1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 344 Are You a Man?
"Boss, are you back for the New Year?"

"Ah."

Wearing frog-eye glasses, a military coat and a scarf, Zhang Yimou returned to his home in Shaanxi.

This outfit was definitely fashionable, and many neighbors came out to talk to Zhang Yimou.

"They said you were filming a movie in Beijing?"

"It hasn't started filming yet. I've been assigned to the Beijing Film Studio as a cameraman."

"Oh, college students are really capable."

The man in the Zhongshan suit took out a cigarette from his pocket and said, "Yes, you are the only college student who is capable. If these kids run into any trouble in the future, you should give Second Uncle some face and help them out."

"Don't worry, Second Master."

Zhang Yimou was so high-spirited and he experienced exactly what it meant to return home in glory.

After graduating from Beijing Film Academy last year, he thought he would not be able to stay in Beijing due to his lack of background and would be assigned to some remote corner of the city.

Who would have thought that the man would take action!
With his help and introduction, everything became easy.

When Zhang Yimou learned that he could enter the Beijing Film Studio and become the assistant of the third-generation famous director Ling Zifeng, he thought he was dreaming.

You know, even Chen Ai'ge, whose father was a director at the Beijing Film Studio, couldn't get into the studio.

Instead, he was assigned to the newly established BJ Children's Film Studio.

The first factory director was Yu Lan, Tian Zhuangzhuang’s mother.

Therefore, it can be said that it was a great fortune for Zhang Yimou to be able to enter the Beijing Film Studio, and he also understood who gave him this fortune.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with following Jiang Xian!
Zhang Yimou enjoyed the compliments from his acquaintances in his hometown, and became more and more determined about this idea.

That night, he sat cross-legged on the kang with a group of old friends, talking about their experiences working in Beijing. All they talked about were characters from newspapers and movies, such as Ling Zifeng, Liu Xiaoqing,
"Do you still know Jiang Xian?"

"We know each other."

Zhang Yimou said, "He invited me to dinner quite often. He was a very easy-going person and very talented."

"Then can you give him a call and ask him when the second volume of The Last Hun will be published?" The childhood friend became excited.

"The last Hun?"

Zhang Yimou was confused, so several of his childhood friends explained to him that this was a recent novel published in "Yanhe" and was written by Jiang Xian.

“It’s so beautiful!”

"Oh, it's so well written. Wherever I go these days, the person I talk to is Yang Zuoxin."

"Blackhead writes well too!"

"Yeah yeah."

Zhang Yimou watched his childhood friends talking enthusiastically and praising "The Last Hun" highly, and he couldn't help feeling curious.

“Have you all seen them?”

“I’ve seen them all.”

My childhood friend looked strange.

Nowadays, reading novels is like watching TV dramas. If you haven’t read popular novels, people will think you are low-class.

"Brother Zhang, why don't you ask Jiang Xian? I'm looking forward to the second volume of this novel every day. Oh, I'm looking forward to it so much that I'm dreaming about the second volume of this novel coming out."

"Yeah, how long will it take for it to be sent out? Lao Zhang, you have to ask for us."

"It's already this late."

Zhang Yimou looked embarrassed, and he just boasted a lot, but his childhood friends thought he was very close to Jiang Xian.

In Jiang Xian's eyes, what kind of person is he?

"Come back, I'll ask him when I meet him later." He said perfunctorily.

"Okay, you better remember this."

"Yeah, we're waiting to see the next volume."

Several childhood friends gave repeated reminders.

At night, Zhang Yimou returned to his room, hugged his wife Xiao Hua with a passionate face, and gave her a beautiful kiss on the face.

"Wife, I'm dying of suffocation."

"Hey, wash your stinky feet first."

Xiao Hua pinched his nose and pushed Zhang Yimou away.

They were classmates in junior high school. Later they went to the countryside to work in the fields together for three years. During that time, they lived in the same cave house, fell in love with each other, and finally got married.

Unfortunately, Xiao Hua worked at the Xi'an Film Studio and could not be transferred to Beijing, so he and Zhang Yimou were separated.

"Why wash your feet?" Zhang Yimou couldn't bear it any longer and took off two pieces of Xiao Hua's clothes with an impatient look on his face.

Just as he was about to make a move, Xiao Hua kicked him away.

"You can't go to bed without washing your feet!"

"damn it."

After cursing under his breath, Zhang Yimou could only patiently fetch water to wash his feet.

When he turned over and returned to the bed, he saw Xiao Hua half-sitting on the bed, turning on the desk lamp, reading a magazine intently.

"Wife, come on."

"Oh, wait, let me finish this."

"What are you looking at? Come back and look."

"Wait a minute, hey, are you annoying, don't touch me!"

Xiao Hua got angry and Zhang Yimou had to withdraw his hand.

Seeing that his wife was so indifferent to him, he felt so depressed.

It is said that a woman is like a wolf at thirty and a tiger at forty.

His wife is in her thirties and has no desire for this anymore?

Lao Mouzi couldn't help but have a lot of imagination.

"Do you have a man behind my back?"

"What do you say?"

"You won't even let me touch you, so you told me you have a man behind my back?"

"Zhang Yimou, I fuck your ancestors!"

Xiao Hua beat Zhang Yimou up so hard that he ended up lying on the head of the bed with red eyes, feeling aggrieved.

Zhang Yimou realized that he had said the wrong thing. Seeing his wife like this, he felt guilty and went over to comfort her.

Xiao Hua ignored him.

Zhang Yimou coaxed Xiao Hua for a while, then felt bored. However, he could not leave Xiao Hua alone to sleep. He caught a glimpse of the "weapon" Xiao Hua had just used, so he picked it up and took a closer look. It was the first issue of "Yanhe" magazine in 1983.

He immediately thought of the novel by Jiang Xian that his childhood friend had read a few nights ago, so he simply turned the page and started reading "The Last Hun".

When I saw this, my heart was completely broken.

Xiao Hua felt aggrieved for a long time, her throat was a little sore from crying, but she couldn't wait for Zhang Yimou to comfort her.

I turned my head and saw Zhang Yimou reading a magazine intently.

She got angry again, "You still like it?"

"Don't make noise, don't make noise."

Zhang Yimou pushed her aside and watched the film with great concentration.

Xiao Hua curled his lips and lay down on the bed.

He tossed and turned for a long time, unable to fall asleep, so he poked his head out of the quilt and urged Zhang Yimou.

"Don't look at it. Go to sleep."

"Yeah, wait a minute."

Zhang Yimou gave two perfunctory answers.

Xiao Hua was extremely annoyed and grabbed at the key point.

"Tsk." Zhang Yimou frowned and dodged impatiently, "You go to sleep first, I'll watch this."

Xiao Hua rolled his eyes, feeling very angry. Damn it, you even said I had a man behind your back.

How dare you say you didn’t find a woman behind my back?
However, Zhang Yimou no longer cared what Xiao Hua was thinking. He was completely immersed in the world of "The Last Hun".

"nice!"

"Too beautiful!"

The main character of the novel is Yang Zuoxin, but Zhang Yimou appreciates the role of Hei Datou more.

Those who like to read "Water Margin" will inevitably like the character of Hei Datou, because he has a life trajectory similar to that of the Liangshan heroes.

Heidaotou came from a wealthy and prominent family and was a descendant of the Hui people.

Jiang Xian wrote that he was "big and strong, with a round waist and broad shoulders, a huge head, a body that looked like half a black tower, and when he walked, the ground shook with his feet."

Although he looks fierce, he has a kind heart and is a loyal man.

After being rescued by Yang Zuoxin, he led the robbers to his home to dig for treasure. Relying on the right time and place, he killed the bandit leader and was elected as the new leader by the bandits.

Heidaotou was unwilling to become a bandit at first. He wanted to ask for a letter of appointment from the county government, set up a self-defense group, and lead his men to maintain the peace of the people.

Unexpectedly, it was the Spring Festival holiday and the county government was closed.

When he returned from holiday, he went to the county government office to report, but was thrown into death row without any explanation on the charge of "colluding with bandits and disturbing the village."

After being rescued from prison by his brothers, Hei Datou willingly became the leader of the bandits.

Even after going to Liangshan, Hei Datou made it clear that he would not do anything sneaky or harmful. He occupied the hilltop in the back nine days and became a well-known chivalrous man in northern Shaanxi.

On the other hand, the little King of the Northwest went to the Shaanxi-Gansu Plateau alone to observe the people's conditions and investigate the society.

As a result, he could not stand the severe cold and fell ill in front of Hei Datou's house. After learning about his condition, Hei Datou took him home and took good care of him, and thus came into contact with the Little King of the Northwest.

26 years later, when the Little King of the Northwest and the warlord Liu Zhenhua fought a bloody battle in Xi'an City, Heidao led his troops to help and made numerous military exploits. As a result, his team was incorporated into the Guo Army and he was appointed battalion commander.

In 27, Guo and the Kuomintang turned against each other. Hei Datou was dissatisfied with Guo's actions and was unwilling to help them, so he led his men back to northern Shaanxi and continued to be the king of the mountain.

Later, in order to improve the combat effectiveness of the team, he took ten people and ventured to Danzhou City, exchanging two loads of silver dollars for twenty steel guns. As a result, he was killed by a special envoy of the Guo army.

He is just like the heroes of Liangshan Mountain. He keeps himself clean, but because of the fickleness of the world and the tricks of fate, he has to become a bandit. He has been chivalrous all his life and respected by the people, but he is plotted against by villains and ends up with a tragic death.

"Oh, time is also destiny."

Zhang Yimou sighed, then continued watching the film with great interest.

Xiao Hua was full of anger and lay on her side with her back to Zhang Yimou. She didn't know how long it had been before she was woken up by a slap.

She was dazed and saw Zhang Yimou looking at her anxiously.

Xiao Hua was delighted, knowing that they were going to do that, but he kept a straight face on purpose.

"What's wrong?"

"Quick, quick."

"Humph, what were you doing earlier? Why are you so anxious now?"

Xiao Hua half sat up and started taking off his shirt.

But Zhang Yimou grabbed her wrist.

"Why are you taking off your clothes? What's behind it? What about the second half of the book?"

This volume of "Yanhe" is only half, torn in the middle, and Zhang Yimou only has the first half in his hand, and the other half is missing.

"Zhang Yimou, are you a man?!" Xiao Hua was furious. "Lili is reading the second half. Go ask her for it. Don't come to me!"

"Oh, why is she there?"

Zhang Yimou looked bitter.

At this moment, he had experienced in advance the feeling that his childhood friends described.

Xiao Hua wrapped himself in a quilt, covered his face and cried.

Zhang Yimou, however, didn't care at all. He lay on the kang with his clothes on and couldn't fall asleep. All he could think about was Lili.
Oh no.

The remaining half volume of magazines from Lili.

In early February, as the Spring Festival approached, the editorial office of Yanhe was filled with joy.

The first issue of "Yanhe" magazine in 1983 has been published for a month.

One month is enough time to collect feedback on the response to one issue of the magazine.

There is no doubt that "The Last Hun" is a hit!
From the beginning of publication, Lu Yao was full of confidence in the novel "The Last Hun".

Jiang Xian became famous for winning the Mao Dun Literature Prize and is almost one of the hottest writers in the literary world today.

At this critical juncture, it would be strange if his new work did not attract attention after being published.

In fact, on the day when the first issue of "Yanhe" was published, Lu Yao began to hear discussions about "The Last Hun" in the courtyard of Shaanxi Writers Association.

One day after the publication, comrades from the Writers Association had already come to the editorial office to ask the editors about the second half of "The Last Hun" and the behind-the-scenes story of its creation.

This gave Lu Yao and the editors of Yanhe more confidence.

They at Yanhe have spent a lot of effort to launch this novel "The Last Hun", and naturally hope that the novel will win praise from readers.

Half a month after the publication, the publishing house called the editorial department.

"Yanhe" is selling too fast, there is not enough stock, we need to print more!

“It will be reprinted in half a month!”

The editors of Yanhe had hardly heard of such a thing.

How could it be possible that an additional print run would be done just half a month after the current issue of a magazine was published?

Not to mention reprinting every half a month, the sales of "Yanhe" have been very stable in the past two years, and reprinting is rarely needed.

"This is Jiang Xian!"

Wang Guansheng, editor of "Yanhe", couldn't help but sigh.

Every time he publishes a work, it always triggers a phenomenal reading craze and never disappoints the editors' expectations of him.

As a provincial publication, the sales volume of Yanhe has remained stable between 100,000 and 200,000 copies.

In just one month, sales doubled.

More than 100,000 copies have been reprinted, and there is no sign of this momentum stopping.

"Lu Yao! Lu Yao!"

An editor came to Lu Yao with a happy look on his face and raised the newspaper in his hand.

"Look at this!"

"what?"

“The Literary Gazette has published a literary review!”

Lu Yao took the Literary Gazette and saw the section the editor was pointing to.

"Literary inspiration nurtured by barren soil - reading 'The Last Hun'", Yan Gang.

"It's actually Comrade Yan Gang's literary review?!"

Lu Yao was surprised.

There was a common saying in the literary world at that time:

"Once Yan Gang commented on it, it was like a fish jumping over the dragon gate."

Yan Gang's literary criticism is definitely worth appreciating:
"The Last Hun has a classical spirit and epic style. It is a rare piece of writing in Chinese literature that is sublime and idealistic. It is an epic that belongs to northern Shaanxi.

I was born on the loess land, with thick loess under my feet, and the sword of time has carved deep marks on it."

That’s right, this famous literary critic Yan Gang was born and raised in Shaanxi.

A big man from Guanxi.

In his review, Yan Gang expressed his admiration for The Last Hun, a novel that drew inspiration from his homeland, and praised it highly.

"Jiang Xian is like a knight, telling the mystery of the origin, survival and existence of the Xiongnu nation, and at the same time, expressing his good wishes for this magical land of northern Shaanxi.

I read this book twice in a row. The second time I skipped the story and focused on reading the argumentative text, especially the author's unique definitions and understandings, which gave me a sense of physical and mental pleasure.

"The Last Hun" is a unique treasure of northern Shaanxi literature. I encourage, or beg, in short, Comrade Jiang Xian to complete this novel. The story is not over yet, and your pen has great potential."

After reading Yan Gang's literary review and following Yan Gang's deconstruction of the novel, Lu Yao also felt Yan Gang's spiritual desire for the second volume of the novel.

He found Wang Guanming with a look of joy:
"Old Wang, write a letter to Jiang Xian and ask him for the next volume of the novel!"

(End of this chapter)