1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 324: Four Great Writers
No. 2, Shatan North Street, Beijing.

People's Literature Magazine.

Almost two months have passed since the publication of the sixth issue of People's Literature in 1982.

A magazine enters the market, generally goes through four stages:
"1. Trial sales period. When entering the market for the first time, after being introduced and promoted, it is purchased by early readers and sales are gradually expanded;

2. Best-selling period. With the influence of readers’ evaluation, the book occupies a certain position in the market, with increased sales and faster circulation;
3. Saturation period. The readers who need the book have basically purchased it. After a period of best-selling, the circulation slows down and the sales volume drops sharply.

4. Decline stage: There are basically no readers buying, sales are stagnant, and the book is even eliminated by the market.

"

Two months is basically the time when each issue of People's Literature enters its saturation period.

Editors are also more concerned about the number of copies of this issue of the magazine printed at this point in time. This number can basically determine whether the publication of this issue is a failure or a success.

Cui Daoyi and Wang Fu were both very concerned about the print run volume for the sixth issue.

This time, People's Literature is launching the novel Red Sorghum with such great force, and naturally expects the print volume of the 6th issue to achieve an astonishing breakthrough.

This year is already 1982.

It was the best time of the paper printing era.

Chinese people at this moment may not have money to buy televisions or watch movies, and there are not so many movies to watch at this moment.

So I read novels.

Because the magazine was very cheap, even a worker could afford to subscribe to it.

In this year, even works of very average quality can be printed in tens of thousands of copies.

At that time, the best magazines had a print run of 120 million copies: Harvest, 80 copies; October, 60 copies; Contemporary, 60 copies; Huacheng, 50 copies; and Poetry, copies.

People's Literature holds an important position and is hailed as the most important, prominent, authoritative and representative literary magazine.

Each issue has a terrifying print run of 150 million.

"Have you come out yet?"

"Come on, come on."

Cui Daoyi pulled over an editor in charge of distribution and asked about the print run of the sixth issue.

The editor was clacking away on his abacus, but hadn't figured out the answer yet.

There were no computers at that time, let alone calculators. The best tool was the abacus, and every student had to carry an abacus to school.

It is hard to imagine that the abacus, which every student must learn these days, has become a completely unused antique in just a few years.

Cui Daoyi was not in a hurry. He went out to use the toilet of another unit to pee. When he came back, he found that the office was full of joy and excitement, and everyone had a happy look on their face.

"Teacher Cui!"

The editor in charge of distribution shook his hand excitedly, his mouth twisted with joy.

"Teacher Cui, the print run of our sixth issue has exceeded two million!"

"Two million?"

Hiss.

Cui Daoyi trembled all over and was extremely excited.

"How much exactly?"

"Two million, one hundred and thirty thousand copies!"

Oh my god.

Cui Daoyi's brain went numb and he felt like he was drifting away.

It's like drinking sorghum liquor, and drinking it very heartily.

In just two months, more than two million copies were printed. This unusual number means that the first novel in the sixth issue was warmly welcomed by readers.

There is no doubt that this novel is Jiang Xian's "Red Sorghum".

This is beyond doubt.

After Jiang Xian's "Red Sorghum" was published, it quickly attracted the attention of the literary world.

"Red Sorghum" has been unanimously praised by the literary and critical circles, and many heavyweight critics have written articles to analyze Jiang Xian's text.

In less than two months, there were more than 20 review articles, all of which were special discussions on Red Sorghum.

Now, feedback from readers is also available.

Cui Daoyi can announce that "Red Sorghum" has achieved great success in both the literary world and among readers.

Guang Weiran, who had been feeling unhappy recently because of his resignation as editor-in-chief, smiled for the first time in a long time after hearing the news.

In his eyes, the decline in the quality of People's Literature under his leadership was visible to the naked eye, like a thatched house drifting in the wind and rain, falling apart bit by bit.

However, the appearance of Jiang Xian's "Red Sorghum" undoubtedly gave Guang Weiran another shot in the arm, once again satisfying the readership's quality requirements for their "People's Literature".

Guang Weiran still remembers that when he talked about the novel Red Sorghum with some veteran military writers, most of them sneered when they heard that the novel was about the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.

"These young writers have never experienced the Anti-Japanese War, so how can they write about it well?"

Behind the older writers’ disdain lies their concern about the discontinuation of China’s experience in creating military literature.

China's new military writers face the problem of having no experience of war, which can be said to have affected the development of military literary creation.

However, after reading the novel "Red Sorghum", these veteran military writers praised it highly.

I feel deeply amazed that Jiang Xian could write such a novel.

Guang Weiran also found it incredible.

He still remembers what Jiang Xian said at the work seminar:

"Although I have never seen the Japs, I can figure it out by looking up information."

Guang Weiran couldn't help laughing after hearing this.

Such statements sound innocent, as if they came from a child's mouth.

But the person who said this was Jiang Xian.

This writer can write what ordinary people cannot write.

Relying on his genius creativity, he produced a piece of war literature that convinced veteran military writers.

"Editor-in-chief, please read this letter."

Wang Fu found Guang Weiran.

Guang Weiran put on his reading glasses and took a look. It was a letter from the Cultural Center of Gaomi County.

"Gaomi. Gaoliang Gaomi is glorious. Isn't this the Gaomi in the novel?"

"Yes, it's a letter from their local cultural center." Wang Fu said excitedly.

"I thought this was a fictional place created by Jiang Xian, but I didn't expect it to really exist." Guang Weiran became interested.

I would like to explain here that Gaomi in "Red Sorghum" is a real place. It is Mo Yan's hometown.

As for the Northeast Township of Gaomi, it is fictional, but Mo Yan seems to like this Northeast Township very much. Whether it is novels or essays, most of the stories take place in this Northeast Township.

In later times, in order to promote tourism development, Dongbei Township became a real town, just like Furong Town and Fenghuang Ancient Town, which were originally fictional places.

Guang Weiran read the letter carefully with great curiosity.

When reading to the end, the leader of Gaomi Cultural Center wanted Jiang Xian to talk about his fate with Gaomi, and Guang Weiran was also curious about this.

He instructed Wang Fu, "Go and help the comrades in Gaomi County deliver this letter to Jiang Xian, and then try to arrange another discussion with him about the creation of Red Sorghum."

At this time, Jiang Xian had just returned to Xi'an with Lu Yao.

During this period, in order to leave others with a full impression of Shaanxi, he not only "read thousands of books" but also "traveled thousands of miles."

In short, I first made myself an expert on Shaanxi, and even learned a lot of Shaanxi folk songs for this purpose.

Everything is for the sake of rationality in the future when the novel is created.

Just to have some vinegar, I made a whole plate of dumplings.

On the last night before leaving Xi'an, Jiang Xian drank with Lu Yao, Chen Zhongshi and Jia Pingwa, several other writers from Shaanxi.

Jiang Xian continued to talk incessantly, narrating endlessly about unofficial history, and Jia Pingwa listened with great interest.

Jiang Xian said: "I have learned a new knowledge in Shaanxi these days."

"What knowledge?"

Jiang Xian didn't answer, and took off his shoes with a click. They were a pair of Asics running shoes, which were covered with loess because he had been running non-stop on the Loess Plateau these days.

He took off his shoes, then his socks without hesitation, and finally put his feet directly on the table.

Lu Yao and the others immediately started to shout in dissatisfaction.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm drinking."

Jiang Xian ignored him and pointed at his toenails.

"Look at the nails on my little toes."

"It stinks, what's so good about it?" Jia Pingwa pinched his nose.

Lu Yao also hid far away.

Only Chen Zhongshi, who felt that Jiang Xian really wanted to say something, leaned over to take a look.

"What's wrong? It's just a nail, isn't it?"

"Look carefully."

"What's there to see?"

Chen Zhongshi didn't quite understand what Jiang Xian meant. This time he pinched his nose and leaned over to take a closer look at his little toe.

"nail?"

"What happened to your nails?"

"Grown?"

"How about I get you a pair of scissors?"

"It's not a question of whether it's longer or not. Take another look and see if you find anything." Jiang Xian deliberately kept the suspense.

At this time, Jia Pingwa and Lu Yao came over without knowing why, and together with Chen Zhongshi, they looked closely at Jiang Xian's little toe.

If people saw this scene, they would probably be shocked.

The three great figures of Shaanxi literature gathered together in the middle of the night to admire Comrade Jiang Xian's beautiful feet?!

Everyone is pointing fingers!

It's appalling!!!

Seeing that these three people had a pair of eyes that were not good at discovering, Jiang Xian had to explain to them himself:
"Look at the nail on my little toe. Is it divided into two parts?"

After Jiang Xian's reminder, Chen Zhongshi and the others took a look and found that it was indeed as Jiang Xian said.

The nails of the other four fingers were all in one piece, but the nail of the little finger was the only one that seemed to have been cut and split in half from the middle.

"In medicine, my nails are called petal nails, also known as 'petal nails', which means that the nail of the little toe is divided into 2 to 3 petals," Jiang Xian explained.

"What did I think?"

Chen Zhongshi looked unsurprised and took off his shoes and socks, then put them on the table.

"My feet are like this too."

Although the nails were a little yellow and looked a bit disgusting, Jiang Xian and the others could indeed see that Chen Zhongshi's toes were also split into two pieces like Jiang Xian's, just like what Jiang Xian called petal-shaped nails.

“My feet, too.”

Mo Yan and Jia Pingwa both took off their shoes, held up their big feet and started scratching them, carefully examining their toes.

The room was suddenly filled with a messy smell.

Jiang Xian frowned with a look of disgust. These three great writers were not like him who loved washing their feet and paid attention to hygiene.

That taste
But now that things have come to this, he can only comfort himself.

No matter how pungent it is, it is still a strong literary scent.

Others who want to smell it don’t have the chance yet.

"My feet are like this too. Isn't everyone's feet like this?" said Jia Pingwa.

"You don't know that this petal-shaped nail actually has a story." Jiang Xian kept it a secret with a mysterious look on his face, and then poured himself a glass of wine.

"What statement?"

The "three horses" of Shaanxi were so attracted by him that they couldn't stop and were all waiting for what would happen next.

Jiang Xian finished the wine in one gulp, then said slowly:
"You know the Huns, right?"

"Huns? Who doesn't know that?"

Chen Zhongshi tapped his chopsticks and chanted with a Guanzhong accent:
"Pick the vetch, pick the vetch, the vetch will stop.

Returning from day to day, even at the age.

There is no house or home because of the Xianyun.

There is no time to settle down here because of the Xianyun."

Chen Zhongshi recited the verses from the Book of Songs "Gathering Wild Wei", in which the "Xianyun" refers to the Huns.

From this poem, we can see how hideous the image of the Huns was in the minds of the people in the Central Plains at that time.

This is indeed the case. In the history of our country, the Huns are definitely a pain that the people of the Central Plains cannot erase.

Since the Zhou Dynasty, the Xiongnu, a powerful nomadic slave tribe on the northern grasslands, have been a major threat to the Central Plains farming areas.

During the Qin Dynasty, Meng Tian ruled the Huns so well that they were completely obedient. However, he used too much force and died of exhaustion.

Once the Qin Dynasty fell, the Huns no longer had their nemesis.

Later, Han Xin and the Huns' coalition forces attacked Han, and Liu Bang was besieged by the Huns on Mount Baideng for seven days and seven nights.

This fight left Liu Bang with psychological trauma.

In the end, they awkwardly agreed with the Xiongnu that "the country north of the Great Wall, the country that draws the bow, is under the command of the Chanyu."

Not only did they give them the land, but they also had to marry Lu Hou's only daughter, Princess Lu Yuan, to the Xiongnu Khan. That was not all. Every year the Han Dynasty had to send large quantities of cotton, silk, grain, and wine to the Xiongnu in exchange for the Xiongnu not looting the Han Dynasty's borders.

Even after Liu Bang passed away, the Chanyu wrote a letter to Empress Lu: I am a widower and you are a widow, let's be together.

This was undoubtedly a great humiliation. How did Empress Lu react to this letter?

She wrote back a very humble letter to the Chanyu: I am old, my looks have faded, my hair and teeth have fallen out, and I am unable to serve the Chanyu.

Along with the reply letter, there were also carriages, horses, gold and silver, and the woman to be married off.

There is no way, the Huns are too strong.

The Han Dynasty was in a state of disrepair, but the Xiongnu were at their peak at that time.

The Chanyu unified the grassland, and the entire Xiongnu had 30 soldiers under his command, which means that the Xiongnu could send out 30 cavalry.

So the Han Dynasty could not afford to fight.

"How come the Xiongnu, such a powerful nation, suddenly disappeared from the stage of history?"

None of the three were history experts, and Lu Yao was even more confused.

"Speaking of toenails, why are we talking about the Huns again?"

"Don't worry, I'll get to it soon."

Jiang Xian chuckled and explained:
"During this period, when I was reading the Shaanxi County Annals, I found an interesting rumor.

It is said that when the Huns moved north, they made peace with several Han women in northern Shaanxi, and left their bloodline, that is, the descendants of the Huns, in northern Shaanxi.

These descendants of the Huns have one characteristic:

Jiang Xian paused and continued:
"Their little toe nails are different from those of the Han people."

After hearing this, Chen Zhongshi finally realized why Jiang Xian showed them his feet.

Then I heard Jiang Xian say:

"For us Han people, the toenails on our little toes are all two-lobed, called petal-shaped nails."

"But the descendants of the Huns are different."

"The nails on their little toes are all one piece, they're dresses."

(Don’t be upset after reading this, this is just a popular saying, there is no basis for it, and it is written here to pave the way for the following plot)

(End of this chapter)