Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 257: Sending Face to the Countryside
After watching horse racing, eating "fish wrapped in leeks", drinking rice wine in the village, and following the village chief to other villages to drink rice wine, Zhang Chao's first "Duan Festival" came to a successful conclusion.

During this period, what left the deepest impression on Zhang Chao, apart from horse racing and folk songs, was the bronze drum dance - it was grand and vigorous, powerful and full of mystery.

Bronze drums have a very important position in the culture of various ethnic minorities in the southwest. They are not only used for sacrifices, alliances, and banquets, but also a symbol of the status of a tribe.

In ancient times, being able to cast and maintain bronze drums showed that one still had the technical level to maintain the cultural characteristics of the tribe and develop production. Otherwise, it would be more tragic, either being annexed or retreating deeper into the mountains and becoming a wild tribe without ethnic identity.

Although Zhang Chao created the character of a wizard grandfather who can dance Nuo dance in the story of "The Boy and the Meteor", he did not really observe the relevant details. Although the bronze drum dance is not Nuo dance, it is not far from it, which also makes his conception more perfect.

Although he was drunk every day, fortunately the alcohol content of the rice wine was not high, so Zhang Chao did not lose his composure. It was just that the place where he woke up every day became irregular. Once he even woke up on a pile of straw.

More than a month passed like this. The weather in the mountains of Yunnan and Guizhou had really turned cold. One had to wear cotton clothes during the day, and the temperature at night was sometimes close to 1 degrees Celsius. Especially without heating, Zhang Chao was freezing.

The structure of the house was not suitable for a fire pit, and Zhang Chao did not dare to use a charcoal stove in the house. He had to purchase a small sunshade and hot water bottles when the village tractor came down the mountain on time. Finally, he managed to prepare the small house on the second floor of the village committee for the winter.

Now Zhang Chao walks in the fields every day. His skin is tanned, and he has a face full of stubble. His hair has also been cut into a flat top at the town’s barber shop. He no longer looks like a college student in his early 20s, but more like a local Shuijialang.

Apart from seeing the rapidly growing balance figures when he went down the mountain to withdraw money and receiving phone calls reporting safety 1 or 2 times a week, the only program on the TV in the village committee on the first floor allowed Zhang Chao to learn about changes in the outside world.

He saw that the first season of the documentary "Three Jins' Romance" was successfully broadcast on CCTV10, and the last episode announced the upcoming publication of two collections of essays, "Royal Figures in Three Jins" and "Royal Figures in Three Jins".

Although I didn't see the articles by Yu Hua, Shi Tiesheng and others because I was distracted, at least judging from the cover, Xia Da's art department did a good job.

The program "Sanjin Fengliu" has become a must-see on weekend nights recently due to the strong request of children, so the two beautifully designed books at the end of the show also aroused their interest.

Zhang Chao patted his chest and promised to get it for them as soon as possible. The children were very happy.

Of course, there was also news about himself. During a break in changing channels, a guest on an interview program talked about him and specifically mentioned "why Zhang Chao, the most popular young writer in recent years, suddenly disappeared from people's sight." Zhang Chao just smiled and quickly changed the channel.

It is the off-season for farming recently, and Zhang Chao has nothing to do even though he wants to help others. Every day, apart from writing and telling stories, he just wanders around and is so idle that he is almost growing hair. He wanted to teach in a primary school in a nearby village, but he would be recognized too easily, so he had to give up.

Therefore, the only news that interested him during this period was Sony's release of the PS3. Because his appetite for games had been spoiled in his previous life, he was not interested in most PC and PS games.

但是PS3就不一样了，这一代主机不仅画面相比PS2有了巨大的提升，而且PS3上的经典游戏还是蛮多的。比如《上古卷轴 4：遗忘之都》《NBA2K7》《战神3》《最后生还者》……

If he wasn't afraid of corrupting the child, Zhang Chao would have asked Ma Boyong to buy him one and send it over along with the game disc.

The good news is that the story of "The Boy and the Meteor" has been almost completed, and the timeline is getting closer and closer to the grand scene I set. Whether it is the fullness of the characters, the ups and downs of the plot, the clarity and warmth of the theme... they are all the best in my works.

The bad news is that the manuscript of "The Boy and the Meteor" has become a mess after being rewritten again and again. Without careful distinction, he himself can't figure out which parts were written when, which parts were written by himself, and which parts were ideas given to him by the children while listening to the story.

But Zhang Chao doesn't care. Instead, he thinks this way of writing may be more in line with the birth and development of the literary genre of "story". Compared with novels and essays independently created by writers, "story" often has a more open creative space and more immediate creative feedback.

"Stories" are originally oral literature. When passed on by word of mouth, they are reshaped again and again by different narrators according to their own understanding and wishes. Sometimes it is an unintentional omission, and sometimes it is an intentional addition or deletion.

The formation of literary works based on the "stories" that have been passed down is common among many ethnic groups and is regarded as an important source of written literature, such as the "Iliad". In China, the "huaben" used by storytellers has been formed.

Three of China's so-called "Four Great Classics", "Water Margin", "Journey to the West" and "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", were all re-created by literati from collected vernacular novels.

Therefore, using logical reasoning to explore the secrets of these three works is sometimes quite ridiculous, such as Wu Xianyun's claims that Red Boy is the illegitimate son of Taishang Laojun, Lin Chong, Lu Junyi, and Yue Fei are Zhou Tong's disciples, etc., which seem to make sense, but in fact they are all errors in versions published by different booksellers in different eras.

The works handed down in this way have complicated versions and many errors, and it is difficult to make them logically rigorous and consistent, but they have a natural, unrestrained, and vigorous vitality and possess a unique aesthetic charm.

Therefore, when modern writers get tired of the neat form of their works, they often go back to explore these "primitive" creative techniques, trying to restore the original appearance of the "story" genre.

For example, Mo Yan's "magical realism" seems to come from Gabriel Garcia Marquez, but in terms of style, he borrows more from the creative techniques of folk tales and vernacular novels.

However, no matter how much reference is made, it is only the writer who is writing. All the complexity and differences are the product of the writer "simulating" different writing personalities. Strictly speaking, it is only similar to the real "story" in form, not in spirit.

But Zhang Chao's creation this time was different. He really let many children participate in his creative process. Every night after telling the children a segment, he would receive the children's immediate feedback:

"I think the wizard grandpa really knows magic, otherwise he is lying, right?"

"Won't Wei Xiaoliang get lost if he goes to find Teacher Zhang alone? There are so many forks in the road on the mountain. If you take the wrong one, you'll have to take a long detour."

"My grandfather said that as long as the rooster doesn't crow, the sun won't come out, so wouldn't the day be longer?"

"I just heard from my teacher today that shooting stars are actually for making wishes. Wouldn't a meteor shower allow many people to make wishes?"

"Yes, yes, if all the villagers and classmates wished that Wei Xiaoliang's mother would get better, maybe the wish would come true?"

“Will there be a shooting star tonight?”

"Maybe? Hey - did one just fall? Did you see it?"

……

Zhang Chao wrote down all these childish words and phrases after returning to his room. Some inspired him to revise his original text; some became inspirations for subsequent plots; and some simply became another possible development, giving rise to another story line.

When Zhang Chao first started telling the story, he set a "deadline" of seven days, thinking that he would be able to finish the story in ten days or half a month.

But as the children joined in, the details of the story became more and more detailed, the side stories became richer, and there were more and more versions. As a result, the story was not finished until almost the end of December.

That is why, except for the beginning and the end, Zhang Chao himself could not tell which parts of the content he later narrated and recorded were his original intentions and which parts were the children's re-creation.

Just like "Journey to the West", it was originally a Yuan Dynasty vernacular novel "The Tang Monk's Journey to the West in Verse", which only had 3 volumes and 17 chapters. Among the four masters and apprentices, only Tang Monk and the white-clothed scholar who called himself "Monkey Walker" appeared.

However, after hundreds of years of changes, the magnificent "Journey to the West" with hundreds of chapters was finally formed (there are too many versions, so we just use this general term).

Zhang Chao never expected that an unintentional action would allow him to "witness" with his own eyes how the story was born and developed.

Zhang Chao himself was not sure what the story would look like when it was finally completed. But he was still willing to maintain this open creative state, and even enjoyed this rare creative process so much that he did not bother to organize the manuscript.

However, the village chief did not understand the "nature of Zhang Chao's work". He only thought that this young man either did nothing every day or locked himself in his room for most of the day without making any noise. In addition, he stayed there for more than two months...

In the past, there were backpackers who lingered in Shilei Village, but the longest stay was only five or six days, and the shortest was only overnight. Who would be like Zhang Chao, who was ready to settle down there?

The village chief found Zhang Chao and chatted with him for a long time before he asked earnestly, "Son, are you in trouble? Do you owe money from your business? Or did your girlfriend break up with you?" Zhang Chao stared at the village chief in amazement, wondering what the old man was thinking. But before he could open his mouth, the village chief continued, "You can't just keep living off your savings like this. You've spent several thousand in the past two months.

If you really want to live in the village, why don't you learn a skill so you can support yourself?"

Zhang Chao: “…” His brain crashed.

The village chief thought Zhang Chao was persuaded by his words, so he continued to persuade him: "The craftsmen here are nothing more than shaving, slaughtering pigs, and weaving baskets... Which one do you want to do?"

Zhang Chao: “…” His brain continued to crash.

The village chief suddenly remembered something and said excitedly: "There is a pig butcher in the next village. He is old and his three sons have gone to Guiyang to work. I heard that no one is continuing his craft.

Otherwise, you can go to him to learn how to butcher a pig. I will guarantee you that he will definitely agree. Do you know what butchering a pig means? It means castrating a pig. Only after a boar has been castrated can it produce meat faster! He is the only butcher in these villages, and his business is very good.

When he can't castrate anymore, you can take over and support yourself. I think you have a connection with pigs. This is the first time I've seen someone ride on a pig so steadily..."

Zhang Chao: “…” The power has been unplugged, please do not disturb.

The village chief began to imagine Zhang Chao's wonderful life in the future: "Once you learn how to butcher pigs, I will find you an empty 'railway' in the village, clean it up and you can move in. After a few years, when you have saved enough money, you can get married.

Besides, Accountant Liang said that you are a college student and can write and calculate. In the future, you can help the village with accounting, writing documents, and reading letters. Everyone needs these services. ..."

Hearing this, Zhang Chao's brain finally came back online, and he quickly declined: "Thank you, I don't..."

Before he finished speaking, the village committee's phone rang. The village chief quickly got up and went into the house to answer the phone. After a while, he came out and said to Zhang Chao apologetically, "Tomorrow, a leader from the county will come to inspect our village. If he comes in the afternoon, I'm afraid he won't be able to go back in the evening. You have to give up your room then."

This was discussed before, so Zhang Chao naturally had no objection. In fact, several cadres from the village had come before, but they had not stayed overnight, so they did not have much interaction with Zhang Chao. They just knew that there was such a foreign tourist who lived in Shilei Village for a long time.

The next morning, Zhang Chao packed his things and put them at the village chief's house. After lunch, he and other idle people in the village squatted at the entrance of the village, waiting to see which leader would come.

At about 3 p.m., a cloud of dust rose from the dirt road at the entrance of the village, and several off-road vehicles arrived at Shilei Village. Soon, more than a dozen people got off the vehicles, all of them looked quite impressive. Led by a middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses, they walked into the village committee under the guidance of the village chief.

In addition to the village head, Accountant Liang, and several villagers who held positions in the village committee went into the house for a meeting. It was the first time that Zhang Chao saw so many leaders from Shilei Village, so he was quite curious.

Twenty minutes later, the village chief led the group and began to tour the village. He led the way and introduced the group, while the people around the man with gold-rimmed glasses took notes carefully.

Accountant Liang was at the end of the team. Zhang Chao followed him and asked quietly, "What's this for?"

Accountant Liang lowered his voice and answered, "Next year, the state will send experts to evaluate the 'Famous Historical and Traditional Cultural Villages'. The city will send leaders to investigate each village first..." Before he finished speaking, he took two quick steps to catch up with the team.

Zhang Chao said "Oh", knowing that this was a big deal for the village. Not to mention being selected, even if they were shortlisted, they would receive a lot of funding to improve the village's infrastructure.

However, the villagers who were watching the scene were not optimistic and said calmly: "With such a shabby road in our village, no expert would be willing to come."

Zhang Chao also agreed. He came to Shilei Village mainly because there was a very smooth two-lane asphalt road when he was traveling by car in his previous life. If he had known that it was still a bumpy gravel road, he might have gone to another place.

The village chief led the leaders around the village and then went into the meeting room to hold a meeting. Zhang Chao felt bored, so he invited the villagers who were going to "eat" tonight to help him cook dinner.

But before Zhang Chao could boil the water on the stove, Accountant Liang rushed over and pulled him to the village committee: "Xiao Zhang, you must help our Shilei Village this time!"

Zhang Chao stood in the middle of the village committee office with a confused look on his face, holding a hair dryer with a burnt top in his hand.

The village chief said in an anxious tone: "Look, leaders, this young man is a college student. He has lived here for a long time just because our village has beautiful scenery and good customs.

So it’s not that there are no tourists in our village, it’s just that there aren’t many. Xiao Zhang, don’t you agree?”

The leaders of the next village looked at the dark-faced, bearded young man in front of them with suspicion, thinking that except for being a little taller, he was no different from the local youths. Could it be that the village chief made it up?

Zhang Chao probably knew what was going on, and thought it would be no problem to help, so he said loudly: "Everyone, I'm from Yanjing. Our Shilei Village is indeed beautiful and the people are simple and honest, especially the traditional Shui ethnic architecture here, which has retained a unique and original style..."

This statement dispelled everyone's doubts, after all, the accent was not easy to fake. But in the corner, a woman exclaimed: "Why are you still here?"

Zhang Chao looked in the direction of the voice and saw a woman in her thirties, a very unfamiliar person.

Seeing that everyone was looking at her, the woman explained in a panic, "I came to Shilei Village to collect folk songs some time ago. This person lives on the second floor here..." Then she remembered something and kept silent. After a while, she said expressionlessly, "Go on."

Zhang Chao also recognized her, this was the "Juan Zi". It was dark and dim at the time, so he didn't see her face clearly, and he had forgotten about this episode, but he didn't expect to meet her again here.

This "Juanzi" is a member of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles, so it is normal for her to participate in such an inspection activity. Zhang Chao did not bother to think too much and continued: "I have lived in Shilei Village for more than two months. I can sum up the characteristics of this place in a few words - 'beautiful', 'genuine' and 'pure'."

The man with gold-rimmed glasses was very interested and asked, "Young man, tell me about it."

Zhang Chao's "making up stories off the top of his head" was simply his specialty. He said without hesitation: "'Beauty' refers to the beauty of the scenery. Shilei Village is backed by mountains and faces cliffs, with rolling peaks, layers of terraced fields, and surrounded by clouds and mist. The natural scenery and cultural landscape are interdependent, seamless, and beautiful.

"True" refers to the sincerity of human nature. I felt this particularly deeply when I lived in Shilei Village. The villagers here are simple and kind, and the neighbors get along well with each other on a daily basis. They also treated me, a foreigner, sincerely, making me feel at home.

"Pure" refers to the purity of folk customs. Although the transportation here is inconvenient, it is precisely because of this that the most pure folk customs are preserved. I just spent the "Duanwu Festival" here, which can be said to be an eye-opener and I still want more!
I believe that the three words "beautiful", "genuine" and "pure" alone can make Shilei Village stand out among the numerous villages in the mountains of Yunnan and Guizhou and have a place there."

After these words, the cadres of Shilei Village and the man with gold-rimmed glasses were all stunned. Especially the village chief, who had never expected Zhang Chao to be so eloquent and praise Shilei Village to such an extent that even he himself felt it was a bit exaggerated.

After he finished speaking, I didn't know what to say. I couldn't say "It's not as good as he said it was"? So I could only nod my head repeatedly, almost leading the applause.

The man with gold-rimmed glasses said with interest: "Young man, you have summarized it very well!"

At this time, "Juanzi" couldn't help it, she said: "You are exaggerating. Although Shilei Village is good, it is not the most distinctive among the many Shuizu villages, especially it has some serious problems that outsiders like you can't see."

A gleam of light flashed across Zhang Chao's eyes, and he thought to himself that last time I wanted to slap me in the face but you used the example of "Zhang Chao's Former Residence" to hold me back, and this time you're trying to slap me in the face again, so I won't be polite.

The man with gold-rimmed glasses also took the initiative to introduce: "This is Teacher Shan Juanzi, a famous writer and poet in our city. She has a very high aesthetic taste! Teacher Shan Juanzi, please continue."

"Shan Juanzi" waved her hair and was about to start her performance...

(End of this chapter)