Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 172: The Death of Van Gogh

Zhu Changsheng put all his energy into the manuscript and completely immersed himself in the world of the novel. Lin Chaoyang had to call him several times before he came back to his senses.

He raised his head and looked at Lin Chaoyang, only to see that his eyes were bloodshot and full of tears, and his expression was excited.

He said with enthusiasm: "Chaoyang, you gave Van Gogh the most perfect ending."

Lin Chaoyang chuckled: "The novel is not finished yet."

"I know. But I think this is enough for Van Gogh."

When Zhu Changsheng said this, the expression on his face was excited but also solemn and determined, fully demonstrating his approval of the novel.

Zhu Changsheng read the novel all the way through. He knew that what he saw today must be the climax of the novel. He felt the surging vitality nurtured by Lin Chaoyang's pen, and he was completely immersed in the dream journey woven by Lin Chaoyang.

In a trance, I even felt that maybe the Van Gogh in the novel was the real artist.

Although the novel has not been completed yet, Zhu Changsheng can boldly say that Lin Chaoyang has once again contributed a rare novel to the Chinese literary world with his magnificent imagination and powerful writing skills.

There were two dishes for dinner, one was stir-fried shredded potatoes and the other was stir-fried cabbage with black fungus.

The fungus was brought by Lin Erchun and his wife from their hometown in Northeast China. The potatoes and cabbages are winter storage vegetables, which are the few vegetables on the tables of ordinary people in the north at this time.

It's not that Lin Chaoyang wants to treat the guests harshly on purpose. These days, everything requires tickets. Although you can buy unplanned supplies with money, these things require people to spend a lot of time and effort to put together.

Lin Chaoyang is not a peddler who engages in speculation. If he has time or an opportunity, he will of course buy something for his family. If he has no time or opportunity, he can only make do with it.

After Zhu Changsheng finished reading the novel, he was still in a state of excitement. He chatted with Lin Chaoyang for a long time before they sat down in the restaurant to eat.

After finishing his meal, he took out a few food coupons from his pocket.

"Chaoyang, I've been eating at your house quite a lot recently, so consider this food coupon as my food allowance."

Lin Chaoyang declined, "It's just a few meals, there's no need."

"Take it. If you don't take it, how can I come here in the future?"

Seeing Zhu Changsheng say this, Lin Chaoyang had no choice but to accept the food coupons and give them to Tao Yushu.

Zhu Changsheng asked again: "Judging from the progress, your novel should be finished in the next two days, right?"

"About two or three days."

"Just give the manuscript to us. I will ask Lao Tan to give you the treatment of one issue publication." Zhu Changsheng said sincerely.

Lin Chaoyang laughed, "You have seen our virgin daughter naked, and you still want to be irresponsible?"

Hearing his words, Zhu Changsheng burst into laughter. The "virgin" that Lin Chaoyang mentioned was naturally referring to his manuscript that was about to be completed.

Finally, the manuscript was delivered to the team. It was worth it that he worked on it despite the severe cold weather.

Zhu Changsheng was delighted and said, "I can guarantee that your novel will cause a sensation in the entire literary world after it is published!"

He is a senior editor of Contemporary Magazine and his professionalism is unquestionable. In the past, when facing authors, he rarely expressed such utmost praise for their works as he does now.

But when faced with Lin Chaoyang's novel, he could hardly suppress his inner admiration and praise.

Lin Chaoyang's previous work "Lai Zi's Summer" is a typical stream-of-consciousness literary work, and he also innovatively incorporated Chinese culture and local characteristics into it.

Not only did he contribute an excellent work of stream-of-consciousness literature to the Chinese literary world, he also created the concept of Chinese stream-of-consciousness literature.

In this new work, he takes Van Gogh, a genius who was born at the wrong time, as the starting point and boldly incorporates elements of science fiction, suspense and horror into the plot of the novel.

It not only retains the mature stream-of-consciousness literary creation techniques used in the previous work, but also takes into account the readers' reading tastes.

This makes the novel not only have literary and ideological depth, but also have excellent storytelling and readability.

Zhu Changsheng has read several domestic and foreign stream-of-consciousness literary works that he has read. In terms of storytelling, if Lin Chaoyang's novel is ranked second, no one would dare to claim to be the first.

It would be strange if such a work that combines literary quality and storytelling and appeals to both the elite and the masses did not cause a sensation in the literary world. Zhu Changsheng is full of confidence in this.

Three days later, the novel was finally completed, and Zhu Changsheng came to pick up the manuscript as promised.

Holding a thick stack of manuscript paper in his hand, he felt a heavy weight. "Contemporary" was about to publish another work with wide influence.

The influence of a publication is supported by excellent works. Every work that is widely praised by the literary community and enthusiastically sought after by readers is the basis for a literary publication to dominate the literary world.

Zhu Changsheng believes that with this novel, the future development of "Contemporary" will surely reach a higher level.

Although he was excited, Zhu Changsheng did not forget to check the manuscript carefully, fearing that there was any omission.

After checking the manuscript and confirming that there were no problems, Zhu Changsheng turned his eyes to the first page of the manuscript and showed doubts.

"Chaoyang, this name..."

"I haven't decided which one to use yet, so I just wrote them all down."

Zhu Changsheng nodded, staring at the two names on the manuscript paper, and fell into hesitation.

"Come to think of it, both names seem good. 'Meeting Van Gogh' has a stronger literary flavor, while 'Death of Van Gogh' is more suspenseful."

He thought for a while and said, "Why don't you decide on it? The manuscripts are all gone."

Lin Chaoyang tapped on the manuscript paper, and finally landed on the words "Death of Van Gogh". "Let's use it."

Zhu Changsheng looked at Lin Chaoyang's choice and smiled, "I guessed you would choose this name."

"Why?" Lin Chaoyang asked puzzledly.

“You may not realize it yourself, but you are actually very rational in your creation. You not only consider all aspects of the work, but also the readers’ acceptance. Of the two titles, “Meeting Vincent Van Gogh” and “The Death of Vincent Van Gogh”, “The Death of Vincent Van Gogh” is undoubtedly more reader-friendly.

This name not only points out the protagonist, but also highly summarizes the plot of the novel, making it easy to understand at a glance.

It is also very suspenseful and can catch the readers’ attention.”

Lin Chaoyang didn't expect that Zhu Changsheng could give him some reading comprehension just by choosing a novel title. He laughed heartily and said to Zhu Changsheng, "Old Zhu, with your praise, my novel is almost a masterpiece before it's even published."

“It’s hard to say whether it’s a famous work or not, but there’s no doubt that it has left a mark in the history of contemporary Chinese literature!”

Lin Chaoyang suspected that Zhu Changsheng was trying to flatter him in order to get his next work. He had never seen an editor who would brag like this before receiving a manuscript and before publishing it.

Zhu Changsheng said to Lin Chaoyang again: "You don't know yet, right? Our Contemporary Magazine is going to be changed to a bimonthly publication."

"It's now a bimonthly publication? Congratulations!"

The change from a quarterly to a bimonthly magazine shows that "Contemporary" is popular among readers and also shows that "Contemporary" is also widely recognized among writers.

After all, the publication has changed from once every three months to once every two months, and the number of manuscripts used has directly increased by 50%.

Such a change is definitely a good thing for the publication, but it is a mixed blessing for the editors. The good development of the magazine is certainly beneficial to the editors, but the disadvantage is also obvious, that is, the workload will inevitably increase greatly.

"Thank you. I told Lao Tan a few days ago that if your novel passes the review, we will try to put it in the first issue of our revised edition."

Lin Chaoyang hesitated and said, "I'm afraid it's too late?"

It is almost the end of December. Each issue of Contemporary Magazine is published on the 5th of the month, which means there is only half a month left to complete the review, proofreading, typesetting and printing processes.

"New Year, New Atmosphere. Your novel has nearly 22 words, which is basically a book. I will try to publish a special issue for you.

This way, we can save the trouble of typesetting. I will send the manuscript to Lao Tan tonight and ask him to review it as soon as possible."

Feeling how much Zhu Changsheng valued "The Death of Van Gogh", Lin Chaoyang was moved and said, "It doesn't matter. Don't force it if you can't make it in time. As long as you can publish it, it's fine."

Zhu Changsheng nodded and said, "Of course, I can't be the head of Lao Tan's family."

Lin Chaoyang laughed when he heard this.

After taking the manuscript, Lin Chaoyang saw Zhu Changsheng off.

Zhu Changsheng had a meal at Lin Chaoyang's house and chatted for a while. It was already past seven o'clock in the evening.

In the winter in the north, the cold wind is always particularly strong and biting at night, but Zhu Changsheng feels warm in his heart as he rides his bicycle.

The bicycle sped all the way to Beichizi Ertiao Hutong, near the east side of the Forbidden City, and Zhu Changsheng knocked on the door of a courtyard house facing the street.

After about a minute, someone from inside the yard opened the door.

"Changsheng? Why are you here? Come in!"

Qin Chaoyang was a little surprised by Zhu Changsheng's arrival and quickly let him into the yard.

The courtyard house of Qin Chaoyang's family is a two-entry house, which is very similar to the courtyard house that Lin Chaoyang bought in Mianhua Hutong in terms of scale and style.

However, Qin Chaoyang’s courtyard house is right next to the Forbidden City, and its geographical location is much better than that of the courtyard house in Mianhua Hutong.

He also bought this courtyard house with his royalties in the 1950s. Qin Chaoyang was less affected by the buzz, so the house was successfully preserved.

The two of them entered the house, and the cold wind was suddenly blocked out. The alternation between cold and warm temperatures made Zhu Changsheng shiver.

The light in the house was a little dim, and the coal stove used for heating was burning brightly, with the flames jumping happily under the stimulation of the airflow.

Qin Chaoyang picked up the aluminum kettle that was emitting steam from the coal stove and poured a cup of hot tea for Zhu Changsheng.

"Come, warm yourself up."

Zhu Changsheng took the teacup, took a few sips, and felt a lot warmer. Then he carefully took out the manuscript from his briefcase.

"You came in such a cold night just to deliver the manuscript to me?" Qin Chaoyang asked.

"You take a look first."

Zhu Changsheng did not respond to Qin Chaoyang's words, but urged him instead.

Qin Chaoyang held the manuscript in his hand, and the first thing he saw was the name of the novel - "The Death of Van Gogh".

There is also a name crossed out next to it, which seems to be invalid.

"Is this the novel about Van Gogh written by Lin Chaoyang that you mentioned?"

"Correct."

Qin Chaoyang nodded and said, "Sit down first, I'll take a look."

He said this, walked to the desk, turned on the desk lamp, put on his reading glasses, and concentrated on reading the manuscript in his hand.

The north wind outside the window was getting stronger and stronger, whistling and blowing the doors and windows, making a slight noise. The wind fanned the fire, and the fire burned even more vigorously.

The louder the wind, the quieter the atmosphere in the house becomes.

Qin Chaoyang sat at the desk, concentrating on reading the manuscript. Zhu Changsheng was extremely bored, and his eyes, eyebrows, mouth and nose became sensitive in such a quiet atmosphere.

He smelled the burnt smell of coal in the air, and his eyes were fixed on the blazing flames in the furnace. A picture seemed to appear before his eyes.

(End of this chapter)