Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 326 Put Your Brain in the Refrigerator

(I watched Detective Chinatown 1900 today. I was surprised when Wang Baoqiang sang the Taishan folk song "Xi Que Xi" in Hebei accent. There are also many details in the movie... Is this the same information that the director found?)

"The last song!?"

Everyone was shocked by Zhang Chao. Zhao Changtian even stood up from his chair and asked, "You...are you saying that you want to stop holding the "New Concept Essay Contest"? "

Normally, "masterpiece" refers to literary creation that has reached the highest attainments and the highest level. For example, Lu Xun commented that "Records of the Grand Historian" was "the masterpiece of historians", which means that the recording of events and the writing of people in "Records of the Grand Historian" have reached the highest level of the historical book genre.

However, "the last song" has gradually evolved into another meaning in modern times - the last singing or performance. For example, the love movie "ぜっしょう" ("The Last Song") starring Yamaguchi Momoe and Miura Tomokazu ends with the male protagonist Shunkichi holding his dead lover Koyuki and singing the lumberjack song.

The "final song" written by Zhang Chao on the whiteboard obviously means the latter.

It has only been two years since Zhang Chao and "Tide Culture" cooperated with "New Sprout" magazine to organize the "New Concept Composition Competition", and the competition has just returned to its peak. If it is stopped now, it cannot be called abstract, it is simply... performance art.

You should know that the sponsorship alone for this year's competition amounted to millions, plus the revenue from various media exposure and increased magazine sales, it is an indivisible benefit for both "New Sprouts" and "Youth".

Under the tense, suspicious and even angry gazes of the crowd, Zhang Chao laughed before saying, "Why are you all so nervous? 'The last performance' doesn't mean it will be discontinued.

I mean the game needs to be changed!"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this, and Zhao Changtian sat back in his seat, but his eyes were still fixed on Zhang Chao, waiting for Zhang Chao's further explanation.

Zhang Chao stood up and walked to the window of the meeting room. He looked at the vehicles and people coming and going on Julu Road and suddenly asked, "Do you think the scale of the competition will continue to expand?"

Zhao Changtian, Hu Weishi, Li Qigang, and a group of editors looked at each other in bewilderment. Finally, a young editor told the truth: "In fact, it is very difficult to maintain the number of hundreds of thousands of submissions every year..."

Zhang Chao did not respond, but encouraged the young editor to continue speaking with his eyes.

The young editor was a little nervous when he saw everyone's eyes were on him. Li Qigang encouraged him gently, "Xiao Xu, keep talking. Don't be afraid if you make mistakes."

This young editor is Xu Minxia, ​​who was the first prize winner of the first competition in 1999. Later, she went to the Chinese Department of Fudan University and joined the "New Sprout" magazine as an editor last year.

Xu Minxia quickly organized her thoughts and said, "I started looking through some of our past competition materials in the archives last year. The sixth competition... that is, the one in 2004, was the one with the most submissions..."

As Xu Minxia spoke, she glanced at Zhang Chao - the 2004 session was both the pinnacle of the "New Concept Composition Competition" and the moment when Zhang Chao's three articles kicked her off the top.

Zhang Chao's expression remained unchanged, and Xu Minxia continued, "The number of manuscripts was 42, and the number of participants was more than 6. But in the archived materials, I noticed several signs -

First of all, the ratio between the number of contestants and the number of manuscripts has been growing more and more disparate. In the sixth session, there was only one contestant for every seven manuscripts. This means... means..."

Zhao Changtian said: "What does it mean? Tell me boldly."

Xu Minxia then said: "This means that the contestants as a whole are becoming more and more speculative. Submitting the same manuscript to multiple places is like betting a few more points on a gambling game, hoping that one of the bets will win.

Second, the number of participants who participated multiple times is also increasing. Although the number of times the preliminary contestants participated is not counted, nearly a quarter of the semi-finalists have participated in at least one competition.

According to common sense, the proportion of preliminary contestants who have participated in the competition multiple times should also be close to this number. This means that the "New Concept Essay Contest" has gradually been monopolized by some "experienced people". We have no way of distinguishing how many of these "experienced people" can really write and how many are "artificial".

At this point, Zhang Chao suddenly interrupted and added: "Last year, my high school organized a collective revision, but it was recognized, and in the end I decided to remove all of it."

Almost everyone in the editorial department knew about this matter, but when Zhang Chao brought it up again, his ruthlessness at that time was still fresh in people's memory.

Xu Minxia waited for Zhang Chao to finish speaking before continuing, "Third, the regions of the contestants...are increasingly concentrated in big cities and economically developed areas. By the sixth session, the regional distribution of the contestants who entered the semi-finals could not reflect the word 'national' in the 'National New Concept Composition Competition' at all.

In other words, the "New Concept Essay Contest" is actually increasingly seen as a regional competition. The enthusiasm of students across the country to participate will only decrease, and eventually it will become... become..."

Zhang Chao burst out laughing and said on behalf of Xu Minxia: "It should be 'Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai Competition'!"

Li Qigang's face suddenly became red for no reason. In fact, he had noticed the regional concentration of the competition results, but there was no way to solve it. He could only let it happen. However, he still argued, "In fact... there are also many winners from Anhui, Guangdong, and Northeast China. Oh, and Fujian."

Zhang Chao was amused and joked: "Then it's not the 'Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai Competition', but the 'Hu Huanyong Line Competition'."

Li Qigang deflated like a deflated ball after hearing this.

Zhang Chao said to Xu Minxia: "Go on, tell me, if I hadn't appeared in 2004, what direction would the "New Concept Essay Contest" have developed in?"

Xu Minxia's face turned red, but she still mustered up the courage to say: "I think... the number of participants will gradually decrease, and the standards will gradually decrease. In the past, the scale and standards of the competition were all based on the 'special recruitment of universities'.

However, judging from the regional concentration of the competition results, the "university special recruitment" may be cancelled within a year or two even without your appearance. It is impossible for the education department to leave such a big loophole unfilled.

In fact, since 2005, the ministries and commissions have issued a series of documents to regulate student competitions. After all, the "essay competition" lacks an objective standard and will definitely no longer be a "shortcut" to enter university..."

As Xu Minxia spoke of this, her face became redder and redder, and even her eyes began to moisten. As the first prize winner of the first competition, she was the most direct beneficiary of the competition system, and naturally she was grateful.

Now she had to deny the competition from a rational point of view, which undoubtedly shocked her heart.

However, she couldn't help but stop talking at this point. Xu Minxia made up her mind and said the final conclusion: "Without Zhang Chao, the "New Concept Essay Competition" will not be able to maintain the standards of the previous sessions. The scale and influence will become smaller and smaller. The contestants will all be 'skilled workers' rather than real enthusiasts.

Gradually, it will become a student essay competition like the 'Ye Shengtao Cup' and 'Yuwen Bao Cup', rather than a cradle for writers. "

Xu Minxia's words were like the belated echo of Zhang Chao's three articles three years ago, hitting every editor of "New Sprout" in the face, causing burning pain.

If Zhang Chao emerged in 2004 with the help of New Sprouts and the New Concept Essay Contest, using his sharp rhetoric to cut open the abscess of the contest from the outside, then Xu Minxia used numbers and facts to reveal the tumor of the contest from the inside.

The situation collapsed so quickly that year that Zhang Chao, the three articles, and even the entire sixth competition became a thorn in the side of everyone at New Sprout magazine. No one was willing to mention it, and naturally there would be no such deep reflection.

Now that Xu Minxia, ​​a "family member", has pointed it out, there is no choice but to face it - but now the most difficult time has passed... Zhang Chao said: "Do you think that if the "New Concept Essay Contest" is held one after another, will it repeat the same mistakes? As I just said, one of our contestants submitted 20 manuscripts at once this year, and there are only more than 33 contestants for manuscripts...

It seems like everything has slid into a familiar track..."

The editorial meeting room fell into a deathly silence. Even the talkative Li Qigang was silent. Some smoked, some drank tea, some played with their fingers...

Zhang Chao's heart was filled with waves. In fact, in 2023, he had coached his students to participate in the competition - the "New Concept Composition Competition". According to subsequent reports, there were less than manuscripts in the preliminary round.

Zhang Chao waited for a long time before Hu Weishi said slowly, "As long as a competition is held for a long time, there will definitely be problems of one kind or another. Don't be afraid of problems, we will solve them...

For example, we will stipulate that a contestant can only submit one or two articles at most; and for the contestants participating in the semi-finals, we will select a proportion from each province, so as to ensure wider participation...

Anyway, we have many ways to solve the problem, so it won’t be a swan song.”

Zhang Chao did not say anything after hearing this, but sighed. Hu Weishi's words were just a bunch of nonsense, trying to find a cure for a disease without any reason. He was trying to find a cure for a disease without any reason, and he found many loopholes after a little consideration.

Seeing that Zhang Chao did not respond, Zhao Changtian became anxious and said to him, "Have you made up your mind about this 'final song'?"

Zhang Chao shook his head and said, "You all have misunderstood. The so-called 'last song' does not mean that we can call this year's competition the 'last song' just because we announce that we will not hold the competition in the future.

A 'final song' must be of high quality, impressive and memorable, otherwise it is just a 'dead end'.

Li Qigang asked: "Well, then what do you think we should do?"

Zhang Chao gave him a strange look, and then said: "The "New Concept Essay Competition" is, after all, a competition of "New Sprouts". Both I and "Youth School" are co-organizers.

If everyone thinks that we don’t want a ‘final performance’, I can’t really do anything about this competition…”

Li Qigang's face changed. Zhang Chao said that he couldn't do anything about this competition, but in fact, he was too capable! If Zhang Chao and "Youth Party" announced their withdrawal from the organization of the "New Concept Essay Competition", I'm afraid the competition would be over if it didn't end.

The scene will probably be even uglier by then.

So he said to Zhang Chao earnestly: "You have put a lot of effort into bringing the competition back to its current size - you can't just let it end like this, right?
And if you really think that the competition can be discontinued in the future, then this year's competition should also be "remarkable", right? Otherwise, if the "final song" becomes a "dud", I'm afraid it will be difficult for everyone to accept it.

You must have some idea!"

Zhang Chao nodded and said, "I do have some ideas... But whether this "New Concept Essay Competition" can become a 'swan song' actually depends on everyone and the contestants.

I think we should stop here today, everyone is tired. In addition, we need the judges of the preliminary round to work hard to expand the scale of the semi-finals. I said last year that this will be a party.

Since it’s a party, it won’t be lively if there are fewer people! ”

After saying that, he said goodbye to all the editors and turned to leave the editorial office of New Sprouts.

Li Qigang said to the other editors: "You guys go out first."

Upon hearing this, Xu Minxia and others felt as if they had been pardoned, and hurriedly left the meeting room - ever since Zhang Chao wrote the word "final song", the atmosphere had become extremely solemn and depressing, making people not want to stay any longer.

After sitting back at her workstation, Xu Minxia, ​​who had spoken the most, finally breathed a sigh of relief. She quickly opened her thermos and drank several sips of water before her rapid heartbeat calmed down.

"How dare you say that!" A voice came from the side, scaring Xu Minxia.

When she saw that it was all right, Zhong Na patted her chest and said, "Can you stop being so elusive? You scared me to death."

Zhong Na said with a smile: "You still know how to be afraid? When you spoke just now, didn't you look at Teacher Qigang's face? It was as ugly as it could be."

Xu Minxia said: "I was so busy looking at Zhang Chao at that time..." She realized she had let the cat out of the bag halfway through her speech and quickly kept silent.

Zhong Na said mischievously: "He is several years younger than you... Hey, but he is Zhang Chao, so your reaction is normal."

Xu Minxia explained: "A lot of what I said just now is related to him... Who knew that fate would be so magical? He was the one who pushed the competition to the bottom, and then he pushed it to the top. Now he is going to 'send the competition to a dead end'... What on earth does he want to do?"

Zhong Na fell into deep thought after hearing this: "What on earth does he want to do?"

The same question also arose among the old leaders, editors-in-chief and senior editors of New Sprout magazine, including Zhao Changtian, Li Qigang and Hu Weishi, who remained in the conference room. They could not figure out what Zhang Chao's intention was for suddenly making his "last song".

But everyone thought about it for a long time without any result. Finally, Zhao Changtian said to everyone: "You know, since I started working with Zhang Chao, I gradually had an idea - when you don't understand what he wants to do, just put your brain in the refrigerator for the time being and just follow him.

It seems that Zhang Chao has never let anyone who follows him suffer any loss. "

Li Qigang was anxious and said to Zhao Changtian, "How can that be possible? What if he drags us all into the ditch?"

Zhao Changtian couldn't help but roll his eyes, and then said to Li Qigang: "Bring them into the ditch? What ditch is deeper than the ditch before 1999 when our magazine sales were only a few thousand copies?

The "New Concept Essay Contest" has brought us too many days of comfort. Have we lost the courage to start over? No matter how powerful Zhang Chao is, can he still buy out "New Sprouts"? "

Li Qigang was speechless for a moment after hearing this, and stood there in a daze, like a sculpture.

At this moment, Zhang Chao had already forgotten what happened in the editorial office of "New Sprouts" and was walking alone on the Bund, with the Huangpu River flowing under his feet.

There is a reason why he has suddenly become so concerned about the "Mao Dun Literature Newcomer Award" and the "New Concept Composition Competition" during this period.

Wang Zhenxu's retelling of Ishihara Shintaro's words did give him some "small" ideas...

(End of this chapter)