Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 238 Young Challenger

The first prize article had already been printed and soon reached Zhang Chao.

While Zhang Chao was watching, he listened to Ma Boyong, who was in charge of assisting the judging on site, saying, "This time, 32 first-prize works have been selected, 109 second-prize works, and the rest are third-prize works.

The certificate has been printed and the name on the trophy base is being engraved. Now the only thing left to be finalized is an article.”

Zhang Chao quickly came across many familiar names, including Zhou Linnan, who shined in yesterday's interview, Gong Wanying, who later became the most representative young writer in Fuhai Province, and Lin Jiahan, whom he had met through Xu Zidong in Hong Kong.

Apart from Lin Jiahan, who is a Hong Konger, I was very unfamiliar with the newcomers in Hong Kong literature in my previous life and didn't know whether I had "written them down". However, the other names, which I was either familiar with or had some impression of, did achieve some accomplishments in literature later on.

So there is really no controversy that these people's articles won the first prize.

After Zhang Chao skimmed through the papers, he put down the manuscript and said to the judges, "Thank you for your hard work, seniors. The first-prize articles selected are very fair. I think this competition is very successful based on these articles."

Alai said: "It was precisely because everyone was so serious that I had a hard time with the last article. Some people thought it should be awarded first prize, while others thought it should only be awarded an excellent prize. I couldn't convince them."

After that, he handed the article over again, and the other writers stared at him. Although Zhang Chao was the youngest person at the scene, his opinions were taken seriously by everyone present.

Although Zhang Chao was curious about what kind of article could cause such a big controversy, he finally held back and placed the article upside down on the table without even reading it.

Alai and the other judges were very surprised.

Zhang Chao said: "Since I have decided not to be a judge, I don't want to influence the outcome of the review. You have done a very good job before. If I intervene now, it would be disrespectful to you all."

Alai was a little anxious and said quickly: "We just couldn't make up our minds, so we all agreed to call you over. You really don't want to watch it?"

Zhang Chao said: "I am very touched that everyone has such confidence in me, a junior. But from the moment I decided not to be a judge, I, like all readers, can only wait for the list to be released and cannot interfere with the award process.

Since the 32 articles that have been selected are all well-deserved, I believe that everyone will reach a consensus in the end. Whether the number of first prizes becomes 33 or remains at 32, it is the best result.

And according to our review rules, the final decision lies with the chairman of the review committee. So..."

Zhang Chao picked up the manuscript and handed it back to Alai, apologizing, "Teacher Alai, you must be worried if I'm not here. But even if I'm here, I can't take over your duties, so you still have to bear the pressure. Sorry!"

Then he turned to the other judges and said, "It's actually a good thing that everyone is arguing so fiercely, which shows that everyone has put their heart into it. No matter what, it's just an article written by a student, how can it be so controversial?
I believe in your vision, and I also ask you to trust Mr. Alai’s decision.”

After saying that, Zhang Chao left the review meeting room, leaving the room in silence.

Han Shaogong, the first to speak, was a representative of the "demoted faction" and the most experienced writer on the scene. He said to Alai, "Teacher Alai, Zhang Chao's mentality is so open, we can't be too petty.

Whether this article can win the first prize depends on you. "

At this time, Chi Zijian also spoke up and agreed: "We argued so much that we forgot that this is actually a competition. Literary discussions can have no results, but competitions must have results. So Mr. Alai, you should make the decision."

Alai is not a strong leader, especially when there are judges who became famous earlier than him and are older than him. He cannot put on a stern face and directly refute the other party's opinions.

Now that both factions support him, he has the final say. In addition to thanking Zhang Chao, he also has his own opinion in mind, but he still wants to further ease the differences between the two sides, so he said: "Let's read the article again, and I will tell you my opinion."

He called Ma Boyong over and said to him, "Xiao Ma, come and help me with something." Upon hearing that, Ma Boyong came over happily carrying his laptop.

Upon hearing this, the other judges unfolded the controversial manuscript in front of them again. This was a novel with a special name - "Submarine at Night"

[…At dusk, I opened the board again, crawled into the jar, and covered it. Hiding inside, I felt a sense of security, as if I had returned to my own cave. One evening, I didn’t know why, but I felt sad, so I hid in the jar and cried my heart out. No one knew, and I felt very comfortable. …]

[…In the darkness, you can hear the sound of air flowing, the cold syllables of distant underground water, and even the sound of streams brushing against grass leaves. There are all kinds of strange sounds deep in the soil. Sometimes you can hear a rumbling sound coming from the darkness, like a heavy stone door being slowly pushed open, and then it is silent again. …]

[…When I came out of the jar, it was already dark. I was immersed in a sharp, cold sensation, as if I had just returned from the abyss. Holding a ball of light in my hand, I slowly groped my way up the mountain. …]

The novel describes a problem teenager named Chen Turner, who has been addicted to fantasy since childhood and unable to concentrate on his studies. But only he knows that every night, he drives a submarine created by his imagination, travels in the depths of the ocean, and explores the most real mysteries of this world.

But as he grew older, Chen Turner had to succumb to reality. Faced with his parents' increasingly aging faces and sad and pleading eyes, Chen Turner decided to destroy his submarine himself.

Chen Turner imagined that "imagination had left me", so the submarine stayed on the bottom of the sea forever. He became a good student in the eyes of his teachers and parents, and his parents were very pleased. When talking about that "abnormal" period, they described it as "the time when you were sick."

Only he himself knows——

【I once had talent, but it was too strong and I could not use it to achieve any kind of career in reality. Once I had it, reality was insignificant. There was no greater joy than those fantasies. My flame was extinguished at the age of sixteen.

[I think that even if I can achieve anything in my remaining life, it will only be a few wisps of smoke rising after the flame is extinguished.]

Although the whole novel is still a bit immature, the talent revealed in the text is enough to impress any reader with basic literary appreciation ability. This talent was naturally recognized by all the judges in the conference room.

And its length is also amazing, nearly 4000 words, the longest of all the semi-final entries. From the perspective of writing alone, the author had to work at his desk almost the entire time to complete it. (The original novel is more than 6000 words)

The novel's exquisite descriptions, unrestrained thoughts, sincere emotions, and bizarre twists and turns... all seem as if it was carefully polished for a long time, and was definitely not written hastily on the spot.

But the biggest problem with this novel is that it goes off topic!

Although Zhang Chao's "Big Cake" topic provides a lot of writing directions and has no clear theme restrictions, it is, after all, the "topic" of the competition, and almost all works have to more or less touch on the images and actions of "cake", "cutting cake" or "eating cake".

This article "Submarine at Night" only has a simple sentence at the beginning: "Looking at the cake in front of me, I remembered that it was on my 12th birthday that I began to be entangled in overgrown fantasies."

There is no mention of "cake" after that. Moreover, the theme of the novel seems to have little to do with the title Zhang Chao came up with.

This is why the judges were divided into two groups -

Han Shaogong believes that although "Submarine at Night" shows a writing talent far beyond his peers, it does not meet the requirements of the "competition". Such a perfunctory "topic" is too much like a pre-prepared manuscript and a copycat. If this can still be awarded the first prize, then there will definitely be people who will do this in the future.

The most important thing in a "competition" is to respect the rules. If you sacrifice "fairness" just because you value talent, then the reborn competition may be questioned again. So this novel can only get a consolation award.

Chi Zijian's side believes that precisely because "Submarine at Night" is so excellent, the "New Concept Composition Competition", which is aimed at encouraging young people to embark on the path of literature, should be given full recognition. Otherwise, it may ruin a very promising new star.

If the author of this novel really wanted to "copy", he would have done enough superficial work, how could he be so careless? Obviously, at that moment, the author thought of this story and was eager to present it, so much so that he forgot that there were requirements for the competition. From the perspective of encouraging newcomers, it is completely appropriate to give him the first prize.

Neither side considered giving a "second prize" because that would be tantamount to humiliating both the rules and the talent.

After reading the work again, Duan Huaiqing, associate professor of the Chinese Department of Fudan University and one of the judges, said: "In terms of the literary quality and completion of the work, "Submarine at Night" is the best work by a young author I have seen in recent years - oh, except Zhang Chao.

But even for Zhang Chao, it would not be easy to complete such a high-quality pure literary work in such a short time, right? "

All the judges had no objection to this point.

At this time, Alai turned around and asked Ma Boyong: "Have you called everyone?"

Ma Boyong came over and handed Alai a Nokia 1110 phone. He said to Alai, "Teacher Alai, I called the editors in your phone and asked them. They really haven't seen this novel - or even similar ones."

Alai nodded, put away his phone, and said to all the judges: "We searched the Internet for this article last night and found no trace of plagiarism. I just asked Xiao Ma to use my phone to call the editors-in-chief of several major magazines, and you all heard the results.

We as judges have fulfilled our responsibility in confirming the originality of this work. Do you think there is a problem?"

Everyone shook their heads and agreed with Alai's statement. In fact, for every winning work today, the on-site assistants headed by Ma Boyong did a simple Internet search to ensure the bottom line of originality.

The "treatment" that "Night Submarine" received was unprecedentedly high. If something goes wrong, it would really be "not the fault of war".

Alai continued, "Well, since we have done our duty, we can be at peace with any result. I think we should think about it this way - if he is not a copycat, but we only give him an Excellence Award, it may be a real blow to him, and it may bury this rising star.

If he copied the work, and we gave him the first prize, it wouldn't be a stain on us judges. After all, we are only responsible for the article in front of us. As long as he copied his own work, it's fine.

If, by some chance, he copied someone else's work and it was finally revealed, that would be his own stain, not our judges' or the competition's. Can everyone reach a consensus on this point?"

After A Lai finished speaking, Han Shaogong, Chi Zijian, Chi Li, Su Tong, including Duan Huaiqing and others exchanged glances with each other and finally nodded.

Alai went on to say: “Finally, let’s talk about the ‘title’ – this novel associates ‘cake’ with ‘birthday’. Although it is not about ‘cake’, there is still a certain connection.

As for whether the theme of the novel is in line with the topic of the semi-final, that should be left to the wider readers to interpret, not just the "one room's opinion" of us. It is normal for literature to be controversial, and without controversy it would be stagnant.

Can everyone agree with this?"

Han Shaogong laughed and said, "Ever since Zhang Chao jumped onto the literary table like Monkey King, 'there should be controversy' seems to have become a mainstream view - I agree."

Alai nodded and said solemnly: "We are all people who have gained fame and fortune from literature, so we naturally have to take responsibility for literature. The 'New Concept Essay Competition' should be a stage for talents to shine.

Because of the "rules", it is better to "kill a thousand people by mistake than to let one go", isn't that dogmatism? So I think "Night Submarine" should win the first prize.

If there are any doubts about this work after the winning works are published, the pressure will be borne by me as the chairman of the jury! This is my final decision. "

After saying this, Alai looked at the judges below with a gentle yet firm look.

It was the first time that everyone saw Alai being so serious. They were stunned for a while, and then Han Shaogong, the representative of the "demoted faction", started to applaud, followed by other judges, and then Ma Boyong and other staff members...

After the applause died down, Alai said in a more soothing tone: "In fact, there is no need to worry too much about the 'copycat' problem. We included "Submarine at Night" in the first prize, which actually set a high standard.

A young man in his teens or twenties with mediocre talent can write a novel like this even if he stays at home for a year or two to polish it? That's impossible. When literary ability reaches a certain level, it is actually like advanced mathematical ability. If you can do it, you can do it, and if you can't do it, you can't do it. "

Chi Zijian nodded and said, "Besides, creation is a long-term thing. If the author of "Submarine at Night" can't write such a good novel in the future, then his winning of this first prize is actually of no use."

Su Tong smiled and said, "Isn't this the effect of decoupling university admissions from competition awards? Without actual benefits, people are actually too lazy to cheat. I am optimistic about the future of this author."

Han Shaogong suddenly realized and said, "Yes, it does not involve actual interests such as university admissions. Even if the evaluation is wrong, there is actually no need to blame. At most, it is a matter of taste, not a moral issue."

Chi Li covered her mouth and laughed: "For us, it's unclear which is more important, taste or morality!"

Only Li Qigang from New Sprouts Magazine dared not say a word, feeling unhappy. The first prize winner of the New Concept Essay Competition could be directly admitted to the university, which was originally considered a genius move of "selecting talents regardless of their background". Unexpectedly, in just a few years, it was regarded as a heavy moral burden by everyone.

It really is true that when the times abandon you, they won’t even say hello.

Seeing that everyone had almost finished their discussion, Alai officially announced, "Well, there are 33 first-prize works in this year's 'New Concept Composition' competition. Xiao Ma, quickly type out the new list. Oh, and there are also certificates and trophies."

The dust has settled.

As the person in charge of the organizer, Zhang Chao got the list of winners and the most controversial work at the first opportunity.

Chen Chuncheng, "Submarine at Night".

Zhang Chao, who was drinking tea, almost spit out a mouthful of water on the screen when he saw the email sent by Ma Boyong.

It was him.

In his previous life, his fellow villager Chen Chuncheng could be said to be the most famous post-2015s writer who emerged after 90. He received nearly perfect praise for his fresh and delicate writing style, wild imagination, and poetic writing between dreams and reality.

The short story collection "Submarine at Night" has swept almost all domestic literary awards for young people, and with the recommendation of a number of celebrities, it has once climbed to the top of the book bestseller list as a pure literature.

Chen Chuncheng is now only 17 years old. This "Submarine at Night" is not as complex and profound as the one Zhang Chao read later, especially without the plot at the beginning where Borges threw a coin into the sea, the symbolic color is not so strong.

But the main outline of the story is already emerging. So this story was brewing in Chen Chuncheng's mind for more than ten years before it was written?

Zhang Chao didn't know if it was the inspiration of the competition that made him write "Submarine at Night" so many years in advance. He was just glad that Alai, the chairman of the jury, finally took responsibility and included it in the first prize.

As a fellow Fuhai native and equally talented, Zhang Chao saw an irresistible brilliance in this young man who was five years younger than him. If Chen Chuncheng could have embarked on the literary path ten years earlier, he would undoubtedly be Zhang Chao's biggest "challenger"!
(Two chapters in one)

(End of this chapter)