Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 173 A Mao's Invitation

In the gallery where famous paintings gather, each work carries the sedimentation of history and the unique emotions of the artist and is priceless.

There was a constant stream of visitors coming to the exhibition. They stopped in front of the paintings to admire them and immersed themselves in the ocean of art.

However, at this moment, a group of thugs suddenly broke out of the gallery, holding high banners with slogans such as "Because of your actions, the world has become greener", "A drop of water is life, a bit of green is hope", shouting loud slogans with fanatical expressions.

The quiet and beautiful afternoon was interrupted by the sudden noise. The visitors to the exhibition were driven aside by the thugs. The exhibition security came to maintain order but were stopped by the thugs.

They poured buckets of unknown liquid on the famous paintings, muttering something, and the crowd watching screamed. Those world-famous and priceless paintings were destroyed in an instant.

But the crowd's exclamations were just the beginning. Someone among the rioters lit a lighter, and everyone looked at them in disbelief.

This group of thugs actually wanted to set fire!
At that moment, time seemed to freeze and the air was filled with tension and anxiety.

"No!"

A thin and handsome young man rushed out from the crowd. He tried to stop the thugs but was powerless.

He watched helplessly as the lighter fell onto the liquid. Flames instantly shot up and within a few seconds, it turned into a raging fire.

There were loud screams in the gallery. Everyone was in panic and no longer cared about the famous paintings engulfed in flames. They fled madly like frightened wild beasts.

The arsonists watched people dodging and fleeing in fear with smug smiles on their faces.

A group of hypocrites who pretend to love art but are actually sanctimonious!
The fire in the gallery was fierce, and as the audience fled, the thugs completed their goal and walked out of the gallery calmly.

In the huge gallery, only the famous paintings that were about to melt in the flames remained.

No, there is another figure.

The thin figure stood stubbornly in the gallery, the scorching air making it difficult for him to breathe.

"Starry Night", "Sunflower", "Iris"...

He felt heartbroken as he watched those masterpieces burned in the flames.

At this moment, his eyes suddenly caught a glimpse of color and stared at a corner of the gallery.

There, there is also a complete painting.

When all the paintings were engulfed in flames, only that painting survived because it was located in a corner.

But the sea of ​​fire lay ahead, like a bottomless abyss.

Only the painting of "The Cathedral at Auvers" was left!

The thin young man looked back and saw a crowd of people on the street outside the gallery. They were crying and screaming, showing their heart-wrenching pain.

A sarcastic smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. He turned around and faced the all-consuming flames again, his eyes pious and determined.

If I am not destined to be a genius like Van Gogh, then I will use fire to perfect my art.

Under everyone's astonished gaze, the thin figure rushed towards the sea of ​​fire regardless of everything.

Fire, fire everywhere.

The scorching air made it hard for him to breathe. He endured the burning of the flaming knife, his steps became disorderly, and he finally fell in front of the painting "The Church of Auvers".

Red, the world turned red.

Is this the world as seen by Van Gogh?
A final thought flashed through the thin young man's mind.

With a "click", the image in Zhu Changsheng's mind was cut off and turned into nothingness. He pulled himself out of his fantasy and focused his eyes on Qin Chaoyang.

The lamp on the desk was turned off. Zhu Changsheng asked expectantly, "Have you finished reading it? How was it?"

Qin Chaoyang laughed and said, "How can you finish reading it so quickly in such a short time? I just read two chapters."

Zhu Changsheng recalled the plot of the novel and understood it in his heart, "So what?"

"Ideas! Capabilities! Interesting!"

A glimpse of the whole picture can reveal the whole picture. Although he only read two chapters, he said "yes" three times in a row. Even if there was no explicit praise, it had fully revealed Qin Chaoyang's recognition of the novel "The Death of Van Gogh".

"Having ideas" is an affirmation of Lin Chaoyang's creativity and ideas; "capable" is an affirmation of Lin Chaoyang's creative level; "interesting" is the highest evaluation that Qin Chaoyang can give to a novel that he has not yet finished reading.

"Then why didn't you continue watching?" Zhu Changsheng said anxiously.

He also wanted Qin Chaoyang to review the manuscript quickly to determine whether the novel could be published in the first issue of the revised Contemporary magazine.

"You expect me to finish reviewing such a long novel in a few hours?" Qin Chaoyang pointed out the window. "It's getting late. It's so windy outside. Let's go home early."

Zhu Changsheng then noticed that it was almost half past eight and the cold wind was howling outside, much stronger than when he had just arrived.

"Ouch!" He stood up and picked up the bag.

Then he turned to Qin Chaoyang and said, "Old Qin, hurry up and review the manuscript. I tell you, this novel by Chaoyang is definitely a rare masterpiece.

We should give him extra-standard treatment, which will not only benefit him, but also our magazine.

Publishing this novel in the first issue of the revised edition will definitely bring unexpected results. "

Before Lin Chaoyang finished writing this novel, Zhu Changsheng asked Qin Chaoyang for the privilege of publishing one issue of his novel.

Qin Chaoyang has not responded, after all, he has not read the manuscript yet.

Today, Zhu Changsheng finally brought the manuscript to you. Having just read one sixth of the novel, Qin Chaoyang has a very good overall impression of the novel.

But it is too early for him to agree to Zhu Changsheng's request.

He is the editor-in-chief of the magazine and is responsible for the overall work of the magazine. It is impossible for him to make such a decision so easily.

"I will read the manuscript as soon as possible and give you a reply on Monday whether it is okay or not." Qin Chaoyang said finally as he saw Zhu Changsheng out.

Today is Saturday and tomorrow is Sunday. To give review opinions on a novel of more than 200,000 words in more than a day means that Qin Chaoyang will definitely have to stay up late.

"Old Tan, thank you for your hard work."

"You are the one who works hard. You took so much effort to prepare the manuscript. I just review it." Qin Chaoyang said with a smile.

After the two waved goodbye, Qin Chaoyang returned to the house.

The fire in the coal stove was still burning brightly. He made himself a cup of tea, sat back at his desk and turned on the desk lamp.

That night, the desk lamp in Qin Chaoyang's house was on until late at night.

The next day was the weekend, and Lin Chaoyang got up early and went to the street to find someone to exchange industrial coupons and coal coupons for some grain coupons and meat coupons.

The issuance of tickets is a concrete manifestation of the planned economy. It is not only based on tickets and vouchers, but more importantly, the quantity.

Money comes first, then tickets, and then your purchasing qualifications must be within a certain range.

In the past, there were only two people in the couple's household, so the tickets were always enough.

Recently, Lin Erchun and his wife came to Yanjing, and it was obvious that the couple’s food coupons were running low.

Buying food coupons is certainly one way, but nowadays, not having coupons is more of a predicament than not having money, so not many people buy and sell food coupons.

Moreover, food coupons are different from other things. If you are caught, you are not only suspected of speculation, but also reselling grain, which is a serious crime. Ordinary ticket dealers would not dare to do it.

So at this stage, whether buying or exchanging food coupons, most of the time it depends on luck.

After exchanging his food coupons and meat coupons and returning home, it was already noon, and Lin Chaoyang prepared a meal of braised pork.

As soon as the dish was ready, Tao Yumo came over after smelling the aroma.

After Lin Erchun and his wife came to Yanjing, she basically did not live in the Overseas Chinese Apartment, but just came here regularly every week to take a hot bath.

Although Yanda also has a bathhouse, Tao Yumo has already gotten used to the private bathroom in her sister's house, which vividly illustrates that it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury to frugality.

After having lunch and taking a shower, Tao Yumo left the Overseas Chinese Apartment in a leisurely manner on his bicycle.

When he went to work on Monday, Lin Chaoyang received a bill for royalties, which was remitted to him by the Warrior Publishing House.

It has been nearly 10 months since the publication of "The Wreath under the Mountain", and this is the third time that the publishing house has settled his royalties.

By the end of August, the total print run of the novel had reached 260 million copies. This time, the print royalties paid to Lin Chaoyang by Warrior Publishing House were RMB 1210, which was exactly 100% of the basic royalties.

That is to say, in the past three months, the print run of "The Garland under the Mountain" has increased by another 50 copies, officially breaking the 300 million mark.

Less than a year after its publication, it sold over 300 million copies.

"The Garland under the Mountain" not only set a sales record for Chinese military literature, but also broke the sales records of all kinds of literary works known in the domestic publishing industry.

Liang Junshu from the Warrior Publishing House also wrote a passionate letter to Lin Chaoyang this time, most of the content in the letter was full of compliments about the sales of "The Wreath under the Mountain".

After receiving the bill for the manuscript, Lin Chaoyang did a rough calculation in his mind. If he took into account the reprinting of "The Wreath under the Mountain" by newspapers and magazines in various places over the past six months, the novel had already generated him more than 13,000 yuan in revenue.

If calculated based on purchasing power, it would be enough to buy two courtyard houses in the inner city, which would be worth several hundred million in later generations.

In the afternoon, when Lin Chaoyang was at work, A Mao suddenly ran over to find him.

"Lin, are you interested in attending a Christmas dinner?"

"Christmas dinner? Organized by you international students?" Lin Chaoyang asked.

A Mao shook his head. "No, it was held at the American Embassy."

Lin Chaoyang was puzzled when he heard this. "Why would a Chinese like me go to the Christmas dinner held by the American Embassy?"

Ah Mao showed some embarrassment on his face and said, "You know, I have been working for the embassy. Once a week, three hours each time..."

Of course Lin Chaoyang knew about A Mao's part-time job. The hourly wage of US$7 made all the Chinese students at Yanda University cry with envy.

Three hours a week is equivalent to an ordinary worker's monthly salary.

"Yesterday I went to the embassy to work again. They are going to hold a Christmas dinner at the Yanjing Hotel and invite us international students to attend.

I heard from the ambassador's wife that they also wanted to invite some Chinese celebrities, and I thought of you.

You are a great writer!

When the lady knows your name and hears that you and I are friends, she will ask me to invite you to the dinner."

After Ah Mao finished explaining the situation, he took out an invitation letter from his pocket and said with a boastful look on his face: "Look, I got the invitation letter."

After listening to A Mao's introduction, Lin Chaoyang was confused. Are the Americans going to fight him?

Seeing Lin Chaoyang's hesitation, A Mao asked, "Lin, don't you want to go?"

These days, Sino-US diplomacy is in its honeymoon period, and Chinese people are flocking to everything about the United States, so A Mao does not understand Lin Chaoyang's hesitation.

Lin Chaoyang didn't have any filter against the United States, but since A Mao had already mentioned him to the hostess's wife and even brought an invitation letter, it would be bad for A Mao if he didn't go.

"If I don't go, will you lose your job?" Lin Chaoyang joked.

Listening to Lin Chaoyang's words, A Mao looked embarrassed, "Lin, please go."

Lin Chaoyang nodded, "Okay. You can go to the Christmas dinner. Just consider it as you owe me a favor."

"No problem, I owe you that." A Mao said happily.

(End of this chapter)