Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 354: The Romance of the Literati

"Lin Chaoyang?"

Yu Hua didn't react at first, he just felt that the name sounded familiar. Then he noticed the subtle expression on Zhu Wei's face, and an idea flashed in his mind.

"Xu Lingjun?"

His tone was full of surprise and he looked at Zhu Wei in disbelief.

Yu Hua still couldn't believe it until Zhu Wei nodded and confirmed his guess.

"Teacher Tao's husband is Xu Lingjun?"

Zhu Wei looked at Yu Hua's shocked expression and asked with a smile: "You don't know?"

Yu Hua shook his head.

"It's okay, you'll know now!"

Yu Hua never imagined that the husband of the editor who took such good care of her was actually a famous writer.

He has read a lot of Xu Lingjun's works. A few days ago, he even bought a copy of "The Boat Crossing" with great difficulty.

He suddenly had many curious questions in his mind, but he was too embarrassed to ask, so he just sat quietly by and listened to everyone talking.

After a while, he heard Zhang Chengzhi say: "I don't know if Chaoyang's masterpiece has been completed yet. I really want to see it soon."

In the past, when there were gatherings with so many people, Li Tuo and his friends would usually go to Lin Chaoyang's house.

But Lin Chaoyang had been in seclusion during this period working on his creative work, and everyone was embarrassed to disturb him, so they gathered at Li Tuo's house.

“This time Chaoyang is putting all his effort into writing something big. I guess it will take at least two to three years to finish it,” Li Tuo asserted.

Chen Jiangong retorted: "Chaoyang's efficiency is much higher than you and me. I think there will be no problem within two years."

"What's there to argue about? You'll know once it's finished! It's a pity that Chaoyang agreed to give this novel to Huacheng. Sigh!"

Zhu Wei sighed, feeling sorry and regretful that Lin Chaoyang's novel ended up in Huacheng.

Li Tuo teased, "Zhu Wei, it's easy for you, People's Literature, to get the manuscript. Just let Yu Shu cry and make a scene in front of Chaoyang, and he will definitely hand over the manuscript!"

Zhu Wei laughed and scolded: "You are the only one who comes up with bad ideas!"

Li Tuo retorted, "Then I'll give you a good idea. Ask Lao Wang to raise the manuscript fee for Chaoyang to 50 yuan per thousand words, the same as the standard of Huacheng. We are all at the same starting line, and you, People's Literature, have the advantage of relationships, so you will definitely win."

"Your idea is not as good as the first one!" Zhu Wei said speechlessly.

Chen Jianyu asked the two people nearby: "Did Huacheng really offer Chaoyang a standard fee of 50 yuan per thousand words?"

"It's almost certain. That's what's being spread now anyway. I asked Chaoyang to verify it, and he kept his mouth shut, but he didn't deny it either. Is there any need to doubt it?"

Li Tuo has extensive connections in the literary world. In martial arts novels, he is considered a first-rate know-it-all. The information that comes out of his mouth is usually correct.

Chen Jianyu couldn't help but marvel at it. "50 yuan for a thousand words! Huacheng is such a big spender!"

Zhu Wei said with deep feeling: "Who says it's not true? The fee for any long novel starts at 10,000 yuan, which is absolutely impossible for us at People's Literature."

"What is the status of your People's Literature? The sales of each issue are consistently over one million copies. How is it possible to spend such high fees to commission articles?" Zhang Chengzhi said.

Zhu Wei shook his head. "It's not a question of status or sales, but a question of system and culture. Our magazine would never do such a thing!"

"Only the publishing houses in Guangdong dare to do this!" Li Tuo said with emotion.

While everyone was talking, Yu Hua was already dumbfounded.

50 yuan per thousand words?

For a new author whose work has not yet been published, this is an unimaginable sky-high fee.

Writing a thousand words would earn 50 yuan. Yu Hua calculated the amount based on his two short stories and it came to 1650 yuan.

His monthly salary is 27 yuan, and he would have to work without eating or drinking for more than four years to earn that much money.

What's more, the man was writing a novel, so it was no exaggeration for Zhu Wei to say that the starting price was 10,000 yuan.

That’s ten thousand dollars!

Yu Hua felt that he might not be able to save that much money even if he worked for his entire life, and being a writer could make money really quickly!
At this moment, Yu Hua strengthened his creative ideals and regarded Lin Chaoyang as his role model.

This is what a man should do!

Two days later, Yu Hua finally finished revising the second manuscript and handed it to Tao Yushu.

"Well, the changes are very good. Slow work really makes fine work."

Listening to Tao Yushu's praise, Yu Hua felt as embarrassed as if he had been caught cheating by the teacher.

He asked, "Teacher Tao, does this mean that there is no problem with the manuscript?"

Tao Yushu nodded, "Okay. Your two manuscripts have to wait in line, and they will probably be published in March or April."

Yu Hua was immediately delighted. Although it would take another month or two to be published, this was People's Literature. He would be willing to wait even for a year or two, let alone one or two months.

Then Tao Yushu told Yu Hua about the remuneration set for him by the editorial department, 8 yuan per thousand words. He received a total of 264 yuan for the two manuscripts.

Yu Hua was extremely satisfied with the standard of remuneration. 264 yuan was almost equivalent to his salary for a whole year.

Writing really makes money quickly!
"After revising the manuscript, what are your plans?"

Yu Hua was stunned for a moment, not knowing what Tao Yushu meant by asking this question?
Tao Yushu said: "The Chinese New Year is only seven or eight days away. If you are anxious to go home, I will ask someone to buy you a train ticket.

It's not easy to come to Yanjing. If you are not in a hurry to go home, you can play here for a few days and leave on the 27th or 28th, so that you can go back before the New Year. "At this point, Tao Yushu lowered his voice and added, "I will give you a subsidy for these few days."

Then her voice returned to normal and she asked Yu Hua, "What do you think?"

Yu Hua is only in his twenties and hasn't even gotten married yet. He is at the age where he loves to play. What's more, Tao Yushu just secretly told him that there would be a subsidy for staying in Yanjing to play. Where can he find such a good thing?
He said hurriedly: "Then I will play in Yanjing for a few more days."

Tao Yushu laughed, which made Yu Hua feel a little embarrassed. She said, "Okay. I'll have someone book you a train ticket for the 27th. You can continue to live upstairs for the next few days."

"Thank you, Teacher Tao!" Yu Hua said gratefully.

He increasingly felt that it was his fortune to meet an editor like Teacher Tao.

Tao Yushu added, "Tomorrow is the Little New Year, and you are all alone in Yanjing. When you have had enough fun during the day, come to our house for dinner."

Tao Yushu's invitation made Yu Hua feel warm and valued again. Teacher Tao is really the best editor in the world.

The next evening, Yu Hua brought the gifts and asked for directions along the way to Xiaoliubukou Hutong. He knocked on the door and waited for about a minute before the gate was opened from the inside.

The person who opened the door for Yu Hua was a young woman who looked a bit like Teacher Tao. "You are Yu Hua, right?"

"Hello, I'm Yu Hua."

"You're welcome to come in!"

Tao Yumo led Yu Hua into the courtyard, passed the screen wall, the hanging flower gate, and the winding corridor to the central courtyard. Yu Hua couldn't help but exclaimed, isn't this courtyard too big?

He came all the way along Chang'an Avenue. When he thought that Tiananmen Square was just three or four hundred meters diagonally opposite the courtyard, Yu Hua couldn't help but look up at it.

"Yu Hua is here!"

When Yu Hua walked into the yard, he saw Tao Yushu coming out with a child in his arms to greet him. He hurried forward and greeted him.

Tao Yushu introduced Tao Yumo to him and then invited him into the house.

"Where did you go today?"

"I went to Tiananmen Square to watch the flag-raising ceremony in the morning, and then went to the Forbidden City. I spent the whole day there."

"You've been out all day, drink some tea to warm yourself up."

After sitting down and chatting for a few minutes, Yu Hua became curious as he hadn't seen Lin Chaoyang come out.

They just greeted each other quickly in the editorial office that day, and Yu Hua didn't look at him carefully at that time, so he didn't even have any impression of what Lin Chaoyang looked like.

After chatting for a while, Tao Yumo came to call them to eat. Tao Yushu took Yu Hua to the side room, and Yu Hua found out that Lin Chaoyang was the chef today.

At this moment, he had prepared the ingredients and was taking off his apron. When he saw Yu Hua coming in, he greeted Yu Hua with a smile on his face.

"Hello, Teacher Lin!"

Lin Chaoyang waved his hand, "Don't call me teacher, there's not much age difference between us, just call me by my name."

Yu Hua didn't dare to call Lin Chaoyang by name, so he changed his name, "Then I'll call you Teacher Chaoyang."

Lin Chaoyang smiled and shook his head, "Alright, alright, don't worry about the name, just sit down!"

Today is the eve of the Chinese New Year. The dinner at Lin Chaoyang's house is not an ordinary dish. Instead, a copper hot pot the size of a washbasin is placed on the table, and next to it are plates of cut meat. The meat is bright red with white threads mixed in, and it looks like lamb.

"What would Yu Hua like to drink? A drink or wine?" Lin Chaoyang asked.

"I'll drink anything."

"Let's drink beer, then."

When dinner started, Yu Hua seemed a little reserved as he was the only outsider present today.

"Don't be shy, just treat it like your home."

Seeing that Yu Hua was really reserved, Lin Chaoyang found a topic and asked, "Yu Hua, is this your first time eating shabu-shabu?"

"Yes."

"Speaking of which, you people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang have been eating this way of eating hot pot for much longer than we in the north."

Yu Hua looked at Lin Chaoyang curiously, waiting for his profound remarks.

"During the Southern Song Dynasty, there was a man named Lin Hong who wrote a book called "Shan Jia Qing Gong", which was a special note on elegant food. One of the notes recorded that he went to Wuyi Mountain in winter to learn from a master and caught a rabbit on a snowy day.

His master told him that in the mountains, rabbit meat can only be sliced ​​thinly, marinated with wine, sauce and pepper, then placed on a stove with water. After the water boils, each person uses a pair of chopsticks to pick up the meat and put it into the soup to cook, then dip it in different sauces according to their preference.

He commented that this way of eating is not only simple, but also "gives the warmth and joy of reunion."

Five or six years later, he visited Yang Yongzhai's home in Lin'an and saw this way of eating. Yang Yongzhai was a poet and even wrote a poem about it:

The waves surge like snow on the clear river, and the wind blows the sunset glow.

Jiang Xue and Lang Chong are both in the pot, and the sunset glow is the meat slices. Lin Hong therefore gave this way of eating a poetic name, called "Spreading the Sunset Giving", and explained that not only rabbit meat, but also pork, mutton and beef can be used.

So, you southerners have been eating hotpot much earlier than us northerners."

Seeing Lin Chaoyang telling an anecdote effortlessly, Yu Hua couldn't help but admire Lin Chaoyang's erudition and versatility.

At this time, Lin Chaoyang said again: "It is best to eat hot pot on a snowy day. The white snow is dazzling, the silver is white, the flying flowers are scattered and intertwined, lingering in the accumulation, and you look at the charcoal fire, it is a special artistic conception.

The red of the meat, the green of the vegetables, the wind, snow, waves, and clouds are full of poetry. "

Yu Hua couldn't help but immerse himself in the picture described by Lin Chaoyang, and actually felt endless poetry from the meal of mutton hotpot.

For the first time, he saw what the knowledge of food is and what the romance of literati is.
(End of this chapter)