Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 343 This wave of Zhang Chao stands in the atmosphere!
Lu Jinbo's brain suddenly went blank, and his blood pressure began to soar, and he almost had a cerebral hemorrhage on the spot.

He was so angry that veins on his forehead were throbbing, and he could clearly feel the strong and powerful pulsation of his carotid artery through his neck which was strangled by the tie.

Lu Jinbo staggered to the water bar in the room, tremblingly poured himself a glass of cold water, and after gulping it down, he barely regained a bit of clarity.

He first took out his cell phone, forwarded the news to his colleague who was coming today, and told him: "Hold on for now."

Then he called Zhang Chao, but the ringtone of "You are so damn gentle" rang for a long time without anyone answering, and finally the call was automatically hung up.

Lu Jinbo was unwilling to give up, so he called twice in a row, and finally heard Zhang Chao's lazy voice. But before he could speak, Zhang Chao said, "Mr. Lu, I'm accepting an interview, so it's not convenient to say more now.

I'll get back to you after the interview." Then he hung up the phone.

Lu Jinbo put down the phone in a daze. The busy tone sounded particularly harsh in the quiet room.

"No, we can't just sit there and wait for death!" After being absent-minded for a while, Lu Jinbo immediately cheered up. He decided to go to the courtyard where Zhang Chao received them yesterday. The interview was probably still going on there because he vaguely heard the sound of a pigeon whistle.

If you are indoors or near the CBD, you won't be able to hear such a Yanjing-flavored sound.

I'd better meet Zhang Chao in person and ask him what happened. No matter if we end up parting ways or there is another explanation, I'd better die with a clear mind.

Lu Jinbo hurried downstairs without even having breakfast, and took a taxi straight to Dongsi Pailou. Zhang Chao's courtyard was in the alley over there.

The taxi twisted and turned in Yanjing City for half an hour and finally brought the anxious Lu Jinbo to the entrance of the alley. The car could not go any further - not because the alley was too narrow, as it could have driven to the entrance of the courtyard house yesterday, but because there were cars parked illegally at the entrance of the alley and the driver was afraid that if he went in, he would not be able to get out.

Lu Jinbo paid and got out of the car, looking at the line of cars extending from the entrance of the alley. Just as he was wondering, another car stopped beside him, and a reporter in a work vest and a cameraman carrying a camera got out.

The reporter looked at the "convoy" at the entrance of the alley with a worried look on his face and said to the cameraman, "Damn it, we're too late! Let's go! If we're too late, we won't be able to take a picture of Zhang Chao's face!"

After saying that, he walked in quickly.

Lu Jinbo realized that these cars were probably from various media outlets that came to interview Zhang Chao. He walked a few steps inside and saw the names of many companies printed on the sides of the cars, which confirmed his thoughts.

New Yenching News

Yenching Daily

Beijing Times

Phoenix TV

Southeast TV

……

He could even see the words "CCTV" all the way to the gate of the courtyard house he had visited yesterday.

Unlike yesterday when the place was deserted and there were few people coming and going, today the entrance to the courtyard was crowded with people. They were obviously all reporters, with cameras and long guns, crowding from the gate to the entrance of the courtyard.

Fortunately, the weather has cooled down, otherwise so many people would have died of heat.

The waiters who were responsible for serving food and changing plates in the hall yesterday are now greeting reporters as soon as they enter the courtyard. They not only put plastic stools on the floor, but also make a cup of chrysanthemum tea for everyone.

Seeing this grand scene, Lu Jinbo's inner anxiety was relieved a little.

One of the waiters saw Lu Jinbo and hurriedly stepped forward to greet him, "Hello, Mr. Lu. Mr. Zhang specifically instructed that if you come, please go inside and sit down first." As he said that, he prepared to take Lu Jinbo through the Chuihua Gate to the second courtyard, which is the main courtyard.

The reporters also noticed it. They were all reporters covering the cultural field, and Lu Jinbo had been a prominent figure in recent years, so they recognized him immediately.

As the most successful publisher in recent years, Lu Jinbo's appearance here is obviously different from them. Combined with the rumors received yesterday, there is only one reason left...

The reporters quickly seized the opportunity, picked up their microphones and cameras, and surrounded Lu Jinbo.

"Mr. Lu, are you here for Zhang Chao's new book?"

"Will Zhang Chao's failure to meet with Ma Yueran have a negative impact on the sales of his new book?"

"What do you think of Zhang Chao's decision?"

"Mr. Lu, your writers are known for being rebellious. Was it your suggestion that Zhang Chao refuse to meet Ma Yueran?"

The first few questions were fine, but the last question scared Lu Jinbo so much that he quickly interrupted the others and explained:

"First of all, I want to make it clear that Zhang Chao and I have a cooperative relationship. He is not my 'author', he is my... friend. I am honored to have the opportunity to publish his new book again after three years."

"Secondly, whether Zhang Chao and Mr. Ma Yueran met and when they met is a private matter between them. I have neither the right nor the ability to interfere."

"Third, the new book has just begun to take shape. I have only obtained the qualification to negotiate the publishing contract. The specific details still need to be further determined, so it is too early to talk about 'sales' at this time."

"Finally, Zhang Chao is my...good friend, so I support any decision he makes! I believe that his refusal to meet with Mr. Ma Yueran was a well-considered decision, not an impulse, and certainly not a 'rebellious' act."

As he spoke, he pushed through the crowd and followed the waiter into the inner residence of the courtyard.

At this moment, the yard is filled with filming equipment, including cameras, lights, fill lights, microphones... everything is available. The most eye-catching thing is of course the big "CCTV" LOGO on each piece of equipment.

No wonder other reporters could only wait outside the door obediently and didn't even dare to speak loudly.

Zhang Chao was still sitting under the pomegranate tree in the yard, dressed casually, sitting on a fisherman's chair, and the small coffee table in front of him was still filled with fruits, soda and snacks.

Sitting opposite him was Bai Yansong, the famous CCTV reporter and host.

In sharp contrast to Zhang Chao's casual look, Bai Yansong was dressed in a suit and tie, wearing a pair of exquisite half-frame glasses. Although he was smiling gently, he was also rigorous and serious. Seeing Lu Jinbo coming in, Zhang Chao waved his hand, then asked Lu Jinbo to sit in the waiting area outside the camera, and said to Bai Yansong: "Lu Jinbo, Mr. Lu, Guomai Culture just acquired the copyright of my new book yesterday.

I don’t want to meet with Ma Yueran this time, largely because I have some feelings during the process of writing this new book, and my ideas are different from before. You can also interview him later. "

Bai Yansong also nodded to Lu Jinbo and turned around to continue the interview.

Lu Jinbo did not dare to neglect it, and sat on a chair in the waiting area, listening carefully to what Zhang Chao said. Only then did he understand a little bit what Zhang Chao was going to do...

Bai Yansong asked: "...I just heard you say that the reason you made this jaw-dropping decision was that your thoughts changed during the process of writing the new book, right?

Could you tell me more specifically what you were thinking before writing this new book, and what you are thinking now?"

Zhang Chao nodded and said with a smile: "Before writing this book, literature was a purely personal matter to me. What to write, how to write, and to whom to write were all decided by me.

However, from the gestation stage of this novel, a powerful emotional force hit me, making me re-examine my own literary concepts - writing is certainly a highly personal matter, but when you have so many followers, it would be hypocritical to deny the social influence and cultural communication power of your work.

The history of Chinese migration and the various thoughts that came with it made the writing process very heavy and difficult for me. But after finishing writing, I also had a kind of enlightenment——

I must reject this overly symbolic meeting. This is not disrespect to Academician Ma Yueran personally, but a commitment to the intrinsic value of literary creation. "

Bai Yansong asked: "Oh? An overly symbolic meeting? Why do you say that?"

Zhang Chao said, "Don't you think this meeting seemed a little 'morbid' from the beginning? Suddenly, someone came from thousands of miles away with a message - 'Ma Yueran specifically asked to see that kid named Zhang Chao' - and then I was called to Yanjing, and there were seminars and individual talks...

Oh, and the newspapers mentioned it every now and then, and my mailbox was flooded with interview emails from reporters. It was as if my meeting with him was such a big deal..."

Bai Yansong immediately asked, "Isn't it a big deal? Ma Yueran is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and a lifetime judge of the Nobel Prize in Literature. As far as I know, he rarely asks to meet a young writer like you.

Don’t you think it’s an honor?”

Zhang Chao thought for a moment before saying, "Honored? Considering his age, identity, status, and contribution to the spread of Chinese culture, it is indeed an honor for me that he is willing to talk to me, and I respect him very much.

But not in this atmosphere. This morbid and fanatical atmosphere, I realized that this is no longer a simple literary dialogue, but has been elevated to a position that does not belong to it, and it cannot carry the certain expectations that this dialogue carries.

Academician Ma Yueran may just want to meet the younger generation of Chinese writers, just as he has met young Bei Dao, Su Tong, and Mo Yan in the past. But what does the entire public opinion atmosphere expect?

A 'coronation' or a 'knighting'? I don't know, but the atmosphere was definitely not normal. So I declined the meeting out of respect for him."

Bai Yansong keenly grasped the meaning of Zhang Chao's words and asked, "'Coronation'? 'Conferring a knighthood'? You mean that everyone's attitude towards Academician Ma Yueran seems to be a little..."

Before he could finish, Zhang Chao continued, "It's a bit too much. This attitude itself is a kind of cultural self-deprecation. Although Academician Ma Yueran is a 'China expert' - I believe his Chinese level is better than mine in some aspects - he is still a European.

The Nobel Prize in Literature is also a European award. Both are very authoritative, but that doesn’t mean we have to create according to the waving of this baton.

This involves the cultural proposition of the independence of the entire Chinese writing ecology, and I have to be cautious. Just like when I was writing a new novel, I suddenly realized that many of the classics we regard as the standard are actually the product of the "gaze" of Western culture. "

As Zhang Chao took the topic deeper, Bai Yansong had a hard time understanding it and could only ask awkwardly: "Product of 'gaze'? How do you understand it?"

Zhang Chao sorted out his thoughts before explaining: "In 1938, American female writer Pearl S. Buck won the Nobel Prize in Literature because her works "provided a rich and realistic epic description of the lives of Chinese peasants."

Pearl S. Buck's masterpiece, The Good Earth, tells the story of Wang Long's family, who went from having nothing to becoming rich farmers in the early 20th century. From a literary perspective, The Good Earth is very superficial in both writing style and conception.

Pearl Buck’s understanding of Chinese rural areas, peasants, traditional morality, karma and reincarnation is only equivalent to that of a second-rate Chinese scholar in the 15th century. If the story of The Good Earth is condensed into a short story or novella in ancient vernacular, it will not feel out of place when inserted into Three Words and Two Shots.

I have even thought of the chapter title - "The naive farmer becomes rich overnight and abandons his wife, the poor maidservant hates to marry the unfaithful man."

But it was such a superficial and even somewhat clumsy novel that she won the Nobel Prize in Literature because she "correctly" extracted certain elements, such as the Chinese people's "land consciousness."

Contemporary works describing traditional Chinese villages, whether it is "Lu Town" written by Lu Xun, "Xiangxi" written by Shen Congwen, or even Rou Shi's "Mother of Slaves"... these rural areas and farmers are far more real and profound than hers.

But the Nobel Prize judges at that time would not even look at these writers and works - oh, maybe except Lu Xun, who was said to be qualified for the nomination but refused - ironic, isn't it?

Why? In addition to the translation factor, it is also because these writers did not write under the "gaze" of the Nobel Prize or other European and American literary award judges. The Chinese countryside they described is not the "specimen" created by Pearl Buck.

What does this "specimen" tell us? It tells us that Chinese farmers must abide by the law, follow traditional old morals, and accumulate wealth through hard work and thrift.

This is true not only for one generation, but for all generations—'honest farmers, loyal wives, fertile land, farmers' mud houses'. Feng Menglong would have said after reading this story, 'which pedantic scholar wrote this?'—but was this the Chinese countryside at that time?
Anyone with a little knowledge of modern history knows that this is not the case. But this fictional "specimen" was recognized by the Nobel Prize in Literature.

This is what I call a product of the Western cultural gaze. ”

It took Bai Yansong a while to digest the long professional explanation, which made Lu Jinbo next to him very anxious. He wanted to grab the microphone and take it himself.

What does Bai Yansong, a host, know about literature? Lu Jinbo was a serious writer, and he immediately understood the power of Zhang Chao's words.

Only then did he realize how important it was for Zhang Chao not to meet Ma Yueran to the sales of the book "Homeland" - how could "a novel that even the Nobel Prize lifetime judges wanted to see first" be as eye-catching as "a novel that refused the Nobel Prize lifetime judges a sneak preview"?

Once this interview is broadcast, won’t "Homeland" become a representative work of Chinese contemporary literature that breaks away from the control of Western values ​​and moves towards character independence and cultural self-esteem?
Wouldn’t everyone be going crazy trying to buy the books?

Lu Jinbo had always thought that his book marketing abilities were second to none in China, even though he was often defeated by Zhang Chao, that was because Zhang Chao was too good at stealing the limelight.

Only now did he realize that Zhang Chao’s marketing was a standard “both and that” approach – it had to be sensational and eye-catching, while also standing on the moral high ground.

I clearly knew that Zhang Chao was trying to build momentum for the release of Hometown, but I was also moved by his righteous words. My literary dream, which had long been dead, seemed to be reborn...

How can other people play with this kind of incitement?
And Zhang Chao's next words pushed Lu Jinbo's emotions to a climax...

(End of this chapter)