Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 421: Almost Becoming Tang Monk's Meat
After the dinner, because there were activities the next day, everyone dispersed in the afternoon. A few people who were heavy drinkers went out arm in arm to find some wine, while a few others chose to stay in the guest room of Lin Chaoyang's house.

For this event, Lin Chaoyang's family specially prepared several guest rooms for everyone to stay and rest.

The next morning, Xiaoliubukou Hutong was crowded with guests again, but unlike yesterday, most of the guests who came this morning were young and energetic.

Li Tuo and others contacted literary organizations of more than ten universities in Yenching, including Shuimu, Yenching University, Yenching Normal University, and China University of Political Science and Law. When they learned that Xunweizhai Cultural Salon was going to hold an event for college students like them, the students from various universities were extremely excited.

Early this morning, these chosen ones came to Xiaoliubukou Hutong facing the rising sun, with every cell in their bodies filled with excitement.

Those writers whose works we once only saw in magazines and books can now communicate with them face to face. Is there anything happier than this?
Students came into the courtyard one after another. There was no usual meeting venue, nor any elaborate decoration. The courtyard was as plain and simple as usual, with a few writers scattered around.

The students couldn't help but become excited and shy when they saw these writers, and the writers were also a little embarrassed facing the students' admiring and respectful gazes.

Those who engage in literary creation are always eloquent when talking about literature, history and philosophy, but they are as shy as ordinary people when facing strangers.

"Everyone! Everyone!"

Li Tuo was dressed very formally today, with each strand of his hair clearly visible. When Lin Chaoyang saw him in the morning, he suspected that he had secretly applied hair oil.

When he saw that most of the writers and students had arrived early in the morning, he took on the role of host.

As he shouted, everyone in the yard and the house paid attention to him.

"We have added several new activities to the Xunweizhai Cultural Salon this year. This morning, the award-winning writers exchanged ideas with many Yenching literature lovers.

However, our event is not a conference, there is no venue, and no keynote speaker.

We provide a venue for everyone. Drinks and snacks are in the west wing. You can take them as you like. Everyone can communicate freely. Don't be restrained."

Li Tuo gave a brief opening speech and a clear introduction to the event, but everyone present, whether writers or students, seemed a little confused.

This was their first time participating in such a casual activity and they had no idea how to participate!
Li Tuo's reaction was as he expected. A smug smile appeared on his face, and he pointed at Shi Tiesheng who was sitting in a wheelchair under the corridor.

"This is Comrade Shi Tiesheng. I'm sure you are familiar with him, right?"

As soon as Li Tuo finished speaking, many students looked towards Shi Tiesheng with eager eyes.

After the publication of "My Distant Qingping Bay" in 83, it received wide acclaim from readers and Shi Tiesheng became famous.

His inspirational story of being disabled but strong-willed has also been widely circulated among readers, and many readers regard Shi Tiesheng as a spiritual idol and life mentor.

Since entering the campus, many students have noticed Shi Tiesheng sitting in a wheelchair. After Li Tuo introduced him, many students immediately gathered in the direction of Shi Tiesheng.

"Comrade Shi Tiesheng, I am your loyal reader. I especially like your work "My Distant Qingping Bay" and your award-winning "Grandma's Stars"..."

Seeing a group of students surrounding Shi Tiesheng, Li Tuo continued to introduce them calmly, "Do you know this talented and beautiful female comrade? She is Jin Ying, who wrote "Oh, Xiangxue"!"

The students immediately looked at her eagerly again. Jin Ying, who was standing under the plane tree, felt very embarrassed by the students' fiery gazes, and soon some students gathered around her.

With Li Tuo's introduction one by one, the atmosphere of the event gradually became lively. With the first words to break the ice, these writers who love literature and young readers had a pleasant exchange.

Today, there are hundreds of student representatives from various universities. They gather in groups of three or five around the writers, spontaneously forming small circles. From time to time, people run from one side to the other, or two groups come together to chat.

The room, the yard, the corridor, the tree... anywhere can be a place for communication. Such a free and comfortable communication atmosphere not only makes the students feel novel and satisfied, but also allows the writers present to experience a rare sense of pleasure.

"You should read Zhang Dai's works. He left behind 600 million words in his lifetime and was an outstanding historian and writer.

I read his "Dreams of Taoan", and the textual expression in it can be said to have reached the extreme. You listen:

'The sky, clouds, mountains and water were all white. The only shadows on the lake were the long embankment, a small pavilion in the middle of the lake, a tiny boat and two or three people in the boat.'

This is a passage from "Watching the Snow at the Pavilion on the Lakeside". It is only thirty or forty words long and is so concise that it cannot be more concise. It can be said that the words are used sparingly, yet it is full of artistic conception.

Such articles are still absolutely beautiful even if read today, two or three hundred years later.

In the contemporary Chinese literary world, how many people dare to say that they can write such a good article? "

Li Guowen is the oldest writer here today. He started with the articles of Zhang Dai, a scholar from the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, and told these college students about the beauty of ancient Chinese literature.

These students who were used to pursuing Western literature felt refreshed. Everyone listened very seriously with admiration in their eyes.

Next to this group of people, Jin Ying was also surrounded by several college students. She was young, not much older than the students present, and she talked to them without any hesitation or reserve.

"I didn't expect that The Girl in Red would be so popular. I was very surprised when Emei Film Studio found me. Later, I talked with director Lu Xiaoya for a long time before I finally decided to cooperate with them to write the script.

It was my first time writing a movie script, and I had no experience at all. Thanks to my study at the Institute of Literature and Art, I remember Comrade Chaoyang gave us a lecture at that time...

Anyway, after struggling for several months, I finally finished writing the script, and after handing it over to the crew, I considered myself to have completed the task.

I just never expected that the movie would be so popular now!"

Jin Ying told the students about how her novel "The Red Shirt Without Buttons" was adapted into the movie "The Girl in Red".

This movie was released just after the New Year, which triggered a big wave of movie watching and brought Jin Ying great fame, so she was also very popular among students. As time went by, the yard of Lin Chaoyang's house was filled with voices, but these voices were not noisy.

If you listen carefully, you will find that the contents of those voices are almost all about literature, art, philosophy and other topics, which make people unconsciously follow the narrator's perspective and experience a baptism of thought and soul.

Li Tuo, Zheng Wanlong, Zhong Acheng and others gathered together and looked at this scene, their faces full of pride and satisfaction.

"It seems that we are right to adopt this form. Without those empty things, without high-sounding procedures and rhetoric, this kind of communication is meaningful."

When a few people were chatting, there was a knock at the gate. Li Tuo thought it was another guest, but when he got to the gate, he saw a middle-aged man with a round face in his thirties. He looked unfamiliar and it was the first time Li Tuo saw him.

"Who are you looking for?"

The round-faced middle-aged man recognized Li Tuo immediately and shook his hand enthusiastically, "Are you Comrade Li Tuo?"

Li Tuo was a little surprised, "It's me."

"I'm Yang Lang, a reporter from China Youth Daily. I heard that you're holding a cultural salon today, so I wanted to come over and learn more about it."

Hearing Yang Lang's words, Li Tuo was even more surprised.

The cultural salon has been held for several years. It's not that there are no media interested in the salon, but it is still mainly literary magazines. Occasionally, one or two newspapers want to interview, but Lin Chaoyang declined them all. The reason is naturally that he doesn't want to be too high-profile.

Li Tuo smiled politely and said, "I'm really sorry, our salon is a private event and we are not in a position to accept interviews."

Yang Lang didn't expect Li Tuo to reject his request so bluntly. He wanted to fight for it again, but Li Tuo pulled him out of the door, consoled him with kind words, and then sent him away.

After Li Tuo came back, Zheng Wanlong asked him what was going on, and Li Tuo told him about Yang Lang's identity and request.

"I wanted to invite someone from the Literary Gazette before, but Chaoyang said that the Literary Gazette was too official, so it was better not to invite them. I don't know where this reporter Yang got the news from, but he came to my door on his own initiative."

"We made quite a fuss this time, so it's no surprise that reporters came to visit us. It's a pity that Chaoyang is too low-key. In fact, I think it's good to promote the reputation of our salon."

"That's what I thought at first. But you don't know that Lao Zhang found Chaoyang during the award ceremony two days ago..."

Li Tuo told the story of Zhang Guangnian again, and Zheng Wanlong immediately frowned.

"No wonder Chaoyang didn't want us to contact the Yanjing Literary Association. Look at this matter, it's really hard to grasp the scale!"

"Yeah, I feel like this cultural salon is about to become Tang Monk's meat!"

When Li Tuo said this, the expression on his face showed both annoyance and a bit of complacency.

Li Tuo has been deeply involved in cultural salons since their inception. After several years of development, this literary event, which was originally a private event, has its own unique influence in the Chinese literary world. This has always made him feel a sense of accomplishment.

As the two chatted, time slowly came to noon. The brief exchange was about to come to an end. When Li Tuo stood up again, many students present could not help but look regretful.

Today's exchange meeting will not only bring you refreshing communication, but also knowledge and experience that cannot be bought with money or hard work.

In comparison, the celebrity speeches and seminars they had attended in school before were really unoriginal and full of formalism.

The students were reluctant to leave, and the writers participating in the exchange today also felt that they had not yet said enough.

In addition to the new experience brought by the innovation in form, today's communication also satisfies their vanity to some extent.

Through close contact, these writers can deeply feel the love and admiration of these talented people, and it is hard to resist such a feeling.

When the exchange activity was about to end, Li Tuo found that the students were looking eagerly in the direction of the main room, and he immediately understood what they were thinking.

Unfortunately, Lin Chaoyang slipped away early in the morning. He said that today was an exchange activity between students and award-winning writers, and if he were here, it would be a bit of a distraction.

After listening to Li Tuo's explanation of the situation, many students sighed with regret.

When he stood at the gate and watched the students leave, he felt a little uncomfortable.

He said to Zheng Wanlong: "Chaoyang is not here, don't we still have us?"

Zheng Wanlong looked at him strangely, "People want to see a literary idol, not a literary socialite."

"Your uncle!"

In the afternoon, the discussion was still in the same format as in the morning, except that the guests had changed, from students from major universities in Yenching University to the backbone of many critics and literary magazines.

The lineup is so strong that it almost accounts for half of the Chinese literary journal community.

"People's Literature", "Contemporary", "October", "Yenching Literature", "Xingang"... Each magazine is a well-known presence in the domestic literary world, and the people who come are basically the editors-in-chief or deputy editors-in-chief of the magazine.

As for why everyone gave him so much face, Li Tuo really wanted to flatter himself, but unfortunately the reality did not allow it.

Wang Meng attended the event on behalf of People's Literature. The first thing she asked when she entered the room was: "Where is Chaoyang?"

(End of this chapter)