The literary era since 1979

Chapter 35 Everyone in the dormitory is a talent

"Teacher, do you know me?"

Fangyan looked at the old man on the left and the little girl on the right.

"I think there are very few people in the current literary world who have not read your The Horse Herder and Loess Plateau."

The old man has a kind smile.

"I don't deserve it. You're flattering me."

Fangyan asked back: "Teacher, what should I call you?"

"Just call me Teacher Gu. I hope you will continue to work hard and strive to write a work that surpasses "The Horse Shepherd" during your study period at the institute." Teacher Gu encouraged him.

Fang Yan said seriously, "I will try my best."

"Well, you are neither arrogant nor impatient, and are as steady as a rock. No wonder Mr. Li has such high expectations of you."

Teacher Gu glanced at the roster and said, "Please show me your letter of introduction and certificate."

Fang Yan took it out from his bag. After verifying the information, Teacher Gu looked at the little girl beside him and said, "Xiao Jiang."

"Take Comrade Xiao Fang to the dormitory that has been arranged for him."

"Excuse me."

Fang Yan nodded at them and said, "Please trouble Teacher Jiang as well."

"You're welcome, just call me comrade."

When Xiao Jiang heard the famous dialect call him "teacher", he was very happy and asked, "Do you need my help?"

"No, I can do it alone."

"Then come with me."

The two of them walked one after the other, chatting casually. From her, I learned that the Literature Institute was in a state of disrepair.

Currently, there are very few people working there.

The entire preparatory group, apart from Jiang Dan, includes Director Li Qingquan, Deputy Director Xu Gang, and Gu Jianzhi and the others mentioned earlier. In addition, there are several resident teachers who help out part-time.

The teachers who are actually responsible for teaching and lecturing are either literary giants or Chinese department teachers from prestigious universities. They do not usually participate in the daily work of the institute. Their management model, teaching content and teaching methods are all modeled after the big brother Gorky Literary Institute.

"That's the library over there."

"Behind the school building is a playground with a basketball hoop..."

After Jiang Dan's introduction, Fang Yan looked carefully at the school building, which consisted of several rows of bungalows. It was very simple and the road was overgrown with weeds.

There were four people in one dormitory, and he was assigned to a room on the outside.

As soon as I opened the door, I saw that the bedroom faced north and south, and the back window faced the backyard. A breeze blew by, and dust flew all over the sky.

I saw two people cleaning the place skillfully.

"Oh my God, isn't this Yanzi?"

"Mo Shen!"

Fang Yan was very surprised, "Jiang Zilong!"

"Haha, we parted at the awards ceremony. I thought it would take a long time before I could see you again, but I didn't expect it to be so soon!"

Jiang Zilong was very surprised.

"Me too. I never thought it would be such a coincidence that we would be assigned to the same room." Fang Yan shook hands with them. "It's fate!"

"That's right, it's fate."

Jiang Zilong's tone was filled with excitement.

Mo Shen couldn't help but sigh: "That's good. We will have plenty of opportunities to talk about literature and creative things in the future."

The three of them chatted while cleaning with clear division of labor.

Then, they talked about the last roommate. They made a bet and guessed it. Jiang Zilong guessed it was "Shanghai Stock Exchange" and Mo Shen said it was "Shanxi West".

Fang Yan thought for a moment and said, "I guess it's Jibei."

As a result, none of them were guessed correctly.

"My name is Gu Hua, and I'm from Chenzhou in southern Hunan."

Gu Hua took out some Acacia brand cigarettes and shared them among the three people.

Isn’t that the author of “Furong Town”?

Fangyan took the cigarette and took the initiative to introduce them to Gu Hua.

"This is Jiang Zilong, and that is Mo Shen."

"You are Jiang Zilong! You are Mo Shen!"

Gu Hua was very excited and shook hands vigorously. When it was Fang Yan's turn to introduce himself, he was surprised and said, "You are Fang Yan? I have heard from my friends who came back from the Writers' Congress that you are very young, but I didn't expect you to be so young."

Fangyan smacked his lips, why did this sound so awkward.

From the corner of his eye, he could clearly notice the envy in the eyes of Jiang Zilong and the other two. After all, they were all a generation older than him. At his age, not only in this dormitory, but even among the 34 students enrolled, he was quite conspicuous.

Fortunately, they are not jealous of others' talents. They speak nicely and are very nice people. There is a bit of pampering and care for the younger brother in their eyes. Fangyan also gladly accepts the identity of "the youngest in the dormitory".

Just as I was making the bed, I heard Mo Shen's voice from behind:

"Yanzi, this is the letter Lu Yao asked me to give you."

"Why not send it directly to my home, or to the editorial office?"

Fang Yan frowned and said, "I made you run all the way here."

"I don't know the specific content. Lu Yao only said it was a thank-you letter. It would be disrespectful to mail it to you. He was going to come to Yanjing and hand it to you personally, but something delayed him."

Mo Shen explained, "Well, they heard that I was going to study at the Literature Institute, so they asked me to do this."

"Thank you letter?"

Fangyan opened the envelope and began to read.

I saw the words "My brother, Comrade Fangyan" written at the beginning, and I couldn't help but raise my eyebrows. Lu Yao is calling me a brother, that's not bad.

"It's been a long time. I wonder how you are doing."

"Let me talk about my situation first. I thought that if the death sentence was upheld when my manuscript arrived at your hands, I would have burned it. But I didn't expect you to give me such a big surprise by recommending the manuscript to Contemporary Magazine.

All of a sudden, it brought new hope to me who was in despair.

Unexpectedly, the novel received high praise from the editorial department, and Comrade Qin Zhaoyang also gave enthusiastic affirmation. "Contemporary" has decided to publish my novel and will issue it in early May.

"A Soul-Stirring Scene" will be published in the journal of my country's highest literary publishing unit (Renmin Press). This is a great honor and undoubtedly the most significant turning point in my literary life...

It's all thanks to you!

Fang Yan, you are my Lu Yao's benefactor!"

"What did Lu Yao say in the letter?"

Mo Shen cast a curious look at him.

"Lu Yao's "A Thrilling Scene" was picked up by Contemporary Magazine and will be published soon."

After reading the last sentence "Thousands of words, but only one word of gratitude", General Fang retracted his gaze, feeling that he was one step closer to conquering Lu Yao as a general.

"Contemporary?!"

All of a sudden, it attracted everyone's attention.

"That's not right, Yanzi. Didn't Lu Yao submit his work to your Yanjing Literature and Art? How come it suddenly became Contemporary?"

Mo Shen didn't understand the reason.

Fang Yan told the whole story truthfully, "I can't just watch such a good work being burned by Lu Yao, right?"

"hiss!"

Gu Hua looked him up and down as if he was getting to know him all over again, "Yanzi, I didn't realize you were the editor of Yenching Literature and Art."

"Assistant editor, not worth mentioning."

Fangyan waved his hand: "But I can still say a few words in the editorial department. If you have any good works, you can come to me. We at Yanjing Literature and Art are very eager for manuscripts."

"sure!"

Jiang Zilong, Gu Hua and others immediately stood in awe.

Fangyan can see respect in their eyes.

These days, editors of literary magazines are more powerful than writers and are the equivalent of venture capitalists in the financial world.

Writers have to "grind" to editors. If a literary editor publishes a novel of an author, his fate may change from then on. Just imagine, if the editor had not published Yu Hua's debut work, he might still be a dentist in a clinic today.

Maybe in life, he was taken care of like a younger brother, but in literature, in the whole dormitory, only Jiang Zilong could be on par with Fang Xiaojiang. Looking at the whole class, there were not many people like him.

"How many people are there in this session?"

"34."

Jiang Zilong smoked and said, "According to Teacher Gu, our group of students were recommended by local writers' associations, literary federations, and major literary magazines across the country. They are all well-known writers."

"Yes."

Gu Hua listed them all: "In addition to Zilong, I just saw Ye Wenling, Qiao Dianyun, and Jia Dashan. They are all representatives of the Third Writers' Congress."

"I remember this Jia Dashan. He was as famous as my friend Jia Pingwa. We called them 'the two Jias'."

Mo Shen's eyes suddenly lit up.

"It really is a hidden dragon and crouching tiger."

Fangyan couldn't help but sigh and feel excited, he had come to the right place!
What was the most lacking thing in the 20th century's literary world? Talent!

There are so many talented people here, and many of them will become literary leaders in the future. These are all valuable resources for an editor like me. Even if only half of them join his group of writers, it will be a success.

Dear talented people, come to my bowl quickly!

(End of this chapter)