Literary Master 1983

Chapter 203 Hexagon Warrior

This puzzled Yu Qie. He thought for a while and said, "We should pay more attention to the situation in our own country. In the next few years, there may be a lot of literature. By then, there will be enough material for Literary Gazette to develop."

"Do you think we don't need to study foreign literature?" Feng Mu asked immediately.

"Editor-in-Chief Feng, I don't think there is any conflict between following international literature and creating my own literature."

Feng Mu nodded, not sure whether he agreed or disagreed.

Half an hour later, Lu Sun also finished reading "Why Scar Literature Will Inevitably Disappear".

He briefly summarized the idea of ​​Yu Qie's article: "Your article has put 'scar literature' to death!"

Afterwards, Lu Sun invited all the people in the society at that time to a small conference room and held an impromptu briefing.

The theme of the conference was this article.

Lu Sun counted on his fingers: "In terms of audience base, this type of subject matter has lost the favor of readers; in terms of technique, scar literature lacks artistic attainments..."

"But the most important thing is that from a political point of view, it has already completed its mission. It is inappropriate to write about it now. Of course, there are some articles of recollection, which is as it should be, because we should not forget the past... But don't write like a swarm of people, and don't continue to cry about the same misery!"

At the briefing, Lu Sun and Feng Mu actually asked all the editors in the company to vote on whether the article should be published.

The person who counted the votes was Yu Qie, because he was not a comrade of the Literary Gazette and he was neutral.

"One vote, two votes, three votes... Don't raise your hands, that's cheating!"

"Four votes... eleven votes..."

Finally, when they had counted halfway, Yu Qie looked up at Feng Mu and Lu Sun, who nodded and said, "It seems that the results are out. We should cooperate with this commentary and write some supporting opinions to express our position."

"This is not only in line with literary theory, but also in line with our positioning! Our Literary Gazette is the main window for the world to understand China's literary and artistic circles. Leaders have always given instructions and literary masters have served as chief editors... We should mainly showcase the more positive aspects of literary works."

Indeed, Mao Dun was the first editor-in-chief of Literary Gazette. This newspaper had some founding stances and was not a purely literary magazine like Harvest and October.

The Literary Gazette has an irregular magazine called "Literary and Art Situation", nicknamed "Literary and Art Internal Reference". It is submitted to the leaders for approval, so its positioning can be imagined.

At noon, Yu Qie had dinner with several editors from the Literary Gazette.

Since the newspaper had no cafeteria, it had to borrow the cultural department's cafeteria, which was another embarrassment.

Feng Mu said: "This year, the higher authorities have approved the plan for our Literary Gazette, the Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and the Writers Association to build an office building together. Don't look at me as an editor now. In fact, most of the time, I run between the Planning Bureau and the Architectural Design Institute. I can also carry cement... Your teacher Ma Shi Tu was also the director of the Provincial Housing and Urban-Rural Development Department. We writers are always like this, not doing our jobs properly."

There is nothing sad about this, in fact Feng Mu is very proud of it, he is beaming with joy when he speaks, because he is still full of energy in his sixties.

Moreover, he once again raised the issue of Yu Qie's novels in person: "Your novels are always very large and colorful. But I really want to read those simple and unadorned stories. Many editors in our company also say the same thing when writing review articles. I once thought that they didn't like you, and I felt very anxious..."

"However, looking at it today, everyone actually likes you too much, so they have higher hopes for you! Many people couldn't bear such 'hope', and they broke it!"

"For some people, the more others hope for, the more they can give! Yu Qie, are you such a person?"

This made Yu Qie's blood boil. He said bluntly: "The simpler the novel, the more effort it takes. I have not yet encountered a small thing that is simple enough and yet as important as a thousand pounds."

Feng Mu looked at him deeply: "If you encounter it, can you write it?"

“I can definitely write it!”

Lu Sun revealed some information: "The Mao Dun Literature Prize has already started selection, and is currently undergoing an internal preliminary screening. Some works have received generally recognized acclaim, while others have received mixed reviews. Many people also want to use connections. Have you heard any rumors about this?" Yu Qie said: "I've been busy writing review articles recently, so I don't have time to inquire."

Lu Sun and Feng Mu laughed and never mentioned the matter again.

What the two old men said was so incomprehensible that Yu Che felt something was wrong. It was not until two days later when Zhang Shouren showed him a piece of news in the Literary Gazette that Yu Che suddenly realized what was going on.

The news is about the interesting behind-the-scenes stories of the "Second Mao Dun Literature Prize Selection", written by Feng Mu.

The award was based on about 1982 novels published between 1984 and 3, and 450 works recommended by local authorities. The jury held several meetings, one of which was held in the small conference room of the Literary Gazette—yes, the same place Yu Qie had been to two days ago.

During this selection process, Ba Lao himself was unable to attend, but he conveyed his thoughts over the phone:
"Don't want care, want fine art."

Who heard this?

It happened to be Feng Mu and Lu Sun. This also indirectly means that they are one of the few members of the jury, otherwise they would not have written this article.

The Mao Dun Literature Prize does not announce the specific jury members, but only the chairman of the jury. As we all know, Ba Lao himself has a very high status, so he would naturally not accept connections.

In other words, Feng Mu and Lu Sun were implying that Yu Qie's novels "received universal acclaim."

So, what happens next?
This is conceivable.

Even Yu Qie felt a little proud. In his country, he had the possibility of winning the highest literary award, and in Japan, he could at least get a nomination; if he won both, he would have an indisputable gap with others.

If history does not change, this gap will be beyond reach in a lifetime.

The amateur table tennis king of Yanda University went out to play and beat all the colleges and universities in Beijing. Yu Xuanfeng became famous on campus again. Only elite athletes at the national level could suppress him, and at this time, he would often choose to play bridge to win.

When he was too embarrassed to play bridge, he would play table tennis with his classmates from the mathematics and physics departments.

When neither can win, Yu Che starts writing novels.

Isn't this also the economic common sense of The Wealth of Nations? It brings into play the comparative advantage of the cotangent.

Hu Daiguang, the director of the Economics Department, has let Yu Qie go his own way. Having reached this point on the path to becoming a writer, it is unlikely that Yu Qie will continue to be a second-rate economist.

However, Hu Daiguang still felt that Yu Qie was extremely talented, and he felt that the two were not in conflict.

How many people know that Adam Smith, who wrote "The Wealth of Nations", the eternal superstar in the hall of economics, was a teacher of English literature at the University of Edinburgh?
While Yu Qie was enjoying such a good time, his friend Yu Hua was in endless distress. In the past two months, Yu Hua had not written a work that satisfied him. Apart from communicating with the editorial department of October, the few times he went out, he was with Yu Qie.

When Yu Qie heard that Yu Hua also played table tennis, he would mercilessly shave his head, beat him until he had to search for the ball all over the floor, and made him train with weights.

I also heard that Yu Hua also played football. Yu Qie learned how to play football in just a few days. On the football field of Yanda University, he easily overtook Yu Hua from the outside and scored the goal.

Except for his poor performance at playing cards, Yu Qie is simply a hexagonal warrior.

Yu Hua sometimes feels that Yu Qie is the writer who least resembles a writer. He is more like a sports student with well-developed limbs. He is the perfect self in Shi Tiesheng's mind, but Yu Qie has written novels worthy of praise without any precipitation.

On the last day of November, Yu Qie came to Yu Hua with a train ticket and told him that we were going to Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province in the south.

Yu Hua thought to himself: Is this finally the day when I will be eliminated?

(End of this chapter)