Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 247 Chaoyang is a kind person
Lin Erchun and his wife had just arrived in Yanjing, and they felt that living in such a large courtyard in Mianhua Hutong was empty, so Lin Chaoyang and his wife stayed in the east wing for a few days to keep them company.

The courtyard house was only renovated this year and is quite comfortable to live in, but it is really inconvenient to use the toilet and water.

The old couple were used to living in the countryside so had no difficulty adapting to the new life. However, it was Lin Chaoyang and his wife who had difficulty adapting.

Early in the morning that day, the water in the water tank was almost used up. Lin Chaoyang yawned as he poured a pot of boiling water into the wellhead of the water pressure well, then pressed the well hard. After a long time, water finally came out of the well.

He filled a few buckets of water into the water tank in the kitchen, which was probably enough for two or three days. When he was done, Lin Chaoyang's forehead was covered with sweat.

Zhang Guiqin cooked porridge in the morning. He served a bowl and sprinkled some pickled vegetables in it. He slurped it up with relish. He then peeled a boiled egg and after finishing it in two bites, he rode his bike to work.

When he arrived at the school, Lin Chaoyang passed by the poster board and saw some students watching. He curiously went over to take a look and found out that someone had written an article criticizing the dance organized by the students.

In recent years, western trends have spread eastward, and college students have always been the first to set the trend. I don’t know when it started, but dances became popular among students at Yanjing University.

An empty classroom and a tape recorder became the stage for these people.

From the perspective of future generations, this is certainly not a big deal, but today's social atmosphere is not so open, and this kind of dance has always been criticized by some people in the school. Critics and those criticized would often debate on the poster board.

After taking a look at the excitement, Lin Chaoyang went to the library to work.

In the words of Comrade Lin Erchun, these students are "talkative".

As soon as he arrived at the library, he received a letter from Lu Wenfu. The content of the letter was very concise, just informing Lin Chaoyang that he had finished writing the novel they had discussed before.

The novel was submitted to "Harvest". He received a letter from "Harvest" a few days ago, saying that the novel would be published in the first issue of the magazine in the new year.

After reading the letter, Lin Chaoyang happily wrote back to Lu Wenfu to congratulate him.

In the morning, colleagues in the museum were chatting and talking about the third World Cup Women's Volleyball Tournament being held in Tokyo, Japan.

The competition started on November 11 and lasted for 6 days. The Chinese women's volleyball team, led by team leader Zhang Yipei, gathered the strongest force of this generation of Chinese women's volleyball team.

Deng Huifang, Yang Xi, Zhou Xiaolan, Lang Ping, Chen Yaqiong, Chen Zhaodi, Zhu Ling...

In the years before this, this group of elite athletes on the women's volleyball team have won one honor after another for Chinese sports.

In this World Cup Women's Volleyball Tournament, the Chinese people have high hopes for this team.

In the eight days since the start of the competition, the Chinese team has won consecutive victories, defeating Brazil, the Soviet Union, South Korea and the United States, and will face the strong Cuban team tonight.

Although many people had high hopes for the Chinese team before the game, the fact that the women's volleyball team was able to win all five games still surprised and excited the Chinese people.

Tonight is the semi-final. If the Chinese team can defeat its old rival Cuba, they can enter the final. This will not only refresh the best record in the history of the Chinese women's volleyball team, but also become a major breakthrough for the Chinese sports community in the world's three major ball sports.

This also made this World Cup Women's Volleyball Tournament the hottest news in the country in recent days. The streets were filled with discussions among the people, and even the usually quiet Yanda Library was paying attention to this game.

It was almost noon when Lin Chaoyang was getting up to go to the cafeteria. When he reached the door of the library, he ran into Chen Jiangong, who was accompanied by his classmate Zhang Manling.

"Chaoyang!"

After saying hello, Lin Chaoyang was about to go out, but was stopped by Chen Jiangong, "I have something to talk to you about."

"what's up?"

Chen Jiangong glanced at Zhang Manling and said, "Manling wants you to help her with her manuscript."

Zhang Manling is also a member of the Chinese Department, but she is from the class of 78 and is in the same class as Liu Zhenyun. She does not have much contact with Lin Chaoyang and they are not very close, so she specially called Chen Jiangong today.

Yang Hui, director of the Chinese Department of Yan University, once said: Chinese departments do not train writers.

But nothing can stop students' love for literature. In the Chinese Department of Yenching University, there are many amateur novelists and poets who are good at writing, and there are also many famous writers among them. Chen Jiangong is a typical example, as he won the National Excellent Short Story Award this year and was also published in the school newspaper.

However, writers like Chen Jiangong who became famous on campus are a minority after all. The vast majority are still at the stage of being an enthusiast, like Zhang Manling.

She had excellent grades, was keen on participating in campus activities, and was well-known in the Chinese Department of the Class of 78. During her college years, she wrote a lot of articles and submitted them to student publications, but none of them were officially adopted by newspapers or magazines.

The manuscript she brought this year was a novella called "Clouds". The novel was written two years ago. Zhang Manling showed it to her teacher Hong Zicheng at the time, but Hong Zicheng was ambiguous about it.

Later, she sent her manuscripts to October and Contemporary magazines, but unfortunately they were both rejected.

Zhang Manling's manuscript has obvious stream-of-consciousness characteristics. After reading it, Lin Chaoyang roughly understood where her problem lies.

Zhang Manling looked at him expectantly and asked, "Do you think it can be published?"

She did not ask what needed to be revised right away, but instead asked whether it could be published. This shows that she is very confident in her own level. Just like what is expressed in the novel, there is a kind of self-confidence that is close to narcissism.

"It's not difficult to get published. The key is to meet an editor who appreciates you." Lin Chaoyang said truthfully.

Zhang Manling was happy to hear this. Her manuscript had a very unfortunate fate. It had been shown to many people and submitted to several magazines, but no one recognized it. Today, she felt relieved to receive recognition from Lin Chaoyang, a well-known writer.

She looked at Lin Chaoyang with pleading eyes, and Lin Chaoyang guessed what she was thinking.

"Want me to recommend you something?"

Zhang Manling nodded eagerly.

Lin Chaoyang hesitated for a moment. The quality of the manuscript was acceptable, but the techniques were not mature enough and the style was rather dark. He thought about it and agreed.

"Ok."

Zhang Manling was overjoyed to get Lin Chaoyang's promise. She took out another manuscript from her bag and said, "Please help me take a look at this."

Lin Chaoyang was a little surprised when he looked at the manuscript in her hand. There was a second copy?

It took him half a day just to read a manuscript, and he was about to get off work. But he thought, since he had already helped, he might as well help to the end. He smiled and said, "It's too late today. I'll take the manuscript back and take a look. If I think it's okay, I'll recommend it to you. If I think it's not okay, I'll give it back to you."

"Thank you, thank you!" Zhang Manling said excitedly.

She knew that with Lin Chaoyang's current fame and status, if he recommended his work to an editorial department he was familiar with, the editorial department would definitely give him face as long as the quality was not too bad.

This was equivalent to endorsing her with his personal credit. She really didn't expect Lin Chaoyang to be so easy to talk to.

"No need to thank me. The premise of my recommendation is quality. Your novel has shortcomings, but its advantages are more obvious."

Listening to Lin Chaoyang's evaluation, Zhang Manling nodded seriously.

After talking about the novel, she said, "It's almost time to get off work, why don't we go have a meal together?"

Lin Chaoyang naturally understood what she meant. He waved his hand and said, "No need to eat. It's just a piece of cake."

Zhang Manling wanted to persuade him again, but Chen Jiangong said, "Then wait for a chance in the future."

After saying that, Chen Jiangong took Zhang Manling out of the library.

Walking on Wusi Road, Zhang Manling felt like she was about to fly with joy. "I really didn't expect that Lin Chaoyang could be so easy to talk to."

"Didn't Chaoyang say that? The prerequisite for him to be easy to talk to is that your manuscript is of good quality.

But Chaoyang is a kind-hearted man with a modest demeanor, so it's normal for him to be willing to help. Some people in the literary world have criticized his works, but no one has ever criticized his character."

Listening to Chen Jiangong's words, Zhang Manling's eyes flashed with longing. For her, an amateur author, the three words "literary world" were still too far away, like an unattainable dream.

But then she thought again, this time with Lin Chaoyang's recommendation, there should be a good chance that her novel will be published.

Maybe she could try her hand at the literary circle in the future.

"Well, come to think of it, you two are half classmates." Zhang Manling said enviously.

Many courses in the Chinese Department were taken together by the Class of 77 and the Class of 78. In recent years, when the first- and second-level professors in the department were giving classes, Lin Chaoyang would often attend and would always sit with the students from the Class of 77.

"We are not classmates at all. We are here to listen to the teachers' lectures. Chaoyang's knowledge of literature is much deeper than ours.

You will know if you get to know him. At least I think his theoretical level is not inferior to that of Professor Hong and Professor Xie. "

Teacher Hong is Hong Zicheng, and Teacher Xie is Xie Mian. One of them studies contemporary literature and the other studies contemporary poetry. They often organize students from the Chinese Department to participate in the activities of the May Fourth Literary Society, and they have a very good reputation among students from the Chinese Department.

Xie Mian, in particular, has focused his research on Misty Poetry in recent years and even opened a special course on Misty Poetry, so he has been widely welcomed by students.

The two of them, together with Sun Yushi, can be said to be the backbone of the Chinese Department, second only to those respected senior professors.

"He has such rich theoretical knowledge and is so good at creative practice. I really admire him! Compared with him, I feel like our four years in college have been wasted." Zhang Manling said with emotion.

Chen Jiangong chuckled and said, "It's fine for others to say that, but it's wrong for you to say that. You've always been such a good student, but if you've learned everything in vain, what are we?"

The two chatted and laughed along the way. Zhang Manling offered to invite Chen Jiangong to dinner, but he declined and said, "Wait until your novel is published."

"Okay, then I'll lend you my blessing!"

In the evening, Lin Chaoyang rode his bicycle back to Mianhua Hutong. Zhang Guiqin had already prepared dinner and Tao Yushu had just returned. After the family finished dinner, Li Tuo, whom he hadn't seen for a long time, came to visit.

"Oh, it's not easy to find you."

After riding a bicycle for more than two hours from Dongcheng to Haidian and then back to Xicheng, Li Tuo's face was frozen.

After drinking a cup of tea and warming himself up for a while, he explained his purpose.

It turned out that Lu Yao from Shaanxi came to Yanjing to revise a manuscript. The day before yesterday, he went to the Overseas Chinese Apartment to visit Lin Chaoyang, but was turned away. So he went to Li Tuo's house instead.

Knowing that Lin Chaoyang was not at home, Li Tuo went to Yanda to look for him today. As luck would have it, he arrived at school a little late and missed Lin Chaoyang. After asking Chen Jiangong, he found out that Lin Chaoyang had recently moved to Mianhua Hutong.

"I came all the way here and wanted to visit you, but I didn't expect you to disappear." Li Tuo complained, but his eyes were on the house, "Is this the yard you bought?"

As he spoke, he walked around the house in a familiar manner, "Well, this yard is really nice, much better than the bungalow we used to live in."

"Nonsense, you didn't spend any money there, but I did."

"After all, you are rich!" Li Tuo joked and started talking about the specific reason why Lu Yao came to Beijing this time.

Last year, Lu Yao's novella "A Thrilling Scene" was published in "Contemporary", which caused quite a stir and was highly praised by the editor-in-chief Qin Chaoyang.

In March this year, Lu Yao successfully won the National Excellent Novella Award with this novel. It was also at this award ceremony that Lu Yao met Lin Chaoyang, Li Tuo and others.

It was also at this award ceremony that Wang Weiling, a senior editor at China Youth Publishing House, asked Lu Yao to write an article, which brought up an idea that Lu Yao had been brewing in his mind for a long time.

After returning to Shaanxi from Yanjing, he packed a military travel bag and returned to northern Shaanxi, where he stayed in the Ganquan County Guesthouse near Yan'an and began creating new works.

After finishing the novel, Lu Yao sent the manuscript out, and soon he received a reply from Wang Weiling, who enthusiastically praised his novel and made some suggestions for revision.

Lu Yao revised the manuscript repeatedly for two months, but the result still could not satisfy Wang Weiling, so Wang Weiling specially invited Lu Yao to Yanjing to revise the manuscript.

He was accommodated in the best guest room in the China Youth Publishing House compound, and spent about another week revising the manuscript, which finally satisfied the editorial department.

After revising the manuscript, Lu Yao felt relieved and thought about visiting his friends before returning to Shaanxi.

(End of this chapter)