Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 334: Literary envoy to Japan?
Zhang Chaozhen led a group of writers from "Tide Culture" to Japan for "team building", which was a slap in the face of the Writers Association.

No matter how many people in the Writers Association want to promote or prevent the formation of this "Young Writers Delegation Visiting Japan", it becomes very "fragile" under the premise that "Zhang Chao can do it himself".

Zhang Chao asked Zou Guangming to convey this matter, which was more like a "notification" rather than a "request for help".

And no one can guarantee that he won't abduct a few nominees for the "Mao Dun Newcomer Literature Award" - such as Li Juan. It is estimated that only Zhang Chao can pull her out of the yurt on the grassland to join the delegation.

Although Wei Qining also reacted, he was still unwilling to accept it. He said angrily: "As the saying goes, 'If the name is not right, the words will not flow'. If they want to do something special, there must be a reason, right?"

Zou Guangming was also in a dilemma. He had a sincere intention to make this happen, but he was not willing to bear any special responsibility because of it, so he could only light a cigarette and start smoking.

After a while, Liu Heng spoke again after a long silence. He said to everyone: "It is not difficult to 'rectify the name'..."

"Huh!?" More than a dozen pairs of eyes at the conference table looked at him.

Liu Heng sorted out his thoughts before saying, "Do you remember what year this is?"

"What year? The 48th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China? There's usually no special meaning for an incomplete year, right?"

"One year before the Yanjing Olympics? It's a sports event, not related to our cultural activities!"

"The 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China? It's an integer year, but it has nothing to do with going to Japan, right?"

"The Beidou satellite was successfully launched? This... We don't send people to outer space!"

Tie Ning finally urged: "Don't keep us in suspense, just tell us now."

Liu Heng then said: "The normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan was in 1972, and this year is the 35th anniversary. In fact, many activities have been held in both countries this year, but there is not much publicity and they are all relatively low-key.

Our Writers Association did not participate in these activities, so it’s no wonder that everyone forgot about it!”

"It's true!" There was a lot of discussion in the conference room.

The "honeymoon period" between China and Japan lasted until 1996, and then entered an "ice age".

Although the interactions between the two countries' non-governmental friendship organizations have not been completely interrupted, their scale and influence have been greatly reduced.

It is normal for the Writers Association not to actively participate in related activities without receiving instructions from superiors.

"Is this... okay? Is there any document to support it?" Wei Qining hesitated.

Zou Guangming slapped his head and said quickly: "Yes, yes! There are documents! If you want documents, then they must be there!" Zou Guangming's ability to deal with documents is obvious to all. Everyone still remembers how he "killed Zhang Chao with one chicken", and how he did it.

Wei Qining frowned: "Really? Old Zou, you must be responsible for your words! If something goes wrong, don't blame me for not reminding you."

Zou Guangming's face was full of smiles at this moment: "I can be responsible, of course. Wait a minute, I'll make a phone call...you guys talk first." Then he opened the door with his mobile phone and went to the corridor.

The scene fell silent for a moment.

However, with the stimulation of this incident, everyone's thinking suddenly became much more active.

Vice Chairman Zhang Kangkang said leisurely: "In fact, we don't need to be so formal. Why do we have to call it a 'visiting Japan delegation'? Why can't it be a 'field trip to Japan'?
As a writer, you always have to collect materials. Do you still need to have such strict approval procedures for interviews and collecting materials in Japan? "

Wei Qining was speechless for a moment: "But..."

Before he finished speaking, another vice chairman, Gao Hongbo, spoke up: "If field trips are OK, then what about academic research?" Yanda's Institute of Comparative Literature and the Museum of Modern Chinese Literature have long had academic collaborations with Japanese universities such as the University of Tokyo and Waseda University.

It's normal to send a group of young people over to investigate!"

Wei Qining: “…”

At this time, Tie Ning also spoke up: "As the saying goes - "As long as your thinking does not slip, there are always more solutions than problems." Everyone also worked together to find ways to maximize the positive significance of this event!
Dean Zou is from the Lu Xun Academy. Is it difficult for him to find a document from the Lu Xun Academy that justifies the activities? After all, there are so many Lu Xun research groups in Japan, and they interact frequently every year.

Seeing that Tie Ning had said so, Wei Qining could only sigh and said, "I don't know why you have to revolve around this kid Zhang Chao. Whatever he wants to do, our Writers Association has to cooperate with him - he is not even a member of the Writers Association!

I just think this won’t work. The Writers Association has lost its subjectivity! How can we carry out our work in the future?”

When Tie Ning heard this, the gentle smile that was always on his face disappeared, revealing a serious expression. He asked Wei Qining: "So what do you think our Writers Association does?"

Wei Qining said: "Our Writers Association is a bridge and bond connecting the vast number of writers and literary workers..."

Tie Ning said: "It's written on the wall, so it's certainly correct. But what I'm asking is what's in your heart, what is the Writers Association?"

Wei Qining was choked for a moment, his Adam's apple rolled up and down several times. He wanted to say something, but couldn't open his mouth.

At this time, Li Cunbao, who was always taciturn and followed the crowd, suddenly spoke. He first put out the cigarette in his hand and said slowly: "I am old, and I didn't want to say anything, but recently this little kid Zhang Chao really made me think of something."

Li Cunbao's literary creation activities were concentrated from the 80s to the 90s. "The Garland under the Mountain" is his representative work. In recent years, his output has slightly decreased and he has entered a semi-retired state.

But he is old and has high prestige, and his voice is as powerful as a bell. Even Tie Ning has to show special respect to this military writer.

Li Cunbao paused for a moment before saying, "In 1979, I went to the frontline in Guangxi to join the troops and get to know their daily lives. An old squad leader who was wounded brought me some crumpled papers, some of which were cigarette butts, with ugly words stained by sweat and blood on them.

Those were the manuscripts of several child soldiers in the cat-ear cave. When the shells blew up the red soil, they were still huddled in the trenches writing poems - about blood-stained kapok flowers, about misfired bullet shells, and about the letters home that the head of the kitchen team, Lao Wang, had not sent before his death.

Later, these poems were published in "Military Literature and Art". A critic from BJ said that they "did not conform to the tone of revolutionary optimism". I slammed the table and asked the sour scholar: "Have you ever smelled the smell of dead people coming out of scorched earth?"

As Li Cunbao spoke, he gently tapped the edge of the table with his index finger. Although no one knew why he was talking about this old story from 30 years ago, everyone could smell the burnt smell coming out of his throat.

Li Cunbao continued, "Qining, you also said that the Writers Association is a bridge - if it is really a bridge, it should allow these young men with the smell of gunpowder to cross the river, instead of building a white marble archway to block the ferry!

I haven't talked to Xiao Zhang, but I've read what he said and what he wrote in the Yankees' place. He's a promising kid with ideas. He's a bit reckless in his work, but who wouldn't want to be reckless when they're young? "

For the first time today, laughter broke out in the conference room. Wei Qining wanted to say something, but Li Cunbao's rough hand pushed him in the direction of the camera, so he had to shut up and listen to Li Cunbao continue: "Zhang Chao, this kid, took people to Japan. It reminds me of Xiao Zhao from the art troupe back then. He was the only one in the army who dared to carry a guitar to the front line and sing Katyusha during the breaks in the gunfire.

Some cadres said this was "decadent music", but I think it is a hundred times better than those empty recitations in the division hall!"

Tie Ning's smile returned to her face, and she said to Li Cunbao: "You are right in criticizing us. We really haven't given enough encouragement and support to young writers."

Li Cunbao looked at the young chairman and said with a smile: "Am I criticizing? I haven't really started to criticize yet."

Tie Ning said: "I need to listen to your loud and clear voice to wake up the sleeping Writers Association!"

Everyone in the conference room suddenly came to their senses. Chairman Tie Ning was taking the opportunity to do something "big". He was trying to establish his authority by discussing whether to support the establishment of a "youth delegation to visit Japan".

Tie Ning, who has just taken office for a year and is at the age of knowing the destiny, must clean up the lazy thinking within the organization if he wants to make the Writers Association, an old institution, get rid of its decadence and make some achievements. The Zhang Chao incident is just a starting point.

I just don't know whether Li Cunbao and her had discussed it beforehand or whether it was just a coincidence.

But it didn't matter anymore. What Li Cunbao said next was more serious than the last: "I, an old man, am going to say something taboo: 'The number of pens that the Writers Association has distributed to writers over the years is not as much as the ink used for stamping!'

When Ba Lao was still in bed, the lights of the Writers Association were still on at 10 pm for manuscript revision. What about now? The red-headed documents of the Writers Association at all levels are piled up thicker than the works, and reading them is not as delicious as boiling iron nails in salt water!

I still have the dampness of cat-ear holes in my lungs, so I can’t talk about big principles. I just want to ask everyone here: Would you rather be a clerk who stamps documents, or a soldier who carries the flag for Chinese literature?
If Zhang Chao dares to lead people across the sea, are we old guys afraid that we can't bear the wind and waves to send them out?"

After saying this, Li Cunbao took the large teacup in front of him, tilted his head back and took a big sip, then slammed the teacup heavily on the table, making a "dong" sound.

There was silence in the venue. Li Cunbao's words shocked everyone, including Wei Qining and the "conservatives" in the Writers Association he represented.

At this time, the door of the conference room opened with a creaky sound, and Zou Guangming, who had gone out to make a phone call, came back.

He held the phone in one hand, not yet completely putting it down from his ear, and looked at the scene in front of him in shock, completely unaware of what was happening.

After hesitating for a while, Zou Guangming said, "I just asked Secretary Liu from the Luyuan Office to find a two-year-old document about "promoting Luyuan's external exchanges and enhancing its cultural influence"...

It does mention organizing outstanding young and middle-aged writers to go on field trips under appropriate circumstances. This year's seventh "Advanced Research Class" happened to have quite a few young writers, including Zhang Yueran, Zhou Jianing, and Jiang Feng.

so……"

Zou Guangming talked for a long time and found that no one paid attention to him. He felt guilty and stopped talking.

Tie Ning was the first to react and said to him, "President Zou, please sit down first. President Cunbao just gave a speech that was very inspiring to everyone and we are all still thinking about it.

Your method is also very good. After summarizing everyone's opinions, I think this event will not only be legitimate, but also have a positive and constructive meaning for Sino-Japanese exchanges and Chinese literature."

Although Zou Guangming was still completely confused, he could only sit back in his seat after hearing what he said.

At this time, Wei Qining also spoke up. No matter what his considerations were, he didn't want to confront them head-on, so he said, "Actually, I don't really want to oppose Zhang Chao and his team's visit to Japan. I just want this activity to be carried out more safely..."

Tie Ning smiled and comforted him: "I understand. After all, the responsibility is heavy and there is no room for error. Your opinions are also important. We need all kinds of opinions to run this event successfully!"

Then Tie Ning pulled out a stack of yellowed documents from the folder in front of him and said, "Before the meeting today, I went to look through the files and found a 1985 approval document from the Foreign Affairs Office of the Writers Association, approving three educated youth writers to go to Hokkaido to collect folk songs.

I have brought it with me so you can pass it around.”

After that, he handed one of the papers to Liu Heng who was beside him. After reading it, Liu Heng showed a complex expression of surprise, emotion, and nostalgia, and then passed the paper down to Gao Hongbo. In this way, the paper was passed around by more than a dozen pairs of hands in the conference room, and then returned to Tie Ning's hands.

There is nothing special about the other content of this approval document. The most special thing is that in the approval opinion column, someone wrote a sentence with a pen - "Don't bring official documents, bring more folk fireworks" - now this line of small words is almost blurred by the ink of the official seal.

Below this sentence are the powerful signature "Ding Ling".

Tie Ning carefully read everyone's expressions, and then said: "Our Writers Association is not revolving around Zhang Chao, but watering and fertilizing the saplings - maybe it can grow into a towering tree without us, that is its own ability, but if we don't do it, it would be our dereliction of duty.

As for what name and procedure the delegation should use, it is not difficult to solve. What is difficult to solve is the knot in our heads! "

At this time, Gao Hongbo said: "The first list of people who visited Japan after the resumption of literary exchanges between China and Japan in the 80s included Shi Tiesheng, Wang Anyi, Yu Hua... At that time, Japan's Asahi Shimbun called them "Chinese literary scouts."

More than 20 years have passed, and what we are sending out are not 'scouts' but 'literary field troops'!"

The atmosphere in the conference room finally became relaxed because of this sentence.

After unifying thoughts and sorting out ideas, the rest of the things will be easy to do...

"Oh, October?" Zhang Chao asked.

Zou Guangming said: "Yes, October, this is the fastest speed. All the procedures will take a month, and it is a special case - Chairman Tie Ning has mobilized a lot of resources to help you escort.

Don't be ungrateful!"

Zhang Chao grinned and said, "Okay! Then the next step is to confirm the list, right?" In fact, he had no hope of making the trip in September - but as the saying goes, "ask for a high price and pay a low price" - so now, hasn't he managed to get it to October?
Zou Guangming said: "I don't think there will be any problem with the others. But... Han Han and Xiao Si may not agree easily."

Zhang Chao patted his chest and said, "Leave it to me!"

Zou Guangming's eyes widened: "You? It's okay if you don't show up? Forget it, it doesn't matter if they are missing. Especially Han Han..."

Zhang Chao was happy: "How can we do without him? Wouldn't that mean a lot of fun? Well, I'll take care of it, don't worry!"

Zou Guangming then left with full of doubts - the delegation was about to be formed, and there were still a lot of things waiting for him.

After seeing Zou Guangming off, Zhang Chao's eyes returned to the computer screen in front of him, and he saw a line of title on it that was very eye-catching:

"The Writers Association may send a "Literary Envoy to Japan" to visit Japan and bring back valuable experience for Chinese literature"

(End of this chapter)