Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 483 A Loud Slap
Liu Zhenyun accepted Lin Chaoyang's invitation immediately. How could he miss the opportunity to improve his food?
Of course, gathering with friends is also important.

The two were talking and walking out when Yu Hua suddenly ran out and said that he wanted to take Lin Chaoyang's car to Xiaoliubukou Hutong to watch a movie.

"Then let's go have a meal together."

Shilibao, where the Lu Xun Academy of Literature is located, is outside the East Fourth Ring Road in later generations. It was not easy for students like Yu Hua to get into the city, but they were able to get a ride from Lin Chaoyang and have a free meal. Yu Hua was very happy all the way.

We had dinner at Yuebin Restaurant in Cuihua Hutong, which was the first individually-owned restaurant in Yanjing. When it first opened a few years ago, Lin Chaoyang and Tao Yushu's family came to support it.

Compared with a few years ago, Yuebin Restaurant has not changed much, with gray walls, a narrow door, and the words "Yuebin" hanging on the red door.

The three of them waited for a while before they got a table. Lin Chaoyang was treating them, and fearing that Liu Zhenyun and Yu Hua would be embarrassed to order, he ordered five dishes in one go, including garlic pork elbow, pot-roasted duck, and cabbage with gluten.

Liu Zhenyun looked at the menu. The dishes Lin Chaoyang ordered just now cost a total of nearly 15 yuan. Three years ago, it would have cost at most 12 yuan.

He couldn't help but sigh: "The prices have risen too fast in the past two years!"

Over the years of reform and opening up, the domestic economy has made great progress, but problems have also arisen.

The rapid economic development has led to excessive credit issuance, and when there is too much money in the market, inflation has occurred.

The central government has been working hard to curb inflation in recent years. In 81, it adjusted the economy by slashing infrastructure projects.

But that method was similar to shock therapy. Inflation was curbed, but the economy also lost its vitality all of a sudden.

Therefore, in 85, the central government proposed a "soft landing", which was to alleviate the problems of economic overheating and inflation through several years of policy release.

Now it seems that the problem of economic overheating has been alleviated, but inflation is inevitable.

In the first few months of this year, the domestic CPI growth exceeded 5%. For the Chinese people who have not experienced major price changes in decades, such a high rate of inflation has exceeded their psychological tolerance.

"There are still benefits to rising prices. As everyone says, 'If prices rise by half, wages will double,'" Yu Hua said with a smile.

"If only it were that simple. Once inflation starts, it's hard to control it, especially when the prices of basic necessities rise..."

Liu Zhenyun graduated from Yan University and worked at the Farmers’ Daily. He had a lot of things to say about economic theories, and Yu Hua stopped laughing after hearing a few words from him.

After chatting for a while, Liu Zhenyun sighed and said, "Chaoyang, I really envy you!"

The "envy" Liu Zhenyun mentioned does not only refer to creative talent, but more importantly to fame and fortune.

When we were in school, we had no idea about these things.

It was not until I started working that I understood how it was possible for Lin Chaoyang to become so famous throughout China in just three or two years. Most importantly, all of his works are bestsellers.

If we were to select the richest person in Chinese literary world now, and put Lin Chaoyang in second place, no one would dare to say that they are first.

Liu Zhenyun got married last year, and his wife is Guo Jianmei, his girlfriend when he was at Yanjing University.

Originally, both husband and wife worked, and their combined monthly income was nearly two hundred yuan, so their life was pretty comfortable.

But after his daughter was born this year, Liu Zhenyun felt that his quality of life was not as good as before.

When talking about family life, Liu Zhenyun's face showed fatigue, but also happiness.

"Your part-time writing income is pretty good. You have work and royalties. When your work is published, you'll make a lot of money."

Liu Zhenyun and Yu Hua are now mainly writing short stories and have written only a few novellas, so naturally there is no question of publishing them. Both of them feel that such a thing is too far away.

"I don't need to publish it, I just need to adapt it like Mo Yan did."

Mo Yan's "Red Sorghum" was chosen by Lin's Film Company for adaptation, and they received more than 3,000 yuan at once. When Yu Hua found out about it, he was so greedy that his mouth was almost drooling.

Lin Chaoyang smiled and said to him: "Write well, there will definitely be a chance to adapt it in the future."

Yu Hua was greatly encouraged by hearing this.

After dinner, Yu Hua invited Liu Zhenyun to go to the movies, but Liu Zhenyun refused because he had to go home to take care of his children.

After he left, Lin Chaoyang took Yu Hua back to Xiaoliubukou Hutong.

After getting off the bus, Yu Hua went straight into the Author's House in the West Courtyard.

At the beginning of the year, Lin Chaoyang placed two video recorders that were eliminated from Du Feng's video room in the West Courtyard. These video recorders immediately became popular among Li Tuo and others.

They traded videotapes everywhere, and then a group of people gathered in the West Courtyard to show movies, and they also designated every Saturday night as "Movie Night."

When I entered the room, there were seven or eight people sitting inside.

Yu Hua saw Li Tuo fiddling with the video recorder. He asked with great interest, "What are you watching today?"

Zhu Wei had a mysterious smile on his face, "Good stuff!"

Yu Hua became even more curious after hearing this, and chased after Zhu Wei to ask. Li Tuo had just finished setting up the video recorder and asked, "Have you seen Wild Strawberries?"

“I haven’t seen it, but I’ve heard of it.”

Li Tuo nodded. "Ingmar Bergman, you must have heard of him. He is a master. He won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film three times and is a frequent guest at the three major European film festivals.

Wild Strawberries is one of his masterpieces. It won the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival in 58, one level higher than the Silver Bear Award won by Chen Kaige’s The King of Children.

In the past few years, Li Tuo shifted his main focus from novels to movies. He also assisted his wife Zhang Nuanxin in making two films. Therefore, he is naturally familiar with world-class directors such as Ingmar Bergman.

Listening to his introduction, Yu Hua was immediately filled with awe, Master!
His expression was full of anticipation.

As they were talking, images began to appear on the TV screen and everyone fell silent.

The videotape of "Wild Strawberries" has been transcribed so many times that the picture has become a little blurry, and shiny streaks often appear where the tape is damaged.

Moreover, the videotape has not been translated, so no one knows what the characters are saying.

But this does not hinder everyone's involvement. They can't wait to stick their heads into the TV and guess the plot with their imaginations.

It may also be that their inability to fully comprehend the plot of the film has led them to develop a distant admiration for the film and to marvel at the images within it.

"It's so well filmed!" Yu Hua said with an unsatisfied look after the movie.

Although we didn't fully understand the movie, it didn't stop everyone from discussing it enthusiastically.

After chatting for nearly twenty minutes, Zhu Wei urged Li Tuo to continue showing the movie.

Yu Hua came from Shilibao on the East Fourth Ring Road, and Wu Bin and his wife came from Shuangyushu on the Northwest Third Ring Road...

Everyone came to Xiaoliubukou Hutong from all over Yanjing. Of course, it was impossible to watch only one movie in one night, which would be a big loss.

The screen flashed again, and the group of people continued to immerse themselves in the world woven by light and shadow.

While Yu Hua and his group were watching the movie, at the same time in the East Courtyard, Lin Chaoyang was writing furiously.

He will stay in Yanjing for half a month this time. He plans to use this time to finish writing the script of "Parasite" and start a new book.

Since getting married, Lin Chaoyang has rarely had time to be alone.

This time my wife and children are not around, so I feel a little lonely, but my writing efficiency has improved suddenly.

At this rate, he felt that he would be able to finish the script of "Parasite" in another three or four days, and he felt the pleasure of returning to the peak.

Loneliness is indeed a man’s best companion!

At around ten o'clock in the evening, he finally stood up from his desk and stretched his sore shoulders.

There was a faint sound of laughter coming from the west courtyard. No one knew what kind of activity was going on, and the noise continued until after eleven o'clock.

The next morning, Lin Chaoyang was awakened by a knock on the door. When he opened the door, he saw it was Yu Hua.

Last night, after watching a movie, a few of them who lived far away from home did not leave and slept in the west courtyard. I cooked in the morning and thought of asking Lin Chaoyang to eat something as well.

After washing up, Lin Chaoyang went to the west courtyard to eat. Among the people staying overnight, Yu Hua and Zhu Wei were the ones he knew best. It was the first time he met Wu Bin and Liu Xia and their spouses.

While eating and chatting, everyone talked about creation, and Zhu Wei asked Lin Chaoyang about his latest creation.

Lin Chaoyang said that he was writing the script for "Parasite" and would write a novel later. Wu Bin couldn't help but wonder why Lin Chaoyang could maintain such a vigorous creative state.

“Instead of thinking about how to maintain a vigorous creative state, it is better to adjust your mindset.

Many people regard literary creation as a matter of scribbling. Once inspiration strikes, they write fluently and finish the work in one go, which then becomes a famous piece for all ages. In fact, this is just deceiving themselves.

First of all, it is a technical job. For example, if Yu Hua wants to write a short story now, it may take him a few days or a week or two to finish it. Both the story and the language are within his control.

But writing a long novel would be a big challenge for him.

At times like this, inspiration and interest alone are not enough. Not only passion is needed, but also endurance and perseverance like a marathon runner.

Calm down and treat it as a job that needs to be treated diligently. This mentality may be more helpful for creators. "

Lin Chaoyang's words had a bit of a didactic tone, but the people present did not feel uncomfortable at all, as Lin Chaoyang was qualified to say such words.

At least in the Chinese literary world, when Lin Chaoyang was his age, no one could match his creative output and level.

He was willing to share his creative experience, and everyone was so happy.

Today is Sunday, I don’t have to go to school or work.

After dinner, Yu Hua and his friends watched movies, read books, and chatted in the West Courtyard, enjoying themselves so much that they didn't want to leave, while Lin Chaoyang went back to the East Courtyard to write.

After spending four days writing the script for "Parasite", Lin Chaoyang began writing a new book.

This way, I spend half a day in class and half a day writing, and my life is very regular.

A few days later, he received a call from Yu Yuxi in Gaomi, Shandong. She had been following the group in Gaomi during this period.

"Thank God, Teacher Chaoyang, you are in Yanjing!" After the call was connected, Yu Yuxi's tone was a little excited.

"What happened?" Lin Chaoyang asked.

Yu Yuxi then talked about the reason why she called.

When Zhang Yimou was filming Red Sorghum, the first thing he did was to plant sorghum. He wanted to recreate the red sorghum that was growing in full swing in Mo Yan's novel.

At the beginning of spring, he sent assistant director Yang Fengliang to Sunjiakou in Gaomi. The crew spent 100 yuan to sign a contract with local people and let them plant acres of sorghum fields.

Zhang Yimou’s idea is good, but their operation that only cares about paying money and has no constraints is destined to suffer losses.

They commissioned the locals to plant 100 acres of sorghum fields, but the locals didn't take care of them much after sowing the seeds.

When Zhang Yimou ambitiously went to inspect the sorghum fields, he found that the sorghums were all half-dead, with the tallest being less than one meter tall and the shortest only a few cubits thick.

The leaves were curled up, and the stems were covered with aphids.

If things continue like this, the sorghum won't even be good enough for filming.

Red Sorghum, Red Sorghum, without sorghum, what is there to film?

Zhang Yimou was so anxious that his voice became hoarse overnight and he felt like crying.

After listening to Yu Yuxi's report, Lin Chaoyang immediately grasped the key to the problem. "Can we find some agricultural experts to give some advice and remedy the situation?"

Yu Yuxi said uncertainly: "We don't know either. We talked to the comrades at the local agricultural technology station, and they said that the best way now is to spread fertilizers, spray pesticides, and manage them in a refined manner. But we..."

Lin Chaoyang immediately understood the source of the hesitation in her tone. The crew members were all from outside the area, and it was impossible for them to control the locals.

"I understand. I'll find a way for you on this matter."

After hanging up the phone, Lin Chaoyang thought about it and decided that he could not use his connections to help with such a small matter. So he called Wang Meng and asked him to help contact Feng Deying, the head of the Shandong Literary Association, and then contacted comrades in Gaomi County through Feng Deying.

We explained the situation the "Red Sorghum" crew was currently facing and asked comrades in the county to lend a helping hand.

"I understand, I understand. Comrade Chaoyang, please rest assured that Red Sorghum is a rare opportunity to promote our Gaomi County. We will definitely treat this as a political task to be completed."

Hearing the assurance from the county party committee comrades, Lin Chaoyang felt relieved. The words "political task" were not spoken casually.

After expressing his gratitude repeatedly, he called the crew and asked Yu Yuxi and Zhang Yimou to contact the comrades in the county party committee.

After a long time, Zhang Yimou called again.

She said that comrades from the county party committee specially invited her and Zhang Yimou to the county for a meeting, and expressed their intention to treat the management of sorghum as a political task.

Not only did they specially approve 5 tons of fertilizers, they also summoned the township leaders of Sunjiakou to the county for a detailed explanation.

"Teacher Chaoyang, I'm really sorry to trouble you. I didn't do this well."

Having solved the big problem, Zhang Yimou felt happy but also a little apologetic.

The sorghum that he spent tens of thousands of dollars to grow almost went to waste, and it almost delayed the filming of the crew. As a director, he has an unshirkable responsibility.

"It's normal for you to have some problems since this is your first time as a director. Don't worry about anything and just shoot well!"

Lin Chaoyang's encouragement made Zhang Yimou feel warm in his heart and boosted his spirits.

After solving the troubles of the "Red Sorghum" crew, Lin Chaoyang continued to write while attending classes every day.

Half a month has passed in a flash and the class is about to end.

In the last class of the day in mid-June, Lin Chaoyang had nothing much to say, so he just chatted with everyone.

The students in this Luyuan class are generally young, and many of them have obvious modernist tendencies.

When talking about their creative ideas and submission experiences, these people's tone was full of resentment.

I think the current narrative form of novels is too single and not diverse enough. When I submit my manuscripts to magazines, they are often rejected mercilessly by some old editors with single aesthetic tastes and old-fashioned style.

Listening to their complaints, Lin Chaoyang looked thoughtful.

“Everything has two sides. Being single is not necessarily bad, and being diverse is not necessarily good.

Just as some people criticize you for not writing novels but playing with literature, you will also retort that you are seeking multiple narratives.

Critical realism is a tradition in our contemporary Chinese literature, and we cannot change this.

Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses, and attacking each other will only turn literary creation into a boring game of accusations.

Whether it is Joyce, Marquez, Tolstoy or Balzac, they are all foreign monks.

What does it matter who you learn from?
What is important is to be down-to-earth in creating works and write good works that are popular among the people.

In the future, when you are able to leave your name in history, people will definitely remember your works, not you as the faithful disseminator of Marquez and magical realism in China, right? "

Lin Chaoyang made a joke at the end, which caused the students to laugh. After laughing, some people seemed to be thinking about something.

Some words may seem to be universal, but the effects are completely different when spoken by different people.

Lin Chaoyang has made it to where he is today in the literary world thanks to his high-quality works, so his words naturally carry extra weight in the hearts of these students.

At this time, the bell rang, and Lin Chaoyang's last class at Luyuan ended. The students applauded reluctantly.

The teacher in charge, You Xiaoshan, walked to the stage and summarized the content and main points of Lin Chaoyang's class, and the students below the stage applauded again.

"The course 'Creative Practice and Research' has ended. Why don't we take this opportunity to take a photo with Teacher Chaoyang?" You Xiaoshan said.

The students happily went downstairs, and dozens of them stood in four rows.

Lin Chaoyang and two teachers from Luyuan sat in the middle of the first row and took a group photo.

After taking the group photo, Lin Chaoyang said: "Although the course is over, our fate has just begun. You are all welcome to visit my small courtyard in the future."

The students were delighted to hear his invitation. One of them said, "It's not enough to just be your guest. We have to taste your cooking!"

Lin Chaoyang's cooking skills are well-known in the literary world. Over the years, being able to participate in Xunweizhai's cultural salon has gradually become an honor for many writers.

In front of so many people, Lin Chaoyang would not say polite words.

He smiled and said, "I can treat you, but you guys can only eat shabu-shabu mutton. I can't afford to cook for you."

The person just mentioned it casually, but I didn't expect Lin Chaoyang to actually agree to it.

I can ask Lin Chaoyang to treat me to a meal. Let alone eating shabu-shabu mutton, drinking boiled water is fine!
"Everyone has to go to class on weekdays, and it's inconvenient for your school to go out. So let's do it on Sunday. I'll treat everyone to a meal," said Lin Chaoyang.

All the students cheered and were encouraged.

On Sunday, this batch of writer students from Luyuan came from the East Fourth Ring Road to Xiaoliubukou Hutong south of West Chang'an Avenue.

Lin Chaoyang arranged the dinner in the west courtyard. He didn't want to face the messy scene after eating in the east courtyard.

Among the more than fifty students in Lu Academy, only a few people including Yu Hua have been to Lin Chaoyang's home, but everyone is not unfamiliar with this place.

In the eyes of many writers, this place is the "author's home" and the "folk literary association". It is simply a paradise and happy hometown for writers.

After entering the campus, the students were not disappointed by the campus and facilities of Xiaoliubukou.

After entering the gate and going around the screen wall, you will see the neatly decorated moon gate on the left. There are five rooms in the south of the front yard, and the courtyard is spacious. There is a hanging flower gate in the middle of the north side, with flower walls on both sides of the gate, screens inside, and corridors on the left and right.

The cross path in the courtyard is more than six feet wide, and there are Taihu stones, fish tanks and pomegranate trees in the courtyard...

As we toured the place, we all just felt that the house was really huge. It was also the first time we had a concrete idea of ​​the rumor that Lin Chaoyang "earned a lot of money from writing articles".

They would never have dared to imagine in their lifetime that they could have such a courtyard house in the huge city of Yanjing.

After finishing a meal of mutton hotpot, the students all had their mouths drooling with oil and their stomachs full, and their eyes were filled with reluctance when they left.

From now on, when I talk to others about things, I will have something to brag about.

Lin Chaoyang treated me to dinner!

After the incident in Yanjing was settled, Lin Chaoyang returned to Hong Kong.

The first news I received was that "Autumn Fairy Tale" had grossed over HK$1000 million in just one week, which was a huge success.

This undoubtedly greatly boosted the morale of Lam Pictures in the Hong Kong film industry!
More than half a month ago, the Hong Kong and Kowloon Freedom Federation suddenly issued a ban on Lam's Film Company, which attracted attention in the Hong Kong film industry.

Not only was there a panic within Lin Pictures, but many of the cooperating actors, directors and film companies began to back off.

Fortunately, Tao Yushu's combination of measures calmed down these partners, and the effect was immediate.

The price is that a lot of profits were distributed.

The box office of "Autumn Fairy Tale" exceeded 10 million in the first week of its release, which was undoubtedly a resounding slap in the face to the Hong Kong and Kowloon Freedom Federation. In addition to allowing colleagues in Hong Kong to see the strength of Lam's Films, it also made them realize that the Hong Kong and Kowloon Freedom Federation could not cover the sky with one hand.

At least in Hong Kong, they don't have the ability to bring down a company of that size with just a few words.

These colleagues also understood that the siege campaign launched by the Hong Kong and Kowloon Freedom Federation against Lam's Film Company would hardly have a big impact on Lam in the short term.

After all, they do not rely on the Taiwan market and can make money just by relying on the Hong Kong market. If they include other foreign markets, they can even make huge profits.

In this way, people will not be so afraid of the ban order.

Under the incentive policy of a 20% salary increase, Lin's Pictures' new films were not only not affected by the ban, but also became a hot commodity that many practitioners, including actors, were vying for.

At this time, the decision made by Lin Chaoyang and his wife to spend money was revealed.

Suppose they had not made the decision to "step up" as soon as the ban order was issued more than half a month ago, once the ban order caused everyone's concerns, hesitation and worry, it would have caused problems for Lin's new film team to be formed.

By then, there is a high possibility that a chain reaction will occur, and with everyone pushing the wall down, the future of Lin's Pictures will be uncertain.

But now it is the opposite. If the first person dares to break the ban due to the interests, then there will be the second, the third...

Under such circumstances, the law does not hold everyone responsible. If the Hong Kong and Kowloon Freedom Federation does not take more stringent measures, the ban order will most likely slowly become a piece of waste paper.

If such a thing really happened, it would probably be a major blow to their prestige.

"I promised Shaw Brothers that I would give them a 20% investment share in Parasite," Tao Yushu said to Lin Chaoyang.

Shaw Brothers closed down, but it no longer had the big studio system and reduced its scale. However, its cinema chain is still in operation and it has retained a small portion of the film investment business.

Now Lin needs to form alliances. On the one hand, he needs to fight against the covetous Golden Harvest and Cinema City, and on the other hand, he needs to deal with the ban by the Hong Kong and Kowloon Free Association. Introducing Shaw Brothers for cooperation is also a helpless move.

"If you give, you gain. It's worth it to use 20% of the profits from Parasite so that our film can get better treatment in Shaw Cinemas!"

Seeing that Lin Chaoyang approved of her approach, Tao Yushu smiled.

Two days later, Lin Chaoyang asked Ann Hui and Xu Guanwen out.

When they met, he jokingly said, "Our Lin Group has been banned. How dare you two take our movie?"

After saying this, Ann Hui's expression remained calm. Her stance was originally biased towards the Z faction, and she had cooperated with many institutions such as InvestorPlace. Naturally, she would not care about such things.

A strange look flashed across Xu Guanwen's face.

If it were two years ago, the ban order issued by the Hong Kong and Kowloon Freedom Federation would have been somewhat deterrent.

Actors make a living by acting on camera.

If he is really banned in Taiwan for starring in a movie produced by Lin's Film Studio, he will definitely get fewer film offers, which is naturally not worth the loss.

But now, Xu Guanwen is determined to work towards becoming an "artist", and "The Truman Show" has laid a solid foundation for him.

As long as "Parasite" can be successful, he will gain an extraordinary status and fame in the Hong Kong film industry and even the entire society.

By that time, banning or not banning will be shit.

If you want to ban Xu Guanwen, first ask the 550 million citizens of Hong Kong whether they agree!
"Haha! In the final analysis, freedom is always parasitic on Hong Kong movies. They have been rampant for too long these years and have forgotten who they are.

Do you really think you can do whatever you want just by relying on the Wandao market? "

Lin Chaoyang naturally understood that Xu Guanwen's words were a statement to him, and the smile on his face became even wider.

"With your support, it seems I don't need to worry."

After some chatting and joking, Lin Chaoyang took out the script of "Parasite", and Ann Hui and Xu Guanwen's eyes immediately lit up.

Isn’t this what the two of them have been looking forward to most these days?
After spending two or three hours reading the script, the two looked at each other and saw a hint of joy in each other's eyes.

The script level of "Parasite" is definitely not lower than "The Truman Show". As long as it is performed properly and the production quality is online, it will surely be another award-winning masterpiece.

Thinking this in their hearts, both of them became a little excited.

Ann Hui asked: "Chaoyang, if nothing unexpected happens, the role of Lao Jin should be played by Michael, right?"

Lin Chaoyang nodded.

"What about the chairman? This character is also crucial. He is hypocritical, treacherous and deceitful. Such a role needs an actor who can hold his own."

Ann Hui looked at Lin Chaoyang, asking for his opinion.

(End of this chapter)