Literary Master 1978

"This novel is really well written!"

"Qiu Ju Goes to Court" is a long story among short stories, with more than 28,000 words. It took Tao Yushu more than two hours to finish reading it.

Lin Chaoyang didn't say anything. He didn't want to expose the vest too early.

Not only would the surprise be gone, but it might also bring trouble to himself.

"The Shepherd" was a first offense, so it was excusable. "Qiu Ju Goes to Court" was maliciously generating income.

"You can also read it tomorrow, and we will discuss it."

The more you fear something, the more it will come. Before going to bed, Tao Yushu assigned a task to Lin Chaoyang, which made him toss and turn.

Why is it so difficult to give your wife a surprise?

He got up early the next day. Today was both the weekend and the Little New Year. Everyone in the family had a bit of joy on their faces, and this joyful atmosphere was also filled in the apartment building and Yanyuan.

For Chinese people, the Little New Year is the beginning of the year. Although the song about the busy New Year sings "Children, children, don't be greedy, after Laba, it's the New Year", no one can be so extravagant as to start preparing for the New Year from Laba.

On the 23rd, sticky sugar melons; on the 24th, house cleaning day; on the 25th, tofu making...

From this day on, the atmosphere of the New Year officially becomes grand.

Also from this day on, the Chinese people who have been busy for a year will be busy with the arrival of the new year with a completely different joyful mood from usual days.

In the afternoon, Tao's mother was busy making dumplings. The whole family joined in. In more than an hour, more than 300 dumplings were made, enough for the whole family to eat two or three meals.

"If you ask me, you still need to put more meat in the dumplings. Usually, my mother is too stingy and doesn't want to put meat. Today's dumplings are full of meat and taste so delicious!" Tao Yumo said with puffed cheeks.

"It's not just about the meat, but also the mushrooms from Chaoyang's family. The meat filling is delicious." said the eldest brother-in-law.

The brother and sister turned into food critics, eating dumplings and not forgetting to taste them.

After eating and drinking to her heart's content, at night, Lin Chaoyang was about to throw herself on the bed and be a salted fish, when she heard Tao Yushu ask: "Have you read the novel yesterday?"

"Which one?" Lin Chaoyang asked knowingly.

"This one!"

Tao Yushu said as she turned over the magazine on the table, and Lin Chaoyang had a headache.

"Then I'll take a look first."

There was no way to avoid it, so Lin Chaoyang could only pretend to appreciate his masterpiece.

On the other side, Tao Yushu was busy revising the review of "The Shepherd" that she had submitted to "Literary Gazette" some time ago but was not accepted.

After learning that her husband was actually the author of "The Shepherd", Tao Yushu held her breath and said that she would revise and publish this review no matter what.

Half a night passed in a flash, and Tao Yushu finished revising the manuscript and asked Lin Chaoyang again.

"How did you read it? What do you think?"

Listening to his wife's question, Lin Chaoyang inexplicably had a picture of his junior high school Chinese teacher calling on him to answer a question in his mind.

"Well, the novel is really well written."

"Tell me more about it."

Lin Chaoyang could only bite the bullet and continue: "The novel starts with the captain beating someone, and Qiu Ju's six ins and outs to file a lawsuit for her husband are the clues. This complex structure seems simple, but it is actually very skillful in creation. If it is not done well, it will become a running account, which is most likely to be monotonous and repetitive..."

Most Chinese people in later generations have heard of this movie, even if they have not seen "Qiu Ju Goes to Court", which is one of the early representative works of the national teacher Zhang Yimou.

The movie is adapted from the short story "Wanjia Litigation" by the writer Chen Yuanbin, and has been adapted to a certain extent, maintaining the core and ideology consistent with the novel.

The story of "Qiu Ju Goes to Court" is not complicated. Qiu Ju's husband Wang Qinglai had a dispute with the village chief Wang Shantang over their contracted land. The village chief kicked Wang Qinglai in the vitals in anger.

Qiu Ju was six months pregnant at this time and wanted to ask for an explanation for her husband. She went to the village chief to reason, but the village chief refused to admit his mistake and claimed that he did not beat people for personal reasons.

Qiu Ju went to the township government to file a complaint again with her big belly. After mediation, the village chief agreed to compensate Qiu Ju's family for their economic losses, but refused to apologize and threw the compensation money on the ground for Qiu Ju to pick up.

Qiu Ju, who felt insulted, did not pick up the money, but once again embarked on her journey to file a complaint. She went to the county public security bureau and the city, and finally sued the people's court, but she never got a satisfactory answer.

On New Year's Eve, Qiu Ju had a difficult delivery, and the village chief and villagers braved the wind and snow to send Qiu Ju to the hospital overnight. Qiu Ju's family was grateful for the village chief's actions and decided not to pursue the village chief's responsibility. But just at this time, the city court sent a verdict that the village chief was detained for the crime of injury.

Lin Chaoyang's article "Qiu Ju's Lawsuit" published in "Shanghai Literature and Art" combines the advantages of novels and movies, but unlike the movie, which is set in the rural Shaanxi in the late 1980s, he changed the background to the rural Northeast.

The story of the novel "Wanjia Litigation" was not originally about the rural Shaanxi, but the rural southern part.

Lin Chaoyang's change is not inconsistent, and the most important thing is that it fits the growth environment of him as an author.

"I think the two best aspects of the novel are the treatment of the characters and the ending.

There are no absolutely good people or absolutely bad people in this novel.

It is wrong for the village chief to beat people, but he is doing it for the public. Qiu Ju sued him, and he was angry and arrogant, but he still lent a hand to Qiu Ju when she was in labor.

Qiu Ju didn't ask for much, she just wanted an explanation for her husband, in other words, she wanted respect and an attitude. But in front of the village chief and the government, her attitude was a bit like being unreasonable.

In the end, the village chief helped her when she was having difficulty giving birth, and the anger in her heart subsided. But at this time, the legal punishment for the village chief came.

On the one hand, this reflects the lag and irony of procedures and systems, and also makes the ending of the story meaningful, profound and timeless. "

The novels were all written by Lin Chaoyang. If you really want to talk about it, he has more say than anyone else.

They talked for more than ten minutes. During this period, Tao Yushu's face was serious, and his eyes showed a bit of admiration from time to time, which made him feel a little proud.

"It's really good. You can analyze it so well after just reading it once. No wonder you can write novels." Tao Yushu first praised Lin Chaoyang, and then said with some disappointment: "I don't have this talent."

"Who said that? Your reviews are so good. As a couple, one writes novels and the other writes novel reviews. Together, we are invincible!"

Tao Yushu said: "But my review of "Wrangler" hasn't been published yet. Why don't you, the original author, help me with my comments?"

"Daughter-in-law, you are cheating."

"How can we say that something between a legal couple is cheating?"

"You can help me, I have a small request." Lin Chaoyang leaned forward.

There were shadows of people lingering under the lamp, and the cold wind beat on the window lattice all night long, making me cry and complain.