The literary era since 1979

Chapter 289 Sloppy Puppy
Jiangsu and Zhejiang, sea salt.

Yu Hua sat in the room, fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan.

Suddenly, a car bell rang outside.

Immediately afterwards, a bag was thrown in from outside the yard and fell to the ground with a "pa".

Father Yu rocked his rattan chair and said leisurely:
"Oh, the manuscript is rejected!"

"Look at what you said, can't you hope for me something good..."

"You don't like hospitals or tooth extractions so much that you have to go to the cultural center to be a writer?"

"I've had enough of pulling teeth! I don't want to wait until I'm old and recall my youth only to find that all I have left is my open mouth. I don't want to be a dentist. I just want to be like those guys in the cultural center, sleep in, don't have to go to work, and still earn royalties."

Yu Hua curled her lips and went to the yard to pick up the bag.

I have become accustomed to the rejection of my manuscripts. The number of rejected manuscripts I have received is more than that of all the cities in China.

Find out which level of publishing house rejected the manuscript, then find a publishing house of a lower level than this one and continue submitting your manuscript.

As for revising the manuscript? It is impossible to revise the manuscript!
It is impossible to revise the manuscript in this life!

When he saw "October Literature and Art Publishing House" written on the front of the envelope, he thought that his work "The Seventh Night" was rejected by "October". But when he opened the letter, Yu Hua immediately became excited, because it was a handwritten letter written in Fangyan.

"how is everything?"

Yu's father jokingly asked, "Which publishing house rejected this manuscript again?"

"Why do you always make sarcastic remarks?"

Yu Hua couldn't help but smile foolishly and said, "This time it's not a rejection letter, it's a revision letter. Teacher Fang wants me to revise the manuscript!"

"Teacher Fang?"

When my father heard that it was a "dialect", he was shocked.

"Hey, maybe your son will become famous!"

Yu Hua handed the letter over, feeling complacent but also puzzled.

According to the practice of seconded writing, the author is often invited to the editorial office to receive good guidance.

But this time, Fangyan wanted to invite himself to a guesthouse in Hangzhou, but it didn’t matter, all travel expenses would be reimbursed.

…………

The next day, with Fangyan's handwritten letter and a letter of introduction from the editorial department of October, Yu Hua easily got leave.

Amid the envy and exclamations of the doctors and nurses in the hospital, I packed my bags and set off for Hangzhou with great enthusiasm.

The letter written in Fangyan was very detailed, explaining the route to the guesthouse clearly, including which buses to take along the way.

Yu Hua arrived at the Xinxin Hotel smoothly, got the key, went to the designated room, and settled down.

After a while, the sound of light chatting was heard in the corridor.

"What a pity, at 23, he doesn't meet the age requirement."

Wang Fulin's tone was full of regret: "Otherwise, Dong Zhizhi should be Lin Daiyu's first choice."

Fang Yan smiled and said, "If we consider factors such as age and appearance, I think Chen Xiaoxu is the most suitable. Although his appearance is not as good as Dong Zhizhi, his temperament is also outstanding. Most importantly, actors are a blank slate, which makes them easier to train."

"Yeah, I think so too."

Wang Fulin sighed quietly, but it was not easy to convince the gentlemen of the Advisory Committee of "Dream of Red Mansions".

What's more, after searching for a long time in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, they still couldn't find a suitable person to play Jia Baoyu.

Now, we can only hope to find it in Shanghai’s film studios, television stations, drama troupes, and opera troupes.

"Director Wang, please don't think like that. China is so big and has so many people. We will definitely be able to find suitable actors."

Fangyan suggested that one should either look for it in a city one has visited before, or follow the example of Li Hanxiang's "A Dream of Red Mansions".

"Teacher Fang means to find a Kun student?"

Wang Fulin's eyes lit up. The so-called Kunsheng means a woman playing a male role in opera.

"That's right. Lin Qingxia played Jia Baoyu in the TV series Dream of the Red Chamber. If we can find an androgynous actress, she can be considered."

The method used in the dialect is also the solution used in the movie version of "Dream of Red Mansions".

Wang Fulin said: "This is also a good idea!"

Fang Yan said: "But unless it is absolutely necessary, we still have to give priority to male actors."

The two of them were walking and talking. When they passed by Yu Hua's room, they caught a glimpse of the door being open and someone sitting by the bed.

Fang Yan stopped when he saw Yu Hua with her middle-parted hair.

"Coming!"

"Hey, Mr. Fang."

Yu Hua scratched his head, his simple smile showing a hint of shrewdness.

Fangyan called him to his room, and then took out the manuscript of "Seventh Night" from his briefcase:

"Do you like Kawabata Yasunari very much?" "Yes! I especially like the flavor of his works, as well as his understanding and approach to death!"

Yu Hua didn't even think about it.

Fang Yan said: "No wonder your narrative style is all Kawabata Yasunari-style."

Yu Hua confessed that he has been obsessed with Kawabata Yasunari's works for more than three years. What he is most obsessed with is the detailed descriptions of violence and death, so much so that he has always rejected almost all other writers and tried his best to learn from Kawabata Yasunari.

"I always buy two copies of his works, one to keep and the other to read by my pillow."

"It can be said that his works overshadowed my first three years of writing."

"This may also have something to do with the fact that I work in a hospital."

"........."

Hearing him talk about his interesting stories in the morgue, Fang Yan couldn't help but laugh and said, "How does the saying go? Death is the coolest night."

"Yes, that's what it feels like!"

Yu Hua slapped his thigh, his heart leaping with joy.

Teacher Fang really understands me!
Then, he changed the subject, "Except for Kawabata Yasunari, your books are the ones I read the most and learned the most from."

"So what did you learn?"

Dialects are very curious.

“It was also about death and violence, starting with Under the Hawthorn Tree.” Yu Hua recounted the story in detail: “At the time, I cried so hard.”

Fang Yan smiled and said, "That's great. The more sad you cry, the happier I am."

"what?"

Yu Hua was stunned. Listen, is this what a human being would say?

"This is called 'leaving happiness to yourself and leaving pain to readers'." Fangyan patted his shoulder gently.

This kind of happiness is beyond imagination!
Got it!

I think I got it!
Yu Hua’s eyes widened, as if his Ren and Du meridians were opened. This was the joy of death!

"You started writing "The Seventh Night" in the morgue." Fang Yan half-jokingly said, "Did you get the inspiration from the morgue?"

"Hehe, to be honest, I really thought of this in the morgue. I almost had a mental breakdown because of it."

After Yu Hua told the truth, he humbly asked, "Teacher Fang, what do you think of this manuscript?"

“Although your fusion of Kawabata Yasunari and magical realism is fresh, it is obviously incompatible.”

Fang Yan said: "You want to construct a world of death, where it is a peaceful and happy utopia without cemeteries and urns. Real life is a cruel world of contradictions and misery, blood, violence, indifference, and magic. But the two worlds are too separated, as if they were written separately."

During the discussion, Yu Hua became increasingly confused:
"Teacher Fang, what should I do?"

"You have to make a choice between Kawabata Yasunari and magical realism." Fang Yan said bluntly: "After all, Kawabata Yasunari is a representative of aestheticism, and it is difficult to combine the two."

Yu Hua shrugged. "If I choose magical realism, I don't know whose works and styles to refer to. Borges, Beckett, Marquez, Rulfo, Kafka..."

Fang Yan said: "Judging from your Seventh Night, you might want to read some of Kafka's novels first."

"Kafka?"

Yu Hua was stunned. "I heard that his works are extremely avant-garde, extremely depressing, and full of self-destructive and death-like tendencies."

Fang Yan said: "Isn't Kawabata Yasunari also a beauty of extreme loss, like his "Snow Country"? "

Yu Hua gradually understood, "Yes!"

In dialect: "Have you read Kafka's works?"

Yu Hua raised a finger and said embarrassedly: "I have only read his article "The Castle". I think there are wonderful dreams floating in the sky above the lonely castle, and he sits there with his legs crossed, lonely but happily intoxicated with himself, and never thought of sharing with others."

“That’s another reason why I recommend Kafka.”

Fang Yan said: "Compared with other writers, his magical realism is more in line with the writing and narrative of our Chinese literature."

Yu Hua blinked, looking confused.

"Once you read Kafka's novels a few more times, you will naturally understand." Fang Yan then took Yu Hua and walked out of the hotel.

The two went to a bookstore, and in a daze, Yu Hua bought a set of "Selected Novels of Kafka".

I went back to the room and started looking through it.

It’s okay if you don’t watch it, but once you start you can’t stop.

"Damn, I didn't know novels could be written so awesomely, holy shit!"

All of a sudden, the set of writing rules that I had spent more than three years painstakingly building up by imitating Yasunari Kawabata, collapsed like a building hit by an earthquake, and turned into ruins in an instant.

My previous fascination with Yasunari Kawabata vanished into thin air.

Kafka soon filled the void.

Long, long time later, whenever she was interviewed and recalled that night, Yu Hua would always say with gratitude:
"It was Mr. Fang and Kafka who joined forces to save me from Kawabata Yasunari's butcher knife."

(End of this chapter)