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

Chapter 273 Zhu Lin visits her in-laws in Henan Province
Liu Yimin talked a lot at Xia Yan's house. Xia Yan directly managed the film, and after chatting, he agreed with Liu Yimin's ideas.

He was well aware of the power of film and television as forms of propaganda.

When seeing Liu Yimin off from the courtyard, I told him that our country's film creation should have more national characteristics and reflect national features.

Braving the cold wind, Liu Yimin returned to the Overseas Chinese Apartment. The next morning, he revised all the points Xia Yan had marked and submitted them to People's Literature and Art.

Cui Daoyi was not as happy to see Liu Yimin as he had imagined. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and kept looking Liu Yimin up and down.

"Button" has been published for quite some time now, and only now have we received a reportage piece of over 10,000 words. Logically, this piece should have been submitted to "Harvest".

After thinking for a moment, Cui Daoyi immediately asked, "Have you already submitted a novel to Harvest magazine?"

"No, senior brother, it's just a medium-length novel!" Liu Yimin said.

Cui Daoyi gritted his teeth. Just as he expected, he gave the novel to Harvest magazine again!
"Yimin, you should at least give me a novella, right? Why did you give it to Harvest again? I'm your senior brother!"

"What a coincidence! Senior Sister Xiaolin said she's also my senior sister!" Liu Yimin said with a grin.

Her confident and assertive voice made the editors next to her laugh.

Xu Yi stood up and said, "Yimin, you really have two mouths, you always think you're right no matter what you say. Look at our editor Cui, how eloquent he is, he doesn't even know what to say now!"

Cui Daoyi sat down helplessly, wondering which was more important, his senior brother or his senior sister!

"Senior, don't underestimate this short piece of writing. The fewer the words, the bigger the story. This is a reportage on the women's volleyball team. Right now, everyone in China is praising the women's volleyball team. Do you have to worry about the sales of this reportage? I don't know if it can compare to 'Göchbad's Conjecture,' but the quality is absolutely guaranteed."

As soon as the words "Women's Volleyball Reportage" were uttered, several editors immediately surrounded them.

"See? I told you so! Look, even the editors are curious!" Liu Yimin said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Cui Daoyi realized it made perfect sense and began to seriously read the contents.

The other editors asked Liu Yimin enviously, "Yimin, did you eat and live with the women's volleyball team?"

"To be precise, I ate and lived with Coach Yuan!"

"Tell us, what are the girls on the women's volleyball team like?" Xu Yi asked hurriedly.

Liu Yimin glanced at Xu Yi and said with a smile, "Editor Xu, the amount of warm-up exercise the women's volleyball team does in a day is probably more than the amount of exercise our entire floor does."

That discus was huge, weighing dozens of kilograms. You'd think it was for arm strength training, and I thought so too. But then the women's volleyball team came, and guess what?

"What's wrong?"

"Lie down on the bench with the middle suspended in the air, and press the discus against your lower abdomen to train your core strength. Also, weightlifting and weighted exercises."

Liu Yimin told the story vividly, and with a clapper in his hand, he became a storyteller.

As they talked, not only did the editors in this editorial office gather around, but editors from the next editorial office also came over. Some even sat around the coal stove, cracking sunflower seeds.

Liu Yimin stretched out his hand, and Xu Yi immediately brought him a teacup. After drinking a pot of tea, he began to talk with great relish.

Editor-in-Chief Zhang Guangnian came out of the office, looking around the somewhat unfamiliar space with a bewildered expression, and asked, "What are you all doing here!"

"Yimin wrote a reportage about the women's volleyball team. He lived, ate, and trained with the team, and we heard him tell us all sorts of amazing stories! Like the iron discus that weighed dozens of kilograms!"

After listening for a while, Zhang Guangnian loudly herded all the editors back to the editorial office, while those from other departments reluctantly left.

Before leaving, he gave Liu Yimin a wink, signaling him to come to their office to talk later.

"Yimin, you're living a really good life! You've built such a great friendship with the women's volleyball team, I envy you!" Zhang Guangnian said with a smile.

"Comrade Zhang, if you send some warmth to the women's volleyball team in the name of the Writers Association, I believe the women's volleyball team will be very moved."

"Haha, I'll think about it!"

Zhang Guangnian took the manuscript of "Chinese Girl" from Cui Daoyi and began to read it carefully.

When Zhang Guangnian saw that the volleyball court was rudimentary and often caused injuries to the women's volleyball team, he sighed, "The women's volleyball team really has it tough! When the Spring Festival comes, I will ask the Writers Association to allocate some funds to give the girls some benefits."

"Then on behalf of the girls, thank you!"

"It's not a gift for you. Your article is well-written, based on in-depth field research, with detailed information, and the writing is filled with both bitterness and humor, as well as hope."

Yes, they had just won the championship not long ago, and without even a rest, they had to plunge into preparations for the next match. You can imagine the tension they felt!

After Zhang Guangnian finished speaking, he placed the "Chinese Girl" report on the table and said, "It must be published in the most prominent position. Not only should the article be included, but it should also be accompanied by pictures, including training photos, so that readers all over the country can see it!"

"I'll contact the layout team in a bit!" Cui Daoyi said with a smile.

When Zhang Guangnian returned to his room, Cui Daoyi stared at Liu Yimin with a grin until he felt uneasy, before asking, "Yimin, what manuscript did you send to Harvest? What do you think of the quality? What are your sales predictions?"

"Senior brother, it will be published in Harvest on the 15th. You can take a look for yourself then. I think it's pretty good!" Liu Yimin said with a smile.

"It's alright, that's good!"

Cui Daoyi took Liu Yimin to the finance department and they received a royalty payment of over 150 yuan.

"Yimin, think of your senior brother often!" Before leaving, Cui Daoyi patted Liu Yimin on the shoulder and said affectionately.

"You are my family."

"Stop! I'm not buying your act anymore!" Cui Daoyi interrupted Liu Yimin, looking troubled as he saw Liu Yimin out of People's Literature and Art magazine.

When Liu Yimin passed by Shichahai Sports School, he went in again and told Yuan Weimin that the reportage had been completed.

Seeing Yuan Weimin wearing a Plum Blossom brand tracksuit with two huge Chinese characters "China" on it, Liu Yimin smiled and said that he would buy a set too.

"Plum Blossom" brand sportswear is of high quality and is said to last for twenty years without breaking or deteriorating. Xu Haifeng, my country's first gold medalist, wore this uniform when he received his award.

It's fashionable to wear now, and it will have collectible value in the future.

"These are hard to buy. The Plum Blossom clothing must first be guaranteed for the athletes!" Yuan Weimin proudly pointed to the words on it.

He added, "I can buy it for you. It's relatively easy to get it through internal channels."

Liu Yimin took out some money from his pocket and asked him to buy him two sets of long-sleeved shirts for spring and autumn, one red and one blue, and another summer set. He would have the women's volleyball team sign them so he could keep them as souvenirs.

Yuan Weimin took the money from Liu Yimin and said with a smile, "Shall I send the things to you later?" "Just send them to the Beijing People's Art Theatre for safekeeping. Mention my name and everyone will know!" Liu Yimin said with a smile.

"Row!"

On January 10th, Xu Sangchu, the director of Shanghai Film Studio, and Huang Zumo came, but couldn't find him at the courtyard house. They went to the Beijing People's Art Theatre and found out that Liu Yimin had moved again.

Looking at Liu Yimin's new house, Xu Sangchu said enviously, "Yimin, you really know how to enjoy life!"

Huang Zumo also said, "It's even better than some of the old villas in Shanghai!"

The filming of "Red River Valley" has been completed. The two men came to Yanjing to submit the film to the Film Bureau for review, and they came specifically to see Liu Yimin.

Xu Sangchu didn't need to come in person to submit the application for review. He was thinking that since it was almost Chinese New Year, he wanted to come to Yanjing early to wish his friends and the leaders of the Film Bureau and the Ministry of Culture a happy new year, to strengthen their relationships, and to discuss next year's funding issues.

"Is the filming of 'Red River Valley' going smoothly?" Liu Yimin asked.

Huang Zumo said with a smile, "The filming went very smoothly, except for a near accident at the beginning. The scene where people were put into the river at the beginning was filmed live, and the current was too strong, almost causing an accident for the actors!"

"You guys are really bold!" Liu Yimin exclaimed.

"There was no other way; we simply couldn't have filmed this scene otherwise. We made a lot of preparations, but unexpectedly, it started raining upstream during filming, and the rainfall suddenly increased, causing chaos. Fortunately, the actors were tied with ropes, which helped pull them up," Huang Zumo said.

"After I learned about this, I criticized them. Two lives were lost; it's terrifying to think about. But it's normal for all sorts of things to happen during location shooting!" Xu Sangchu said.

Huang Zumo said to Liu Yimin, "Yimin, would you like to watch the film first?"

"Didn't you submit it for review?"

"Hey, it's not due until tomorrow! If you want to take a look beforehand, let's find a place!"

"What place are we looking for? There's already one, isn't there? The Beijing Film Studio is nearby, might as well use it. We can go and find out how their filming of 'Mountains High and Rivers Long' is going!"

Xu Sangchu slapped his thigh and immediately stood up.

"You two must have agreed on this before you came!"

Liu Yimin stood up and said with a smile.

"Hahaha!"

The three of them arrived at the Beijing Film Studio. Xu Sangchu walked into Wang Yang's office in a carefree manner, but Wang Yang was not there. He was said to be in the staff quarters of the Beijing Film Studio distributing cabbages and apples to the workers for the New Year.

The three arrived at Zhu Dexiong's office, where Zhu Dexiong smiled and led them to the screening room, where they sat down to see how the film produced by Shanghai Film Studio was!
The film opens with somber, melancholic music as two young girls are pushed into a raging torrent by a group of people performing a ritual...

The actress is Gong Xue, and the other one is relatively unknown; she's probably a minor actress.

After being thrown into the river, Gong Xue was eventually rescued and given a Tibetan name, Xue'er Dawa.

“Yimin, isn’t it a coincidence? The main character is named Xue’er, and our actress is also named Gong Xue!” Huang Zumo said.

"That's quite a coincidence!" Liu Yimin said with a smile.

After the two-hour movie ended, Xu Sangchu asked Liu Yimin what he thought.
"It was very well made. An old director is an old director. He understands acting! However, the only shortcoming is that, of course, this is not Xie Jin's fault, but rather the limitation of the directorial thinking of Chinese directors as a whole. In some places, the acting is a bit too obvious."

This is a problem with acting in this era. The same is true in "Romance on Lushan Mountain". There are certain shots that make it obvious to the audience that the actors were specifically designed for the audience.

Xu Sangchu said thoughtfully, "I watched a few foreign movies and found that we do seem to have this problem."

"It also exists abroad. The ideas of performance and directing are gradually moving forward, and I believe it will get better and better in the future."

Xu Sangchu asked Zhu Dexiong what he thought. Zhu Dexiong didn't want to praise it, but he did think it was indeed good.

Upon hearing Zhu Dexiong's praise, Xu Sangchu smiled calmly, a slight upturn of his lips, and inquired about the situation of "Mountains High and Waters Long".

The filming of "Mountains High and Rivers Long" required traveling from Aba to Zhejiang Province, a long and arduous journey, and the crew has not yet returned.

"Neither of our families can afford to hold back Yimin's 'Two-Part Series on the Resistance Against the British in Tibet'!" Xu Sangchu said proudly.

"Old Xu, don't worry, our directors at Shanghai Film Studio are the best directors in all of China!"

"The best? Not necessarily!" Xu Sangchu snorted and walked out of the screening room.

They encountered Wang Yang, who had returned. Wang Yang wanted to watch it again, so Xu Sangchu gave the film to Wang Yang and told him to watch it himself.

He added, "We've shown you all our films. Tonight, Lao Huang and I will stay at your Beijing Film Studio guesthouse. Hurry up and make the arrangements!"

Wang Yang pinched his nose and nodded, then told Zhu Dexiong to go and make the arrangements.

Zhu Dexiong whispered to Liu Yimin, "These two even want our Beijing Film Studio to pay for their travel expenses."

Liu Yimin chuckled softly; he could indeed tell that Xu Sangchu and the other man were doing it on purpose.

However, it's possible that it wasn't for travel expenses; there must have been other purposes at the Beijing Film Studio.

Liu Yimin stopped caring about any of this and started preparing to go home.

On January 15th, the day Harvest magazine was released, Liu Yimin didn't even have time to see what kind of discussion "Triumph at Midnight" would cause when it was published.

Both Liu Yimin and Zhu Lin bought soft sleeper tickets through Cao Yu. Before leaving, Zhu's mother and father kept reminding Zhu Lin of some precautions.

Zhu's mother whispered to Zhu Lin, "When you get there, be careful. If the conditions in the countryside aren't good, come back as soon as possible."

"Mom, I've been to the countryside before, so it's no problem. I'm not someone who's always been pampered in Beijing. I'm someone who has feelings for the poor and lower-middle peasants. Besides, Teacher Liu's family must be well-off, so you don't need to worry!"

"Oh dear, we're just worried you'll suffer!" Zhu's mother reluctantly wrapped a scarf around Zhu Lin's neck.

"Don't worry, Uncle and Aunt, I won't let Linlin suffer any injustice!"

"Good child, we believe in you. It's getting late, you should get on the train quickly. Linlin, if you're coming back, remember to send a telegram in advance, and your dad and I will pick you up at the station!"

"I know, Mom!"

As they entered the station, Liu Yimin smiled and looked at Zhu Lin: "Let's go, Zhu Lin, time to go home and meet your in-laws!"

(End of this chapter)