Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 406 Fulfilling the Promise (Seeking votes at the beginning of the month)
"To be honest, I still don't quite understand the story you wrote." Xu Zidong said as he took a sip of tea. In front of him was a stack of manuscript paper, which was Zhang Chao's latest novel, Painted Skin.

There is a popular saying in the literary circle now: "Anyone who meets Zhang Chao must ask for his new novel to have a sneak peek."

The reason is simple. Judging from the two articles published previously, all writers and critics with a certain level of ability clearly know that Zhang Chao is writing a very new type of novel. Some people call it "future realism" and some people call it "science fiction realism."

Of course, some people say that this should be called a "social experiment novel" - because everyone who understands the development of science and technology has to admit that the details of future life described in Zhang Chao's novels, even if they cannot be fulfilled one by one, have many fully feasible technical and commercial foundations.

He even asked "Tide Culture" to develop the software in the novel so that the "future" can be staged in advance.

This is not writing a novel, it is clearly a large-scale social experiment - "I have written it, do you dare to do it?"

This is a creative tradition that has been almost abandoned by novelists for a hundred or two hundred years: powerfully intervening and intervening in reality through works.

Therefore, some people privately expressed a cautious concern: "Zhang Chao is not just writing a novel, he is also digging his own grave."

Of course, these things cannot be put on the table, as they may incite readers. However, they also make all the industry insiders, including the literary world and Internet companies, extremely curious about Zhang Chao's new work.

Especially after WeChat quickly became one of the top three social platforms in the United States, some companies even made offers directly to Zhang Chao: "Don't send your novels to literary journals. We will buy them and you decide the price."

Xu Zidong was naturally aware of these rumors, so he smiled and said, "You are now literally 'one word is worth a thousand dollars'. This novel is worth more than one thousand dollars per word, right?"

Zhang Chao sat opposite him, with a glass of lemonade in front of him. The two were in Hong Kong, in a small teahouse near the Lingnan University campus, with a pond of lotus and a few leaning bamboos outside the window.

Zhang Chao smiled and said, "It's not that exaggerated. A short story sold for 20 million US dollars. It's not crazy. But you're wrong to say you can't understand it."

Xu Zidong's curiosity was aroused: "Oh, what do you mean?"

Zhang Chao said: "You forgot, 'Tao Zhi Yao Yao' - aren't you familiar with Teacher Wang Anyi?"

Xu Zidong said in a daze, "You mean, you got inspiration from Wang Anyi's "Peach Blossoms"?"

Zhang Chao nodded and said, "Yes, Xu Changchang from Peach Blossom Love and Painted Skin is a dark version of Yu Xiaoqiu."

"Peach Blossoms" is one of Wang Anyi's representative works. It is set in Shanghai from the early liberation to the 80s and tells the story of the growth of the illegitimate daughter Yu Xiaoqiu in the fission of the times. Yu Xiaoqiu's mother Xiao Mingming's identity as a burlesque actor and her romantic past made the girl bear the label of "dishonor" since childhood.

But she fought against worldly prejudice with her vigorous vitality, survived in the turbulent years, and finally became a good wife and mother.

Zhang Chao went on to explain: "Wang Anyi's "Peach Blossoms" is a metaphor for the primitive vitality of women in the difficult times, and their fate of returning to the mundane world.

When I first read this novel, I was wondering, is there a woman as perfect as Yu Xiaoqiu in this world? She was born in a humble family, beautiful, kind, unyielding, and selfless in her love..."

Xu Zidong laughed and said, "You have a bad taste!"

Zhang Chao responded with a smile: "What I wrote was just a possible fate of 'Yu Xiaoqiu' and others."

Xu Zidong fell silent at this time, no longer laughing, and after a while he said: "I didn't expect you to be so pessimistic about the future."

Zhang Chao was surprised and asked, "Pessimistic?"

Xu Zidong patted the manuscript and said, "Isn't it pessimistic enough? I'm actually not surprised that the 'big boss' gave a generous reward to the 'internet anchor', because during the heyday of Hong Kong in the 80s, the scenes in those nightclubs were similar, except that they used cash instead of 'gifts'.

But nightclubs are high-consumption places after all, and have nothing to do with the lives of ordinary people, especially the lower-class people. No matter how extravagant and debauched they are, they cannot participate.

The "Internet live broadcast" you described is completely different. It directly connects the top and bottom levels. Those who spend tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars a night and those who watch for free are all in the same "live broadcast room"...

As soon as they saw the "big boss" going on, everyone started to urge him to give gifts, and even said more disgusting flattery - I am embarrassed for you to read out what you wrote, how did you come up with it? - Isn't this distorting the hobbies, aesthetics, and even personalities of normal people? They are just poor, how can they be so... "cheap"?
I think this kind of society is very destructive to people’s values.”

Zhang Chao laughed and said, "You are worrying too much. In fact, Lu Xun answered this question 80 years ago with Ah Q's words - 'Who can touch it, but I can't?' - Don't you think this is the truth?

The extravagance and debauchery that we could only hear from storytellers or read in tabloids can now be watched for a few hours without spending a penny, or with very little money. Don’t you think this is a better society?”

Xu Zidong still found it a little unbelievable when he heard this. He stared at Zhang Chao with wide eyes and said, "This... this... how can this be possible?"

Although Xu Zidong studied literature and lived in the prosperous metropolis of Hong Kong for decades, he had seen many strange things, but it was the first time he had seen a writer like Zhang Chao who openly promoted "materialism above all else".

He could accept the existence of places of debauchery in this world, but he could not accept that the whole world was debauched.

In Xu Zidong's opinion, the form of "Beauty Live Broadcast" is no different from broadcasting banned films during the family-friendly hours of public television stations. Both are disgusting and unacceptable.

Zhang Chao wrote this novel not to warn the world not to let society become so decadent, but it seems that he agrees with this phenomenon, or even wants to catalyze it?
What kind of three views are these?
Zhang Chao said nonchalantly: "Why not? The biggest role of the Internet is information sharing and fairness, and it also flattens the entire social hierarchy.

This information is not just about knowledge, culture, and entertainment... It's naive to think so. 'Beauty Live' is one of them! The 'Hong Kong beauties' who used to only be seen in pictorials, magazines, and on TV are now not only performing in front of you, but you can also get them to praise you as a big boss just by spending a little money...

How can this be called degradation? It is clearly a sign that everyone is becoming more equal! "

Xu Zidong was even more shocked. He even said angrily, "Sharing? Fairness? You let an ordinary person use illegal money to reward the anchor, and let the toilet detective live by blackmail. This is called flattening? This is to poke the most greedy abscess of human nature and let it fester! I can understand and accept your previous explanation of "material desire" and "restlessness", but this article..."

Xu Zidong did not finish his words, but just shook his head, which was very heavy, as if the head propped on his slender neck weighed a thousand pounds.

Zhang Chao was not angry, but rather quite happy. If Xu Zidong, a senior Chinese professor, had this reaction, let alone the readers, their opinions would be split after seeing it...

As many people have speculated, Zhang Chao wrote these novels more as a social experiment than a pursuit of art.

He really wanted to see what unexpected changes would happen in the mobile Internet era that would soon arrive under the catalysis of his novels.

The predecessors who were reborn or traveled through time all had great ambitions and wanted to conduct social experiments through wealth, violence or politics. He did not have such great ambitions and motivation, but he did not mind using literature to pluck the strings of the times to see what kind of music would be played.

So Zhang Chao said calmly: "In the 1930s, every issue of the Shanghai pictorial magazine "Liangyou" had an advertisement for sewing machines. Housewives used sewing machines to make cheongsams for dancers, and the dancers wore cheongsams to Paramount to find sponsors, and the sponsors' money came from the female workers in the spinning mills.

This knife has been passed around for nearly a hundred years, so why has it become a scourge in the Internet age? Is it because ordinary people could only drool outside the Paramount a hundred years ago, but now they can watch consumption with a mobile phone, that morality has been corrupted? "

Xu Zidong was speechless for a moment and could only shake his head repeatedly. Being over fifty years old, even if he was open-minded, it was difficult for him to accept Zhang Chao's point of view.

Zhang Chao said: "If you don't look at things in the world, will they disappear? There is no harm in looking at them. As a group, the 'common people' are not as smart and noble as described in leftist literary works, but they are not as ignorant as the cultural elites say.

Whether social trends are good or bad does not depend on whether you can watch live broadcasts of beauties with your mobile phone anytime and anywhere. You have to know that even normal TV series this year would be considered immoral if shown in the 80s.

It is not that development brings new problems, but that development reveals old problems. Whether it is the "live broadcast ecology" or the "Internet personality" in "Painted Skin", there are precedents in the past and there are also many signs today.

Besides, I am just making assumptions based on the existing development trends. It may not be realized, right? Don't be nervous. "

Xu Zidong looked at Zhang Chao deeply, and then said: "I am 54 years old this year. It has only been more than 4 years since I first met you on Wen Tao's show, but the thoughts and confusions you have brought to me exceed the sum of the past 40 years.

So I can only reserve my opinion on what you said today. I hope that whether it is "The Last Lesson", "Letter from an Unknown Woman", or "Painted Skin", the era predicted by these novels will not come so early.

Of course, I’m not that confident about that.”

Zhang Chao smiled and said, "We are in the midst of history, so the feelings won't be that abrupt, don't worry."

Xu Zidong sighed and said, "I hope so..." Then he turned his wrist to look at his watch, tapped the dial with his finger and said, "It's almost time, let's go."

Zhang Chao nodded and said, "Let's go!"

The two paid the bill and came out of the teahouse. Xu Zidong drove his car from the parking lot, took Zhang Chao in, and drove all the way to Wan Chai at full speed.

Here, surrounded by buildings, there is a small open space, only a few acres in size. Originally it was an old factory building, which has now been completely demolished, leaving only an empty foundation.

But at the moment it is very lively here. A small stage and background board have been erected in front of the open space, with a few big words written on it: "Hong Kong Literature Park Groundbreaking Ceremony".

A large number of young people gathered in front of the stage, most of them holding one or several books in their hands, looking forward to it:
"Better Days", "Youth", "Your Name", "The Vanishing Lover", "Glory of the Police", "Homeland"... almost all of Zhang Chao's works are included, both in Chinese and English versions.

Where there are young people, there is naturally the media, and cameras are already waiting.

Xu Zidong's car was parked on the side of the road not far away, and he and Zhang Chao walked to the groundbreaking ceremony.

Xu Zidong saw the surging crowd from afar and couldn't help but sigh: "If it weren't for you, none of us would have thought that one day we would be able to build a 'Literary Park' belonging to Hong Kong in such a place where every inch of land is valuable."

Zhang Chao heard this and couldn't help but think of the time two years ago when he came here to support Zhang Mu, a Hong Kong student who was selected for the semi-finals of the "New Concept Essay Competition". At that time, he told the media that he wanted to build a memorial site for Mr. Lu Xun in Hong Kong.

That’s what they say, but it’s so difficult to do!
Not only is land extremely expensive in Hong Kong, but the establishment, approval, and execution of municipal construction plans are extremely cumbersome, with a small project often delayed for several years or even more than a decade.

How could Zhang Chao, a mainland writer, do this even if he had some money? So the Hong Kong media at the time basically thought that Zhang Chao was just talking.

After all, making a promise to the media is not like signing a contract, and after a long time, who will remember it?
But no one expected that Zhang Chao would actually accomplish this - although the park is very small and was ultimately named "Hong Kong Literature Park" instead of "Lu Xun Memorial Park", everyone knows that without Zhang Chao's promise and his growing fame and influence, it would have been wishful thinking to get it approved this year.

Of course, there are many people like Xu Zidong, Anthony Wong, Liu Yichang, etc. who are pushing the flames behind the scenes. After all, although Hong Kong literature is in decline, its accumulated influence is not small.

As for why everyone is so sure that it was Zhang Chao who made this happen?

It's very simple. In the conceptual design of this park, many bronze statues of famous writers who have lived in Hong Kong will be placed among the green trees and flowing water - Zhang Ailing, Guo Moruo, Dai Wangshu...

They will sit or stand, blend into the park, and accompany every citizen and tourist who comes here to relax.

In the center of the park is the bronze statue of Lu Xun.

In the concept map, he is smoking a pipe, holding an open book, sitting leisurely on the edge of the flower bed, looking at the people coming and going with gentleness and kindness...

(End of this chapter)