Literary Master 1983

Chapter 6 War, War

"Hello, comrade! How do I get to No. xx, Renmin West Road, Qingyang District?"

After Yu Qie arrived in Chengdu, the first thing he did was not to report, but to borrow books from the Sichuan Provincial Library.

The Sichuan Provincial Library is a well-known library founded in 1912. After several expansions and developments in the s, it has become the largest public library in the entire southwest.

As far as Yu Qi knew, borrowing books was free.

The organizers of literary discussions generally provide relevant books and materials for reading, but they are mainly in depth. In terms of the comprehensiveness and breadth of books, large libraries are far beyond the reach of the organizers of a seminar.

What Yu Qie didn't expect was that although borrowing books was free, one needed a library card first.

How much does it cost to apply for a library card? Three dollars!
Nearly ten pounds of eggs.

What's more troublesome is that you need to pay a deposit to borrow books. The deposit is divided into different levels according to the value of the books. Even if the above conditions can be met with Yu Qie who has only a hundred yuan, he still faces a problem:
He has no job and his origin is unknown, so he cannot be lent money.

The Sichuan Provincial Library is very outstanding in its collection of some local ancient chronicles and ancient books. However, these things are not something that anyone can take out. They need to be guaranteed by relevant units. What unit can guarantee Yu Qie now?
The only remaining one is the seminar organized by the Sichuan Writers Association.

Yu Qie went straight to Hongxing Road Section 2, which was the host address of the seminar. Only after obtaining the certificate of invited writers for the seminar could he exercise procedural justice and borrow the books he wanted.

Toothbrush, toothpaste, towel, quilt, teacup, wash basin... and a conference certificate hanging on his chest. After reporting, Yu Qie received these things and stayed in the guesthouse, which was a double room.

There was already someone in the room. He had two moles between his eyebrows and eyelids, but they didn't look ugly. Instead, he had kind eyes. He was very thin and had a warm smile.

"My name is Alai, and I'm a poet." He extended his hand to Yu Qie.

The two exchanged their hometowns and introduced themselves to each other. Alai was from AB Prefecture, a Tibetan, four years older than Yuqie, graduated from a secondary normal school, and currently worked as a middle school teacher.

Alai's creative direction is poetry with national and regional characteristics, but Alai already wants to write novels.

It’s good to write novels, Yu Qie is a novelist.

I have an impression of Alai. What really made him famous was his novels. He was a late bloomer, born in the 50s. His creative peak came in the late s and the new century. He won the fifth Mao Dun Literature Prize for "Dust Settles" and was on the list of richest writers (online writers dominated the list at that time). Later, he became the chairman of the Sichuan Writers Association and a member of the National Writers Association... He was one of the leading figures in Sichuan literature.

The most interesting thing about this guy is probably that he served as the editor and chief editor of Chengdu's "Science Fiction World" from 96 to 98. As a result, he had a good relationship with Liu Cixin, who writes science fiction. He was often present at seminars on the Galaxy Award (the highest award for Chinese science fiction) and some novel film and television adaptations.

After hearing about Yu Qie's experience, Alai told him that he could try to go to the library with the "conference pass" on his chest and maybe he could borrow a book, because some writers had held seminars at the Sichuan Provincial Library in previous years.

People recognize this "conference pass".

The seminar lasts for two weeks. After the seminar, a "certificate of attendance" or "conference slip" will be issued. This is a symbolic souvenir or certificate proving that someone has attended the event.

This certificate is also regarded as an honor among writers, demonstrating their participation. In particular, if a seminar produces a famous writer or a great article, it can also be a qualification.

Alai said, "I hope that in a dozen years, we can have a great writer here."

Yu Qie said, "I'll borrow your good words."

From Alai, Yu Qie learned that the theme of this seminar was "war", which did not necessarily refer specifically to the border conflicts between South China and its neighboring countries. However, the organizers hoped to produce articles on the theme of war.

Before that, as an author, I must first understand the classic literature on war. Of course, I must also read materials and non-fiction literature about border conflicts. I must first determine the direction of my own creation, is it poetry, reportage, non-fiction, novel writing, or YY cool writing?

China's special superhero vs. Vietnam's talking tree?
Last drop of blood?

He hasn't formed an idea yet. In fact, this is also beneficial to him, because outstanding works can be directly published in "Red Rock" and other related magazines, and talented authors can quickly gain fame on such platforms.

The editor of "Red Rock" magazine was not satisfied with the ending of his "A Moment of Romance", perhaps because he did not understand enough the popular direction and scale of literature in this period. To understand these, nothing is more suitable than war literature.

Without talking to Aledo, Yu Qie went directly to the Sichuan Provincial Library that afternoon. This time he got in successfully. When he learned that he wanted to look up information about the war, the staff gave him the green light and let him choose as he pleased.

Yu Qie stayed here until the museum closed in the evening.

In literature, there is often a tendency to "respect the past and despise the present", that is, the works of the old are better than the new ones.

However, Yu Qie doesn't think so.

When it comes to storytelling, later generations are no worse than their predecessors.

For example, War and Man, which he began writing in the 30s, won the Mao Dun Literature Prize:
"The earth trembled in the artillery fire, and the thick smoke in the sky blocked the sun. Enemy planes circled overhead like demons seeking death... Every explosion was like tearing a wound deep in the soul, and the blood mixed with the soil, dyeing every inch of land around us red."

Another example is White Deer Plain, written in the 1990s, which also won the Mao Dun Literature Prize.

"Bai Jiaxuan witnessed with his own eyes that the young and strong men in the village were taken away to serve in the army. The sound of gunfire and screams from the ravines were endless. The women in the village cried their hearts out while holding their children, but the men had already gone far away and there was no news of their return. The yellow soil and blood on the Bailu Plain mixed together, like a huge wound that could not be healed."

Most of the fragments in his memory came from forums, online articles and posts thirty years later.

For example, a passage from "The Eve of Jiashen - Dark Moon":
"I am a Liao people. When did you, the Ming Dynasty, treat Liao people as human beings? I was born a soldier, and my son was born a soldier too. But the soldiers sold their clothes and armor, and the tax collector said they were not full. I only had one piece of clothing and no shoes, but you asked me to fight with the slaves and bandits, and they trampled me to pieces! Eight taels of silver for one stone of rice, my parents starved to death, and there was no coffin. I went to the battlefield to kill the bandits, but they kept the foreign soldiers in my house, and my wife and daughter were all insulted by them. I was not a human being ten years ago. I am a slave and bandit who specializes in killing the people of your Ming Dynasty!"

This article can barely be considered traditional literature, find another one of a lower level.

Online article "Lingao Qiming":
"In the haystack ahead, there were several corpses lying in all directions. They had probably been dead for a long time. Each corpse exuded a strong stench of decay. White maggots were crawling all over the corpses... The baby would happily grab the fat maggots that emerged from his mother's body from time to time, and then he would hold the still-squirming maggots in his little hands and put them into his little mouth..."

To be honest, it seems that the past is not better than the present, especially considering that the works that represent the "past" are those that won the Mao Dun Literature Prize, and the works that represent the "present" are online literature in the sinking market.

They should not be compared.

This kind of thinking and comparison made Yu Qie realize that instead of looking forward, it is better to look back and refer to the works of those who came later.

Yu Qie should combine current historical materials with the creativity of later generations and his own writing skills, which will be enough to create works that satisfy him.

When leaving the library, Yu Qie made a list of books he needed to read and asked the staff to help him find them. He really couldn't take them all, so he could only leave them here and take the ones he needed most.

These materials cover various periods and places:

The War against Vietnam, the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, and even the Taiping Rebellion and local county annals from earlier times.

When Alai learned of Yu Qie's "grand" goal, he was surprised and felt that writing a novel was really difficult.

"What kind of novel are you going to write to be ahead of us?" he asked.

"It must be something you haven't seen before." Yu Qie said.

　I have a draft saved now, so it will be automatically published at 12: am. If it is not published, it must be stuck in the review and needs to be revised again during the day before it can be published.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)