Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 310: Taking a Creative Leave

Seeing her exhausted, Lin Chaoyang was touched. He thanked her twice and asked with concern, "How did you get here? You must have been through a lot on the way."

Zhang Manling said nonchalantly: "What's the hassle of going from Tianjin to Yanjing? We came out after lunch and it was very convenient to take the bus along the way."

She apologized again, "I was a little rushed and didn't prepare a gift for you."

"It's too polite to say that. Come inside. It's so cold."

With the arrival of several waves of guests, Lin Chaoyang's home was extremely lively. The original plan was to have dinner at six o'clock, but because of the large number of people, it had to be postponed to seven o'clock.

Fortunately, there were many people helping today, so Lin Chaoyang's job as chef turned out to be a lot easier.

Because there were so many people, two tables were set up for dinner, one for family members and the other for friends. Everyone came to congratulate Lin Chaoyang, and they sat together happily, full of laughter.

At the table, while everyone was eating and chatting, Zhang Manling again brought up the shortlist for this year's Mao Dun Literature Prize.

There were eight works in total, seven of which won awards and only one was unsuccessful. Her tone was funny, and she called the unsuccessful work "the unlucky one", which made everyone laugh.

At this time, Li Tuo said mysteriously: "You only think that the remaining one is the unlucky guy who didn't get seven out of eight, and you never thought of another possibility?"

His words immediately attracted everyone's curious gazes. Zhang Manling asked him, "What do you mean? Which possibility?"

"I remember Chaoyang had two works shortlisted."

When Li Tuo said this, everyone was suddenly surprised. The originally joyful atmosphere suddenly became quiet because of this sudden news.

"You mean the work that was not selected was The Death of Van Gogh? Is that true? Who told you that?"

Zhang Manling asked questions in rapid succession, and everyone looked at Li Tuo eagerly.

The news he said was so shocking. If it were true, its influence might be greater than that of all the winning works of this year's Mao Dun Literature Prize combined.

Li Tuo's words were actually just a joke he made when chatting with others in the Literary Association. He said it in a joking way when he heard Zhang Manling talking about the unlucky guy who failed to be elected.

Seeing that everyone took it seriously, he immediately refuted the rumor, "I just said it casually, it was all a joke, don't take it seriously!"

His statement immediately attracted criticism from everyone.

"Do you have anything serious to do? How dare you make such a joke?"

"He never tells the truth!"

……

Everyone criticized him, but some people refused to give up and felt that what Li Tuo said just now did not seem to be a lie.

Wang Zengqi asked him, "Li Tuo, do you have any gossip? It's okay, there's no one here today, just speak openly!"

Li Tuo waved his hands quickly, "Please forgive me, what I just said was just nonsense."

Listening to the conversation between the two, the others around them couldn't help but become suspicious.

Could it be that Li Tuo just revealed the truth to everyone as a joke?
Everyone started to make wild guesses, and Li Tuo was speechless for a moment.

Zhang Manling laughed and teased, "Let's see if you will continue to talk nonsense in the future?"

Everyone also laughed.

At this time, Wang Zengqi said with emotion: "Your generation of writers has come at a good time. As long as you have talent, there is a stage for you to shine."

Wang Zengqi was born in the 1920s. The golden age of creation for writers of his generation was after the founding of the People's Republic of China. Unfortunately, fate played tricks on them, and many of them wasted their talents.

"Old Wang, you are only half right. The achievements you and Old Lin have made in the past few years are no worse than those of us young people. Not only our generation is enjoying the good times now, you are also enjoying them."

Lin Chaoyang's words made Lin Jinlan laugh, and she said to Wang Zengqi, "Look at you, you are old, but you are not as open-minded as young people."

After he finished speaking, he turned to the crowd and said, "Chaoyang, what you said is very good. I think your words should be made public."

Everyone immediately raised their glasses and took a swig.

The next morning, Lin Chaoyang received a registered letter from the Creative Research Office of the National Federation of Literary and Art Circles, which is also the Mao Dun Literature Prize Judging Office.

The content of the letter was very simple, more like a notification, informing Lin Chaoyang to report to the Overseas Chinese Hotel in Wangdaren Hutong, Yanjing before December 12.

Lin Chaoyang knew that this was the preparation made by the jury for the award ceremony. The seven winners of this year's Mao Dun Literature Prize were scattered all over the place, and they must be gathered together before the award ceremony.

After receiving the letter, he planned to use this as an excuse to ask for a half-month long vacation from his company.

As soon as he entered Yanjing University, Lin Chaoyang felt that many students on the street were focusing their eyes on him.

He has worked at Yanda for four years. His face has long been familiar to Yanda students, and almost every student recognizes him.

On today's university campuses, students are all literary youths. Yesterday, the People's Daily just announced the list of winners of the Mao Dun Literature Prize, and the news spread throughout the Yanjing University campus within a day.

Lin Chaoyang is an employee of the Yanda Library and a member of Yanda University. Students are also honored that he has won the award.

When he arrived at the library, Lin Chaoyang first accepted the warm congratulations from his colleagues, and then went to the director's office.

Xie Daoyuan saw Lin Chaoyang smiling and congratulating him. When he heard that he was asking for leave, he jokingly asked, "Is half a month enough? If not, ask for more!"

"If you approve my leave, I won't be polite."

Lin Chaoyang climbed up the pole.

Xie Daoyuan asked, "Yushu is about to give birth, right?"

"About the same time, probably in the next half month." "Great, I won the award and had a baby, it's a double blessing.

Your winning of this award has brought honor to our library. I will grant you three months of creative leave. Keep up the good work and achieve more success!"

While Xie Daoyuan was speaking, he winked at Lin Chaoyang.

Lin Chaoyang immediately understood what he meant. Although this three-month vacation was called creative leave, it was actually maternity leave.

"Thank you!"

Xie Daoyuan looked at Lin Chaoyang's back as he left the office, feeling an indescribable sense of accomplishment.

When this young man came to the library, he was just a penniless rural youth, and he was able to work in the library thanks to his father-in-law.

But who would have thought that in just a few years, he had grown into a towering tree.

Xie Daoyuan didn't dare to say how much credit he had for this, but he witnessed every step of Lin Chaoyang's growth and felt extremely proud of this young man.

His mind couldn't help but recall the summer of 78 when his old friend came to him with an embarrassed look on his face.

Xie Daoyuan had known Tao's father for more than 30 years and knew that his old friend had never asked anyone for help in his life, so when he asked for a job for his son-in-law, whom he had never met, Xie Daoyuan could not refuse.

Now that I think about it, my original decision not only helped my old friend, but also created a talented young man!

When he came out of the director's office, his colleagues were all envious when they heard that the director had approved him for three months of creative leave.

But no one envied Lin Chaoyang for getting this extra-long vacation. With the creative achievements Lin Chaoyang had made so far, he had already surpassed the three realms and was no longer within the five elements among the library staff.

If people are jealous, they will only be jealous of their colleagues who have similar conditions, and will not be jealous of someone who is far better than them.

After saying hello to his colleagues, Lin Chaoyang was about to leave the library, but was blocked by several students.

The leader was Tao Yumo, and the others were all members of the May Fourth Literary Society, including the president Yan Zhen.

Yan Zhen was a student of the Chinese Department, Class of 80. By their year, the Chinese Department had expanded its enrollment by two classes, and Lin Chaoyang no longer attended classes there, so he didn't know the students there.

Similarly, students in the Chinese department are not familiar with Lin Chaoyang.

For most of them, Lin Chaoyang's image exists more in the mouths of his seniors, and behind the figure reading a book with his head down at the front desk of the library. This sense of distance makes the students unconsciously feel awe and admiration.

Yesterday, the list of winners of the Mao Dun Literature Prize was announced. The most discussed group among Yan University students was undoubtedly the May Fourth Literary Society. Those who were able to join this society were all serious literary youths.

They were very familiar with Lin Chaoyang's name on the list of winners. A Yanda employee won the Mao Dun Literature Prize. The simple-minded students' first reaction was to feel proud that Lin Chaoyang was a part of Yanda.

Someone suggested inviting Lin Chaoyang to give a speech, which immediately won everyone's approval.

But who should go forward to invite Lin Chaoyang became a problem.

After the graduation of the classes of 77 and 78, Lin Chaoyang had very little interaction with the student group.

The first person they thought of was Tao Yumo, as she was Lin Chaoyang's sister-in-law, making her the perfect match.

After Tao Yumo made the request on behalf of the students, Lin Chaoyang agreed without much hesitation, which immediately made the students very happy.

Lin Chaoyang asked about their schedule again, and Yan Zhen said, "It depends on your schedule."

Lin Chaoyang thought that there was still nearly a week before the Mao Dun Literature Prize was awarded, and he didn't want to disturb Tao Yushu before she gave birth, so he said, "Then let's do it in the next few days. When you have made the arrangements, let Yumo notify me."

"Good good."

Several students happily agreed and watched Lin Chaoyang leave.

Among the group, a small-eyed boy with long hair and glasses looked at Lin Chaoyang's back as he left, unable to suppress his excitement.

He just entered the school in September this year. After entering the school, he had only seen Lin Chaoyang from a distance a few times and had never had the chance to talk to him. Therefore, communicating with Lin Chaoyang at close range today made him very excited.

"Xichuan, let's go!" the classmates around him shouted to him.

"coming!"

Lin Chaoyang has taken a leave and is free from worries.

In the next few days, many familiar friends came to his home to visit him and congratulate him on winning the award.

On the morning of the 12th, he went to Yan University and gave a speech to the students. The venue was again in the dining hall. The students who came to listen to the speech filled the dining hall, and the scene was packed with people.

Thunderous applause broke out from time to time in the conference hall, and the speech was a great success.

After his speech, he took questions from students for more than an hour before concluding.

In the evening, Tao Yumo went home and described the fanatical mood of the Yan University students that day with exaggeration.

Tao Yushu recalled the reactions of people around him in the past few days after the Mao Dun Literature Prize winners were announced, and asked in confusion:
"In fact, the Mao Dun Literature Prize and the National Excellent Short Story Award are both national literary awards. Apart from the length of the works, there is no essential difference. Why do you feel that your winning this time has such a great influence?"

"It's the celebrity effect! Mr. Mao Dun is so famous. This award was established according to his last wish and is named after him. The award itself has great commemorative significance." Lin Chaoyang explained.

There is another reason that Lin Chaoyang did not mention. In later generations, literary awards named after several great figures in modern and contemporary literary circles appeared in the domestic literary circles, such as the Lao She Literature Award, the Lu Xun Literature Award, and the Cao Yu Drama Literature Award.

But in reality, the Mao Dun Literature Prize is still the most influential and well-known.

The reason is very simple. The Mao Dun Literature Prize is the first literary award in China to be named after an individual, and it also reaps the greatest benefit from public opinion.

It will be difficult for future generations to imitate and surpass.

(End of this chapter)