The newspapers and periodicals room of Yanda Library has a constant flow of readers all year round. Most of them are teachers and students from the school. Most of the students bring lunch boxes and textbooks, and the teachers each hold a water glass, which is easy to identify.
As soon as Lin Chaoyang entered, he noticed a middle-aged woman. The Lenin outfit she wore was a bit old-fashioned, but it gave off a calm temperament unique to intellectuals.
Lin Chaoyang walked over and knocked on the table. The middle-aged woman looked up at Lin Chaoyang and nodded knowingly.
The two of them left the newspaper room and came to the door of the library.
"Hello, I am Lin Chaoyang, you are..."
"We wrote by letter. I am Li Xiaolin from Harvest magazine." Li Xiaolin stretched out her hand to Lin Chaoyang.
When "Qiu Ju's Lawsuit" was submitted to "Shanghai Literature and Art", Li Xiaolin was still the editor of "Shanghai Literature and Art". Later, she followed her father, Mr. Ba Jin, to "Harvest" to participate in the re-publication. During this period, she wrote to Lin Chaoyang twice.
Lin Chaoyang smiled and said: "Welcome to Yanjing!"
After exchanging a few words, Li Xiaolin took the initiative to talk about "Qiu Ju's Lawsuit".
Lin Chaoyang had previously published "Qiu Ju's Lawsuit" in "Shanghai Literature and Art" under the pen name "Wang Qinglai". Although it was not as widespread in the literary circles as "Scar" and "Wrangler", it was still quite popular among readers.
Welcome and praise.
"I wrote to Li Guowen a few days ago, and he also mentioned your novel, which he praised very highly."
In his early years, Li Guowen was famous for his short story "Reselection" that satirized bureaucracy. Later, he encountered misfortune and stopped writing for a long time.
It was only in 1976 that he resumed writing. In the 1980s, he won the first Mao Dun Literature Award for his work "Spring in Winter".
"I don't have much creative experience, and there are still many immature places in the novel."
If someone wants to praise you, you must be polite, Lin Chaoyang said.
"Don't be so modest. I actually agree with what Li Guowen said in his letter."
Li Xiaolin talked about Li Guowen's views on "Qiu Ju's Lawsuit". He believed that the novel written by Lin Chaoyang started with the injury incident caused by the superiors inspecting the team to clean up the "capitalist tail" on the private land, and started with the story of civilian women.
Qiu Ju accepts her death and uses the clues as to how many times she has been in and out of public institutions to seek justice.
The content of the novel has the depth of realism and a touch of folk legend. Although it seems simple at first reading, it is endlessly memorable and thought-provoking after reading it again.
When an editor comes out to compile a manuscript, how can he not be polite?
Li Xiaolin's compliments made Lin Chaoyang feel sweet in his heart. He was afraid that he would fall into Li Xiaolin's trap, so he asked: "Why are you looking for me this time..."
"It's still about the manuscript. I used to write letters to communicate. It just so happened that I came to Yanjing to compile the manuscript this time, so I came to visit you specially to see if you have any recent works."
"Oh, that's it!" Lin Chaoyang said in a deep tone, "I have been writing a novel recently."
Li Xiaolin's eyes lit up when she heard this, "A medium-length novel? What is it about? How much has it been written?"
Her tone sounded impatient.
Although "Harvest" has just resumed publication not long ago, since its resumption in January this year, the first issue of "Harvest" has included Zhou Erfu's "Morning in Shanghai" (Part 3), Chen Baichen's "Song of the Wind" and other famous works
, Liu Xinwu, who has become famous for his scar literature in the past two years, also published a short story "Waiting for Decision" on it.
The first issue of the re-publication was initially announced, and in the second issue last month, "Harvest" published "Red Magnolia Under the Big Wall" by Cong Weixi. Once the novel was published, it caused a huge response in the southern literary world, and also "Harvest"
》 has been pushed to the forefront.
The domestic trend of scar literature started with "The Head Teacher", and the style was relatively euphemistic. Especially by the time of "The Wrangler", the concept of the work has broken the limitations of typology and brought scar novels to a new height.
However, Cong Weixi's "Red Magnolia Under the Wall" also tells the tragic experience of the protagonist during the buzzing period, and the style is much more direct. The prison life and bloody killings presented shocked many readers.
The unique style has made "Red Magnolia Under the Wall" popular among many readers, but it has also aroused pressure from relevant parties.
"Harvest" has Ba Jin at the helm, and despite the recent turmoil, it has been able to sit firmly on the Diaoyutai without worrying about manuscripts, but no publication will reject good manuscripts.
Lin Chaoyang showed the qualities of a good writer in the novel "Qiu Ju's Lawsuit". "Harvest" has just resumed publication, and what is lacking is talents like him.
"According to my idea, it should be the middle chapter. I have just written about 20,000 words. The content...is about the war in the south."
Hearing Lin Chaoyang's words, Li Xiaolin frowned, "It's not over yet, right? I'm afraid it won't be easy to publish if I write it down."
"There is a relative in the army at home. You can ask him to help pass it on to the higher authorities first."
No wonder she dared to write such a subject. It turned out that there was someone above her. After listening to Lin Chaoyang’s words, Li Xiaolin’s worries disappeared.
"Comrade Chaoyang, why don't you give us your novel "Harvest"?"
"This..." Lin Chaoyang hesitated. Originally, when he wrote this novel, he planned to give it to Liu Xinwu.
Last time Liu Xinwu came to him to make an appointment for a manuscript. Although the two of them did not agree to die, they had developed a friendship after all, and he was very sincere. He could give him a standard remuneration of seven yuan per thousand words.
"Liu Xinwu from "October" came to see me before, and I may have to hand this manuscript to him."
Hearing this, Li Xiaolin showed a look of disappointment on her face.
I'm late, so I still have to make an appointment in person.
"Then do you still have any ideas? Even if you haven't written anything yet, you can talk to me."
Editors and writers have a tacit understanding. Usually when it comes to an idea for a certain work, as long as the two of them talk about it, the finished manuscript will basically be handed over to the editor. Unless the other publication doesn't want it, it will be submitted to another publication.
"What an idea... I do have one."
Li Xiaolin's face showed hope again, "Do you mind chatting with me?"
The idea that Lin Chaoyang mentioned came to him before Du Feng found Lin Chaoyang. At that time, Tao Yushu was nagging in his ear like a little reminder all day long.
Later, Du Feng came to see him, so he put the idea aside for the time being. Today, it was Li Xiaolin who came to him, and he thought of it again.
After all, what he found was "Harvest", so Lin Chaoyang felt that he could still work hard.
"The story is probably..."
Now that everything has been mentioned, Lin Chaoyang certainly doesn't mind telling Li Xiaolin.
Lin Chaoyang talked intermittently for almost an hour. Li Xiaolin's expression was sometimes happy and joyful, sometimes depressed, and her thoughts fluctuated during Lin Chaoyang's narration.
"Well, that's probably it." Lin Chaoyang looked at Li Xiaolin and asked, "What do you think?"
Li Xiaolin thought about what he just said, thought for a while, and then said: "It's a good story."
"But..." She frowned slightly, "Is this story too bright and warm? And I feel that the ending is not powerful enough."
Lin Chaoyang looked natural and asked: "What's wrong with being brighter and warmer?"
"Uh..." Li Xiaolin spoke late, and Lin Chaoyang said for her: "Not profound enough?"
"So to speak."
“Isn’t the story itself impressive enough?”
Li Xiaolin looked at Lin Chaoyang and felt that his creative concept seemed different.
"That is to say, you are not pursuing formal thought and artistry? What you want first is a good story that touches people's hearts?"
Lin Chaoyang nodded slightly, "As for the novel, I think this may be closer to its essence."
Listening to his words, Li Xiaolin looked thoughtful and remained silent.
Wang Guowei described in "Human Words" that there are three realms of life: if you look at mountains, they are mountains, and if you look at water, they are water; if you look at mountains, they are not mountains, and if you look at water, they are not water; if you look at mountains, they are still mountains, and if you look at water, they are still water. This is a classic.
If novel creation is also compared to these three realms, Li Xiaolin dare not say which realm Lin Chaoyang is in, but it is definitely not the realm of "looking at mountains as mountains and water as water".
She comes from a well-educated family, and she has been exposed to senior literary figures since she was a child. As an editor in these years, she has seen many authors who are rigid in form and self-isolated.
Although she did not exchange much understanding of creative techniques with Lin Chaoyang, based on this sentence, Li Xiaolin could still see that Lin Chaoyang was somewhat unique in his creation.
In her impression, such a distinctive personality represents not only the personality, but also the writer's complete confidence in his own strength.
"It's so rare for you to have such insights at your age." Li Xiaolin praised.
"My humble opinion, just listen to it."
"Don't say 'you' or 'you'. Although I'm much older than you, but we're of the same generation, please call me Sister Xiaolin."
Lin Chaoyang nodded and said, "Sister Xiaolin!"
Chapter completed!