Ye Zhaoyan felt like he was floating on the boundless sea, with blue water and bright stars above his head, as beautiful and gorgeous as a fairy tale.
Suddenly, he remembered something and turned his head suddenly, only to see a tiger looking at him eagerly.
The huge feeling of fear made him retreat uncontrollably until he seemed to have stepped on something hard. When he lowered his head, he saw that it was a human skull.
Ye Zhaoyan didn't know why he wasn't afraid, so he picked up the skull and knocked it.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
How could the skull make such a loud noise?
With this idea popping up in his mind, Ye Zhaoyan suddenly woke up and realized it was a dream.
Without enough time to recall the dream, he walked to the door and opened it. The person who knocked on the door was Fan Xiaotian, the editor of "Zhongshan".
The two graduated in the same year. Fan Xiaotian graduated from Yenching Normal University. After graduation last summer, he was assigned to be an editor at "Zhongshan" because he became familiar with Ye Zhaoyan because of writing articles.
"What are you doing here so early?" Ye Zhaoyan asked, yawning.
"It's just the New Year and I don't want to go to work, so I told the editor to compile the article." Fan Xiaotian spoke lazily, sat down unceremoniously, and asked: "What time is it and you haven't gotten up yet?"
"Flower City" was bought the day before yesterday. Ye Zhaoyan read the novel for two days. He almost didn't think about tea or food. He just took a random bite at every meal.
Fan Xiaotian looked at his expression and asked, "What have you been writing these past two days? You are so tired."
"I haven't written anything yet. I'm just reading a novel."
"Forgetting food and sleep?"
Ye Zhaoyan couldn't control it again and yawned, "Absolutely."
Fan Xiaotian glanced at the surrounding environment. There was a pile of books beside the bed, which was where Ye Zhaoyan always kept his books.
He found a book lying alone on the windowsill, which was incompatible with the surrounding environment.
He couldn't help but walked over and picked it up, "Flower City, isn't this what you're watching?"
"Um."
"What good works are there in this issue that make you so fascinated by them?"
Ye Zhaoyan looked at his friend's relaxed and indifferent expression, and for some reason he felt an urge to play prank in his heart.
"This issue publishes Xu Lingjun's new novel "The Crossing Boat"."
"Lin Chaoyang published a novel?"
Fan Xiaotian was immediately interested when he heard it. He graduated from Yan'an Normal University, but in the 1978 class, one class later than Tao Yushu, and he only graduated in July last year.
He was not familiar with Tao Yushu, but Tao Yushu had a great reputation among their two students.
On the one hand, it’s because this senior sister has both good character and academic skills, outstanding appearance and temperament, and is a goddess in the minds of many people; on the other hand, it’s also because this senior sister has a good husband.
In 1979, Lin Chaoyang made Yan Normal University a big hit among many universities and cultural circles in Yanjing with his movie "The Best Building in the World", which deeply impressed students like them.
Because of this potential connection, when Fan Xiaotian heard Ye Zhaoyan say "Xu Lingjun", his first reaction was to call out Lin Chaoyang's real name.
He flipped through the magazine in his hand and asked again: "What are you talking about?"
"Have you seen "Robinson Crusoe"?"
When Fan Xiaotian heard this, he nodded quickly, "I've seen it before! There are not many works with this kind of theme!"
"Yes, it is indeed rare, and the writing is particularly good!" Ye Zhaoyan said meaningfully.
"Then I'll read it for a while. Hey, do you have anything new? It's also a scrap. I'll deal with the editor later."
"Just take a look first, and I'll look for it for you later."
Time flies, and most of the day has passed. Fan Xiaotian was so fascinated by the novel that he couldn't leave at night and wanted to share a bed with Ye Zhaoyan.
The two cooked some noodles for dinner. Fan Xiaotian said to Ye Zhaoyan excitedly while eating: "The novel is indeed well written. The subject of sea drifting is difficult to write, and it will be dull and boring if it is not handled well.
But this "Crossing the Boat" handles it very well, with the thrilling confrontation with tigers and the beauty of various sea wonders. In such an environment, the protagonist continues to experience his own heart, and gradually clarifies his understanding of the meaning of life and beliefs.
know."
Listening to his words, Ye Zhaoyan's heart became more filled with the feeling that the prank had succeeded.
"It will be more exciting later, just take your time and watch."
Hearing what he said, Fan Xiaotian became even more excited. He stuffed the noodles into his stomach in two mouthfuls, eagerly picked up the book again and lay on the bed to read.
After nightfall, Ye Zhaoyan went to bed early. In the past two days, he stayed up late reading novels and suffered from severe lack of sleep.
In the middle of the night, a howl suddenly echoed through the room, startling him to sit up from the bed.
I saw Fan Xiaotian, who was lying next to him, sitting up at some point, throwing the magazine in his hand aside, with an expression of shock and disbelief.
"Why are you so crazy in the middle of the night?" Ye Zhaoyan complained.
Fan Xiaotian turned his head, still with a frightened expression on his face, "You already knew this, right? Did you deliberately trick me?"
Listening to his words, Ye Zhaoyan couldn't help but smile with success, "Have you finished reading the novel? You read it very quickly!"
Fan Xiaotian has always been very quick and can even see things much faster than the average person. When he saw Ye Zhaoyan acting like this, how could he not understand what this guy was thinking about?
He kicked him and said, "You're such a bad boy!"
Ye Zhaoyan dodged Fan Xiaotian's feet lightly and shouted: "I kindly recommend works to you, why do you hit people?"
The two played around for a while, and the fear in Fan Xiaotian's heart caused by the novel faded a lot, and then he became more serious.
"Hey, do you think Du Sanjiang really ate his mother?"
Ye Zhaoyan was originally smiling, but when he heard his question, the smile on his face disappeared, and the fear dominated by the storyline struck again, especially now it was still late at night.
He twisted around uncomfortably, "I don't know. If you dig into the details here, it's very possible, because it has to be consistent with reality and logic. But the author didn't write it directly, so he probably left some for us.
Imagination space.”
Fan Xiaotian nodded slightly when he heard this, "Lin Chaoyang's last blank space is awesome! When Du Sanjiang told the second story at the end, I still didn't react. After I finished reading the novel, I
I felt scared after feeling it.”
Ye Zhaoyan echoed: "Yes, I feel the same way."
Both of them were a little excited as they talked, and Fan Xiaotian began to analyze the novel from the perspective of an editor.
"The structure of "The Story of a Crossing Boat" is extraordinary! It seems that Du Sanjiang is telling the story alone, but because the character of the writer is added, we readers can enter the writer's perspective.
This forms a two-layered structure of one table and one mile. As the writer continues to question, he throws out the other side of the story, but this is still not the whole story.
The truth of the story is floating there, like a ghost on the sea."
Ye Zhaoyan praised: "This metaphor is good, it is indeed like a ghost on the sea. The suspense atmosphere of his last work was very strong, but that kind of suspense aroused your curiosity and desire to explore, but this time "The Ferry"
But different.
He did not set up suspense from the beginning. Instead, he told a positive and challenging story, and it was not until the end that he suddenly threw out a terrifying ending that caught people off guard.
To tell you the truth, I had a dream after reading the novel last night."
Fan Xiaotian asked, "What did you dream about?"
Ye Zhaoyan narrated the content of the dream. Fan Xiaotian thought about it for a while and suddenly said: "Actually, it is not impossible that the cook threw his mother's body into the sea. After all, there were sharks coveting them next to the lifeboat at that time."
Ye Zhaoyan immediately understood what he meant. Du Sanjiang only told two stories in the novel.
Regarding the last story, readers like them guessed it based on the details and blank spaces in the novel.
If his mother's body was really thrown into the sea, why would Du Sanjiang not eat his mother's body?
Ye Zhaoyan suddenly remembered the question Du Sanjiang asked the writer at the end of the novel, which story do you want to believe?
This is not only a torture for the writer, but also a torture for the readers.
His question is not so much about which story writers and readers are willing to believe, but rather asking: Are you still willing to believe in human nature?
A sudden flash of inspiration made Ye Zhaoyan feel a shiver from his soul.
Beastiality, humanity, divinity...
For a moment, Ye Zhaoyan seemed to understand what the novel "The Crossing Boat" was really about.
He eagerly grabbed the magazine and flipped through the novel quickly.
Fan Xiaotian looked confused, "What are you doing?"
Ye Zhaoyan didn't answer. He kept flipping through the pages for a long time before he finally stopped and the expression on his face changed from eagerness to frustration.
"What are you looking at?" Fan Xiaotian asked again.
Ye Zhaoyan looked at him, "We all guessed wrong!"
"What's the meaning?"
"I thought Lin Chaoyang was giving us a riddle, telling us stories layer by layer, so that we could gradually get closer to the truth.
But in fact, he wrote three separate stories, which respectively reflect divinity, human nature and animal nature.
There is no so-called truth or falsehood in the whole novel, and there is no real truth. What we see depends entirely on what we want to believe."
When Fan Xiaotian listened to Ye Zhaoyan's words, the expression on his face became even more confused.
The creeping fear that he felt after watching "The Story of a Crossing" still remained in his mind. Now Ye Zhaoyan said that the truth they thought was only one of the possibilities, which made Fan Xiaotian a little hard to accept.
He repeated Ye Zhaoyan's actions and read the novel word for word.
After a long time, he sat down dejectedly and smiled bitterly.
"Cleverness leads to cleverness! This Lin Chaoyang is so hidden! How could anyone design a novel so cleverly?"
Fan Xiaotian's words aroused Ye Zhaoyan's deep inner recognition.
When I first read "Crossing the Boat", I was shocked by the hidden ending and truth, and I felt proud that I had seen through the author's mind.
As both creators, Ye Zhaoyan could not help but look up to Lin Chaoyang at that time. He admired Lin Chaoyang's powerful writing power and exquisite conception, and thought that it was difficult for him to compare with him.
But when he really understood "The Story of a Crossing Boat", he was only confused.
Send a mayfly to heaven and earth, a drop in the ocean.
In the face of such works, how could he be qualified to talk about creation?
Let alone chasing the opponent, he didn't even have a direction.
I am still preparing for the 100-meter race, but I have already boarded a rocket to go to outer space.
What you look up to makes you high, what you drill into makes you strong!
Ye Zhaoyan sighed dejectedly. He had read hundreds of ancient and modern Chinese and foreign literary classics since he was a child. He never thought that one day he would be so discouraged by a novel.
Fan Xiaotian saw his loss and understood the pain a creator felt after seeing and understanding this kind of work.
He comforted: "Zhaoyan, don't add unnecessary pressure to yourself, that's Lin Chaoyang after all!"
His words seemed like nonsense, but they attracted Ye Zhaoyan's sideways glance.
Yes, that is Lin Chaoyang after all!
Every work that comes out creates a huge wave, with countless readers flocking to it and the literary world praising it. In just over 20 years old, it has won all the authoritative domestic literary awards.
People like him are born to be known and famous all over the world.
All the writers of his contemporaries could not help but be overshadowed by his brilliance.
After being lost for a moment, Ye Zhaoyan calmed down with Fan Xiaotian's seemingly nonsense words of comfort.
He thought for a while, walked to the desk and spread out the manuscript paper.
"What are you doing? Do you have to write something at this time?"
"Well, I want to write down my thoughts on "The Boat Ferry". Don't you want the manuscript? I'll bring it back to you!"
Fan Xiaotian was delighted when he heard this, "This is a good idea! Write it quickly and try to give it to me tomorrow morning."
After he finished speaking, he lay on the bed and fell asleep with his head covered.
Late at night, the lamp on the desk was always on. Ye Zhaoyan was full of inspiration and wrote calmly.
——"The intertwining of divinity, human nature and animal nature--Reflections after reading "The Story of the Crossing Boat"".
Chapter completed!