1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 18: The Chess King is published

When talking about love poems of this era, we naturally cannot avoid Shu Ting's "To the Oak Tree", this "national-level" love poem.

But in an era of emotional repression, this poem was undoubtedly outrageous, and the discussions it sparked were mostly critical.

The "Lumen Daily" at the time published entire pages of criticism. The most famous debate was the discussion organized by "Fumin Literature and Art" which lasted nearly two years.

What is even more cruel is that the old revolutionary poets had absolute power of speech at that time.
In 1983, at the award ceremony of the National Poetry Awards Competition, Shu Ting burst into tears as soon as she took the stage, "Why is it so difficult for women to write poetry!"

In this time and space where Shu Ting does not exist, Jiang Xian has no intention of publishing "To the Oak Tree" for the time being.

He wanted to stay a little longer, but the time was not right yet.

In October, the Youth League Congress will be held soon.

The editorial department of "Beijing Literature and Art" suddenly became much quieter. Editors could often be seen hurriedly carrying their bags across their shoulders and riding 28-inch bicycles to rush back and forth.

Many writers from all over the country will be present at this Youth League Congress, including some who have not corrected their mistakes and are still members of the Y School, such as Wang Meng, Fang Zhi
They are all professional writers who have already been famous and have not yet made a comeback. This is a great time to commission them to write articles.

Zhang Dening has been busy with this recently, and her target is Wang Meng.

"Is this the final revision, Mr. Zhou?" Jiang Xian asked.

"Well, I guess there's nothing wrong with that."

Jiang Xian and editorial board member Zhou Yanru completed the final revision task together.

Zhou Yanru collected the manuscript of "The Chess King". Jiang Xian had nothing to do with it now, and the final publication work was arranged by her.

"Old Li, do you have any questions about "The Chess King"?"

Li Qingquan took a while to read it carefully from beginning to end and nodded.

"Pretty good."

"Then arrange for publication. It's a bit too late to publish the 10th issue now, so let's publish the 11th issue."

"Beijing Literature and Art" is a monthly magazine, published on the 10th of every month. Although it is not yet the 10th, it will take about half a month to finalize the manuscript, proofread, typeset, print, and mail.

Li Qingquan thought for a moment and said, "Put it in the fourth position, and put the articles reflecting the mainstream in the front."

This is Li Qingquan's unique skill. He is very good at placing a pearl in the most appropriate position in a magazine, which not only protects the pearl from being covered in dust, but also reduces the risk of the publication.

"Old Zhou, I have something else to tell you." Li Qingquan instructed again: "I estimate that the influence of "Chess King" may be quite large, so add a commentary at the same time."

Zhou Yanru was stunned.

Not every work is eligible for concurrent reviews. The novels that are reviewed concurrently are of course the ones that the magazine is very optimistic about.

"Who should I ask to write it?" she asked.

Li Qingquan pondered for a moment.

"Isn't Wang Meng in Beijing? Ask him to write a critique for Chess King."

In November in Beijing, the temperature has begun to drop gradually and the air has become drier. Many people's faces and hands are covered with cracks, and those with rhinitis have red noses.

"Teacher Fu, come and have dinner." In the cafeteria, Zhang Jie greeted her editor Fu Yonglin with a smile.

Fu Yonglin smiled back, "Teacher Zhang, you don't look very well. Have you been feeling unwell recently?"

Zhang Jie’s recent condition is indeed not very good.

Her love life is extremely complicated, and she has an almost obsessive perfectionist attitude towards writing.

During this period, the dual pressures of life and literature really made her a little exhausted. "Revising the manuscript is tiring."

"Why don't you take a break for a while and clear your mind?" Fu Yonglin was worried about Zhang Jie's condition. "By the way, the 11th issue of Beijing Literature and Art is out. I'll get you a copy later. You can take a break and read it. Maybe some of the words can bring you some inspiration and enlightenment."

It was difficult to refuse Fu Yonglin's kindness, so Zhang Jie had to agree. After dinner, she picked up the 11th issue of "Beijing Literature and Art" and returned to Room 305.

I quickly browsed through a few articles first. The quality of the articles themselves is not bad, but I didn't see any novelty or breakthrough in Zhang Jie. "Scars" has obviously influenced the direction of contemporary literature, but its depiction of history seems to remain at this level.

Out of respect for "Beijing Literature and Art", Zhang Jie still plans to finish reading this issue.

"The Chess King", Jiang Xian.

"what?"

When Zhang Jie saw the author's name, her eyes suddenly lit up.

It’s the work of the guy next door!

During this time together, she and Jiang Xian have gradually become familiar with each other. He often comes to visit, and she also admires this humorous and straightforward young man.

I wonder what the writing he wrote is like?

The autumn atmosphere has permeated the entire guesthouse, and outside the window is the ginkgo yellow that looks like golden glazed tiles.

Zhang Jie was hunched over the desk, motionless except for turning the pages and shaking her head slightly.

I read until the last line of "The Chess King", sat there for a long time, savoring the memory, before a faint but satisfied smile appeared on the corners of my mouth.

"If I had known that he wrote so well, I would have asked him to read it earlier."

At Yenching University, the heating in the library has not yet been fully heated up, but this has not stopped the students' enthusiasm for reading.

Just this year, the foreign novel reading room that was closed during a special period was reopened, allowing students from ordinary majors to read in the room, but not to borrow books.

Liang Zuo walked into the library indignantly. In his military green shoulder bag were rejected manuscripts and a rejection letter from Beijing Literature and Art.

He simply couldn't accept that the manuscript he had worked so hard on for several weeks, staying up all night, was rejected by the editorial department so easily.

Coincidentally, the 11th issue of "Beijing Literature and Art" had just been delivered, so Liang Zuo borrowed it directly and found a corner to sit down.

He wanted to see what level of works were that could be published in "Beijing Literature and Art"?
After reading two of them, a look of disdain appeared on his face.

Deliberately following the footsteps of "Scars", it lacks character building, cultural charm display, lively narrative, and unique language.
Although he might not be able to do better, in his eyes, these novels were not considered to be excellent works.

"Beijing Literature and Art" is nothing special." Liang Zuo showed disdain on his face.

Continue reading.

"The Chess King", Jiang Xian.

[The station is in chaos, with thousands of people talking.]
He was restless and irritable, and was inexplicably attracted by the line of vulgar words. His mind was gradually immersed in the story, and he even ignored the movements in the outside world.

"Classmate! Classmate!"

The administrator called out twice before Liang Zuo came back to his senses. He said "ah" but his eyes were reluctant to leave the words in the magazine.

“It’s closed!”

Urged by the administrator, Liang Zuo had no choice but to put the magazine back on the table. No more books could be borrowed at that time, so he had to wait until the library opened tomorrow to come back.

(End of this chapter)