Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 234: The Grand Final "Topic" (Two Chapters in One)

"Is this also a martial arts novel?" Many people raised questions after reading it.

The most attractive part of martial arts novels is undoubtedly the twists and turns of the plot and the exciting fighting. However, Zhang Chao's "The Knight-errant" tells an "anti-martial arts" story from the perspective of a "young hero" who has incompetent skills and unrealistic ambitions.

But gradually, many people figured out the metaphor behind this novel.

“DIU~~! Zhang Chao, this young man, can curse people without using any dirty words!” Many Hong Kong writers quickly came to their senses - doesn’t the “young man” here refer to Hong Kong’s local literature?
Although he is full of passion, he is actually blinded by one thing and mistakes who the real villain is, yet he still thinks he is righteous.

As for who the young hero's master and the "Red Eyebrow Hero" refer to, you can find out with a little imagination.

As a result, many local Hong Kong writers once again got into a heated debate over Zhang Chao's "Xia Ke Xing". One of the most eye-catching topics was:
If Hong Kong's local literature wants to end this state of subtle division, is it because the various parties have different origins and propositions, or is it because the settlement of 100 years of colonial culture is insufficient?

The latter is actually a nearly taboo topic in this land, and few Hong Kong people are willing to touch on it.

The local citizen class generally believes that Hong Kong has not only successfully preserved the essence of Chinese traditional culture, but also integrated the advanced nature of Western systems to form a highly elitist spiritual and cultural order, which remains the basis of their identity today.

Therefore, external cultural symbols of the colony, such as the Union Jack and the Queen’s statue, were abolished. However, the internal spiritual and cultural order of the colony has not changed. Instead, its superiority has been strengthened in globalization, making it a "colony that is not a colony."

Zhang Chao came to Hong Kong this time with the original intention of solving the problem of students participating in the rematch, but during his short stay of three or four days, he showed the citizens of Hong Kong a completely different image of mainland cultural elites.

He is not pretentious, exaggerated, or speaks in official language. He admits his mistakes, but he is also confident, cheerful, humorous, and most importantly, he is very rich.

How many years has it been since Hong Kong's cultural circles produced a young writer who can rival him? Counting back, it seems that the only writers who became famous in the 60s and 70s can be found.

This impact has, to a certain extent, shaken the sense of superiority of local cultural figures in Hong Kong. The above "taboo topics" can only be discussed if we put aside our sense of superiority.

Liu Yichang, Jin Yong, Pan Yaoming and other older generation writers were waiting for this opportunity, and naturally wanted to add fuel to the flames, hoping that through the advantages of Zhang Chao's own image and the attention aroused by this "Xia Ke Xing", they could start actions to disintegrate this sense of superiority based on emptiness.

Zhang Chao did not think about all this. He just felt quite depressed during these days in Hong Kong, so he did not hide his satirical intentions too deeply, nor was he afraid that others would understand. Anyway, by the time this novel sparked discussion in Hong Kong, he was already in Shanghai.

The day after tomorrow is the semi-final of the latest "New Concept Composition Competition". If he doesn't come, others will probably go to Hong Kong and kidnap him.

Although this competition is still not as popular as it was two years ago, the media attention it receives has continued to increase, and the reason is none other than Zhang Chaoer!
The moment Zhang Chao walked into the office of New Sprouts magazine, he was surrounded by a group of people. Zhang Chao was instantly surrounded by all the details of the pre-match preparations. Originally, New Sprouts had a lot of experience in organizing the rematch, but this time Zhang Chao's "innovation" was too strong, causing everyone to be in uncertainty and anxiety.

首先是复赛的时间。以往都是下午1点30到4点30，一共3个小时。而张潮认为太过于紧凑，干脆定成早上10点到下午3点，一共5个小时。

There is a one-hour lunch break in the middle of the five hours, with a simple meal provided by the organizing committee. If the contestants wish, there are even sofas available for them to take a nap.

The second issue was the location of the semi-finals. The first and second rounds were held in hotels, and later they were also held in schools. This time, with the support of sponsors, Zhang Chao directly rented a large hall in the Shanghai Exhibition Center.

The participating students no longer have to write in a cramped lecture hall. Everyone has a simple and generous desk with a basket of various stationery on it. The distance between the desks is no less than 1 meter.

A large bookshelf will be erected on site, filled with various books covering humanities and social sciences. Participating students can borrow books for reference at any time according to the book catalogue at hand.

In addition, a discussion area was set up on site, with round tables and sofas for people to sit around. When you get tired of writing or have no inspiration, you can leave your seat and either take a rest or chat with each other.

Third, it is the media coverage of the semi-finals. In the past, after the results of the competition were announced, a press conference was held in the conference hall to announce the list of winners. But this time, Zhang Chao negotiated with CCTV10 and PPstream to broadcast the entire process live.

From the students entering the room to the beginning of writing, including the discussion in between, everything will be presented to the audience, and reporters can interview students in the discussion area.

Fourth, as Zhang Chao said in an interview in Hong Kong, all manuscripts will first be given to stenographers to transcribe into electronic versions, to avoid, to the greatest extent possible, students who write in traditional Chinese characters being treated differently.

Precisely because the changes in the competition system are so huge, the past organizational experience of "New Sprout" magazine is completely useless. All details have to be re-sorted and finalized, which is extremely cumbersome.

Zhang Chao was also very troubled, but in order to completely change the face of the "New Concept Composition Competition" and make it a real starting point for literary newcomers to gain attention, he had to show enough courage and creativity.

There were more than 200 students participating in the semi-finals, plus the judges, on-site staff, photographers and reporters for the broadcast, the total number of people was nearly 300, making it a relatively complicated event.

Fortunately, there are no spectators, otherwise the difficulty of organization would increase exponentially.

Fortunately, the Shanghai government also paid close attention to this competition. In particular, the time of the semi-finals coincided with the Shanghai Book Fair, which was also held in the Exhibition Center in August, forming a chain effect of connection. Therefore, a professional team with rich experience in organizing large-scale conferences was specially dispatched to help them.

Even so, when Zhang Chao arrived in Shanghai, there were still a lot of things to be done.

However, the person who helped organize it also said: "All large-scale events are the same. Often, one hour before the lights come on, things still seem to be full of loopholes; but when the lights come on, everything often becomes seamless again."

Before Zhang Chao was reborn, he participated in the organization of the school's centenary celebration and had a deep understanding of this.

However, his main concern was not the layout of the venue, but the preparation of the "rematch questions". For this reason, he specifically found Ma Boyong and asked worriedly: "How are the questions going? If it doesn't work, use Plan B."

Ma Boyong looked haggard, with big bags under his eyes and bloodshot eyes. He didn't know how many days he hadn't slept well. But after hearing what Zhang Chao said, he still pulled himself together, opened his laptop, and showed Zhang Chao the "questions" for the semi-finals.

Ma Boyong said: "The master said that your request is very high, but since the budget is sufficient, they will definitely be able to complete it. This is a sample they made recently.

You see, this last one is very close to what you want. So there should be no problem. "

Zhang Chao looked at the photo carefully, nodded with satisfaction, and said, "This 'topic' is not easy to come up with. I hope it can touch all the contestants and attract enough attention." Ma Boyong shook his head and sighed, "It will definitely cause a sensation - I really don't know how you came up with this idea."

Zhang Chao smiled without saying anything, but asked Ma Boyong to keep a close eye on it and make sure that the soup would not be spilled or leaked.

On the second day of arriving in Shanghai, Zhang Chao met the judges of the rematch.

Originally, Zhang Chao wanted his teacher Yu Hua to continue to serve as the chairman of the jury this year, but after calculating the schedule, Yu Hua should be traveling around Shanxi with his good brother Tie Sheng. It would be a bit inhumane to force him to come over and do two days of work.

Cao Wenxuan and Wang Meng have both served as jury chairpersons before. They said that if they want a "new look", the best way is to renew the judges, or at least have a new jury chairperson.

Finally, after repeated consideration, Zhang Chao invited Alai, who had a close relationship with him, to serve as the chairman of the jury for the semi-finals of this competition. The list of judges included Han Shaogong, Chi Li, Chi Zijian, Su Tong, Ge Fei, and core editors of several important literary magazines.

Zhang Chao excluded himself from the judging panel. On the one hand, he had been a judge last year, and the experience of staying up all night to read essays really brought back memories of his past life, and he really had no interest in it.

On the other hand, after the competition, some students will be interviewed by reporters, and as the organizer, I am also among them. I am too busy to attend. I might as well avoid it.

Alai is a young writer. He was a middle school Chinese teacher and is good at both novels and essays. He is also good at writing poetry. Letting him be the chairman of the jury can strike a good balance.

Even if Alai was not considered a "patron saint" to Zhang Chao, it was not far from it. He specifically asked Alai to accompany him on a tour of his hometown and gave him high praise, which can be said to have cleared many obstacles for Zhang Chao and deterred many people who had bad intentions towards him.

So Zhang Chao drove to the airport to pick up Alai himself.

Seeing the much more mature Zhang Chao in front of him, Alai also had many feelings. He did not expect that the slightly immature high school student more than two years ago has now become a big hand in the literary world and a big mover.

The two chatted about their recent situation on the way. Alai suddenly asked Zhang Chao: "I have repeatedly considered the semi-final question you sent me. On the one hand, I think the question is good and there is a lot of room for creativity; on the other hand, I think there are many ambiguities in the interpretation. What do you think?"

Zhang Chao smiled and said, "Teacher Alai, since you are the chairman of the jury this time, and I am not even a judge, I will not interfere with your work. This topic was actually inspired by the city when I was in Hong Kong."

Alai joked, "I had imagined many topics you might ask, but I didn't expect them to be so grand. You asked such a topic this time, what are you going to do next time?"

Zhang Chao also joked: "I plan to be 'rich in one term and poor in another'. This term's topic costs too much money, so I will come up with a cheaper one for the next term..."

The two chatted and laughed, and soon arrived at the hotel.

The other judges also arrived at the hotel one after another. After a short rest, everyone held the last working meeting before the semi-finals with the organizers of the two magazines "New Sprout" and "Youth".

Another night passed. At 2006:7 am on July 31, 9, the rematch of the 30th "New Concept Essay Competition" officially kicked off at the Shanghai Exhibition Center.

More than 200 contestants had all signed in at around 9 o'clock. Zhang Chao looked at the list and felt relieved but also a little disappointed. He was relieved that all the contestants from the mainland, Hong Kong, and Macau had come to participate in the semi-finals.

A small disappointment is that all the Taiwanese players were absent. But this was expected and not worth being too disappointed about.

Everyone gathered in front of the large exhibition hall on the east side of the exhibition center. The scene had been decorated with flowers. The broadcast camera was focused on every student, recording the curiosity, nervousness, excitement... on their faces.

Zhang Chao is not a talkative person and does not want to make any pre-match mobilization speeches. He believes that since these students have come, they are already prepared to go all out.

He nodded to everyone and said only one sentence: "Are you all here? Let's start!" He turned around and pushed open the door of the exhibition hall, then made a "please" gesture and asked the contestants to file in.

The contestants who entered the competition venue exclaimed almost at the same time - in the spacious venue, more than 200 desks with white table tops and wooden table legs were arranged in an array, with a circular open space in the middle.

More than 20 rows of white bookshelves, nearly one story high, surround the desks, forming a structure that seems to be separated but not separated, maintaining the independence of writing in an open environment.

Around the bookshelf, there are dozens of round tables and a dozen sets of light-colored sofas, and drinking water is provided on each round table.

The overall environment is bright, grand, simple, and friendly and natural. Not to mention the students, even the staff and reporters who have never been to the scene could not help but exclaim.

A reporter said to his colleague: "No wonder we have to come to the exhibition center. If it's not an exhibition hall, where else can we find such a large air-conditioned venue!"

Another reporter said, "That's really a big deal! It would cost a lot to rent all this furniture, right?"

Someone who knows the inside story said mysteriously: "Zhang Chao and his team didn't spend a penny. It is said that it was sponsored by a brand called IKEA..."

Soon, the students found their seats according to the name tags on the desks and sat down. There were manuscript papers and various pens on the desks for writing.

Zhang Chao appeared in front of everyone again, holding the microphone and speaking loudly: "Our staff has already explained all the requirements for the semi-finals to everyone yesterday.

I only hope that everyone can enjoy the process and not care about the final result. Okay, now, let's invite our 'topic' to come on stage! "

After saying this, he waved his hand, and a curtain was pulled open in the corner of the exhibition hall. A "small hill" was pushed slowly through the passage and came to the open space in the center of the venue.

Only then did everyone see clearly that the "question" for the rematch was actually a gigantic multi-layered cake, almost as tall as a floor, with the diameter of the bottom layer exceeding 2 meters.

The cream on the cake has colorful shapes. If you look closely, you can see they are little people. The whole thing looks like a city!
What is this topic?
(Two chapters in one)

(End of this chapter)