1980 My literary era

Speaking of which, Lin Weimin joined "Contemporary" after studying at the Institute of Literary Studies, and Rong Shihui was a big help.

After joining "Contemporary" as an editor, Rong Shihui became his leader again.

Later, Rong Shihui went to Writer's Publishing House, and there was less contact, but the feelings were always there.

Lao Rong has been an editor all his life. He has worked hard and has handled many famous books. His editing style is different from that of many colleagues.

When reviewing a manuscript, an average editor will usually find faults first. If they feel it is inappropriate, they will send it back to the author for revision, or simply reject it.

He likes to be a bole, relying on his keen eyes to find out the problems in the manuscript first, and then sorting out the manuscript for the author.

This is how "Lin Hai Xue Yuan" and "Song of Youth" were born in his hands, and he made an indelible contribution to the revision of these two classics.

But it is precisely because of his style that he often offends the author.

Fortunately for a young person who is just starting out, he will not feel any burden when his manuscript is revised by an editor, but will feel happy instead.

When he encountered those famous authors, most of them were arrogant and had a sour temper, which made him unhappy. In the end, Rong Shihui became a human being.

Not to mention the past few years when he went to Writers Publishing House, Lao Rong’s contribution when he was an editor of the Chinese Literature Society is obvious to all.

Many times, when a manuscript enters the editorial department, there are many people involved in the editing process. The first, second, and final trials are similar to a court convicting a prisoner. There may be more than one person involved in each trial.

When the work was published and he became famous, there was a long line of people seeking credit. But in fact, everyone was aware of it, but he rarely claimed credit.

Mrs. Wei once said that Rong Shihui was an excellent editor, but he could not be an excellent leader.

She made a mistake and went to the Writers' Editorial Department. Lao Ronglin retired and became a deputy editor-in-chief.

Two days after returning from a visit to Rong Shihui's home, Lin Weimin was in a low mood.

Before New Year's Day, Lin Weimin called several retired old men to Donglaishun under the pretext of the end of the year.

"Lao Rong has been in poor health recently. Let's skip smoking and drinking today and eat more meat!" Lin Weimin said.

Qin Chaoyang sighed: "I am getting older and older, so I just need to eat some mutton for digestion!"

Lin Weimin glanced at him. The old man was setting an ambush for him.

"If you can eat a lot of rice and have ten pounds of meat, I will make you a general!"

Meng Weizai joined in the fun and said: "Old Tan, this kid looks down on you, teach him a lesson!"

Niu Han scolded: "Lao Meng, among us, you are the worst!"

Since retiring, Comrade Lao Niu has completely let himself go.

What leadership? We are all retired cadres, and when we meet, we compete to see who has nimble legs and feet, and who doesn’t need to be fed.

Rong Shihui coughed twice and couldn't help but have a cheerful smile on his face as he watched the old guys gathering together to bicker.

Yan Wenjing asked: "Shihui, what do you, a sick doctor, say?"

"It's nothing, it's just a chronic disease. I have to take medicine every day and go to the hospital for check-ups every now and then."

A few people were chatting casually, the soup in the copper hot pot was boiling, the mutton was put into the pot, and it was cooked in a moment.

These old men usually have to give up their seats when they get on the bus, and they use their chopsticks faster than anyone else.

After eating several plates of meat, Yan Wenjing put down his chopsticks first.

"After all, I'm old. I'll be full after eating a little. I don't dare to eat more, so just eat."

Niu Han kept using his chopsticks with a stern look in his eyes.

This body and bones can't do it!

A few people chatted while eating. In addition to life after retirement, the common topics that everyone gathered together were naturally the Chinese Literature Society and "Contemporary".

According to the ancient saying, an organization like the Chinese Literature Society is basically equivalent to retiring from the country. Now many of the backbones and backbones of the society are "second generation". Over the past few decades, the relationship has gradually become entangled, and the old comrades chat with each other. It's just like chatting with old ladies in the countryside.

"That so-and-so and that little so-and-so..."

While chatting, everyone mentioned "The Dust Has Settled" published by "Contemporary" in August. Over the past few months, this novel has become popular.

Several old comrades were deeply gratified to see that "Contemporary" has launched another widely influential work and is flourishing under the leadership of Editor Lin.

"This guy was bragging to me two days ago, and he has a masterpiece to be released in two days!" Rong Shihui said.

Several other old comrades became interested and asked what was going on.

I heard that it was the work of Cheng Zhongshi that he had been honing his sword for six years, and everyone was even more interested.

"The Shaanxi literary world is full of talents! Lu Yao's "Ordinary World" is very good. If Cheng Zhongshi's novel can stand up, it will be another facade for the Shaanxi literary world."

"The cultural context is endless!"

After everyone sighed, Meng Weizai asked: "For the people, Qizhi told me that the sales of publications have dropped this year?"

"Yes, it's a slight decline. The situation in these issues in the second half of the year is not bad. The total sales volume is 300,000 copies less than last year." Lin Weimin said.

"What's going on?" others asked.

Lin Weimin told everyone about the sales of major publications this year. The situation of "Contemporary" is pretty good.

"Looking at it now, it should be caused by the general environment. We will know next year when we look at it. If it is true as I guessed, then this year's decline is just the beginning, and the good days of the domestic publishing industry are also over!"

Several old comrades sighed after hearing Lin Weimin's analysis, "It was fine in the first two years, but it only takes a few years!"

"It's just a trend. Even if it really drops significantly, it can last for a few years."

"That's true, maybe the situation will get better in a few years!"

Lin Weimin shook his head inwardly. The old comrades were still too optimistic.

Two days later, it was the New Year's Day holiday. According to the Western calendar, it officially entered the year 1990.

Just after New Year's Day, CCTV aired a new TV series "The Story of the Editorial Department". Tao Huimin watched the TV and laughed so hard every day that her cheeks hurt.

After a short vacation, the first issue of "Contemporary" in 1990 appeared in bookstores, post offices and bookstores all over the country.

The full text of "White Deer Plain" is nearly 500,000 words. The decision to publish it in one issue is extremely bold. Looking at the magazine, which is much thicker than previous issues, many old readers can see the unusualness of this issue at a glance and are eager to try it. .

The world view and historical background of "White Deer Plain" are extremely grand, describing the changes of the Weihe Plain in Shaanxi for half a century.

Writing from the late Qing Dynasty to the complete liberation of China in 1949, Cheng Zhongshi cleverly condensed life in this era of great turmoil and great changes into the conflicts, entanglements, grievances, and grudges of two generations of descendants of two families in the village of Bailuyuan on the Weihe Plain. .

Cleverly seizing the feng shui land, evilly deploying beauty traps, a filial son becomes a bandit, a brother-in-law kills his daughter-in-law, brothers quarrel with each other, lovers turn against each other, bloody storms, swords are drawn, clouds and rain change, and the king's flag changes...

Family hatred and national hatred are intertwined, and the ancient land trembles in the pain of rebirth. On the historical stage carefully constructed by Cheng Zhongshi, scenes of thrilling and enlightening human dramas are performed.

It makes people tremble all over after reading it, and they can't calm down for a long time.

There are many loyal readers of "Contemporary", and there are even more people who took a quick look at this year's first issue as soon as it went on sale.

Many readers unconsciously fell into a state of aphasia after reading this novel. They were shocked by the majestic epic created by the novel, and they were also shocked by Cheng Zhongshi's earth-shattering this time.

Not only these readers who love "Contemporary", but many critics in the critical circle are also deeply shocked.

"I'm afraid Cheng Zhongshi will leave his name in history!"

At the beginning of 1990, it only took half a month for this news to spread widely in the Chinese literary world and everyone knew it.

In an era when there was no Internet, TV was underdeveloped, and information could only be transmitted through radio and paper media, "Contemporary", a literary publication with millions of readers in China, was the best promotion platform for a novel.

"White Deer Plain" became a sensation in the Chinese literary world within half a month of its publication.

Cheng Zhongshi has become the most famous name in Chinese literary circles.

This rustic writer who is deeply involved in Shaanxi literary circles and has never written a full-length novel in his thirty-year creative career actually created such a thick and tragic national epic as "White Deer Plain" in his first attempt, which astonished countless readers and readers. Literary colleagues.

Under this circumstance, the first issue of "Contemporary" in 1990, which published "White Deer Plain", became the most popular "New Year's goods" before the Spring Festival of 1990.

The first printing of 1.5 million copies was sold out by crazy readers in just half a month. The subscription information from bookstores and post offices all over the country came like snowflakes. Compared with "The Dust Has Settled" in August, It was even crazy when it was published in "Contemporary", and the paper in Luoyang was expensive for a while.

Faced with the wave of public opinion and panic buying that formed in a short period of time, the editorial department of "Contemporary" was excited.

When everyone reviewed "White Deer Plain", they all thought it was a rare and good work. Not only the colleagues in the editorial department of "Contemporary", but also the colleagues in the Contemporary Literature Department who were responsible for the publication of "White Deer Plain" also thought so. .

But even though everyone unanimously recognized the literary achievements and artistic value of "White Deer Plain", they never imagined that this seemingly rubbish and even unfashionable work could make such a big impact across the country in a short period of time. Sensational effect.

Since the resurgence of the domestic literary scene after the buzz ended, it is not that there have been no blockbuster writers and works. On the contrary, there are many such examples.

"Farewell My Concubine" and "Life" in 1982, "Rising Star" in 1983, "The Ancient Ship" in 1986, "The Dust Settled" in 1989...

But "White Deer Plain" is very different from these works in several ways.

Firstly, it is long enough. There is a very stubborn idea in the domestic literary world that large works seem to be heavier than short works. It is not without reason for this idea. Writing a novel is relatively difficult, let alone a long novel with a length of half a million.

The second is Cheng Zhongshi, the author of "White Deer Plain". He has been in the Shaanxi literary world for decades and has published many works, all of which are short and medium stories. However, he has not published a novel yet, and his works are not familiar to domestic readers.

But it just so happened that such a writer who was nearly fifty years old and had never written a long novel, unexpectedly wrote such a work that the critics cheered, the press marveled, and readers rushed to buy it when he was approaching the age of knowing his destiny.

How can this not surprise literary colleagues and readers?

The year 1990 in the Western calendar begins, and the Chinese customarily end the year in 1989.

Cheng Zhongshi has left a mark of his own in the Chinese literary world and the history of contemporary literature with his novel "White Deer Plain"!