Writer 1978: I Need to Give the Literary World a Lesson

Chapter 234 Three Outstanding Figures of Henan Province
When Wang Yan, the director of "Mr. Donkey," approached Liu Yimin, he realized that he had another script in the making.

Wang Yan's face was roughened by the elements, showing that he had suffered a lot.

"Director Wang, is it really finished filming?" Liu Yimin asked.

"Once filming is finished and it's edited, I'll invite you to the Beijing Film Studio to see a sample. I'm sure you'll love it!" Wang Yan said excitedly.

Liu Yimin asked them how they filmed in Inner Mongolia. When the crew started filming, the weather began to turn cold. The scenery didn't match the cold weather at all!
"We filmed the outdoor scenes first, and then filmed the indoor scenes. It was a bit cold, but the comrades were able to overcome it."

Wang Yan's few simple words made Liu Yimin realize the hardship of filming.

"Guess how much we ended up spending?"

"How many?"

"It only cost 100,000 yuan. The factory set aside a portion of the saved funds as a reward for the actors and other members of the crew. Each person received nearly 100 yuan, and everyone had a good New Year thanks to these bonuses!"

Wang Yan saved the Beijing Film Studio a lot of money. When Wang Yang saw how well it was done, he started to have ideas.

An old, immature idea resurfaced: contract out the film production to a film crew, and use a portion of the saved budget as bonuses to motivate everyone.

Wang Yan, the notorious director known for his frugality, is likely to infuriate many directors with his cost-saving approach, making them seem like they're spending money far too extravagantly.

"Old Wang, saving money is the right thing to do, after all, the funding from the government and the factory is insufficient, but quality must be guaranteed first!"

Wang Yan patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, if the quality isn't up to standard, I'll never see you again!"

"Now that you mention it, I'm really curious. When you've finished cutting it, please invite me to come and see it first."

"Of course, you're a screenwriter! Yimin, your two novels from February were quite good. I definitely want to see them when the Beijing People's Art Theatre puts them on stage. I think they would also be great as a movie adaptation. I've already suggested it to Comrade Wang Yang."

However, I recently have another filming assignment and will be heading to Sichuan Province soon. I don't know when the studio will make a formal decision, but I'll be keeping an eye on the progress.

Wang Yan was happy to have another filming assignment. As a director, he enjoyed the feeling of being busy.

"What to shoot?"

“Xu Mao and His Daughters,” Wang Yan said.

Upon hearing the movie's name, Liu Yimin smiled and said, "Oh, this is it? You guys are really fiercely competing with the August First Film Studio. Are you planning to strike first?"

"You know about this too?" Wang Yan said in surprise.

Liu Yimin gestured with his hand and said, "Yanjing is both big and small. Even without inquiring, you can still hear rumors about this matter!"

"We didn't initially expect that the August First Film Studio was going to make a film about it. Comrade Wang Yang liked it so much that he asked me to adapt it. Later we found out that the August First Film Studio was also preparing to make one, and the author of the novel was working there. You can imagine how complicated it was, but the die was cast, and Director Wang couldn't back down."

After a few heated arguments at the Film Bureau, Director Wang approached me and said, "Let's skip the arguments and just start filming!"

Wang Yan said with a helpless expression, then looked at Liu Yimin and asked him what he thought about the matter.
Liu Yimin picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said, "I'm a writer, and you're asking me what I think? Old Wang, if you were the author, what would you think?"

"This was an accident, wasn't it? We didn't know beforehand!"

"The author has no right to know about screenplay adaptations? I think that's disrespectful to the author's work. At the very least, the author should be informed. This is just my opinion!" Liu Yimin said with a smile.

"However, on the other hand, all film studios are doing it this way right now, so it can't be entirely blamed on you."

Wang Yan didn't speak, but looked up at the ginkgo tree and thought carefully. After a while, he said, "Yimin, what you said makes sense. It's a pity that's the situation in China right now."

"Old Wang, I still wish you a successful trip to Sichuan Province."

Wang Yan was not angry because of Liu Yimin's words. The two even discussed the idea of ​​script adaptation rights, and Liu Yimin successfully introduced some of his own copyright concepts to him.

The legal requirement that adaptations of works must obtain the original author's consent was only implemented in 1991.

Now, as long as the major film studios are willing, who cares whether the author is willing or not? Once the adaptation is finished, they'll just give you a remittance slip, take it or leave it!
If a film studio hires the original author to adapt the script, that's a different story.

In March, after intense discussions within the Writers Association, the winners of the Mao Dun Literature Prize were finally announced.

The reason for such a heated discussion, besides the difficulty in selecting works, was that when the judges came to the final review, they were surprised to find that the authors of the shortlisted novels were all from Henan Province.

Initially, there were three winning works: "The Kite Runner", "The East", and "Li Zicheng Volume II".

"The Kite Runner" was written by Liu Yimin, who is from Henan Province. The novel "The East" was written by Wei Wei, who is also from Henan Province.

Yao Xueyin, the author of "Li Zicheng, Volume Two," is from Henan Province. Although he currently holds a leadership position in the Hubei Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles, his ancestral home is Henan Province!

Everyone was stunned when they saw it. One judge asked, "Does this selection imply that the literary world is limited to Henan province?"
Just like when Zhu Yuanzhang opened the imperial examination, good heavens, all the candidates selected were from the south. Does that mean that only half of the sky is in the Ming Dynasty?

So, the group had no choice but to start selecting again. In the end, five novels were chosen, with the addition of "Xu Mao and His Daughters" by Zhou Keqin, a writer from Sichuan Province, and "The General's Song" by Mo Yingfeng, a writer from Hunan Province.

There are five articles in total, three of which are by writers from Henan Province.

The judges reported the results to the Writers' Association, which was very satisfied. Zhang Guangnian took the results to the hospital to tell Mr. Mao Dun the good news.

The winners were announced in the newspapers, and the literary world engaged in heated discussions about the five novels.

Writers who did not win the novel prize looked at the list and sighed with regret.

Upon seeing the list, Xu Chi from the Hubei Provincial Writers Association happily walked towards the nearby office, knocked on the door, and congratulated them, saying, "Old Yao, congratulations! Volume 2 of 'Li Zicheng' has won an award. This is currently the most prestigious literary award in our country."

Yao Xueyin smiled broadly yet humbly, saying, "Thank you to the judges for their recognition. Your old friend Liu Yimin's 'The Kite Runner' was also selected, making him the youngest writer among this year's winners. Truly, the younger generation is formidable!"

“I read Yi Min’s ‘The Kite Runner’ when he was writing it, and Comrade Yan Bing also praised it highly. I’m not surprised that he was selected.” Xu Chi had just finished speaking when a flurry of footsteps sounded at the office door. They were colleagues who came to congratulate him.

In Yanjing, Zhu Lin was the first to run up to Liu Yimin with a newspaper in hand, congratulating him on winning the first Mao Dun Literature Prize.

"Teacher Liu, are you happy?" Zhu Lin asked with a smile.

Liu Yimin said happily, "Of course I'm happy, this is a joyous occasion!" The phone in the courtyard kept ringing and even became busy. The switchboard operator was puzzled, as there were never this many calls usually.

The switchboard operators could eavesdrop on the conversation, so they exchanged a glance and secretly listened in.

After a while, the operator said to the rest of the switchboard staff, "Guess what they all do?"

"For what?"

"The people who called all mentioned five words: the Mao Dun Literature Prize!"

"The Mao Dun Literature Prize?"

The operator chuckled and whispered, "Don't spread rumors. Comrade Liu Yimin lives in this courtyard. People call to congratulate him on winning the Mao Dun Literature Prize."

Liu Yimin was constantly on the phone, making one call after another, leaving Zhu Lin, who was sitting next to him, with a lot to say stuck in her throat.

Catching his breath, Zhu Lin seized the opportunity to ask, "Who are they?"

Liu Yimin grinned and answered the phone again. He couldn't remember who called, but he definitely remembered who didn't!
If someone couldn't get through on the phone, they simply gave up and went directly to Liu Yimin's courtyard house to congratulate him in person.

Zhu Lin helped Liu Yimin entertain the guests, including Cui Daoyi, Huang Chunyu, Li Shu, and Zou Huofan.

"Yimin, is there anything you'd like to say?" Cui Daoyi asked with a smile.

Liu Yimin smiled wearily, "Senior brother, I'm tired of saying thank you since this morning!"

"That's great news! You're the youngest writer among this year's award winners, and everyone has high expectations for you! Many people are starting to call you one of the 'Three Outstanding Writers of Henan Province,' the other two being Yao Xueyin and Wei Wei!"

"That's too kind of you!"

After Zou Huofan finished speaking, Ge Luo immediately chimed in, "In front of the national literary scene, you three comrades have truly brought honor to the people of Henan Province. Who says that writers from Henan Province are not good enough? After seeing this list of award winners, everyone will be saying 'Well done!' to the literary world of Henan Province!"

Others joked, "Great!"

Liu Yimin pulled the others along, saying, "Come on, come on, I'll treat you to Peking duck!"

As we led everyone outside, we ran into Zhou Yanru and Zhang Dening, who were there to offer their congratulations, so we included them in the group.

A group of people were chatting animatedly in the restaurant, creating a lively atmosphere. Even the editors who usually bickered were surprisingly quiet; this was probably their most harmonious scene yet.

The only one heartbroken was probably Li Shu, who didn't get the publishing rights to "The Kite Runner." While discussing it enthusiastically, he silently tried to mend his inner wounds.
The meal cost Liu Yimin forty or fifty yuan, and he ate with his mouth greasy.

After seeing them off, Liu Yimin bought some things and prepared to go to Cao Yu's house with Zhu Lin. As for the Beijing People's Art Theatre, he decided not to go.

Cao Yu wasn't home in the afternoon, but Li Yuru was. However, Cao Yu received a phone call and returned home from the Beijing People's Art Theatre.

Cao Yu looked at Liu Yimin and teased, "Was it lively today?"

"This is probably the most exciting day I've ever had, even more exciting than when I got into Peking University!" Liu Yimin said helplessly.

"Since morning, the phone in Yimin's courtyard has been ringing non-stop. Then several magazine editors went over to congratulate him. For the first time, I felt that the courtyard of the siheyuan was a bit small," Zhu Lin chimed in from the side.

"Haha, that's normal. Right now, among the writers in Yanjing, only Yimin has won the literary prize, so of course everyone's flocking to Yimin!" Cao Yu said.

Li Yuru held the newspaper, flipping through it again and again. Many people called Cao Yu to congratulate him on being a teacher.

Cao Yu answered seriously on the phone, saying that it was Liu Yimin's own achievement and had little to do with him.

The other writers who won the Mao Dun Literature Prize received similar treatment to Liu Yimin.

Later, due to the overwhelming number of phone calls, Cao Yu had Li Yuru answer them on his behalf, and he and Liu Yimin went to the hospital to visit Mao Dun.

The hospital was a quiet place at the moment, and Liu Yimin, Cao Yu, and Mao Dun were telling each other about the interesting things that had happened.

Mao Dun said with satisfaction, "I am very content with such influence."

"Old Shen, you must recover well so you can attend the awards ceremony!" Cao Yu said.

Mao Dun smiled weakly and readily agreed.

The Writers Association scheduled the first Mao Dun Literature Prize award ceremony for March 20th and notified all the winning writers by telegram, asking them to arrange their time accordingly to attend the ceremony in Beijing.

After staying in the hospital for about half an hour, Cao Yu and Liu Yimin left so that Mao Dun could get some rest.

Liu Yimin didn't return to the courtyard house, but instead went back to Yenching University. He wanted to find a quiet place, but unfortunately, the university wasn't quiet either.

The campus of Yenching University is bustling with activity. The list of winners is posted on the bulletin board in the Triangle Area, attracting a large number of students, some of whom are shouting their opinions in the crowd.

Liu Yimin turned his bicycle around, took a detour, and returned to his dormitory.

Besides Liu Zhenyun and others, there were quite a few other people sitting in the dormitory, mostly students from the literary society.

As Liu Zhenyun and his friends were boasting to everyone, Liu Zhenyun was the first to shout when he saw Liu Yimin return: "Yimin is back! Yimin is back!"

Looking at the dormitory full of people, Liu Yimin turned around to leave, but someone pulled him back.

"Students, the novella prize, the short story prize, and the novel prize are all the same. There's no need for you to be so enthusiastic!"

Chen Jiangong pulled Liu Yimin aside and said, "That's different. Short stories are published once a year, while novels are published once every few years. The weight they carry in everyone's mind is different."

Chen Jiangong's short story "Phoenix Eyes," published in Yanjing Literature and Art last year, also won the short story prize in this year's Lu Xun Literature Prize.

Later, it was a notification from a Chinese literature professor that relieved Liu Yimin's predicament. Yan Jiayan had someone call Liu Yimin to the department office and praised him extensively.

"Yimin, you've really made our Chinese Literature Department proud. I thought it was already quite an achievement for the department to produce one short story award this year; the real heavyweights were yet to come! I expected you to be one of them, and I was right!"

(End of this chapter)