Literary Master 1983

Chapter 237 A Big Shot's Eyes on a Big Shot (This chapter involves many plot points and is quite crucial)
After that, the entire cast of the film "Children of Heaven" was completed.

The young boy Ali was recruited from Xinjiang Province. Ali had never acted before, and Yu Qie didn't know him. Ali's father then recruited Arslang, an actor who was the class monitor of a performing arts class in Xinjiang Province. One day, Yu Qie discovered Arslang reading a martial arts novel. Upon meeting Yu Qie, Arslang stammered as he shared his insights on adapting the novel:
"Teacher Yu, could you give me a chance? I have something I'd like to tell you..."

Yu Qie suddenly realized that Arslang was the future director of a series of films, including the famous ethnic minority director "Jiangnan Book and Sword" and "Gobi Grudge Record".

This became a turning point, and Yu Qie realized that he had missed many later famous figures; an actress named Ulik wanted to take a role, but Yu Qie politely declined, and then someone told Yu Qie that Ulik had acted in "Anarhan" - the work of the same name, which was later remade and starred Dilraba Dilmurat.

Then, Julaiti and Dalelihan, who played minor roles, seemed to become national first-class actors and the backbone of Tianshan Film Studio and Inner Mongolia Film Studio. Xie Jin asked a young man named Jiang Xiaojun to be his assistant. Jiang Xiaojun not only worked as an assistant in "Children of Heaven" but also played the role of Puyi in "The Last Empress." He was also an actor in a drama troupe and held multiple positions.

When Jiang Xiaojun arrived on set, Yu Qie recognized him immediately; he was the future director, Jiang Wen.

Jiang Wen quickly figured out the crew's order of events. As soon as she saw Yu Qie, she said, "Brother Yu, if you have any instructions, Director Xie has already told me to listen to you."

Yu Qie laughed and said, "Am I younger than you, Jiang Wen, oh no, Jiang Xiaojun?"

Jiang Wen slapped his thigh: "Hey, the accomplished are my teachers. You're a literary giant like Akutagawa, and you have the Order of the King of Thailand and all that... You're this one!" Jiang Wen gave a thumbs up. "I'm Jiang Xiaojun, and I'm also Jiang Wen. My brother and I have changed our names, one is Wen (literary), and the other is Wu (martial)."

“Jiang Wen, it’s no use that you’re close to me, I basically don’t come to the film set.”

Jiang Wen widened her eyes and said, "That's not right. As long as you come, from now on, Brother Yu, wherever you go, I will go."

Jiang Wen willingly became Yu Qie's underling, but he didn't have the same backbone as Guan Moye!
The only role yet to be confirmed is "Ali's sister," for whom they need an extremely innocent and kind-hearted girl, but the production team hasn't been able to find one yet. Xie Jin showed Yu Qie a photo of a little girl from the Shanghai Film Studio: "This actress is called Shen Jie, what do you think?"

"Isn't this someone from Shanghai? Our story is set in Kashgar."

“She’s from Shanghai,” Xie Jin nodded. “But we can’t find such good local child actors anymore. Only this girl can portray that innocent feeling. She plays the lead role of Yingzi in ‘My Memories of Old Beijing’!”

Yu Qie said helplessly, "If you want a little girl from Shanghai to play Ali's sister, we'll have to make some changes to the script. For example, Ali's family could be a blended family, or his sister could be a distant relative from the mainland... These changes aren't huge, but they're not insignificant either."

Xie Jin said, "The movie and the novel are very different. This little girl's eyes are beautiful and pure. We desperately need a little girl like that to play our role. If we could find a little girl as lovely as Yingzi, we could achieve the desired effect, but we can't find one..."

"Little Yingzi" traveled all the way from Shanghai to Beijing, only to learn the day before her interview that Yu Qie didn't like her. She burst into tears, missing her interview the following day. Then, Little Yingzi's parents went to Yu Qie to apologize. They were afraid that Yu Qie would think the young girl was impolite and unprofessional.

Xie Jin also encouraged "Little Yingzi" to try to get an opportunity from Yu Qie, just like encouraging a baby to salute a general. Xie Jin said, "Yingzi, as long as Brother Yu agrees to let you act in the movie, you can go to Kashgar to play... In the future, in the books your friends read, you will be the person in those books."

Others also encouraged her: "Children of Heaven is like a film called My Memories of Old Beijing. It's a great novel and a great movie that influenced a generation. If you miss it, you'll regret it for the rest of your life."

"Little Yingzi" was too young and didn't quite understand the significance of the film, but her parents knew it was very important. They pleaded with her and mobilized many people to coax her. Yu Qie agreed to give "Little Yingzi" a chance to rehearse, and "Little Yingzi" stopped crying and smiled. She then performed exceptionally well, so Yu Qie had to revise the script.

Then, "Xiao Yingzi" and her parents went to Yu Qie to apologize, saying that "the fact that she did not fully conform to the original character increased Yu Qie's workload."

This made Yu Qie a little embarrassed: he was clearly still alive, but everyone treated his works like jewelry.

It's as if the smallest thing could make Yu Qie furious, or as if it were a great disrespect to his novel.

It's all because of Xu Chi's report, "People Want to Be Yu Qie," that I've been subjected to increasingly bizarre rumors!

After the production team was in preparation, it split into two filming crews. One crew filmed indoor scenes in Beijing, which was completed quickly, while the other crew filmed the main scenes in Kashgar, which required a large number of actors from Tianshan Film Studio to work with.

Gong Xue also flew from Shanghai to Beijing, invited by Xie Jin to play the role of a female teacher in one of his works. When Yu Qie wrote this novel, he changed the teacher to a Han Chinese, which was more in line with the local context.

Kashgar is a place where ethnic minorities make up the vast majority of the population, but there are still many teachers from the mainland who come to support the region in schools and other places.

With time on their hands and a heavy workload, Gong Xue made an unprecedented trip to Beijing by plane. She dressed up carefully, carrying a small leather suitcase, and looked just like a Chinese language teacher from a top middle school in the 1990s.

Then she appeared in front of Yu Qie and said, "Teacher Yu, we meet again."

Yu Qie found it strange: "Gong Xue, you are a double winner of the Golden Rooster and Huabiao Awards, why are you acting in this movie?"

Gong Xue retorted, "Yu Qie, I got the better deal by getting this role. You think you got the better deal? Everyone says you must have specifically chosen me because we knew each other before. Everyone envies me."

Gong Xue also said, "If we go to the Laoshan front again, you'll find that you're much more popular than I am this time."

"Zhu Shimao and Feng Gong went to the front lines to offer their condolences again this year. I ran into them once, and they said that the Vietnamese had banned all of my novels, but they still couldn't help but read them... Moreover, the war is not as urgent as before. I heard that some of the positions that are very close to each other even exchange novels to read."

"There's a rule that as long as Yu Qie's novel is displayed, it's like throwing candy—a signal of peace... The Vietnamese rank-and-file soldiers are fed up with this endless tunnel warfare! They try every means to slack off, skip work, and then read novels and play cards. Everyone's in sync!"

Gong Xue didn't know much. Also this month, the entire army held its first military literary works selection, and Yu Qie's "The Fiancée's Letter" and "The Death Kiss" were both shortlisted. He remained the most beloved military writer. When Yu Qie stepped into the awards ceremony, everyone from the commanders to the frontline soldiers spontaneously applauded. Thus, Yu Qie's unfinished novel, "The Bloody Battle of Laoshan," was brought up again.

Liu Jiaju, the former editor-in-chief of "Military Literature," and Xu Huaizhong, the author of "Ruan's Cloves," approached Yu Qie, hoping he would finish writing "The Bloody Battle of Laoshan" as soon as possible. "Yu Qie, you have time to make movies, how come you haven't finished writing it yet? When will you finally finish it?"

Yu Qie smiled wryly and said, "It may seem like I'm just bored and have gone to make movies, but actually I haven't done anything well. I haven't been a successful teacher, and I haven't written any new works recently."

Xu Huaizhong was Guan Moye's mentor, and Guan Moye started out writing military literature. Yu Qie brought up Guan Moye, saying, "He was like a stubborn mule. He was really capable, but he always went in one direction, regardless of whether that direction was recognized by others."

Xu Huaizhong defended Guan Moye: "When I wrote 'Ruan's Cloves,' I also faced a lot of criticism. Literature is explored little by little. Sometimes it is too advanced, but we cannot sentence a person to death because of this!"

Okay. But Lao Xu, you have no idea how amazing your student will be in the future.

For example, your novel "Nguyen Thi Clove" became the only novel in the world to understand this conflict between neighboring countries, but this novel happens to be the one that is somewhat controversial—you would probably find it hard to bear, and even regret writing such a novel.

Liu Jiaju couldn't help but ask naturally, "Yu Qie, why do you have such a big problem with Guan Moye? Although his teacher is here, to be honest, he is far inferior to you. What are you? You are a writer with the Thai King's Medal, you are Akutagawa, a literary giant... You are the most welcomed comrade-in-arms in our entire army, and the legend of you going down into the foxholes is circulating on the front line! Given your status, it is very strange for you to be at odds with him. He is not even in the same league as you."

But Guan Moye went on to win the Nobel Prize. In terms of honors, this self-proclaimed "little black boy" who refused to speak was the only Chinese literary figure on the world stage. You all underestimate this "little black boy"!

Xu Huaizhong said, "Yu Qie, as long as you write an article casually, you will far surpass him. Even if you stand still now and never write another word, most writers will never catch up with what you have written in two or three years."

"You are an exploding supernova! You are a super nuclear bomb that we dropped!" Xu Huaizhong said suddenly after a moment of silence.

But no one thought Xu Huaizhong was exaggerating.

"Even your enemies, after you won the Akutagawa Prize, tacitly acknowledged that you were the legend who 'crossed the borders.' Although they don't allow you to read your novels, if someone is caught actually reading them, they won't be punished. Because what you've written is so good, if this were a battle, you would have already reached their headquarters! You've captured their heart!"

These words suddenly made Yu Qie's blood boil! He felt his temples throbbing, and the complacency he had felt after winning the Akutagawa Prize and receiving a million-dollar manuscript fee gradually disappeared. He rekindled his desire for honor!

When Yu Qie rode his bicycle from Wanxian to deliver his first manuscript, he was planning to use writing novels as a transitional and cost-effective way to make a living. But at that moment, he suddenly realized that he had fallen in love with this profession and could no longer leave it.

There are so many awards in the world, and Guan Moye's "White Dog Swing" is just the beginning. Military literature, cyberpunk, literary studies, an unprecedented economic collapse... and countless other major events are about to happen. How could he possibly care about reforming Guan Moye?
With him around, what difference would it make if Guan Moye won the Nobel Prize again?

Who is the legend?
Xu Huaizhong asked Yu Qie how many tens of thousands of words his novel "Bloody Battle of Laoshan" had, and Yu Qie said it had already reached more than 500,000 words.

"Ah!" Xu Huaizhong was no longer surprised. "You're going to create a masterpiece!" Xu Huaizhong had no doubts; he already believed that Yu Qie must have such an ability.

Xu Huaizhong, Guan Moye's mentor, said with utmost honesty: "I read Xu Chi's report, 'People Want to Be Yu Qie.' Yes, I also want to be you. He said you have talent in cooking, sports... but your greatest strength is storytelling. If I had your ability, I would gladly exchange all my remaining time for it!"

Historically, Xu Huaizhong dedicated his life to military literature, eventually creating the 200,000-word novel "The Wind Chaser," a project that took him 52 years to complete. He became the oldest writer to win the Mao Dun Literature Prize. He was 89 years old when he received the award and passed away a few years later.

Isn't this a bit like the fickle nature of fate?

Those who can seize their destiny are, after all, very few.

It was only then that Yu Qie realized the kind of influence he had gradually accumulated. These future big shots now all considered him one of the most powerful people. Because of this, during the early stages of filming, whenever anything conflicted with Yu Qie's original novel, Xie Jin would immediately ask Yu Qie, "Is this okay?"

"Row!"

Xie Jin would explain it again in detail to make sure Yu Qie, this layman, understood, and then ask once more, "Will this work?"

"I think it's okay, go ahead."

Only then could Xie Jin feel at ease.

“Our film is based on your novel, and part of the investment came from fundraising for charity. The filming task was assigned to our Shanghai Film Studio by the organization. Without you, this film would not have been possible in any way.”

This kind of thing reached its zenith when *Popular Cinema* magazine came to shoot a cover. Yu Qie was two hours late because he was teaching at the Faculty of Arts. Xie Jin then suggested to the *Popular Cinema* team, "Let's postpone the shoot by two hours because Yu Qie hasn't arrived yet. We'll shoot when he gets here."

Popular Cinema actually agreed, without showing any arrogance, and without daring to drag Yu Qie out of the School of Literature.

They said, "When Teacher Yu is teaching, is what he says just nonsense? We can't interrupt his train of thought."

Everyone waited for two hours, and when Yu Qie arrived, there was not a single complaint. Instead, they were happy and said, "Yu Qie still managed to squeeze out time! This photo is going to be shown to audiences across the country, and in the future, it will be made into calendars and postcards... Without Yu Qie, it would be a lifelong regret for many of us."

(End of this chapter)