Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 280 I’m conquered by you like this

Just when Wang Zhenxu felt something was wrong, his teacher had already started greeting Zhang Chao warmly.

Professor Iizuka Rong was all smiles at this moment, and asked Zhang Chao: "Then please say hello to him for me. - How is he doing recently? We haven't seen each other for many years."

Zhang Chao said, "Teacher Yu is doing fine. He said you are the first translator to introduce his works to the world, and asked me to study with you during this period of time."

Professor Iizuka Eiji looked nostalgic when he heard this. He said, "I remember translating 'At Eighteen, I Went Away' in 1990. Seventeen years have passed in the blink of an eye."

Zhang Chao said: "Teacher Yu said that he was still unknown in China at that time, but you noticed his work and wrote to him specifically, hoping to obtain his authorization. He was flattered."

Professor Iizuka said: "When I first saw his work, I was attracted by the 'zero-degree narrative' and 'interweaving narrative of time and space'. These were very rare qualities among young Chinese writers at that time."

Zhang Chao said: "Teacher Yu said that his readers in Japan are basically attracted by your translation. Let me treat you to a good meal in Ludao this time!"

Professor Iizuka laughed and said, "Okay!"

Wang Zhenxu was stunned by what he heard. How come it felt like in just a few minutes, the relationship between Zhang Chao and his tutor had become closer than between himself and his tutor? And the tutor didn't seem to have any prejudice against Zhang Chao at all? He suddenly felt uneasy.

At this time, Zhang Chao also noticed the three students around Professor Iizuka, especially Wang Zhenxu. However, he did not know what Wang Zhenxu said in front of Iizuka, so he just said calmly, "Are these your three graduate students?"

Professor Iizuka introduced the three people to Zhang Chao one by one. When he introduced Wang Zhenxu, he specifically said, "You should have met each other before."

Zhang Chao said calmly: "At the literary salon last Saturday night, Mr. Wang and I had some exchanges, which might not have been very pleasant." He did not deliberately conceal the conflict between the two.

Wang Zhenxu looked embarrassed and hesitated for a while. Finally, he did not dare to be presumptuous in front of his tutor and said, "Thank you for your teaching that day. Although it was unpleasant, I benefited a lot from it." After that, he bowed shallowly to Zhang Chao, his body trembling slightly.

He suddenly realized with sadness that Zhang Chao could ignore such social conventions, speak his mind, and not be afraid of letting others know who he had conflicts with, but he couldn't do that.

Judging from the situation, the instructor had probably already spoken to his good friend Yu Hua, who is also Zhang Chao's teacher, on the phone, so he brought three students to meet Zhang Chao backstage before the speech began.

Meeting after a speech is called appreciation; meeting before a speech is called support.

It was ridiculous that I actually imagined that the instructor had brought a few of us here to put pressure on Zhang Chao...

Zhang Chao's next move confirmed his guess. He took out a thick, carefully wrapped book from a bag behind him and handed it to Iizuka, saying, "This is Brothers by Mr. Yu Hua. The second volume was just published last year, and this year the publisher is going to publish a combined volume.

This is a sample book that the publishing house gave to Professor Yu Hua. He heard that you were also visiting and giving lectures at Xiamen University, so he sent it to me as quickly as possible and asked me to give it to you. "

Professor Iizuka happily took the book, and after carefully examining and stroking it for a while, he passed it to the student behind him, and then said to Zhang Chao: "Thank Professor Yu Hua for me. - In fact, I would like to receive your book more. Yu Hua highly recommended you to me!"

Zhang Chao smiled and said, "After the speech, I will go to the bookstore and buy a few books."

The two of them laughed out loud, and Wang Zhenxu, the only one among the three graduate students who could understand Chinese, could only laugh along, but his laughter was uglier than crying.

Wang Zhenxu was completely numb at this moment. He was very sure that his mentor had already learned about Zhang Chao from Yu Hua, and there might even be other channels. His previous "performances" were completely like a clown.

He could no longer imagine how his mentor would deal with him after Zhang Chao's speech...

Just as Wang Zhenxu was daydreaming, a teacher in charge of the scene came in and said to Zhang Chao: "It's almost time, you can go to the side stage and wait."

Upon hearing this, Professor Iizuka Eiji also stood up and said a brief goodbye to Zhang Chao, then took his students to the front row of the lecture hall and sat down in the seat reserved for him.

After leaving the backstage, Wang Zhenxu took two quick steps and rushed to his mentor. Just as he was about to say something, Professor Iizuka raised his hand to stop him from saying anything. At the same time, he stopped, turned his head and looked at him deeply, and after a long while, he said, "Listen to the speech first. Remember to translate for Otani and Junko!"

Although Otani Akiya and Ishiguro Junko have also studied Chinese, they can barely read books and articles, but listening is too difficult for them.

Wang Zhenxu was stunned by his mentor's deep and calm gaze. Only then did he remember that this always amiable and unassuming old man was actually a great scholar who was close to the pinnacle of the academic world, and his pride and strictness would never change.

His behavior the day before yesterday was undoubtedly a trick on him. And for someone like him who holds such an important position in the literary research community, just one sentence is enough to bring him to ruin.

As for the silver medal winner of "This Mystery Novel is Great!" - Does Japan lack young mystery novelists? There are more of them than there are trees on Mount Fuji!
What's more, the mentor in front of him is not only a great scholar and translator, known as "the first person to translate Chinese novels into Japan"; his father is also a great professor and translator of Chinese literature, and the earliest translator of "Dream of Red Mansions" in Japan.

Japanese academia has only entered the modern era about 100 years ago. If a father and son inherit a field, their students and friends are probably all over the academic world, and they can be considered a powerful family...

Thinking of this, Wang Zhenxu began to tremble all over, but he did not dare to disobey his mentor, so he could only lower his head and say, "Hi!"

This left Otani Kawa Akiya and Ishiguro Junko confused. They didn't know why this fellow student, who was always arrogant and often boasted even in front of his mentor, suddenly became as cowardly as a kappa who had come ashore.

After seeing off Iizuka Yoshio and others, Zhang Chao straightened his clothes and, under the guidance of the staff, stood at the side stage of the lecture hall.

By this time the lecture hall was brightly lit and bustling with people. Not only were all 700 seats occupied, but even the corridors and aisles were filled with students who had squeezed in through various connections.

The first two rows were naturally where the school and Chinese department leaders and teachers sat. Professor Yoshitaka Iizuka, as an important guest, also sat in the middle seat of the first row; Wang Zhenxu and others were arranged to sit in the second row.

At 7:00 p.m., the lecture "Finding Oneself in Creation, Perfecting Creation in Oneself" officially began. The lights in the auditorium began to dim, and the lecture hall quickly became quiet.

After a brief introduction by the host, Zhang Chao walked briskly to the back of the podium and stood under the spotlight.

The lecture hall is a large tiered classroom. Standing under the lights, I watched the "wall" formed by the audience gradually rise and darken before my eyes until it reached the end of my sight. I could only see the dim green light of the emergency passage on the wall next to the entrance.

This was Zhang Chao's first time to make an official appearance in front of Xiamen University students, and also his first time to give a speech directly to so many 985 university students. His previous public speaking experience was mostly in front of the media camera or in a TV studio, so it would be a lie to say that he was not nervous.

Zhang Chao silently adjusted his breath, and when his emotions, breathing, and posture were adjusted to the best state, he spoke: "Good evening, teachers and students of Xiamen University. I am Zhang Chao,..."

……

"Hey? Lanting, why don't you go to Zhang Chao's lecture?" In the girls' dormitory of Xiamen University's Furong Garden, Qiu Nianlu curiously asked Lanting who was flipping through a book casually.

There were only two of them left in the dormitory, as the other four roommates had gone to attend Zhang Chao's lecture.

Lan Ting said unhappily: "You didn't go either?"

Qiu Nianlu smiled and said, "I didn't get a seat, and I didn't go because I felt unwell these two days. What about you? Don't tell me that you can't get a seat."

Lan Ting said with a straight face: "Why can I 'ask' for a seat? Who will give it to me if I ask?" Qiu Nianlu clicked her tongue twice and thought to herself "Just pretend", but she said: "The Student Union and the Literature Society all have assigned seats, right? How can you not get one if you ask for it?" After all, she was her roommate and best friend, so she couldn't bear to tease Lan Ting with Zhang Chao.

Lan Ting said, "Let them listen if they want to. After the lecture, there will definitely be recordings and texts. They can listen to it later."

Qiu Nianlu asked, "You really don't want to listen tonight?"

Lan Ting shook her head and said, "I don't want to listen. If you want to listen, just go and listen yourself! Why ask me?"

Qiu Nianlu laughed twice, took out her phone, clicked it, and heard Zhang Chao's voice coming from the loudspeaker:

"... Liu Cixin, a science fiction writer I like very much, tells such a story in his work "Poetry Cloud" - an advanced alien civilization that cannot clone the human "art of poetry" exhaustively calculates all possible permutations and combinations of words, and consumes all the energy of the solar system to store astonishing amounts of data, forming a nebula shaped like the Milky Way...."

When Qiu Nianlu saw Lan Ting sitting at the desk with her back to her, her ears seemed to prick up a little. She pressed the phone again in a mischievous manner, and Zhang Chao's voice disappeared immediately.

Lan Ting was listening intently, and the interruption was like a suspenseful interruption that made her feel extremely uncomfortable. But at this moment, Qiu Nianlu said exaggeratedly: "Oops, I pressed the wrong button, sorry! You obviously didn't want to listen..."

Lan Ting put the book down, stood up suddenly, turned around with a stern face, and asked, "Where did this come from?"

Qiu Nianlu laughed and said, "I can't go, but I asked Xiaoke to record it for me. Record a segment and send it to me via QQ. Oh, I'd better wear headphones to listen to it so as not to disturb you reading." After that, she pretended to grope on the bed, as if she really wanted to find a pair of headphones to put on.

Lan Ting couldn't bear it any longer, and quickly climbed onto Qiu Nianlu's bed and began to tickle her, saying as she tickled: "I'll let you tease me...I'll let you tease me..."

Qiu Nianlu held the phone in one hand, unable to resist, and kept saying: "Good Lanting, please forgive me, I won't dare to do it again..."

The two of them fought for a while before leaning against the wall to take a break.

Qiu Nianlu asked, "Are you still going to listen? If not, I won't let you go."

Lan Ting blushed, and after a while she said, "Listen..."

Qiu Nianlu laughed again, and before she could say "I knew it", she saw Lan Ting raising her hand to reach under her armpit again. She didn't dare to tease him anymore, and took out her phone and clicked it. Then Zhang Chao's voice came out again:
“I read this novel when I was a sophomore in high school, and I felt a deep sadness and strong excitement at the same time. The sad thing is that Poetry points out a possibility, that is, artistic aesthetics, which we regard as the most solid and towering barrier between human intelligence and computer programs, can be destroyed in such a brutal way.”

"What excites me is that the possibilities of human language are so rich that it actually takes the energy of the entire solar system to store them all. Writers are a profession among humans that explores this possibility. If we measure the literary creation of mankind so far by the energy of the solar system, let alone taking the first step in the Long March, we haven't even lifted our legs, at most we have rolled our eyeballs."

“This means that the possibilities of literature are beyond the imagination of any writer in the past. In Memorandum on Literature for the Next Millennium, Calvino said that novels have infinite possibilities like computer programs—this statement is more of an artistic analogy or wish. But Poetry tells us that even if Calvino’s assumptions are exaggerated, they are still a bit conservative. …”

“Humans are animals that rely on experience, and the essence of stories is the retelling and combination of experience. Before the arrival of the colonists, the aborigines of Australia had almost degenerated to the point where they could not even make a fire, but they still retained an art form that combined ballads and dances, called “song trails,” to pass on the tribe’s migration routes, legends, and history on this continent. …”

"Writers are storytellers, so we will enter into our own and others' experiences again and again to explore the possibilities of word combinations. And in this process, we also encounter different selves again and again. ..."

Zhang Chao spoke neither too fast nor too slow, and his tone was not particularly excited, and he did not seem to care whether the audience was moved by his speech. But even Lan Ting and Qiu Nianlu, who were not present and only listened to the recording, were deeply attracted by what Zhang Chao said.

From Liu Cixin's "Poetry Clouds" to the "Song Trails" of Australian Aborigines, Zhang Chao always seems to be able to dig out something unexpected and new from his knowledge base, and naturally transition to his own views.

After listening to several recordings, while waiting for the next recording, Qiu Nianlu curiously asked Lan Ting: "How does Zhang Chao know so much? It's ok for him to have read science fiction novels, but how come he even knows about 'song paths'?"

When Lan Ting heard this question, she also showed a trace of confusion in her eyes. Since the song "I am one of the many events of my parents' aging", Zhang Chao's road has gone farther and farther, and before she came to her senses, she could not even see his back.

Seeing that Lan Ting didn't say anything, Qiu Nianlu just shook her head lightly, looking melancholy, and didn't dare to say anything more, just sticking out her tongue lightly. At this time, a new recording happened to come in, and Qiu Nianlu quickly clicked it, which diverted Lan Ting's attention.

In the lecture hall, the teachers and students who were "listening to the lecture" were basically hearing for the first time a young man like Zhang Chao who could express his views so freely and with extensive citations. Upon careful consideration, they found it quite inspiring.

As the head of the Chinese Department, Li Wuwei came to listen mainly out of courtesy, but he was soon attracted by Zhang Chao's content. Sitting next to him was Iizuka Rong, who was also familiar with him. He couldn't help but turn his head to discuss with him: "Zhang Chao seems to be not only starting from the literary perspective, but also very innovative."

Professor Iizuka nodded and said, "Many of the examples and viewpoints he just cited are actually based on sociology, anthropology, and psychology. He does look at his own creations with a relatively objective attitude and a relatively broad perspective."

Li Wuwei nodded and said with a "tsk", "Why is such a good academic talent writing novels? What a waste! What a waste! What a waste of talent!"

Iizuka was amused and said, "If he doesn't write novels, what are we studying?"

Li Wuwei heard the hidden meaning in Iizuka Ei's words, looked at his old friend in surprise, and asked, "What do you mean?"

Iizuka said frankly: "Not only is the popularity of Zhang Chao's works phenomenal, but his thoughts are also very different from all writers of the same age in China and Japan. He may very well become the next focus of Chinese literature research in Japan."

Li Wuwei knew that Professor Iizuka Eiji himself was half of the experts in Chinese literature research in Japan, but he said that Zhang Chao was the "focus", so it was impossible for Zhang Chao to be "younger".

But this is a good thing. If Xiamen University can become the starting point of "Japanese Zhang Chao Research", it may become a good story in the history of the school!
At the same time, Wang Zhenxu, who was sitting in the second row, was trying hard to translate Zhang Chao's speech to his two classmates, but on the other hand, he was in confusion and hesitation.

Previously, he believed that even if Zhang Chao had a certain level of skill in novel writing, his academic foundation must be weak, especially since he only attended the "writer's class" for two years in college, and all he learned was about creation. How could he possibly be comparable to himself?

However, half an hour had passed in the speech, and Zhang Chao was still spewing out new examples and fresh ideas. On the surface, it seemed to be a review and summary of his creative career so far, but its high-level perspective made it more like a new interpretation of the art of novels or stories.

Is this still the mean, vicious and eloquent Chinese person that I think he is?
To Wang Zhenxu, Zhang Chao on the podium now made him feel more embarrassed and embarrassed than Zhang Chao in the classroom last Saturday. Especially when he saw his mentor in the first row listening with gusto and discussing with the Chinese scholars next to him from time to time, he felt like he was falling into the abyss.

The last glimmer of hope was shattered!
Wang Zhenxu even thought about it. After the lecture, he would find an opportunity to meet with his tutor alone and ask for withdrawal, hoping that the tutor would agree.

This is at least more decent than being kicked out by the tutor. You can also declare to the outside world that you are giving up the academic path because you want to concentrate on your creation.

Although I won't be able to rely on the "Iizuka clan" in the future, at least I won't be excluded.

Amid the interweaving of different emotions among different audiences, Zhang Chao's lecture "Finding Oneself in Creation and Perfecting Creation in Oneself" finally ended after an hour.

When Zhang Chao said, "I've finished speaking, thank you everyone," and walked down the podium and bowed to everyone, thunderous applause flooded the entire lecture hall!
Even in other lecture halls watching the "broadcast", cheers and applause were heard!

Zhang Chao's performance conquered every teacher and student at Xiamen University who attended his lecture!
After several curtain calls, Zhang Chao finally returned to the backstage, sweating profusely. At this moment, he breathed a sigh of relief - he finally did not mess up! He presented the content he prepared to the audience almost perfectly.

However, he was surprised to see that Professor Iizuka Eiji and Wang Zhenxu were already waiting for him backstage, but the other two graduate students were not there.

Just as Zhang Chao was surprised, Professor Iizuka pushed Wang Zhenxu in front of him and said, "Student Zhang Chao, I hope you will agree to one of my requests..."

(End of this chapter)