1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 535 Lü Liping's Ideas
"Comrade Lu Yao, you're overthinking it."

Jiang Xian smiled and said, "If your novel doesn't even deserve to be published in People's Literature, then we, the other novels in People's Literature, will truly be ashamed."

"But your *People's Literature*..."

"You speak."

Lu Yao hesitated for a few seconds before uttering a few words, “But your People’s Literature is now pursuing avant-garde new literature, publishing novels by emerging writers like ‘Lost Boat’ and ‘Tapu’. It’s no longer a stronghold for realist literature, so I’m afraid you don’t welcome novels like ‘Ordinary World’.”

Ge Fei's "Lost Boat" and Liu Zhenyun's "Tapu" were quite popular for a while after being published in People's Literature, achieving a breakthrough in the number of copies published in People's Literature.

Jiang Xian had only been the editor-in-chief of People's Literature for a short time when he published two "viral" articles that attracted much attention and discussion. This reassured the staff of People's Literature and quelled a lot of controversy and opposition from the outside world.

Liu Zhenyun and Ge Fei, two previously unknown writers, successfully entered the readers' field of vision with these two works.

"Who says we don't welcome it? Our People's Literature magazine practices inclusiveness. Yes, we pursue novels that are different from the traditional realist style, but we do not completely reject realist literature."

Jiang Xian smiled and reassured Lu Yao, "Comrade Lu Yao, if People's Literature can only publish one work of realist literature, it should be Ordinary World. It is a rare masterpiece that integrates truth, emotion, and beauty."

Upon hearing these words, Lu Yao, aka "Old Jiang," was deeply shaken.

The second part of "Ordinary World" was written by him in Wuqi, a small county located in the northwest corner of northern Shaanxi.

The area is poor in resources, life is hard, and the climate is unpredictable throughout the four seasons.

However, Lu Yao insisted on writing in this place because it was far from the hustle and bustle.

The first draft of the second part was completed by Lu Yao when he was at his most energetic and mentally fulfilled.

This was definitely a war of attrition, especially in terms of physical strength, as it used up almost all of our "reserves".

Some people may not understand.

Writing a novel, something as simple as putting pen to paper, has turned into a battle of attrition.

The main problem was the sheer volume of preparation work; Lu Yao had to prepare while writing.

For example, when preparing background materials for his work, Lu Yao found all the bound volumes of the People's Daily, Guangming Daily, provincial newspapers, regional newspapers and Reference News from the past ten years, and flipped through them page by page, while also noting down major events of a certain year, month and day and some things he thought were "useful".

Another example is the changes in the twenty-four solar terms in rural areas, such as when red dates ripen or wildflowers bloom.

Because Lu Yao's characters walk through the jujube grove, which contains not only jujubes, but also other flowers, showing the blooming stage, the withering of flowers, the harvest time, and the sowing of crops.

In short, there is so much preparation to be done.

In addition, the characters Lu Yao wrote about were all based on real people, and he often had to interview the real people directly. This preparation took a lot of Lu Yao's effort, so it was a very big project.

If you have the chance, you can read Lu Yao's reading notes and his interview notes; you will be deeply moved by them.

Therefore, the entire process of writing "Ordinary World" was a long and arduous writing labor for Lu Yao, which consumed his energy.

This is not a metaphor, because when Lu Yao was writing the second part and was almost finished, he actually coughed up blood.

Even so, the novel, written almost at the cost of his life, was met with indifference from the entire literary world.

He submitted his manuscript to an editor he knew at *Huacheng* magazine and also wrote a letter saying:
“I feel I have done my best. I finished the manuscript one day and my body collapsed the next day. I suffered from heart failure and exhaustion. I was taking Chinese medicine all day and had no energy or interest to negotiate with other publications. The problem is that I still want this manuscript to be published by you, even if only one or two copies are published—these are all irrelevant.”

This was almost a plea.

However, Huacheng magazine also made its biggest mistake and regret since its founding: it rejected the manuscript for the second part of "Ordinary World".

Looking at other major literary journals in China, Lu Yao's submissions seemed to sink without a trace.

The only opportunity for publication was last year when Yan'an Literature, in preparation for the nationwide public release of the magazine, selected two chapters from the second part of Ordinary World and published them under the title "The Newly Appointed Secretary".

This was clearly a blow to Lu Yao.

Apart from two chapters being selected for publication in the magazine "Yan'an Literature", his painstakingly written novel "Ordinary World" never had the opportunity to be published in its entirety in any major domestic literary magazine.

Either the submissions go unanswered, or you write a rejection letter, stating that the book is out of step with the times and belongs to the old-fashioned "land-loving" school, and reject it directly.

There was also this incident at the time. Once, at a seminar, a young man who had just graduated from university, after reading "Ordinary World," pointed out to Lu Yao in front of him: "The language in your work is not good. Other people's language is literary language. But I can't find a single sentence like that in your novel."

Faced with such a situation, it was impossible for Lu Yao not to care or feel discouraged.

Just when he was feeling disheartened and desperate, Comrade Jiang Xian, who had become the editor-in-chief of People's Literature, stepped forward and expressed his liking for the novel.

The outside world did not understand his novels, but Jiang Xian did, which deeply moved Lu Yao.

"Comrade Lu Yao, I see that you look very weak. Are you still capable of revising the manuscript?" Jiang Xian expressed his concerns at this moment.

"Absolutely no problem." Lu Yao looked very enthusiastic.

However, Jiang Xian could see and was very clear that Lu Yao was already at his limit.

"There's nothing wrong with the manuscript. Give it to me, and People's Literature will publish it as the lead story and in full."

"what?"

Lu Yao was so excited he couldn't sit still.

Published on Toutiao or in full?
This is People's Literature, and he has never had any novel receive such preferential treatment before.

Jiang Xian published "Ordinary World" for him, which already thrilled Lu Yao. Now, he was given such preferential treatment, something he never dared to dream of.

"Such an outstanding novel deserves this kind of treatment."

Jiang Xian patted Lu Yao on the shoulder, "Here's what we'll do, leave the manuscript here with us, and you can stay at our guesthouse for a while to think about how to revise it."

"Row."

This is the standard procedure for revising manuscripts, and Lu Yao had no objections.

After seeing him off, Jiang Xian sat in his seat in silence for a long time, and then tried to use the "autonomous synthesis" function in his mind to synthesize the novel "Ordinary World".

Unfortunately, several attempts to synthesize the novel failed. It's unclear whether Jiang Xian's inspiration was incompatible or whether the novel "Ordinary World" was simply not included in the "autonomous synthesis" function.

After all, he had previously discovered that the "autonomous synthesis" function could not synthesize all novels; the scope of synthesis was actually limited. Jiang Xian had originally thought that if he could directly synthesize the novel "Ordinary World" and revise the manuscript for Lu Yao, it would allow him to rest for a while and reduce the burden on his body.

After all, he certainly couldn't agree to write a novel for Lu Yao, but revising the manuscript was the editor's responsibility.

Unfortunately, he was unable to successfully synthesize "Ordinary World," which marked the failure of his plan.

After much deliberation, he had no choice but to call over Cui Daoyi, the deputy editor-in-chief, one of the "Four Great Editors" of Beijing.

"Old Cui, take this manuscript back and take a good look at it, then help the author revise it properly."

"This manuscript?"

"This is a novel by Lu Yao, the author of 'Life,' the second part of 'Ordinary World.'"

"Ordinary World?"

Cui Daoyi knew about this novel.

Even if he hadn't read it, he had heard that Jiang Xian had debated with a group of scholars at a seminar, single-handedly supporting Lu Yao's "Ordinary World".

However, after the novel was published, it received a lukewarm reception and low praise. Readers were indifferent, which seemed to confirm what those critics who had "besieged" Jiang Xian had said: that it was a mediocre work.

Judging from the results, it seems that Jiang Xian made a mistake in his judgment.

But Cui Daoyi didn't expect that, having already experienced such an event once, Jiang Xian would still stick to his judgment and be so optimistic about the second part of "Ordinary World".

"Old Cui, you're a renowned editor. This author has exhausted his health from writing; I can see he's even having trouble walking. During the revision process, please put in extra effort and don't let him strain his mind too much."

"Okay, I understand, Editor-in-Chief." The current editor-in-chief is Jiang Xian, so even if Cui Daoyi has doubts in her heart, she can only obey his orders.

After finishing his work on "Ordinary World," Jiang Xian went to have another small get-together with Bertolucci.

The reshoots for "The Last Emperor" in Beijing have been completed, the exterior scenes are finished, and the interior scenes were filmed in Europe during the winter. The entire film is now considered complete.

Before going to meet Bertolucci, Jiang Xian went to see another person, Lü Liping, who had been staying at the guesthouse for several days.

Lu Liping was extremely nervous. She thought she had won the favor of the "Stories from the Editorial Department" production team and that it was a sure thing that she would play the role of Ge Ling.

She waited and waited, but the production team never called her. When she inquired, she found out that "Stories from the Editorial Department" had already started filming, and Ge Ling was someone else; she had nothing to do with it.

Lu Liping immediately became somewhat angry.

If your "Stories from the Editorial Department" magazine doesn't need me, you should at least tell me. You can't just keep me in the dark and let me waste my time in the guesthouse.

As a result, the production team told her that the reason they didn't let her play Ge Ling was because they had other very important arrangements for her; otherwise, they wouldn't have paid for her to stay in a guesthouse.

Lu Liping thought about it and agreed. She stayed in a guesthouse every day, which, although not expensive, was still an expense.

If we didn't need her, we could have hired her back long ago. Why would we need to pay her this money for nothing?

Moreover, there is a wise saying in China: "Since we're already here."

She was already prepared to film "Stories from the Editorial Department," and since Beijing was her hometown, she wasn't in a hurry to return to Shanghai and the Shanghai Film Studio, which she was so loyal to.

Just as Lu Liping and others were losing patience, Jiang Xian actually came to her, and his words were quite enticing: he wanted to introduce her to a famous international director, the president of the jury for the main competition at the Venice Film Festival in Italy.

Lu Liping was stunned. He quickly changed into his most presentable and fashionable clothes, then got into Jiang Xian's black Volga and followed him to a foreign-related hotel that he usually couldn't even get into.

Seeing all the foreign faces around her, she felt a little dizzy, even though she had grown up under the red flag.

Jiang Xian began by giving an introduction.

"This is Bertolucci."

"This is a Chinese actress, Lü Liping."

Bertolucci had never met Lü Liping before, nor did he know why Jiang Xian had brought her here, but he still greeted Lü Liping very politely and then chatted very warmly with Jiang Xian about "The Last Emperor".

Lu Liping couldn't understand foreign languages ​​and had never seen such a grand occasion before. She spent most of the meal listening quietly from the sidelines, or she took the initiative to act as a waitress, pouring wine for Bertolucci and Jiang Xuan. Amid the laughter of the group, she also drank a few glasses of foreign wine that she rarely drank.

"Director Bertolucci said you look very international," Jiang Xian said to Lü Liping on the way back.

"Oh, really?!"

"Why did I lie to you?"

Jiang Xian took a drag of his cigarette. "It's not just him, but also his friend Thomas, and the other foreigners here. They all think so. They are all prominent figures in the international film industry, so their judgment can't be wrong."

"..." Lu Liping was still feeling the effects of the alcohol and was quite dizzy. Hearing Jiang Xian's words made him even more dizzy.

"The reason I brought you here today is so they can check on you for me," Jiang Xian said.

"for?"

"Yes, you may have heard that I've published some novels abroad, and some of them have been translated and introduced overseas. Now, some foreign film companies are interested in adapting my novels into film and television works. I hope that these works will feature some Asian faces. For so many years, there has been a lack of Chinese actors on the international stage, and I want to use my films to give some Chinese actors a chance to step onto the international film stage."

"Eastern faces? The stage of international films?" Lü Liping immediately grasped the key words and then connected them with Jiang Xian's previous and subsequent hints.

Whoops!

Jiang Xian's words implied that he wanted to give her a chance to film abroad!

Jiang Xian's subsequent words also confirmed Lü Liping's conjecture:

"The reason I didn't let you play Ge Ling is because I already had that idea in mind, so I didn't want you to waste your time on these roles. I'm sorry I didn't get your consent."

"You're too kind."

"But now I have to ask you."

Jiang Xian's expression suddenly turned serious. "Comrade Liping, are you interested in going abroad?"

(End of this chapter)