1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 346: There's no name on the manuscript? Why can't I snatch it?
"On the twenty-fifth, grind tofu; on the twenty-sixth, cut the meat for the New Year; on the twenty-seventh, slaughter the rooster; on the twenty-eighth, let the dough rise; on the twenty-nine, steam the buns; stay up all night on the thirtieth, and twist your body on the first day of the New Year."

Jiang Xian was humming the most popular Laba song at the time, and was preparing to go buy some pre-holiday specials with Jiang Ke and his father.

Although Jiang Xian's family is not short of tickets, it would be a waste to use the New Year's coupons supplied before the festival.

His mother and Zhu Lin had already carefully cut the New Year's gift vouchers into the size of stamps so that the three of them could keep them in their pockets along with the banknotes.

"Jiang Xian, went out?"

"Teacher Zhang, why are you here?"

Jiang Xian was a little surprised to see Zhang Shouren pushing a bicycle towards the entrance of the alley.

"Isn't this our October's way of greeting you and wishing you a happy new year before the Spring Festival? I brought you some snacks, don't despise them."

"Oh, you're welcome."

Jiang Xian said no, but his body was quite honest. He saw Zhang Shouren taking out things one by one.

There are sesame oil, wine, sugar, vermicelli, sesame products, some candies and pastries, and even soda ash.

"You're so polite. Do I need to buy New Year's goods? Our magazine has already bought them for me."

"It should."

Zhang Shouren smiled and said, "This Aiwo Wo has just been steamed, just to take advantage of the Spring Festival. Normally, you can't buy this kind of snack in our Beijing snack shops."

Jiang Xian was somewhat touched.

Zhang Shouren obviously prepared this carefully, and it was worth it that he wrote "The Garland under the Mountain" for them in "October".

When Zhang Shouren arrived, he simply stopped following his father and Jiang Ke to buy New Year's goods and instead took him home for tea.

"I heard that Ms. Nie Hualing's 'International Writing Program' invited you?"

"Oh, you know all this?"

"Of course. Nie Hualing has contacts with our Writers Association. The Writers Association knows about her final decision. Congratulations, Jiang Xian."

"What's there to congratulate?"

"Although I have never been there, I have heard from some comrades who have returned that it is very different from our country and is very well built. If you go there, won't you be able to experience the capitalist society?"

"Those are just sugar-coated bullets."

"Stop it."

Zhang Shouren looked at him with a smile on his face and thought to himself, just take it as it is.

"You should seize this time to find a way to exchange some foreign currency. It will be useful when you go abroad. I will find you a few acquaintances. Many of our domestic writers who went abroad before went to them."

"no need."

Jiang Xian waved his hand and took a sip of tea. "I have already written a letter to reject Ms. Nie Hualing's offer."

"You refused?!"

Zhang Shouren stood up suddenly and looked at Jiang Xian in disbelief. "You are kidding, right? That's a chance to go to America, and you just turned it down?"

"Actually there's nowhere to go. I'll go there when I have the chance. I don't have much time."

"."

Zhang Shouren stared at Jiang Xian for a long time, and after making sure that he was not teasing him, he sat down with a look of regret.

He really couldn't understand why other writers were flocking to the "International Writing Program", but why was he so dissatisfied with Jiang Xian?

Just now when he mentioned the "International Writing Program", Jiang Xian looked calm and thought he was being pretentious.

I didn't expect that he really didn't care.

But it was useless to say anything now, after all, Jiang Xian had already written a letter to reject Nie Hualing.

"You are so willing."

"Oh, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future. It's not like we won't be doing this 'writing project' next year."

Zhang Shouren thought about it and it made sense.

Even if Jiang Xian declines this year, he will still be the priority candidate for the "International Writing Program" next year.

Sighing, Zhang Shouren said, "I have read your latest article, The Last Hun."

"Oh? So fast?"

Jiang Xian was surprised. After all, "Yanhe" was just a publication of the Shaanxi Writers Association. How could it be spread to the capital so quickly after it was published?

"It's your novel, after all."

Zhang Shouren said, "Following you, Yanhe is very popular in Beijing. It is sold out in all bookstores and newspaper stands."

Jiang Xian chuckled, "What do you think?"

"Okay."

Zhang Shouren said without hesitation.

As if he felt that what he said was too simple, he added:
“It’s grand and legendary, yet has the spirit and atmosphere of martial arts!”

“Not only is the timeline complex and long, but the themes are also diverse and profound, making it a very shocking read.

Moreover, your novel has various characteristics of historical novels, revolutionary literature, scar literature, and educated youth literature, and the relationships between the characters are exquisitely arranged.

There are also various uses of foreshadowing.”

Chekhov gave a very vivid description of "foreshadowing":
"If it is written in the front that there is a shotgun hanging on the wall of the living room, then the shotgun must fire a bullet in the end."

In Zhang Shouren's view, Jiang Xian's use of "foreshadowing" permeates the entire novel.

He can now remember the clever foreshadowing arrangements in the novel:
Why did the Hei family and the Yang family have nothing to do with each other but are closely connected? Why did the little Northwest King come to Shaanxi? Why was the wounded soldier Yang Ezi and others were from 101? Why did the old man hold the young Yang Anxiang?
These foreshadowings are hidden in the early parts of the novel, just like a shotgun that is always hanging in the living room but has never attracted anyone's attention. In the later parts of the story, this shotgun shoots terrifying bullets.

"When will you start writing the second volume of your novel?" Zhang Shouren said.

Jiang Xian glanced at him and jokingly asked, "Why? You, October, want to compete with Yanhe?"

"Have you agreed to give the next volume to Yanhe?" Zhang Shouren looked at Jiang Xian inquiringly.

"Not yet." Jiang Xian said.

He had made an agreement with Yanhe to submit a manuscript, but this manuscript was the first volume of The Last Hun, which has now been given to Yanhe. However, he did not make any promises to Yanhe about the second volume of the manuscript.

"That's it. Any editorial department can compete for the manuscripts that haven't been contracted out yet." Zhang Shouren said with burning eyes.

It is not uncommon for editors to compete for manuscripts.

Take the manuscript of Red Sorghum for example. According to Mo Yan's recollection, he had already made an appointment with Zhu Wei, the editor of People's Literature. However, the manuscript was taken away by Zhang Zhonge, the editor of October, as soon as it was completed.

At that time, Zhang Zhonge asked Mo Yan if he could see the manuscript, and after he sat there and read it, he insisted on taking it away.

In the end, Zhu Wei got so angry that he took great pains to get the manuscript back from Zhang Zhonge. Even for this, he had to thank Mr. Zhang Zhonge for his magnanimity in not arguing with him, otherwise the final ownership of the manuscript might have been uncertain.

"Although your manuscript is about Shaanxi, you cannot limit the reading range to Shaanxi. Readers all over the country can understand your words. Why must this novel be sent to Yanhe?" Zhang Shouren was very determined to fight for it.

"Teacher Zhang, don't worry."

Jiang Xian paused and smiled, "I'm not sure if I will write the next volume of this novel or when I will start writing it. I don't have any idea of ​​writing it in the short term."

"Uh"

Zhang Shouren was a little anxious after hearing this. "Jiang Xian, you should try not to prolong the creation time too much. It is best to finish a long novel in one go. If it takes too long, your original novel ideas and settings will inevitably be forgotten." "Let's talk about this later."

Jiang Xian hasn't figured out how to change the story of Yang Anxiang yet, so he doesn't want to start writing the next volume for the time being.

Zhang Shouren felt a little regretful when he heard this, but he was not willing to give up. "How about I arrange a creative discussion with you? You can talk about the creation of "The Last Hun"."

Jiang Xian knew that if Zhang Shouren returned empty-handed today, he would probably not give up, so he had to agree.

After all, Zhang Shouren had bought most of the New Year's goods for him, so he would definitely write this creative talk, and it would not be a problem for him to publish it in "October".

You know, it's not easy to buy New Year's goods at this time. With the pre-holiday supplies, there are people queuing up everywhere. Zhang Shouren's big bag of gifts can save Jiang Xian a lot of trouble.

Yanjing Hotel.

Room 302.

The place is now full of people, some wearing military coats, some wearing Zhongshan suits. They gather together, kneeling, squatting, sitting or lying down. The stalls in front of them are filled with "playing cards", about 40 pieces.

These "playing cards" are not just for killing time. Each card corresponds to a show or a line.

Well, these people are the planning members of the 1983 Spring Festival Gala.

First of all, we need to correct a concept. The emergence of the Spring Festival Gala in 1983 was actually purely accidental. This does not mean that it will be held every year from now on.

But everyone knows what happened later.

From that year on, this program has never been absent from the Chinese New Year’s Eve.

"Oh, no! No!"

Liu Xiaoqing yelled at Jiang Kun, "What is this that you wrote? We are the hosts, you can't write the script according to your crosstalk habits."

Jiang Kun looked aggrieved. "But these words are close to the people, popular, and colloquial. I don't think there is anything wrong with them."

Liu Xiaoqing complained, "Your words are neither funny nor long, and they are not easy to remember. How can this work? It's definitely not possible."

There was no such thing as a host these days.

In the television industry of later generations, every cultural evening party will have a fixed host to take care of the overall situation. This has become an unquestionable fixed pattern.

But if you recall carefully, you will find that before the 83 Spring Festival Gala, the term "host" basically did not exist in the domestic television industry.

The host of a radio and television program is called a "broadcaster", the one on TV is called an "announcer", and the one at an evening party is called an "announcer".

The origin of all this can be traced back to Ma Ji, who once participated in a Spring Festival Gala jointly organized by CCTV and Guangdong. After the gala, he said with emotion:
"If CCTV could also hold an event like this on New Year's Eve, focusing on entertainment and inserting hosts to liven up the atmosphere, wouldn't that be great?"

He told this idea to the Spring Festival Gala director Huang Yihe, who thought it was a great idea and decided to create the role of host for the first time in the 1983 gala.

But there is no ready-made host and no one has this experience.

Find CCTV announcers, most of whom have clear pronunciation and a serious tone, which will definitely not fit in with the evening party.

After a final thought, I decided to just find a crosstalk performer!
The leading figures of the young and middle-aged generation are Ma Ji and Jiang Kun.

Well, the party was long and just two people were definitely not enough, so in the end Wang Jingyu and actor Liu Xiaoqing also joined in, and the four of them co-hosted it.

That's why Liu Xiaoqing is shouting at this moment.

"I think the leader is right. Jiang Kun is just a crosstalk performer. It's unprofessional for him to be a host!"

Liu Xiaoqing was very dissatisfied with the script written by Jiang Kun.

It was so long-winded, like a crosstalk, and quite meaningless. It made the whole evening particularly vulgar and tasteless.

Liu Xiaoqing had some complaints about Jiang Kun. Jiang Kun also felt aggrieved, but he could not go against his female comrade, and finally his eyes turned red.

"Director, I quit."

Huang Yihe has been extremely busy. His director team is nothing more than a makeshift team, because everyone has their own unit at this moment and they only need to obey the work arrangements of their superiors.

They heard that Huang Yihe was going to hold a party, and they thought it would be nice to come and have some fun, so they came. They didn't think about the cost at all, they just came to help.

"What happened?"

Huang Yihe felt a headache when he saw that the host was causing trouble again.

After understanding the situation, Huang Yihe read the script carefully again.

"What's wrong? I think it's good. Our party needs to be different from before."

"Director, I don't think it's possible at all." Liu Xiaoqing maintained his questioning attitude.

Some comrades also expressed doubts.

"Transformation does not mean vulgarity."

"The script can't be made to sound like a crosstalk."

"I think we should find someone to check it out."

"Show it to the leaders of the review team."

At this moment, no one has experience in organizing a Spring Festival Gala, and no one can clearly say what to do. Everyone has their own standards in their hearts.

As a director, Huang Yihe had to listen to the feedback from other colleagues, but when he heard that he had to find the leader of the review team, he quickly waved his hand.

"No, no, it's already too late. If the head of the review team comes, we can't broadcast this or do that. Our party will be ruined."

Huang Yihe said, "We should not invite an inspection team unless it is absolutely necessary."

Ma Ji thought about it and said, "Then let's find a respected senior to take a look. How about asking Mr. Hou Baolin to come and take a look?"

As a prodigy in the crosstalk world, Ma Ji had four crosstalk masters as his teachers, Hou Baolin being one of them.

Unfortunately, because of the buzzing, the master and the disciple had an unpleasant argument.

However, as time goes by, the past events are no longer mentioned.

After all, that era was too magical. Not to mention the relationship between masters and apprentices, there were many cases of couples turning against each other.

"Mr. Hou Baolin? Sure, sure." Huang Yihe thought this was a good idea.

Hou Baolin is a master of crosstalk. If Hou Baolin thinks that there is no problem with the script and approves of it, then the people who raise objections will definitely not say anything.

Liu Xiaoqing interrupted at this time, "Director, how about asking Comrade Jiang Xian to take a look?"

Jiang Kun thought about it.

"Jiang Xian? Doesn't he write novels?"

Liu Xiaoqing rolled his eyes.

"What's wrong with writing novels? You crosstalk performers can all write scripts, so why can't those who write novels?"

"."

Jiang Kun sighed again after being criticized.

Ma Ji's eyes lit up.

"Yes, you can ask Comrade Jiang Xian to take a look. He knows a lot and knows a lot."

"If he says it's okay, then it must be right!"

(End of this chapter)