Literary Master 1983

Chapter 229: Ascending the Dragon Gate (End)

The dozen or so book fans that Yu Qie had met outside the New Otani Hotel appeared again in the award ceremony hall of the Central Hotel.

These people are all capable people. Most of them are students at the University of Tokyo. Some of them have heard Yu Qie's speech at the China Philosophy Conference before, and some have participated in the "Japanese Youth Coming to China" exchange activity initiated by the two countries. This activity was set by the leaders of the two countries, and thousands of Japanese college students came to China through this activity.

They said: "Because there are not enough flights directly to the Chinese capital, we have to take trains from various places in China to the capital, just like the literary youths born and raised in China... We took trains from Yangcheng, Shanghai, Liancheng and other places, and all the Chinese friends we met along the way were readers."

"It was the end of September, and your novel A Way Out was gaining popularity in mainland China, so there were always Chinese people reading it on the train. Some of them burst into tears after reading it! We were deeply moved by the suffering of our fellow countrymen in distant Southeast Asia!"

"We tried to introduce the novel Happy Hunting to them in our unfamiliar Chinese and brought them our handwritten translation. Of course, they wouldn't read it! But when we said it was a novel written by Yu Qie, they read on with some doubt..."

Yu Qie smiled and said, "Have they finished watching Happy Hunting?"

"They couldn't understand the novel, but they didn't think it was because you wrote it badly. Instead, they thought there was something wrong with our translation!"

Everyone burst into laughter.

One of the judges, Kenzaburo Oe, also joined the discussion of "Happy Hunting." He asked Yu Qie, "How does it feel to be welcomed by students of Dongda University?"

Yu Qie said, “Well, I just think it’s very good.”

Kenzaburo Oe added: "In fact, not everyone in Japan supports you to win the award. Some people talk about Sino-Japanese friendship, but in their hearts they still think they are superior to others. Just outside our hotel, some people also sat in protest, saying they don't want sugar pill vaccines! No extra-cost products! No Chinese!"

"They criticized Japanese Go players, criticized the foundation, criticized the charity competitions organized for Chinese children, and criticized us for generously awarding you awards... Yu Qie, besides your friends at the University of Tokyo, there are endless enemies that you cannot see. The higher you stand, the more you are hated."

"They said they would never read your novels, or that they would only read your novels to deal with you. Those words praising you as a prophet were all for diplomatic reasons and flattery of Chinese writers! Your novels are not original. Americans also wrote Neuromancer, which has the same high-tech, low-life setting as yours. London in the Steam Age is the source of the wasteland world, and it is definitely not something you suddenly wrote after coming to Tokyo for a few days!"

"Yu Qie, after you climb the Dragon Gate, you may face a life like this. I know you have a connection with Marquez. During his trip to the United States, Marquez was monitored by agents - because he was already such an influential figure!"

Why did Kenzaburo Oe suddenly say these words?
Maybe because he is a leftist? Is he another future Japanese Nobel Prize winner in literature? A man who refused the Emperor's award, mentioned the Nanjing Massacre in his Nobel Prize speech, and urged the Japanese government to apologize for the war. He believes that the current friendship is short-lived, and "Japan is very likely to repeat the same mistakes."

Yu Qie was always loved by people, even foreigners admired him, but Oe Kenzaburo was a literary giant who went against the country, which made him feel the sad side of the literary giant even more.

This is Kenzaburo Oe's warning to Yu Qie that a great writer cannot please everyone every time.

But Yu Qie is not so pessimistic. Because the Japanese who are against him now will commit suicide in five or ten years because of the bursting of the economic bubble. When they jump off the rooftop, they may pay for this mistake with their lives. But Yu Qie will not give them another chance.

You have the means of death.

In front of the Asahi Shimbun, Yomiuri Shimbun and other media, Yu Qie, who was entering his first career milestone, said: "For my enemies, reading my novels is not a gift to me, but quite the opposite."

what?
Kenzaburo Oe coughed in surprise. Many people in the visiting group who came to the scene did not understand Japanese, so they did not understand what Yu Qie meant.

All the Japanese media were seen with their mouths wide open, as if they had heard something extraordinary! Then they were so excited that their eyes widened, and their flashlights were flashing desperately towards Yu Qie. Even those on the other side of the scene felt that it was suddenly "dawn"!
Chen Xiru, the only translator on the scene, understood what was said. Qian Zhongshu grabbed him and shook him back and forth: "What did Yu Qie say? Why are all the Japanese so frightened?"

Mu Qing, the old president of Xinhua Press, was also dumbfounded: Did Yu Qie say something again? Yu Qie, Yu Qie, you are so good at making news.

As a result, Chen Xiru was unable to translate the words right away because he could not believe what he heard. Chen Xiru later regretted this incident very much, but he also said: I think if I translated that sentence right away, someone in the delegation might faint on the spot.

This also became Yu Qie's last literary conversation before he "ascended the Dragon Gate".

At four o'clock in the afternoon, "Bungei Shunju" officially announced the result to the whole of Japan: Yu Che won the 1985 Akutagawa Prize!

Yu Qie became the first foreign winner of the Akutagawa Prize, and also the youngest winner. He joined the club of Asian "quasi-literary masters" and was definitely not the last one. In this dazzling list, "Happy Hunting" must be one of the top ten selected works, and even qualified to compete with the older work "Guan Gong vs. Qin Qiong". This comparison frequently appeared in subsequent Japanese literary reviews.

The news of the award spread around the world at lightning speed. The Xinhua News Agency branch stationed in Japan for a long time was the first to write a press release and send it to the country. Later, the media in Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia and other places also released the news, and it gradually evolved into the title of "the youngest and only one".

Bangkok Daily News said: "He was the only one in Japanese literature who won the Akutagawa title at the age of 23! His writing is as sharp as a knife, tearing apart the arrogance and prejudice of 'youthful recklessness' - for the first time in literary history, 'the youngest' and 'the only one' are welded into a crown!"

The Ta Kung Pao commented poetically: "A precocious genius, a narrative as intense as the sunset, a gloomy truth, and a terrifying wasteland society."

In the Chinese seafood markets in Bangkok, Thailand, in the Chinese schools in Malaysia, in several universities in Singapore, and in Indonesia, these places where the Chinese had suffered tragic experiences, such a voice suddenly rose up:
Chinese writer Yu Qie won the Akutagawa Ryunosuke Literature Prize.

Chinese literature is still full of vitality, and Chinese culture is stronger than the indigenous cultures of those places. This is by no means a nationalist statement, but an objective reality. In just a few years after entering the world, a writer who is famous in Asia was born, and this is impossible to produce locally. People like Wen Ruian who learn kung fu and speak Chinese will be more encouraged: Qi Shaoshang has single-handedly entered the enemy camp and won the championship in reality. How can his followers not follow suit?

The title of the youngest and only "writer with the Order of Thailand" will probably accompany Yu Qie in Southeast Asia for many years.

With the help of Japan's advanced communication facilities, fifteen minutes later, the news became part of the countless radio waves in the world's atmosphere, spreading to the world in a disorderly manner. If someone on the front line of Laoshan was willing to turn on the radio and patiently tune in, they might be able to hear this great event, which would then trigger a small battle.

The lower-class Vietnamese soldiers would say: "This is not Yu Che's novel. This is not Yu Che's style at all. I can't understand it at all. How dare someone impersonate Yu Che? I wish I could give him a bullet!"

Then, the Chinese soldiers would use various means to prove this fact until the Vietnamese army on the other side broke through: "Their novels have been sent to Japan and won literary awards. Why are we still fighting? Is this kind of fighting meaningful?"

China's Central People's Broadcasting Station read out the news to the public: "Listeners, you are now listening to China National Radio... We have received news from Tokyo that after more than two months of competition, our writer Yu Qie has won the Akutagawa Ryunosuke Award for his work "Happy Hunting". This award is the highest award for pure literature in Japan. Yu Qie is also the first foreign writer to win the award..."

"This is an eloquent proof that the country's literature has partially reached Asia's first-class level, and the people of the whole country are delighted by this."

"Right now, at the Central Hotel in Tokyo, the Akutagawa Prize award ceremony is in full swing."

This piece of news became the first official report confirming Yu Che's winning of the award.

Thus, the memory of a generation was "tampered with", and many people wondered why the news was conveyed again. They had celebrated for a whole day from yesterday to today, and now they had to celebrate for another day because the news was "broadcast" again.

Many years later, these people confidently claimed that Yu Qie received the award on February 2, not on the 27th, and definitely not on the last day of February, "We knew the news a long time ago." When the evidence was presented, these people were dumbfounded and felt that their memories were confused.

How did it change from No. 27 to No. 28?
This one-day difference, and the memory error of one billion people, replaced the "Mandela Effect". In the future, when someone feels that this event has happened, but in fact it did not happen at the time, but was their own later grafting of facts, they will use the "cotangent effect" to describe this scene. The four words "cotangent effect" have become a special term.

Half an hour later, a more formal report came out, still from the radio station. In this report, the announcer introduced the origin of the Akutagawa Prize and the general content of "Happy Hunting" to the audience, and also excerpted some of Yu Qie's excellent works.

So far, according to official recognition, "Big Scatter", "Letter from the Fiancée" and "The Way Out" are Yu Qie's most outstanding works, suitable for all ages and with a high level of humanity. Among them, "Big Scatter" was recorded as a national radio series program, performed by several actors and in a serialized form.

At that time, CCTV had several news programs, namely "Midday News", "Evening News" and "News Network". In 80, the broadcast of "News Network" was advanced from 8 o'clock to 7 o'clock. This is the most important news column and the news column closest to Yu Qie's award. Many times, this column plays a role of "concentration", and other news are divergent and expanded from it.

Therefore, the news here must be a real big event. However, on that night, it was given an unusual one and a half minutes. The first thirty seconds reviewed Yu Qie's award-winning process, and the middle thirty seconds mentioned:
The Japanese Prime Minister expressed his greetings to Chinese writer Yu Qie and other Chinese youth, saying that this is a day that belongs to you and a day that belongs to young literary people.

The last fifteen seconds involve the domestic characterization: Yu Qie's award shows that Chinese literature has taken a big step forward in some areas, approaching or even reaching the world's first-class level. Judging people by their writings, there are areas where the two countries can seek common ground while reserving differences, and we welcome investment and construction in the mainland.

The last fifteen seconds involve "sugar pills". This time, Mr. Zhao Zhongxiang's voice is no longer magnetic and peaceful, but slightly serious: "Comrade Yu Qie's latest work "Little Shoes" depicts a disease, the scientific name is poliomyelitis, and the folks call it poliomyelitis... Related folk donation activities are underway. Readers in urban areas can donate to the China Children's Fund nearby. Other areas can donate through mail, unit fundraising, and other channels."

——The report of the "Lianbo" was like a starting gun or a very clear dividing line. The weird official statement and confirmation disappeared, and the crazy rumors among the people disappeared, and everyone entered the ocean of joy without any burden.

In the south of Balizhuang, writers in the advanced class of the School of Literature finally breathed a sigh of relief. They had learned through various channels that Yu Qie had "won the award" and were extremely worried. Guan Moye was so angry that he cursed: "These people are just sitting there doing nothing and will never get anything done. They can even get this kind of thing wrong!"

Everyone tried to persuade Guan Moye not to be angry. Su Tong said, "Yu Qie still wins in the end. It's just a matter of winning early or late. In short, it's a win."

Yu Hua also said: "There's no need to get yourself angry again about a false alarm."

However, Guan Moye still felt unbalanced. If Yu Qie's literary career was interrupted by such a mistake, it would be the most ridiculous thing he had ever seen in his life. When the writer Ding Ling was teaching students, Guan Moye could be heard whispering loudly throughout the class: "Those who write news should be shot!"

"You almost killed Yu Qie!"

Ding Ling said: "Guan Moye, your voice is really too loud."

“Am I being loud?”

Everyone nodded together.

Guan Moye said he would keep his mouth shut, but soon after, he cursed again: "He should be shot."

Dingling was helpless and could only temporarily change the course to an appreciation class of Yu Qie's novels, so that everyone could speak freely. However, this was exactly what everyone wanted. If the people in the literature training class were not convinced before, now there are no exceptions. Almost everyone does not mind calling themselves Yu Qie's disciples.

As the reportage writer Xu Chi observed: When he is by your side, he is the friend who treats you to dinner with jokes, tall but not particularly exaggerated; when he is not by your side, you find that the shadow he leaves behind is very huge, completely blocking your sight, leaving you with no way to escape. The farther he is away, the more objectively and clearly you can see him.

(End of this chapter)