1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 244 "Fu Ju De"

Jiang Xian's literary review was not too long, but Shi Tiesheng read it very carefully and it took him a long time to put down the Literary Gazette.

The article analyzes "Half an Hour for Lunch" from many angles, and even the original author felt as if the fog had been cleared and his eyes had been opened after reading it.

Oh, it turns out that the paragraph I wrote can be understood in this way!
Shi Tiesheng recalled a sentence from Jiang Xian’s creation talk of “Xu Sanguan Selling Blood” in the December issue of People’s Literature last year:
“When I was narrating, I tried to cancel my identity as an author. I felt that I should be a reader. This is indeed the case. When the book was completed, I found that I knew no more than others.

The characters often startle me, and when the words come out of their fictional mouths, I suddenly feel inferior and think to myself, 'I can't say that. '"

Shi Tiesheng truly understood the feeling that Jiang Xian described. The author is only the person responsible for creating the novel, not the person who defines the novel.

"Teacher Jiang, he is a real writer!" Shi Tiesheng raised his head, his face full of admiration.

"Teacher Dening, I must go visit Teacher Jiang Xian and thank him in person!"

Zhang Dening smiled and said, "Let's wait until this year's National Excellent Novel Awards Ceremony."

Judging from the current trend, it is a foregone conclusion that "Half an Hour for Lunch" will be selected as one of the national outstanding short stories in 1980.

After the Chinese New Year, the weather in Beijing began to warm up little by little. The temperature difference between day and night was large. At noon, the sun was abundant and people were sweating.

“It’s such a hot day.”

Jiang Xian wiped the sweat off his face, took off his coat, and wiped his neck with a basin of water.

Sitting at the table, he took out a stack of manuscript paper from the drawer.

He had almost finished dealing with last year's affairs before the Spring Festival. Now he can finally sit down with peace of mind and finish writing this play which is a combination of the two inspirations of "Roast Duck" and "Time-honored Brand".

He was sitting at the table wearing a sweater. The afternoon sun shone through the window onto his body, making him feel warm and comfortable.

He did not write very quickly, but he understood the script as he wrote. He kept writing until the sun went down, and finally the script was completed.

Just as he put down his pen, Jiang Xian heard the door being pushed open. It was Zhu Lin returning from Beijing Film Academy.

Jiang Xian stood up and asked with concern: "Are you cold?"

"It's cold." She shivered and complained in a muffled voice, "This damn weather, it's so hot in the morning, I was thinking of wearing something thinner, why is it so cold at night?"

"you caught a cold?"

"No, I have rhinitis." Zhu Lin rubbed her hands and rubbed her nose. "When did the weather get warmer? It's really uncomfortable."

Jiang Xian thought that when the weather gets warmer in spring, there will still be dust, willow catkins and so on. In comparison, rhinitis is more comfortable in winter.

"Drink some hot water first."

Jiang Xian picked up the bamboo thermos, poured her a cup of hot water, and then held her hand in his palm for a while.

Your Majesty's hands are small and cool.

Jiang Xian took her hands in his palms alternately and rubbed them gently.

Zhu Lin shared with him her experiences studying at Beijing Film Academy.

"I didn't expect Comrade Li Chengru to be a drama actor. His teacher is from the Beijing People's Art Theater."

Li Chengru studied Peking Opera in his early years, and later studied drama, and became a disciple of drama actor Dong Xingji.

"How is Li Qinqin in your class?" Jiang Xian asked.

"what happened?"

Zhu Lin gave him a meaningful look and said, "Li Qinqin is quite eye-catching, but she has a boyfriend."

"Who asked you this?"

Jiang Xian said seriously, "Even if she makes a fuss, she is no match for my wife. I noticed that she is very noisy. She was very hasty on the day of registration and was annoying."

Zhu Lin chuckled, "Li Qinqin is quite lively, and this female comrade is quite courageous."

"What's wrong?" Jiang Xian asked curiously.

Zhu Lin whispered, "She tells everyone in class that she doesn't like Chinese men."

"Really?" Jiang Xian pretended to be surprised.

Li Qinqin is a girl who has made a great ambition not to marry anyone other than a foreigner.

She has been tall since she was young and practiced volleyball with "Chaoyang Cannon" Lang Ping when she was young, but she didn't have much talent.

Zhu Lin continued, "She said that Chinese men are stubborn, slow-witted and conceited, but foreigners are not like that. She would rather marry a foreigner than a Chinese man, even if her legs were broken.

"Well, she's still dating someone. What would they think if they heard this?"

"It's okay, it's okay. A saddle fits a horse." Jiang Xian said with a smile.

Li Qinqin is bold and fearless. She is a typical girl like Yu Beibei in "Animal Beasts". In Beijing dialect, she is called "circle". When she was in love, she even dared to give her swimsuit photos to her partner.

After being with someone for a while, I got tired of him and kicked him out.

She didn't take it too seriously at the time, as her career was on the rise. She was admitted to the acting department of the Beijing Film Academy and was chosen by the crew of "Our Fields" to play the leading female role.

Unexpectedly, her boyfriend was so cruel that he directly handed the swimming photo she gave him to their acting teacher. Li Qinqin was just about to embrace the big screen, but after this incident, she was immediately punished and expelled from the school. The movie plan was also cancelled. She had no choice but to work as a registrar in the hospital.

Jiang Xian talked to Zhu Lin for a while and then went to cook, and Zhu Lin helped him.

"'Sanchaxiang Robbery' became really popular. When I went to school, many of my classmates from Beijing Film Academy recognized me and called me Captain Gong Ping."

Jiang Xian smiled and said, "It shows that you acted well. Gong Ping's image is deeply rooted in people's hearts."

"Don't praise me, I don't even think I acted that well. It's you, the script of this TV series is well written, otherwise why would it be so popular?"

Jiang Xian lowered his head while cutting vegetables. "It was also an accidental discovery."

"I don't think so."

Zhu Lin smiled with her almond-shaped eyes, "Isn't your movie Huo Yuanjia also very popular in Hong Kong?"

"It's quite popular, and the ratings are quite high, but not as good as 'The Three Forks'."

With a 99% viewership rate, there is probably no other TV series in Hong Kong that can surpass this.

The meal was quickly prepared. When clearing the table, Zhu Lin suddenly thought, "By the way, how's the play you were working on going?"

"I wrote all afternoon today. I had just finished when you came back."

"Did you finish writing?"

Zhu Lin was very enthusiastic about being Jiang Xian's first reader and couldn't wait to ask, "What's it about?"

“The story of a roast duck restaurant.”

"Roast duck restaurant?"

"Yes, it is a roast duck restaurant, but it is written before liberation. Before liberation, roast duck restaurants were called roast duck restaurants."

"That's not called a roast duck restaurant. It was written before liberation. Before liberation, roast duck restaurants were called roast duck restaurants."

"You're quite picky. Did you get the inspiration from eating at Quanjude?" Zhu Lin recalled that some time ago, Jiang Xian was particularly good at getting their family to go to Quanjude for dinner.

"Yeah." Jiang Xian nodded and said jokingly, "Now you know, I'm not going there to eat roast duck, I'm going there to collect folk songs."

"poor."

Zhu Lin didn't understand what was going on. She picked up the first page of the manuscript and glanced at it. The words looked round and plump, but very neat. The first line read the title of the work:
The first floor in the world!
She looked back at the first paragraph:
“Act One.

Time: Summer 1917.

Location: Fujude, the meat market outside Qianmen. Outside Zhengyangmen, at the feet of the emperor, the population is dense and the market is prosperous. The essence of the capital is all here, with shops, teahouses, theaters, and stalls lined up one after another.

Just outside Zhengyangmen, behind the market houses on the east side of Qianmen Street, there is an alley called Roushikou. On both sides of this alley, there are densely packed restaurants, each with its own unique cuisine:

The most representative dishes include the shabu-shabu mutton and big crabs at Zhengyanglou, the carp in sauce at Dongxinglou, the hanging oven sesame cakes at Shaobingwang, the millet porridge at Tiantaiguan, and the roast duck that is famous in Beijing.

The time-honored brand 'Fujude' is located right in the meat market."

The piece composed by Jiang Xian is the "revival work" of Beijing People's Art Theatre - "The First Building in the World"

This is the "signature play" of Beijing People's Art Theatre, an absolute classic. It premiered in 1988 and over the decades, its performances have been second only to Lao She's Teahouse.

Some people commented that "The Best Restaurant in the World" is a "twin peak" that can stand shoulder to shoulder with "Teahouse", the "treasure of the theater" of Beijing People's Art Theatre.

The story is set in the capital city of the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, and the location is the time-honored roast duck restaurant "Fujude", whose prototype is the real-life time-honored restaurant "Quanjude".

The play consists of three acts.

Scene One: The old shopkeeper of "Fujude" is old and sick, and the two young masters have no affinity with ducks. The eldest young master is obsessed with opera, while the second young master admires martial arts. The shop is unable to make ends meet, so the master Lu Mengshi is invited to run the shop.

Act 2: Lu Mengshi racked his brains and finally made "Fujude" revive and become famous in Beijing.

Act Three: "Fujude" was defeated by the two young shopkeepers, who competed with Lu Mengshi for the financial power of the owner and forced Lu Mengshi to leave.

The whole drama can be summarized as: I watched him build a red mansion, I watched him entertain guests, and I watched his mansion collapse.

"Let's eat first."

Jiang Xian urged, and Zhu Lin put down the script with a reluctant look on her face. "How did you come up with this script? Why did you end up at the roast duck restaurant?"

Jiang Xian stuffed a piece of cabbage into his mouth, and then he started to talk: "Probably a long time ago, after reading Lao She's "Tea House", I had this idea in my mind, to reflect the great social situation by writing a small scene."

"No wonder."

Zhu Lin suddenly realized that "The World's Number One Restaurant" does have the flavor of "Teahouse", and the entry point of the same movie as "Teahouse" is food culture.

She couldn't wait to finish her meal and opened Jiang Xian's "The Best Restaurant in the World".

As a literary young woman and drama lover, Zhu Lin quickly immersed herself in this work.

"The World's Number One Restaurant" has a total of only about 40,000 to 50,000 words. Zhu Lin spent two hours reading the script.

I had a very enjoyable time watching it, and I felt satisfied but also lost.

"Have you finished reading?" Jiang Xian had just finished washing up and saw Zhu Lin put down the manuscript, so he asked.

Zhu Lin nodded, still immersed in the ending of the work.

Lu Mengshi left in a graceful manner, and "Fujude" continued to operate in a dismal manner.

"The world is a big dream, and life has its cool moments in autumn."

On the surface, everything is calm and peaceful. Lu Mengshi is gone, but "Fujude" is still there, but some of the dreams and passions inside have been shattered.

"Jiang Xian, it's written so well!" Zhu Lin looked at him with her almond-shaped eyes blinking.

Jiang Xian felt a little embarrassed when she looked at him. He smiled and said, "Of course. After all, I am also Cao Yu's disciple. Of course, what I write cannot bring shame to my teacher."

Zhu Lin smiled and said, "You are a disciple of Cao Yu, how come you can write in the style of Lao She?"

"."

Jiang Xian did not explain, and Zhu Lin immediately said confidently: "If your play can be performed, it will definitely be a big hit in Beijing. I have seen many plays before, but none of them are as good as the one you wrote."

"Performance? I didn't think that far."

After all, "The World's Number One Restaurant" was Jiang Xian's first synthesized drama script. He had not yet thought about the long-term performance and habitually planned to find a magazine to publish it.

Themes such as drama can also be published in literary journals, and more suitable ones are drama literature creation journals, such as "Scripts", "People's Drama", and "Small Scripts" sponsored by the China Dramatists Association.

The next day, Jiang Xian sent Zhu Lin to Beijing Film Academy and returned to the editorial department of Film Creation.

After reviewing a manuscript, I looked up and saw Wang Weiguo standing in front of the table, looking a little restrained.

"Comrade Weiguo?"

He asked in surprise: "Why are you here? When did you come?"

Wang Weiguo smiled and said, "Not long after, I saw you were reviewing the manuscript, so I didn't disturb you."

"We're all brothers, why are you being so formal?"

Jiang Xian brought a chair over familiarly, poured him a glass of water, and exchanged a few words with Wang Weiguo.

"I've read the article 'Xu Sanguan Selling Blood'. It's really well written." Wang Weiguo said, "The concise sentences convey a kind of compassionate humor."

Jiang Xian thought about it and felt that this was exactly what Wang Weiguo wanted. The basic tone of Xu Sanguan's works was tragedy, and Wang Weiguo was also a writer with a sense of tragedy.

"Why are you here this time?" he asked.

Wang Weiguo hesitated for a while, then took out a manuscript from his bag and said, "I would like to ask Comrade Jiang Xian to help me with a manuscript. This is a novel I wrote recently. I always feel that it is a little lacking, but I can't tell where it is lacking."

Jiang Xian looked at the first line: "Life"

Good guy.

He nearly jumped out of his chair.

"Life"!

How classic is "Life"?
It caused a sensation once it was published and won the National Excellent Short Story Award. In 1985, Wu Tianming remade it into a movie, with Wang Weiguo himself writing the screenplay.

That year, Chengdu held the Hundred Flowers Awards. It rained heavily that day, and 12,000 teachers and students from Sichuan University watched "Life" in the rain.

After the movie was over, 12,000 teachers and students stood in the rain and shouted:
"Long live life!"

“Long live cinema!”

"Long live Wu Tianming!"

"Life" can be said to be the greatest movie of the 80s, and "Life" is also the greatest novel of the 80s.

"I'll show it to you first." Jiang Xian took a deep breath and agreed. He spent a day reading the novella, but it was not the version he actually read.

When Wang Weiguo came again, Jiang Xian handed the manuscript back to him and said, "I've read it, the problems in your novel are quite simple.

The relationships between the characters in the novel are not intertwined.”

"The relationships between the characters are not intertwined." Wang Weiguo thought about it and his eyes lit up. It was exactly as Jiang Xian said.

“This frame outline is good.”

Jiang Xian said: "I think you can overturn the previously preset outline and all the specific assumptions, and rethink and arrange the relationship between the characters in the novel."

Wang Weiguo was surprised. According to Jiang Xian, this was almost like writing a new novel.

Jiang Xian knew what he was thinking, so he handed him The World's No. 1 Restaurant and said, "If you don't mind, you can learn some character design from this manuscript."

Wang Weiguo lowered his head and took a look.

"We must be determined to cut off our own arm."

Jiang Xian patted him on the shoulder and encouraged him, "A good article needs to be revised. The first time you revise it is a shame, but the seventh time is an honor."

(End of this chapter)