Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 138 Special Report by People's Daily

Lin Chaoyang had heard about the Institute of Literature when he was listening to other people's conversations before. The full name of the Institute of Literature mentioned by Ding Ling was the Literary Institute of China Writers Association, which was first established in 1950 and closed in 1957. The Ding Ling in front of him was the founder of the Institute of Literature.

The literature institute was just resumed in January this year and is currently preparing for its establishment.

Lin Chaoyang just heard from everyone that many winners of this year's National Excellent Short Story Award have received invitations from the Institute of Literature and Art, such as Jiang Zilong, Chen Shixu, Aikebai and others. These people will become the fifth batch of students of the Institute of Literature and Art in a few days.

Lin Chaoyang also heard that Mu Guozheng had also received an invitation from the Institute of Literature, but he refused without hesitation.

Lin Chaoyang's situation is different from Mu Guozheng's. Mu Guozheng was invited but refused, while no one invited him at all.

"I won't go. I have to work."

In front of Ding Ling, the founder of the Institute of Literature, Lin Chaoyang certainly couldn't say that he was not invited at all, so he could only say it in a tactful way.

Ding Ling naturally heard the hidden meaning of Lin Chaoyang's words. Zhang Guangnian smiled and joked, "It's a pity for Chaoyang to be a student with his level. It would be good for him to be a teacher."

Lin Chaoyang can be said to be the most watched young writer in the Chinese literary world in the past two years. Almost every one of his works, whether short stories or novellas, has had a strong influence, which is extremely rare in the Chinese literary world.

Therefore, in the eyes of many readers and people in the literary world, his level is far beyond that of his peers, so it is not surprising that Zhang Guangnian said such things.

Liu Xinwu, who was standing by, heard what he said and said, "Chaoyang is quite knowledgeable about contemporary literature. His previous article on scar literature is very insightful."

After Liu Xinwu finished speaking, the expressions of several award-winning writers around him became subtle.

"The Inevitable Rise and Fall of Scar Literature" was published in the middle of last year, when the literary world was in the midst of a heated debate between the Xichun School and the Biased School. As soon as this article was published, it was pushed to the forefront of public opinion, and Lin Chaoyang was criticized a lot for it.

Now that time has passed and Liu Xinwu suddenly brought up the matter, everyone was looking forward to the show, because many of the judges present today were the bigwigs behind the debate between the Xichun faction and the Pianzuo faction.

But after Liu Xinwu said this, everyone waited for a long time, but the big guys present were still chatting and laughing, and they didn't seem to mind at all, which disappointed some people who were waiting to watch the fun.

"Scar literature is not very popular recently, but reflective literature is quite popular. Chaoyang's "The Shepherd" seems to be among them." Zhang Guangnian joked again.

"I remember Ding Ling also wrote a review for The Horse Herder, right? This is called knowing people with a discerning eye."

The atmosphere of the symposium remained relaxed and cheerful until the end. In the evening, the Literary Association organized a banquet. There were fewer people than during the day, mainly because some judges were in poor health and left after the symposium.

It was already past eight o'clock when Lin Chaoyang returned home on his bicycle. The sound of his entry sounded like an alarm clock, which immediately attracted the attention of the Tao family.

It seemed that the whole family was waiting for him, and everyone was looking at Lin Chaoyang.

After being out for a day, his Mao suit was wrinkled and his face looked a little tired.

Tao Yumo was the first to jump up, "Brother-in-law, where is the prize?"

Lin Chaoyang handed the cloth bag in his hand to her. Tao Yumo took it without hesitation, and then took out the award certificate and yearbook.

"Wow! I really won two awards!"

Tao Yumo cheered and showed the certificate to his family, who passed it around one by one as if they were inspecting something.

After reading the certificate, Tao Yumo's eyes were fixed on the two commemorative albums that Lin Chaoyang brought back.

The cover of the commemorative album features Mr. Lu Xun’s portrait, and the content includes the list of this year’s jury members, award-winning works, list of writers, and the contents of the award-winning works.

"Brother-in-law, do you have two yearbooks?" Tao Yumo asked meaningfully.

If I win two awards, doesn’t that mean I can get two yearbooks?
Tao Yumo seemed to be asking a nonsense question, but his little thoughts could be seen through at a glance.

Before Lin Chaoyang could express his opinion, Tao Yushu said, "Don't even think about it. This is a national award."

Hearing this, Tao Yumo looked disappointed and muttered, "Two copies are exactly the same, wouldn't one be enough?"

“Two yearbooks prove that I won two awards!”

Tao Yushu said this, stroking the certificate in his hand, his face full of joy, and looking at Lin Chaoyang with tender eyes.

The National Excellent Short Story Award is the first national literary award held since the founding of New China. Its value is naturally self-evident.

After sharing the joy of winning the award with their family, Lin Chaoyang and his wife returned to their room.

Tao Yushu felt quite regretful when he heard Lin Chaoyang say that some award-winning writers were invited to study at literary institutes, but no one invited him.

"This kind of invitation is negotiated by publications and training institutes. I'm so young, and they didn't invite me. That means they recognize that my level is not enough for me to participate in this kind of learning." Lin Chaoyang said to Tao Yushuo in a slightly boastful tone.

"I see. You are amazing. You are now a nationally renowned writer!"

Tao Yushu's tone is charming, which makes people feel itchy.

Lin Chaoyang put his arms around her slender waist, and the couple looked at each other and understood each other.

It's another hot night.

The next morning, the People's Daily published a special report from Xinhua News Agency on this year's National Excellent Short Story Award:

"Amidst warm applause, Mao Dun, the chairman of the selection committee and leader of the China Literary and Art Association, distributed commemorative albums with Lu Xun's portrait and prize money to the authors of the 27 winning short stories. He hoped that the future Lu Xun would emerge from among them."

"Mao Dun, the head of the Chinese Writers Association, also spoke at the meeting. He said that this time the award was selected by the masses. Practice is the criterion for testing truth, and this time the works were tested by the masses."

"It is worth mentioning that during this year's award judging process, one writer won awards for two of his works. He is Xu Lingjun, the author of The Shepherd, and Wang Qinglai, the author of Qiu Ju's Lawsuit.

His real name is Lin Chaoyang, a librarian at Yenching University Library. At the award ceremony, Lin Chaoyang delivered a speech entitled "Literature Should Give Strength to the People" on behalf of the award-winning authors.

He said: "The 1980s that are about to begin will be an era full of changes and ideals, and culture and art will surely usher in vigorous development. Literature has the role and value of mirroring history and exploring the future. The love of the people is the foundation for literature to take root and sprout. Literature should give strength to the people. '"

The jury organized three consecutive days of seminars in the days after the award ceremony. Today, Lin Chaoyang still has to participate in the National Excellent Short Story Award event, so he can only take a leave.

He has not appeared in the library these two days, but he is still very popular among his colleagues in the library.

Yesterday was the award day, and there was no news. My colleagues were relatively calm, except for occasionally talking about Lin Chaoyang.

But today the situation is different. People in the library have the habit of reading books and newspapers. The People's Daily reported yesterday's award ceremony, and the content about Lin Chaoyang occupied a considerable part of the report. This is the People's Daily!

What shocked colleagues even more was that the report actually said that Lin Chaoyang won awards for two of his works!
In the past, everyone only knew his pen name was Xu Lingjun, and knew that it was a high probability event that "The Shepherd" won the award.

But no one expected that Lin Chaoyang actually had a pen name called Wang Qinglai, and the work "Qiu Ju Goes to Court" published under this pen name also won an award.

Two works won awards in one award ceremony. What is the value of this?

After reading the special report in People's Daily, colleagues in the library were filled with amazement.

Recalling when Lin Chaoyang first entered the library, he was labeled as "Professor Tao's son-in-law", "a country boy", and "a gigolo". In the eyes of many people, it was undoubtedly a great fortune and coincidence that he could enter the Yanda Library.

Now, a year and a half has passed, and Lin Chaoyang has proved his talent with facts, and also proved Tao Yushu's unique vision and Professor Tao's family's ability to recognize people.

This is not a bumpkin from the countryside at all, it's clearly a nugget of gold covered with sand!
"I can't believe Chaoyang actually has a pen name!"

While having lunch at noon, Du Rong said with emotion.

"I have read the letter that Shanghai Literature and Art wrote to him before. At that time, I just thought that his manuscript was rejected. I never expected that..."

Hu Wenqiong's tone was also full of amazement.

As soon as the People's Daily was published this morning, people in the library rushed to read it, and the news spread throughout the library in less than half an hour.

Du Rong was chewing food when she suddenly yelled, "Oh my, why am I so stupid?"

"What's wrong?" Hu Wenqiong asked.

Du Rong clapped her hands in annoyance and said, "I watched the movie "Parents' Love" published in "Harvest" before, and talked about it with Chaoyang. His behavior was not right at that time. I just realized it now. No wonder he spoke in that tone. Oh, really..."

The more Du Rong spoke, the more annoyed she became. She felt ashamed of showing off her skills in front of an expert, and also regretted that she had not discovered Lin Chaoyang's "true face" earlier.

"This Lin Chaoyang is really good at hiding things!" she said hatefully.

While the two were eating, a figure rushed out of the library like the wind and headed towards Building 32 on the south side of Yanyuan.

Zhang Yaozhong rushed upstairs in one breath. Without even taking a breath, he kicked open the door of dormitory 332, startling several students who had just finished their meal and were preparing to rest.

“Yaozhong, did you take the wrong medicine?” Li Tong shouted.

Zhang Yaozhong had no time to pay attention to Li Tong's dissatisfaction and shouted: "Chaoyang's novel won an award! The National Excellent Short Story Award!"

No one was surprised at all. Li Tong said, "What do I think? Isn't that normal? It would be strange if it didn't happen."

"The Horse Shepherd" was published one and a half years ago and has had a huge impact nationwide. It was not selected for the National Excellent Short Story Award last year because it was published late. This year is the second award ceremony and it is the turn of "The Horse Shepherd", so it is well deserved to win the award.

Seeing that no one understood what was going on, Zhang Yaozhong shouted, "Chaoyang won not one, but two works!"

At this time, Chen Jiangong, who had just laid down, finally reacted. He and Lin Chaoyang were familiar with each other and knew a lot about Lin Chaoyang's published works. He stood up and asked, "Two? Which one? He only has one short story, right? Aren't "Little Shoes" and "Wreaths Under the Mountain" both novellas?"

The others also showed curiosity when they heard this. They only published one short story, so how could two win awards?
Seeing that everyone's eyes were focused on him, Zhang Yaozhong was no longer in a hurry this time. He sat down on the stool with his legs crossed and said, "Oh, I've been running for so long, I'm thirsty!"

"What a loser!" Li Tong cursed, but still stood up and poured some water into his enamel pot, "Drink!"

Zhang Yaozhong drank the boiled water in the jar in one gulp, "It feels so good!"

Others urged: "Don't waste time, just speak!"

Seeing that everyone's appetite was whetted, Zhang Yaozhong finally spoke: "Chaoyang did have two novels that won awards, one is "The Horse Herder" and the other is "Qiu Ju Goes to Court."

"Qiu Ju is suing?"

Li Tong was mumbling the name of the novel, while the others were also frowning in thought.

The name of the novel sounds familiar. When did Chaoyang write this novel?
Just as everyone was thinking about it, Chen Jiangong slapped his thigh and said, "Shanghai Literature and Art! This novel was published by Shanghai Literature and Art!"

Zhang Yaozhong gave him a thumbs up, "Old Chen is really well-informed and has a good memory!"

Li Tong asked in confusion: "Has Chaoyang published a novel in Shanghai Literature and Art? Why don't I remember it?"

Chen Jiangong didn't say anything, but ran directly to the simple bookshelf at the end of the bed to look for magazines. In less than a minute, he found a copy of "Shanghai Literature and Art".

He couldn't wait to flip to the magazine's catalog, and everyone else came over immediately.

Following the position of Chen Jiangong's finger, everyone saw a row of catalogues -

Qiu Ju Goes to Court………………Wang Qinglai
Everyone was full of suspicion and hadn't reacted yet. Li Tong asked blankly, "Isn't this written by Wang Qinglai?"

Zhang Yaozhong gave him a look of disdain, "Wang Qinglai is Chaoyang, this is his other pen name."

"Another pen name? How many pen names does he have?" Li Tong finally reacted, somewhat incredulously.

"You ask me, who should I ask? Anyway, that's what the People's Daily said."

"People's Daily?" Chen Jiangong asked in surprise.

Zhang Yaozhong explained: "Today's People's Daily published a special report on yesterday's National Excellent Short Story Award Ceremony. It specifically mentioned Chaoyang, saying that two of his novels written under the pen names 'Xu Lingjun' and 'Wang Qinglai' both won awards, and he even gave a speech!"

Everyone looked at each other in shock, finding it difficult to digest the news for a moment.

It is difficult for ordinary people to write and publish a novel, but Lin Chaoyang can easily publish works under two pen names at the same time, and the most important thing is that he can win awards for both.

In the past, Lin Chaoyang would come to the Chinese Department from time to time to attend classes, and he had a good relationship with everyone, so much so that everyone was used to looking at him at eye level.

Today everyone realized that the gap between them and Lin Chaoyang was so huge.

(End of this chapter)