Literary Master 1978

Er Maitai nodded and said truthfully: "Didn't I tell you before that Afang's family gave 3,000 yuan? Afang and I raised another 5,000 yuan. Now we still owe the Housing Authority 4,000 yuan."

Er Maitai's new home is the smallest apartment in Hongling Building, only 42 square meters, but fortunately there is no such thing as public space at that time. The 42-square-meter house has two bedrooms, a kitchen and a bathroom.

It is enough for the young couple to live in, even if they have children in the future.

After the couple bought the house, they didn't even have money for decoration, and Er Maitai asked his co-workers to help with simple decoration.

"Afang and I have calculated that if we save a little, we can pay back this money at most the year after next."

Er Maitai's face was full of joy when he talked about this.

As long as he works for more than a year, he and Luo Huifang will be able to own a building of their own in Shenzhen.

When he came out of Xiaoyangtun, he never thought that one day he would be able to take root in the special economic zone of Shenzhen, marry a wife, and have his own building.

A high-rise residential building with more than 30 floors and an elevator is a luxury house for ordinary people in this era.

After talking about the house, Er Maitai revealed another piece of news to Lin Chaoyang: Luo Huifang is pregnant.

"You are good! Get on the bus first and buy the ticket later." Lin Chaoyang teased.

Er Maitai couldn't help scratching his head and grinning, with a little pride on his face.

The two chatted for a while, and Er Maitai took Lin Chaoyang to his father-in-law's house.

The Luo family always knew that their son-in-law had a great writer as a childhood friend, but they had never met him. Lin Chaoyang finally showed up during this wedding, which also made the Luo family more glorious in front of the neighbors.

Not long after Lin Chaoyang showed up at the Luo family, their house almost became a tourist attraction, all of them were neighbors who came to see the great writer, and the scene was once chaotic.

The Luo family naturally had to entertain the distinguished guests. Lin Chaoyang came to Er Maitai's wedding to fill the scene for him. He accepted everyone and soon got drunk.

The next day, Lin Chaoyang was drunk when he got up, and he felt better after breakfast.

Then he attended a wedding in the morning. When he wrote the gift account, Lin Chaoyang only wrote 20 yuan, which was considered high among a group of relatives and friends, but not outrageously high.

The master of ceremonies at the wedding was Zhang Guidong, Ermaitai's leader at the Guomao construction site, and the witness was Li Chuanfang, deputy director of China Construction Third Engineering Bureau. It seemed that Ermaitai had some face in the company to invite them both.

After Li Chuanfang finished speaking, Zhang Guidong called Lin Chaoyang out again and asked him to say a few words.

It was another appearance to fill the scene. When Lin Chaoyang stood up, he naturally became the focus of the whole audience.

Nearly half of the people present were Ermaitai's co-workers. Usually, they often heard Ermaitai mention his "great writer" childhood friend. Today, when Lin Chaoyang appeared, everyone realized that Ermaitai was not bragging.

There was no need for any profound speech at this time. Just say whatever is festive. Lin Chaoyang talked about New Year's greetings, which fully demonstrated the Northeastern people's eloquence and made the guests laugh.

In the afternoon after the wedding, Lin Chaoyang was about to leave Shenzhen for Guangzhou. Er Maitai and his wife sent him to the station.

"Is there still a wedding in your hometown?" Lin Chaoyang asked Er Maitai.

"If you want to hold it, you have to wait until the New Year to go back. At that time, you can just have two tables of wine and invite some relatives."

"That's good, it saves trouble."

After chatting for a while, Lin Chaoyang took out a brown paper bag and handed it to Er Maitai. He took it and looked at it. His face was full of surprise, and he hurriedly wanted to return the brown paper bag to Lin Chaoyang.

"Chaoyang, what are you doing?"

Lin Chaoyang held his hand, "It's not easy for you and Afang to work hard in Shenzhen. You can decide whether to use this money to pay off the house or do some small business."

After he finished speaking, he carried his luggage into the station without waiting for Er Maitai to react.

Ermaitai stood there in a daze. Luo Huifang listened to the conversation between the two and knew that the bag given by Lin Chaoyang was filled with money, and it was definitely not a small amount.

She took the brown paper bag and saw that it was filled with a thick stack of Datongjie. She was surprised and opened her mouth wide.

"How much is this?"

Ermaitai came back to his senses, "At least 4,000 yuan."

Luo Huifang was curious about how he could tell at a glance. Ermaitai said: "I told Chaoyang that the two of us still owed the Housing Authority 4,000 yuan."

After listening to Ermaitai, Luo Huifang carefully counted the money.

"More than 4,000, 5,000!"

After paying the Housing Authority, the couple could still have 1,000 yuan left.

Luo Huifang was happy, but a little at a loss, "This money, is it too much?"

Ermaitai sighed, "Yes, it's too much."

He looked into the station again, and he could no longer see Lin Chaoyang's back.

Luo Huifang asked Er Maitai, "What should we do with this money?"

Er Maitai hesitated for a few seconds, then said with a wry smile, "Take it. I owe you a lot of favors. I'll pay them back slowly when I have the chance."

In fact, he knew that with the current gap between him and Lin Chaoyang, he might never be able to pay back this favor in his lifetime.

With his words, Luo Huifang accepted the money with peace of mind and began to fantasize again.

"Hey, what do you think we should do with this money?"

"Didn't Chaoyang say that? Pay back the money or do some small business."

"Do a small business? I can't bear to leave my job at the hotel. How about you quit?"

"I'm not cut out for business!"

...

It was already evening when they arrived in Guangzhou from Shenzhen. Lin Chaoyang first stayed in a guesthouse next to the train station for one night, and then came to Huacheng Publishing House.

As soon as he showed up, he attracted the collective attention of the employees of Huacheng Publishing House.

In the past two or three years, Huacheng Publishing House has achieved amazing results due to its cooperation with Lin Chaoyang.

The publication of the two works "Crossing the Boat" and "Crossing the Guandong" alone has created more than 20 million yuan for Huacheng Publishing House during this period.

If there was no Lin Chaoyang, it would take at least six or seven years to achieve the previous results of Huacheng Publishing House.

Writers like him are naturally important guests of Huacheng Publishing House.

Therefore, when Lin Chaoyang arrived, he was immediately invited to the president's office, accompanied by President Su Chen and Editor-in-Chief Li Shifei.

Su Chen heard from Li Shifei that Lin Chaoyang had been living in Hong Kong in recent months. During the chat, he showed some concern and asked Lin Chaoyang if he planned to settle down in Hong Kong.

"I won't settle down. I'm mainly cooperating with some companies in Hong Kong, and I may go to Hong Kong more often in the future."

Su Chen added: "Lao Li said when he came back last time, and I saw the news on Jade Channel recently. "The Truman Show" is going to be adapted into a movie?"

"Yes."

"That's a good thing!" Su Chen looked happy.

"The Truman Show" has been decided to be adapted before it was published. Golden Harvest Films invested, Ann Hui directed, and Xu Guanwen and Cherie Chung starred. Such a lineup can definitely be said to be a big-name production in the Hong Kong film industry.

If the movie can be released in the mainland in the future, it will also help the sales of the novel.

"I see the cast is strong and a lot of money has been invested, right? Can it be released in our mainland?"

"The investment is 5 million Hong Kong dollars. This movie is Xu Guanwen's transition work. He and several main actors don't get paid much, otherwise the budget will have to be increased by two to three million.

As for the release in the mainland, it depends on the operation of Golden Harvest at that time."

Su Chen added: "Your previous works have been adapted into movies very successfully. If "The Truman Show" can be released in the mainland, it will definitely be good. At tomorrow's press conference, the movie will also be a promotional point."

For the publication of "The Truman Show", Huacheng Publishing House has also taken great pains.

In the past month or so, a wave of saturated book and magazine advertisements have been placed in various well-known magazines and newspapers across the country.

According to Su Chen, the subscription volume of "The Truman Show" has exceeded 450,000 copies, which is an amazing result. This is the result of their publishing house not doing its best.

"Chaoyang, you have won the Best Screenwriter Award twice at the Academy Awards, which is a great honor for our domestic film industry. This month's "Popular Movies" has also reported on it.

Now you are working with a film company in Hong Kong. Do you plan to focus on drama in the future?"

Li Shifei asked the question in his mind.

Lin Chaoyang shook his head, "The script just happened to happen. I will write some when there is a suitable opportunity. I will continue to write novels."

Hearing him say this, Su Chen and Li Shifei seemed to be relieved.

The president and editor-in-chief chatted with Lin Chaoyang for a whole morning. In the afternoon, they asked someone to take Lin Chaoyang to visit the scenic spots in Guangzhou. In the evening, they arranged a welcoming banquet for Lin Chaoyang at the White Swan Hotel.

The White Swan Hotel is the first joint venture five-star hotel in China. It was jointly funded by Mr. Huo from Hong Kong and the GD Province.

The hotel is located in Shamian Island, Guangzhou. The equipment, building materials and furniture in the hotel are almost all imported from abroad. The total investment exceeds 180 million yuan. In this era, it is definitely a luxury representative of the domestic hotel industry.

Huacheng Publishing House not only chose this place for the welcoming banquet, but also for Lin Chaoyang's accommodation in Guangzhou and tomorrow's new book launch.

They have gone to great lengths for Lin Chaoyang. Which cadre can withstand such a test?

At nine o'clock the next morning, in the grand banquet hall of the White Swan Hotel.

In the past, the government's investment promotion activities were held here the most, but the layout of the venue today was very different from the past.

In the north of the venue, a huge backboard stood there.

The background of the backboard was a blue sky and white clouds. A staircase extended from the lower left of the backboard to the upper right. There was an open door there, and behind the door was endless darkness.

The man walking on the stairs looked at the blue sky and white clouds, touching them with his hands, as if he was touching a world he had never touched before.

The painting on the backboard was a hand-painted oil painting. For this painting, the two editors in charge of the cover design of Huacheng Publishing House were busy for more than half a month.

The inspiration for this painting comes from a still from the later "The Truman Show". When Li Shifei was communicating with Lin Chaoyang about the cover of the new book, Lin Chaoyang described the general artistic conception to him, and then the cover design editor implemented it.

The cover of the new book also uses this painting. When it is enlarged hundreds of times, the picture has an unexpected artistic tension.

Entering the venue, almost everyone's attention was attracted by this painting. After appreciating it for a long time, everyone noticed the words on the banner above the backboard-"The Truman Show" new book launch.

There are two smaller lines of words below, which are "Xu Lingjun's work" and "Sponsored by Huacheng Publishing House and GD Provincial Association of Literature".

"Your new book launch is bigger than the movie launch."

Qin Mu, who was invited to attend, just arrived at the venue, stood in front of the backboard and admired the painting for a while, and then joked to Lin Chaoyang.

"You have to ask Huacheng about this. They spent a lot of money for today's scene."

Qin Mu smiled and continued, "They don't get up early without profit. Once they hold on to your cash cow, they won't let go."

Lin Chaoyang couldn't help but laugh twice when he heard this.

While the two were talking and laughing, more and more people came to the venue.

Most of them were reporters, most of whom were reporters from TV stations, newspapers and magazines in South China, and two or three reporters came from Shanghai after hearing the news.

Among the remaining people, two were officials from the propaganda department, several leaders from the provincial literary association, and the rest were some well-known writers and critics in South China, all of whom attended as guests.

The fact that there were so many reporters on the scene today was closely related to the support of the propaganda department for Huacheng Publishing House.

Seeing such a scene, Lin Chaoyang was actually a little surprised. Su Chen and Li Shifei had talked to him about the preparations for the press conference before, but the scene was even bigger than he expected.

Although compared with the high-tech press conferences of later generations, today's press conference is a little simple in stage design, but because of this, it highlights the cultural attributes behind the press conference.

At 9:30 in the morning, the press conference officially began.

There were five people sitting on the rostrum, and Lin Chaoyang sat in the middle. He was the absolute protagonist today.

On his left were Su Chen and the head of the GD Provincial Literary Association, and on his right were two literary elders in GD Province, Tan Mu and Huang Qiuyun, both of whom are famous prose writers and literary critics of the older generation in China.

Huang Qiuyun became famous in the 1930s for his reportage "Mine Pockets" reporting on the lives of coal miners in Mentougou. In the 1960s, he published a series of commentary articles on Sun Li's works, which caused considerable repercussions in the literary world.

The press conference was opened by Su Chen, "Dear leaders, colleagues in the literary world, and journalists in the news industry, good morning..."

Today, dozens of reporters from various provinces in South China gathered under the stage, fully demonstrating Huacheng Publishing House's determination to build momentum for "The Truman Show".

This was the first time for these reporters to participate in a press conference for a book, so they were very serious. At that time, recorders were not popular yet, and the reporters were taking shorthand with pens.

When Su Chen introduced Lin Chaoyang, the reporters' eyes were brighter than before.

The biggest highlight of today's press conference was Lin Chaoyang and his new work!

Last year, "Crossing the Guandong" was popular from the beginning to the end of the year. Now that the novel has been published for more than a year, many domestic literary magazines can still see comments and research articles about this novel from time to time.

Not to mention the readership, the total sales of the two issues of "Huacheng" magazine that published "Crossing the Guandong" exceeded 6 million copies, and the sales of the novel have reached 3.8 million copies since its publication.

The readership covered by these publications has long exceeded 10 million people. Since the publication of "Crossing the Guandong", it has caused a strong response among all walks of life in China.

Even this year, "Huacheng" has reprinted the evaluation of "Crossing the Guandong" by overseas media such as "Kaijuan", "Banfang" and "Zhongguoyu" in two issues of its publication.

"Huacheng" has always liked to do this kind of operation. In the past, it often reprinted literary works from Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States, and was deeply sought after by readers.

Those two issues reprinted overseas media articles and received quite good reviews from readers. This thing is the same as people in later generations watching foreigners praise China on Douyin.

Among the many works created by Lin Chaoyang in recent years, the influence of "The Wreath under the Mountain" is undoubtedly unique.

However, this work is a bug-stuck work and cannot be compared.

Therefore, if you talk seriously, "Crossing Guandong" should be regarded as the most influential work created by Lin Chaoyang so far.

The momentum raised in the past year is three points stronger than Cheng Zhongshi's "White Deer Plain" in 1993.

After all, when "White Deer Plain" was published, the literary boom of the 1980s had gradually died down, while "Crossing Guandong" caught up with the golden age of literature.

After writing such a work that is worthy of being handed down, Lin Chaoyang's position in the contemporary Chinese literary world has been greatly consolidated.

After a year and a half, his new work was published again, and reporters naturally had great interest.

Moreover, Guangdong is adjacent to Hong Kong, and Hong Kong TV stations can be seen in many places. It is almost known to everyone in Guangdong that Lin Chaoyang won the Best Screenwriter Award at the Academy Awards in Hong Kong some time ago, and this news has also spread in the domestic film industry.

It has increased the interest of reporters in Lin Chaoyang.

Lin Chaoyang's speech did not contain anything new. He first briefly summarized the story of "The Truman Show" and then talked about some of his creative experience in this novel.

In a sense, today's new book launch is equivalent to an open work symposium.

The story of "The Truman Show" tells that the protagonist Truman was chosen to be the protagonist of a reality show since birth. He lives in a studio called Taoyuan Island and knows nothing about everything around him, including his "family" and "friends" are all actors.

By chance, the unexpected appearance of "father" made him begin to doubt his life, and then he gradually noticed the abnormality of his life.

In the end, he discovered the truth about Taoyuan Island and decided to escape from this false world and find real life.

He overcame numerous obstacles, discovered that the sky and the sea were also part of the studio, and finally found the door to freedom.

The concept of "reality show" took shape in the United States as early as the 1940s and 1950s, but it is still a very novel concept for the vast majority of Chinese people today.

Not to mention that Lin Chaoyang has taken the concept of "reality show" to the extreme in the novel to the point that it is almost comparable to the real world. Just by listening to him describe the content of the novel, the reporters already felt it was very novel and had an urge to take a look.

After Lin Chaoyang finished speaking, it was Qin Mu and Huang Qiuyun's turn to speak.

To put it bluntly, the two of them were invited by Huacheng Publishing House to support "The Truman Show" today, so of course they had to say something nice.

However, these kind words are not said out of conscience. The two old comrades had already received the sample book of "The Truman Show" before. They had read it several times during this time and were very familiar with the advantages of this novel.

"To be honest, I have read a lot of Comrade Chaoyang's works. There is no doubt about his creative level, and almost every one of his works is a top-notch work.

But I think that the novel "The Truman Show" has reached a peak in thinking since Comrade Chaoyang wrote it.

The place where Truman lives is a huge studio. This setting itself has a strong symbolic meaning, reflecting the phenomenon of human beings being mediatized, commercialized, and symbolized in modern society...

Moreover, the character Truman also has a strong literary character. He awakens from an arranged life, gradually understands himself and searches for the truth. This growth process is similar to that of the protagonists of many classic literary works.

But the protagonist Truman reflects more than just an awakening. In him, we can see the contradiction between reality and illusion.

His world is false, but his emotions and experiences are real. This strong conflict between reality and fiction can easily trigger readers' thinking about self-awareness and the meaning of existence.

…”

"I very much agree with Comrade Qin Mu's views on "The Truman Show." I also liked Comrade Chaoyang's "Enter Guandong" very much, but I also had a concern when I was reading the novel.

That is, after creating such a stunning masterpiece, what kind of works will Comrade Chaoyang bring to the Chinese literary world in the future?

Some time ago, comrades from Huacheng Publishing House came to my house with "The Truman Show" and asked me to read this novel and give an evaluation.

After reading the novel, my first reaction was "new", and this "new" is reflected in every aspect of the novel.

First of all, the content is new, telling stories in the form of a reality show, which is probably extremely trendy in our Chinese and even world literary circles.

Secondly, the structure is new. The play-within-a-play structure adopted by Comrade Chaoyang greatly enhances the multi-dimensionality and richness of the story.

What’s more, the style is new. According to my point of view, the literary type of this novel can be classified as absurd literature, which is still relatively rare among our domestic literary creations.

The truth and illusion, freedom and control, privacy and concern discussed by Comrade Chaoyang in the novel all demonstrate the absurdity of human existence. He also explores the essential issues of human existence through absurd methods.

…

Western literary critics believe that the philosophical foundation of absurdist literature is existentialism, and "The Truman Show" explores exactly this core gist.

What I said above are all my feelings after reading it for the first time. Later, I read the novel a second time, and this time I had some new feelings.

This feeling is that compared to those exaggerated, deformed, and extreme absurdist literary and dramatic works, "The Truman Show" seems to have better completed the realistic interpretation of 'absurdity'.

He highlights "absurdity" as an artistic method, making the whole work absurd but the details real. He not only maintains artistic purity, but also abides by realistic logic and interest.

To put it in layman's terms, it has reached a state where both the refined and the popular can appreciate each other. I think this is what Comrade Chaoyang has always been pursuing. "

Qin Mu and Huang Qiuyun each talked about their opinions on "The Truman Show" for more than ten minutes, and their evaluation was not bad.

At their age and qualifications, it is impossible for them to praise them against their will. These words are the two people's heartfelt approval after reading the novel.

There were many spoilers about the content of the novel in their speeches. After listening to their speeches, the guests and reporters present became even more curious about "The Truman Show" and couldn't help but feel itchy.

After the top leader of the Literary and Art Association finished speaking, it was time for the reporters to interview. They raised their hands impatiently. Su Chen was the first to click on the reporter from Guangzhou Daily.

"I just listened to several introductions to "The Truman Show" and they all think it is an excellent literary work.

But I have a question that I would like to discuss with Comrade Lin Chaoyang.

According to your description, is the story told in "The Truman Show" somewhat out of touch with the lives of us Chinese people at this stage? In the contemporary literary world, which is based on realism, are you worried that your attempt is too highbrow? "

The quality of reporters these days is much higher than that of later generations.

Like "Many people are concerned about whether you can fly high or not. Are you tired from flying?", "You always say that Little Paris knows how to do it, so let me test you, do you know how to do it in English?" "Whose concert do you want to see?" "Journalists today are determined not to ask these stupid questions. They are simply smearing the journalistic industry.

"This reporter's question hits the nail on the head. The story of The Truman Show is indeed far from the lives of ordinary people at this stage, so I set the story in Hong Kong.

The development of capitalist society at this stage is a mirror for us to some extent. When our society is highly commercialized, human alienation is inevitable.

I wrote such a story, you can regard it as a warning, a concern, or a protest.

In fact, these are not important to me. What is important is that readers can like and recognize it. But this work.

The world shown in "The Truman Show" is absurd, but the theme it explores is extremely serious.

I hope that readers can draw some insights into life and society from such works, even if it is just a little insignificant, it will be my honor.

Let's talk about the novel. "The Truman Show" is indeed an absurd story, but behind the absurdity is the deep sorrow of reality and the great disappointment of innocence. "

If it were more than 30 years later, Lin Chaoyang would have been ridiculed in private for making such a literary and artistic statement in front of a group of reporters.

But the reporters present today listened to Lin Chaoyang's words with solemn faces and full of admiration for Lin Chaoyang in their hearts.

Such writers are the hope of Chinese literary world and the conscience of Chinese society!