1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 320 Synthesis, a novel carrying the Loess Plateau
"Teacher Chen!"

Lu Yao shouted and greeted Chen Zhongshi.

There is often a saying in the outside world about the "three horses" of Shaanxi literature, referring to Lu Yao, Chen Zhongshi, and Jia Pingwa.

These three people are not only the leaders of the Shaanxi writers group, but also have a very good relationship with each other in private.

Lu Yao respected Chen Zhongshi very much.

Chen Zhongshi is a little older, almost forty this year, and is both a friend and a teacher to Lu Yao.

"Loyal comrade." Jiang Xian also shouted with a smile.

Jiang Xian and Chen Zhongshi had met before and both knew each other.

That was the second national outstanding novel selection, and Chen Zhongshi's short story "Trust" won the award.

It was in the Great Hall of the People, and under Lu Yao's introduction, Jiang Xian and he congratulated each other and shook hands. It was just a quick meeting.

Chen Zhongshi chuckled and said, "Who made Comrade Lu Yao, who is usually taciturn, speak so much today?"

Lu Yao is an introverted person with a strong sense of responsibility. He doesn't talk much and always keeps things to himself if something doesn't go his way.

Jiang Xian and Chen Zhongshi shook hands warmly.

Jiang Xian had quite a few calluses on his hands, but he could feel that Chen Zhongshi had even more calluses on his hands.

"I've also read Red Sorghum. It's gorgeous and fantastic."

Chen Zhongshi speaks frankly about his feelings after reading "Red Sorghum".

In front of Lu Yao, he commented sincerely:
"If Red Sorghum is compared to a profound oil painting, then all my works so far are at best just comic strips of some low quality."

"Thank you for the compliment." Jiang Xian said modestly, feeling a little embarrassed.

Although Chen Zhongshi's book "White Deer Plain", which served as his "pillow for the coffin", has not yet been published, his literary achievements are definitely not low.

"Smoking, smoking."

Lu Yao took out a pack of "Happy New Year" from his pocket. This cigarette was not cheap, 8 yuan a pack, and it was very high quality.

"I am very lucky today thanks to Comrade Jiang Xian." Chen Zhongshi said with a smile, "Comrade Lu Yao smokes good cigarettes. He smokes three packs of expensive cigarettes a day. I estimate that he can buy three to five houses in six years."

"Go ahead and smoke." Lu Yao looked indifferent.

Jiang Xian knew that he was just pretending to be something impressive.

There is always an implicit atmosphere of competition among smokers at this time, and Lu Yao is one of the competitors.

When others were smoking Jinsihou, Lu Yao was smoking Huangguoshu.

While others were smoking Huangguoshu, he switched to smoking Zhonghua.

In short, you should always be a level higher than others.

In his own words:
“The biggest challenge for people from a background like mine is the feeling of inferiority, so you need to stand out more to offset your inner insecurity.”

Lu Yao always had two things with him: one was expensive cigarettes, and the other was coffee.

That’s right, coffee.

Lu Yao started drinking coffee in the early 80s. He drank the "three-in-one" bagged Maxwell coffee that had just entered China.

At that time, there were few coffee shops and the prices were expensive. They were targeted at high-spending groups and not many people could afford them.

But Lu Yao drinks often.

Like Nestle coffee, which has now entered China, it can be said to be the rarest, most expensive and most fashionable beverage.

Lu Yao bought several cans at a time.

In addition, when Lu Yao attended meetings, he never ate the meals arranged by the organizers. He always went to a coffee shop to have a Western breakfast. The cost of one meal was equivalent to the expenses of an average person for several days.

As the three of them were talking, they entered the room where Wang Guansheng, the editor of Yanhe, stayed.

Wang Guansheng was pleasantly surprised by Jiang Xian's arrival.

"I just read the newspaper. Congratulations to Comrade Jiang Xian for winning the Golden Rooster Award."

"Oh, thank you, thank you."

"I really like your article "The Wreath at the Foot of the Mountain"! The portrait of the soldiers is really well written!"

Wang Guansheng used to be a soldier and has a special feeling for the military literature work "Wreath".

At this moment, everyone had a cigarette in their hands, so Lu Yao took out another cigarette and handed it to Wang Guansheng.

"smokes."

"Why do you always smoke such good cigarettes?"

Wang Guansheng took the cigarette from him and glanced at the brand. "Comrade Lu Yao, please lower the quality of your cigarettes. You worked so hard to write these manuscripts. Don't waste all your royalties like this."

He had good intentions in trying to persuade her, but Lu Yao not only refused to listen, but also argued:
"I smoke this kind of cigarette not because of a physiological need, but because of a psychological need."

"How to say?"

"You don't understand. I'm not trying to be vain. I'm trying to create a relatively solemn mood. I want to maintain a solemn mood so that I can do solemn work."

“And Comrade Guansheng, let me give you an example.

The cigarettes I smoke cost five yuan a pack, and the cigarettes you smoke cost sixty cents a pack. I offer you my cigarette because you enjoy smoking it, but I simply won't take the cigarette you offer me.

In this situation, which one is avoidable, your inferiority or my self-confidence?

No matter whether you feel ashamed, helpless, unfair, or even jealous at this moment, overall, you have been suppressed by this "smoking incident" and have no interest in observing our conversation, let alone judging it.

But I am different.

I will enjoy smoking while watching your expression and trying to figure out your mood. "

Wang Guansheng looked at Jiang Xian and Chen Zhongshi helplessly, but he didn't feel angry. They were quite familiar with each other, and this was not the first time he heard Lu Yao say such things.

Jiang Xian smiled and said nothing.

Every writer has a very strange personality. Even Lu Yao, with a personality like this, cannot change easily.

"Let's talk about Red Sorghum," Chen Zhongshi started the conversation. "This novel is so popular right now. I finally caught up with you, the author, so I must have a good chat with you."

"Yes."

Wang Guansheng looked at Jiang Xian excitedly, "When I finished reading this novel for the first time, I was really shocked. I didn't know that novels could be written in this way. To be honest, I was a little unwilling to accept it after reading it."

"Why are you so unwilling?" Jiang Xian asked.

Wang Guansheng chuckled, "Your novel is about the anti-Japanese war in Jiaodong. When I finished reading it, I thought that there are already novels that write about the legends and epics of the Jiaodong Plain.

But how come no one has ever written about the profound culture and endless stories of our land of Shaanxi, which is so rich in loess plateau? "

After hearing what Wang Guansheng said, several people fell into deep thought.

Chen Zhongshi thought for a moment and said, "I think Life should be considered one."

Lu Yao waved his hand and passed out a few more cigarettes. "If you want to talk about depth, I think Life is not enough. Gao Jialin's ups and downs are limited to a certain period of time. It does not have the strong historical atmosphere of Red Sorghum."

"If I have to choose, Liu Qing's "History of Entrepreneurship" should be one of them." Jiang Xian said.

None of the three people objected to his words, but they all felt that it was still incomplete. Shaanxi is a land that is too rich and has too deep a foundation, so whether it is "Life" or "Entrepreneurship History", it is not enough to write about this land, and it is far from being as representative and strong as "Red Sorghum" to the Jiaodong Plain.

"I think there is hope that Comrade Lu Yao will create another work like this in the future," said Chen Zhongshi.

"Lu Yao came from a mountain village in a county with the worst natural environment and the poorest conditions. He was familiar with this land and every dilapidated cave dwelling."

Lu Yao smoked a cigarette without saying anything, and it was obvious that he had something in mind.

Jiang Xian interrupted, "Comrade Zhongshi, don't always talk about Lu Yao. I think you are not lacking in such ability."

"After all, I'm old, and my writing has reached a bottleneck." Chen Zhongshi said politely, but there was a gleam in his eyes.

This is also a writer with ambition. Without ambition, he could not have written "White Deer Plain".

Speaking of Chen Zhongshi, I still remember an interesting thing
——Can you believe that Chen Zhongshi submitted a manuscript to Story Club?
Around the early 90s, Story Club launched a celebrity column, inviting literary masters such as Xi Murong, Feng Jicai, Su Tong, Mo Yan, Chen Zhongshi, and Lu Wenfu to write articles.

But it doesn't mean we only look at the author and not the manuscript.

The Story Club would rather have nothing than something of poor quality, and rejected many unsuitable manuscripts.

It is not known whether Chen Zhongshi’s manuscript was rejected or not.

But all of Feng Jicai's manuscripts were approved, and he was considered the king of manuscript approval for Story Club.

"Let's not talk about the novel Red Sorghum. Your slogan of 'seeking roots' is really eye-opening," Chen Zhongshi said. "I read your theoretical article and pondered over it for a long time. I didn't understand some parts and was afraid of making mistakes. I remember you mentioned a novel called One Hundred Years of Solitude, saying that this novel is a 'seeking roots' of Latin American culture. It's a pity that I'm not good at foreign languages, otherwise I would definitely read it."

“To be exact, my slogan of ‘seeking roots’ was inspired by One Hundred Years of Solitude.

China is relatively slow to understand the development of foreign culture. As far as I know, many Latin American countries, which are also in the third world, have triggered a literary explosion on the stage of world literature, and a large number of high-quality Latin American novels have emerged, including the "One Hundred Years of Solitude" I mentioned. "

None of the three had ever been abroad, let alone understood what was happening abroad.

One characteristic of Shaanxi writers is that they all come from rural areas.

Both Lu Yao and Chen Zhongshi lived in rural Shaanxi for a long time. What they saw and heard were limited, so they had to write about the rural areas they were most familiar with.

Although Jia Pingwa was talking about cities when he wrote "Wasted City", he was actually talking about how decadent people's spirits would become after leaving the countryside, so he was still talking about the countryside.

Listening to Jiang Xian talking about things happening abroad now feels very fresh and fresh, and I am fascinated.

“Is this novel well written?”

"In my opinion, this is a work that is completely worthy of winning the Nobel Prize," said Jiang Xian.

No matter what is said, no matter how it is belittled, the Nobel Prize in Literature awarded by the Swedes is still the top literary award in the world. This is a fact, and there is no need to argue about it.

We also need to have a concept that the Nobel Prize is not an Olympic competition, and whoever wins it does not necessarily become the best writer in the world.

There is no first in literature and no second in martial arts.

All I can say is that this is the most important award in the literary world, and the best writers must deserve it.

Chen Zhongshi asked: "When was this novel published? Can we read it now?"

"It was probably published in the 60s. There is no translated version in China yet. I read it in a foreign publication. The name 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' was also a translation I made without permission," said Jiang Xian.

"Your translation is very good. Although I have not read this novel, I think the title of the novel is quite shocking and powerful," said Wang Guansheng.

After chatting in the room for a while, Jiang Xian was taken to greet the editors of Yanhe.

Many comrades from the Shaanxi Writers Association and the Shaanxi Federation of Literary and Art Circles came to see him upon hearing the news. Many of them wanted his autograph, and Jiang Xian was not stingy and signed for them one by one.

"Are you in a hurry to go back to the capital?" Lu Yao asked him.

"Since you are in Shaanxi, why not stay a little longer? I'll take you around and have a look."

"Yes."

Chen Zhongshi said, "Just think of it as collecting more ideas. This will also be beneficial for your future creations. You have just completed the creation of Red Sorghum, and you probably don't have any ideas for your next novel. Maybe you will get some inspiration in Shaanxi."

"Inspiration." Jiang Xian couldn't help but feel something in his heart when Chen Zhongshi said this.

Previously, he focused on the creation of "Red Sorghum", and there was no definite direction for synthesis. He currently has 4 months of independent synthesis opportunities that he has not used up, which means 4 opportunities to try synthesis.

What if we try to synthesize a Shaanxi work?
There are many good works in Shaanxi.

In the early 90s, the grand literary phenomenon of "Shaanxi Army's Eastern Expedition" broke out.

In 1992, Shaanxi literary world suffered heavy losses. Literary masters such as Lu Yao passed away one after another. The Shaanxi Writers Association was filled with white flowers and mournful music, and was shrouded in a low and gloomy atmosphere.

Although surrounded by such an environment, Shaanxi writers did not stop thinking and exploring.

It was also in this year that Chen Zhongshi completed "White Deer Plain" and Jia Pingwa created "Wasted City".
A large number of Shaanxi novels were completed and published in this year.

Someone joked, "You Shaanxi people are going to march eastward."

It is amazing that a province has produced such a concentrated batch of excellent works of art of such uniform quality in such a short period of time.

The "Shaanxi Army" immediately became a hit in the literary world and also brought about a craze for reading novels.

"Which one should I synthesize?"

Many novels suddenly emerged in Jiang Xian’s mind.

Speaking of classics, the most classic ones are "Ordinary World" and "White Deer Plain".

However, these are novels that Jiang Xian couldn't bear to write.

But putting these two classics aside, there are still many options left for him to consider.

But it was really hard for Jiang Xian to come up with one right away.

Apart from Lu Yao and Chen Zhongshi, the one who impressed me the most was Jia Pingwa?
Jia Pingwa definitely has the ability, but Jiang Xian doesn't want to consider him.

The reason is simple: they are afraid of being blocked.

He thought again of what Wang Guansheng said today.

Is there any novel like "Red Sorghum" that can write an epic that carries the profound history of Shaanxi?

Write about history, the Republic of China, the Anti-Japanese War, the educated youth, and the changes in northern Shaanxi.
It seems there is.

In Jiang Xian's memory, there was such a film, and if it was to be called an epic, it was definitely a magnificent epic.

The next question is how to synthesize it smoothly.

There are a total of four opportunities for independent synthesis, and Jiang Xian doesn't know whether he can successfully complete it.

He started trying right away.

For the first time, "Loess Plateau" + "Family".

failure.

The second time, "Northwest Ethnic Groups" + "Footprints of Time".

failure.

The third time, "The Romantic Sinner" + "Northern Shaanxi".

success.

(It’s quite a coincidence that I was writing about the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards these days and happened to run into the Xiamen Awards ceremony.)
(End of this chapter)