1979: The child's mother is a celestial being.

Chapter 134 An Unexpected Big Surprise (Revised) (Please Subscribe!)

"Hello everyone, I am Chen Fusheng."

"I am very happy to join the warm family of the Writers' Association and walk side by side with the seniors I have always admired and like-minded writers..."

"Being able to join the Writers Association is not the end for me, but a new beginning."

"I will always maintain a sense of awe and sincerity towards literature. On the one hand, I will learn more from my predecessors, and on the other hand, I will calm down and strive to write more works that touch people's hearts."

"thank you all."

Today, Monday, the Writers Association held its fifth meeting of the third council. The first item on the agenda was to welcome the new members who joined this year.

Chen Fusheng just happened to be one of them.

Besides him, this year's new members include Jiang Zilong, author of "The Appointment of Factory Director Qiao"; Wuretu, an Evenki writer who just won the first National Minority Literature Award for Outstanding Novel with "Look, That Leaf"; and Jingzhe, a Korean poet...

Chen Fusheng was the last person to join the association, so he was also the last to speak.

Moreover, his speech was prepared in advance, which made it seem rather formal.

Of course, the others were much the same.

On the contrary, in such situations, if you improvise well, it won't add much to your score, but if you stumble and stammer, it will make you seem like you don't take it seriously.

Hua Hua Hua~
After Chen Fusheng finished speaking and sat down, he still received a round of applause.

Today's parliamentary session has three main agenda items.

The first one just finished.

The second topic is the selection of the next leadership team of the Writers Association.

For example, Mr. Ba Jin, although he had taken over the leading work of the Writers' Association since April, was still only the acting chairman in terms of his official position.

Then, at today's fifth meeting of the third council, he was naturally elected as the next chairman of the Writers' Association.

Historically, he served as president for six consecutive terms.

Even after the election of the fourth leadership team was completed, this issue was not yet resolved.

There is also a stage for nominating vice chairpersons.

Of course, the nominee is an honorary vice chairman, who has no real power.

Therefore, multiple nominations can be made each year, with no limit on the number of nominees.

As for the nomination list, it will naturally be announced by Mr. Ba Jin, the newly elected fourth chairman.

"Next, I nominate the following names as honorary vice chairmen of the fourth session of the China Writers Association: Ding Ling, Ma Feng, Wang Meng, Feng Zhi, Ai Qing... Zhang Guangnian, Chen Huangmei, Tie Yipujiang, and Chen Fusheng!"

"...Let's congratulate them with applause."

Hearing everyone clapping, Chen Fusheng also clapped his hands.

But at this moment, he was a little dazed.

Because, it seemed like he heard his own name.

But I couldn't believe it, thinking I was hallucinating.

It wasn't until Jiang Zilong, a new member sitting next to him, reminded him that he realized he had actually been nominated by Mr. Ba Jin as an honorary vice chairman.

"Congratulations, Comrade Fusheng."

"……Thanks."

Seeing that the honorary vice chairman seemed to be going up on stage to receive something, Chen Fusheng also stood up.

At the same time, his gaze fell upon Mr. Ba Jin, who was sitting on the platform. He noticed that Mr. Ba Jin was also looking at him, and when he noticed his gaze, Mr. Ba Jin smiled at him.

Chen Fusheng responded with a wry smile.

Because he never expected that he, a newly joined member, would be directly nominated as honorary vice chairman.

And they didn't tell him beforehand, not even a hint.

It was a huge surprise to him!

Chen Fusheng was well aware that there would certainly be people in the room who disagreed with his nomination for honorary vice chairman.

However, he didn't care too much.

He wouldn't feel frustrated or anything if he hadn't been nominated today.

But since this honor has been bestowed upon him, given Chen Fusheng's character, he wouldn't feel unworthy of it, much less refuse it to appease anyone's feelings.

His attitude was—since you're giving it to me, I'll take it.

Chen Fusheng said that he could still bear the weight of being the honorary vice chairman of the Writers' Association.

Of course, the surprise was real.

So when he went on stage and shook Mr. Ba Jin's hand, he was still very excited.

"Sir, you've caught me completely off guard."

"Haha, young people should have this much mental fortitude. Moreover, the influence of your four works, Comrade Fusheng, and your status in the film industry are enough to make you worthy of the title of honorary vice chairman. Of course, your age is still a disadvantage, so some comrades think that you need to train for another two years. However, most comrades, including myself, still think that you should be nominated as the next honorary vice chairman. We hope that you can continue to work hard and create more excellent works like 'Hachiko: A Dog'. We also hope that you will continue to contribute to the country's foreign exchange earnings through film."

After Mr. Ba Jin finished speaking, he personally handed the certificate of honorary vice chairman to Chen Fusheng.

"Thank you for your teachings and instructions, sir. I will continue to work hard and strive to live up to your and all the revolutionary predecessors' high expectations."

Chen Fusheng accepted the certificate with both hands and said solemnly.

"Well done! If our country wants to develop and grow stronger, it needs ambitious and capable young people like Comrade Fusheng."

At this point, Mr. Ba Jin also became somewhat sentimental, patting Chen Fusheng on the shoulder and saying:
"Keep it up! Our generation is getting old, the future is in your hands!"

“…Hmm!” Chen Fusheng wanted to say something, but when he opened his mouth, he didn’t know what to say. In the end, he just looked into the other person’s eyes and nodded solemnly.

No speeches were required during this process; they took a group photo and then went back to their seats.

As soon as Chen Fusheng sat down, the meeting moved on to the third and final agenda item.

The outcome of this discussion officially confirmed the Mao Dun Literature Prize!

The reason this award is called the Mao Dun Literature Prize is because it is related to Mr. Mao Dun.

On March 14th of this year, Mr. Mao Dun dictated his will on his sickbed, donating his royalties of 3 yuan to the Writers Association as a fund to establish a literary prize for long novels, in order to reward the best long novels each year.

Although the awards have been confirmed this year, the judging process will not begin until next year.

The next step for the Writers' Association is to send letters to all organizations across the country, asking them to recommend outstanding full-length novels for the competition.

As for how many words constitute a novel, a standard was also given at today's Writers Association meeting.

That means anything over 100,000 words is defined as a novel.

However, this standard only applies to traditional novels. If it's online novels from later generations, can you even call it a long novel if it doesn't have more than a million words?
The meeting lasted all morning, and at noon everyone ate lunch in the Writers' Association's canteen. It was then that Chen Fusheng formally met some of the writers of this era. These included Bing Xin, who frequently appeared in Chinese textbooks; Cao Yu, the author of the film adaptation of Ling Zi's play of the same name; Wang Meng, the current editor-in-chief of *Yanjing Literature*; Liu Xinwu, the author of *The Class Teacher*; Jiang Zilong, a fellow new member; and Zhang Xianliang, the author of *Spirit and Flesh*…

"Comrade Fusheng, your novel 'Hachiko' is so moving, but I noticed that your time span seems to be from 1981 to 1991, right?" After getting to know each other, Wang Meng took the initiative to bring up his wildly popular novel.

"Yes."

"Then why don't you use the historical context of what actually happened as the background of your novel? Wouldn't that make your story seem more realistic?" Wang Meng pressed on.

This was also a point of curiosity for the others at the table, so they all stopped eating, looked up at Chen Fusheng, and waited for his explanation.

Chen Fusheng thought for a moment before replying, "Because my story isn't true either!"

"..."

Everyone was clearly surprised by Chen Fusheng's answer and was momentarily at a loss for words.

But after a couple of awkward seconds, everyone broke the silence with laughter.

"Haha, Comrade Fusheng has novel ideas. No wonder he can always write works that are refreshing."

"No, no, I was just telling the truth."

"Sigh, it's true, but a normal person's thought process would be to explain the intention behind this setting. But you're different. Your thinking isn't confined to the answer to the question; it's more like you're answering from a holistic perspective..."

Chen Fusheng waved his hand and teased in a half-joking tone, "Well, I guess I get it now, Zilong, you're subtly implying that I'm not a normal person, aren't you?"

Jiang Zilong was slightly taken aback, but quickly recovered and said, "See? I told you his thinking was novel..."

Their conversation drew laughter from those around them.

The atmosphere in the cafeteria suddenly became particularly cheerful.

In the afternoon, the Writers Association did not hold any more large meetings, but various smaller meetings continued.

As the honorary vice chairman, Chen Fusheng was invited to almost every small meeting.

So he was very busy all afternoon.

Fortunately, being busy is also rewarding.

He actually managed to poach a screenwriter from the Writers' Association.

The other party's pen name is Li Zhun.

His original name was Li Tiesheng.

Chen Fusheng didn't know this person at first, but after talking with him, he learned that he had served as the screenwriter for "The Veteran's New Story", "The Great River Flows", and "The Herdsman".

Yes, that's right, "The Herdsman" is already being filmed.

Moreover, the author of the original novel for this film, Zhang Xianliang, was also present.

The Herdsman is an adaptation of his novel, Soul and Flesh.

Upon learning that Li Zhun was now working at the Writers' Association, Chen Fusheng finally stopped keeping him in suspense and extended an olive branch directly.

"Comrade Li Zhun, would you be interested in contributing your modest efforts to the country's foreign exchange earnings?"

When Chen Fusheng invited others, he certainly paid attention to the art of language.

For example, if he said, "Would you be interested in becoming my underling?", even if someone was interested, they would still feel somewhat uncomfortable.

However, Chen Fusheng's sudden recruitment still surprised Li Zhun.

"Comrade Fusheng, what do you mean by that?"

“It means what you understand,” Chen Fusheng said.

Li Zhun hadn't realized what was happening until now, and he finally understood that the young man in front of him, who had just joined the Writers' Association and was nominated as honorary vice chairman, was trying to recruit him.

This made him both flattered and somewhat incredulous.

After thinking for a while, he still asked, "Director Chen, although I would like to contribute my humble efforts to the country's foreign exchange earnings mission with you, there are many writers and screenwriters in the Writers' Association who are more talented than me. I wonder why Director Chen invited me?"

"Comrade Li Zhun is being too modest. Although I am not familiar with 'The Veteran's New Story,' I have read your adaptation of 'The Great River Flows.' In addition, as you just mentioned, you also adapted Xie Jing's 'The Herdsman,' which is currently being filmed. This is enough to show that you are an excellent screenwriter."

At this point, Chen Fusheng glanced at the other person and continued, "To be honest, our 'group' has recently expanded, but making movies can't be just about directors; screenwriters are equally important. So this expansion will add a screenwriting department, and we sincerely invite outstanding screenwriters like Comrade Li Zhun to join us and contribute to the country's film foreign exchange earnings, while also helping Chinese films go global."

Li Zhun is over fifty years old this year, but Chen Fusheng's words about generating foreign exchange for the country and helping Chinese films go global made him very excited.

So, he should have given this major decision, such as the transfer, careful consideration, but impulsively agreed.

"Alright, since Director Chen still needs my old bones, then I won't hesitate. I hope we can fight side by side in the future!"

"Welcome, welcome. But Comrade Li Zhun, how are you old? You look like you're just middle-aged, in your prime, not old at all."

Seeing that Li Zhun had been persuaded, Chen Fusheng stood up and took the initiative to shake his hand, solemnly expressing his welcome.

As for whether the Writers' Association will agree to release him?
Of course we'll release it!

After all, Chen Fusheng's new title of honorary vice chairman was not only due to the influence of his works, but also because of his current status.

Therefore, the Writers Association actually hoped that Chen Fusheng would send more people over.

This is the only way to expand the influence of the Writers' Association.

……

Just as Chen Fusheng joined the Writers Association and unexpectedly became its honorary vice chairman, Wu Tianming's "The River Without Beacon" had already been shown in Hong Kong for three days, but its box office performance could only be described as dismal.

In three days, the amount earned was less than HK$300,000; to be precise, it was HK$258,000.

Previously, "Andhadhun," also from mainland China, had already grossed over 20 million at the box office, becoming the first film in Hong Kong film history to surpass 20 million at the box office.

It gave a much-needed boost to the 'dying' left-wing film industry.

Against this backdrop, Wu Tianming also came to Hong Kong to promote his book, "The River Without Navigation Marks".

The right wing is naturally very nervous; before the movie has even been released, all sorts of smear campaigns have already been launched against it.

In addition, "The River Without Beacon" was not really to the taste of Hong Kong people. Thus, this film, which made the right wing nervous before its release, plunged into the water in a spectacular fashion.

A few drops of water splashed up.

This result not only caught the right wing off guard, but also surprised the left wing. Of course, Wu Tianming was the one who was most affected.

He put down a Hong Kong newspaper that had mocked him that morning and sighed heavily.

This trip to Hong Kong was a more severe blow to him than his previous trip to Venice.

This made him start to doubt himself.

This meant that his original plan to stay in Hong Kong for a week was reduced to just four days before he returned home.

(End of this chapter)