Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 199 There is no one in the world
Li Qingquan and Zhang De'ning listened to Lin Chaoyang quietly, and gradually understood his thoughts.

Lin Chaoyang's position is not that of an extreme ideology, but rather he looks at the issue from a macro historical perspective. The country is willing to make peace with Japan for the sake of its own interests.

But some people in the society treat their enemies as friends, which is really confusing.

"By that time, the things that many people have done will become the knives that stab us in the back!" Lin Chaoyang said at last.

Li Qingquan comforted her, "Don't think too much. After all, this is a matter between countries. You can't change it alone."

Lin Chaoyang smiled and said, "I don't think of myself as a savior. I just want to make my position clear."

After talking about novels, Zhang Dening mentioned the annual National Excellent Short Story Award.

This year marks the third year of the award, which has already formed a unique influence in the domestic literary community and has achieved huge success. This year, the Writers Association has added a novella award to the short story award.

In October last year, the selection announcement for these two awards was published in People's Literature.

The selection of the Outstanding Short Story Award is still based on an annual basis, but since the Outstanding Novella Award is being held for the first time, the selection scope is novellas published in newspapers and magazines across the country from 1977 to 1980.

With less than half a month left until the award ceremony, the literary community is already discussing the final results of this year's awards.

Lin Chaoyang did not publish any short stories last year, but he has published three novellas so far, all of which are within the scope of this year's Outstanding Novella Award, namely "Little Shoes", "Wreath under the Mountain" and "Parental Love", all of which have received good responses.

If we have to rank them, "The Garland under the Mountain" would undoubtedly be first, followed by "Little Shoes" and finally "Parents' Love".

This can be seen from the sales of the three novels after their publication. With the support of Mr. Hu, "The Wreath under the Mountain" has sold nearly 400 million copies so far, and "The Little Shoes" has sold nearly 80 copies in more than a year since its publication.

In comparison, "Parental Love" did not make such a big splash. The novel was published by Renwen Press in January this year. Two months have passed since then, and the first print run of 1 copies has just sold out, and the additional print run of 8 copies is still on sale.

If the sales volume of "Parents' Love" is placed in the context of general contemporary literary works, it is already a very impressive achievement, but compared with Lin Chaoyang's other two novels, there is a huge gap.

According to the award requirements of the National Excellent Novella Award, Lin Chaoyang's three novels are eligible for the award, and in terms of response, they are also strong contenders for the award.

According to Li Qingquan, all three of Lin Chaoyang's novels were nominated, which is not uncommon because the selection of outstanding short and medium-length novels is based on public recommendations and expert reviews. Given the influence of Lin Chaoyang's novels, nominations are a piece of cake, and he is not the only writer whose multiple works have been nominated at the same time.

However, nominations are nominations, and the actual award depends on the public vote and expert evaluation results.

While talking about the awards, Lin Chaoyang couldn't help but think of the phone call Zhang Guangnian gave him some time ago. He guessed that when the awards were being judged, he would probably talk to him about joining the Writers Association.

After lunch, Lin Chaoyang said goodbye and left. Li Qingquan reminded Zhang Dening, "This time you have to keep an eye on the manuscript for me!"

Feeling the strong distrust in his leader's words, Zhang Dening complained in his heart, is it a question of whether I read it or not? It's because you didn't pay me the full fee!
After returning to the Overseas Chinese Apartment from Yenching Literature, Lin Chaoyang saw his father chatting with a thin old man in the pavilion in the garden as soon as he entered the courtyard.

"Dad!" Lin Chaoyang walked over and called Lin Erchun.

When Lin Erchun saw Lin Chaoyang, he introduced him to the old man with a smile on his face: "Brother Wu, this is my son, Lin Chaoyang."

The thin old man wore brown glasses. The weather was still cold during the early spring, so he wore a black leather jacket and had an elegant and calm temperament.

"I heard that a great writer moved into the community." The old man smiled and stretched out his hand towards Lin Chaoyang.

"Hello, Uncle Wu!" Lin Chaoyang greeted politely, and then said, "Thank you for the compliment. I just wrote a few novels, and we have met several times."

When Lin Chaoyang went to work in the morning, he would occasionally see the old man buying pancakes, but the two had never talked to each other.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Lin Chaoyang went home. More than half an hour later, Lin Erchun came back.

Lin Chaoyang asked: "Dad, do you two know each other?"

"I met him while walking downstairs. You and Yushu, one is at work and the other is at school, so you probably don't know many neighbors, right?"

Lin Chaoyang smiled and said, "Yeah. Do you know what he does?"

"He said he was a painter, but he didn't ask any specific details. Do you know?"

"Yeah. That Uncle Wu is a painter. He should be quite famous."

"Don't you know each other? How did you know?" Lin Erchun asked.

"Before I moved in, I heard that there was a painter named Wu Zuoren in this courtyard. You said he was a painter, and his last name is Wu, so his age is right."

Lin Erchun exclaimed: "Oh, I really didn't realize that! Is he famous?"

"Do you know Xu Beihong?"

"Who wouldn't know that? The one who draws horses."

"He is a disciple of Xu Beihong."

"Ouch!" Lin Erchun screamed. He had no idea about Wu Zuoren's fame, but in his opinion Xu Beihong was a first-class painter. Since he was his apprentice, he must be a master.

He sighed, "The people living in your courtyard are not ordinary people! How do you say that? What's wrong with chatting and laughing..."

"There are great scholars in conversation and laughter, and no unlearned people among them."

"Correct!"

A day later, Lin Chaoyang and his family appeared together in Mianhua Hutong. Today was the last day for Li Quanfu's family to move.

In the past few days, Lin Erchun comes here every day to check on Li Quanfu, fearing that he might take away something that he shouldn't take with him when moving.

It was supposed to be a peaceful thing, but their family made everyone uncomfortable. This time the courtyard was finally vacated.

This was the first time Tao Yushu came to the courtyard house after it was purchased. She took Lin Chaoyang to look around inside and out.

"There are many places in this house that need repairing!" After the initial excitement, Tao Yushu discovered many problems with the courtyard house. After all, it was a hundred years old. Except for the main house where Li Quanfu's family had always lived, the other houses had more or less problems.

"It's an old house, so I have to clean it up after I buy it."

Lin Erchun took out a small notebook from his pocket. It had been three months since he bought the house, and he had not been idle. During this time, he had already written down all the repairs that needed to be done on the courtyard house, and even had a rough estimate of the materials and quantities to be used.

"Your mother and I are planning to leave in two days, so you guys have to clean up the yard by yourselves."

Lin Erchun suddenly talked about going back to his hometown.

"It's not time for spring plowing yet, let's wait a while." Lin Chaoyang advised.

Lin Erchun shook his head. "No, I won't stay any longer. I've been at home for the whole winter. I have to pack up and prepare when I go back. A month has already passed in a flash."

"When will you come back?"

"After the autumn harvest."

After spending a winter in Yanjing, Lin Erchun and his wife have adapted to life in Yanjing, after all, it is in the north.

In particular, Lin Chaoyang's house is big and spacious, with heating and running water, and it is really comfortable to live in.

But there are also bad things. First, there are no fellow villagers around me. Although I don’t like some people when I’m at home, I will still miss them when I leave that familiar land.

Second, without land and yard, the couple always felt that this life was out of touch with reality and they felt empty inside every day, so they talked about returning to the Northeast from time to time.

After waiting for a long time until the spring, Lin Chaoyang had no reason to stop the two of them. After all, he had agreed last winter that they would return to the Northeast in the spring.

"Then you have to come back, otherwise I'll have bought this house for nothing, and it will be a waste of thousands of dollars to renovate it."

After Lin Chaoyang finished speaking, Lin Erchun complained, "I advised you not to buy it at the beginning. It would be better to put the money in the bank to earn interest. Now it's just sitting there."

He is a frugal person. It would be fine if his son didn't mention it, but once he did, he couldn't help but feel sad about the waste.

"If you feel sorry for me, don't go back." Lin Chaoyang said with a smile.

Lin Erchun's face showed some struggle, but in the end, his homesickness prevailed, "No."

"Okay, go ahead if you want to."

Lin Chaoyang understands the older generation’s attachment to their hometown. After all, his parents are not in their seventies or eighties. The climate in Northeast China is quite comfortable in spring, summer and autumn, so it’s nice to spend the winter in Yanjing.

"The house is afraid of being empty. When the renovation is almost done, you can rent it out and leave two rooms for us old couple.

With popularity, we don’t have to worry about the house falling into disrepair, and we can earn some rent, which will give us money to repair the house in the future.”

Lin Erchun warned again with concern.

"Don't worry about it."

Lin Erchun had a good idea. If all the dozen or so houses in the courtyard house in Mianhua Hutong could be rented out, he could earn at least 40 to 50 yuan a month, and the yard would not be left empty.

But Lin Chaoyang didn't think so. If he really spent money to renovate this courtyard house, the total investment would be at least 7,000 yuan. If he really rented it out, it would be ruined in a few years. The slums in Yanjing City today were not like this in the early years.

Besides, if there were ten or eight more households in the yard, he would have to waste a lot of time dealing with all kinds of troubles.

It's really not worth it for that little rent.

After spending a morning in the courtyard, Lin Chaoyang and his son completed the planning of the renovation.

Knowing that Lin Erchun and his wife were going back to their hometown, Tao Yushu took them to Xidan to buy some local specialties for them to take back home.

When they got home in the evening, Tao Yushu said to Lin Chaoyang, "Chaoyang, we didn't get to go to the Forbidden City when my parents came. It just so happens that you have time these days, so take them to the Forbidden City while they are still here."

Zhang Guiqin said, "It's not like I won't come back in the future, just focus on your own things."

"It's okay. Mom, what Yushu said makes sense. It just so happens that I have nothing to do at home these few days, and the weather outside is warm. I will take you to the Forbidden City tomorrow, and buy tickets the day after tomorrow."

You don't need to make an appointment in advance to visit the Forbidden City these days. The Meridian Gate of the Forbidden City is currently under renovation, and you don't have to queue up to buy tickets at the ticket office. It's a weekday, so there are hardly any people early in the morning. Instead, there are more people at the ticket offices for foreign guests and overseas Chinese.

“There are so many foreigners!”

It was the first time that Zhang Guiqin saw foreigners up close, and she felt as happy as if she were watching a monkey perform.

"Mom, watch your expression. We didn't buy tickets."

"Go! Just make fun of your mother."

The family of three entered the Forbidden City jokingly. Two eunuchs wearing court robes stood at the entrance of the passage. The court robes were made of dark blue cloud satin with velvet edges. There was a python pattern on the front and back square pleats, four python patterns on the waist, with pleats in the middle. The collar and sleeves were also dark blue satin.

Lin Chaoyang took a close look at the two of them. The COS restoration was quite high. Even the hairstyle was restored. There was nothing wrong with their dress. They were much more professional than some COSERs in later generations.

When they arrived at Taihemen Square, Lin Chaoyang noticed that there was a Red Flag car parked in a corner of the square with a sign next to the car.

"As long as it does not affect our work, the audience will be charged 20 cents for using the vehicles."

Alas, I’m not that lucky!

There were not many people in the square. They had all just come in from the Meridian Gate. Many of them were overseas Chinese and foreign guests. Lin Chaoyang and his family of three fell behind a few foreigners. Lin Erchun and Zhang Guiqin couldn't help looking at the monkey again.

"This foreigner has so much hair!" Zhang Guiqin muttered.

(End of this chapter)