Literary Master 1983

Chapter 213 Carrying the Coffin (I)

In this article, Ba Lao vividly records how Yu Qie wrote the novel during the time he lived in his house.

Ba Lao's home is a tourist attraction in Shanghai, and it has also become a carrier of the meaning of literature. In his home, there are often guests from far away places and local celebrities.

Everyone is chatting and laughing here, having a great time, and there is delicious food, good meals and good tea - this should not be criticized.

However, Yu Qie was like a monk, he sat quietly in the same place and wrote novels. Ba Lao recalled, "On that afternoon when the breeze blew, a crack suddenly opened in front of my door, and my friends and I saw Yu Qie smiling at us... I thought, I was like that in those years."

"The doctor said I had Parkinson's disease and would forget more and more things in the future, but at that time I felt a tremor from my soul! I felt as if 'I' was alive again, but when I looked back, it was not me, but Yutangent."

"Alas, illness can take away many things from me, but I hope it will not let me forget this scene."

These words are very moving and, as a commentary article, clearly go beyond the standard of "objectivity".

In the editorial department of "October", Zhang Shouren was paying attention to the latest literary trends every day as usual. He came across this article written by Ba Lao. After reading it, he burst into tears and felt very excited.

He ran into the hall to cheer for the others, waving the newspaper in his hand: "Mr. Ba wrote a review of our writer Yu Qie! I really like this article!"

Everyone came to read it, and one person passed it to another, and finally the editor-in-chief Wang Shimin saw it. He was silent for a moment, and suddenly he coughed and laughed: "The people who saw the scenery have become the scenery. I will also remember this article written by Ba Lao, and I will also remember you."

Zhang Shouren and Wang Shimin talked for a while longer.

Zhang Shouren said, "Are you feeling better now? I haven't seen you very often recently, and you don't smoke anymore. In the past, your place was always filled with smoke. I told you many times but you didn't want to listen."

Wang Shimin replied: "I have some minor illnesses. As for why I don't smoke, the doctor forbids me to smoke."

Zhang Shouren patted him on the shoulder and said, "Brother, you should have done this a long time ago."

Wang Shimin just smiled at him.

In this article, Ba Lao did not praise Yu Qie on the surface, but actually reached a higher level!

Zhang Shouren mentioned that a few years ago, when the writer Ding Ling was interviewed by a foreign reporter, she was asked which young writers in China might be recognized abroad. Ding Ling said without hesitation: Liu Xinwu!

Now, Liu Xinwu has become a thing of the past and new people have emerged.

"Ba Lao's praise obviously exceeds Ding Ling's. Why do I say that?" Zhang Shouren concluded. "When we really appreciate a person, we often see our own shadow in that person. We love this person, and we also love ourselves."

"Your analysis is correct!" Wang Shimin praised his old friend's vision without hesitation. He also said, "I know Yu Che is very busy, and I love Yu Che, but I have been thinking about it recently and I think I should have a meal with Yu Che and talk to him."

“Where to eat?”

"It's at my house, and my wife is the chef."

Zhang Shouren agreed immediately. He went to Gulou Street and found Yu Qie who was in seclusion. He told him about this matter and brought editor Luo Yihe with him. A few days later, several people went to Wang Shimin's house.

On the way, Yu Qie asked, "I haven't seen Editor-in-Chief Wang for a while. Why did he suddenly invite me to dinner?"

Zhang Shouren certainly didn't know. Luo Yihe said, "I heard that Editor-in-Chief Wang has resigned. In a few days, he will no longer be a member of October Magazine, nor a comrade of Jingcheng Publishing House."

"How could I not know about such a big thing happening to him?!" Zhang Shouren was shocked.

"He may be deliberately hiding it from you. He wants to retire," said Luo Yihe.

Wang Shimin's home is not luxurious. He lives in a residential complex. The house is a board house with only more than 30 square meters. Wang Shimin's family of six lives here. His children have gone out to work, leaving Wang Shimin's grandson to be taken care of by the elderly. The child is still very young and can't speak. When he saw the guests coming, he cried in fear.

Zhang Shouren said happily, "It seems that he wants to return to his family. Wang Shimin is a workaholic and works hard. When we founded the magazine, we encountered a lot of troubles, and it was almost always Wang Shimin who ran around outside. He always agreed to things first, and then did his best to do them. The strange thing is that he succeeded every time."

At this point, Zhang Shouren suddenly laughed and said, "This is exactly the same as Yuqie."

"However, Wang Shimin bears a huge pressure in his heart to get things done, so he smokes all day long, while Yu Qie never smokes or drinks, and he is always confident. You two are not similar."

Wang Shimin's wife was a very virtuous person and could cook delicious dishes. Unfortunately, Wang Shimin was often not at home, which wasted his wife's cooking skills.

When his wife brought out the dishes, the aroma was so fragrant that everyone praised Wang Shimin's wife for her superb cooking skills. Wang Shimin apologized to his wife: "I'm sorry for your hard work in the past. I will eat more of your cooking in the future and repay you for your kindness."

His wife's eyes suddenly turned red, and she didn't speak to anyone else at the table, but said goodbye politely.

Everyone sensed something was wrong and asked Wang Shimin how he was doing, but Wang Shimin kept silent and instead started telling stories about his youth.

When he was young, Wang Shimin was an unsuccessful writer. His level was not high enough to allow him to create works that could penetrate the paper, so Wang Shimin was often assigned to write some reports. This kind of subject matter, which was similar to news but required some stance and writing style, was very suitable for Wang Shimin.

For example, Wang Shimin wrote the model worker reports in the Yanjing area for several years. Although people don't go out of their way to see who wrote them, this is also Wang Shimin's proud work.

A few years later, Wang Shimin began to realize that his talent was limited, and gradually transformed himself into an editor to help talented writers. Before and after the reform and opening up, there were several large underground literary salons in Yenching, which were organized by Wang Shimin. He risked imprisonment, but he did not get any benefits. Many writers such as Shi Tiesheng and Liu Xinwu emerged at that time.

Moreover, many of their famous works were not submitted to October magazine, but were published in other literary magazines.

Wang Shimin recalled: "My greatest foresight was to let Yu Che join October. I had a chat with him. Was it about the New Reality Trilogy? I have forgotten a little, but at that time, I decided to keep Yu Che at all costs."

Wang Shimin added: "I also worked as Yu Qie's editor for a while. The most famous novel under my supervision was "Da Saba". That issue of "October" sold 870,000 copies. Even ten trucks couldn't carry away all the copies. We couldn't print enough copies in Beijing, so we had to print them in several cities at the same time."

Yu Qie asked him, "Editor-in-Chief Wang, what is the most impressive thing you have experienced since you started editing?"

Wang Shimin recalled the days when Yu Qi's "Da Saba" was published. At that time, readers from all over the country wrote letters to the editorial office, and various dramas, operas, dance dramas, Peking operas, Ping operas... also came to the door. However, Wang Shimin never cried with excitement.

However, one day he received a letter from a reader in a northeast factory area, in which they were surrounded by electric poles in the temperature of minus 20 degrees Celsius, breathing out white air, stamping their feet, and listening to the People's Broadcasting Station broadcasting "Da Saba" on the loudspeaker. Wang Shimin suddenly cried quietly. He realized that he was crying when he felt the coldness on his face.

"I'm not a person who likes to cry," Wang Shimin said. "But I thought about the time when I spent the whole night writing reports for model workers. At that time, I could stay up until dawn. Those days are gone forever."

The meal was not a pleasant one, because everyone could see that Wang Shimin had some health problems, but at that time no one had thought to what extent the problem had developed.

The last month of 1984 was filled with events that were overwhelming. In the second half of the month, the Literary Gazette published an additional issue of Literary Theory - a magazine that was often placed on the desks of the upper classes and was nicknamed the "internal reference of the literature edition."

Yu Qi's "Why Scar Literature Will Inevitably Disappear" is the main article in "Literary Theory", and as soon as you open it, you will find criticism of scar literature.

This article was written before the Hangzhou Conference and was controversial at the time, but it is now irrefutable. Despite this, it has attracted the approval and follow-up of some writers. Qu Tiening, the editor of Huashan, used the words "deafening" and "foresight" to describe Yu Che's theoretical article. "I have been following Yu Che since he published his first article. In my opinion, he is a man of unity of knowledge and action, and his literary line is very clear. Earlier, he expressed his criticism of some outdated themes. Everything did not happen today."

"I think that speaking out against the trend ahead of time is a wake-up call, and putting forward your own views when most people are not aware of the changes is foresight."

"From Latin American Realism to Why Scar Literature Must Disappear, Yu Qie has written only a few theoretical articles, but each one is a gem."

Qu Tiening really thinks highly of me!
I didn't do anything to improve Qu Tianing's favorability, so why was Qu Tianing so helpful to him when he met him?

Scar literature had long been on the verge of death, and this theoretical article became the last straw that broke the camel's back. The scar literature trend that had lasted for five or six years on the mainland came to an end, with almost no sound left.

It's like some people leave without making any sound.

Wang Shimin was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. The dinner with Yu Qie and others was Wang Shimin's last sumptuous dinner. After that, he was sent to the hospital for chemotherapy. Unexpectedly, his condition deteriorated rapidly. He was also very old and could not bear any treatment other than mild treatment.

Zhang Shouren often visited him, and so did Yu Qie. Wang Shimin's days were counting down, and every day was not easy. At first he could still talk to everyone, but later he could no longer speak, and could only use his eyes. Later, his eyes disappeared, and he just closed his eyes and breathed slightly.

Throughout the capital, writers who had received favors from Wang Shimin went to visit him and lamented how kind-hearted Wang Shimin had once been.

"He shouldn't have smoked! It's all because of smoking!"

Many people say so.

The entire editorial department of October was surrounded by an unbearable atmosphere of silence. Wang Shimin's office was empty. Everyone was always hoping for a miracle. One day, Wang Shimin suddenly came back to his small single room from outside, cigarette in his mouth. After smoking a few cigarettes, he suddenly came out and asked, "What problems have you not solved?"

He patted his chest as he always did and said, "Just wait, I'll help you with this matter."

"What? It's difficult! There's nothing I can't do. The worst that can happen is that I'll go to jail."

But such days are no longer possible.

The Beijing Publishing House that publishes "October" wants to arrange a new editor-in-chief for "October". Zhang Shouren, who is also of advanced age, is promoted to deputy editor-in-chief. This alternation of the old and the new will allow this best pure literature magazine in the country to continue to maintain its status without being affected by turmoil.

But Yu Qie felt that the publishing house was too anxious.

Many people think so. No matter how the next editor-in-chief is arranged, they have to at least wait until Editor-in-Chief Wang, the person who made great contributions in the most critical moments, leaves completely before making any arrangements.

Otherwise, wouldn't Wang Shimin leave unhappy?

It is true that Wang Shimin cannot open his eyes or speak now. Many writers who have visited him can confirm this fact, but what if he can hear something?

One day Yu Qie came to the editorial office to check the letters written to him by readers. He picked out a few and wrote replies.

It just so happened that the leaders of the publishing house wanted to arrange a new editor-in-chief and asked Yu Qie for his opinion.

"Yu Qie, what do you think?"

"It's not easy for us to get to where we are today, October. We can't continue to be leaderless like this. We need a backbone. Who do you think is suitable? I want to introduce some people to you..."

Yu Qie passed by the leader and the long corridor between the various groups of October, and directly placed the reply letter he wrote to the readers in the empty editor-in-chief's office. It seemed as if there was someone sitting there. Yu Qie smiled and said:

"I don't think it's time yet."

Everyone stared at Yu Qie in a daze, some people suddenly burst into tears, and the editorial office of October broke into loud applause.

The leaders of the publishing house knew that they had angered the public and had to walk away in shame.

Japanese writer Yasushi Inoue came to visit China, this time not in Beijing but in Shanghai. He had not been able to have a smooth talk with Ba Lao at the Tokyo Writers' Conference before, so this time he brought the NHK crew and wanted to have talks with Ba Lao in China.

Yasushi Inoue succeeded and failed.

It is said that Ba Lao's health has deteriorated. Recently, in order to allow Ba Lao to continue to create, his family made a wooden board that can fit into Ba Lao's wheelchair - this is his last desk in his life.

Because this did not look good, Ba Lao refused to be recorded on TV, but agreed to a literary dialogue.

So, the Japanese side had no choice but to turn off the camera, and they applied again to be allowed to take photos?
This time Ba Lao agreed. He was helped to stand up and took a group photo.

The 19th-century writer Lu Xun is still a well-known figure in both China and Japan, and this conversation cannot help but talk about this person. Ba Lao suddenly said that at Lu Xun's memorial service, Ba Lao participated in carrying Lu Xun's coffin. He was one of the 16 people who carried the coffin at that time. At that time, everyone was still strong and young. It took more than ten kilometers to walk from Lu Xun's mourning hall to the public offering, from the International Funeral Home to the Wanshan Cemetery outside the city, and no one complained of being tired.

More than ten kilometers!
Decades have passed, and many of these sixteen people have long since passed away.

Jing Jing asked curiously: "Mr. Lu Xun is usually frugal and low-key, why would he let more than a dozen people carry his coffin?"

Ba Lao laughed and said, “We shouldn’t have mobilized so many people, but the Guo Party didn’t allow public mourning. There were too many celebrities who came to mourn, so we had to give up. They also didn’t allow us to take the main roads in the city, for fear of attracting people to follow us. We could only take the side roads. But whether they were rickshaw drivers, students, or laborers, they all stood by and watched. Some of them walked ten kilometers with us. I know they were reluctant to leave Lu Xun, and I was reluctant too!”

"Lu Xun received many accolades during his life, and we have analyzed a lot of them. We like to arrange the seats for the writers, but this trip is the one I remember most vividly. Nearly 10,000 people followed us to see him off!"

After hearing this, Inoue Yasushi was fascinated and even the laborers came to see him off. What an honor it was!

He said: "After Mr. Lu Xun passed away, we in Japan also held a memorial ceremony for him. We were still in the war years at that time. I think this is what a great writer is. Many years later, even if we are dead and his children are dead, he will still live in people's hearts."

Ba Lao also nodded: "Yes, this is the great writer."

Inoue Yasushi added: "We are already old."

Ba Lao was silent for a moment. The convenient small table in front of the wheelchair sometimes made him feel humiliated and furious, but sometimes made him feel at ease. At least many of his friends had left, but he could still burn out the last bit of his energy on this table.

He was also able to see people like Yu Qie emerge, and his little granddaughter Duanduan also grew up to be a kind person, even though her grades were really bad.

He later said: "Our time is indeed running out."

On the last day of 1984, it snowed heavily in Yanjing. Heavy snow was falling from the sky, and by the afternoon, the whole city was covered in snow.

Yu Qi hurriedly opened the door, got on his motorcycle and rushed to the hospital: he had just received news that Wang Shimin was on his deathbed.

(End of this chapter)