1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 345 Fanatic Fans
Beijing, Beihai Park.

"Wife, slow down, slow down."

On the ice rink, Jiang Xian nervously supported Zhu Lin, fearing that she would fall and get hurt.

"Hey, don't be so startled. Everyone is looking at us." Zhu Lin walked slowly on the ice, looked around, and glared at Jiang Xian with a red face.

"How can I not be startled? If you fall and get hurt, your mom and my mom will eat me up."

During this winter, there are a lot of people skating in Beihai Park, most of them are students.

Although the conditions were not good in those days, almost every student in Beijing had a pair of ice skates, and those who didn't know how to skate were rare.

They are nothing like the students in later generations who only know how to take exams.

Zhu Lin didn't dare to wear ice skates. She walked a few steps on the ice to satisfy her desire, but when she thought of the baby in her belly, she didn't dare to walk anymore.

"Jiang Xian, I'm tired, let's go back."

"Yes, Madam, Xiao Jiangzi knows."

Jiang Xian bowed and helped his wife back home.

At this time, a young man with a crew cut came up and glanced at Jiang Xian and Zhu Lin, his eyes shy but with a hint of expectation.

"Excuse me, are you Comrade Jiang Xian?"

Jiang Xian squinted his eyes, smiled and nodded.

"Hello, I'm Jiang Xian."

The young man became excited and looked at Zhu Lin again, "Then, then you must be Bai Wuxia. Ah no, Comrade Zhu Lin."

Zhu Lin also smiled at him.

"Hello."

"Oh, I'm so lucky. I met you two when I was out for fun. Can I have an autograph?"

"can."

Jiang Xian was very talkative and took out a pen.

Nowadays, writers all carry a pen with them; it's standard.

He took off the pen cap and looked at the boy.

"What's your name?"

The young man blinked and said, "My name is Wang Shuo."

Click.

Jiang Xian paused writing on the paper, then raised his head and looked at Wang Shuo again.

Wang Shuo kept talking and chattering.

"I loved reading your novels when I was in the army. After I was discharged, I worked in a pharmaceutical company. But now I'm done with it. I've opened a roast duck restaurant with my childhood friend. If you're free, come and eat at my restaurant. I'll give you a free meal."

"Then I wish you a prosperous business."

Jiang Xian smiled and quickly signed his name, and Zhu Lin also signed his name.

Wang Shuo took the signature with a beaming face and said, "I'll take your good words. Actually, I don't like to do business either. I also like writing.

I read a lot of novels. Some time ago I read one called "The Red Shirt Without Buttons".

What is this about? I can write this, too. The stories around me are much more interesting than his. My life is more amazing than a movie, and it’s not difficult to describe the stories around me.”

Jiang Xianyi recalls, "The Red Shirt Without Buttons", written by Tie Ning.

"Then I look forward to your masterpiece. Where is your duck shop? I will go and take care of your business later."

"real?!"

Wang Shuo trembled with excitement and gave Jiang Xian an address. "When you get there, eat as much as you want. I'll pay for it. You don't need to pay."

"That's so inappropriate. I don't have the habit of eating for free."

After exchanging a few more pleasantries with Wang Shuo, Jiang Xian took Zhu Lin away.

Zhu Lin also laughed, "This guy is really interesting."

"That's not."

This guy contributed to the cool past of half of the entertainment industry in the 80s and 90s, so how can it not be interesting?

"He's quite good at talking. He's almost as good as you."

"I can't tell him that." Jiang Xian chuckled.

Rumor has it that when Wang Shuo was writing "Stewardess", in order to collect folk songs and look for inspiration, he dated six girlfriends with his eloquent and somewhat rogue mouth.

In 83, he was lucky enough not to be shot.

"Let's go to his place and eat roast duck sometime later."

"Row."

Jiang Xian must deal with Wang Shuo.

But now is not the time.

This guy is now determined to become a "smuggler", but he is not yet so poor that he can only write novels.

If it’s not ready yet, try refining it.

The Chinese New Year is just a few days away. Vendors selling New Year pictures, couplets, snack boxes and Guandong candies can be seen everywhere in the capital.

Year-round.

Jiang Xian clearly realized that this city had changed a little compared to the past.

Like the bell-bottom pants and frog-eye glasses in the crowd, the billboards on the streets, and the slogans promoting "Five Speaks and Four Beauties".

You all know the “Five Good Behaviors and Four Beauties”, right?
"Be civilized, polite, hygienic, orderly and moral."

"Beauty of mind, beauty of language, beauty of behavior, and beauty of environment."

Walking side by side with Zhu Lin through the streets and alleys, Jiang Xian couldn't help but sigh.

"Oh, it's already 1983."

In the course of history, there are always some years that are particularly special, like a big, heavy stone that falls into the calm water with a plop, splashing a lot of water.

1983 was undoubtedly such a year.

This is also related to the process of reform and opening up.

As we all know, the reform and opening up started in the countryside and then in the cities. This year, the focus has shifted to towns.

This year, the four largest department stores in Beijing have signed contracts with the Commerce Bureau: if they exceed their contracted profit targets, the excess will be split equally between the state and the stores; if they fail to meet their contracted profit targets, the difference will be made up by retained profits and floating wages.

From the perspective of Jiang Xian, a "bystander", this is indeed an interesting year.

Farmers, ordinary citizens, workers, intellectuals, and even top leaders are like flies that have been trapped in a can for a long time. When they finally see a ray of light, they are both eager to move and frightened.

For example, Wang Shuo, who has a stable job, doesn't insist on going into business. Unfortunately, it is not that era yet. Private enterprises were in a difficult situation in the 80s, and it was not until the 90s that they began to gain momentum and develop rapidly.

So Jiang Xian didn’t have too many thoughts.

What are you doing?

These days, domestic policies are sometimes loose, sometimes tight, sometimes soft, and sometimes hard, with waves coming one after another, with no clear plan.

If you want to get rich quickly, there is only one secret: fall.

But Jiang Xian just wanted to be a good citizen. With this little bit of royalties in his pocket, as long as he didn't start a business, would he be worried that it wouldn't be enough to make him rich and famous?
Or you can try your luck abroad.

This year, Jiang Xian has always had an idea, which is to travel abroad again.

But Zhu Lin was pregnant again, and Jiang Xian didn't want to leave home at this time.

Years ago, Jiang Xian received several more letters.

He was more concerned about three of them.

There was a letter from Xie Jin in Yunnan, telling him that The Garland under the Mountain had been successfully completed.

One letter was from Xi'an, from the editorial department of Yanhe. The letter told him how popular The Last Hun was in Shaanxi, how much readers loved the novel, and how much they were looking forward to the publication of the second half of the novel.

The last one was from abroad.

The characters are written in a simple and vigorous style, all in traditional Chinese.

"Mr. Jiang Xian:
Please forgive me for writing to you without permission. First of all, let me introduce myself. My name is Nie Hualing, and I am currently a writer-in-residence at the University of Iowa. You may have heard Mr. Wang Meng talk about me and the "International Writing Program" that my husband and I founded.

I have been selecting domestic candidates for this year's "International Writing Program" and invited two Chinese writers. Having been wandering overseas, I don't know much about the domestic situation, so I had to ask some old friends in China to recommend them to me.

Very interesting, many of them recommended you to me.

To be honest, I am very unfamiliar with your name.

But I was very surprised to learn that your novel won the first "Mao Dun Literature Award" in the country.

It is incredible that such a young author has been recognized by the literary community in the field of novels. The moment I heard the news, I couldn't wait to meet you, this young talent.

We sincerely invite you to visit Iowa and join the International Writing Program.

On this occasion, please convey my regards to your family, wishing you all good health and happiness, and best wishes to you!

Nie Hualing.

Without a doubt, Nie Hualing's letter was the one that caught Jiang Xian the most off guard.

The "International Writing Program" is an irresistible temptation for any domestic writer.

This is not only an opportunity to engage with world literature, but also an opportunity to go abroad.

Writers are also human beings. Who wouldn’t be tempted by the opportunity to go out and play at public expense?
But this opportunity was given to Jiang Xian.

Now, he doesn't want to leave home at all.

I just want to stay with Zhu Lin and wait for his little prince to be born.

When I talked about this with Zhu Lin in the evening, her eyes lit up.

"That's great. This is a great opportunity to go to the United States. It's so rare. I remember when I was in school, the girl in my dormitory took a lot of effort to get into the United States. She's doing great there now."

"Well, I guess she's either washing dishes, flushing toilets, or working as a babysitter. At the very least, she might be working in the sex industry."

"Go to hell, you don't want others to be well."

"It's just a fact. It's not easy to live there. If you talk to them, they might even say: You Chinese."

"What nonsense are you talking about."

Zhu Lin didn't believe Jiang Xian's words, "Anyway, I still hope you go and don't miss this opportunity."

"Okay, okay, I already have an idea about this matter."

After dinner, Jiang Xian sat down at the table and wrote a reply letter to Nie Hualing. He went out and mailed it the next morning.

Iowa, USA.

It is located in the north-central United States, and its geographical location is similar to that of Henan Province in China. It is a major agricultural province, but its educational resources are better than Henan, and its public education ranks first in the United States.

It was cold here in winter. Nie Hualing sat in the living room of her home, wrapped in a blanket and holding a literary journal that had just been mailed from China.

——"Yanhe"

This was sent to her by Wang Meng.

Wang Meng was a member of the previous "International Writing Program" and a writer that Nie Hualing admired very much. When she was planning places for her writing program in the fall of this year, she sought Wang Meng's opinion.

After Wang Meng recommended Jiang Xian to her, Nie Hualing heard that Jiang Xian had won the Mao Dun Literature Prize and immediately became very interested in Jiang Xian.

Later, with her help, Wang Meng sent her some of Jiang Xian's novels and works, one of which was the first issue of "Yanhe" this year.

Wang Meng spoke highly of this novel, calling it a rare "river" novel in China and a milestone in Shaanxi literature.

After understanding the meaning, the translator Nie Hualing instinctively thought that the translation "dahe" was not good.

She knew the origin of the word "Dahe". The word "Dahe" was translated from Spanish into Japanese and then fed back to Chinese.

However, it is difficult to find a word in standard Chinese that can describe this type of subject matter concisely and comprehensively.

Nie Hualing thought about it carefully and felt that the only word in Chinese that could barely match the word “great river” would be “epic”.

Of course, these are all theoretical and translation work and do not affect Nie Hualing's reading of this novel.

It took her about three days, taking some free time every day, to read "The Last Hun", or the first part, in fits and starts.

"very nice."

After reading it, Nie Hualing sat empty in the living room, unable to suppress a deep yearning for the land of Shaanxi.

This yearning was almost like attachment or impulse, which made Nie Hualing eager to set foot on the land of Shaanxi.

What to say about this novel?

Although Nie Hualing had left that land for nearly 30 years, she was still unfamiliar with northern Shaanxi.

Everything Jiang Xian wrote, the ruggedness of the Northwest, those sour folk songs, were all very unfamiliar and fresh to Nie Hualing.

But in Jiang Xian's writing, all of this is so full of vitality.

Nie Hualing seemed to be sucked in. I couldn't help reading on until I finished it, and I was fascinated by the land he wrote about.

Perhaps this is the charm of Taiga novels.

Looking at world literature, Western "river" novels have basically come to a halt.

Nie Hualing has thought about this question, probably because Westerners’ lives are becoming increasingly affluent and ordinary, and also because postmodern thought has made novelists pay more attention to short chapters that are mundane, simple, and inner.

Nie Hualing has not paid attention to the subject of "River Novels" for a long time.

However, Jiang Xian's article "The Last Hun" opened a new door for her.

China is now in a suitable period for the creation of "River Novels".

China's economic development pace and cultural accumulation determine that the creation of "big river" stories and realistic style should be in a period of prosperity.

In addition, the writing of "River Novel" can reveal the author's skills.

In Nie Hualing's view, Jiang Xian is not only a writer, but also a scholar.

He had such a profound knowledge base that he was able to write such a vast plateau epic.

Nie Hualing, who was looking forward to meeting Jiang Xian more and more, received a reply letter from the capital of China at this critical moment:

“Dear Ms. Nie Hualing:
I have received your letter and I am very impressed by your suggestion that the "International Writing Program" is very meaningful.

Thank you for your invitation, but my wife is pregnant and cannot leave. Please find another writer and don't waste this precious spot.

On this occasion, please give my regards to your husband and daughter, and wish you and your family good health and happiness.

Jiangxian, the capital."

Putting down the letter, Nie Hualing frowned slightly.

(End of this chapter)