Exciting 1979!

Chapter 34 Reform Literature and Ducks

"I'm planning to write a story about the Magic City this time. I might need help from a local like you, Professor Qu, for some of the city slang."

"Oh, what type?"

Wei Ming thought for a moment and said, "It can be considered as reform literature."

Reform literature is a new concept. Compared with educated youth literature, scar literature, and reflective literature, reform literature is younger, with Jiang Zilon's short story two months ago as its pioneering work.

Of course, it is also the only representative work of this school at present, but the turmoil it has stirred up is no less than that of the other schools. "Director Qiao" has now almost become a synonym for reformer.

Although from Wei Ming's perspective, "The Record of Director Qiao's Taking Office" has the limitations of the times, the influence of this novel will continue to exist in the next few years, and it will be adapted into movies and TV series in the future.

Moreover, Jiang Zilong later served as chairman of the Tianjin Writers Association and vice chairman of the Tianjin Federation of Literary and Art Circles. It can be said that the glory of his second half of life was based on this short story.

During this period, the "Records of Director Qiao's Taking Office" was at its peak, and Professor Qu had naturally heard of it and read it. She was worried that Wei Ming was just chasing after the hot topic, so she advised him, "You have never worked in a factory, so why are you writing reform literature?"

The model of "The Record of Director Qiao's Taking Office" has been deeply rooted in people's hearts and has had a profound influence on the later works of writers such as Li Guowen, Gao Xiaosheng, and Ke Yunlu. "Taking office" and "factory" have almost become distinctive labels of reform literature.

Moreover, the current reform is mainly aimed at state-owned factories, so it is not surprising that Professor Qu thinks this way.

Wei Ming laughed and said, "Who says that reform literature must be about factory stories? I wrote about the story of a duck."

"Duck?"

"Yes, ducks know when the river water warms in spring. In the wave of reform, those sensitive little people are also worthy of attention. I plan to start from this aspect."

Wei Ming's previous works, "The Story of Two Donkeys" and "Two Oxen", did not follow the existing creative style and rules. When writing reform literature, he naturally did not think of following the template of "Director Qiao".

After hearing what Wei Ming said, Professor Qu nodded with a smile: "Then I am looking forward to it."

"Don't worry, I'll let you read it first after I finish writing it. There will definitely be many inconsiderate parts that need to be corrected by you, a local."

Soon, Sister Chen Rong also knew about this.

"What, you're going to start a new novel while revising the manuscript?!"

Wei Ming spread his hands and said, "I have almost finished the revision. In order to wait for Professor Qu to return to Beijing, I can only find something to delay the progress. Besides, this is already the second article."

What kind of talk is this? Is this reasonable?
Sister Chen Rong quickly finished her meal and went into the room to revise the manuscript. She also hoped that the three of them could go back together. This feeling was probably what "roll" was all about.

Before she left, she left a message: "Let me take a look before you submit it."

She had read Wei Ming's "The Story of Two Donkeys" before and felt that she benefited a lot from it. She and Wei Ming are both young writers, but Wei Ming's novel writing techniques are sophisticated and innovative, and it feels like he has been practicing writing since the womb.

Two and a half days later, Wei Ming finally completed the 15,000-word short story, titled "The Duck Knows the River Water Is Warm in Spring", and immediately asked Professor Qu to review and revise it.

"Do you have another novel called "Er Niu"? "Yes."

Professor Qu laughed: "Donkey, cow, duck, what are you going to write about next time, horse or mule."

I can write stories about mules and horses. In his previous life, he worked as a mule and horse for 40 years before becoming a boss.

"I've made note of these two topics. Let's talk about the duck first." Wei Ming urged, and Professor Qu started reading immediately.

Wei Ming used the story template of Xu Zheng's "The Duck Prophet", starting with the composition "My Dad" by the elementary school student "Xiao Wang", and introduced the main line with the story of father and son.

In Xiao Wang's composition, he showed Lao Wang's various ridiculous money-saving operations. These detailed descriptions were very Shanghai men. The part about making phone calls and hanging up at the right time was so realistic that Professor Qu said it was very consistent with her having really met such a person.

This father's vision of the future is also very magical. There will be no need for telephone lines to make phone calls, trains can run without wheels, there will be many bridges on the Huangpu River, many high-rise buildings will be built in Pudong, drinking coffee will be as casual as drinking water, and so on.

Because of this, he got the nickname "Duck Prophet". He often said "A duck knows first when the river water warms in spring", and he himself was also the first duck to feel the temperature in the tide of reform and opening up.

Xiao Wang's composition also revealed that because of his outstanding performance, Lao Wang was promoted to the head of the sales department of the Second Traditional Chinese Medicine Factory, which brought up the problem of the backlog of medicinal liquor. Then it was time for Lao Wang to show his wisdom.

In order to sell medicinal liquor, he and his son performed an embarrassing double act on the bus, which made Professor Qu laugh. He thought of many ways, but all ended in failure, until he accidentally heard the word "advertising".

In China, advertising has been extinct for many years. In the past, people believed that advertising was a product of capitalism and that it used false information to deceive consumers. Although there are indeed many such advertisements, advertising also plays an indispensable role in commercial activities.

Last year, Tianjin Daily took the lead in establishing an advertising department and released the first commercial advertisement in New China at the beginning of the year. It introduced Tianjin toothpaste brands including the "sweet and delicious" Blue Sky brand in the newspaper. From then on, paper media advertising began to rise.

In other words, the concept of advertising only came into being in China in 79, but Section Chief Wang in the novel thought more far-reachingly. He wanted to make television commercials, which did not exist at the time!
Next, Wei Ming talked in detail about the birth process of China's first TV commercial. Except for the fictional male protagonist, the rest were basically real people in reality. Wei Ming brought a notebook with him when he was collecting folk songs and wrote down several pages of stories.

What surprised Professor Qu was that this novel was accompanied by both text and pictures.

"Can you still draw?"

"I understand a little bit, I understand a little bit."

The third-level artist is no joke. Wei Ming saw the lost master tape of the Shengui Yangrong Wine advertisement on TV, and drew a four-frame cartoon based on his memory while writing the novel. He will send it out when the time comes, and maybe it will be adopted.

Professor Qu continued watching. Although the advertisement was filmed, whether it could be broadcast became a problem. After all, there were no relevant regulations before.

In the novel, Wei Ming added the character of Director Zou, who in reality was a TV station director named "Zou Fanyang" who withstood the pressure and allowed the advertisement to be broadcast smoothly. This is also the missing part in the movie "Duck Prophet".

In the end, everyone was naturally happy. The accumulated medicinal liquor was bought up by the citizens of Shanghai, and the crisis of the pharmaceutical factory was resolved.

At the end of the article, the male protagonist, Section Chief Wang, was strolling along the Huangpu River and saw a group of ducks.

While the other ducks were still hesitating, one of them bravely jumped into the Huangpu River and was the first to enjoy the clear water and delicious fish and shrimp.

He thought of himself, and then rose to the overall perspective of reform and opening up. The phrase "brave people are the first to enjoy the world" is the best commentary on those trendsetters in the era of reform and opening up.
(End of this chapter)