Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 295 Life is so unfair!

As soon as July arrives, the sun is scorching.

It was past seven in the morning and the sun was already high in the sky. Just riding a bicycle to work made many people sweat profusely.

Ma Wei parked his bicycle in the bicycle shed and walked into the dormitory building carrying a black briefcase.

"Youth Literature" is affiliated with China Youth Publishing House. It had just been established at that time and the office conditions were tight. It was located in the dormitory building of China Youth Publishing House at No. 21, Dong nd Street.

Ma Weidu entered the building and climbed all the way to the sixth floor. He pushed open the door of the editorial office while panting.

The editorial department is called an office, but in fact it is a small three-bedroom apartment, each room is filled with editors' desks and chairs, various office supplies and manuscripts.

Ma Wei walked into the room with sweat on his forehead. He was about to share the good news with his colleagues, but he saw several colleagues gathered together and chattering, their expressions full of excitement.

"What are you so happy about?" Ma Weidu asked.

Chen Hao was the editor-in-chief, and he was considered a leader. He smiled and said to Ma Weidu, "In a few days, the editorial department will organize a summer writing class for young authors, which will last for one month."

Ma Weidu immediately became happy when he heard this and asked, "Where is the location?"

“Qingdao.”

"Qingdao? Summer is perfect for going to the beach!"

Listening to Ma Weidu's words, Chen Haozeng pretended to be serious and said, "The creative class is for writers to produce works. Do you think it is for you to travel around?"

After getting scolded for being too proud, Ma Wei could only stop smiling and said, "Well, I'm just being happy for nothing. It's not my turn anyway."

Generally, when an editorial department organizes such an activity, the editor-in-chief has to host the event and cannot go. Usually, senior colleagues in the editorial department lead the team, which can be regarded as an invisible benefit for the old comrades.

Ma Weidu is a young editor who has been in the editorial department for a short time. This kind of thing basically does not happen to him, and he is very self-aware.

Seeing that Chen Haozeng's expression was still serious, Ma Weidu said again: "Director, don't be angry first, I'll show you something good!"

"What good stuff?"

Ma Wei didn't answer his question, but took out a manuscript from his briefcase.

Chen Hao had thought that he had been asked to read some novel manuscript, which looked like a short story, so he asked, "Whose novel is it?"

“It’s not a novel, it’s a review.”

"Comment? Why are you asking for a review out of the blue?"

Ma Weidu chuckled twice, but kept silent, and said, "You'll know when you see it."

Chen Hao took the manuscript and looked at it carefully. The first thing he noticed was the title of the article - "On How to Shape Contemporary Rural Characters from Gao Jialin's Perspective".

Chen Haozeng was certainly not unfamiliar with the name "Gao Jialin". "Life" itself was a manuscript commissioned by China Youth Publishing House and Lu Yao, and now the novel has been published in "Harvest", receiving rave reviews and constant discussion in the literary world.

Judging from the title, it is another review of "Life", but it seems that the discussion scope should be broader than that of ordinary reviews.

Then Chen Haozeng noticed the signature at the bottom right of the title - Xu Lingjun.

"Huh?" He made a surprised sound and looked at Ma Weidu with a surprised face, "This manuscript... did you ask for it?"

Ma Weidu looked at Chen Haozeng's expression and felt relieved.

He pretended to be modest and said, "Yes! It just so happened that Comrade Chaoyang has a good relationship with Comrade Lu Yao. I recently wrote to Comrade Lu Yao to discuss some ideas about "Life". I went to his house to ask for the manuscript, and he sorted out his ideas and gave them to me."

After listening to Ma Weidu, Chen Haozeng said with a smile: "It's not easy to get a commission from him."

The implication was to praise Ma Weidu, which made Ma Weidu secretly happy.

Given Lin Chaoyang's current fame and influence, if publications or magazines sincerely want to ask him to write an article, they will generally send a more senior editor, or simply the editor-in-chief or deputy editor-in-chief.

Ma Weidu was a new recruit and when he went to ask for an article, it was easy for him to give the other party the impression that he was not respected.

Don’t think that all literati are humble gentlemen. In fact, most of them are narrow-minded!
Therefore, Chen Haozeng's words also contained a kind of different view of him. He really did not expect that Ma Wei could get Lin Chaoyang's manuscript, even if it was just a review.

And it seems that this review is quite "affordable".

Chen Haozeng was very familiar with Lin Chaoyang's works and knew that he seldom wrote reviews, so he was full of curiosity and anticipation for this review.

"Let me take a look first."

After he finished speaking, he ignored Ma Weidu's reaction, found a chair and sat down, immersing himself in the article.

While Chen Haozeng was reviewing the manuscript, Ma Wei started his day's work chatting and laughing with his colleagues.

Chen Hao spent more than twenty minutes reading the article carefully from beginning to end. His face showed appreciation and joy for seeing such an excellent work. He raised his eyes and looked towards Ma Weidu.

"pony!"

"Hey, Director!"

"What do you think of this article?" Chen Haozeng did not express his own opinion, but wanted to test the young man Ma Weidu.

Ma Weidu pondered and said: "The article's analysis of the content of "Life" and the character of Gao Jialin is incisive, and its views on how to shape the image of contemporary rural characters are also valuable advice. It is a rare good article."

Chen Haozeng looked at Ma Weidu with a smile on his face, "Your evaluation is quite high."

"Director, these are my true thoughts. Please feel free to criticize and correct me." Ma Wei said modestly with his eyes narrowed.

Chen Haozeng nodded, "The summary is quite accurate, but the perspective should be broader."

Ma Weidu was originally a little proud, but after hearing what Chen Haozeng said, he couldn't help but say, "Then tell me about it so I can learn from it."

His tone was 70% asking for advice and 30% showing dissatisfaction. However, Chen Haozeng did not pay attention to his tone and remained calm.

"You should have seen the reviews of Life in some recent magazines. Generally speaking, most critics are critical of the character Gao Jialin.

But in Xu Lingjun's article, it can be clearly seen that his attitude towards the character of Gao Jialin is very neutral. He recognizes the positive parts of Gao Jialin and tolerates his shortcomings.

These two attitudes seem to be the critics’ views on the work and the characters, but in fact they are the collision between two discourse systems.”

Ma Weidu originally thought that Chen Haozeng was just being mysterious in order to suppress his enthusiasm, but when he heard Chen Haozeng mention the "discourse system", his expression couldn't help but become serious.

When he picked up the manuscript yesterday, he praised the article in front of Lin Chaoyang. Although there was some flattery in his words, they were basically his true feelings.

During their conversation, Lin Chaoyang mentioned some of Lu Yao's creative insights into "Life", including Lu Yao's views on the times and society.

Although Ma Weidu had also read "Life", after listening to Lin Chaoyang's analysis of the novel, he felt that what he thought was really shallow.

Ma Weidu had also heard the term "discourse system" from Lin Chaoyang. Today, Chen Haozeng actually mentioned the same term as Lin Chaoyang. Ma Weidu would never think that this was just a coincidence.

If Chen Haozeng didn't have a deep understanding of the works and articles, how could he have the same ideas as Lin Chaoyang?
"We can roughly divide these two systems into the new and the old. Since 1949, the outlook on life of young people has emphasized overcoming three major differences: the difference between urban and rural areas, the difference between workers and peasants, and the difference between physical labor and mental labor.

In the old discourse system, Gao Jialin's personal pursuit made these three differences particularly glaring and unacceptable.

But under the new socialist modernization process established after the reform and opening up, doesn’t Gao Jialin’s longing for the city and yearning for modern civilization conform to the development logic of the advanced replacing the backward?
Some critics are accustomed to judging others from a moral perspective, which is questionable.

If a person has moral flaws, then he does not deserve a good life. If this logic makes sense, then does it mean that everyone has the power to infinitely criticize and judge others?

Of course, I have no intention of defending Gao Jialin's behavior. I am just expressing my feelings about the views in the article.

Rather than blaming and condemning Gao Jialin's behavior, shouldn't it be more important to dig into the deeper reasons behind it?"

Chen Hao once talked about Lin Chaoyang's article, and Ma Weidu was convinced. He recalled what Lin Chaoyang said to him yesterday, which could almost be said to be a coincidence.

Thinking of this, Ma Wei couldn't help but feel some admiration for Chen Haozeng.

Sure enough, ginger is still as spicy as ever!

"Director, you said it very well!"

Chen Hao once laughed and scolded: "Stop flattering me, are you convinced?"

"Look at what you said. When have I ever been dissatisfied?"

Ma Weidu jokingly asked Chen Haozeng: "When will this article be published?"

Chen Haozeng hesitated for a moment after hearing this. "Remove the comment from the fourth issue and replace it with this one. Let's take advantage of the popularity of Life and add fuel to it."

"it is good!"

Ma Wei was very excited. Lin Chaoyang was the most famous writer he had ever commissioned since he joined the editorial department of Youth Literature. This article received such high praise from the director, and he was extremely happy.

Seeing Ma Weidu's delighted expression, Chen Hao praised him, "This manuscript is a great one. Keep up the good work. If you do it the first time, you will do it the second time. Try to get a long novel by Xu Lingjun!"

"Yes!"

Ma Wei couldn't help but straighten his chest and raise his head, and responded loudly.

As summer vacation approaches, the final exams of various departments of Yanjing University have ended. Students of all grades are preparing to go home, while the students of Class 78 are preparing for their graduation.

That morning, several students from the Chinese Department of the Class of 78, led by Zhang Manling, came to the library excitedly to find Lin Chaoyang. They had just determined their graduation assignments.

Zhang Manling published novels such as "There is a Beautiful Place" and "Cloud" in "Yenching Literature" this year and became a well-known writer. Her graduation thesis took Lin Chaoyang's "Shutter Island" as the research object and won the first prize for outstanding graduation thesis in the review of Yenching University.

With such outstanding achievements, she was assigned to Tianjin Writers Association as a professional writer.

Being assigned to the Writers Association and becoming a professional writer right after graduation is the dream of almost every student majoring in literature.

Whether it was the publication of her work or the award for her graduation thesis, Zhang Manling believed that she benefited from Lin Chaoyang, so she was full of gratitude towards Lin Chaoyang.

Lin Chaoyang didn't feel anything for Zhang Manling's gratitude, as his help was just a small favor.

After chatting with Zhang Manling for a few words, Lin Chaoyang asked about the assignments of other people.

Zhang Manling was in high spirits and Liu Zhenyun was very envious of her. He had been a literary youth for four years in college and had written countless words, but only a few of them were published, and he had not yet achieved anything famous.

When Lin Chaoyang asked him about his job, he said calmly that he was assigned to the Farmers Daily. Lin Chaoyang smiled and said, "Isn't that great? It's a good match for your major."

Liu Zhenyun said: "If possible, I would like to switch with Manling."

"I won't trade with you!"

The conversation between the two made everyone laugh. Lin Chaoyang comforted him and said, "The road of writing is not a 100-meter race, but a marathon. You are still so young. As long as you keep writing, you will definitely achieve results."

Listening to Lin Chaoyang's words, Liu Zhenyun couldn't help but think of the year he first entered college.

That year, Lin Chaoyang had just published his famous work "The Shepherd", and Liu Zhenyun had just met him. He subconsciously thought that Lin Chaoyang, as a librarian, was a few years older than himself.

Later, when Lin Chaoyang invited him to dinner, he found out that he was one year older than Lin Chaoyang.

The past was still vivid in his mind. Liu Zhenyun looked at his still young face and felt filled with emotion.

I run the marathon at the pace of a marathon, and you run the marathon at the speed of a 100-meter race.

Life is so unfair!

(End of this chapter)