Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 59 Sweet Trouble

Zhang Chao himself did not expect that the bad joke, "When you grow up, do you want to apply to Yanda or Tsinghua University?" would actually happen to him.

The special recruitment policy for the "New Concept Essay Contest" was cancelled. The essence of this is that those participants were really "students" and had no achievements other than an essay that was highly subjective in its evaluation. Naturally, it was impossible to quell the public opinion storm from the outside world.

The university gave Zhang Chao an opportunity to enter the top mainland university by re-establishing the "Writers' Class", mainly because his achievements were objective.

A serious literary work that made "Huacheng" a best-seller again, a novel with an initial print run of 100 million copies, and several reviews published in major newspapers that triggered social repercussions.

How can they compete with their peers who can only participate in "essay competitions"?
The University of Hong Kong struck a match, and the mainland university used it to light the entire torch.

Principal Wu Xingyu is very worried now.

He has been holding meetings for two consecutive days, discussing the issue of which university to persuade Zhang Chao to go to.

If we only consider the reputation of the school, then it is undoubtedly Yanda. However, judging from the admissions policy, Zhang Chao can only go to the "Writers Class" at Yanda, that is, start from undergraduate studies; the "Creative Writing" master's degree has a hard threshold of undergraduate degree, which Zhang Chao cannot jump over.

The "Writers Graduate Program" of Yanshi University starts with a master's degree, and there is no hard academic qualification threshold. Whether or not you have "undergraduate level" is entirely determined by the experts in the admissions team, so there is great hope. High school students are directly admitted as graduate students, and this gimmick is no less than "Yenchi University students".

At the meeting, the leaders were arguing, but everyone was smiling because no matter which candidate Zhang Chao chose, it would be a great boon to the school's enrollment this year.

Zhang Chao's parents are also very worried now.

Before, they were worried about their son not being able to go to university, and now they are worried about their son going to Yanjing to study. As for which university in Yanjing, they don't care, as long as Zhang Chao is happy.

Zhang Chao's mother has been rummaging through boxes and drawers these past two days, taking out Zhang Chao's thick clothes, thick pants, and thick socks one by one, folding and folding them, and putting them away again and again. As she sorted them out, she sighed, "Why did he go to Yanjing? It's so cold there! The coldest temperature in Fuhai is only 1 or 2 degrees. Do you think your son can stand it there? I don't know if these clothes are thick enough..."

Hey, Lao Zhang, where did you put the down jacket I bought when I traveled to Heilongjiang a few years ago? "

Zhang Chao's father was speechless. He wanted to remind his wife that it was easy to get cramps if she sighed and smiled at the same time. Besides, it was only May and the temperature in Fuhai was 5℃ these past two days. If it weren't for the air conditioner, the house would be so hot that it would make people's scalps numb.

But after thinking about it, I shut up.

He was actually quite emotional. As an old Xiamen University student, he was assigned to a township middle school in his hometown after graduation, where he taught for his entire life. However, due to various setbacks, he was ultimately unable to work in the county town.

It is impossible to have no knots in my heart.

His son's original academic performance was average, and he could at most get into an ordinary university. Later, his math and English scores inexplicably declined. He had already prepared himself mentally for Zhang Chao to only go to a junior college.

I didn't expect to give him such a big surprise!
It’s just that I’ve been in lockdown for a month before the senior high school entrance exam, and I can’t see my son, and I can’t properly express my joy…

He decided to find some old friends to play chess and chat!

Li Shidong, editor-in-chief of "Youth Literature", was also very troubled.

He had just received the novel, "Your Name", sent to him by Zhang Chao.

The novel was a long novella, about 80000 words, and he finished it in half a day. But after finishing it, he felt a little confused - what kind of novel was this?
In terms of subject matter, "Your Name" is still a youth love story, telling the story of what happened between a male high school student "Long" living in Yanjing and a high school girl "Xi" in a small island town.

However, the specific plot is completely different from Zhang Chao's previous two realistic works. It is full of various fantasy elements.

"Soul exchange", "comet", "staggered timeline", "saving the past from the future", "spiritual witch"...

The language style has also undergone tremendous changes. It is neither as passionate and intense as "Better Days" nor as gloomy and deep as "Young Babylon".

"Your Name" uses a large number of short sentences and frequent paragraphs to create a highly jumpy reading experience, allowing readers to switch repeatedly between reality, dreams, and the protagonist's inner mumbling.

At the same time, the "embarrassment after a man and a woman exchange souls" creates enough interest so that readers will not feel bored.

As the plot unfolds, the novel throws out the main line of "Can the town destroyed by the comet be saved?", creating a strong sense of suspense that makes people unable to extricate themselves.

Whether the hero and heroine can meet and get to know each other again in the end also concerns the readers.

This novel, which mixed so many elements and was so novel in expression, reminded Li Shidong of the works of many post-80s writers, including Xiao Si's "Fantasy City", but he immediately shook his head and thought that he was really confused.

Zhang Chao's writing is free of Xiao Si's pretentiousness and affectation. Instead, it is very refreshing and light, with very few gorgeous adjectives and grand metaphors. It is like a stream in the woods or a breeze on the treetops, refreshing to read - no teenager can resist the pleasure of reading this novel.

Thinking of the hot sales of Huacheng, he immediately forwarded the novel to his editor-in-charge, with only one instruction: "Proofread it as soon as possible and publish the full text in the next issue."

Other people’s troubles are sweet, only Yanda’s are really troublesome.

"Xiaoseng! Lachun! Wow, wow, wow!" Cao Wenxuan, the head of the admissions team of Yanda's "Writers' Class", was so angry that he even cursed in his hometown dialect, "One is from Yanda Normal University, and the other is Nanjing University. They have no moral principles! They are here to cheat! They are here to attack!"

The revival of the "Writers' Class" was originally a project brewing within the Chinese Department of Yan University. They also specially invited retired Professor Qian Liqun to secretly visit Changfu to investigate the key focus object Zhang Chao

As a result, someone got the news and found out that Zhang Chao had been investigated, and Yanshi University and Nanjing University followed suit. Yanshi University was the most outrageous, directly offering a "Master's Program for Writers"!
This made Yanjing University, which could only start with undergraduate education due to policy reasons, feel a sense of crisis.

If after all the trouble, Zhang Chao ran away to Yanshi University because of his postgraduate degree, wouldn't Yanshi University become a joke?
"No!" Cao Wenxuan decided to go to Fuhai in person and have a good talk with Zhang Chao.

"Mr. Cao, don't be anxious. Take a look at this--" Kong Qingdong, one of the members of the admissions team, handed a stack of manuscripts to Cao Wenxuan.

Cao Wenxuan took it and saw that it was a research report.

"Inland County Towns and "County Town Narratives" from a Literary Perspective: Taking the Novel "Young Babylon" as an Example"

When he opened it, "Zhang Chao"'s name appeared prominently in the list of research team members.

Kong Qingdong smiled proudly and said, "This project will be completed soon and will be published in the journal. Do you think Zhang Chao can escape? He is destined to be our Yanda!"

Zhang Chao’s only worry was the college entrance examination itself which would be held in a few days.

(End of this chapter)