Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 118: How did I get on the wrong path of writing novels?
The disputes among students of Yenching University due to "The World's Number One Restaurant" were only circulated in the student circle, but the impact of this drama was not limited to the student circle.

Since the end of the December 9th College Students' Art Performance in the Capital, the crew of "The World's Number One Restaurant" has started a tour of major universities in Yenching, which has also allowed the influence of this student drama to continue to spread.

Although university campuses look like ivory towers, they actually hide a large number of social elites. Especially in famous universities such as Shuimu University and Yan University, they maintain highly close ties with the capital's cultural and literary circles.

The recent popularity of "The World's Number One Restaurant" naturally did not escape the eyes of those interested, so during the tour of Yanjing Normal University students, people from the Yanjing cultural and drama circles were more or less mixed in almost every performance.

That morning, Lin Chaoyang asked for leave from the museum and came to Yanjing People's Art Theatre.

He was not unfamiliar with the area around here. The Yenching People's Art Theatre's school was behind the Capital Theatre. He and his family had come to the Capital Theatre several times before to watch plays.

However, this was his first time to be behind the Capital Theatre. The office building of the People's Art Theatre is a typical Soviet-Russian architectural style, just like many buildings built in the 1950s.

There was a mail room at the door. Lin Chaoyang registered and explained his purpose. After a while, a man came down from upstairs. It was Lan Tianye, whom he had met twice before.

"Comrade Chaoyang, you've come just in time. Everyone is waiting for you!"

Lan Tianye led Lin Chaoyang upstairs. He took a look as they passed by. Each room on the first floor of the office building had nameplates with words such as dressing room and scenery workshop hanging on them.

Going up to the corridor on the second floor, there are offices on both sides. The light is dim and the air is filled with the aroma of cooking, which is wafting down from the upper floors. The top floor of the People's Art Theater office building is home to the theater's newly married young actors.

The two walked to the door of the conference room and Lan Tianye pushed the door open and walked in.

There was a long table in the middle of the conference room, surrounded by a circle of chairs. Almost every chair was occupied by a comrade who was middle-aged or older. Many of them looked familiar to Lin Chaoyang, as he had seen them in dramas before.

"This is the screenwriter of The World's No. 1 Restaurant, Comrade Lin Chaoyang. Of course, I think everyone is more familiar with his other name - Xu Lingjun! Welcome everyone!"

Lan Tianye solemnly introduced Lin Chaoyang, and warm applause broke out in the conference room.

Lin Chaoyang felt a little uncomfortable with the solemn atmosphere. He sat down at the seat arranged for him by Lan Tianye, thinking that if there were one more seat nameplate, it would basically be no different from a symposium.

So Zhi explained to Lin Chaoyang the occasion of today. Almost everyone present was a member of the Art Committee of the National Theatre of China.

After these few days, "The World's Number One Restaurant" has passed the review of the Art Committee. Today, Su Zhi called Lin Chaoyang over, mainly because this script was produced outside the institute, and everyone doesn't know much about the screenwriter and the creative process, so they want to communicate more.

After listening to Yu Zhi's explanation, Lin Chaoyang smiled and said, "You are all veterans in the drama industry. I just wrote a script by chance. There are still many things I haven't learned about the drama industry. Please bear with me if there are any omissions."

Everyone responded with a smile, so Zhi said, "Then let's get started. How about Comrade Chaoyang first tell us about the inspiration for creating "The World's No. 1 Restaurant"?"

Lin Chaoyang nodded, and he brought out the same words he had used at Yanshi University before, speaking in a relaxed and humorous tone for about ten minutes before stopping. "This is roughly the creative process of The World's Number One Restaurant."

Lan Tianye was the first to ask a question, "Chaoyang, the Fujude in the script of "The World's No. 1 Restaurant" should be based on Quanjude, right? Have you ever experienced life in Quanjude before? I think the description in the script is quite detailed."

"I can't say I have experienced life, I have only been to Quanjude twice. Some details in the script are mainly because I work in the library of Yenching University. There are some rare ancient books on the sixth floor of the library, including some miscellaneous articles written by scholars in the late Qing Dynasty. I also asked the old Yenching people around me.

Some parts may not be correct, and if an expert saw it, it would probably be laughed at.”

Lan Tianye smiled and said, "It's definitely enough to scare an amateur like me."

"Comrade Chaoyang, can we ask you about the ending of the character Lu Mengshi? He is the undisputed protagonist in the script, and your portrayal of him is the most full, comprehensive, and complex.

In the script, I saw that Yu Chu'er suggested that Lu Mengshi take over the position, and he was actually tempted.

In the second act, scene two, the two of them had some calculations. But by the third act, eight years had passed. With Lu Mengshi's ability, it shouldn't be difficult to completely sideline the two young masters of the Tang family. How could he be helpless just because he was bullied by others? "

The person who asked the question was Xia Chun, a veteran director of the People's Art Theatre and one of the four great directors of the theatre in its early days.

He raised questions about the script's plot connection and logic. Lin Chaoyang answered thoughtfully:
"There are two main reasons for this. One is that when I wrote the script, I considered it to be a student drama, so the duration cannot be too long. Another reason is that I feel that if this part of the plot is expanded, it will be a bit redundant and the rhythm will be dragged out."

Lin Chaoyang answered logically, and Xia Chun nodded, indicating his approval.

At first, Lin Chaoyang thought that it was inaccurate to call today's meeting a "symposium". After answering a few questions, he felt that it was a script troubleshooting meeting.

He answered everyone's questions one by one. Seeing that the time was almost up, Zhi asked curiously, "Chaoyang, we all think that the last couplet in the script is a stroke of genius. It not only fits the theme, but also has a long aftertaste. How did you come up with it?"

Lin Chaoyang smiled embarrassedly.

"I dare not take credit for this. This couplet actually comes from the "Collection of Couplets". It is said that the first line was written by Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty for a restaurant, and the second line was written by Ji Xiaolan.

However, it is hard to tell whether this is true or not. Emperor Kangxi and Ji Xiaolan lived in different eras, and Ji Xiaolan was not yet born when Kangxi died. Maybe Ji Xiaolan was just a later match. I have not done any specific research on this, so I dare not make any rash judgments.

I discovered this couplet by chance. I think it is very interesting and fits the theme of "The Best Restaurant in the World".

In the script, Fujude's "building a tall building" runs through the entire story, from having no building to building a building, and then to the building being magnificent and making a fortune, highlighting the career symbolized by the building.

The 'dangerous building' is more in line with the process of rise and fall, success and failure in the script.

Of course, what impressed me most about this couplet is the sentence "Who is the host and who is the guest?" How consistent is this with the experience of the protagonist Lu Mengshi?
One does not realize that he is a guest in a dream. Poor Lu Mengshi has been welcoming and seeing off guests all his life, but he has never understood this.

In fact, it is not just Lu Mengshi who worked hard and had unfulfilled ambitions. Chang Gui, who endured hardships with a smile on his face all his life and finally died of grief and anger, and Xiu Dingxin, who saw through current affairs and was cynical, which one of them is not like this?
From its expression to its connotation, this couplet goes straight to the true meaning of life. Those who have experienced vicissitudes of life call it a sigh, and those who are unwilling to accept this call it a cry.

The taste of life is contained in this. The second line was originally "half suitable for the bright moon and half suitable for the wind", I changed "half" to "time", although I ignored the neatness and rhythm of the original sentence, but it may be closer to what I want to express, and more in line with the charm of the play "The World's No. 1 Restaurant".

Having said this, Lin Chaoyang stopped.

Everyone couldn't help but applaud spontaneously, looking at Lin Chaoyang with eyes full of admiration.

If I didn't have a profound understanding of literature and drama creation, I would never have been able to say what I just said.

"Chaoyang said it well. It really broadened our horizons and broadened our horizons."

Su Zhi clapped his hands and sighed. Although he was the one who brought the script of "The World's Number One Restaurant" back to the People's Art Theatre, he knew no more about the script than others.

He listened to Lin Chaoyang's understanding of the script from beginning to end. In addition to admiration, he was more fortunate that the script of "The World's Number One Restaurant" was finally acquired by the People's Art Theatre.

"Chaoyang, I have one last question, but it can't really be considered a question." Yu Zhi said again.

"Please speak!" Lin Chaoyang said in a gentle voice.

"If nothing unexpected happens, the focus of our People's Art Theatre next year will be the play The World's Number One Restaurant. We will have to do some publicity by then. Can you give us a concise summary of the plot? We will use these words on the promotional posters and program."

After hearing what Yu Shizhi said, Lin Chaoyang looked thoughtful.

The others looked at him expectantly. Lin Chaoyang had just demonstrated his profound understanding of creation and scripts. Everyone was curious about how he would summarize such a profound script.

"At the table, cups are exchanged, and the dishes are full of flavors;

People say the food in the capital is delicious, but who can understand the bitterness, sweetness, sourness and spiciness? "

Lin Chaoyang recited four sentences in a soft but firm voice, and everyone looked solemn when they heard them.

Everyone chewed over these four sentences again and again, feeling that they were full of philosophy and profound meaning. They truly summarized the content of "The World's No. 1 Restaurant" perfectly with such short words.

"Good!" Zhu Xu's face was excited, and he was the first to clapped and shouted loudly.

Everyone applauded and praised generously.

At this point in the meeting, everyone's questions were answered and Lin Chaoyang's task was completed.

After resting for a while, Lin Chaoyang said goodbye, so the boss took him to the finance department and received a fee of 200 yuan.

The full text of "The World's No.1 Restaurant" is more than 30,000 words. If it were written in narrative language, it would probably be 100,000 words. But the script is different. It is a condensed art. On stage, the emphasis is on portraying characters through dialogue, so the text must be refined.

Even considering the number of words in the script, the standard of six yuan per thousand words is not considered high.

It's not just the case now, it's the same in later generations too. Around 2000, a screenwriter at the People's Art Theatre only received 1000 yuan for writing a 1-word script. At the same time, screenwriters outside were paid yuan for writing a TV drama script.

Prices have not risen in recent years, and the atmosphere of drama enthusiasm is also good. From now on, doing drama will really become a love affair.

Lin Chaoyang didn't write "The World's Number One Restaurant" for money, so it was a pleasant surprise to receive royalties. He didn't say much. Chong thanked him, but Su Zhi stopped him again.

"Chaoyang, I heard that you don't have a position at Yanda yet?"

"Yes."

Listening to Yu Shizhi's tone, Lin Chaoyang roughly guessed what he wanted to say.

As expected, Su Zhi immediately said, "Have you ever thought about coming to our People's Art Theatre? You have such an outstanding talent in drama creation, it would be a pity if you didn't come to our People's Art Theatre."

If Lin Chaoyang was a penniless young man now, he would probably jump for joy after being recruited by Shi Zhi.

But now he already had fame, and the People's Art Theatre could not give him any benefits. It would be better for him to join the army than to come to the People's Art Theatre. He refused Shi Zhi's recruitment without even thinking about it.

So Zhiku advised: "At least you have a job here, and you can leave again when you find a good place to go in the future!"

He used a retreat as a means of advancing, but Lin Chaoyang smiled nonchalantly and said, "Compilation is of no importance to me."

Su Zhi sighed helplessly. He almost forgot that Lin Chaoyang was not only a good script writer, but also a very popular young writer in the past two years.

Although everyone attached great importance to the establishment at that time, it was not a difficult task for him.

"Then...if you have time, write some scripts. Writing novels all the time can make your thinking rigid. It's good to write a script occasionally to relax your mind."

So Zhi almost hit Lin Chaoyang in the face with the abacus beads.

He looked at Lin Chaoyang's back as he left, his eyes full of regret and disappointment.

What a promising playwright, how could he have gone astray and just started writing novels?
(End of this chapter)