Literary Master 1983

Chapter 115 As long as there are enough adjectives, we are all goats
From Shanghai to Tokyo, it's more than 1,700 kilometers.

The plane landed at Tokyo Airport, and on the way down from the cabin, a red carpet about ten meters long was laid.

Upon learning that Ba Lao was ill, Inoue Yasushi, President of the Japan-China Cultural Exchange Association and President of the Japan Writers Club, and Shirato Gofu, Director of the Japan-China Cultural Exchange Association, went to the cabin door to greet him.

And persuaded him to give as few interviews as possible.

Due to the violent check-in at the airport, all the medicines and measuring instruments checked in with Ba Lao were destroyed. Ba Lao now has to take medicine and measure his body data every day, and he can't delay for a moment.

When Jing Jing saw Ba Lao, he immediately bowed and said, "Private Marseille!"

Then he apologized for the violent check-in at the airport. In his opinion, it was those people who didn't understand literature who neglected the guests who came from afar.

"These Japanese bring shame to me! They will never learn Confucius's saying 'Friends come from afar'! I have teamed up with some comrades from the Japanese Writers Association to buy all the equipment and medicines for Brother Ba!"

Reporters from the Japan Broadcasting Corporation and some young writers were waiting outside the airport, eager to meet Ba Lao, one of China's most representative literary figures.

But unfortunately, Ba Lao's health was really bad. He was sitting in a wheelchair, pushed by the younger Shirato Wufu, with Inoue Yasushi beside him.

As soon as he walked out, he scared the Japanese. Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what to ask.
Li Xiaolin spoke on behalf of Ba Lao: "My father is in poor health, so I can only answer a few questions. I'm sorry to all the friends from Japan... If there are more interviews, please leave the opportunity to others."

The reporters could only push out a senior representative and ask: "Can we ask two or three questions?"

The old man, Inoue Yasushi, glared at the man who was talking and kicked him: "Baka! Impolite bastard!"

The reporters were all stunned and began to bow and apologize again.

The one who was beaten was the most terrified and wanted to kneel down.

Damn! This Japanese flavor is too authentic. This is what Yu Qie saw when he got out of the cabin, and he complained wildly in his heart.

Ba Lao asked the translator Chen Xiru what happened. After Chen Xiru told him the truth, Ba Lao endured the pain and waved to the Japanese: "I am willing to be interviewed."

So there was a short interview on the red carpet:
“What are the new changes in Chinese literature?”

“We are looking forward, looking into the new.”

"Japan and China are neighbors that support each other. In your opinion, what is the future direction of Asian literature?"

"When I was writing the Torrent Trilogy, I originally drew a lot of experience from foreign literature, but I wrote our own stories... In my opinion, this may be one of the directions of Asian literature."

The last question is: “Are there any new and noteworthy writers in the mainland?”

This question is very important, because Ba Lao is the most popular writer in China after Xun Ge'er, and his works are also the most popular abroad. His works have not only been translated into many languages, such as "Family", which has more than 40 foreign language translations, but also there are cases where a work has more than one translation in the same language.

Therefore, the Chinese writers he recommends can easily gain some advantages in the process of going overseas.

In the past, when he encountered these questions, Ba Lao would not answer them, but now he said: "There is indeed such a thing, called Yuqie."

The interview is over.

Ba Lao was in so much pain that he couldn't bear it any longer.

All the Japanese present were confused: Who is Yu Qie?
Where is the cotangent?
Yu Qie, who they were all thinking about, finally came out of the cabin. Following the sight of the Chinese delegation, everyone knew that this was Yu Qie. Everyone sighed in their hearts:
Both his appearance and temperament were impeccable. Asahi Shimbun reporter Matsunaga Jihei wrote in his memo: "That was my first time meeting Yu Che. He was wearing the same tailor-made suit as other Chinese writers - good clothes for them, but shoddy for us, but... Yu Che stepped down from the plane step by step, as if all of us were waiting for him there."

"And we didn't find it strange at all. To be honest, it had nothing to do with his literary achievements. We were just simply surprised."

The 1980s was the golden age of Japan's economic development. Unlike the later period when people generally liked young handsome men, today's Japanese are chasing after tall, strong and masculine men. "Yu Shuangying" is one of them.

Li Xiaolin was Ba Lao's daughter and the editor-in-chief of Shanghai's Harvest magazine at the time. She was worried that Yu Qie would be looked down upon by the Japanese literary world, so she briefly introduced Yu Qie and talked about his past one or two years.

The Japanese were even more surprised: he could go to the battlefield and also be admitted to a top university.

Isn't this China's Superman?

They became interested in Yu Che, and took photos with their cameras of Ba Lao who was leaving and Yu Che who was carrying ten kilograms of noodles. The flash lights were so bright that people could not open their eyes. They only calmed down after they walked into the VIP room.

Here, some new celebrities were waiting, such as the founder of Tokyo Uchiyama Bookstore, Yoshikichi Uchiyama, and his son Ryo Uchiyama, playwright Junji Kinoshita, female writer Masako Toyoda (a left-wing female writer who wrote "The Immortal Yan'an") wearing a gorgeous kimono, and the then Chinese ambassador to Japan, Song Zhiguang.

They expressed a warm welcome to the Chinese writers' delegation. There was originally a banquet, but Ba Lao himself could not attend, so they had to postpone it. Then a luxury car drove over and took the visitors to a hotel near the Tokyo Hall.

Unexpectedly, that evening, there was news that Ba Lao had gone to the hospital.

After Ba Lao broke his leg, he had a problem with the length of his legs. When he was interviewed before, for some reason, he stood up.

As a result, my injured leg is now in excruciating pain and I have to see a Japanese doctor.

What a bad start.

Fuck, the gang leader can’t take care of the gang anymore.

Dark clouds hang over everyone's head!
Before the Chinese could say anything, Inoue Yasushi was about to collapse. He pulled over the literary juniors who had been clamoring for an interview and had them stand in front of the ward, saying, "I wish I could make you kneel down under the red flag!"

Of course he was going to collapse. Originally, he was supposed to represent the goat of Japanese literature, and Ba Lao was supposed to represent the goat of Chinese literature. This would have been a good story for many years, but now it was going to go down the drain.

The head of the visiting delegation changed from Ba Lao to Jiang Zhenghan.

As per convention, he took over from Ba Lao and appeared on TV with Yu Qie.

Jiang Lao was a great poet, and he was also the vice president of the Chinese PEN Club and the vice-GOAT of the Writers Association. However, he had a troublesome third wife who asked him to bring Japanese home appliances, second-hand coats, etc. He was a bit overwhelmed.

Moreover, because of the high "breakup fee" he gave to his second wife, Mr. Jiang's finances are relatively tight, and he might be worse off than Yu Qie. He has to spend extra time to find something with the best cost-effectiveness.

Everyone knew about this situation, and in an internal vote involving only a few people, it was believed that Chiang Kai-shek should not be allowed to bear the burden of representing "Chinese writers."

It would be better to let Yu Qie go by himself! The deputy GOAT cannot represent the top level of an industry.

Ba Lao's part can be replaced by telephone or something - Japan is not like our mainland, where there are telephones everywhere and there is no need for people to come to the scene.

Yu Qi was unaware of all this. He stayed in the hotel watching the special effects film "Ultraman Taro".

(End of this chapter)