A widower's entertainment

Chapter 392 [New Work] (Please Subscribe)
Xinghua Hutong, Beijing.

The pomegranate tree in the courtyard was laden with fruit in autumn. Lin Youcheng didn't take a closer look at the fruit-laden tree and walked straight towards the gate. Before he even left the courtyard, he saw Lin Zhaomei bringing her friends to play in the courtyard.

Hello, Uncle Lin!

Lin Zhaomei brought Gao Yuanyuan to her house to play. When Gao Yuanyuan saw Lin Youcheng preparing to leave, she still greeted him very politely.

Lin Youcheng smiled and nodded.

Lin Zhaomei asked again, "Dad, are you going out?"

"I'm going to the magazine office; there's a seminar on the works being presented there. Zhaoqing and the others picked some pomegranates and left them in your room. You can give them to Yuanyuan to eat later."

Lin Zhaomei nodded, pulled Gao Yuanyuan into her room, and added, "Dad, come back soon."

Lin Youcheng saw that his daughter Lin Zhaomei had already pulled Gao Yuanyuan into her room, and he couldn't help but shake his head. Since they were already in her room playing, he didn't linger. He left the courtyard and hailed a taxi on the street, heading directly to the People's Literature magazine office.

This symposium on the works was also held because of Lin Youcheng's work "Love". Although it is a short story, the influence of this novel is not small at all. Moreover, the film "Love", which was adapted from the novel, won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival, which naturally made Lin Youcheng's novel even more popular.

In fact, Lin Youcheng felt there was no need to hold a seminar. However, it was clear that the novel's impact on the literary world, the controversial topics, and Lin Youcheng's own influence made it very worthwhile to hold a seminar. Therefore, this seminar was not led by the Writers Association, but organized by the People's Literature magazine.

Lin Youcheng took a taxi to the People's Literature magazine office. Since the seminar was organized by the People's Literature magazine office, the meeting was naturally held in the magazine office's conference room.

"Youcheng, I've been waiting for you for so long! Why are you only arriving now?!"

Yu Hua was chatting with Shi Tiesheng when he saw Lin Youcheng. He quickly pushed Shi Tiesheng's wheelchair over with a smile.

Lin Youcheng had also met Shi Tiesheng, since they were both in the Beijing literary circle and in the same Writers Association. Lin Youcheng was also the deputy director of the novel group of the Beijing Writers Association, so he naturally knew the writers in the association.

Shi Tiesheng looked at Lin Youcheng with a smile and said, "We were just talking about your novel 'Love'."

Since the seminar hadn't officially started yet, Lin Youcheng greeted the other editors and writers, and then chatted with Yu Hua and others about his recent creative work and the books and content he had read. Of course, this also included discussions about the film scripts Lin Youcheng had written for foreign film companies.

There was no way around it; Lin Youcheng's creative passion had always been so strong, achieving great success not only in literary creation but also in screenwriting, which naturally made Yu Hua very envious.

It is known that Yu Hua is now planning to come to Beijing. However, his marriage has ended, and even if he is with Cheng Hong, he can only rent a place temporarily in Beijing. However, it is obvious that he did not tell Lin Youcheng this. One reason is that he felt it was unnecessary, and the other is that he did not want to lose face in front of Lin Youcheng and make it seem that his life was very difficult.

Yu Hua mostly talked about literary creation with Lin Youcheng and Shi Tiesheng, saying, "I recently planned to write a story about the life of a spoiled son of a landlord, but I've hit a roadblock and can't continue writing."

As Lin Youcheng listened to Yu Hua talk about the story of his creation, which seemed to be about writing "To Live," he couldn't help but say, "Why don't you write it in the first person, or try a different perspective?"

Upon hearing Lin Youcheng's words, Yu Hua thought about it carefully, then his eyes lit up. It seemed that Lin Youcheng's suggestion made a lot of sense. He nodded repeatedly and said with a smile, "I'll try writing this story in the first person later. Maybe that will make it easier for readers to immerse themselves in the story."

Lin Youcheng was just offering a suggestion. He knew that although Yu Hua had already written novels such as "Cries in the Drizzle" and "The Mistake by the River," it was "To Live" that truly made Yu Hua famous in the literary world.

Yu Hua looked at Lin Youcheng and said with a smile, "Speaking of which, my story is a little different from your novel 'Love'. I plan to call my story 'Living', but your novel 'Love' is about choosing death because of a stroke and paralysis."

Upon hearing Yu Hua's words, Lin Youcheng couldn't help but laugh and said, "It's just a different choice."

"I think no matter what, we still have to live."

Upon hearing Yu Hua's words, Shi Tiesheng nodded repeatedly and said, "I think so too. However, I can understand the wife's choice in Cheng's novel 'Love,' and I also feel that the husband's final decision to fulfill his wife's choice is truly admirable."

Yu Hua nodded as he listened to Shi Tiesheng's words. He had naturally read Lin Youcheng's "Love" as well, otherwise he wouldn't have made a special trip to attend this seminar. He was also genuinely astonished by Lin Youcheng's story "Love." The story seemed simple, but the descriptions in the text, the emotions, and the discussion of life, dignity, and the word "love" all deeply moved them.

Just as Yu Hua and Shi Tiesheng had thought, Lin Youcheng's novel "Love" truly shocked the entire literary world. It was simple yet deeply moving. Such a story was anything but simple. The delicate and realistic writing style and narrative techniques have been the subject of much discussion among literary critics. Of course, the love in this story is also a topic of discussion.

At the seminar, many literary professionals naturally shared their views on the novel *Love*. Of course, some points of contention arose regarding the novel's moral correctness, such as how to view the husband smothering his wife with a pillow. These were points of differing opinions at the seminar. However, the discussions were generally positive and constructive, with most affirming Lin Youcheng's portrayal of this scene.

As the director of the fiction section of *People's Literature* magazine and the editor in charge of the novel *Love*, Zhang Wei naturally offered his opinions. Holding a long manuscript he had written, he said, "Lin Youcheng's *Love* confronts aging, illness, and death, and discusses love and dignity. It cruelly and calmly tells the story of the emotions between two elderly people. All the dialogues are very reasonable, the emotions are real, and the heartbreaking ending actually makes the love between the two even more remarkable. Life and death are like that dove, you can't catch it or keep it, only the love of growing old together is eternal. It is minimalist and restrained, with profound inner strength, many images, and details that win the reader's heart. It is despairing and oppressive, but also has delicate and touching moments that are hard to describe. As for discussing how to relieve the pain of loved ones, that is another topic about euthanasia. Lin Youcheng did not express any opinions in this novel; he simply calmly told this story with words."

Undoubtedly, the topic of "euthanasia" raised by Zhang Wei has also been brought up by other literary critics. However, as Zhang Wei said, Lin Youcheng's perspective was very restrained and calm, and he did not reveal too many opinions or viewpoints in his writing.

This is also what other literary critics consider praiseworthy about Lin Youcheng's novel "Love".

Everyone else at the seminar listened attentively to Zhang Wei's words, and some even took notes with pens, recording some of his insightful points and words.

Besides Zhang Wei praising Lin Youcheng's novel, other literature professors from other schools also said: "In my opinion, Lin Youcheng's novel 'Love' also expresses respect for the personality of intellectuals, respect for their pursuit of personal dignity and love that transcends physical existence. I am very moved by the story written by Comrade Lin Youcheng. The calm narrative tells a touching tragedy full of love. Under the tragic ending, we see the unbreakable love between an old couple."

Yu Hua, who was standing to the side, nodded repeatedly upon hearing this. Clearly, this was also his thought. The elderly couple inside were intellectuals, such as music teachers, who cared more about their dignity and could not accept living without it.

However, in Yu Hua's view, for some people, living is simply living itself, and living itself is painful, but they still have to keep living.

Clearly, these statements make a lot of sense, and naturally, people will begin to think about and discuss them.

In fact, these are similar to the reviews published by literary critics in some literary magazines. They really admire Lin Youcheng's short story, because the story is about how intellectuals will choose in the face of aging and death. The topics of life and dignity in this story are also very worthy of their discussion.

"In my opinion, Lin Youcheng's novel is actually about dissecting, analyzing, meticulously and slowly, like using a precise instrument to examine and dissect the old man's suffering. Regarding 'coldness,' there is a cool way of saying it: 'cold-blooded,' or, negatively, 'indifferent.' Perhaps what Lin Youcheng wants us to discuss is whether giving up on life and heading towards death in a step-by-step manner is love and humanity? Is it also possible to continue struggling to live? Lin Youcheng's novel does not provide answers to these questions, and these are questions we need to find in reality."

In addition, some people have raised other viewpoints—

"Physically speaking, there is never any way to grow old with dignity. Aging means a series of unbearable hardships, and the most unbearable of all is incapacity. When everything depends on others, it is not so much a challenge to others, but a challenge to oneself, a challenge to one's own limits of dignity. In this novel, Comrade Lin Youcheng is devoid of warmth, and simply explaining the wife's suicidal thoughts is already the greatest pity for the readers. As for whether the old man suddenly smothered his wife for her sake or for himself, it seems to have little value for discussion, because it does not solve the problem. This is certainly not a dignified way to die. His final attempt to make his wife's death appear dignified is less about comforting and deceiving others, and more about self-deception."

"This is what needs to be discussed: is it true love to sacrifice each other's dignity and elegance for the sake of cruelty?"

"The writing is so calm it's almost cold, telling a story that leaves you breathless. The ending was actually quite predictable; we were just waiting to see what the trigger would be. But it was cruel, so incredibly cruel, yet it was a story of genuine love and having loved. The part where the wife was slapped for refusing to drink water left a deep impression on me and moved me deeply."

……

Literary seminars are like that; there's an exchange and clash of ideas, and in the 1990s, the clashes of viewpoints were quite intense. However, at the seminar on Lin Youcheng's novel "Love," there wasn't as much questioning and criticism; instead, there was more praise and affirmation.

There's no way around it, the story of "Love" is genuinely touching!
These viewpoints and opinions are very insightful. It is clear that such a seminar on the works will lead to more in-depth discussions, especially since the story itself in Lin Youcheng's novel is quite profound and human nature is worth exploring.

Although readers and critics may have different opinions, Lin Youcheng will also share his views now that the author himself is at the seminar. However, to be honest, Lin Youcheng is quite relaxed about the discussions at the seminar, unlike when Lu Yao's "Ordinary World" was criticized relentlessly at a seminar in Beijing, and Lu Yao, the author, was severely discouraged.

Clearly, Lin Youcheng was not affected by the criticism. After all, most of the comments were positive and praiseworthy. Even the criticisms did not bother him. After all, such seminars only allowed a small number of readers to express their opinions. Moreover, the film adaptation of his novel "Love" won the Golden Lion Award and received enthusiastic responses and touched foreign audiences. The story had long been proven to be very moving.

Even after the seminar ended, many literary workers still came to exchange ideas with Lin Youcheng.

"Youcheng, although I really like your novel, I still think that no matter what, we still have to live. Only by living can we have hope."

Upon hearing Shi Tiesheng's words, Lin Youcheng nodded and said with a smile, "I also believe that there is only hope if we are alive."

Hearing Lin Youcheng and Shi Tiesheng's conversation, Yu Hua, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but say, "To be honest, I'm already quite impatient to finish writing my current novel and show it to you."

Shi Tiesheng said with a smile, "I look forward to the completion of your novel."

Lin Youcheng nodded, expressing his anticipation.

However, Lin Youcheng wondered if Yu Hua, who was writing his novel "To Live," should also write a new work.

(End of this chapter)