Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 287 Hit the nail on the head
Zhang Chao was stunned and asked, "Why is that?"

Wang Meng thought about it for a while before he smiled and said, "I'm still afraid that your 'firepower' is too strong!"

Zhang Chao: "..."

Wang Meng went on to explain: "Now the British, Indians and Americans are doing the 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms'. If you go there, it will just be a mahjong table. You know that they are just using you as an excuse to quarrel, so why bother joining in the fun?

You should focus more on your creations now. The story of "Meteor and Boy" you published this year is very good. From the form to the content, it is refreshing to us!

And the book "Crime Police Glory", even though no one is talking about it now, it will definitely become the focus of literary criticism in a few years."

Zhang Chao quickly waved his hands and said modestly: "Mr. Wang, you are too kind..."

Wang Meng waved his hand, indicating that he knew his limits, and continued, "Your award is already in your pocket, so they can argue as much as they want. We are just afraid that you will be unable to control yourself after you go to the United States."

Zhang Chao said: "My main purpose in going to the United States is not to promote my new book! They can argue as they please, I won't get involved."

Wang Meng looked at Zhang Chao with an extremely distrustful look: "Really?"

Zhang Chao said helplessly: "Am I so aggressive in everyone's eyes?"

Wang Meng showed an expression that said "you know it yourself" and did not hesitate. Instead, he continued to persuade: "If you go to the United States, it will be up to you. At that time, your publishing house will definitely hype it up, regardless of anything else.

You know the truth that 'once you're in the world, you have no choice'."

Zhang Chao asked in confusion: "... Are you afraid that I will lose the argument?"

Wang Meng quickly denied it: "That's not the case. It's... it's..."

Zhang Chao said: "Hey, if you have something to say, just say it!"

Wang Meng sighed and said, "Do you remember the meeting last month?"

Zhang Chao said: "Huh? Of course I remember."

Wang Meng said: "You are no longer the same as before. You are the international representative of our cultural circles, especially young literary and artistic talents! So..."

Zhang Chao said "Oh" to indicate that he understood.

When it comes to cultural exports and establishing an international cultural image, our government generally tends to be moderate, peaceful, reserved, modest and prudent, with a bit of the meaning of "not competing for the sake of competing."

Not to mention 2007, in another dozen years or so, some Chinese cultural or sports stars who make a few "arrogant" statements in front of the media cameras will be criticized by certain conservative media.

Zhang Chao is most criticized for his "intolerance" character. From his attack on the "New Concept Essay Competition" to his recent dispute with education expert Sun Yunxiao, he has ignored most of the disputes and let them go.

But Zhang Chao just "wanted to see" and "couldn't stand it", and in the end his opponent often ended up leaving the stage in public opinion.

Although Zhang Chao's aggressive personality has brought him back into the public eye, not everyone appreciates his attitude. Especially as he gets older, many people think he should be more mature.

Zhang Chao could understand this expectation, but he still had some resistance in his heart. After all, in his opinion, except for the initial attack on the new concept, which was partly due to his own speculation, the other disputes were almost all imposed on him by others.

However, Wang Meng was an old senior who admired him and helped him, so Zhang Chao couldn't just reject him directly. So he thought for a moment before saying, "I will definitely go to the United States. After all, the sales of the second part of The Great Doctor are also very important to me.

But I can promise you that I will try to avoid disputes and sell more books. Especially since Kiran Desai herself has not expressed any opinions on this, there is no need for me to regard her as an "enemy".

As for whether I should win the award, that is a matter for the book review community, and they can decide it themselves."

After receiving Zhang Chao's assurance, Wang Meng finally breathed a sigh of relief, a smile reappeared on his face, and he said, "That's good. You are right to think so - 'writers in the world are one family'.

As literary critics, they must have disagreements and debates so that they can have their own space. We, as creators, should not blindly interfere.

By the way, when are you going to leave for America?"

Zhang Chao thought for a moment and said, "I'm not in a hurry. The second part of The Great Doctor will be released on Easter this year, which is still a dozen days away. I just need to get there before the release date, so the schedule has not been decided yet."

Wang Meng nodded, without commenting, and said with a smile: "Don't leave at noon, stay for lunch. I just made dumplings."

Zhang Chao suddenly realized something and said, "Mr. Wang, this is a powerful trick! 'Asking for a high price and paying low'!"

Wang Meng laughed, revealing a cunning look like an old naughty boy, and said: "We have to complete the organization's task. You are a stubborn donkey..."

Zhang Chao laughed out loud and didn't take it seriously. In fact, he had no intention of going to the United States to quarrel - just like Wang Meng said, could the Indians still snatch the medal from his pocket?
However, Zhang Chao still asked curiously: "If it is according to your own idea, do I need to at least write an article to 'clear my name'?"

Without even thinking, Wang Meng said, "'Rectify your name'? If I were your age, it would definitely be more than just 'rectify your name'!"

Zhang Chao gave a thumbs up and said, "Sure enough, a young man has come to the Organization Department. He is unstoppable!"

After saying this, the old and the young both laughed in tacit understanding.

At the age of 22, Wang Meng published the short story "A New Young Man in the Organization Department" in "People's Literature" (this was the title when it was published, the original name was "A Young Man in the Organization Department"), which was the earliest literary work in New China that reflected the contradictions among the people and exposed bureaucracy.

Then he was labeled a capped child that year, and he didn't take it off until 1961. After that, he went to the border for another 15 years, even taught himself Uyghur and became a good translator.

Although he was nearly 40 years old after returning to Yenching, he entered a period of high productivity. He was even the first writer to introduce modernist creative techniques such as "stream of consciousness" to the mainland.

At the same time, he was good at both creation and academic research. He published many academic papers and articles and can be regarded as a literary theorist.

The reason why Wang Meng admired Zhang Chao was, to a large extent, that he saw his own shadow in him.

How could such a talented person be a calm person who dared not argue with others when he was young? That is why Zhang Chao said that just now, which is not only a tribute to Wang Meng's work, but also expresses his understanding of the work that Wang Meng wants to complete.

At this time, Wang Meng's nanny came to the living room and told them: "The dumplings are cooked and ready to eat!" Wang Meng stood up and said: "As the saying goes, 'dumplings when you get on the bus, noodles when you get off'. Although it will take some time before you leave for the United States, today is my farewell to you."

Zhang Chao happily followed Wang Meng to the table. There were only the two of them at the table. Wang Meng's wife had not been in good health in the past two years, so she did not eat with them.

There were already four plates of hot dumplings on the table, each with only about 20 dumplings. Wang Meng pointed at them with chopsticks and introduced them: "This one has pork and corn filling, this one has leek and pork filling, this one has three fresh fillings, and this one has beef and onion filling."

In addition to dumplings, there is a plate of fried beef and a plate of cabbage on the table, as well as peeled garlic, chili sauce, vinegar, soy sauce and other dipping sauces. It is simple and homely, but full of affection.

The nanny said, "You guys eat first. If it's not enough, I'll cook more."

Zhang Chao said hurriedly: "It's already too rich! One plate is enough for me."

Wang Meng laughed and said, "You are still young, so it's no big deal if you eat more. When I was your age, I had a bad temper and an even bigger appetite. I could eat a hundred dumplings of this size in one meal. It's a pity that you don't drink!"

Zhang Chao ate dumplings while mumbling, "It's different now than it was back then. Back then, people generally didn't have much fat in their stomachs, so they could eat a lot. When my dad was young, he followed the production team to dig drainage canals, and he could eat half a basket of fist-sized steamed buns."

This sentence brought back memories for Wang Meng, who said leisurely, "When I was a child, I could only eat meat during the Chinese New Year, that is, dumplings. It's not like now, when dumplings can be made with four kinds of fillings. I couldn't even think about it before."

Zhang Chao asked curiously, "Wasn't your father a professor at Yan University at the time? Why was life so difficult?"

Wang Meng sighed and said, "Life is difficult. On the one hand, the world is in chaos, and professors at Yenching University cannot receive full salary. As for my father... he was a scholar enlightened by the May Fourth Movement, but he was also an idealist, a pursuer, a loser, an empty talker, and a person who accomplished nothing.

The difficult financial situation of my family when I was a child was largely due to his own life tragedy.”

Zhang Chao didn't know what to say after hearing this, so he could only eat another dumpling in silence.

Wang Meng laughed at himself: "In fact, the prototype of Ni Wucheng, the protagonist of my novel "The Transformation of the Living Human Form", is my father. I have always regarded him as a negative example. From him, I saw that the May Fourth Movement brought great hope and prospects;
I also saw that it brought people like my father the extreme feeling of being unable to reach anything, being torn apart by both sides, and the pain of being strangled by life. "

Zhang Chao put down his chopsticks and said, "In fact, intellectuals living in the cracks of the times do have mental pain that is difficult to express to outsiders."

Wang Meng suddenly came back to his senses at this time and kept saying, "Eat dumplings, eat dumplings. I'm also bored. Why are you talking about these things? It's really unpleasant."

Zhang Chao said quickly, "No, no. In fact, from a literary perspective, the reason why your father became the prototype of the protagonist of your novel is because he has a certain imprint that is unique to that generation of intellectuals.

Isn't it this kind of people that we focus on when we write? If you're willing to tell me, I'd actually like to know more about it."

Wang Meng hesitated for a moment and said, "Actually, it's nothing special to listen to. It's just a story about an enlightened 'half-new, half-old' intellectual who was not satisfied with everything in his academic, life and marriage. His passion and ambition were gradually worn away, and he was left with a neurotic temper, an irresponsible attitude and a belly full of complaints."

Later, he was even completely abandoned by life. During the raging movement, he was even declared to have no right to participate - how ironic and how sad. "

Zhang Chao hesitated for a moment and asked, "Your father is a scholar after all..."

At this point, Wang Meng's eyes suddenly lit up, and he said excitedly: "A few days ago, a professor from Fudan University contacted me and said that he had found some of his writings and articles and sent them to me to read."

Zhang Chao asked tactfully, "Oh? What kind of book is it?"

Wang Meng's old face relaxed at this moment, showing a complex emotion of pride, sighing, and regret: "He translated a lot of works of German scholars and masters such as Heidegger, Spranger, and Husserl.

He also wrote a lot of prose and poetry that are worth reading, and his writing is also very good... But, but he never told us about it. He seemed to want to erase the first half of his life from his life. "

Zhang Chao was silent for a while before he said, "Maybe it's because of disillusionment. My father was somewhat similar - oh, of course, he was not a scholar like your father. In fact, when he was studying in the Chinese Department of Xiamen University, he also did some good research work.

At that time, he was the author of their writing group. When I went to Ludao this time, I found some papers written in those years, such as the textual research on the writing time of Lu Xun's "Mei Jian Chi", and his work was very solid.

But he was not very happy afterwards. After graduation, he was assigned back to his hometown and became a teacher. After some twists and turns, he taught in the countryside all his life. He never mentioned his previous studies or the articles he wrote.

I looked through his alumni directory and found that many of his classmates became scholars. "

(Last year, when I was looking up information, I suddenly saw my father’s name and a paper he wrote nearly 50 years ago in the citation section of a paper on CNKI… Later, my article cited one of his conclusions, and when I typed his name in the references at the end, I was overwhelmed with emotions.)
Wang Meng said: "I didn't expect you to have such an experience. When I was a child, I heard him say that when he was studying at Yenching University, he was roommates with He Qifang and Li Changzhi. They both praised his articles and poems. Even the word "Meng" in my name was given by He Qifang.

But what was my reaction? ——'So you are the one with no future.' You see, I was so shallow and snobbish when I was young. I almost forgot that when I was a child, he taught me what is the "Tao" in Chinese culture, how to treat people, how to eat Western food, and how to swim...

But after seeing the books and articles that Professor Fudan University sent me, all these memories came back to me.

Then I realized that he was not only my "negative example", but he was also cultivating and shaping me in his own way, no matter how much I hated him and was afraid of becoming him when I was young.

But in the end, a part of him has unconsciously become something that I cannot live without in my life, not just a blood relationship. "

At the end of his speech, Wang Meng's eyes became bright again, without any sadness.

Zhang Chao knew that this old man, who was nearly 80 years old, had finally chosen to reconcile with his younger self. ——But why did he suddenly say this to him?
Wang Meng watched Zhang Chao eat a few more dumplings before he said, "I've always had this feeling, but I don't know if it's right or not."

Zhang Chao: "Hmm!?"

Wang Meng said: "Although you are only 22 years old, your road to fame has been quite smooth, and as far as I know, your family is relatively harmonious. But it seems that there is always a kind of anger and energy in your heart, which is neither the kind of youthful frivolity, nor the kind of bullying, nor the kind of success and rampantness.

Just like a spring that has been compressed for a long time, once it breaks free from its restraints, it will not want to be compressed again and will bounce up high, bouncing away anything that is pressing on you.

This kind of personality trait usually appears in people who are older and whose talents are recognized. But you are so young...

I don’t know if I’m feeling right.”

After saying that, he looked at Zhang Chao with gentle eyes, waiting for his response.

Zhang Chao was stunned when he heard this. He had never thought carefully about the cause of his current personality - especially before his rebirth, he was obviously not like this...

Mr. Wang Meng, your vision is so sharp!

(End of this chapter)