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

Chapter 406 Zhu Lin and Gong Xue Compete for Attention

Beneath the stage, various undercurrents were surging. Some people talked about it with great interest, while others spoke sarcastically, but none of the sarcastic ones came out into the open.

Many readers did not initially grasp the deeper meaning, but those "wise" individuals who did understand it were eager to share their insights with others.

They start with things like, "Do you know?", "Oh my, you don't understand at all!", "So? Did you understand? I've broken down all the twists and turns and explained them to you. Can you handle that?"

Through word of mouth, and with everyone adding their own "personal touches," brand new versions emerged one after another.

Since ancient times, secrets, especially those that are inaccessible, have been the most talked-about topics.

Everyone is guessing who this is meant to insult. People with guilty consciences feel like someone is pointing fingers at them as they walk down the street.

Many people enjoy reading critical works and regard works with "criticism" as the gold standard, believing that this is the meaning of literature. However, when the criticism is directed at themselves, everything changes.

If an ordinary writer were to write this, most people would probably just laugh it off, thinking it was a whim, or even that a remarkable young person was about to emerge in the literary world.

But now it's written by Liu Yimin, a writer who has risen to fame in the literary world and gained international renown since becoming a writer in 78. This makes one wonder if he wrote this novel after gaining insight into the literary and artistic circles.

In Cao Yu's office at the Beijing People's Art Theatre, Cao Yu had been reading "People's Literature and Art" for a long time. As the director of the theatre, Cao Yu couldn't help but put himself in the role of the troupe leader.

After a while, Cao Yu sighed: "Comrade Wang Meng is a rather cautious person. He has to consider the impact of publishing such an article."

"Teacher, what do you think?" Liu Yimin asked with a smile.

“Okay, Mr. Lu Xun’s essays are characterized by a fighting style like a javelin, which completes the criticism in the midst of laughter and satire. Yours is different from his. You look for the meaning in the depth of the playfulness, which is neither too deep nor too shallow, but you will not know it if you do not look for it.”

Cao Yu praised the article's content without specifically identifying the target of the criticism. After praising it, he then spoke of his dilemma as the director of the Beijing People's Art Theatre.

Liu Yimin said, "Artistic works in any country reflect their own values ​​and ideology to some extent, only to varying degrees. I think that to some extent, it is not a very bad thing."

Intervention by those who are knowledgeable is called guidance and correction; intervention by those who are not is called mere blundering.

"It's truly a case of life imitating art, and art imitating life; the title 'The Stage' is quite fitting. I wonder how this style of work will fare on the stage.

Its performance style is somewhat similar to the skit "Eating Noodles" performed on the Spring Festival Gala stage.

Cao Yu was undecided and planned to hold an internal meeting to discuss it. The style was secondary; the main concern was the impact on the performance.

Cao Yu convened a meeting with vice deans and directors including Yu Shizhi, Ouyang Shanzun, Xia Chun, and Lan Tianye to discuss the matter.

The group greeted Liu Yimin with expressions as if it were Chinese New Year.

After sitting down, Cao Yu explained the purpose of the meeting and then focused his attention on Yu Shizhi.

So Zhi said cheerfully, "I think it's a good script. Everyone talks about innovative plays, right? Innovation isn't just about copying foreigners' innovations. We can also call it innovation if we change our own style."

There are also some things that need a gentle nudge. I think we need to properly regulate the actors of the Beijing People's Art Theatre, ensuring they are true artists and don't tarnish the theatre's reputation.

“I agree with what Lao Yu said. However, such things are almost non-existent in our Beijing People’s Art Theatre, but we must still nip them in the bud. The glorious history of the Beijing People’s Art Theatre over the past few decades must be passed down as a treasure by generations of artists,” Ouyang Shanzun echoed.

Xia Chun also expressed his opinions and even gave a few examples: "When Comrade Zhao Shuli left the literary and art department in Yenching and returned to Shanxi Province, his sarcastic remarks still rang in my ears."

When Zhao Shuli was transferred away from Yanjing, a cadre with a questionable private life came to see him off. Zhao Shuli bluntly said, "I'm not going to stay with you!"

When this secret matter was brought up, Lan Tianye clapped his hands and laughed: "I think we not only have to arrange it, but we have to announce it in the newspapers in a big way, so that some people can see it clearly."

Lan Tianye's laughter made everyone laugh out loud. As for the metaphors within, everyone felt that nowadays, the higher-ups were encouraging bold creation, so there was no need to worry too much.

Seeing everyone's high spirits, Cao Yu decided to put on the play. As for who would direct it, that would be decided after the script was finished.

The following day, the Beijing People's Art Theatre announced to its readers through the newspaper that it would be adapting the novel "The Stage" into a stage play. The article also analyzed the artistic and innovative value of the new style of "The Stage." At the end of the article, the Beijing People's Art Theatre expressed its gratitude to the innovative playwright Liu Yimin.

Such a high-profile announcement of the adaptation is extremely rare in the history of the Beijing People's Art Theatre. Usually, adaptations are only publicized when the premiere is imminent, so the implications are self-evident.

Yu Jiajia called Liu Yimin and told him that the China Youth Daily had recently received a lot of articles, mostly written by unfamiliar pseudonyms criticizing The Stage, believing that The Stage was using an absurd style to slander and insult.

“Our China Youth Daily probably won’t publish such an article, but there’s no guarantee that other newspapers won’t publish it,” Yu Jiajia reminded Liu Yimin.

"Thank you, Comrade Yu Jiajia."

"Hey, thank you is too formal. I'm also planning to write a review about how movie fans, theater fans, and book fans should view actors and writers correctly. We should appreciate their artistic works and not focus on the individuals themselves. We are a youth newspaper, so this is also a message to young people."

After Yu Jiajia finished speaking, she discussed "The Stage" with Liu Yimin for a while before hanging up the phone to prepare to write a review.

So far, there have been no negative reviews of the magazine or newspaper as a whole.

After some time, many people finally couldn't hold back any longer. Some tabloids and magazines published critical articles.

An obscure magazine in Northwest China published an essay that did not name Liu Yimin when commenting on "The Stage," but instead used personification to directly criticize him.

The essay was titled "A Lush, Green Tree That Blocks Out the Sun," and Lu Yao sent it to Liu Yimin as soon as it was published.

The story tells of a man who saw a tree when he returned to his hometown. The tree had the greenest leaves, a trunk that was hundreds of feet tall, and a canopy that blocked out the sun. There was enough room to build a house and live on it.

The people nearby told him that a dwarf lived up there. This person did nothing but like to take a magnifying glass and look around, recording everything he saw.

The tall, green tree is a veiled criticism of Liu Yimin's aloofness, while the magnifying glass suggests that he likes to use a magnifying glass to examine other people's mistakes and is nitpicky.

"This style is like a fairy tale," Liu Yimin said with a smile.

However, this abstract descriptive style attracts more attention than ordinary literary criticism.

This literary magazine actually achieved a sales boom through this method, and the story spread widely in many places.

When Liu Yimin went to Yenching University to teach, some reporters and students stopped him and asked him what he thought of the essay.

"I have a dog at home that never barks at me. One day I stepped on its tail, and oh my god, guess what happened?"

The reporter and students both laughed, and one student asked with a smile, "Professor Liu, what's wrong with your dog?"

"It barked!"

"Hahaha!"

"Reporter, whose tail did I step on?"

The reporters were speechless and parted to make way for Liu Yimin to leave.

Such words, of course, cannot be published in newspapers, but they can spread just as quickly as they do in print. Students and reporters alike recount them to everyone they meet as amusing anecdotes.

Some busybodies deliberately go up to people who feel guilty, stand on tiptoe and ask, "Whose tail did I step on?"

After saying that, he watched as the other person's face turned pale and then red before leaving.

Upon arriving at the office of the Chinese Department at Yenching University, Zhu Guangqian saw Liu Yimin holding his hand and saying, "I have to go see this play when it's performed!"

“Okay, I’ll personally take you there and back,” Liu Yimin said with a smile.

Liu Yimin joked and laughed with the other professors for a while before sitting down at his desk.

Wu Zuxiang looked at Liu Yimin and suddenly asked, "Do you think I, Wu Zuxiang, am a human or a dog?"

"Professor Wu, you tested me like this when I was a student, and now that I'm a professor, you still ask me these questions? What's the point of being a professor if I'm still like this?" Liu Yimin said speechlessly. "Different levels of understanding lead to different answers. Tell me!"

Liu Yimin smiled and looked at Wang Yao, who was standing next to him ready to listen to the excitement: "Professor Wang, please tell us!"

"You little brat, you've set me up, haven't you? Professor Wu is a human being, of course. The proposition that he's a dog is incorrect," Wang Yao said with a dark face.

Liu Yimin's words provoked many people, who began using their influence to publish critical comments in newspapers. If direct criticism wasn't feasible, they would try indirect methods; if indirect methods didn't work, they would expand on the issue.

However, as Liu Zhenyun said, there were also many supporters. Because of their moral integrity, they were inherently righteous and their fighting style was relentless.

Lu Yao in Shaanxi Province, Jiang Zilong in Tianjin, and Xu Chi in Hubei Province all published their comments. Yu Hua in Haiyan was also busy, shouting, "No matter who criticizes Comrade Liu Yimin, I, Yu Hua, will stand up for him!"

Yenching was the most lively place. When Mr. Qi Gong was teaching at Beijing Normal University, he even shared his views in the large lecture hall, mocking some people for jumping too high.

Mr. Qian Zhongshu published his famous "egg theory" in the newspaper: If you eat an egg and find it delicious, why bother which chicken laid it?

This is similar to the call from the China Youth Daily for young people to view idols rationally and not to emulate the "Sixth Concubine" incident.

Mr. Ba Jin, who was in Shanghai, published a commentary in the Wenyi Bao (Literary Gazette) to encourage the artistic value of "The Stage" and its new theatrical style, and finally called "The Stage" "a mirror reflecting reality".

A paradigm refers to a theoretical system or theoretical framework.

The hammer fell, and all was silent. The Writers' Association issued a notice on improving the moral standards of literary and artistic workers, calling on everyone to become writers with both virtue and talent.

Wang Anyi, a female writer who had just returned from the United States, looked at the magazine and gave a meaningful smile, preparing to conceive a unique novel.

Wang Anyi wrote a novel called "Uncle's Story" in the 90s, which tells the story of a writer who uses his talent to seduce women everywhere.

Some people couldn't help but ask Zhang Xianliang for his opinion on the novel, and many in the industry believed that this was a veiled reference to Zhang.

Liu Yimin no longer cared about these controversies; he was on his way to Jinan with Zhu Lin to attend the Hundred Flowers Awards and Golden Rooster Awards ceremonies.

In June 1984, the Hundred Flowers Awards and the Golden Rooster Awards were held at the Jinan Gymnasium in Shandong Province. In the evening, directors, actors, and audience members gathered at the venue, and the debates in the literary world added a lot of excitement to this year's Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards.

Inside the stadium, approximately eight thousand spectators sat. Although it lacked the dazzling lights of later times, it was still a lively and bustling place.

A number of people were sitting around Liu Yimin and Zhu Lin, including Yu Shizhi, Li Jun, Wei Lian, and Wang Yan.

In addition, Liu Yimin also met with Gu Yue and Gong Xue, among others. Gu Yue, who played the lead role in "Crossing the Chishui River Four Times," won the Best Actor award.

Liu Yimin took the initiative to greet Gu Yue, who quickly asked, "Comrade Liu Yimin, do you recognize me?"

“Yes, I recognize you. Hello, Comrade Gu Yue. You portrayed the great man very well. I hope you can continue to play such roles,” Liu Yimin said with a smile.

Gu Yue solemnly said, "It is my honor to play a great man. I will also be diligent in self-discipline in my daily life. I also hope to act in your film. It would be great if 'The Birth of a Nation' could be made into a movie."

"There's definitely a chance."

The two were chatting when other people came over to greet them, interrupting their conversation. Liu Yimin overheard many people discussing "The Stage," and others talking about a series of anecdotes sparked by the play.

Wang Yan asked Li Jun how the filming of "The Best Restaurant Under Heaven" was going, and Li Jun smiled and said, "I guarantee you'll be amazed when it's finished."

"Look at you, so what if you got a good script? Give me the script, and I can take pictures like that too," Wang Yan said defiantly.

"Who told your Beijing Film Studio to not get it? Old Wang, you're just sour grapes, hahaha. I'll send you a bottle of aged vinegar tomorrow," Li Jun said smugly.

With everyone seated, the award ceremonies for the Hundred Flowers Awards and the Golden Rooster Awards officially began.

On stage, Meng Guangjun, secretary of the Secretariat of the China Film Association, read a letter from the leaders, expressing their concern for literary and artistic work and encouraging literary and artistic workers to continue to create higher-quality works of art to meet the cultural needs of the people.

Liu Yimin held Zhu Lin's hand and clapped along with the audience from time to time.

"Have you thought of your thank-you speech?" Liu Yimin squeezed Zhu Lin's hand to reassure her.

Zhu Lin laughed and said, "It's okay, I'm not nervous!"

After all the leaders finished speaking, the awards ceremony officially began, with the Golden Rooster Award being presented first.

The winners of the Best Feature Film Award are "Triumph at Midnight," a co-production between August First Film Studio and Beijing Film Studio, and "Hometown Melody," a film produced by Pearl River Film Studio.

"Triumph at Midnight" vividly portrays the patriotism of young soldiers facing war, composing an epic of unwavering heroism. The young soldiers yearn for love, but their country is more important than love.

"Hometown Voices" uses delicate strokes to depict the simplicity and changes of rural life, showcasing the emotional struggles and perseverance of ordinary people amidst the tides of time.

As the award ceremony concluded, Li Jun, Wang Yan, and Hu Bingliu, the director of "Hometown Voice," went on stage to accept their awards and give speeches.

Li Jun and Wang Yan thanked the production team, Liu Yimin, and the soldiers for their support, and recounted the scenes that unfolded on the front lines, bringing tears to the eyes of the audience.

After Hu Bingliu, the director of "Hometown Voice," finished speaking, he stood on the stage and looked at Liu Yimin: "If Comrade Liu Yimin has a script, I hope he can take a look at our Pearl River Film Studio. I hope we can cooperate with Comrade Liu Yimin sometime."

Liu Yimin didn't stand up to speak, but instead clapped. Wang Yan and Li Jun, who had come off the stage first, were wiping their trophies when they heard Hu Bingliu's words and both laughed and cursed, "A wolf in sheep's clothing."

The Best Actor award was also won by two people: Yang Zaibao for "Blood Is Always Hot" and Dong Xingji for "Middle Age".

After receiving their awards, Zhu Lin's body tensed up, and he looked nervous.

"The winners of the Best Actress award are: Zhu Lin, actress in 'Triumph at Midnight', and Gong Xue, actress in 'Under the Bridge'."

Zhu Lin and Gong Xue walked up together, their beautiful figures attracting the attention of everyone present.

Under the lights, Zhu Lin wore a pink floral dress, her shoulder-length short hair was curled inwards, her skin was fair and rosy, and she smiled gracefully.

Gong Xue wore a white shirt and a sky-blue dress, her hair slightly tied up. The two of them standing together gave off a feeling of competing for beauty.

After walking onto the stage, the host asked Zhu Lin with a smile, "Comrade Zhu Lin, this is your second time winning an award, but this is your first time attending an award ceremony. We heard that you weren't planning to come this time. Why is that?"

Zhu Lin explained why she couldn't come the first time, and then generously explained why she didn't want to come this time: "My son and daughter are just two months old, and I'm worried that they won't feel comfortable on a long journey, so I'm going to cancel."

"Then why did you come?"

"Because my husband is very supportive of me coming to accept the award!"

Who is your husband?

"He was sitting in the audience right now; he was also the screenwriter of 'Triumph at Midnight'."

After a minute of silence, the audience erupted in enthusiastic applause. Under the starry night sky, eight thousand spectators chanted Liu Yimin's name.

Liu Yimin stood up, turned his back to the stage, waved to the back of the stage, and then sat down again to look at the stage.

Zhu Lin took the microphone to express her gratitude to the audience, and by the time she stepped off the stage, she was so moved that she shed tears.

After expressing her gratitude on stage, Gong Xue also thanked Liu Yimin. She shared her experience of performing in "Red River Valley" and revealed to the audience that she was currently acting in one of Liu Yimin's works, hoping the audience would enjoy it.

Wang Yan frowned and couldn't help but ask, "Yimin, besides 'The Stage,' do you have any new works lately? Which novel has been adapted into a movie?"

"The story 'Button' was published a long time ago. Director Huang Zumo liked it, so he took it and made it into a film," Liu Yimin explained.

Huang Zumo cast Gong Xue as the lead actress in "Button," while Zhu Shimao plays the male lead. It remains to be seen whether the two will be able to work well together.

(End of this chapter)