1980 My literary era

"He has a lot of shortcomings." Tang Yuqiu, wearing a pair of reading glasses, couldn't help but fall into memories when faced with Christian Salmon's question.

"This kid has not been a peaceful master since he entered the Literary Research Institute. He would make some trouble every few days, especially at the beginning of school. The director scolded him several times, and we teachers also scolded him from time to time. Take him out and criticize him for a few words.

From the perspective of us teachers, he was not focused on writing at all at that time.

Fortunately, after some time, he was finally able to calm down a little, at least he was able to learn, and he made rapid progress.

At that time, they were the first batch of students after the resumption of our Literary Studies Institute. They were taken seriously from top to bottom, and the teachers invited were all highly respected seniors.

The classmates in the class studied very seriously. Most of these classmates were older than him, and some were from his parents' generation. He was the same age as others.

But he is a kind-hearted person and can get along with anyone. Everyone has a good impression of him. "

Listening to Tang Yuqiu's words, Christian Salmon finally heard negative comments about Lin Weimin from people around him.

The people Christian Salmon wanted to visit were within the scope he had defined himself, and then Lin Weimin provided him with several candidates, including friends, teachers, and classmates around Lin Weimin.

After finishing his visit to Shi Tiesheng, Christian Salmon came to the National Academy of Liberal Arts and found Tang Yuqiu.

In terms of the selection of division commanders, Lin Weimin did not let Christian Salmon bother Mr. Wan, who had been feeling unwell recently.

Lin Weimin is one of the most outstanding students since the Institute of Literary Studies resumed operations. Tang Yuqiu is very familiar with his experiences in school. Sometimes he talks in too much detail, and Christian Salmon has to interrupt her.

He could see that Lin Weimin was the pride of Teacher Tang.

"In recent years, he has been very busy with work and writing, and his time is always tight. But he still comes back here occasionally, and he will also come to my place during holidays. I gave him the preface to his first book. It’s done!”

Tang Yuqiu's expression looked a little proud when he said this.

Christian Salmon was a little helpless, and the visit seemed to have returned to the old way.

"By the way, let me show you something."

Tang Yuqiu led Christian Salmon to the library of the National College of Liberal Arts, pointed to the sign hanging at the door and said: "The books in this library are donated for the people!"

Christian Salmon said unexpectedly: "Donated a library book?"

"That's right. In the past few years, our college's funding for running the school was not very sufficient, and the library's collection of books was always small. The students who came here to study here raised a lot of opinions. At that time, the leaders of the college thought of a way to let the previous students We helped donate some books.

Weimin learned the news and donated many books to the library. Most of the books in the library now were donated by him, which cost tens of thousands of yuan.

You Americans have no idea about our domestic prices. This is basically equivalent to the income of an ordinary working-class person in our country for thirty or forty years. "

Christian Salmon had heard about Lin Weimin's feat of throwing tens of millions of dollars before, but now he heard the figure of tens of thousands of dollars without any disturbance in his heart.

However, this did make him look at Lin Weimin with admiration again. A person's donation may be out of favor or to gain fame, but it is impossible to persist forever.

According to everyone's description, Lin Weimin has never stopped donating money over the years. If he didn't really want to help others, he wouldn't have done it again and again.

He has a hot heart!

After finishing the interview at the National Academy of Liberal Arts, Christian Salmon set off again. This time he was going to Jinmen, another big city in China, more than 100 kilometers away from Yanjing.

Jiang Zilong received a call from Lin Weimin in advance, so there was no surprise when Christian Salmon came to visit.

The visit was at Jiang Zilong's home. Jiang Zilong was Lin Weimin's classmate at the Institute of Literature. The conversation between the two started at the Institute of Literature.

"Teacher Tang should be retiring soon, right? She was over forty when she was in charge of our current class of students!" Jiang Zilong sighed.

"According to Teacher Tang, Lin was very restless when studying at school." Christian Salmon asked.

Jiang Zilong smiled and said, "He was only twenty years old at that time. He was the youngest student in the class. It is normal for him to be restless. You must know that our students are quite special, so they are relatively older. There is one who is following The students who live in the same dormitory as Min are all fifty. In terms of age, we are all from his father’s generation, so we don’t think there is anything wrong with him, just like a junior.”

"Can you tell me what is your most intuitive impression of Dulin's people at that time?"

"Impression? You must have talent!" Jiang Zilong smoked a cigarette, smoke filling his eyes. He recalled the past, "Weimin is a person who is born to eat this bowl of rice. This is the consensus of our classmates."

"Can you give me an example?"

During Christian Salmon's interview, several interviewees mentioned Lin Weimin's talent for writing.

"For example... I remember that we went to Xiaoxi Tian'er to watch foreign movies. The movie we watched was "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" from the United States. During the break, we all chatted casually.

Weimin casually told everyone about the inspiration he got from the movie. Teacher Tang asked him to write it into a novel. Within a few days, the novel was published. This novel won the National Outstanding Short Story Award the next year. . "

Jiang Zilong paused here, "By the way, another thing is his writing efficiency. You may not know that his serious writing efficiency is very exaggerated. The novel "Farewell My Concubine" was published in your country. Yes, you should know, right?"

"I know, I've seen it."

"Back then, Weimin just joined the editorial department of "Contemporary". During the Chinese New Year, I was alone in the dormitory. I got inspired and finished writing this novel in a week."

"One week?"

Christian Salmon looked at Jiang Zilong in surprise. He had already read the English version of "Farewell My Concubine". It should be at least 100,000 words long. How could it be written in one week?

"It's an exaggeration, right? Many people don't believe it when they first hear it. I am also a writer. If I work hard to create, four or five thousand words a day is usually a lot, but he can write up to 20,000 words a day. Tell me, is this possible? Isn’t it a talent?”

Christian Salmon nodded. If what Jiang Zilong said is true, it is indeed a talent, and it is a very strong talent.

For a normal person, even copying 20,000 words a day is a very heavy workload, let alone writing 20,000 words in a meaningful way?

Christian Salmon couldn't help but recall the content of "Farewell My Concubine" in his mind. Did such a wonderful novel really take a week to write?

Incredible!

“Actually, it’s not just the efficiency of creation, but also the breadth and versatility of creation. I think Weimin is also a very talented writer.

You don’t know much about the development of the domestic literary world in recent years. To put it simply, the creations of writers of our generation are almost all based on our own experiences in the past few years.

The experiences of those years were like a sheepfold, providing us with capital and nutrients, and also keeping us in a comfort zone. Without this circle, some people would not even be able to write novels.

But Weimin is different. He never limits himself to a narrow field and is always able to find content worth expressing. At this point, I admire him very much. "

Christian Salmon thought of the novels he had read. The styles of the novels published by Lin Weimin in the United States were indeed very different. Each one seemed to break the rules, and they were all very well written and always moved people. People's hearts.

After chatting for a long time on the topic of creation, Christian Salmon turned the conversation to another aspect.

"In your eyes, what kind of person do you think Lin Weimin is?"

"This range is too big, it's hard to say!"

"It doesn't matter, you can say whatever comes to mind."

Jiang Zilong pondered for a while and then said: "Weimin is the youngest among our classmates, but he is the most trustworthy friend, a friend who can entrust his wife and children."

The translator on the side thought about the word "giving a wife and a son" for a long time before saying it. Christian Salmon didn't understand it after hearing it.

"I'll give you an example and you'll understand. We had a classmate in the Institute of Literature named Guo Yudao. He was only in his early forties at the time..."

Jiang Zilong told Christian Salmon the example of Guo Yudao, and he nodded with emotion, understanding what Jiang Zilong wanted to express.

"It is indeed a comforting thing to have such a friend!"

Christian Salmon also spoke out about Richard Yates.

A relaxed smile appeared on Jiang Zilong's face, "It's something Weimin can do, and it fits his style very well. Who doesn't want a friend like this?"

Christian Salmon nodded in agreement.

Unknowingly, the visit had been going on for half a day, and Christian Salmon asked the question that he had been struggling with.

"I would like to ask you to talk about Lin's shortcomings. I have talked with several people, and everyone always talks about his shining points, but rarely mentions his shortcomings. This seems very unreal!"

Jiang Zilong thought about this question seriously, and Christian Salmon waited for his answer.

After a long time, Jiang Zilong said: "Of course Weimin has some shortcomings, but...it's hard to say!"

"What's not good to say? As friends, you also have the obligation to remind him."

Jiang Zilong hesitated and said: "This... involves privacy!"

Hearing what he said, Christian Salmon became even more curious. Jiang Zilong must be so cautious, it must be a very personal matter.

"I can promise not to include this in the interview!"

Christian Salmon was very knowledgeable and dispelled Jiang Zilong's concerns with just one sentence. Apparently he had done this kind of thing before.

Jiang Zilong no longer had any psychological burden, so he said: "He is a relatively slow person in terms of emotions. Slowness is not appropriate. He is a bit like a stone."

Christian Salmon's gossip mentality was completely aroused, "Can you give me an example?"

"I told you not to post it, let alone spread it casually!"

I am a foreign reporter, and you are still afraid that my news will spread?

"no problem!"

"When we were at the Institute of Literary Studies, there was a female classmate in the class..." Jiang Zilong was almost fifty, and his eyes lit up when he talked about gossip.

Christian Salmon couldn't help but ask at the end: "So, that lady is not married yet?"

Jiang Zilong nodded.

Christian Salmon frowned, moved by the poignancy of this unrequited love, "It's such a touching and pathos love story, it reminds me of Lin's "Lover"."

Jiang Zilong sighed softly, "This man, when you are young, you must not meet someone who is too stunning!"

Christian Salmon is right to say that his heart is filled with sorrow.