A widower's entertainment

Chapter 293 [A Cannonball Falls] (Subscribe)
Because it was heard that Lin Youcheng was writing a new novel recently, and it was rumored to be a very good novel, naturally, editors from other literary magazines also wanted to grab Lin Youcheng's manuscript. However, it was obvious that Zhang Wei had been following Lin Youcheng's "Atonement" very closely. He would visit him from time to time and repeatedly urged Lin Youcheng to hand over the manuscript to "People's Literature" after he finished it.

Lin Youcheng and Zhang Wei have always had a good relationship, and he could see how much Zhang Wei cared about his novel, so he agreed. Naturally, he had to reject other editors who came to him to ask for manuscripts.

Time passed by unknowingly, and the words on the grid paper were densely written into a thick stack.

That pile of manuscripts contained not only Lin Xue's atonement, but also the love between Lin Yu and Luo Yang.

After completing the latest manuscript, Lin Youcheng called Zhang Wei of People's Literature magazine to inform him.

This is also what Zhang Wei had told him long ago. He just called him to inform him and he would come to pick up the manuscript in person.

After Zhang Wei learned that Lin Youcheng had finished the manuscript, he naturally rushed to Xinghua Hutong as soon as possible. He had been eager to read the finished manuscript of "Atonement" because he knew the general plot of the story from the beginning, but he did not know what kind of words and plot Lin Youcheng would use to tell this special story of atonement.

Zhang Wei took over the manuscript of Lin Youcheng's novel "Atonement" and brought it back to the People's Literature magazine.

Obviously, the editors in the editorial department had long known that Lin Youcheng was writing a new novel, and Zhang Wei described it as a very powerful novel, which naturally made the other editors very curious and expectant.

"I got the manuscript back! Now I really want to know what kind of love story this novel by Lin Youcheng is about."

“Who wouldn’t want to know?”

"Director Zhang, after you finish looking at this, please give me the next one."

"Why is it you? Otherwise, go make a copy first to avoid losing the manuscript."

……

Obviously, colleagues in the editorial department couldn't wait to read Lin Youcheng's "Atonement", and naturally they all wanted to get the copy and read Lin Youcheng's latest novel as soon as possible.

Zhang Wei did not refuse. After making a copy, he watched Lin Youcheng's "Atonement" with other colleagues.

Zhang Wei felt expectant and excited, just like the feeling he had when he first watched Lin Youcheng's "The Devotion of Suspect X" in Chunfeng Lane, Decheng. With curiosity and anticipation about the name of the novel, Zhang Wei sat in his seat and began to look through Lin Youcheng's original manuscript.

Just like that, flipping through...

Zhang Wei flipped through the pages one by one, and then entered into this story called "Atonement", seeing the perspective of the thirteen-year-old girl Lin Xue, and the story of the script written by Lin Xue. He also met Lin Xue's sister Lin Yu, and the young man Luo Yang whom Lin Yu deeply loved.

Just watching, Zhang Wei knew that Lin Xue was a girl with great writing talent. She had a rich imagination and a fluent and concise writing style. She was emotionally alienated from her parents and lacked communication with her sister. The only companions she had were words and the mottled light and shadow in the summer manor, so she could only silently imagine and write about the paradise in her mind. But the reality was that during the Republic of China, the concept of class still existed deeply in people's minds. Lin Xue was such a girl who was deeply influenced by this concept. Her heart was full of repression and restraint. In her scripts, she denied unconventionality and had a class color, but in real life, she seemed to have a secret affection for Luo Yang, the son of the housekeeper.

When Lin Xue saw her sister jump into the pool in front of Luo Yang and then stand in front of him with her clothes soaked, secretly read the passionate and explicit love letter Luo Yang wrote to her sister, and saw the passion between the two of them in the study, an unconscious emotion was aroused deep in her heart: jealousy and deep shock.

Her self-awareness continued to expand, and she subconsciously developed thoughts of revenge, although she had already understood that "everything she knew might not be true, especially everything she saw with her eyes might not be true."

Therefore, Lin Xue chose to act as the protector of her sister Lin Yu, and she had to expose Luo Yang's hypocrisy, even if Lin Yu did not express any gratitude. When her cousin was raped, she immediately identified Luo Yang as the criminal.

As the story developed, Zhang Wei became very excited. He had never expected that Lin Youcheng would come up with such a story.

He keenly felt that Lin Xue's first drama script, "Tribulation", was alluding to the ordeal of Lin Yu and Luo Yang. Such a literary structure made Zhang Wei quite excited.

Of course, the most important thing for Zhang Wei now is to continue to watch the development of the story. As the name of the novel "Atonement" reveals, as she grows older, Lin Xue gradually realizes the ultimate impact of her impulsiveness and naivety. She has always felt guilty and terrified about this, and has since embarked on her long journey of atonement.

Lin Yu, who deeply loves Luo Yang, and they have been playmates since childhood. Lin Yu always believes in the person she loves. She and Luo Yang are both young people who have accepted democratic ideas and have progressive consciousness. She doesn't care about the difference in their identities at all. She only knows that the person she loves is Luo Yang, and Luo Yang has not committed any crime. It was at this time that Luo Yang, who was in the national war of resistance, joined the army and entered the battlefield in order to wash away his shame. After Lin Yu exchanged letters with Luo Yang and prayed that Luo Yang would return safely, she also entered the battlefield and became a nurse in a field hospital.

Zhang Wei was completely immersed in this touching love story. Everything on the battlefield was so cruel. The two young men, Lin Yu and Luo Yang, missed each other and wanted to be together after the war.

Zhang Wei was also looking forward to seeing Lin Yu and Luo Yang finally get together after the war. The truth was revealed through Lin Xue's narration and confession. There was someone else who committed the crime, and Lin Xue begged Luo Yang for forgiveness.

Everything seemed to have a good ending, and Luo Yang finally forgave Lin Xue.

But at this moment, what Zhang Wei didn't expect was that the story did not end there.

Zhang Wei was completely stunned when he read the rest of the story.

Just when he had been worried about Lin Yu and Luo Yang and knew the happy ending of these two people, Lin Youcheng suddenly changed his tone and gave the real ending of Lin Yu and Luo Yang in cold words - "On May 1945, 5, Luo Yang died of sepsis in the Furong Mountain battlefield in western Hunan. Less than seven days later, on May 20, during the Battle of Lion Rock, Lin Yu was killed by a shell under the bombing of the Japanese army."

“I never saw them that year.”

……

Completely caught off guard, a knife suddenly stabbed into the person's heart, blood gushed out, as if hit by a cannonball, the whole person's body and mind were blown to pieces.

It was just such a simple sentence, but Zhang Wei's scalp went numb and he stood up suddenly.

He never imagined that this was the true ending of Lin Yu and Luo Yang. Both of them fell on the eve of victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan!
Zhang Wei's heart suddenly felt like it was hit by something, making him feel indescribably uncomfortable. He was completely shocked by this ending, or rather, the truth.

His brain hadn't even reacted yet. The seemingly happy ending given earlier was just a happy ending created by Lin Xue in the novel in order to atone for his sins, so that Lin Yu and Luo Yang would have a comedy ending in the fictional script. However, the truth was not like that.

Zhang Wei continued to read on. His mind was already shocked by this story. He really didn't expect that Lin Youcheng would write this novel like this. It was really too awesome and too cruel. At the end of the original comedy, he gave the bloody and cruel truth. Lin Yu and Luo Yang died in the year of victory of the Anti-Japanese War. What a cruel truth!
Zhang Wei's heart was stabbed with pain, but as a literary editor he also knew very well how awesome Lin Youcheng's novel was.

A very sad ending, a very shocking design!

At this moment, Zhang Wei has understood that there are actually four hidden texts in the entire novel "Atonement".

That is the play script written by Lin Yu. The first hidden text, "Tribulation", written when she was thirteen years old, not only opened the prelude of the whole novel, but also runs through the plot of the whole novel. The tragic fate of the protagonist in the script has foreshadowed the misfortune that Lin Xue brought to her sister Lin Yu. The second text is Lin Xue's stream-of-consciousness novel "Reunion", which foreshadows that Lin Xue has regretted the fatal consequences of her mistakes in the past and hopes to be forgiven. The reunion is not only a reunion between her and her sister, but also a reunion between her sister and Luo Yang. The third text, "Atonement", the novel written throughout her life, shows a happy picture, that is, sister Lin Yu and lover Luo Yang fly together, and the sister's road to atonement seems to be complete.

However, the fourth text of the novel, the epilogue, tells everyone that Lin Yu and Luo Yang had died one after another in the Anti-Japanese War, and the happy ending was just a white lie by Lin Xue. Intertextuality connects the suspense between the four inner texts, and they refer to each other, crisscrossing and weaving a mosaic-like network, presenting a complete overview. The previous text is constantly negated by the new text behind it, that is, transposition, to generate new meanings, until Lin Youcheng's goal is achieved.

Of course, these were just flashes in Zhang Wei's mind. Deep in his heart, he was more shocked by the entire story of the novel "Atonement". "Atonement" is a typical coming-of-age novel. The novel spans more than 60 years, from a 13-year-old girl to a reflective elderly female writer. This atonement is too profound and too sad.

It can even be said that regardless of whether Lin Xue was acting out of misunderstanding, jealousy, or in the class-divided society of the time, when she saw Luo Yang being intimate with her sister, the class concept in her mind had already made her believe that Luo Yang was not a good person. When the police asked the only witness, Lin Xue, if she saw who the murderer was, she said with certainty that she had not seen the murderer.

"I saw it. I saw with my own eyes that it was him."

She took it for granted that Luo Yang was the terrible criminal. Luo Yang was imprisoned and then enlisted in the army. From then on, the love between Luo Yang and his sister Lin Yu fell into the abyss of suffering.

The filthy scene she saw under the dark sky that night had already linked the criminal to Luo Yang, whom she had identified as a pervert, in her subconscious mind. Just this one sentence completely destroyed the happiness of Luo Yang and his sister's life.

Just like the last two simple sentences explained the cruel truth about the deaths of Luo Yang and Lin Yu.

Even though Lin Xue began a long and gloomy journey of atonement because of that testimony, as time went by, she realized her mistakes and was condemned by her conscience day and night. She followed her sister and devoted herself to the difficult work of a nurse, and began her journey of atonement. Whenever she took care of the wounded at close range, she felt more concerned and guilty about Luo Yang, whose life and death were uncertain in the war.

The war made Lin Xue reflect on herself spiritually and made her more aware of the necessity and importance of her atonement. Life on the battlefield made Lin Xue grow up quickly, and she completed her confession book, Atonement, with guilt and self-blame.

Although this act of atonement is just a way to express her fantasy through the novel, the scene of Luo Yang and her sister, and her reunion with them, fantasizes about the happy life they should have had. Although this is just her beautiful fantasy, it is her only way to atone for her sins and her beautiful yearning.

When Zhang Wei thought about this, he really admired Lin Youcheng from the bottom of his heart. He was really too awesome. He was really shocked.

Before Zhang Wei could say anything, the other editors in the editorial department seemed to have seen the final outcome and the truth. They slammed the table and said in shock: "Lin Youcheng's novel is really amazing!"

"I really didn't expect him to write like this. I was completely stunned!"

"Yes, that seemingly happy ending was just a fabrication by Lin Xue. The real ending was so heartbreaking. Lin Yu and Luo Yang were almost together, but I didn't expect Lin Youcheng to be so cruel. He put an end to the fate of Lin Yu and Luo Yang with just two simple sentences!

"Lin Youcheng's novel is so well written! I never expected it to end like this."

……

Obviously, this was not the feeling of just one person in the editorial department. It can be said that all the editors in the department were completely shocked after watching Lin Youcheng's "Atonement".

The novel "Atonement" was really like a cannonball that fell and hit the heart of the entire editorial department of "People's Literature", exploding with a loud bang, and hot blood was gushing out desperately. It was the most primitive and powerful impact force of literature, making them all crazy.

(End of this chapter)