Literary Master 1978

Liu Zhenyun agreed to Lin Chaoyang's invitation. How could he miss the opportunity to improve his food?

Of course, friends' gatherings are also very important.

As the two were talking and walking out, Yu Hua suddenly ran out and said that he wanted to take Lin Chaoyang's car to Xiaoliubukou Hutong to watch a movie.

"Then let's go have a meal together."

Shilibao, where Lu Xun Academy of Literature is located, is outside the East Fourth Ring Road in the future. It is not easy for students like Yu Hua to go back to the city. He was very happy to get a ride from Lin Chaoyang and eat for free.

Dinner was eaten at Yuebin Restaurant in Cuihua Hutong. This is the first self-employed restaurant in Yanjing. When it just opened a few years ago, Lin Chaoyang and Tao Yushu's family came to support it.

Compared with a few years ago, Yuebin Restaurant has not changed much. It has gray walls and narrow doors, and the words "Yuebin" are hung on the red door.

The three of them waited for a while before they were seated. Lin Chaoyang treated them. He was afraid that Liu Zhenyun and Yu Hua would be embarrassed to order, so he ordered five dishes at once, including pork elbow with garlic paste, roast duck in a pot, and Chinese cabbage with gluten.

Liu Zhenyun looked at the menu. The dishes that Lin Chaoyang had just ordered cost him nearly 15 yuan in total. Three years ago, it would have cost him at most 12 yuan.

He couldn't help but sigh: "The price has risen too fast in the past two years!"

In the past few years of reform and opening up, the domestic economy has made great progress, but problems have also followed.

The rapid economic development has led to excessive credit issuance. When there is too much money in the market, inflation has formed.

In recent years, the central government has been working hard to curb inflation. In 1981, there was an attempt to adjust the economy by cutting infrastructure projects.

But that method is similar to shock therapy. Inflation was curbed, but the economy lost its vitality all of a sudden.

So in 1985, the central government proposed a "soft landing", that is, to ease the problem of economic overheating and inflation through several years of policy release.

Now, the problem of economic overheating has been alleviated, but inflation is inevitable.

In the first few months of this year, the domestic CPI increased by more than 5%. For Chinese people who have not experienced major price changes for decades, such an inflation rate has exceeded their psychological tolerance.

"There are still benefits to rising prices. Everyone says, 'Prices rise by half, wages double'." Yu Hua said with a smile.

"If it were really that simple, it would be great. Once inflation starts, it is not easy to control, especially the rise in the prices of basic living materials..."

Liu Zhenyun graduated from Yan University and worked at the Farmers' Daily. He talked about economic theories in a set of ways. Yu Hua stopped laughing after hearing a few words from him.

After chatting for a while, Liu Zhenyun sighed and said, "Chaoyang, I really envy you!"

The "envy" in Liu Zhenyun's mouth refers not only to creative talent, but more importantly to fame and fortune.

When we were in school, we had no idea about these things.

It was not until we started working that we understood what it meant for Lin Chaoyang to become famous all over China in just three or two years. The most important thing is that his works are all best-sellers.

If we were to select the richest man in Chinese literature now, no one would dare to say that they are the first if Lin Chaoyang is ranked second.

Liu Zhenyun got married last year, and his wife is Guo Jianmei, his girlfriend at Yanda University.

Originally, both husband and wife worked, and their combined monthly income was nearly 200 yuan, so their life was quite comfortable.

But this year, when his daughter was born, Liu Zhenyun felt that his quality of life was not as good as before.

Speaking of family life, Liu Zhenyun's face was tired, but also full of happiness.

"Your part-time writing income is already quite good, with both work and royalties. When the work is published one day, you can make a lot of money."

Liu Zhenyun and Yu Hua are now mainly writing short stories, and they have not written many novellas, so naturally there is no talk of publishing. Both of them think that this kind of thing is too far away.

"I don't need to publish, I can just adapt it like Mo Yan."

Mo Yan's "Red Sorghum" was selected by Lin's Film and Television for adaptation, and he got more than 3,000 yuan at once. Yu Hua was so greedy that his saliva almost flowed out when he learned about it.

Lin Chaoyang smiled and said to him: "You write well, there will definitely be a chance to adapt it in the future."

Yu Hua was encouraged by his words.

After dinner, Yu Hua invited Liu Zhenyun to watch a movie, but Liu Zhenyun refused because he had to go home to take care of his children.

After he left, Lin Chaoyang took Yu Hua back to Xiaoliubukou Hutong.

After getting off the car, Yu Hua went straight to the author's home in the West Courtyard.

At the beginning of the year, Lin Chaoyang put two video recorders that were eliminated from Du Feng's video hall in the West Courtyard, and these video recorders immediately became popular with Li Tuo and others.

They exchanged video tapes everywhere, and then a group of people gathered in the West Courtyard to watch movies, and set every Saturday night as "Movie Night".

As soon as I entered the house, there were seven or eight people sitting inside.

Yu Hua saw Li Tuo tinkering with the VCR, and he asked excitedly: "What are you watching today?"

Zhu Wei had a mysterious smile on his face, "Good stuff!"

Yu Hua became even more curious after hearing this, and chased after Zhu Wei to ask. Li Tuo had finished fixing the VCR and said: "Wild Strawberries, have you seen it?"

"No, but I've heard of it."

Li Tuo nodded, "Ingmar Bergman, you must have heard of him, he is a master. He won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film three times and is a frequent guest at the three major European film festivals.

This Wild Strawberries is one of his masterpieces, and it won the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival in 1958, which is one level higher than the Silver Bear Award for Chen Kaige's The King of Children."

In the past few years, Li Tuo shifted his focus from novels to movies, and assisted his wife Zhang Nuanxin in making two movies. Therefore, he was naturally familiar with world-class directors like Ingmar Bergman.

Listening to his introduction, Yu Hua was immediately in awe, Master!

His expression was full of expectation.

While he was talking, pictures began to appear on the TV screen, and everyone fell silent.

The videotape of "Wild Strawberries" had been transcribed many times, and the pictures became a little blurry, and there were often shiny stripes after the tape was damaged.

And the videotape had not been translated yet, so everyone didn't know what the characters in it were saying.

But this did not hinder everyone's involvement. They wanted to put their heads into the TV and guess the plot in it with their brains.

It may also be because they could not fully understand the plot of the movie, but instead made them have a distant admiration for the movie and admired the pictures in it.

"It's so well shot!" Yu Hua said after the movie.

Although they didn't fully understand the movie, it did not hinder everyone's enthusiasm for discussing the movie.

After chatting for nearly 20 minutes, Zhu Wei urged Li Tuo to continue showing the movie.

Yu Hua came from Shilibao on the East Fourth Ring Road, and Wu Bin and his wife came from Shuangyushu on the Northwest Third Ring Road...

Everyone came to Xiaoliubukou Hutong from all over Yanjing. Of course, it was impossible to watch only one movie in one night, which would be a waste.

The screen flashed again, and a group of people continued to immerse themselves in the world woven by light and shadow.

While Yu Hua and his group were watching the movie, Lin Chaoyang was writing furiously in the East Courtyard at the same time.

He will stay in Yanjing for half a month this time, and plans to use this time to finish the script of "Parasite" and start a new book.

Since getting married, Lin Chaoyang has rarely been alone.

This time, his wife and children are not around, and he is a little lonely, but his writing efficiency has increased all of a sudden.

At this rate, he feels that he can finish the script of "Parasite" in three or four days, and he feels the pleasure of returning to the peak.

Loneliness is indeed a man's best partner!

At around ten o'clock in the evening, he finally got up from his desk and stretched his sore shoulders.

There was a faint sound of laughter from the West Courtyard. It was unknown what kind of activities were going on. The noise continued until after eleven o'clock.

The next morning, Lin Chaoyang was awakened by a knock on the door while he was sleeping. He opened the door and saw that it was Yu Hua.

Last night, after watching a movie, some of them who lived far away from home did not leave, so they slept in the West Courtyard. In the morning, they cooked and wanted to ask Lin Chaoyang to eat.

After washing up, Lin Chaoyang went to the West Courtyard for dinner. Among the people who stayed overnight, Yu Hua and Zhu Wei were the ones he was most familiar with. It was the first time he met Wu Bin and Liu Xia and his wife.

While eating and chatting, everyone talked about creation. Zhu Wei asked Lin Chaoyang about his recent creation.

Lin Chaoyang said that he was writing the script of "Parasite" and would write a long novel later. Wu Bin couldn't help but wonder why Lin Chaoyang could maintain such a vigorous creative state.

"Instead of thinking about how to maintain a vigorous creative state, it is better to adjust your mentality.

Many people regard literary creation as scribbling. Once inspiration comes, the pen flows and it is completed in one go, and it becomes a masterpiece for all ages. In fact, it is just self-deception.

It is first of all a technical job. For example, if Yu Hua wants to write a short story now, it may be completed in a few days or one or two weeks. Both the story and the language are within his control.

But if he writes a long story, it will be a big test for him.

At this time, it is not enough to rely on inspiration and interest alone. Not only must there be love, but also the endurance and perseverance of running a marathon.

Calm down and treat it as a job that needs to be treated conscientiously. This mentality may be more helpful for creators."

Lin Chaoyang's words have a bit of preaching, but the few people present did not feel uncomfortable. Lin Chaoyang is qualified to say such words.

At least in the Chinese literary world, at Lin Chaoyang's age, no one can reach the same level of creative output and level as him.

He was willing to share his creative experience, and everyone was so happy that they couldn't wait.

Today is Sunday, no class, no work.

After dinner, Yu Hua and others watched movies, read books, and talked in the West Courtyard, enjoying themselves, while Lin Chaoyang continued to go back to the East Courtyard to write.

It took Lin Chaoyang four days to finish the script of "Parasite" and then started writing a new book.

In this way, he spent half a day in class and half a day writing, and his life was particularly regular.

A few days later, he received a call from Yu Yuxi from Gaomi, Shandong. She had been following the group in Gaomi during this period.

"Thank God, Teacher Chaoyang, you are in Yanjing!" After the call was connected, Yu Yuxi's tone was a little excited.

"What happened?" Lin Chaoyang asked.

Yu Yuxi then talked about the reason for her call.

The first thing Zhang Yimou did when filming "Red Sorghum" was to grow sorghum. He wanted to restore the red sorghum in full swing in Mo Yan's novel.

At the beginning of spring, he sent assistant director Yang Fengliang to Sunjiakou in Gaomi. The crew spent 40,000 yuan to sign a contract with the local people and let them plant 100 mu of sorghum fields.

Zhang Yimou had a good idea, but their operation of just paying money without any constraints was destined to suffer losses.

The 100 mu of sorghum fields they commissioned to plant were not taken care of by the locals after they sowed the seeds.

When Zhang Yimou went to inspect the sorghum field with great ambition, he found that the sorghums were all half dead, the tallest was less than one meter, and the shortest was only a few stalks.

The leaves were all curled, and the leaf stems were covered with a layer of aphids.

If things continue like this, these sorghums will never be able to meet the level of filming.

Red sorghum, red sorghum, without sorghum, what can we film?

Zhang Yimou was so anxious that his voice became hoarse overnight, and he wanted to cry.

After listening to Yu Yuxi's report, Lin Chaoyang immediately grasped the key to the problem, "Can we find some agricultural experts to give advice now? Can we remedy it?"

Yu Yuxi said uncertainly: "We don't know either. We found comrades from the local agricultural technology station. They said that the best way now is to spread fertilizers, spray pesticides, and manage them in a refined manner. But we..."

Lin Chaoyang immediately understood the source of the hesitation in her tone. The crew were all outsiders, and it was impossible to control the locals.

"I understand. I'll find a way for you on this matter."

After hanging up the phone, Lin Chaoyang thought about it and decided that he definitely couldn't make a big deal out of such a small matter. So he first called Wang Meng and asked him to help contact Feng Deying, the head of the Shandong Literary Association, and then contacted comrades in Gaomi County through Feng Deying.

He explained the current situation faced by the "Red Sorghum" crew and asked comrades in the county to lend a hand.

"I understand, I understand. Comrade Chaoyang, please rest assured that "Red Sorghum" is a rare publicity for our Gaomi County. We must complete this matter as a political task."

Hearing the guarantee from the comrades of the county party committee, Lin Chaoyang was relieved. The four words "political task" were not spoken casually.

After thanking him repeatedly, he called the crew again and asked Yu Yuxi and Zhang Yimou to contact the comrades of the county party committee.

After most of the day, Zhang Yimou called again.

She said that the comrades of the county party committee specially invited her and Zhang Yimou to the county for a meeting, and expressed their intention to treat the management of sorghum as a political task.

Not only did they approve 5 tons of fertilizer, but they also summoned the township leaders of Sunjiakou to the county to give them a lecture.

"Teacher Chaoyang, I really trouble you. I didn't do this well."

Having solved the big problem, Zhang Yimou was happy and apologetic at the same time.

The sorghum he spent tens of thousands of yuan on almost went down the drain, and it almost delayed the filming of the crew. As a director, he had an unshirkable responsibility.

"It's normal for you to have some problems when you are a director for the first time. Don't have any ideological burdens, just shoot well!"

Lin Chaoyang's encouragement made Zhang Yimou feel warm in his heart and excited.

After solving the troubles of the "Red Sorghum" crew, Lin Chaoyang continued to write while attending classes every day.

Half a month passed in a flash, and the class was about to end.

In the last class of the day in mid-June, Lin Chaoyang had nothing to say, so he chatted with everyone.

The students of this Luyuan class are generally young, and many of them have obvious modernist tendencies.

When talking about their creative ideas and submission experiences, these people's tone was full of resentment.

They believe that the current narrative form of novels is single and not diverse enough. When submitting to magazines, they are often rejected mercilessly by some old editors with single aesthetic tastes and old-fashioned style.

Listening to their complaints, Lin Chaoyang was thoughtful.

"Everything has two sides. Singleness is not necessarily bad, and diversity does not necessarily mean good.

Just like someone criticized you for not writing novels but playing with literature, you will also refute that you are seeking multiple narratives.

Critical realism is a tradition in our contemporary Chinese literature, and we cannot change this.

Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses, and attacking each other can only make literary creation a boring game of accusations.

Whether it is Joyce, Marquez, Tolstoy, or Balzac, they are all foreign monks.

Who does it matter to learn from?

The important thing is to create down-to-earth and write good works that the people love to hear and see.

In the future, everyone will be able to leave their names in history, and people will definitely remember your works. You can't remember that you are a loyal disseminator of Marquez and magical realism in China, right?"

Lin Chaoyang said a joke at the end, which caused the students to laugh, and some people were thoughtful after laughing.

Some words seem to be a panacea, but the effect is completely different when spoken by different people.

Lin Chaoyang has come this far in the literary world by writing high-quality works, so his words naturally have special weight in the hearts of these students.

At this time, the bell rang, and Lin Chaoyang's last class at Luyuan ended. The students were reluctant to give him applause.

Teacher You Xiaoshan, who was in charge of the class, walked to the stage to summarize the content and theme of Lin Chaoyang's class, and the students below the stage applauded again.

"The course "Creative Practice and Research" is over. Why don't you take this opportunity to take a photo with Teacher Chaoyang." You Xiaoshan said.

The students happily went downstairs, and dozens of people stood in four rows.

Lin Chaoyang and two teachers from Luyuan sat in the middle of the first row and took a group photo.

After the group photo, Lin Chaoyang said: "Although the course is over, our fate has just begun. Welcome everyone to visit my small courtyard in the future."

Hearing his invitation, the students were very happy, and someone shouted: "It's not enough to just be a guest, you have to taste your craftsmanship!"

Lin Chaoyang's cooking skills are well known in the literary world. In recent years, being able to participate in the cultural salon of Xunweizhai has gradually become a matter of honor for many writers.

In front of so many people, Lin Chaoyang will not say polite words.

He smiled and said, "I can treat you, but you can only eat mutton hotpot. I can't afford to cook for you."

The man just mentioned it casually, but he didn't expect Lin Chaoyang to actually agree.

If you can ask Lin Chaoyang to treat you to a meal, let alone eating mutton hotpot, drinking boiled water will be fine!

"Everyone has to go to class on weekdays, and it is not convenient for your school to go out, so let's do it on Sunday. I will treat everyone to a meal." Lin Chaoyang said.

The students cheered and encouraged.

On Sunday, the writers of this class of Luyuan came from the East Fourth Ring Road to Xiaoliubukou Hutong south of West Chang'an Street.

Lin Chaoyang put the place for the dinner in the West Courtyard. He didn't want to face the mess of cups and plates after eating in the East Courtyard.

Among the more than 50 students of Lu Academy, only Yu Hua and a few others have been to Lin Chaoyang's house, but everyone is not unfamiliar with this place.

In the mouths of many writers, this is the "author's home" and the "civilian literary association", which is simply a paradise and a happy hometown for writers.

After entering the courtyard, the courtyard and facilities of Xiaoliubukou did not disappoint these students.

After entering the gate, bypassing the screen wall, the moon gate on the left is neatly decorated. There are five rooms in the south of the front yard, and the courtyard is spacious. There is a hanging flower gate in the middle of the north side, and there are flower walls on both sides of the door, with screens inside, and corridors on the left and right.

The cross corridor in the courtyard is more than six feet wide, and there are Taihu stones, fish tanks and pomegranate trees in the courtyard...

All the way to visit, everyone just felt that this house is really big, and it was the first time that they had a substantial concept of the rumor that Lin Chaoyang "earned a lot of royalties".

In the huge city of Yanjing, they could not even imagine in their lifetime that there would be such a quadrangle.

After a meal of mutton hotpot, all the students were full of oil and stomach, and their eyes were full of reluctance when they left.

In the future, I will have something to brag about when I talk to others.

Lin Chaoyang treated me to a meal!

After the Yanjing incident, Lin Chaoyang returned to Hong Kong.

The first news he got was that the box office of "Autumn Fairy Tale" exceeded 10 million Hong Kong dollars in one week, which was a great success.

This undoubtedly greatly boosted the morale of Lin's Pictures in the Hong Kong film industry!

More than half a month ago, the Hong Kong and Kowloon Freedom Federation suddenly issued a ban on Lin's Pictures, which attracted a lot of attention from the Hong Kong film industry.

Not only was there a panic inside Lin's Pictures, but many cooperating actors, directors and film companies began to back off.

Fortunately, Tao Yushu's combination of punches appeased these partners, and the effect was immediate.

The price, then, was that a lot of profits were shared out.

The box office of "Autumn Fairy Tale" exceeded 10 million in the first week of its release, which undoubtedly gave a loud slap to the Hong Kong and Kowloon Freedom Association. In addition to letting colleagues in Hong Kong see the strength of Lin's Films, it also let them see that the Hong Kong and Kowloon Freedom Association is not able to cover the sky with one hand.

At least in Hong Kong, they do not have the ability to bring down a company of a certain size with just one sentence.

These colleagues also understand that the siege campaign launched by the Hong Kong and Kowloon Freedom Association against Lin's Films will probably have little impact on Lin in the short term.

After all, they do not rely on the Taiwan Island market, and can make money only in the Hong Kong market. If other foreign markets are included, they can even make a lot of money.

In this way, everyone is not so afraid of the ban order.

Under the incentive policy of a 20% salary increase, the new film of Lin's Films was not only not affected by the ban order, but also became a hot commodity for many practitioners, including actors.

At this time, the decision of Lin Chaoyang and his wife to spend money was revealed.

Assuming that they had not made the decision to "increase the stakes" at the first time the ban was issued more than half a month ago, once the ban caused everyone's concerns, hesitation and worry, it would have caused problems in the formation of Lam's new film team.

At that time, it is very likely to form a chain reaction, and the future of Lam's film industry will be uncertain under the pressure of everyone.

Now, on the contrary, if the first person dares to break the restrictions of the ban under the drive of interests, there will be a second, a third...

In such a situation, the law cannot punish the masses. If the Hong Kong and Kowloon Freedom Federation does not take more stringent measures, then the ban is likely to slowly become a piece of waste paper.

If such a thing really happens, it will probably be a major blow to their prestige.

"I promised Shaw Brothers to give Shaw Brothers a 20% investment share in "Parasite." Tao Yushu said to Lin Chaoyang.

Shaw Brothers closed down, but it just stopped the big studio system and reduced its scale, but the theater chain is still in operation, and it has retained a small part of the film investment business.

Now Lin needs to make alliances, on the one hand to fight against the covetous Golden Harvest and Cinema City, on the other hand to deal with the ban by the Hong Kong and Kowloon Free Association, and it is also a helpless move to introduce Shaw Brothers to cooperate.

"If you give up, you will gain. It is worth it to use 20% of the profit of "Parasite" to exchange for our film to get better treatment in Shaw Cinema Line!"

Seeing that Lin Chaoyang approved of her approach, Tao Yushu smiled.

Two days later, Lin Chaoyang asked Ann Hui and Xu Guanwen out.

When they met, he said jokingly: "Our Lin Group has been banned, and you two still dare to take our movie?"

After saying this, Xu Anhua's expression remained as usual. Her stance was originally on the Z side. She had many cooperations with Yindu organizations, so naturally she wouldn't care about this kind of thing.

A strange color flashed across Xu Guanwen's face.

Two years ago, the banning order of the Hong Kong and Kowloon Free Association would indeed have been a deterrent.

Actors make a living by appearing on camera and acting.

If he is really blocked by Bay Island for starring in a film produced by Lam Pictures, then he will definitely lose many film contracts, which is naturally not worth the loss.

But now, Xu Guanwen is determined to work hard in the direction of "artist", and "The Truman Show" has laid a solid foundation for him.

As long as "Parasite" can be successful, he will gain a transcendent status and reputation in the Hong Kong film industry and even the entire society.

By that time, it won’t matter whether it’s banned or not.

If you want to ban Xu Guanwen, you should first ask the 5.5 million citizens of Xiangjiang if they agree!

"Haha! In the final analysis, the Freedom Association is parasitic on Xiangjiang Film. They have been tyrannical for so long over the years that they have forgotten their identity.

I really thought that relying on the Wandao market, I could do whatever I wanted! "

Lin Chaoyang naturally understood that Xu Guanwen's words were a statement to him, and the smile on his face became even brighter.

"With your support, it seems I don't need to worry."

After joking, Lin Chaoyang took out the script of "Parasite", and Xu Anhua and Xu Guanwen's eyes suddenly shone.

Isn't this what the two of them have been looking forward to most these days?

After spending two or three hours reading the script, the two looked at each other and saw a hint of joy in each other's eyes.

The script level of "Parasite" is definitely not lower than that of "The Truman Show". As long as it is played properly and the production quality is online, it will definitely be another award-winning masterpiece.

Thinking this in their hearts, both of them became a little excited.

Xu Anhua asked: "Chaoyang, if nothing else happens, Michael should be the one to play Lao Jin, right?"

Lin Chaoyang nodded.

"What about the chairman? This character is also very important. He is hypocritical, hypocritical and cunning. For such a role, you need to find an actor who can hold up the scene."

Xu Anhua looked at Lin Chaoyang and asked for his opinion.