Writer 1979: Writing for the People

As lunchtime approached, Wang Wenshi, who was getting happier and happier as they chatted, pulled Xu Lu to have lunch outside.

The Writers' Association compound is small in size and mostly staffed by local employees, so there is no staff canteen.

There is a restaurant in the side rooms of the main building, but it is generally only used for literary conferences and entertaining foreign guests. For example, everyone had lunch there at yesterday's seminar.

What about employees who are not local or who do not go home for lunch? How do they solve their meal problem?

For a simple meal, you can have steamed buns with pickled vegetables. If you want something a little more proper, just walk north for about 200 meters to the intersection, where there is a state-run canteen.

It wasn't exactly great, but at least we were full.

Xu Lu and Wang Wenshi are heading to this place.

Wang Wenshi ordered a bowl of mutton blood soup with bread, which cost two mao (0.2 yuan) plus two liang (0.2 liang) of grain coupons. Xu Lu also ordered a bowl to try.

Although the taste wasn't as good as yesterday's "Tong Sheng Xiang", you get what you pay for, and the portion was decent enough.

Ten minutes later, Wang Wenshi's wife, Gao Bing, also came over to eat with her colleagues. When she saw her husband, she wanted to greet him.

Who would have thought that Wang Wenshi, who had just finished eating, was so engrossed in chatting with Xu Lu as he walked back that he didn't even notice his wife calling out to him.

Gao Bing stood there dumbfounded.

No, when did her man meet Xu Lu? And when did they become so close? She remembered that he didn't even attend yesterday's seminar.

Other editors of Yanhe also found it puzzling; there aren't many people who could make Wang Wenshi act so intimately towards them.

  

Don't be fooled by his usual smiling face and seemingly easy-going nature. In reality, once you get to know him, you'll find that Wang Wenshi often maintains a certain distance when interacting with others.

I rarely get this close to other people, let alone a young person I've only known for a short time.

But thinking about it carefully, it seems normal if it were Comrade Xu Lu.

Because he seems to be quite popular. Whether it's his former editor-in-chief Wang Pixiang, the chairman of the Writers Association Hu Cai, or his current vice chairman Wang Wenshi, everyone enjoys chatting with him and making friends with him.

Talented people do indeed possess a unique charm!

At 2:45 p.m., Xu Lu, who still had an interview to attend to, had no choice but to get up and say goodbye to Wang Wenshi.

He didn't mind chatting with the other person more; he could learn a lot from talking to someone with such senior experience.

But the interview had already been arranged, and we couldn't just stand them up because of this!

Wang Wenshi was clearly still somewhat reluctant to part ways. To be honest, today's conversation had completely exceeded his expectations.

He originally regarded the other party as a talented junior, just like Chen Zhongshi.

But after a brief encounter, he found that the other person's knowledge of literature had completely exceeded his expectations.

At least, he had never thought about the concept of "yam pie" before.

Therefore, Wang Wenshi completely disregarded factors such as age and treated the other party as an equal in their communication.

At this moment, he truly felt that it was only natural that someone like him could write "Wheat Harvester"!

He couldn't help but start to look forward to what the other person's next work would be about.

Of course, whatever he writes, Wang Wenshi has every reason to believe that it will be a very brilliant work.

After leaving Wang Wenshi's office, Xu Lu quickly went to the conference room where the interview would take place.

……

At 2:55, Wang Zhangheng arrived at the conference room carrying a small bag. After exchanging greetings, the interview officially began.

The process was actually not complicated; it was more like a casual chat.

Wang Zhangheng asked questions, Xu Lu answered them, and then he wrote down the key points in his interview notebook before compiling them into a draft.

"From a sent-down youth to an author who has published several articles, can you tell us why you chose to pursue a career in literary creation? Before 'Receiving the Precepts,' did you really not have any other published articles?"

The first question was fairly standard, and Xu Lu organized his thoughts before answering.

"I think what drove me to create was probably my inner desire for expression!"

There wasn't any special opportunity for me; I just suddenly felt like writing something one day, so I started writing.

As for whether any other works have been published...

Before "Receiving the Precepts," I had written quite a few articles, but I had never tried to submit them for publication. At the time, I felt that I was still quite inexperienced, so I always used them as practice pieces.

Xu Lu continued to seize every opportunity to patch up his "sudden rise to prominence".

Wang Zhangheng nodded, thinking that what the other party said made a lot of sense.

To be honest, if Xu Lu had never written articles before, and then suddenly produced such excellent works, that would be quite astonishing.

In particular, the three articles "Receiving the Precepts", "My Distant Qingping Bay" and "Wheat Harvesters" are completely different in style and type.

Not to mention he even wrote a piece of children's literature...

By the way, this is also a question worth asking.

Wang Zhangheng quickly asked.

"After you finished writing 'Wheat Harvester,' why did you write 'Calabash Brothers'? This work was very well received after its publication, and it even boosted the sales of that issue of the newspaper."

There are virtually no commentary articles about "Calabash Brothers," and there doesn't seem to be much public discussion about it.

But this work is actually very popular among children.

A very noticeable feature is that recently, children in Shaanxi Province often choose to play the roles of characters from "Calabash Brothers" while playing. Voices like "Big Brother," "Second Brother," and "Grandpa" can be heard from time to time in the streets and alleys.

Why write children's literature?

That's obviously to earn more royalties...

Xu Lu tried his best to suppress the corners of his mouth and said with a serious expression.

"Actually, I just wanted to write some stories for children. I think they need the company of literature as they grow up."

I hope that through my work, I can instill correct values ​​in them, teach them courage, integrity, and how to distinguish right from wrong…

Upon hearing this, a hint of respect rose in Wang Zhangheng's eyes.

Compared to adult literature, children's literature writers are relatively more "unknown".

People like Xu Lu, who have already proven their talent in the field of adult literature, are still willing to spend so much time and energy on creating children's literature.

His actions are truly admirable.