Literary Master 1983

Chapter 36: In the Capital, Their Views on Yuqie (Part )
Another young writer who came to visit Beijing heard about the "Yu Qie" craze at Yenching University and found the article "A Moment of Romance" to read.

His reaction was: Damn, that’s so well written!
This young writer is Yu Hua.

Yu Hua had bad luck in exams. He failed the college entrance examinations twice. With the arrangement of his parents, he went to work as a dentist in the local health center.

But Yu Hua didn't like this job. He felt that this job made him feel gloomy. So in order to escape the fate of being a dentist, Yu Hua spent all his time outside of work on writing, and eventually he became a dentist.

Invited by Zhou Yanru, editor of Yenching Literature, Yu Hua came to the capital to revise his manuscript. He visited the Forbidden City, the Great Wall and other places, which broadened his horizons and knowledge. Of course, what impressed him most was A Moment of Romance.

Yu Hua believes that he is a person who can let go, so he can write dark and cruel plots while remaining generally optimistic mentally.

When he was a child, he lived in the staff dormitory of the hospital. There was a morgue opposite his home, and he could hear miserable cries almost every night. This made him accustomed to the separation of life and death, and he was not surprised by it when he was creating.

Yu Qi's "A Moment of Romance" made him see a kind of beauty, the beauty that comes from death.

Two years ago, he read a novel by Yasunari Kawabata, "The Dancing Girl of Izu", and the delicate and gloomy style of the novel deeply touched him; this year, he read Yu Qie's "A Moment of Romance", and Yu Hua experienced another kind of dramatic style of "grand rush towards death", so he felt that he could imitate Yu Qie.

However, writing long novels or novellas was too tiring, so Yu Hua decided to start with short stories. So he began to write an ultra-short story titled "Going on a Long Journey at the Age of Eighteen" in the guesthouse arranged by "Yenching Literature".

In the preface to his novel he wrote:
"This is a story about the pains of growing up. I just watched A Moment of Romance, and I wanted to strip away the drama of that story and just leave the pain."

"There are three people who have influenced my writing. The first one is Lu Xun. I set his Diary of a Madman to music."

"The second person is Yasunari Kawabata, and the x-posters that were posted everywhere in high school. I like the violent, fictional, and exaggerated language."

"The third person is Yu Qie. I know that I can write a good novel that transcends the original reality."

"It was the winter of 1983, and for me, it was already winter."

------

In the military compound at No. 29 Fuxing Road, Yanjing City, Wang Shuo and his friend opened a roast duck restaurant but failed in business. In his depression, he read the popular novel "A Moment of Romance".

Relying on his identity as a child of a large compound, Wang Shuo could enjoy scarce resources more easily. He was deeply impressed by the violence in "A Moment of Romance", but what he remembered most was the love between Huadi and Qiaoqiao.

Wang Shuo feels that no love is eternal unless one of the two parties dies, then he or she becomes infinitely perfect in the other party's heart.

This is the case with Huadi in "A Moment of Romance". Huadi was originally an ordinary little gangster, but love made him behave like a human being.

There will definitely not be a good ending for Huadi and Qiaoqiao. It is better for Huadi to die earlier.

So, Wang Shuo also had an inspiration. He planned to write a novel similar to "A Moment of Romance", but in which the fates of the male and female protagonists were reversed. It was called "Stewardess".

At this time, Wang Shuo had been doing business for several years and had never written a realistic novel. He was afraid that his manuscript would be rejected by the magazine, so he promoted the selling points of his novel in his manuscript like a businessman:
"I referenced Yu Qie's A Moment of Romance for this novel. If Yu Qie's novel becomes a hit, then mine will surely become a hit as well."

"I did follow Yu Qie's style, but 'New Realism' cannot be written by only him. Besides, I think his novels are too pretentious. I don't like them."

"Strike while the iron is hot. You need to finish the manuscript of this novel quickly, maybe in the last month of 1983."

——————"Oh, I got paid for my writing again... one, two, two hundred yuan, how come it's less?"

"Because this is a reprint, take a look."

Yu Qi handed the November issue of "Mengya" to Yu Minhong to read.

Although it was a reprinted work, "Mengya" still offered a high price of two yuan per thousand words.

According to the "Notice on the Implementation of News and Publishing Remuneration and Subsidy Measures" issued by the State Press and Publication Administration, the remuneration for manuscripts is 2 to 7 yuan per thousand words, and the remuneration for translated manuscripts is 1 to 5 yuan per thousand words.

"A Moment of Romance" has a total of more than 100,000 words. It was originally published in "Red Rock" and received a price of five yuan per thousand words, which is basically the remuneration standard for special contributors or well-known authors.

Now reprinting is two yuan per thousand words, which is very generous. A number of publications such as "Novel Monthly" and "October" all reprinted at two yuan.

Mengya is a magazine that specifically discovers young writers. Its highest circulation was over 80, far exceeding that of Hongyan. The well-known "New Concept Writing Competition" and post-s writers Han Han and Guo Xiaosi all made their mark in Mengya.

The current chief editor of "Mengya" is called Ha Hua. He has a very good children's novel called "Return to Uncle Kim Il Sung".

Yu Minhong was very envious of the royalties Yu Qie received, second only to his classmates studying in the United States.

"Then you are very rich now. Is your small treasury over a thousand? Yu Qie, how about I write a novel too?"

"Yu Minhong, you are different from them. You must not write novels!"

Yu Minhong looked a little embarrassed: "Why? I also read a lot of novels."

But Yu Qie was very direct, "Old Yu, writing novels is more costly than having friends!"

Indeed, in his previous life, Yu Qie had never heard any news about Yu Minhong writing novels.

Instead, it was his former idol Wang Qiang and a man named "Xu Xiaoping" whom they both knew who had some talent in writing novels.

Yu Minhong was shocked and turned around to hand Yu Qie the registration list for the "New Realism" club. "Then I'll go check out the others."

Yu Qie started looking at the list of applicants for this issue. After being promoted in the school newspaper, the club became famous and people signed up every day.

However, there are not many people who can write novels. They are all literature enthusiasts, so we cannot expect them to produce any works.

When only one flower blooms it is not spring; when all flowers bloom it is spring.

Unfortunately, most of the most outstanding writers from the Chinese Department of Class of 77 in the history of Yenching University became editors of various magazines. Some went to study in the United States and wrote diaries about their stay there. Together with other American writers such as Yan Geling, they created something called "American Literature."

Suddenly, Yu Qie saw a familiar name, Liu Zhenyun.

Wait, why is Luo Yihe here?
Isn't Luo Yihe the vice president of the literature club? What does it mean that he came here to sign up? Is he here to endure hardships?
(End of this chapter)