Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 249 Eat less, I feel bad

"It hasn't been decided yet. The publishing house wants to find a magazine to publish it first." Lu Yao replied.

Wang Weiling, who commissioned him to write the article, is an editor at China Youth Publishing House. Since it is a publishing house, it naturally has to publish it.

Although there are many literature lovers nowadays, it is still very difficult for works by non-contemporary masters to sell well.

Therefore, after obtaining high-quality manuscripts and confirming their publication, many publishing houses will try to publish them in authoritative literary magazines first, focus on promoting them, and expand the influence of the works, so as to lay the foundation for the subsequent hot sales of the publishing house's single volumes.

"It seems that the publishing house is very optimistic about your novel!"

Lu Yao couldn't help but laugh. This novel was indeed the result of his painstaking efforts. The publisher's attention to it was a recognition of his talent and novels.

Listening to the conversation between the two, the others curiously asked about Lu Yao's new work, and Lu Yao told everyone about his work.

His story is set against the backdrop of contemporary urban and rural life in northern Shaanxi. It describes the life tragedy of Gao Jialin, a protagonist with lofty ambitions but a fragile life, who returns to the land, leaves the land, and then returns to the land again, which makes people sigh.

"What a good story! Although I haven't read the novel yet, based on Lu Yao's story alone, the novel must be right!" Li Tuo praised.

Everyone expressed their agreement, and their words were full of anticipation for Lu Yao's novel titled "Life".

Everyone's praise made Lu Yao feel a little shy, but behind that shy expression was a hint of pride.

He always felt a little inferior when facing these writers who came from Yenching University. Therefore, when he gained recognition from everyone through his works, he felt particularly proud and arrogant in his heart.

His pride is not intended to belittle others, but to offset his inferiority complex.

"Please stop praising me. I'm already feeling uneasy." After listening to everyone's praises for a while, Lu Yao said with a wry smile.

He did have high hopes for "Life", but now that the novel has not been published yet, everyone's praise has made him realize that this has tended to make him raise his psychological expectations.

Everyone laughed and stopped talking about "Life".

Li Tuo took over the topic. He brought two new friends today, Shi Tiesheng and Chen Jianyu.

Chen Jianyu was originally the editor of "Film Art" and has now been transferred to the Film Association. He is considered a person who spans the two fields of film and literature.

This summer, the sports film "Shaou" directed by Li Tuo's wife Zhang Nuanxin was released. The story tells the story of Chinese women's volleyball player Shaou who experienced injuries, failures, and the death of her lover, but still managed to regain her spirit and devote her entire life to the volleyball career.

In the past two years, the Chinese women's volleyball team has won glory for the country in the world sports arena and is very popular in China. "Seagull" itself is of good quality, and coupled with keeping up with the trend, it achieved good box office and reputation after its release.

Li Tuo and Zhang Nuanxin are a husband and wife team. He participated in the writing of the script of "Shaou" and also provided a lot of help to Zhang Nuanxin during the filming process.

He and Chen Jianyu met at a seminar held by Yanying Studio for "Sandgull". They had a great conversation and became friends.

The relationship between Shi Tiesheng and Li Tuo can be traced back to the founding of October.

"October" was founded in 1978. Its team was composed of members of the literary and artistic group of Yenching Publishing House. At that time, the publishing house and the Yenching City Creative Liaison Office were both located in the same courtyard.

This office was a temporary organization before the restoration of the Writers Association. After the publication of October, in order to attract young authors to contribute enthusiastically, the Literature and Art Group and the Creative Association Office often organized activities together, attracting a large number of young amateur authors.

These included many well-known writers who later became famous, such as Liu Xinwu, Li Tuo, Mu Guozheng, Liu Jinyun, Shi Tiesheng, etc. Li Tuo and Shi Tiesheng met under such circumstances.

Shi Tiesheng only started to try his hand at writing in 78. At first, he could only publish articles in some student magazines, such as "Hope" of Northwest University and "Morning" of Yenching University.

Later, his works gradually began to appear in several well-known literary magazines and he became somewhat famous.

This summer, he was diagnosed with kidney problems. In order to recuperate, he had to quit his job at the street factory and lost his meager monthly salary. His income now comes from government subsidies and writing.

Shi Tiesheng went to work in the countryside in northern Shaanxi, and his healthy legs also remained in northern Shaanxi.

Speaking of it, that batch of Yenching youth who went to Shaanxi to work in the countryside had very close connections. Lu Yao's wife Linda was a Yenching youth. There was also Wu Beiling, a student of the Chinese Department of Yenching University Class of 77, who was also a Yenching youth who worked in the countryside in Shaanxi, and she had a close relationship with Shi Tiesheng.

"I really have to thank Bei Ling for letting me persist in writing. In the past two years, she often rode her bicycle to my house after school to listen to me read my immature works and provide me with revision suggestions."

When Shi Tiesheng mentioned Wu Beiling, his face was full of regret. In September, Wu Beiling had already left for the United States to study.

Shi Tiesheng and Zhang Chengzhi were classmates at Shuimu High School, but they were three years apart in age, so they had many common friends.

Tao Yushu immediately thought of the novel "Cloud" that she had read two days ago, and said to Chen Jiangong: "These two novels are somewhat similar in some aspects."

Li Tuo asked curiously, "What novel?" Tao Yushu then gave a brief account of the content of Zhang Manling's novel. After listening, Li Tuo said, "The style is indeed very similar. In which journal was this one published? I'll check it out later."

"It hasn't been published yet. The manuscript is here in Chaoyang, and I would like him to help recommend it." Chen Jiangong said.

After chatting for a while, Lin Chaoyang saw that it was almost time, so he got up to prepare lunch, and everyone also got up to help.

"Just leave two people, we don't need so many people." Lin Chaoyang said.

After some discussion, they decided to leave Feng Jicai and Chen Jiangong behind.

While washing vegetables, the people in the kitchen chatted casually. Chen Jiangong asked Tao Yushu, "Yushu, you are about to graduate, right? Which unit do you plan to work for?"

"Can I just pick a job whenever I want? It's all assigned by the state."

Chen Jiangong smiled and said, "You can fool others, but you can't fool me. At least you can go to Yenching Literature, right? De Ningke told me that they are not bad and are thriving."

"It's pretty good." Tao Yushu agreed. Compared with working in government agencies or news organizations, she would rather work in a magazine because the work she does is still related to literature.

"Have you decided? Then I have to tell De Ning."

"So you are here to gather intelligence today?" Lin Chaoyang said teasingly.

"It's not about gathering intelligence. I'm just hoping that Yu Shu can go to Yanjing Literature. This way, I'll have someone in the editorial department who can protect me."

"What a promising future!" Lin Chaoyang scolded with a smile, and then asked: "Don't just talk about Yushu, do you know where you will be assigned after graduation?"

Chen Jiangong glanced at Feng Jicai next to him and told him with his eyes: Don’t spread it around!
Feng Jicai gave him a look that showed he had received it, and Chen Jiangong then lowered his voice and said, "I will go to the Yenching Literary Association after graduation and become a professional writer."

Lin Chaoyang joked: "Of course, you can join the Literary Association and become a professional writer as soon as you graduate!"

There are very few people who are professional writers these days. There are roughly only two types of people in society who can make a living from writing. For others, no matter how famous they are or how much they earn from writing, they can only be considered part-time writers.

One category is writers who achieved success in their early years, such as Ba Jin, Zhao Shuli, and Sun Li.

There is another type, which is the path that Chen Jiangong is about to take. By becoming a professional writer of the literary associations of various provinces and cities, you can hold a stable job and concentrate on creation. Even if you don't have any creative output, you can still have a stable income.

"Hey! Isn't this a national award won by chance?"

In late March this year, Chen Jiangong won the National Excellent Short Story Award for his short story "Phoenix Eyes". As he is a native of Yenching and a graduate of the Chinese Department of Yenching University, it is reasonable for him to join the Yenching Writers Association as a professional writer.

Among the winners of the National Excellent Short and Medium Story Award, many have joined the China Writers Association and become professional writers through this award.

While they were chatting and laughing, lunch was prepared and the dining table was placed in the west wing. The three rooms here were specially cleaned up by Lin Chaoyang for entertaining guests.

Shi Tiesheng has kidney disease and needs to pay attention to his diet. Lin Chaoyang specially prepared two light dishes for him and did not pour him any wine. He watched everyone feasting and drinking, feeling melancholy.

"Being ill doesn't matter much, except that I don't have the pleasure of eating, which makes me feel that life is bleak."

His tone was half joking, half complaining.

Zhang Chengzhi teased him, "There are so many vegetables to eat, but you insist on making it wrong. If you like meat, then just say you like meat."

Shi Tiesheng said in a very chauvinistic manner: "Without meat to eat, what is the meaning of life?"

Because of his kidney disease, Shi Tiesheng has a lot of dietary restrictions. Of course, it doesn't mean that he can't eat anything, but he just can't eat too much.

But he is a "carnivore". Looking at the delicious food in front of him, he can only taste it, and it can't even fill the gaps between his teeth. How can he not be sad?

"My disease should be more thorough, with only the upper body left. Even without the lower body, I can still enjoy the food with my mouth, digesting it on the spot after eating."

Shi Tiesheng unscrupulously joked about his sick body. Everyone imagined the scene Shi Tiesheng described and felt that the meat in their mouths had changed its taste.

They all said with disgust: "This person is so mean! He can't even eat himself, but he wants to disgust us."

Looking at everyone's reactions, Shi Tiesheng nodded with satisfaction.

Anyway, I can't eat it anymore, so if you guys eat less, I'll feel better.

(End of this chapter)