Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 419 Cultural Salon to be upgraded

These days, Tao Yushu was resigning, and the couple was planning to go to Hong Kong. Time passed in a flash and the fifteenth day of the first lunar month had passed.

Things have basically been sorted out. We just need to wait for Li Hanxiang's New Kunlun Pictures to issue Tao Yushu a letter of employment, and then we can go to the immigration department to handle the formalities.

Once you have completed the formalities, you can leave at any time.

Lin Chaoyang has had some free time these two days and has started planning for a new book.

It has been more than a year since the manuscript of "Crossing the Guandong" was completed. The impact it has caused since its publication is enormous. The cumulative sales of magazines and books have approached 10 million copies, and in terms of reviews, it has reached the peak that domestic literary works have achieved in recent years.

Moreover, the influence of "Crossing Guandong" has gradually spread overseas, to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan...

Although this influence is not large at present, it will continue to ferment over time.

In China, the huge success of "Crossing the Guandong" not only brought fame and fortune to Lin Chaoyang, but also brought him a heavy burden.

With the success of "Crossing the Guandong" as a precedent, both the literary community and readers are full of expectations for his next work, and the threshold of such expectations is set too high.

Many wise colleagues in the industry can also understand Lin Chaoyang’s current situation. The cost of completing such a grand work as "Crossing the Guandong" is immeasurable for the writer himself.

Therefore, everyone is discussing that Lin Chaoyang might not be able to release new works in the short term.

Unfortunately, what they don’t know is that Lin Chaoyang is different from ordinary writers.

He's hooked!
During this year or so, Lin Chaoyang has not written any new novels, but the ideas and plans for new works have never stopped in his mind.

Last year, Li Hanxiang asked about the script on behalf of Xu Guanwen. Although Lin Chaoyang was not interested at the time, he had an idea for a new work.

After two or three days of writing, Lin Chaoyang gradually sorted out the outline of the novel bit by bit. This morning, just as he was about to start writing the main text, he didn't expect Li Tuo to run to his house excitedly.

As soon as they met, Li Tuo excitedly asked Lin Chaoyang: "Chaoyang, I heard that your Yushu quit her job because she was pregnant?"

Before Lin Chaoyang could answer his question, Tao Yushu came over with tea. Li Tuo's face was full of excitement, but his question made Tao Yushu's face darken on the spot.

Li Tuo suddenly felt guilty. He said to Tao Yushu carefully, "Yushu, don't get me wrong. I just heard that you are pregnant. Congratulations, congratulations!"

His dry congratulations made Tao Yushu too lazy to respond. She rolled her eyes at him, put down her tea and left.

Lin Chaoyang teased, "Don't do these nonsense things. Your intention is obvious to everyone."

Li Tuo smiled awkwardly, sat down and drank a sip of tea, then he asked: "This is really too sudden."

Lin Chaoyang added: "Isn't this exactly what you want?"

Li Tuo pleaded with embarrassment: "Can we not talk about this?"

"I don't want to mention it, but I've never seen someone like you come to the person involved to inquire about the situation."

Knowing that he was in the wrong, Li Tuo smiled awkwardly and said, "Hey, I'm just concerned..."

Under Lin Chaoyang's gaze, Li Tuo couldn't continue his lies, so he had to change the subject and asked, "So Yu Shu will stay at home and take care of the baby?"

"We may go to Hong Kong in the near future."

"Going to Hong Kong? Why are you going to Hong Kong?"

"I have a collaboration with Li Hanxiang, so I guess I'll have to stay for a while."

Lin Chaoyang's words were half true and half false. The couple would be in Hong Kong for at least two or three months, and this matter could not be kept secret from anyone.

But Li Tuo has never been able to keep secrets. Lin Chaoyang is not afraid of anything else but to tell him the truth. Then the news will become more and more exaggerated, and then there will be rumors about him "joining the D and betraying the G".

That's really like yellow mud falling down your crotch, it's shit if not shit.

Li Tuo nodded when he heard this. Lin Chaoyang had worked with Li Hanxiang before in "The Last Emperor" and "The Chess Master", so it was normal for them to work together again. However, Li Tuo didn't understand why he had to go to Hong Kong.

In response to his question, Lin Chaoyang replied: "This cooperation may be a little deeper."

After saying this, Lin Chaoyang didn't want Li Tuo to ask any more questions, so he asked, "Why did you come here today? Just to get information and see if Yu Shu is really missing as a competitor?"

"Look at what you said, is this all I have?"

"Anyway, the pattern is not big."

Li Tuo ignored his sarcasm and said, "Isn't it time for the National Excellent Short Story Award? Should we try something different this year?"

"Change the style? How? Eat a full-course banquet?"

"What kind of banquet are we having? I wonder if we can expand the scale of the salon a bit?"

Lin Chaoyang looked puzzled. "How can we expand it? Can we invite more editors and critics?"

“We can invite some editors and critics to come, and I think we can also invite some literature lovers.

There are many literature enthusiasts among students in Yenching University’s universities, and many of them are potential stars of the future.

We can definitely attract more people to come. On the one hand, it can make the reputation of our salon more widely known, and on the other hand, it can also enhance our influence in the literary world."

Listening to Li Tuo's words, Lin Chaoyang frowned and asked, "Why do I feel like you want to dig up the roots of the Literary Association?" "What kind of talk is that? This is purely a folk activity, just for fun among friends."

"Now people call me 'Chairman of the Folk Literature Association'. If you continue to do this, how can I still explain it clearly?"

Li Tuo laughed and said, "Everyone calls you 'Chairman of the Folk Literature Association' because they respect you. Over the years, our salon has united so many colleagues in the literary world! To be frank, we have made outstanding contributions to the unity, friendship and development of the literary world."

Seeing that he was talking more and more irrelevantly, Lin Chaoyang wanted to refuse, but Li Tuo brought up other people.

"This is not just my idea. Jian Gong, Wan Long, Dening... everyone thinks this is a good idea. Let's have extensive communication!
It would be great if we could build a platform that allows writers, editors, critics, and literature lovers to gather together and communicate with each other!
Our salon will definitely reach new heights in the future!"

As Li Tuo spoke, he became more and more excited, his eyes shining with infinite longing for the future development of the cultural salon.

Lin Chaoyang felt helpless. He said, "Why don't you host this salon at your home?"

Li Tuo was immediately unhappy. "What are you talking about? People recognize your reputation and the brand of Xunweizhai. Who am I to blame?"

He saw Lin Chaoyang's reluctance and advised: "Chaoyang, you have to understand that we are building a platform now. This is not only to expand the influence of our cultural salon, but also for the participants, they will benefit from it."

“And think about it, nowadays, all those symposiums, writers’ meetings, and award ceremonies are basically conducted in the same way, with the same team. What about us?

From readers to writers, from editors to critics, from magazines to publishing houses, we invite them all, so that everyone can not only communicate but also share what they have.

You don't need to worry about this, just be a good cook...landlord."

Li Tuo almost blurted out something before he knew it. He looked at Lin Chaoyang with an extremely serious expression, "Chaoyang, if you can handle this matter well, your contribution to the Chinese literary world will be immeasurable!"

After saying this, he was afraid that Lin Chaoyang would not agree, so he added: "This is not just my idea, everyone thinks so. Originally, everyone wanted to come and talk to you about this. I said that if there are too many people, it will be difficult to explain clearly, so it means that everyone has come."

What he meant was that if you dare not agree, you will never live in peace again, as we will harass you every day.

Lin Chaoyang finally felt the helplessness of Lin Chong being forced to go to Liangshan. He sighed and said, "You are going to take me to Liangshan!"

Li Tuo said dissatisfiedly: "What do you mean by going to Liangshan? We are clearly here to give you a yellow robe."

After he finished speaking, he felt that his choice of words was a bit inaccurate, "We are all doing this for the development of Chinese literature!"

With that said, it felt much more classy, ​​and Li Tuo nodded in satisfaction.

"Chaoyang, for literature!" Li Tuo's eyes were full of lofty admiration.

Wow, this one is higher than Mount Everest. Lin Chaoyang doesn’t know how to refuse.

He waved his hands, "Okay, okay, okay! Go get it yourselves. Let me make it clear first, our house is so small, so don't complain if there's no room."

Li Tuo was delighted when he heard this. "Do you think we can invite anyone? I tell you, we have already planned this."

Li Tuo then told Lin Chaoyang about their private ideas for reforming this year's cultural salon.

In recent years, the National Excellent Short and Medium Story Award Ceremony has basically been held in late March. The cultural salon is held right after the award ceremony. In previous years, the winning writers were invited to a meal.

This year, Li Tuo and his colleagues came up with a unique idea and extended the time to two days. The first day was still a closed-door gathering of the award-winning writers.

There were more activities on the second day. In the morning, there was an exchange meeting for award-winning writers, and the participants were all literature lovers from major universities and literary groups in Yenching.

In the afternoon there will be a forum-style discussion session. In addition to the participation of award-winning writers, literature enthusiasts, and critics, Li Tuo and his team have drawn up a list that includes the leaders and key personnel of several larger publishing houses and magazines in Yenching.

In the evening, there will be a larger dinner party. Li Tuo and his colleagues think of making it a Western-style buffet, which will make it more convenient for everyone to communicate with each other.

Li Tuo spoke for a long time, eloquently and with saliva flying everywhere. Lin Chaoyang listened to him for a long time and only felt that the funds were burning.

"You guys have good ideas, but have you ever considered the money?"

Anyone with work experience should understand that organizing this kind of event will inevitably consume a certain amount of manpower, material and financial resources, even if everyone is willing to help.

In two days, there will be at least three meals, each for more than 20 people. The second day may have dozens or even hundreds of people. This is a lot of money. In addition, the reception needs manpower, and the event needs materials...

Lin Chaoyang put forward his own opinion, and Li Tuo said calmly: "I have told Lao Song that the Yanjing Literary Association can provide some financial and human support."

Lin Chaoyang was puzzled. "It's not appropriate for the Yanjing Literary Association to contribute money and effort to hold our salon. Besides, if we let them participate, I'm afraid the atmosphere will change."

Li Tuo said: "It's okay, we will definitely take the lead in this matter."

At this point, Li Tuo's eyes flashed with ambition again, "I plan to talk to Lao Lin again and let Yenching Literature spend some money."

Listening to his words, Lin Chaoyang asked suspiciously, "Are you using the salon as a cover to pave the way for yourself to enter Yenching Literature?"

As soon as these words came out, Li Tuo's eyes flickered, "Look at what you said, my going to Yenching Literature and holding a salon will not conflict with each other."

Lin Chaoyang sneered, too lazy to expose his little thoughts.

"The Cultural Association is a poor institution, and this is not an event hosted by them, so I'll just pay for it."

Li Tuo's face lit up, but then he felt embarrassed, "This amount of money is not small, how can I let you pay for it all by yourself?"

Lin Chaoyang said: "I am the one who gets the fame anyway, so I'll just take it."

(End of this chapter)