1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 71 Is this a career change?
No. 166, Chaoyang, Renwenshe.

Early in the morning, Jiang Xian came to Room 216 in the back building and ran into Feng Jicai who was coming out carrying toiletries.

"Big Feng!"

"Jiang Xian!" Feng Jicai responded cordially, "Are you here to deliver the manuscript to me?"

"Not exactly. The old man from People's Literature asked me to come over. I'll give you the manuscript and tell you the story."

"Okay, you sit down first, I'll go wash up first."

"Yeah." Jiang Xian sat down on the chair beside the desk in his room and placed a stack of novel manuscripts on the table.

After sitting for a while, Feng Jicai came back with a towel around his neck, wearing only a white vest on his upper body with the words "Exercise hard for the country" written on it in red.

"Is this the manuscript?"

"Ah."

Feng Jicai quickly opened it and took a look.

[In the late Qing Dynasty, China was torn apart by the occupation of foreign powers.

Because they were unable to resist, the people were bullied and were denounced as the "Sick Man of East Asia."

No one could resist this humiliation. In order to further destroy the self-esteem of the Chinese nation, the Shanghai Foreign Chamber of Commerce planned a competition in which masters from four countries would challenge the Chinese.

The whole country was outraged, and the intention of the great powers to destroy us was obvious.

At this time, a Chinese man stepped forward to fight. His name was Huo Yuanjia!

In the first match, Huo Yuanjia defeated British boxing champion Peter Smith with his Bagua Lianhuan Palm; in the second match, Huo Yuanjia defeated the head coach of the Belgian Royal Cavalry with his Rain of Pear Blossom Spear, and pear blossoms appeared on every spear; in the third match, Huo Yuanjia used his Chinese sword and the guidance of the immortal to defeat the European Western Fencing Champion again.

There were three competitions in boxing, spearmanship and swordsmanship, and all three were great victories, which shocked the world and inspired the Chinese people.

There is only this last match left of the four games, and Huo Yuanjia will face the Japanese Nine Demons and Gods master Tanaka Yasuno.

And who exactly is this Huo Yuanjia?
Let’s say, thirty years ago.]
The beginning written by Jiang Xian has the feeling of a post-apocalyptic online novel. The end of the world is approaching, the protagonist rises strongly, and the feeling of anticipation is full.

There are many film and television versions of Huo Yuanjia in later generations. Jiang Xian wrote the version played by Jet Li.

Although "Heroes of the East" is a classic, it is too far from historical facts. Huang Yuanshen was unwilling to shave his hair during the filming, and director Xu Xiaoming was helpless. In the end, Huo Yuanjia from the Qing Dynasty did not even have a braid on the screen, and the timeline was also moved to the Republic of China.

It took Feng Jicai more than ten minutes to finish reading the more than 20,000 words.

The manuscript was put back on the table. Jiang Xian heard the noise and looked up at him.

"finish watching?"

"finish watching."

"how?"

"Great! A very good story!" Feng Jicai's face was full of excitement and excitement, "I didn't expect you to write about Huo Yuanjia! I listened to his legend when I was a child in Tianjin.

There was a construction factory outside the west gate of Tianjin. There was a stone lock at the door. The boss wrote on it: "Anyone who lifts the stone lock will be rewarded with 100 taels of silver." The stone lock weighed 100 to 200 kilograms. When Huo Yuanjia arrived there, he lifted the stone lock like a vegetable basket. As a result, there was a sentence on the back of the stone lock: "Only Huo Yuanjia will not be rewarded if he lifts it."

In later generations, there were people who were keen on tearing apart the fighting power of this "Tianjin hero" Huo Yuanjia.

Film and television productions naturally have some exaggeration. Huo Yuanjia's two most famous achievements are defeating two strongmen from Russia and Britain. In fact, these two foreign strongmen were swindlers and were not as good as Teacher Ma. They became cowardly when Huo Yuanjia challenged them to a fight. One begged for mercy and the other ran away. Neither of the two challenges ended in a fight.

His true strength remains a mystery, but Huo Yuanjia did make contributions. He founded the Jingwu Athletic Association, advocated strengthening the people's physique to strengthen the country, and promoted physical education.

Sun Zhongshan also spoke highly of his courage and insight in "using military force to protect the country and strengthen the race".

Jiang Xian drank some tea to moisten his throat, and then told Feng Jicai the details that needed to be supplemented. This lecture lasted for another half a day, Jiang Xian's eloquence was as eloquent as a lotus, and the story was both sad and exciting. Feng Jicai gradually became fascinated by it. He didn't expect that Huo Yuanjia's life was so full of ups and downs, twists and turns, and he couldn't wait to know what happened next.

He raised his wrist and looked at his watch. “It’s getting late. Just continue writing according to the content I gave you. I’m going to People’s Literature.”

"Finish your story first! What happened after Huo Yuanjia fell into the river?" Feng Jicai's eyes were red, his nose was breathing heavily, his mouth was dry, and he was thirsty.
"You write it first. I haven't thought about the rest yet." Jiang Xian lied and left.

This really tortured Feng Jicai.

He was listening attentively, and there is no follow-up?

"What on earth are you doing?"

"That's not enough!"

When we arrived at Wang Fu's office, editor Wang Fu placed the huge pile of manuscripts on the table.

"Writer Jiang, if you don't work hard, the old man will be furious and will kill your manuscript!"

Jiang Xian was startled, but then he laughed when he saw all the annotations on the manuscript, "Why would we go to so much trouble to revise it if it's already been rejected?"

"You're quite naughty. You came just in time. The old man and Sha Ting just arrived."

"Shatin?"

"The old man attaches great importance to your manuscript and asked Sha Ting to write a review for it. Old man Sha Ting has not agreed yet. This time he called you over so that you can meet him and listen to his revision suggestions."

Sha Ting is the vice chairman of the Writers Association and director of the Institute of Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. His representative works include "The Gold Rush", "The Trapped Beast" and "The Return of Hometown". He is known as one of the "Five Old Men of Sichuan" along with Ba Jin, Zhang Xiushu, Ma Shi Tu and Ai Wu.

Jiang Xian secretly sighed that it was worthy of being called "People's Literature". It had a profound foundation and could easily create such a big scene.

No matter how many articles you publish elsewhere, no one will recognize you as a writer, except for People's Literature, which is the writer's platform.

I followed Wang Fu to the big office. There were quite a few people sitting inside. I knocked on the door and walked in.

"Jiang Xian is here." Cui Daoyi brought a chair to him. "Don't be shy. I invited you here today to listen to Mr. Sha's opinions on "Furong Town". You can also use it as a reference when revising it later."

"There are no major problems. It is written in a solid way." Sha Ting affirmed, "It also has a strong local flavor and a sense of reality. I can see that you put a lot of effort into it."

Jiang Xian nodded, and his heart immediately shuddered.

No big problems? Then there are still problems!
Sure enough, Sha Ting immediately said, "But the work still has a lot of reservations, especially the character of Dou Baoying, which is not fully described and is a bit weak compared to other characters. What if we enrich her in the first chapter?

Of course, I have already told your editor-in-chief about this novel. It is complete enough, and its harsh reality will surely shock real life. It is a new achievement in the creative world!
As for the comments, I really can't spare any energy to write them, please understand."

Wang Fu and Cui Daoyi both showed regret on their faces, but Jiang Xian did not show any emotion. After listening to Sha Ting's instructions, he left the office with the manuscript.

Sha Ting continued chatting with Guang Weiran.

"The writing is good, except for the last one, "The Animals Are Fierce", which had a bit of the Mandarin Duck and Butterfly School style. Fortunately, this one didn't go off track."

"He's a good candidate." Guang Weiran said affirmatively: "I am now serving as the editor-in-chief, which is not a long-term solution. How about you take on the position of editor-in-chief? Please consider it."

"I am old and in poor health, and I am afraid I am not up to the task. I did not accept this review just now because I was afraid that I would not have enough energy to write well."

"."

The two talked for a long time before Sha Ting stood up and said goodbye.

As soon as I walked out of the office, I bumped into Jiang Xian, who was walking in a hurry with a thick stack of manuscripts in his hands.

"Mr. Sha, do you think my modification is okay?"

(End of this chapter)