Reborn in 1977

Chapter 529: Ultimately Buried

Before the 1980s, China didn't have permanent, established literary awards. The "Mao Dun, Lu Xun, Lao She, Cao Yu" four major literary awards were all established in the 1980s.

Previously, there were only temporary selection activities such as "Excellent Short Story" and "Excellent Novel," mainly organized by newspapers and periodicals, and there were no prize money, only a certificate.

The certificate was even mailed, without any award ceremony or publicity. Only the selection unit and the author knew the selection results.

At least announce it in the newspapers and periodicals, right? But no.

The reasons for not establishing literary awards were relatively simple.

One was that the popularization of culture was too low in those years!

The countryside was generally illiterate, and most people in the city were also illiterate. How many characters did a high school graduate know? Yet, they were considered "highly educated!"

How could you ask them to create?

At that time, if you wanted to give awards, it would just be a small circle of people entertaining themselves behind closed doors, or simply treating weeds as flowers. What was there to evaluate?

Another reason, of course, was the timing.

By the time they finally completed basic literacy, established a national education system, and had a little cultural foundation, the "intellectuals" who had gone to school had to find a piece of paper with words on it even when they went to the toilet... not to wipe their butts, but to read. They could finish reading it this time and continue reading it next time.

Unexpectedly, a big storm came suddenly, and the writers all went to the countryside to experience life. Naturally, they wouldn't be giving out awards.

Until now, there was still nothing.

The establishment of all serious awards must be to promote the development of a certain industry.

Therefore, the establishment of literary awards was to stimulate literary prosperity, select excellent works and writers, and at the same time expand the social influence of literature.

At this time, nearly 30 years after the founding of the country, through persistent literacy and basic education popularization work, more and more people became literate. Middle school students were unremarkable, and college students were also common.

Thus, the extreme prosperity of literature in the 1980s was created.

At this time, it was the right time and very necessary to create a permanent literary award.

Back at the guest house, He Qingsheng hung his coat on the clothes rack and couldn't help but wipe his sweat.

Jiangnan winters are also cold, and the perceived temperature is even colder than in Beijing, but there is no heating. People wear more clothes indoors and outdoors.

If you don't have a fire, you'll be even more wrapped up indoors, because people don't generate heat when they don't move, and it's warmer when you're active outside.

Beijing is different. There is heating in the houses. You take off your clothes when you enter the door, otherwise, you'll be sweating like him after climbing two floors.

Taking off his cotton coat, He Qingsheng picked up his towel and threw it into the washbasin, poured a little hot water, wrung out the towel and rubbed his face. He let out a long breath before turning to look at Chen Fan and said with a smile, "When this award is established, you will definitely be among the first winners. If it is a personal award, it will definitely be yours."

Chen Fan was squatting on the ground, opening his suitcase, burying his head and saying, "Not necessarily. Who asked me to make this suggestion? To avoid suspicion, they have to choose someone else."

He Qingsheng shook his head, "One thing is one thing. Good suggestions should be adopted, and good works should be awarded. Otherwise, an unfair award is meaningless."

He wrung out the towel after rubbing it, poured the water from the washbasin into the sewage bucket, and hung up the towel. Then, he turned around and said, "The only difference is whether to choose Chen Fan's 'Reed Marsh,' or Chen Dong's 'Ferryman,' or Potato's 'Old Things,' Tomato's 'Ocean'…"

Chen Fan closed the suitcase, turned around, and raised his hands, "Please let me go."

He Qingsheng's eyes suddenly lit up, "Is this 'Yunhu Love'?"

Chen Fan handed the thick manuscript in his hand, "I've been writing for a long time. It was finalized last night. Please take a look."

He turned to pour tea, saying without turning his head, "Anyway, that's it. You can either publish it directly, or find someone to revise it. I won't revise it anymore. I'm tired."

It was really tiring.

First, he wrote 320,000 words. Huang Ying and the other six people copied it together for half a month.

Later, after being with Lili, he had some insights and added more than 40,000 words of detailed descriptions that everyone didn't like to read. It didn't have much impact on the plot, but it could improve the artistic sense. It was definitely not to earn more manuscript fees.

It's not easy to support a family.

He Qingsheng hummed twice, walked to the sofa chair, sat down, and didn't look up.

Seeing this, Chen Fan didn't disturb him, picked up his cotton coat, and quietly went out.

…

First, he went to the cloth shop and bought a bundle of extremely strong cloth tape rope, and then tore dozens of feet of the cheapest dacron cloth.

Yes, dacron cloth was indeed the cheapest at this time, even if it wasn't, it was one of the cheapest cloths, only 24 cents a foot, and no tickets were needed.

Expensive were dacron shirts, which cost 10 to 15 yuan each, which was really outrageous.

While fine cotton cloth cost five or six cents a foot, but a shirt made of it only cost 7 or 8 yuan. Although tickets were needed, this pricing was indeed a bit confusing.

After tearing the cloth, Chen Fan asked the salesperson and found a sewing shop in a small alley not far away.

There were many such private tailoring shops, distributed in alleys of all sizes. Except for the two years when the wind was the strongest, basically no one cared about them at other times. They were freer than selling buns.

Generally, it was someone with the best tailoring skills nearby. After their reputation spread, neighbors would come to ask them to make clothes. They would charge two or three yuan for a piece of clothing, which was considered earning some hard-earned money.

Chen Fan didn't need the boss to do it. He gave her a yuan, borrowed the sewing machine, and then spread the newly bought dacron cloth on the cutting board and picked up the scissors to cut it.

The tailor lady watched with her eyelids twitching, "Young man, what are you going to do?"

Chen Fan smiled, "Make a few umbrella surfaces."

The lady's eyes blinked wildly, "Then your umbrella is big enough!"

After a while, she saw Chen Fan cutting a lot of strips of cloth and couldn't help but ask, "How many umbrellas are you going to make?"

Chen Fan, "Not many, five or six."

The lady quickly said, "I only have one sewing machine here, but someone else has one. Or, I'll take it over there for you to sew? It only costs 50 cents for an umbrella surface."

Chen Fan thought for a while, "Okay."

He took out another yuan, "Then please sew two for me."

The lady was about to ask for one or two more, when she saw Chen Fan take the cloth and sit in front of the sewing machine, stepping on it with a whirring sound. In the blink of an eye, he sewed two sides, scaring her to turn around and run, fearing that she would be late.

In less than an hour, two simple parachutes were made. The large one was connected by four umbrella surfaces, and the small one only had two. The diameter of the umbrella surface was about 2.8 meters, which was larger than the sun umbrellas of later generations. The corners were connected by chemical fiber cloth strips, and the load-bearing capacity was definitely enough.

He would use the big one himself, and hang the small one on the suitcase.

Anyway, it was for emergency use, so it should be enough.

Afterward, Chen Fan used the remaining cloth to make two parachute bags. With this thing, he was not afraid of flying!

This thing is basically useless to ordinary people, but in his hands, it is a life-saving weapon. As long as he is not too unlucky and falls into a volcano, he can land safely anywhere else.

But are there active volcanoes in the mainland?

That's right, he is so afraid of death and also greedy for enjoyment, so what!

Humming a whistle happily and carrying the parachute bag back to the guest house, just as he reached the door of the room, he saw Ba Jin sitting next to He Qingsheng, each holding a stack of manuscripts to read.

Hearing the movement, the two raised their heads together.

Old Ba raised the manuscript in his hand and said with a deliberately stern face, "You were hiding it when you were in Shanghai. That's not right."

"That's not right" in Chengdu dialect means "unkind." He actually blurted out his hometown dialect again.

Chen Fan didn't flinch at all. He threw the two parachute bags on the suitcase and said with a justified tone, "It wasn't finished at that time, so of course it wasn't good to take it out for you to see."

"Bullshit."

Old Ba spat out a swear word unhappily, and then scolded with a smile, "The handwriting of this manuscript is obviously not yours. You dare to say it's not finalized. If it's not finalized, you asked someone to copy it for you?"

Chen Fan's heart skipped a beat. Oops, I forgot there was a flaw.

Then, his eyes turned slightly, and he coughed, "Please turn it over again. There are still my handwritings inside, which I added later after I revised it."

Without Old Ba doing it, He Qingsheng turned to the back and found that there were indeed many inserted pages.

Old Ba didn't say anything when he saw it.

He raised his head and looked at Chen Fan, "I'll spare you this time. Next time you have a new manuscript, show it to me first, and I'll check it for you."

Chen Fan smiled bashfully, "There is indeed another one..."

Before he could finish, He Qingsheng abruptly looked up at him.

Chen Fan's lips twitched slightly as he said to him, "You don't need to look at me. This one is about the story of underground workers in Shanghai. It's more suitable to be published in Shanghai, or directly as a book."

Upon hearing this, He Qingsheng continued to look down at his manuscript.

Old Ba, however, became more interested, looking at him curiously, "You're talking about underground workers? How did you think of this subject matter?"

Chen Fan gestured and nodded, saying, "Since the 1950s, many anti-espionage works have appeared, including quite a few picture-story books.

When I saw these works, I suddenly thought that we also have a group of comrades who infiltrated the enemy's ranks for the sake of revolution and ideals. For a long time, not many people have paid attention to them, so I had the idea of creating this subject matter."

There are many espionage works in our country, but for a long time, they have been centered on "anti-espionage," with our own people as the first-person perspective. The first one was the TV series "Eighteen Years in the Enemy Camp" filmed by CCTV in the 1980s.

This 9-episode TV series was also our country's first "full-length TV series."

However, Chen Fan did not copy the story of this TV series. In later generations, espionage works emerged endlessly, and there were many of high quality. And Shanghai, as the most prosperous city in the Far East at that time, was a mixture of people and forces, naturally becoming the most active intelligence center.

The story is about an underground worker who disguises himself as a small company boss, maneuvering among various forces. Of course, the main opponent is still the Central Unification, actively carrying out work, obtaining a large amount of intelligence for the organization, and making significant contributions to the War of Resistance and Liberation.

It uses various forces as negative characters to highlight the positive image of our personnel, and through the role of positive characters, it highlights the importance of the protagonist's task force. Then, through a series of character portrayals and task executions, it highlights the protagonist's heroism, wit, and fearless spirit.

Perfectly in line with the Three Prominences principle.

The shackles of the past ten years still influence literary creators all over the country. The creation of literature and film still follows this principle, and it was not until after the 1980s that it was slightly relaxed, until "Scar Literature" became popular, which destroyed this creative principle.

At this time, even "Scar Literature" had not yet emerged, let alone run rampant. Chen Fan did not dare to take too big a step and felt safer to create using the formula.

Not only is the novel "Shanghai Spy Shadow" like this, but "Yunhu Love" is also the same.

The collision of old and new ideas, the conflicts between national affairs and family affairs, and the confrontation between positive and negative characters are all integrated into it... Otherwise, how could he write more than 300,000 words? These all need to be filled with stories!

Hearing Chen Fan's words, Old Ba nodded slowly and suddenly asked a question, "Then what you write should be inclined to popular novels?"

As soon as these words came out, He Qingsheng, who was reading the manuscript, also suddenly raised his head.

Chen Fan was slightly stunned. He almost forgot that Old Ba has always been a staunch supporter of serious literature, but he does not reject popular literature.

The core characteristic of serious literature is a deep reflection on human experience and existence.

That is to say, a serious literary work needs to use realism, absurdity, stream of consciousness, and postmodern writing as a way of expression, and explore the inner world of human beings, the relationship between people, and the relationship between people and society through literary forms.

The most common is to describe the inner contradictions, emotional struggles, and life difficulties of characters to arouse readers' resonance and thinking.

In short, it is to be "meaningful."

At this time, the mainstream of the literary world's attitude towards popular literature is "rejection" and even "contempt." Many literati believe that popular literature is just entertainment culture, without much spiritual connotation, and is not worth reading repeatedly... It is exactly the same as the popular writers who later climbed onto the stage and looked down on online literature.

The chain of contempt is passed down from generation to generation, without exception.

So it is very rare that Old Ba can be tolerant of popular literature at this time.

Chen Fan pondered for two seconds, looked at the two of them, and said, "It's not completely popular literature, of course, it's not very orthodox serious literature either. This story is a try for me.

My idea is that popular literature has a wider spread, which serious literature cannot compare with. But it is possible to give popular literature a core through the writing of serious literature, so that it has social significance and humanistic value."

Old Ba nodded slowly with a thoughtful look in his eyes, "It's good that you have the courage to try. Literary creation cannot always remain unchanged. Back then, when we learned to write in vernacular Chinese from the West, didn't it also cause a dispute between vernacular Chinese and classical Chinese? You can write boldly first, as long as the writing is good, I will take care of everything."

He Qingsheng also said frankly, "It's okay, if someone dares to scold you, our Jiangnan Writers Association is not vegetarian either."

Seeing Old Ba's sincerity and He Qingsheng's righteousness, Chen Fan couldn't help but feel a little moved, and immediately blurted out, "It's already finished. Now Tian Tian is helping me transcribe it."

Old Ba's eyes moved slightly, "Oh, she didn't say anything about this. Okay, when I return to Shanghai, I will ask her for it to take a look."

After a pause, he looked up and smiled again, "The reason I came here today is because of something related to Comrade Xiao Jiang."

Chen Fan was stunned, "What's wrong with her?"

Related to Jiang Tian Tian? He really couldn't imagine what could have alarmed Old Ba about Jiang Tian Tian, who was not yet fully initiated? But looking at his attitude, it shouldn't be anything bad?

Old Ba looked at him and smiled, "Not long after the meeting ended just now, I received a call from Shanghai. Comrade Xiao Jiang, inspired by you, wrote a short poem. The comrades from Wenhui Daily and the Shanghai Literature and Art Editorial Department all unanimously believe that this is an epoch-making poem and want to publish it.

But Comrade Xiao Jiang is unwilling. She believes that she was inspired after listening to your analysis of literary works, and unintentionally created this poem. Even if it is to be published, your name should be written."

Chen Fan's eyes widened, feeling a little fantastical.

Jiang Tian Tian wrote a poem? Still epoch-making? What a joke?!

He immediately asked, "What did she write?"

At this time, He Qingsheng also put down the manuscript, looking at Old Ba with a curious face.

Old Ba's expression gradually became serious, but his eyes were full of complex expressions, as he recited word by word, "The black night has given me black eyes, but I use them to seek the light."

Chen Fan: (⊙_⊙)???

This feeling is like you returning to the Tang Dynasty and Li Shimin reciting "Qinyuan Spring · Snow" to you! It's so shocking!

Old Ba stood up, looked at the sluggish Chen Fan and the shocked He Qingsheng, and paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, "You are all people with extremely deep literary literacy and can see the meaning of this poem."

He turned to look at Chen Fan, "When you discussed with me before, you said that whether you are engaged in literary creation or doing other careers, even if you are in the darkness, you must yearn for the light in your heart and have light in your eyes. Comrade Xiao Jiang was also present at that time.

This morning, Comrade Xiao Jiang quoted your statement in the Fudan classroom and extended it. At the end of the speech, she was inspired and blurted out this poem, which aroused warm applause from all the teachers and students in the classroom.

The teacher who taught the class contacted Wenhui Daily as soon as possible and recommended publishing this poem, but Comrade Xiao Jiang insisted that she was only summarizing your speech and was not worthy to publish it as the author. If it must be published, the author should sign your name.

This kind of thing has never happened before, so they called me and asked for your opinion."

Chen Fan finally came back to his senses at this time. He said sternly, "Since this poem came from her mouth, she is naturally the author. There is no reason to sign my name."

He couldn't help but feel a little emotional. After all, he buried Gu Cheng, although he didn't do it himself, it was related to him.

Thinking about how Jiang Tian Tian was able to sort out this sentence, it can be seen that she still has some literary talent, and he couldn't help but feel happy for her.

After a pause, Chen Fan continued, "If the teachers in the editorial department of Wenhui Daily think it can be published, then publish it in the name of Jiang Tian Tian, don't write me. As for her, I will give her a call later..."

He suddenly hesitated, "Is she at school now, or at the editorial department?"

Old Ba, "Still at school."

Chen Fan smiled and said, "Okay, I'll make a call later."

Old Ba smiled and nodded, "Good."

After speaking, he patted Chen Fan's shoulder, "You have a talent for literature, and the person you recommended is also good. You have the air of a senior in the literary world."

Chen Fan grinned awkwardly, "Saying 'recommending talent without avoiding relatives' is also acceptable."

Old Ba laughed and said, "I heard that Xiao Jiang is applying to the school to start a literary magazine. I will have people pay attention to this matter."

Chen Fan was overjoyed, "Then I'll have to trouble you."

Old Ba waved his hand and strode away.

At this moment, He Qingsheng jumped over and said seriously, "What is your relationship with that Comrade Jiang Tiantian? How much do you know about her?"

Chen Fan blinked, and said hesitantly, "Do you want to ask her for a manuscript?"

"Of course."

He Qingsheng clapped his hands and said matter-of-factly, "Just this poem alone qualifies her to join the Writers Association. I'll be her recommender at that time, and you can bring her into the association. Internal submissions of works will be great!"

Chen Fan pursed his lips, "But, she is now a student at Fudan University. Can you… compete with Old Ba? Or can you compete with the Shanghai Writers Association?"

He Qingsheng's face fell, and he turned around to continue reading the manuscripts, not even wanting to speak.

Chen Fan shrugged and went to call Jiang Tiantian.

First register at the front desk, then enter the telecommunications room, close the door, sit down in front of the telephone, pick up the phone and dial "113" first. This is the long-distance telephone exchange. You must dial this number to make a long-distance call.

Although there are hundreds of operators at the 113 long-distance exchange, you still have to wait at this time.

After the connection is made, report the unit's telephone number. This is the Qiushi Magazine Agency's guest house. The number is pasted on the table. After reporting it, you must also report the unit's account number, such as "Account 189". After everything is verified, you can report the telephone number to be dialed, such as "Shanghai 86267, call back 50869", and then hang up and wait.

Compared to making a call at the post office, this set of procedures is handled by the telecommunications operator. You only need to fill out a form, pay the money, and then sit and wait.

Chen Fan sat in front of the telephone and casually picked up a magazine. He saw that it was the latest issue of "BJ Literature". Opening up Tudou's "Old Things", he became engrossed in reading it.

As expected of a world-renowned young writer, the book is well-written. I wonder when CCTV will take a fancy to it and spend money to buy the copyright for adaptation.

I'm out of money, hey!

After reading half of the magazine, the telephone on the table finally rang. Chen Fan grabbed it, "This is Chen Fan."

Jiang Tiantian, "Xiao Fan, it's me."

The next second, her voice was filled with panic, "Xiao Fan, listen to me, I really didn't do it on purpose. I don't know what happened at the time, but I suddenly had a brain cramp and said that sentence. That should be your poem…"

Chen Fan immediately interrupted her, "Hey, don't talk."

Jiang Tiantian, "…?"

Feeling so scared in her heart.

Chen Fan took a breath and said with a smile, "What you wrote is what you wrote. How did it become my poem? Old Ba came to me just now and told me what happened. Let me tell you, don't overthink it. This poem is your original work. Why should you have a psychological burden?"

Jiang Tiantian, "But…"

Chen Fan continued to interrupt, "There are no buts. Hey, let me tell you, just listen to Old Ba and the others. Tomorrow, Wenhui Daily will publish your debut work. You have to buy a few more copies and give them to me as souvenirs.

Also, Old Ba knows about your plan to start a literary magazine at school. He said he will have people pay attention to it. You must seize the opportunity and get as many benefits as possible. Losing face is a small matter, losing my title of 'Wool-Gathering Expert' is a big deal."

Just kidding, wherever I go, how can there be a reason to return empty-handed?!

Hearing him say this, Jiang Tiantian chuckled, and the nervous feeling in her heart instantly dissipated.

She glanced embarrassedly at the teacher opposite her and said softly, "Understood, thank you."

Chen Fan laughed, "What are you thanking me for? You and Lili have always helped me take care of the old house, and I haven't said a word of thanks. By the way, are you both doing well?"

Jiang Tiantian, "We are all doing well. We went home last Sunday. Her condition is very good. She has now entered a state of learning…"

She thought for a while, and finally didn't say the sentence, "She misses you a little."

The teacher is sitting opposite her.

After a pause of two or three seconds, she continued, "Anyway, everything is fine, you don't have to worry."

Chen Fan, "That's good. Also, after Wenhui Daily publishes your poem tomorrow, you will be considered a celebrity. With your reputation rising suddenly, the most important thing is to maintain your original intention. Don't let fame go to your head.

Also, once a person becomes famous, countless people will flock to you. You must also keep your eyes open and distinguish clearly who is a good person and who has ulterior motives. Don't see everyone as a good person, and be more careful."

Jiang Tiantian smiled and said, "Don't worry. I'm not that stupid."

Chen Fan, "Okay, call me if you need anything. I'll be here for two more days. They're really slow this time. If there's nothing else, I'll go back to Jiangnan the day after tomorrow. You can call Lujiazui."

Listening to the beeping sound in the receiver, Jiang Tiantian gently put down the phone.

Professor Ye opposite her looked at her with a kind face, "Are you relieved now?"

Jiang Tiantian nodded gently with a smile, "I made the teacher worry."

Professor Ye waved his hand and said with a smile, "It's a good thing that you have this ideological awareness, proving that you are not a person who wants to seize other people's academic achievements.

However, from the perspective of creation, I still want to say one thing. You did take some shortcuts in the creation of this poem. You are the author of this poem, which is undeniable, but the core is not your thoughts and insights. Those are other people's things. You are using other people's thoughts to achieve yourself.

I hope that one day, you can publish articles with your own ideological core, whether it is poetry, novels, or documentary literature, even if it is not as amazing as this poem, it can convince everyone."

Jiang Tiantian pursed her lips and nodded vigorously, "Understood, teacher, I will remember it."

…

Chen Fan returned to the room and saw that He Qingsheng was still reading, so he consciously walked to the side and sat down. He took out two cigarettes, handed one to him and placed it next to his hand, put one in his mouth, and took out a lighter and said, "What's the matter that requires a three-day meeting? Wasn't the re-establishment of the Jiangnan Writers Association only half a day before? Is there no activity this afternoon?"

He Qingsheng picked up the cigarette and put it in his mouth, leaned over to the lighter and lit it, and said, "There is no activity this afternoon. Don't you have any idea why?"

Chen Fan's eyes rolled slightly, "The establishment of a literary award?"

He Qingsheng raised his head, "Old Ba told me when he came over just now that after the meeting, Zhou Yang, Mao Dun and the others held an emergency meeting with the leaders of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles to discuss the establishment of a literary award and strive to hold an authoritative literary award selection this year on the basis of the re-establishment of the Writers Association."

Chen Fan frowned slightly, "So anxious?"

He Qingsheng shrugged, "The film industry had the Hundred Flowers Award in 1962, but the Writers Association, the largest institution of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles, does not have an influential award. How can they not be anxious?

I estimate that this matter will have results tonight. Anyway, there are tall people holding it up, so let's just wait for the news."

Chen Fan took a puff of cigarette and was about to speak when the telephone on the table suddenly rang.

He walked over to answer it, and Lin Yuanxiang's voice sounded in the receiver, "Are you free now?"

Chen Fan looked at He Qingsheng, "I'm free."

Lin Yuanxiang, "Then come over now, I'll take you to see a senior."

Chen Fan blinked, "Oh."

He hung up the phone, put on his coat again, waved to He Qingsheng, "I'm going out, I probably won't be back tonight."

He Qingsheng raised his head and shouted, "Don't forget the meeting tomorrow morning, don't be late."

Chen Fan's voice came from the corridor, "I know."