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

Chapter 342 Rejecting Qian Zhongshu

Upon seeing the last sentence written by Massey Dani, Liu Yimin couldn't help but laugh out loud.

“The most influential Chinese writer in the world!” Liu Yimin murmured, then picked up the money order delivered by the post office.

"Let me see how many francs the most influential Chinese writer in the world can earn!"

Liu Yimin used an abacus to calculate that the francs on the check were equivalent to 31,000 yuan!
Including this sum of money, the family's savings have now exceeded 100,000 yuan.

Massey Danny also inquired about "Triumph at Midnight," which he had seen in newspapers and on television, indicating its popularity in the United States. He was prepared to suggest to the publisher that they discuss its publication.

Nicky from the American Chinese Books and Periodicals Publishing House wrote to Liu Yimin, saying that "Triumph at Midnight" had sold 40,000 copies in the United States, with a large number of readers being American veterans who had participated in the Vietnam War.

A month after Liu Yimin left, the book remained a hot topic in American newspapers and on television, which also greatly contributed to the sales of "Triumph at Midnight".

In March, the translation of "Hachiko: A Dog's Tale" taken by the China Publishing House was completed. The English title is "The Old Man and the Dog." It should have arrived in American bookstores by now, but it's unknown how well it sold.

Liu Yimin was startled awake by the ringing of the phone while he was deep in thought. He quickly picked up the phone and Xia Yan's voice came from the other end: "Yimin, it's been so long since you've been to Liubukou. Shen Yun misses you a lot. Aren't you planning to come over?"

"You have something to do with me?"

Xia Yan's voice confused Liu Yimin, who didn't know what he meant.

"Haha, you know, moving to the Overseas Chinese Apartments is so inconvenient. If you were still in the courtyard house, Shen Yun and I could just walk there. I've heard from someone that you wrote a really good novel recently. I just called Lao Wan to verify it, let me see what I think?" Xia Yan said cheerfully.

"You should have said so earlier! You scared me! I thought something serious had happened!"

Xia Yan said nonchalantly, "Have you done something wrong lately?"

“No way!” Liu Yimin quickly replied.

"Come with Comrade Xiao Zhu, I'll treat you to Hangzhou cuisine!"

"Okay, I'll be there in a bit!" Liu Yimin said with a smile.

After Xia Yan hung up the phone, Liu Yimin called the People's Art Theatre and told her to go directly to Xia Yan's house in Liubukou after get off work.

"Teacher Liu, if you had called even a minute later, I would have started heading home. I'm on my way to Liubukou now, so hurry up!" Zhu Lin said, then realized he had misspoke and quickly added, "Be careful while riding your bike!"

"it is good!"

When Liu Yimin arrived at Xia Yan's house in Liubukou, Zhu Lin was already playing "cat's cradle" with Shen Yun.

Shen Yun held the flower rope with both hands, weaving it into various patterns, while Zhu Lin had to figure out how to transfer the flower rope to her own hands and weave it into new shapes.

"Are you guys playing with glue coming undone?"

"This isn't glue coming undone, it's cat's cradle!" Shen Yun retorted.

In our Henan province, we call it "opening the glue"!

Zhu Lin said with a smile, "Teacher Liu, why don't you give it a try? I'm really good at playing with this!"

Zhu Lin's fair and rosy fingers were very nimble, and the next moment the flower rope was successfully in her hands, and it became even more complicated.

Shen Yun watched for a while before saying, "I'm not playing anymore, Sister Zhu Lin. It's not fun at all. It's much more interesting to play with my classmates!"

"why?"

"Because none of them can beat me!"

Xia Yan carried the cat out of the main room, and when she saw Liu Yimin, she put down her hand that was stroking the cat and said to Liu Yimin, "Yimin, come here quickly, let me admire you!"

"What did Brother Yimin write this time?" Shen Yun asked curiously, holding Liu Yimin's hand.

Zhu Lin laughed and said, "Little Yun'er, you won't understand!"

Liu Yimin handed the manuscript to Xia Yan. Shen Yun, unconvinced, stood beside the sofa, propped her hands on the backrest, and read it very attentively.

However, after watching for a while, she reluctantly dragged Zhu Lin out to jump rope, feeling that jumping rope was more fun.

Liu Yimin sat beside Xia Yan, admiring the furniture in her home.

Xia Yan raised her eyelids and said, "I heard you like old furniture? What? You've got your eye on mine?"

"Oh my, are you kidding me?" Liu Yimin said with a grin.

"I was originally going to give it to you for free, but if you don't want it, then forget it!"

"No, thank you, elder, I dare not refuse this gift!"

“They really have their eyes on it. That’s an heirloom stool that I brought from my hometown!”

After Xia Yan finished reading it, he clicked his tongue in admiration: "What were you thinking? The descriptive techniques are quite novel. No wonder when I called Lao Wan, he was laughing and talking about it. It was all just showing off."

"It's not finished yet, so it's too early to praise it," Liu Yimin said modestly.

"Your teacher explained it to me. I have the general outline and direction. As for the result, it's just a matter of whether it's rough or not. But in terms of conception, it's already quite impressive."

Xia Yan held the manuscript and praised it highly, wanting to put it here and read it again, since there were still many questions after the first reading.

"Perfect timing! You can give me some pointers!"

"Give me pointers? I can't. I'm a complete novice. I'd probably just be adding unnecessary details, and I'm not going to do that!"

"Dad, stop looking, it's time for Yimin to eat!" Xia Yan's daughter-in-law called him to eat.

"Alright, Yimin, you've been eating too much northern food, you should try some Hangzhou cuisine every now and then to cleanse your palate!" Xia Yan led Liu Yimin to sit down at the table.

During the meal, Xia Yanxiang asked Zhu Lin if he had been performing in any plays or movies recently.

“There haven’t been any performances recently, only Mr. Liu’s ‘Green Book’,” Zhu Lin replied.

"Take it one step at a time. Your acting skills are already very good. If you want to act, you need to act in some good films. You can't rush it. The most important thing is rehearsing. Being a director is much harder than being an actor!"

Zhu Lin nodded in agreement. Now, when the film studio approaches her for minor roles, Liu Yimin always tells her to politely decline.

“Yimin, we all know about your debate with the American playwright Miller. Many veteran comrades said you spoke well. When we got the detailed information, several comrades even said we should reward you. What kind of reward? I’ll give you a verbal commendation today.”

Xia Yan joked, steer the conversation from one topic to another: "Recently, Tsinghua University is preparing to hold the first Sino-US Comparative Literature Forum. After Comrade Zhongshu told me about it, I strongly recommended that you participate. With your mouth, we won't suffer any losses or lose any battles."

You have studied a great deal of Western literature and have a deep understanding of their literature, so your participation is very suitable. The literary giant Qian Zhongshu was not only a professor at Tsinghua University, but also the current vice president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"When will Tsinghua University hold its meeting?" Liu Yimin asked.

"It will be August or September soon. Now that we have just opened our doors to the world, comparative literature is a popular research topic. In addition, many of our scholars have gone abroad to visit and teach, and the results of cultural exchanges are remarkable. We also want to invite a group of American writers and scholars to come and exchange ideas."

Comparative literature, as the name suggests, studies literature, focusing on comparison, and researches the development of literature in different countries.

Liu Yimin joked, "President Qian organized this exchange conference for the purpose of exchange, but the way you put it makes it sound like an argument."

"All communication in the world is just a war of words, only to varying degrees!"

Liu Yimin nodded: "If the exchange meeting is willing to let me participate, I am also willing to do my part!"

"Of course Comrade Zhongshu hopes you will participate. The Chinese Department of Tsinghua University often sighs to him, wishing he could get you a professorship at Tsinghua. Nowadays, the Chinese Department of Yenching University is strong and well-equipped, and the gap between Tsinghua's Literature Department and Yenching University is getting bigger and bigger!"

"Simple, just let Brother Yimin become a professor at Tsinghua University at the same time!" Shen Yun interjected while biting into the fish.

Liu Yimin said, "You're going to wear your brother Yimin out! Our Chinese Department at Yenching University is the best in the world, so it's understandable that Tsinghua University can't compare. If it could, we'd be the ones feeling down!"

"Haha, actually, what Xiaoyun said is a solution to the problem!"

After dinner, Xia Yan and Liu Yimin discussed many literary issues until around ten o'clock. Xia Yan then said:

"Thank you for chatting with this old man for so long, Yimin. I hope you can finish writing this novel soon. When I write to my old friends in America, I can brag about it. Magical realism isn't some unattainable literary idea; we Chinese can write it too!"

"I try my best!"

"I'll return the manuscript to you in three days!"

Xia Yan and Shen Yun saw Liu Yimin to the door and waved to the two of them.

At Yenching University's Chinese Department, Liu Yimin was compiling textbooks with Zhu Guangqian when Qian Zhongshu arrived uninvited.

Qian Zhongshu was thin, with a full head of silver hair, wearing a black coat and a blue shirt, and stood alone at the door of the textbook compilation office.

When Qian Zhongshu is mentioned, most people think of his novel "Fortress Besieged," and like to rewrite the line, "It is a besieged city; those outside want to get in, and those inside want to get out."

Liu Yimin didn't recognize him, but Zhu Guangqian recognized Qian Zhongshu first: "Comrade Zhongshu, what brings you here? Are you here to join the Chinese Department of Yenching University?"

Zhu Guangqian was older than Qian Zhongshu and they were also colleagues. Qian Zhongshu was the vice president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, while Zhu Guangqian was an academician, who later became an academician.

"Old Zhu, your Chinese Department at Yenching University is already known as the best in the world. What? You want me to come over? Remember, the moon wanes after it's full. Be careful that Tsinghua University doesn't surpass you," Qian Zhongshu teased.

"Haha, with a teacher like You Min in our Chinese Department at Yenching University, you won't have a chance for decades to come!"

Liu Yimin greeted him, "Old Qian!"

Since entering, Qian Zhongshu's gaze had been fixed on Liu Yimin. He waved to Liu Yimin and the other graduate students and said, "No need to call me 'Professor Qian,' just call me 'Comrade Zhongshu'!"

Liu Yimin smiled slightly and changed his address to Professor Qian.

"Comrade Yimin, I heard you're compiling textbooks. I've come to take a look. If they turn out well, our Academy of Social Sciences can provide you with some funding!"

Zhu Guangqian said, “What a coincidence, we are indeed short of funds. Our five thousand yuan budget is almost used up. Comrade Zhongshu, please allocate some funds so that Tsinghua University can use our textbooks.”

"Old Zhu, you really never know how to get a good deal. Let me take a look first!"

Qian Zhongshu picked up the French section and started reading it. Liu Yimin asked him for guidance.

Qian Zhongshu graduated from the Department of Foreign Languages ​​and Literature at Tsinghua University. He studied abroad and currently mainly studies literary theory. His opinions are worth listening to.

After reading the part that had been written, Qian Zhongshu looked at the room full of graduate students and the materials on the table and said, "Writing textbooks is a huge project. You've all worked hard!"

After hearing this, Zhu Guangqian curled his lip. "Easy for you to say. I'd be happy to give you some funding."

“Alright, Lao Zhu, how about I go back and coordinate three thousand yuan in funding for you? You’re a committee member in the academy, you should know about the difficulties the academy faces, this money shouldn’t be paid by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences,” Qian Zhongshu said.

Zhu Guangqian said with a big smile, "Who told you to say that? Besides, you're not someone simple to come to the Chinese Department of Yenching University. Consider this money as a toll!"

"You, you, Lao Zhu, I'm planning to invite Yimin to the Sino-US Comparative Literature Exchange Conference. You should attend too. I think once you finish writing this textbook, you'll become an expert on Western modern literary thought! Yimin, what about you?"

Qian Zhongshu did not ask Zhu Guangqian for his opinion, but instead asked Liu Yimin directly.

Liu Yimin said, "I will definitely participate!"

“Great, let’s all work together in academia, young and old, to show them that the academic lineage in Chinese literature is well-established,” Qian Zhongshu said happily.

After Qian Zhongshu finished speaking, he remained sitting in his office, which puzzled the group. They could only chat casually.

He answered all the questions about Liu Yimin honestly.

Qian Zhongshu patted Liu Yimin on the shoulder and said, "Work hard, I think you'll have no problem becoming an academician at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in the future."

"Of course, Comrade Zhongshu, do you see if there's a chance to borrow your position and become the vice president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences?" Zhu Guangqian joked.

Qian Zhongshu laughed heartily. How could he possibly respond to that? It made it sound like he was choosing a successor.

Zhu Guangqian asked, "Speak, what else do you want?"

"I'm looking for Yimin. Yimin, there's something else. I saw your manuscript of 'Beloved' at Lao Shen's place. After reading it, I agree with Lao Shen's opinion. I think it's a work that can reach the pinnacle of world literature."

As you know, I studied foreign languages ​​and have translated quite a few works.

Liu Yimin knew that the old man's poems were all translated by Qian Zhongshu.

"Professor Qian, thank you for your praise!"

Zhu Guangqian, who was standing next to him, interjected, "What 'Beloved'? How come I don't know about it? Yimin, we work at the same desk, what are you hiding from me?"

Qian Zhongshu glanced at Zhu Guangqian and said to Liu Yimin, "I'd like to do the translation of your book. What do you think?"

Liu Yimin hadn't expected Qian Zhongshu to mean that. After hesitating for a moment, Liu Yimin, despite having a headache, said, "Professor Qian, I'm really sorry, but I've already discussed the translation with Comrade Xu Chi."

After Liu Yimin finished speaking, he lamented inwardly, "Comrade Xu, I've made a huge sacrifice for you! If I don't get elected as an academician in the future, it'll all be your fault!"

(End of this chapter)