Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 57 Are You Willing to Pay a High Price?
After going downstairs, Du Rong asked Lin Chaoyang: "Why did Liu Xinwu look for you?"

On the day of the re-establishment meeting of the May Fourth Literary Society of Yenching University, Liu Xinwu was also one of the guests in attendance. People like Du Rong from the library had seen him and knew that he was one of the most popular young and middle-aged writers in the country in the past year or so.

Just now, Liu Xinwu went to the front desk of the closed-shelf lending desk and said he was looking for Lin Chaoyang, so Du Rong wrote a note to him upstairs.

Lin Chaoyang shook his head and said he didn't know. He really didn't know why Liu Xinwu was looking for him. After all, the two had never had any contact before. They only met once on the day of the founding meeting of the May Fourth Literary Society. However, Lin Chaoyang had a rough guess in his mind.

He asked Du Rong to help him go to the rooftop for a while. There were two people at the front desk, and Du Rong went upstairs, leaving Tu Manyeng alone.

"Teacher Liu!"

Lin Chaoyang followed the habit of later generations and always called intellectuals "teachers" when he met them.

Liu Xinwu was not used to his address, "You can call me Xinwu or Lao Liu."

"Then I'll call you Lao Liu, it's more intimate."

Liu Xinwu nodded, and the two of them exchanged greetings as they walked to the triangle area.

Liu Xinwu said, "I'm here mainly on behalf of October to ask you for an article. Do you have any articles on hand recently?"

As Lin Chaoyang expected, Liu Xinwu really came to request an article.

"I have a novel in hand."

Liu Xinwu smiled when he heard this. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Lin Chaoyang say, "However, Zhang Dening from Yenching Literature and Art has been urging me to submit my manuscript, and today I received a letter from Harvest requesting an article."

Lin Chaoyang's words gave Liu Xinwu a headache. Yenching Literature and Art was the publication of Lin Chaoyang's debut work, so there was a personal connection. Harvest had Mr. Ba Jin in charge, and now that it was resumed, it was very popular.

With these two publications keeping an eye on Lin Chaoyang's manuscripts, it would not be easy for him to get Lin Chaoyang's new works!

"To ask for an article, you have to go in person to show your sincerity."

When intellectuals quarrel with each other, they often do so without making any noise.

Liu Xin has been an editor at Wudang for some years and has rich experience in manuscript compilation. He must act decisively when it is time to do so.

Harvest and Ba Jin were too famous, so he planned to seize on the "insincere" act of the letter inviting him to write an article to destroy Lin Chaoyang's good impression of them.

Lin Chaoyang smiled but said nothing, labeling Liu Xinwu as an "old secretive" person in his heart.

"It's been almost four months since your article 'The Horse Wrangler' was published?"

"Yes, it was published in the issue last November."

Liu Xinwu exclaimed: "It's really well written. I feel that its influence has been growing in the past few months. I have seen two or three review articles in the Literary Gazette alone."

Lin Chaoyang said a few humble words, and then Liu Xinwu asked again: "Would you mind telling me about the subject and content of your next novel? Is it scar literature or something like that?"

"No, it should be considered a local theme."

"Local themes? About what?"

"About a pair of shoes."

When Lin Chaoyang mentioned shoes, the first thing that came to Liu Xinwu's mind was "An Embroidered Shoe". He shook the thought off and asked, "Can we talk about it in detail?"

Lin Chaoyang is very service-oriented. Liu Xinwu came to commission an article on behalf of October. Thirty years later, this would be considered a potential customer who took the initiative to come to the door. Wouldn't it be reasonable to introduce product information to the customer?
He and Liu Xinwu walked through the Triangle Land and came to the Weiming Lake, narrating as they walked.

The shores of Weiming Lake in early March looked a little desolate as people had not yet taken off their winter clothes. However, the many young and energetic figures by the lake made the place full of vitality.

"Your story..." Liu Xinwu listened to Lin Chaoyang's story for more than 20 minutes, his eyes moistened several times, until the end, he choked up a little, "It's great!"

He cleared his throat. "Hearing you talk about your new novel reminded me of The Horse Herder. There is something in common between these two works..."

"Warmth!" Liu Xinwu pondered and summed up a word. Lin Chaoyang nodded slightly. As an editor and writer, Liu Xinwu has extremely keen observation skills.

“That’s a very accurate word.”

Liu Xinwu laughed and asked, "Do you like warm stories?"

“That’s not the case. I like to read all kinds of stories. I just think that literature can actually bring more power to people.

Compared to exposing darkness and satirizing reality, I think it is more important for people to gain courage from words to face the hardships of life. "

Listening to Lin Chaoyang's words, Liu Xinwu couldn't help but look at the young man next to him again with a serious attitude.

He and Lin Chaoyang first met at the founding meeting of the May Fourth Literary Society. At that time, Chen Jiangong wanted to introduce him to himself, but Lin Chaoyang was in a hurry to return to the library.

In his opinion, he was just a young man who was immature and irritable.

But today's conversation made Liu Xinwu see the difference in him.

Liu Xinwu thought to himself that when he was Lin Chaoyang's age, his understanding of literature was far less profound than Lin Chaoyang's.

Of course, literature is a grand topic, and perhaps everyone has his or her own understanding of it.

But being able to put one's thoughts into words and create such an excellent work as "The Shepherd" is not something that most people can do. This is what Wang Yangming meant by the unity of knowledge and action.

Thinking of this, Liu Xinwu suddenly felt a little bored.

He saw that Lin Chaoyang was a very independent-minded person and would not easily change his mind once he had made up his mind.

If he really wants to give his next novel to "Yanjing Literature and Art" or "Harvest", I'm afraid it would be useless for me to talk big, so it would be better to be straightforward.

With this idea in mind, Liu Xinwu decided not to beat around the bush.

"Chaoyang, have you decided to submit this novel to Yanjing Literature and Art?"

Lin Chaoyang replied: "That's not the case."

Liu Xinwu was a little surprised. "So you want to give it to Harvest?"

Lin Chaoyang shook his head again.

Neither of them will give it?
Liu Xinwu was a little confused after getting two negative answers, but then he felt a little bit of luck.

"Why not...give it to us?"

"I didn't say that?"

This time, Lin Chaoyang expressed his attitude directly, but it made Liu Xinwu even more confused.

"Who are you going to give it to?" he asked.

"This... I haven't thought about it yet."

Liu Xinwu's eyes lit up when he heard this. It seemed that Lin Chaoyang's relationship with Yanjing Literature and Art was not as good as he had imagined!

I worried for nothing before.

He was just about to fight for it actively when he heard Lin Chaoyang speak.

"Before, Yenching Literature and Art told me that the standard remuneration is 7 yuan per thousand words. Harvest received a letter today. I plan to write to them to ask what price they are offering. You..."

He looked at Liu Xinwu with sincerity, "Old Liu, are you willing to give a high price?"

(End of this chapter)