suddenly he remembered that Wang Zengqi seemed to have discussed this topic when he went to Huangdao to attend the PEN Conference last year.

"Are you going to write about Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty?"

"good."

"I have also read some history books of the Han Dynasty. Maybe I can help you solve your doubts." Lin Chaoyang said eagerly.

He has no limitations in reading. He reads all kinds of books, which are complex and numerous. He has also read a lot of history books, and he has some confidence in himself.

Wang Zengqi originally didn't want to attack him, but seeing his attitude, she underestimated her own creative preparations.

"Okay. Then do you know, did Tai Shigong cut off the stick or the egg? Or did he cut off both?"

After Wang Zengqi asked this question, Lin Chaoyang couldn't help but take a breath of air.

The veteran comrade thinks about things from a very tricky angle!

His question sounds simple, but in fact it is very difficult to answer.

Anyone who has studied history textbooks will know that Sima Qian was castrated, but who has ever verified the specific operations?

In particular, Sima Qian was different from ordinary eunuchs. He was punished for his crimes, so he had to retain some dignity as a scholar-official.

Lin Chaoyang's mind flashed through the records of palace torture in several ancient books such as "Yi Jian Zhi" and "Yun Hui", but he did not dare to bite Sima Qian to death and what it was like when he was tortured.

After thinking for a while, he said helplessly: "I can't say this."

Wang Zengqi felt a lot more comfortable when she saw his attitude.

Don't think that just because your novel is good, you know it all. Do you think I haven't checked the history books?

"Whenever you are free to go to Yanda, I will introduce you to each other after work." Lin Chaoyang said.

"good."

After the May 4th Youth Literature Award Award Ceremony, the news appeared in several newspapers and magazines. Overall, the influence of this essay competition was good.

At least it is more influential than most of today's awards activities, and it has also allowed "China Youth", a magazine that aims to cultivate young minds, to receive a lot of praise in the literary world.

Tao Yushu flipped through today's "China Youth Daily", stared at it very carefully, and said to Lin Chaoyang, who had just returned from outside: "The photos here are too blurry, and others won't be able to recognize you."

It was only the beginning of June, and the temperature outside had already reached 30°C. Lin Chaoyang came back from the outside covered in sweat. He washed and wiped his face and replied: "It's okay, who cares about that photo!"

"Mom is concerned. You are the judge, and she wants to cut out this photo."

"Then you have to ask your fellow journalists to bring the negatives back and wash them yourself." Lin Chaoyang said jokingly.

Zhang Guiqin's biggest purpose in collecting information about her son's participation in activities is of course to show off. How can he show off if his face can't be seen clearly?

"Be careful not to let mom hear you!"

Tao Yushu smiled and warned him, then asked, "How was the discussion?"

Yesterday at the May 4th Youth Literature Award Ceremony, Wei Junyi made an appointment with Lin Chaoyang to go to the Humanities Club to talk about the publication of "Shutter Island". Today he accepted the invitation and went to the Humanities Club.

Lin Chaoyang shook his head, "Not very good."

"What do you mean it's not good?"

"We talked for a long time, but she just didn't want to increase the manuscript fee. She knew clearly that the manuscript fee from Yanjing Publishing House was higher than that from their humanities agency."

Speaking of today's conversation, Lin Chaoyang felt regretful.

He wanted the Humanities Society to increase his remuneration for the number of print runs, but Mrs. Wei was only willing to increase his basic remuneration by two yuan. The difference between the two parties' opinions was too great, and they did not reach an agreement in the end.

The remuneration for the number of print runs is linked to the sales of the book. In fact, the humanities agency will not suffer if the increase is higher. After all, the more works sold, the more the humanities agency will make.

However, the Humanities Society feels that Lin Chaoyang's royalties have already risen to 5% for 10,000 copies. This is a figure that no writer in the country has ever enjoyed, and any further increase would be outrageous.

Even if it means increasing his basic royalties, the Humanities Society is actually not willing to do so.

It’s easy to increase royalties, but difficult to lower them. And if word gets out, what should other writers do if they want to increase their royalties?

With a big family and a big business, the Humanities Society will inevitably be constrained in its decision-making. Lin Chaoyang can understand this, but he cannot give up his own interests.

He originally planned to ask the Humanities Society to raise the price so that he could talk to Yanjing Publishing House and follow the example of several previous studios when they competed for the rights to adapt "Garland Under the Mountain".

"What a pity!" Lin Chaoyang sighed with regret.

"Be content. How many people are envious of your current royalties?"

Tao Yushu's words are right. Whether it is in terms of publication and publishing royalties, or in terms of basic and print run royalties, Lin Chaoyang's annual royalties are lower than 99% of his peers.

"Hey, who would think that the royalties are too much?"

Two days later, Wang Zengqi came to Yanda on a working day afternoon, and then Lin Chaoyang introduced him to meet with Tao's father. The two talked until the evening before Wang Zengqi left Tao's house and made an agreement with Tao's father to meet him again later. Come and ask for advice.

After leaving Langrun Lake, it was already dark, but there were still many students active on the campus of Yanda University, making it very lively.

Wang Zengqi and Lin Chaoyang chatted along the way, and looking at the energetic figures in Yanyuan, he couldn't help but miss the scene when he was studying at Southwest Associated University.

He talked with Lin Chaoyang for a while, and suddenly said, "Yesterday I went to see Mr. Congwen, and I mentioned you."

The "Mr. Congwen" mentioned by Wang Zengqi was naturally Shen Congwen. When Wang Zengqi was studying at Southwest Associated University, Shen Congwen taught him literature. The two have never lost contact for so many years, and the teacher-student relationship is very good.

"What did he say about me?"

"He read the article "Shen Congwen's Creative Features" published in "Yenching Literature" and said that you have studied his works very thoroughly, better than those pedants."

Lin Chaoyang smiled and said, "It's my honor!"

"I also told him that you have always respected him. He was very happy to hear that and said he would like to meet you if he has the chance."

"It depends on you. When you have time, take me to visit him."

Wang Zengqi said loudly, "No problem. Let's go when you are free."

"Then on Sunday."

"Okay, it's settled."

After returning home, Tao Yushu heard that Lin Chaoyang was going to visit Shen Congwen on Sunday, and she also clamored to go.

On Sunday, the couple brought gifts, met Wang Zengqi, and came to the dormitory of the Academy of Social Sciences on Qianmen East Street.

This dormitory building was built in the 1960s, half new and half old, and Shen Congwen's home was on the fifth floor.

There is no elevator in the dormitory building, so you can only walk up the stairs. Tao Yushu is three months pregnant and has begun to show her pregnancy. She is a little out of breath when she walks upstairs.

After knocking on the door, an old lady opened the door for the three of them. She had a head full of silver hair, and although her face was old, she could vaguely see the charm of her youth.

When the old lady saw Wang Zengqi, she smiled kindly, "Zengqi is here!"

"Master's wife!"

Wang Zengqi greeted the old lady and introduced Lin Chaoyang and his wife behind her to her.

"Hello, please come in!"

Listening to the conversation between Wang Zengqi and the old lady, Lin Chaoyang and his wife knew that the old lady in front of them was Zhang Zhaohe, the lover of Mr. Shen Congwen. The love between them was quite legendary.

When Shen Congwen taught at China Public School, he fell in love with Zhang Zhaohe, who was still a female student, at first sight. Then he pestered and pursued her, but Zhang Zhaohe did not show any color to Shen Congwen.

The principal of China Public School at that time was Hu Shi. In the idea of ​​making a perfect couple, he wanted to help Shen Congwen matchmake with Zhang Zhaohe.

Before he could act, Zhang Zhaohe took the love letter written by Shen Congwen to Hu Shi, the principal, hoping that Hu Shi could persuade Shen Congwen to give up this idea.

What Zhang Zhaohe didn't expect was that after reading the love letter, Hu Shi not only didn't scold Shen Congwen, but also smiled and praised Shen Congwen for his deep love for her.

Zhang Zhaohe was so angry that she thought the two were birds of a feather. Fortunately, Zhang Zhaohe was moved by Shen Congwen's talent and sincerity, and the two finally got married.

Zhang Zhaohe let the three people into the house. Seeing that Lin Chaoyang and his wife were still carrying gifts, he was very polite and modest before accepting them.

Only then did Lin Chaoyang and his wife have time to greet Shen Congwen. The old man is now over 80 years old and is very old. His forehead is full and wide. If he hadn't worn a pair of glasses, he would have looked a bit like Tao's father.

"Please sit down, please sit down!"

The dormitory where Shen Congwen's family lived was a typical apartment building today, somewhat similar to the Langrun Lake Apartment where the Tao family lived, but the area was even smaller.

After chatting for a while, Shen Congwen said that this house was allocated to him by the Academy of Social Sciences two years ago. It was a small three-bedroom apartment with a total area of ​​36 square meters without a living room.

Before that, the housing conditions of the couple were even more rudimentary than they are now.

When people in later generations mentioned Shen Congwen, there were many admirers, and he could be compared with "Lu, Guo, Mao, Ba, Lao Cao", but few people knew about the unfair treatment Shen Congwen suffered in the second half of his life.

Shen Congwen had a legendary life. He was born in Xiangxi. At the age of 14, he joined the local armed forces. The composition of this force was complex, so there was a rumor in the literary world of later generations that "Shen Congwen was a bandit when he was young".

Because of his good handwriting, he was promoted to librarian in the army. He met a secretary named Wen who had studied in Japan. He read a lot of books with him and gradually understood the truth.

Later, the army was defeated and Shen Congwen was dismissed and returned home. He went to live with his relatives and learned a lot of skills in writing poems, writing, and engraving seals.

In 1924, Shen Congwen decided to go to Yenching University to take the college entrance examination and make a living.

But he had not received Western education before. He studied hard in the library of Yenching University for half a year. Not only did he get a zero in the entrance examination, but he also lost two yuan in registration fees.

So he could only audit classes at Yenching University. His dream of studying was shattered. He started writing again. At the beginning, his submissions were rejected everywhere. When he was at his most desperate, he wrote to Yu Dafu for help.

At that time, there was a trend in the literary world. Many famous writers liked to help the younger generation. Yu Dafu's literary reputation was abroad.

After meeting Shen Congwen, Yu Dafu was moved by his experience and wrote an article "An Open Letter to a Young Literary Man" to criticize the unreasonableness of society by using Shen Congwen's experience.

After that, Shen Congwen's articles were published one after another, and he gradually became famous.

During the Anti-Japanese War, he repeatedly helped friends who participated in the anti-Japanese war activities and spoke for friends who were imprisoned.

After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he returned to Peking to serve as a professor in the Department of Literature at Yenching University, but at this time he was criticized for offending many people with his early reviews.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he transferred to the History Museum to engage in cultural relics research, but encountered political storms several times and had a difficult situation. Most of the articles he created in the first half of his life and his reputation were suppressed for a long time due to political issues and were not published for decades.

Even students who went to school in the 1950s and 1960s hardly studied and read his works.

However, at almost the same time, the "History of Modern Chinese Fiction" published by Yale University, thousands of miles away, had a chapter dedicated to discussing him, and even compared him with Yeats and Faulkner.

After the buzz ended, Shen Congwen's situation finally gradually improved. In the past two years, the literary world has paid more and more attention to him. A group of people have begun to cheer for him, and Lin Chaoyang is the one who shouted the most fiercely.

A few days ago, "Yenching Literature" sorted out what Lin Chaoyang said when he taught the students of the Yenching Literature Institute and published it in the magazine.

Such a lecture article certainly did not cause any response among the readers, but it attracted the attention of many people in the literary world.

This included Shen Congwen himself. It happened that Wang Zengqi came to visit him that day. Wang Zengqi talked about Lin Chaoyang's admiration for him, which made the old comrade very happy.

"It's hard to find a soulmate!" Shen Congwen sighed at the time, but it contained the pain and sadness of his half-life.