Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 348 Xu Lingjun
Lin Chaoyang’s first reaction was to sneer. You want to meet him?
But later he thought, Old Xie treated him well, and it was understandable that one should raise soldiers for a thousand days and use them for a moment.

"Okay then, wait for me for a while."

Lin Chaoyang asked Du Rong to wait for him for a while, and after washing and packing, he followed her to the library.

When he arrived at the Yenching University Library, he was invited to the conference room and met the so-called foreign friends.

"Chaoyang, let me introduce you. This is Professor Ni Dewei from Stanford University. Professor Ni studied under Mr. Yang Liansheng and has studied ancient Chinese philosophy, especially the history and philosophy of the Zhou Dynasty."

"Professor Ni, this is Comrade Lin Chaoyang from our museum. His pen name is Xu Lingjun."

Xie Daoyuan introduced Lin Chaoyang and Ni Dewei to each other, and whispered a few words to Lin Chaoyang.

As early as the 80s, Yenching University Library established a book exchange relationship with Stanford University. This time, Ni Dewei made a special trip to donate books to the Yenching University Library on behalf of Stanford University. Among them were a batch of fish scale books from the Ming and Qing dynasties, which are of great research value.

As the director of the library, Xie Daoyuan received Ni Dewei. While the two were chatting, Ni Dewei inadvertently mentioned a Chinese novel he had read two months ago.

Xie Daoyuan felt familiar with his description. After careful inquiry, he found out that this was Lin Chaoyang's "The Death of Van Gogh".

He did not expect that a guest coming from the United States would have such a wonderful connection with the Yanda Library. When Ni Dewei heard that the author of the novel he was reading actually worked at the Yanda Library, he found it very magical and immediately asked to meet Lin Chaoyang.

Ni Dewei came to donate books on behalf of Stanford University, so Xie Daoyuan had to satisfy this small request, so he asked Du Rong to call Lin Chaoyang over.

After listening to Xie Daoyuan's introduction of the situation, Lin Chaoyang calmly started chatting with Ni Dewei.

Ni Dewei is a tenured professor at Stanford University and a senior sinologist in the American Sinology community. He also won the Rulian Prize in 1967.

Not to mention foreigners in later generations, most Chinese people may not have heard of the Rulian Award, but this award is inextricably linked to China.

The Julien Prize was established in 1872 and named after the famous French sinologist Julien. It is awarded annually by the French Academy of Letters to reward experts or academic groups that have made outstanding contributions in the field of sinology research.

Over the past century, except for three years when the list was empty and the force majeure of World War II, the Rulian Prize has never stopped being awarded. Chinese linguist Wang Jingru, philosopher Feng Youlan, and Chinese studies master Rao Zongyi have also won the Rulian Prize.

Therefore, Ni Dewei can be regarded as an expert on China culture.

According to his description, what he saw in the library of Stanford University should be the Panda Series.

A few months ago, Yang Xianyi came to Lin Chaoyang on behalf of "Chinese Literature" to discuss the publication of the English version of "The Death of Van Gogh". At that time, he obtained the publishing rights of the novel for a very low fee.

Both "Chinese Literature" and "Panda Series" are official literature promoted by the government. The most common channel for displaying them overseas is entering the libraries of various universities.

Ni Dewei is a scholar specializing in Chinese history and culture, so it is not surprising that he read "The Death of Van Gogh" in his school library.

During the conversation, what Ni Dewei was most curious about was how Lin Chaoyang, a Chinese writer, could describe 19th century Europe and Van Gogh, a genius artist who had been dead for more than a century, so vividly.

Lin Chaoyang smiled and answered him, "Have you forgotten where I work? The total collection of books in Yanda's library is nearly 200 million. It is a huge database."

Listening to Lin Chaoyang's words, Ni Dewei nodded and agreed with Lin Chaoyang.

The two continued their conversation until the end, and Lin Chaoyang proposed to give Ni Dewei a Chinese version of "The Death of Van Gogh". He signed his name on the title page of the book and sent words of blessing, which made the foreigner very happy.

"Chaoyang, wasn't 'The Crossing' just published? I think we can give Professor Ni a copy. Your novel is very Zen, I believe he will like it." Xie Daoyuan reminded.

Lin Chaoyang readily followed suit and gave Ni Dewei a copy of "Crossing the Boat", which had just been published half a month ago, and gave him a brief introduction to the plot of the novel.

As expected, Ni Dewei showed great interest after listening to the novel. He himself studied Chinese philosophy and history, and novels like "The Crossing of the Boat" were very much to his taste.

"I will read it carefully after I return!"

Ni Dewei happily accepted the gift. As a sinologist, there was certainly no problem for him to read a contemporary literary work.

By the time we dealt with Ni Dewei, it was already afternoon.

Lin Chaoyang yawned, his eyes bloodshot. Xie Daoyuan asked, "You look so tired. Didn't you get enough rest last night?"

"No. The child is sick and I haven't slept much these past two nights."

Hearing this, Xie Daoyuan's face was filled with guilt, "Look at what happened. If I had known, I wouldn't have asked you to come over."

"It's okay, the child's fever has gone down, I just slept less, it's not a big deal, I'm also a member of our museum."

Xie Daoyuan was relieved when he heard this, and said, "That's enough. Now that we have served the guests, you can go back and rest. You have been tired for several days, and you need to rest well. If you have nothing to do, don't come over. If there is anything, I will let someone notify you."

Xie Daoyuan's words can be translated as: Thanks for your hospitality, the vacation will be extended.

It doesn't say how long it is, but you don't have to use it anyway.

Although Xie Daoyuan didn't say it, he and Lin Chaoyang had reached a tacit understanding.

It takes a thousand days to raise an army and only a day to use it. The librarian Lin Chaoyang is gradually evolving into a mascot.

After saying goodbye, Lin Chaoyang left the library without any psychological burden.

It is already December. Last week, Yanjing had its first snow since the beginning of winter, and the snow on the ground has not melted yet.

At that time, the hardened road coverage in Yanjing City was not as much as in later generations. When the sun was shining during the day, the road would be covered with mud.

In the courtyard of Xiaoliubukou Hutong, Lin Erchun came out of the east courtyard with his feet covered in mud.

He stamped his feet vigorously and said to Lin Chaoyang, "You said you bought such a big yard, but there are only a few people in your family and the house is all empty. The east yard is not repaired and is left like this. It will collapse sooner or later."

Houses are not afraid of being lived in, but they are afraid of being unoccupied, especially in the north.

In the past, old houses would easily collapse due to the alternating cold and hot weather over the winter. Although the yard of Lin Chaoyang's house was built with high quality, it would not be a good idea to leave it like this forever. Lin Erchun's worries were not unreasonable.

"Yu Shu was pregnant before, and Dong Dong was too young to make such a big noise. We'll clean it up in the spring next year."

Lin Erchun added: "What's there to clean up? I can't live here even if I clean it up."

"This won't work, that won't work either, so what do you think we should do?"

"Of course you have to clean it up, but don't just sit there. I think it would be great if you rent it out!"

"I guess you'd say that. This is your own yard, how can you rent it out? Just mess around with the yards outside, and don't think about mine."

This winter, Lin Erchun found the end of his hard work in the production team in the 1950s. He rented out the courtyard in Mianhua Hutong to eight families for a month, leaving no room. Then he looked for several courtyards in Xicheng, but he was not in a hurry to buy them, so he slowly bargained with the owners.

In the first half of this year, the state issued a notice on “Several Provisions on the Implementation of the Policy on Private Property Taken Over in the ‘Buzz Buzz Buzz’”, which set off a movement to return private property.

The biggest impact of this incident was that a large number of private properties suddenly appeared in Yanjing City. According to incomplete statistics, in the early days of the Buzzing Movement, the number of private properties taken over by Yanjing City reached 51.

The authorities are returning private houses this year, and the original intention is of course good, but the problem is that after so many years, the property rights of these private houses have long become a dead end, and only one in ten private houses can be successfully returned.

But even so, there are many private houses for sale in Yanjing. Of course, these private houses cannot change the original cramped living conditions of Yanjing people, because these houses are already occupied, it's just that the person who lives in them has changed.

Lin Erchun feels sorry that Lin Chaoyang has no business sense, but Lin Chaoyang is worried about the capitalist tendencies shown by his father. If the old man continues like this, will he really become the number one landlord in Yanjing in the 1980s?

The father and son chatted for a while, then Lin Erchun went to hug his grandson, and Lin Chaoyang returned to the study to revise the manuscript.

As soon as Lin Erchun came in that morning, he called him to the East Courtyard to work with him, wasting almost an hour. With that time, he could have revised two thousand words.

Just a few days ago, after more than six months of creation, his new novel was finally completed, but completion does not mean the end.

Lin Chaoyang attaches great importance to this novel and has to polish it carefully before showing it to others.

He had just sat in the study for a few minutes when he heard a noise coming from the yard.

When I went out, I saw Li Tuo, Chen Jiangong and Zhang Chengzhi playing with little Dongdong who was brought out by Lin Erchun to bask in the sun in the yard.

"Dongzi, call me uncle!"

"I am your Uncle Chen!"

"Uncle Zhang is here!"

Lin Chaoyang looked at these idiots and felt hesitant to laugh or cry. "I say, you three, how old are you?"

"Does it matter how old you are? Isn't it normal for your son to call us uncle?" Li Tuo said.

"That's right." Chen Jiangong agreed.

Lin Chaoyang said helplessly: "You can't speak yet, what are you shouting for?"

Li Tuo shook Xiao Dongzi's hand, which was as fat as a white steamed bun, and said, "It's okay. Just recognize me first. You'll have to call me when we meet next time."

Lin Chaoyang asked him: "When did you come back?"

"It's been almost a week since I came back." Li Tuo replied.

This year, Li Tuo was busy with two things. One was to edit a collection of short stories for Sichuan People's Publishing House. He asked Da Feng to cooperate on this matter, and it was completed in August.

Another thing was that I went to Xi'an to write a script for Wu Tianming of Xi'an Film Studio. The movie was called "River Without Beacon".

The reason why Li Tuo knew Wu Tianming was because of Teng Wenji. The two had co-directed the movie "Tremblance of Life".

"Why is the couplet from Mianhua Hutong hung here?"

"Find a job for our old man. That place has been rented out."

Hearing this, Li Tuo and the other two started teasing Lin Chaoyang.

"Well, isn't this a typical landlord class?"

After a few jokes, Li Tuo started to prepare for dinner. The three of them came here just to satisfy their cravings, and when they arrived, they were carrying only vegetables in their hands.

During the dinner, Li Tuo talked about the two movies that were currently in theaters, "The Burning of the Old Summer Palace" and "The Last Emperor", and praised them highly.

"The scenes in these two films are grand, the details are realistic, and the characters are vivid. If Chaoyang becomes a screenwriter, his achievements will not be inferior to those of a novelist. He may become a figure like Mr. Cao Yu in the future."

Li Tuo's mouth was very sweet while eating the food made by Lin Chaoyang.

"The film is so good, and the director deserves the most credit." Lin Chaoyang said with a smile.

Chen Jiangong added: "I heard that The Garland Under the Mountain will be released soon, right? Considering the quality and influence of the original novel, it will definitely perform well after it is released."

"The Garland under the Mountain" passed the review of the Film Bureau a few days ago, and now the release date has been confirmed, which is December 12th.

"Three movies are released in these few months. Even professional screenwriters don't produce as much as you do!"

"The key is that all three movies are popular! The Burning of the Old Summer Palace and The Empress Dowager Cixi are not only popular in our mainland, but I heard they are also popular in Hong Kong and have been sold to Southeast Asia."

Lin Chaoyang waved his hand, "Alright, alright, if you keep praising me, I'll go to the sky. I'm just a screenwriter, and the popularity of the movie is the result of the hard work of everyone in the crew."

"It's true that it's the result of everyone's hard work, but your contribution accounts for a greater proportion. Three films a year, hehe..."

Li Tuo muttered to himself, with an expression of envy and inferiority on his face.

He has been concentrating on film reviews and script writing in the past two years, and he knows that such output is out of reach for most screenwriters, not to mention that the films produced are so popular.

"I'm going to write an article and submit it to Popular Movies tomorrow," said Li Tuo.

Chen Jiangong asked him, "What to write?"

"Just write about these three Chaoyang movies. Oh, I thought of a good title - 'Xu Lingjun Years'.

How about the title 'Xu Lingjunnian'?
This is probably the first time in Chinese film history that three films written by the same screenwriter were released in the same year.”

An idea suddenly came to Li Tuo's mind, and he excitedly said to the others.

"Xu Lingjunnian? This is a good name, intimidating enough!" Chen Jiangong clapped his hands in agreement.

"It's quite impressive, isn't it? It's a great title. I'm a little impressed with myself.

For this title, I have to write an article too.”

Li Tuo's face was full of pride.

(End of this chapter)