1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 246: No need to change a single word
Mr. Lu Xun once said: "If the author does not have deep social experience and sufficient observation, he will not be able to create great works of art."

The original author of "The World's No. 1 Restaurant", He Jiping, is a young creator born after the liberation, just like Jiang Xian.

In order to write the play "The World's Number One Restaurant" well, she even obtained a second-level chef certificate.

She is also considered a famous screenwriter in the industry. Later, she personally wrote the screenplays for "The Warlords" and "Flying Daggers of Dragon Gate", and also participated in the screenwriting of "The Legend of the New White Snake" and "Evil Does Not Suppress Justice".

"I grew up in Beijing, a kid who grew up in the hutongs. I am familiar with Beijing and I love to eat. I have always wanted to write a work like this, exploring the intersection between Beijing's urban life and food," Jiang Xian said.

As they were talking, several plates of stir-fried dishes were brought up.

After filling his stomach, Wang Weiguo talked with Jiang Xian about the creative ideas of "Life".

He originally named this novel "What Did You Get?"

Later it was changed to "The Story of Gao Jialin", "Ups and Downs", "The Music of Life", and finally it was decided to be "Life".

The reason is that the words of Liu Qing quoted in the article
——"Although the road of life is long, the critical points are often only a few steps, especially when people are young."

Hence, the name "Life" came into being.

Jiang Xian also gave Wang Weiguo some suggestions on character relationships and main ideas.

As they chatted, Wang Weiguo suddenly became excited.

He stood up suddenly and said, "Comrade Jiang Xian, Comrade Zhu Lin, I'm going to go back first. I already have a rough idea in my mind on how to write "Life" well."

"Comrade Weiguo, I am looking forward to your masterpiece." Jiang Xian knew that he had an inspiration.

He was also excited. When he thought about participating in the creation of this masterpiece "Life", his heart was filled with joy and excitement.

He patted Wang Weiguo on the shoulder and said, "Comrade Weiguo, when you finish writing this novel, please remember to show it to me."

"Don't worry." Wang Weiguo nodded very solemnly, thanked him a few words, and then said goodbye and left.

Jiang Xian walked Wang Weiguo all the way to the door and stood there for a long time, looking at his receding back.

I heard that Lu Yao wrote the third draft of "Life" very quickly. It only took him 21 days to finish the 130,000 words of the third draft of "Life".

According to Lu Yao's own recollection, during that period, he gritted his teeth and wrote. Because he wrote too hastily and invested too much emotion, when he finished writing "Life", he seemed to have a serious illness. His face was pale and a little swollen, and his legs were as stiff as if they were filled with lead. He had difficulty walking.

He truly deserves the comment that he writes with his life.

After returning to the restaurant, Zhu Lin said she wanted to go home to see her sister Zhu Hong later.

Zhu Hong is going to take the college entrance examination this year.

The current school system is very chaotic. It usually takes "ten years of hard study", that is: 5 years of primary school, 3 years of junior high school, and 2 years of high school, a total of 10 years.

There are also junior high schools that have two years of study, and some schools like to recruit students in the spring, which adds another half a year. In short, it is very chaotic.

Zhu Hong has been in high school for two years and will take the college entrance examination this year.

There is a pre-college entrance examination before the current college entrance examination, which is held in May. Passing this pre-college entrance examination is considered to have obtained an admission ticket to the college entrance examination, and only then will you be eligible to take the real college entrance examination in July. This means that if you want to go to university, you have to take the college entrance examination twice.

In 1981, the era of "study is useless" had ended for several years, and students' knowledge had become normal. There were basically no students from the old third generation who were still preparing for the university entrance examination at the age of or .

"Zhu Hong studies hard every day, so let's bring her some braised pork to nourish her body." Jiang Xian suggested.

Although the restaurant's chef and waiters were in a hurry to get off work, the dish of braised pork still looked great and tasted great.

Zhu Hong opened the aluminum lunch box and saw that the sauce was bright red in color and had an enticing aroma. She picked up a piece and put it in her mouth.

"Thank you, brother-in-law!"

"Thank you sister!"

Mother Zhu frowned as she watched from the side. "Zhu Hong, are you just focusing on eating?"

Zhu Hong understood what she meant and quickly pushed the lunch box towards Jiang Xian and Zhu Lin, "Sister, brother-in-law, you guys eat too."

"We've all eaten."

Jiang Xian smiled and looked at Zhu's mother, "Mom, you should eat some too. The braised pork here tastes good."

"no, I'm fine."

Zhu's mother tried to refuse, but couldn't resist Jiang Xian's enthusiastic invitation and had to pick up two pieces and put them in her mouth.

"Well, it tastes good."

Mother Zhu's eyes were full of surprise. She looked at Jiang Xian with a smile and praised him, "Jiang Xian, you are a thoughtful child."

"It's okay. Zhu Hong studies hard every day and needs to keep up with her nutrition."

Zhu Hong is a very good student. Zhu Lin told me that her sister is determined to get admitted to Yanjing University.

Jiang Xian was an average student, so he didn't try to teach others anything and share his college entrance examination experience. He just reminded Zhu Hong not to put too much pressure on herself.

The next day, after getting up early and washing up, Jiang Xian went to Longfu Temple to have breakfast, and then took a bus to the Minister's Building in Muxidi.

He walked to the door as if he was familiar with it, knocked three times, and Wan Fang quickly opened it.

"Teacher Cao Yu!"

Cao Yu was sitting in the living room, next to him was a middle-aged man, thin, with gray hair and glasses, his face was full of wrinkles, but his whole body was meticulously dressed.

Jiang Xian recognized him at a glance. This man had played the role of prison warden in The Last Emperor, and this image was also quite classic.

"Mr. Jiang Xian is here, please take a seat." Cao Yu greeted him politely, then turned around and introduced him to the people around him with a smile.

"This is Mr. Jiang Xian, the author of 'Xu Sanguan Selling Blood'."

After that, he turned around and introduced Jiang Xian: "This is Mr. Ying Ruocheng."

"Hello." Jiang Xian shook hands with him.

"I've heard of Mr. Jiang Xian's works." Ying Ruocheng said with a smile.

"Mr. Ying Ruocheng is my good friend and also an actor of our Beijing People's Art Theatre," Mr. Cao Yu introduced.

Ying Ruocheng is Yingda's father. If we don't mention his troublesome son, he is definitely an outstanding person. He is a senior intellectual, a famous translator, proficient in four languages, and an old drama actor of Beijing People's Art Theatre.

To be honest, the ancestors of the Ying family were really famous.

Yingda’s grandfather, Ying Ruocheng’s father, Ying Qianli, went to overseas provinces before liberation. He had a very high level of English and was a student of Qian Zhongshu.

In his later years, Qian Zhongshu said:

There are only two and a half people in China who truly understand English. One is myself, the other half is Lin Tongji from Fudan University, and the other is Ying Qianli from Fu Jen Catholic University.

As we all know, Ma Y9 started out as an English secretary for Chiang Kai-shek, and it was Ying Qianli who taught Ma Y9 his English.

The Ying family is a big family with five generations of heroes including painters, architects, translators and philosophers. Five generations of fame are not enough to be defeated by little Yingda alone.

Wan Fang poured Jiang Xian a glass of water.

Cao Yu explained that the reason he invited Ying Ruocheng here today was to have him talk about dialogue with Jiang Xian so that Jiang Xian could hear more experiences.

After listening to Ying Ruocheng for an hour, the three of them sat together smoking. Jiang Xian took out a stack of manuscripts of "The World's Number One Restaurant" from his bag and put them on the table.

"Teacher, I took some time to write a manuscript during this period, and I would like to ask you to take a look at it."

Cao Yu adjusted his reading glasses and glanced at it. "Drama script?" Jiang Xian nodded and said to himself, "The drama industry is working on innovative and experimental plays, but I am a newcomer in drama and have no experience, so I will not try these new trends and write something old."

Ying Ruocheng was very happy to hear this and immediately affirmed: "You are right to write this. My son is about the same age as you. He set up a drama club in Yanda University. He pursues modernism all day long and studies those flashbacks, stream of consciousness, and things without act divisions. He says it is new and good.

Would a script like that work?

No!

If you want to write, just write a few scenes honestly, close the curtain when it’s time to close it, and return to realism, only then can you write a good play. "

Cao Yu picked up the manuscript on the table, raised the magnifying glass and took a look at it.

"The best building in the world?"

He looked at Jiang Xian, "What are you talking about?"

"It's about a roast duck restaurant in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China."

"Roast duck restaurant?"

Cao Yu smiled. He hadn't heard such an expression for a long time. This was indeed a poem from the late Qing Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty. The fact that it could be spoken by Jiang Xian showed that he had written it with considerable research.

"Let me tell you about the content first." Cao Yu said with great interest.

Jiang Xian took a sip of water and told the play in detail to Cao Yu and Ying Ruocheng.

Cao Yu had poor hearing, so he spoke almost close to his ear and loudly enough.

After finishing the three main scenes of the drama, we come to the short finale, which is a pair of hardwood lacquered in gold.

"The first line reads: What a dangerous building, who is the host and who is the guest."

"The second line reads: There are only three old houses, half suitable for the bright moon and half suitable for the wind."

"Horizontal banner: All good things must come to an end."

Ying Ruocheng couldn't help but clapped his hands and said, "Great!"

"What a nice couplet!"

"The ending was perfect, and the drama was completely lifted!"

Writing a script is the same as writing an article. You need to pay attention to the "phoenix head, pig belly, and leopard tail". It's not enough to just write a good beginning, the ending must also be beautiful.

"The buttstock is good." Cao Yu also said affirmatively.

While listening to Jiang Xian's story, he briefly read through the script, especially the ending part, which he read carefully word by word.

"This couplet is really brilliant. It lifts the whole play up at once." Ying Ruocheng said, "Did you write this couplet?"

"It's just a quote, not from me."

Jiang Xian shook his head and said, "The first couplet: 'What a dangerous building, who is the host and who is the guest', this is the inscription that Emperor Kangxi gave to a restaurant. The second couplet: 'Only three old houses, sometimes suitable for the bright moon and sometimes suitable for the wind', was made by Ji Xiaolan."

"So that's it." Ying Ruocheng suddenly realized and felt that the script had a deeper meaning.

Kangxi was a diligent man who accumulated his wealth piece by piece. However, when it came to Qianlong, he only knew how to squander his wealth. Ji Xiaolan was like Lu Mengshi in “The World's Number One Restaurant”. It's a pity that nothing in life is as fleeting as an illusion.

Based on reality, reflecting reality, and above reality.

It not only fits the prescribed situation of the play, but also contains far-reaching metaphors.

This is a work that will stand the test of time!
Cao Yu put down the manuscript in his hand and looked at Jiang Xian with admiration in his eyes, "You write very well."

He was an all-rounder in drama. He had just listened to Jiang Xian's talk and watched it briefly again, and the performance of the drama on stage emerged in his mind.

“You write better than I do.”

"Teacher, you're too kind." Jiang Xian was startled.

Cao Yu was very serious, "I'm not being polite. Besides, this is your first time writing a play, and you can write it to this level. You can surpass me."

Before Jiang Xian could say anything, Ying Ruocheng was startled.

"first?!"

He raised his head and looked at Jiang Xian, "Is this your first time writing a drama script?"

Jiang Xian nodded.

Ying Ruocheng was shocked.

“Can you write so well the first time?”

He lowered his head and glanced at the manuscript of "The World's No. 1 Restaurant" again. The writing style and wording were quite sophisticated, not at all like that of a newcomer.

"I have worked on other types of scripts before, so this can be considered as learning by analogy," Jiang Xian explained.

Ying Ruocheng was in a trance for a while, but soon came back to his senses, holding the manuscript of the script in his hand, "Everything is different. Even if he has experience, his talent is amazing enough."

Although he had not read it word for word, based on what Jiang Xian had said, Ying Ruocheng dared to guarantee that this was at least an excellent work, and it would be ranked among the best even in the Beijing People's Art Theatre.

Subconsciously, he looked at Cao Yu who was sitting next to him.

The living room was well-lit and illuminated by the midday sun. He shifted his gaze to Jiang Xian, and the young man's appearance gradually overlapped with the elegant Cao Yu, radiating a dazzling brilliance.

When Cao Yu was the same age as Jiang Xian, his first play was "Thunderstorm", which caused a sensation and became the starting point of Chinese drama.

As a student of his, he actually has some of the flavor of Cao Yu back then.

They had lunch at Cao Yu's house, and Jiang Xian also drank some wine with Cao Yu and Ying Ruocheng.

Taking advantage of the lunch break, Cao Yu and Ying Ruocheng held the manuscript of "The World's Number One Restaurant", passed the paper to each other in turn, leaned back in their chairs, and read the script carefully.

Ying Ruocheng read the script almost in one breath.

After reading it, he leaned back in his chair, feeling as if he was about to collapse.

He was moved by "The Best Restaurant in the World".

Although I have heard Jiang Xian talk about the content, only after reading this manuscript can I appreciate the wonderful things that Jiang Xian cannot express.

“It’s so well written!”

Ying Ruocheng excitedly pinched the manuscript in his hand.

He wanted so badly to throw the script in the face of his rebellious son, so that he could see what a truly good work is!
Let him understand that realism is the royal road in literary and artistic creation!
Cao Yu originally wanted to take a short nap during lunch break, but the more he read "The No. 1 Restaurant in the World", the more energetic he became.

"How did you get this feeling of desolation when you are still young?" he asked Jiang Xian.

Jiang Xian hesitated for a moment, "I can't answer it either. I think it's engraved in my heart."

Cao Yu nodded thoughtfully.

Others may not understand, but he can understand this feeling.

"Jiang Xian, you can publish your article "The World's No. 1 Restaurant" directly."

“Don’t change a single word.”

(End of this chapter)