"The Chess Master" is Lin Chaoyang's new novel published in "Yanjing Literature". The full text is 130,000 words, and it is a novella.
The novel takes the growth of Jiang Nansheng, a chess fanatic, as the main line. It tells the story of Jiang Nansheng, who was obsessed with chess in Shanghai after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, and how he served his country with his life when his country was ruined and his family was destroyed.
When writing the novel, Lin Chaoyang had already anticipated the controversy that the plot of the novel might trigger. Zhang Dening and other editors had also raised this issue, but Lin Chaoyang insisted on his opinion in the end.
And the reason and purpose of his persistence are also very simple, just to let more people see this novel.
In his opinion, appropriate debate will promote the influence of the novel. As a descendant, no one understands this truth better than Lin Chaoyang.
Tao Yumo ate and drank at Lin Chaoyang's house and was very familiar with the creation process of "The Chess Master". He was also present when Lin Chaoyang and Zhang Dening discussed the problems in the novel.
She knew the reason why Lin Chaoyang arranged this plot, but others did not. Listening to the arguing in her ears, Tao Yumo wanted to stand up and explain to the two people, but she did not do so.
"Brother-in-law, why do you have to write like this? It's totally thankless!"
"It can't be considered a thankless effort. If the novel is written like this, some readers who claim to be rational will find faults. Only in this way can readers' discussions be stimulated and widespread discussion be triggered.
At the same time, this kind of plot arrangement can easily arouse readers' patriotic feelings of sharing the same hatred with the enemy. The popular plot greatly lowers the reading threshold of the novel, and more readers will read this novel."
The conversation between her and her brother-in-law flashed through Tao Yumo's mind. Listening to the conversation between the two people, she understood in her heart that this was actually the effect her brother-in-law wanted.
The distance from Yanjing to Beidaihe is not that far, it takes more than three hours by train.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Beidaihe has always been famous as a retreat for leaders. In the past few years of reform and opening up, outbound tourism has gradually emerged, and Beidaihe has become a resort in the north. Many Yanjing people come here to escape the heat in the summer.
Tao Yumo and others got off the train without looking for a guest house. They carried their luggage and ran directly to the seaside tourist area without even bothering to eat lunch.
Although Beidaihe was also a tourist area at this time, there were still very few travel agencies, hotels, and restaurants, and there were not as many people as there were in later generations. When everyone went to the beach, they looked at the sea not far away, stepped on the beach, and felt relaxed and happy.
Li Junling comes from a privileged family. When she came to travel this time, she specially brought her family camera, which was a Seagull 120mm camera.
When she arrived at the beach, she immediately took out her camera, first took some beautiful photos of the sea, and then took photos of several classmates, who happily posed for her lens.
After wandering around the beach for an afternoon, everyone was hungry and exhausted, so they decided to find a place to stay.
Not far from the seaside, there is the district government guest house in Beidaihe. The conditions are simple. About ten people live in a big house, and they have to go to the courtyard to use the toilet.
Tao Yumo was pampered at home and was not used to such accommodation conditions. But there was nothing he could do. The reality was that if he didn't live in the district government guest house, he would have to live in a fellow villager's home. It was said that the conditions were much worse than those in the guest house.
The district government hosts all canteens. Since they only cater to tourists from outside, the food conditions are pretty good, as long as you are willing to spend money.
When you come to Beidaihe, you can't avoid eating seafood. The canteen has just the right sea crabs for 50 cents a pound.
Tao Yumo originally wanted to order two for himself, but when Guo Jianmei and Liu Zhenyun didn't order, he ordered one more and gave one to each of them.
Guo Jianmei and Liu Zhenyun were born in rural areas, and their family background was not very good. This time they went on a trip together because they had saved money for a long time and were reluctant to spend money on food.
Tao Yumo is considered a wealthy woman among several classmates. She does not need to spend money to go to school and eat. On weekdays, she has to ask for pocket money from her parents. Even her eldest brother Tao Yucheng is not spared. She calls it the tuition fee for her two nephews.
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In addition, she also sorted out letters for her brother-in-law Lin Chaoyang. In this semester alone, she saved a small amount of two hundred yuan, so it was natural and refreshing to go out and spend money.
After dinner, it got dark very quickly. At this time, there was no night view on the beach, only endless darkness, so everyone could only sit in the guest house and play poker.
The card game ended at 8:30, but Yu Hui still picked up Tao Yumo's "Yenjing Literature" to read, while Tao Yumo tinkered with the Seagull camera that Li Junling brought.
It was good to have a camera, she thought to herself, she would buy one when she returned.
Suddenly, I felt a cramping pain in my abdomen.
"Ouch!" Tao Yumo yelled, holding his stomach.
"Yu Mo, what's wrong with you?" Guo Jianmei asked.
"My stomach hurts terribly." Tao Yumo frowned and gritted his teeth.
"Did the crabs not get eaten well?"
"Didn't you eat it too?"
Guo Jianmei was right. Everyone would be fine if they ate crabs.
"No more!"
Tao Yumo endured it for a while, then ran to the toilet in the courtyard with the toilet paper between his buttocks.
After more than ten minutes, she returned to the room with heavy steps.
Several female classmates asked with concern: "Yu Mo, are you okay?"
"It's okay. It's just diarrhea. I won't die."
Tao Yumo lay on the bed, and after just a few minutes of rest, the abdominal pain came back again, and she had to run to the courtyard again.
After repeating this process three times, Tao Yumo returned to the room, his face pale and bloodless, and his legs were weak.
"Yu Mo, take some medicine quickly."
Guo Jianmei handed her two pills, and Tao Yumo asked, "Where did these come from?"
"I asked the comrade at the guest house for it."
Tao Yumo nodded, swallowed the medicine with water, and lay on the bed, like an eggplant beaten by frost, completely different from the lively state during the day.
She looked at the other people talking and laughing safely, and she felt angry in her heart, "I've become like this, why are they okay? If I had known better, I wouldn't have eaten that crab."
It would be a pity not to eat crabs when we come to Beidaihe. Forget it, let’s eat shrimps tomorrow.
Thinking wildly, she fell asleep.
She didn't know how long it had passed, but she heard a sobbing sound beside her ears. She opened her eyes in a daze and glanced to the side, and found that it was Yu Hui with tears on her face.
"Why are you crying?" Tao Yumo asked.
"Nothing." Yu Hui replied.
Tao Yumo was so sleepy that he couldn't care about Yu Hui, so he turned his head and fell asleep again.
Early the next morning, she got up and returned to her lively state.
"You are in such good health that I was afraid you wouldn't be able to get out of bed last night," Guo Jianmei said.
"It's just a little diarrhea. How can it delay my visit to the great places of my motherland?" Tao Yumo said proudly.
It's hard to understand how complacent she is. It's probably like a primary school student competing to see who can pee farther.
After dinner in the morning, everyone went to the scenic spots with maps in hand. Yesterday they visited Laohushi Park and Jieshi Garden on the seaside. Today they are going to Lianfeng Mountain in the west.
On the way, Tao Yumo suddenly remembered what happened last night. She asked Yu Hui: "Why did you cry last night?"
"Nothing." Yu Hui was a little embarrassed.
"Did someone bully you?" Tao Yumo asked.
"No, stop talking nonsense."
"Then why are you crying?"
Tao Yumo kept asking questions, and Yu Hui said helplessly: "I read the novel."
"What's the point of crying when reading a novel?" Tao Yumo said, and then realized, "You are reading "The Master of Chess"?"
"Um."
Tao Yumo immediately understood in his heart that some of the plots in "The Master of Chess" were indeed tearful. For example, it described the people's desperation after the war, such as the little beggar who was brutally killed by the Japanese...
Of course, the best thing to cry about was when Jiang Nansheng died in the end.
Every time Tao Yumo thinks of the scenes in the novel, Tan Sitong's words always come to mind.
"Reforms in various countries are all caused by bloodshed. Today, China has not heard of anyone shedding blood due to reforms. This is why this country is not prosperous. If there is, please start from the same heir."
In that era when the country was destroyed and the family was destroyed, although many people with lofty ideals rose up to resist foreign aggression, there were still countless people who faced the invasion indifferently, or even helped them.
Why didn't Jiang Nansheng know that he was powerless? Why didn't he know that his flesh and blood body was defenseless against the invaders' spears and cannons?
But he still chose to move forward bravely, because he knew deeply that if everyone was ignorant, chose to protect themselves wisely, and trembled under the gunfire of the invaders, then what future would China have?
The destruction of the country is imminent, and only blood and sacrifice can awaken the rebellious spirit of our compatriots.
He uses chess as a weapon. Although he cannot kill the enemy in front of the battle, he can still attack the arrogance of the Japanese. This is the only thing he can do.
Tao Yumo couldn't help but think of his brother-in-law. Against the background of Sino-Japanese friendship, he decided to write a work like "The Master of Chess", which can be said to be going against the trend of the times.
Doesn't he know how much opposition and criticism a work like "The Chess Master" will attract after it is written?
With today's climate, maybe even the mainstream media will ridicule him.
But he still wrote the novel according to his own ideas. Even if the editor raised objections to the plot, he insisted on his own point of view.
The purpose is to let more people see this novel, so that more people will not easily forget the numerous crimes of the Japanese and those ancestors who shed their lives and blood.
"What do you think?" Tao Yumo asked Yu Hui.
Yu Hui recalled her feelings when reading the novel last night, "It's very well written! The character Jiang Nansheng is vividly drawn, from a chess fanatic who doesn't care about worldly affairs to a chess master who sacrifices his life for his country, which makes people moved."
"What do you think of the big plot of challenging the Japanese chess player in the end?" Tao Yumo was most concerned about this issue.
"It's very good, soul-stirring, full of heroic spirit and epic feeling. When I watched it, I even thought that there might really be a person like Jiang Nansheng in history."
Listening to Yu Hui's praise, Tao Yumo felt a little joyful in his heart.
My brother-in-law is right. The average reader will not look at the plot of challenging Japanese chess players with a magnifying glass. It is only a small group of people who really find faults.
In this way, the dissatisfaction of a small group of people stirred up debate, but most people still had a positive perception of the novel, which not only gained discussion and influence, but also ensured the novel's reputation and evaluation.
Brother-in-law is tall!
"But I think it's a bit of a pity." Yu Hui said.
"What's the pity?"
"Your brother-in-law should actually stick to the more advanced creative method of "The Summer of Raiko" and "The Death of Van Gogh". The narrative and style of "The Chess Master" are too Chinese and not Western enough."
Tao Yumo secretly cursed that if he wanted to write something high-level, my brother-in-law could write better than anyone else. You guys don't understand his good intentions at all.
Chatting all the way, a group of people visited Lianfeng Mountain and then headed to the Pigeon Nest in the east.
Passing by the seaside in the afternoon, they met a fisherman selling crabs for 35 cents per catty, and the processing fee was 5 cents, which was 10 cents cheaper than the canteen of the guest house.
Tao Yumo shouted: "What a big loss!"
Everyone bought a few more kilograms of crabs. Tao Yumo hesitated but couldn't help but ate another crab.
She waited anxiously until night, and when she found that nothing happened, she laughed heartlessly.
After spending three days in Beidaihe, before leaving, she went to the beach to buy 10 kilograms of crabs and brought them back to Yanjing for her family to try.
Chapter completed!