The May 4th Youth Literature Prize Award Ceremony lasted for half a morning and ended at 10:30 in the morning. There was also a symposium in the afternoon.
Only the judges, award-winning writers and some guests attended the symposium, and the conference had just ended.
There were many acquaintances attending the conference. Lin Chaoyang first chatted with Li Tuo for a few words, and then was pulled by Wang Zengqi and asked: "Chaoyang, I remember that Yushu's father studied history, right? Have you studied Han history?"
"Han history is one of his research directions."
"That's great, I just have some questions I want to ask him." Wang Zengqi said happily.
Lin Chaoyang was about to ask him what he wanted to ask for, but suddenly he remembered that Wang Zengqi seemed to have discussed this topic when he went to Huangdao to attend the PEN Conference last year.
"Are you going to write about Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty?"
"good."
"I've also read some history books of the Han Dynasty. Maybe I can help you answer your questions." Lin Chaoyang said eagerly.
He did not set any limits in his reading. He read all kinds of books, which were complex and numerous. He also read a lot of history books, and he had some confidence in himself.
Wang Zengqi originally didn't want to attack him, but seeing his attitude, she underestimated her own creative preparations.
"Okay. Then do you know, did Tai Shigong cut off the stick or the egg? Or did he cut off both?"
After Wang Zengqi asked this question, Lin Chaoyang couldn't help but take a breath of air.
The veteran comrade thinks about things from a very tricky angle!
His question sounds simple, but in fact it is very difficult to answer.
Anyone who has studied history textbooks will know that Sima Qian was castrated, but who has ever verified the specific operations involved?
In particular, Sima Qian was different from ordinary eunuchs in that he was punished for his crimes and had to retain some dignity as a scholar-official.
Lin Chaoyang's mind flashed through the records of palace torture in several ancient books such as "Yi Jian Zhi" and "Yun Hui", but he did not dare to bite Sima Qian to death and what it was like when he was tortured.
After thinking for a while, he said helplessly: "I can't say that."
Wang Zengqi felt a lot more comfortable when she saw his attitude.
Don't think that just because you've written a good novel, you know it all. Do you think I haven't checked the history books?
"Whenever you are free to go to Yanda, I will introduce you to each other after work," Lin Chaoyang said.
"good."
After the May 4th Youth Literature Award Award Ceremony, the news appeared in several newspapers and magazines. Overall, the influence of this essay competition was good.
At least it is more influential than most awards activities today, and it has also allowed "China Youth", a magazine that aims to cultivate young minds, to receive a lot of praise in the literary world.
Tao Yushu flipped through today's "China Youth Daily", stared at it very carefully, and said to Lin Chaoyang, who had just returned from outside: "The photos here are too blurry, and others won't be able to recognize you."
It was only the beginning of June, and the temperature outside had already reached 30°C. Lin Chaoyang came back from the outside covered in sweat. He washed and wiped his face and replied: "It's okay, who cares about that photo!"
"Mom is concerned. You are the judge, and she wants to cut out this photo."
"Then you have to ask your fellow reporters to bring the negatives back and wash them yourself." Lin Chaoyang said jokingly.
Zhang Guiqin's biggest purpose in collecting information about her son's participation in activities is of course to show off. How can he show off if his face can't be seen clearly?
"Be careful not to let mom hear you!"
Tao Yushu smiled and warned him, then asked, "How was the discussion?"
Yesterday at the May 4th Youth Literature Award Ceremony, Wei Junyi asked Lin Chaoyang to go to the Humanities Society to talk about the publication of "Shutter Island". Today he accepted the invitation and went to the Humanities Society.
Lin Chaoyang shook his head, "Not very good."
"What do you mean by not being good?"
"We talked for a long time, but she just didn't want to increase the manuscript fee. She knew clearly that the manuscript fee from Yanjing Publishing House was higher than that from their humanities agency."
When talking about today's conversation, Lin Chaoyang felt regretful.
He wanted the Humanities Society to increase his remuneration for the number of print runs, but Mrs. Wei was only willing to increase his basic remuneration by two yuan. The difference in opinion between the two parties was too great, and they did not reach an agreement in the end.
The remuneration for the number of print runs is linked to the sales of the book. In fact, the humanities society will not suffer if the price increases. After all, the more works sold, the more the humanities society will make.
However, the Humanities Society feels that Lin Chaoyang's remuneration for print runs has risen to 5% for 10,000 copies. This is a figure that no writer in the country has ever enjoyed. Any further increase would be too outrageous.
Even if it means giving him an increase in basic royalties, the Humanities Society is actually not willing to do so.
It’s easy to increase royalties, but difficult to lower them. And if word gets out, what should other writers do if they want to increase their royalties too?
With a big family and a big business, the Humanities Society will inevitably have its hands tied when making decisions. Lin Chaoyang can understand this, but he cannot give up his own interests.
He originally planned to ask the Humanities Society to raise the price so that he could have another discussion with Yanjing Publishing House and follow the example of several previous studios when they competed for the rights to adapt "Garland Under the Mountain".
"What a pity!" Lin Chaoyang sighed with regret.
"Be content. How many people are envious of your current royalties?"
Tao Yushu's words are right. Whether it is in terms of publication and publishing royalties, or in terms of basic and print run royalties, Lin Chaoyang's annual royalties are lower than 99% of his peers.
"Hey, who would think that the royalties are too high?"
Two days later, Wang Zengqi came to Yanda on a working day afternoon, and then Lin Chaoyang introduced him to meet Tao's father. The two talked until the evening. Wang Zengqi left Tao's house and made an agreement with Tao's father to meet again later.
Come and ask for advice.
Coming out of Langrun Lake, it was already dark at night, and there were still many students on the Yanda campus, making it very lively.
Wang Zengqi and Lin Chaoyang chatted all the way, looking at the energetic figures in Yanyuan, they couldn't help but miss the scene when they were studying at Southwest Associated University.
He talked to Lin Chaoyang for a while, and suddenly said: "Yesterday I went to see Mr. Cong Wen, and he talked about you."
The "Mr. Cong Wen" in Wang Zengqi's mouth is naturally Shen Congwen. When Wang Zengqi was studying at Southwest Associated University, Shen Congwen taught the literature class. The two have never lost contact for so many years, and the teacher-student relationship is very good.
"What did you say about me?"
"He read the article "Creative Characteristics of Shen Congwen" published in "Yanjing Literature" and said that you have studied his works thoroughly and are better than those academics."
Lin Chaoyang smiled and said, "That's my honor!"
"I also told him that you have always had the highest regard for him. He was very happy to hear that and said that he would like to get to know you if he has the opportunity."
"This matter depends on you. When you have time, take me to visit his old man."
Wang Zengqi said loudly: "No problem, we will go there when you are free."
"Then Sunday."
"Okay, it's settled."
Back home, Tao Yushu heard that Lin Chaoyang was going to visit Shen Congwen on Sunday, and he also clamored to go.
On Sunday, the couple, carrying gifts, met Wang Zengqi and arrived at the dormitory of the Academy of Social Sciences on Qianmen East Street.
This dormitory building was built in the 1960s. It is half new but not old. Shen Congwen's house is located on the fifth floor.
There is no elevator in the dormitory building, so you can only take the stairs. Tao Yushu is three months pregnant and has begun to show her pregnancy. She felt a little breathless when she walked upstairs.
Knocking on the door, the person who opened the door for the three of them was an old woman. She had silver hair and was not messy at all. Although her face was old, she could vaguely see the charm of her youth.
When the old woman saw Wang Zengqi, she smiled kindly and said, "Zeng Qi is here!"
"Teacher's wife!"
Wang Zengqi said hello to the old woman and introduced Lin Chaoyang and his wife behind him.
"Hello, please come in!"
Listening to the conversation between Wang Zengqi and the old woman, Lin Chaoyang and the two knew that the old woman in front of them was Zhang Zhaohe, the lover of Mr. Shen Congwen. The love between their husband and wife was quite legendary.
When Shen Congwen was teaching in a public school in China, he fell in love with Zhang Zhaohe, a female student, at first sight, and then they stalked and pursued her. However, Zhang Zhaohe had no false feelings for Shen Congwen.
The principal of China Public School at the time was Hu Shi. With the idea of ​​a perfect couple, he wanted to help Shen Congwen find matchmaking with Zhang Zhaohe.
Not wanting to wait for him to take action, Zhang Zhaohe took the love letter written by Shen Congwen to her and found Hu Shi, the principal, hoping that Hu Shi could persuade Shen Congwen to give up this idea.
But what Zhang Zhaohe didn't expect was that after Hu Shi read the love letter, not only did he not scold Shen Congwen, but he also smiled and praised Shen Congwen for his deep affection for her.
Zhang Zhaohe was so angry that he thought the two were the same. Fortunately, Zhang Zhaohe was moved by Shen Congwen's talent and sincerity in the end, and the two finally got married.
Zhang Zhaohe let the three of them into the house. Seeing that Lin Chaoyang and his wife were still carrying gifts, he gave in very politely before accepting them.
At this time, Lin Chaoyang and his wife had time to say hello to Shen Congwen. The old man is now over eighty years old and has a full and wide forehead. If he hadn't been wearing a pair of glasses, he would have somewhat resembled Father Tao. .
"Please sit down, please sit down!"
The dormitory where Shen Congwen's family lived was a typical apartment building today, somewhat similar to the Langrun Lake Apartment where the Tao family lived, except that the area was smaller.
After chatting for a while, Shen Congwen mentioned that this house was allocated to him by the Academy of Social Sciences the year before last year. It had a total of thirty-six square meters and was a small three-bedroom apartment with no living room.
Before that, the living conditions of the couple were even simpler than they are now.
When later generations mention Shen Congwen, many people admire him, and he can be compared with "Old Cao from Luguo and Maoba". However, few people know about the unfair treatment Shen Congwen suffered in the second half of his life.
Shen Congwen experienced a legendary life. He was born in western Hunan. At the age of 14, he joined the local armed forces. This army had a mixed composition, so there was a rumor in later literary circles that "Shen Congwen was a bandit when he was young."
Because of his good handwriting, he was promoted to secretary in the army. He met a secretary named Wen who had studied in Japan. He read a lot of books with him and gradually understood the truth.
Later, the army was defeated and Shen Congwen was sent home. He went to live with relatives and learned a lot of skills in poetry, writing, and seal engraving.
In 1924, Shen Congwen decided to go to Yanjing to take the college entrance examination and make a career.
But he had never received a Western education before. He studied hard in the library of Yenching University for half a year. Not only did he get a zero for the entrance exam, but he also paid two yuan for the registration fee.
So he could only attend Yan University, and his dream of studying was shattered. He started writing again, and his initial submissions were rejected everywhere. When he was at his lowest, he wrote to Yu Dafu for help.
At that time, there was a trend in the literary world. Many famous writers liked to support their younger generations, and Yu Dafu's literary reputation was outstanding.
After meeting Shen Congwen, Yu Dafu felt deeply about his experience and wrote an article "A Public Complaint to a Literary Youth", using Shen Congwen's experience to criticize various unreasonable things in society.
After that, Shen Congwen's articles were published one after another, and he gradually became famous.
During the Anti-Japanese War, he repeatedly helped friends who participated in anti-Japanese war activities and spoke out for friends in prison.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he returned to Peiping and became a professor in the Department of Literature at Yanda University. However, at this time, he was criticized for offending many people by writing comments in his early years.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he moved to a history museum to engage in cultural relic research. However, he encountered political storms several times and was in a difficult situation. Most of the articles he wrote in the first half of his life and his reputation were suppressed for a long time due to political issues and were not published for decades. .
Even students who went to school in the 1950s and 1960s hardly studied or read his works.
However, at almost the same time, the "History of Modern Chinese Novel" published by Yale University, thousands of miles away, devoted a chapter to discussing him, and compared him with Yeats and Faulkner.
After the buzz ended, Shen Congwen's situation finally gradually improved. In the past two years, the literary world has paid more and more attention to him. A group of people have begun to cheer for him, and Lin Chaoyang is the one who shouts the most fiercely. one.
A few days ago, "Yenjing Literature" compiled what Lin Chaoyang said when he taught students at the Yenching Literature Institute and published it in the magazine.
This kind of handout article will definitely not create much response among readers, but it has attracted the attention of many people in the literary world.
This also included Shen Congwen himself. Wang Zengqi happened to come to visit him that day. Wang Zengqi mentioned Lin Chaoyang's high regard for him, which made the old comrade very happy.
"It's hard to find a true friend!" Shen Congwen sighed at that time, but it contained half of his life's pain and sadness.
Chapter completed!