Literary Master 1983

Chapter 258, "Infiltration," has been published (revised).
"To die for the interests of the people is heavier than Mount Tai; to die for the fascists, for those who exploit and oppress the people, is lighter than a feather."

……

Yu Zecheng read this article repeatedly, and he couldn't help but imagine the person in it as "Zuo Lan," a person heavier than Mount Tai, who died for the interests of the people.

The article "Serving the People" is not long, but it is very moving. When Yu Zecheng read the last sentence, "In this way, we express our condolences...", he couldn't help but lean back in his chair and close his eyes tightly.

All the memories of Zuo Lan swirled in Yu Zecheng's mind like a revolving lantern, causing him to choke up and finally utter those words:

"To express our condolences and unite the entire nation."

What a magnificent ending! A thunderclap hidden beneath the calm!
Yu asked her, "Teacher Li, what do you think?"

Li Xiaolin asked, "Is there anything else? Where's your next draft?"

"It's all gone, I really have none left."

"What's next in the story?" Li Xiaolin pressed, but at the last moment he retorted, "You can't tell me, so you'd better not tell me."

"why?"

“I hope that when I first read this novel, it will be your carefully crafted finished product, not a flawed one. This novel is excellent, Yu Qie; I feel you have pioneered a new genre of fiction—I simply cannot tolerate any imperfections in it!”

After that, Li Xiaolin began to think.

Harvest was once the leading literary magazine, and although it has been surpassed by October, it remains a coveted platform for domestic novelists. Getting an article published there is extremely difficult; even an article reviewed by Li Xiaolin requires a written review report and unanimous approval before it can be approved.

"Lurking" is clearly an extremely long novel, which means it will be serialized in "Harvest" for several months, something "Harvest" has never done before.

But isn't this novel worthwhile?
Li Xiaolin shared the same sentiment after reading "Lurking." Her first impression was of Yu Qie's extensive use of visual descriptions; the novel was perfect for an adaptation. Then there was the ingenious plot, the meticulously planned and interconnected story of a secret agent's life...

However, as the plot deepened, Li Xiaolin no longer had time for literary criticism. She was completely immersed in the story.

As a female editor, she first felt immense grief over Zuo Lan's death, and was also worried about the fate of Cui Ping, Wan Qiu, and others. At the same time, when she realized that this character was based on a real historical figure—Ma Shitu's lover—an even greater sorrow struck.

That was a truly vibrant life. While readers are debating whether "Zuo Lan," such a perfect person, is an impossible figure and whether he is merely a "literary symbol," reality clearly shows that such a person did exist:

She is Zuo Lan, Cui Ping, and Wan Qiu, who fought alongside Yu Zecheng to the very end. All the admirable qualities of the female characters in the drama combined can only be matched with this one person.

“I’m tired of talking about the quality of your novel!” Li Xiaolin said. “I don’t want to go on about it anymore, I’m sure you’re tired of hearing it.”

“But you want to publish it in three or four issues, which poses a challenge for us. I will do everything I can to make it happen.”

This can be considered a challenge?

Yu Qie was somewhat surprised. He was the undisputed leader of "October," a major contributor to its success, and had somewhat underestimated the difficulty of serializing in a purely literary magazine.

"Won't it be impossible to publish? Or should I submit it to 'October' magazine?"

Li Xiaolin's face immediately turned ashen: "If your novel can't be published, I'll offer my head as payment! And don't bother publishing 'Harvest' magazine anymore!"

Actually, nothing much happened.

During the peer review process of Harvest, Li Xiaolin showed the article to the editors of each group in advance, and then they voted: everyone voted in favor.

This prompted Li Xiaolin to ask instead:
"This novel still presents two challenges. The first is that we need to leave more than 100,000 words of content blank for three or four consecutive issues. The second is that Yu Zecheng is a Kuomintang agent at the beginning. To be honest, I am still afraid that the public may not be able to accept it. If the writing of Yu Zecheng is bad, we also have to take the risk."

“How could Yu Qie mess it up? He’s always been fast and good!” they said.

"Okay, the Guangxi Provincial Film Studio made a film called 'The Battle of Taierzhuang,' which took many years to complete, and it also had guidance from the central government... We can only rely on ourselves to bear the consequences. If the public cannot accept it, or if they start crying and cursing as soon as they see the minor KMT character 'Yu Zecheng,' everyone should be mentally prepared!"

The entire editorial team wore resolute expressions, showing no fear whatsoever: "Even if it means the disbandment of Harvest magazine, we will publish this novel!"

"it is good!"

Li Xiaolin took the opinions of the entire editorial team to Ba Jin for review, because Ba Jin was the editor-in-chief of Harvest magazine.

Ba Jin finished reading the novel in less than a day and was so excited that he called Li Xiaolin: "This novel is of great significance, please publish it as soon as possible."

The first episode of "Lurking" was released without any controversy.

Unlike two or three years ago, when it would take more than a month for Yu Qie to publish an article, now his status and printing technology allow his novels to be published within a week.

Harvest magazine specially added a thicker edition for this issue, and of course, the price was also much higher.

This issue sells for two yuan.

A single copy of the 16mo magazine *Harvest* cost one yuan in 1984, and the price rose to 1.2 yuan in 1985. Because of its extremely high average price, it effectively filtered readers through its pricing. Yu Hua described it as "the best pure literature magazine in my mind." Even now, with *October* surpassing *Harvest*, Yu Hua still holds this view.

Why?

Simply put, it was too expensive. This magazine sold for "Shanghai bigwig prices" in the 1980s.

Price, at this point, plays an unparalleled differentiating role. It means that readers are truly giving up eating two pounds of meat just to read the novelist's story.

Yu Hua believes that nothing represents the quality of a novel better than this kind of "choice".

------

Shanghai Xinhua Printing Factory was the designated printing factory for the magazine "Harvest". At the printing factory, the workers could always see the contents of the novel two or three days in advance.

What do you think?
It's actually not easy to watch.

After the 16mo magazine is laid out, the text is printed according to this layout. Because the amount of paper used is actually twice that of a 16mo, there will be two different page numbers of stories on the paper.

For example, a printing factory worker named Xiao Liu might see a page in a magazine called "Popular Cinema." On the left might be the Arabic numeral "2," with a picture of the foreign film "The Last Emperor" above it, and on the right might be the number "29," with a portrait of Chen Xiaoxu in "Dream of the Red Chamber" above it.

Fifteen sheets of paper like this are stacked together in order, buttoned up, bound, and then unfolded, forming "1/2/3/4/5..."

In short, looking at the single page in your hand, this page and the other page are unrelated.

If you want to see the story, you can only see half of it.

Therefore, most novelists weren't interested; they just read it as a pastime to pass the time. Unless there was a masterpiece, one that could grip you so much you'd memorize every page, piecing together the whole story like a jigsaw puzzle. But things seem different today.

Located at No. 130 Dalian Road in southwest Yangpu District, the largest printing plant in China, covering tens of thousands of square meters, is in operation. The machines inside are roaring, carrying out multiple processes such as plate making, parts printing, binding and repair at the same time.

Old Wu, who was in charge of supervising the printing, was very happy: the factory's printing volume had reached a new high, and they had even taken over the business from printing factories in nearby cities.

If it were a true market economy, our Shanghai factory would definitely not have collapsed.

Old Wu hummed a song as he leisurely strolled around, inspecting the printing group's work.

Suddenly, his sharp eyes pointed to a spot: "No slacking off! What are you doing sitting there?"

"Reading a novel."

Old Wu leaned forward for a peek: "This is... Harvest?"

"Yes, you're right?"

"What's the point of reading Harvest? It's all outdated. What's popular now is People's Literature and October. Our Harvest is still full of old-fashioned clichés. Just take a look and get back to work!"

"You're right!"

The criticized worker reluctantly began to work.

However, as a new page was printed, Lao Wu suddenly realized that everyone on the production line was as if they were under a spell, their eyes fixed on the paper that was floating by.

"You're all reading novels! What's wrong with you today!" Old Wu couldn't stand it anymore.

Everyone felt wronged: "No, this novel..."

"What's wrong with this novel?"

No one could answer it.

Old Wu had no choice but to scramble up himself, running after the delivered printing paper. He glanced at it and grabbed a few keywords:
Military Control Commission.

Underground Communist Party members.

Assassination.

Female college student from Central University.

……

No, buddy?
His eyes widened in surprise.

--------

On September 10th, this issue of Harvest was officially released, a little later than usual.

Readers will see that the cover of this issue features the two large characters "潜伏" (Qianfu, meaning "lurking"), second only to the two characters "收采" (Shoucai, meaning "Harvest"), followed by the two characters "余切" (Yuqie, meaning "remaining").

Yu Qie has written a new novel!

Local readers in Shanghai were the first to encounter this novel, and after reading it, they were immediately captivated.

There's no "red" or "red" in it, the main thing is that the story is so exciting and interesting!

So this is what being an underground party member is like. There's no protagonist's halo, no glorious or righteous image; it's just a cautious little guy leveling up in a spy's den, trying to pass on messages. A single wrong word, a single missed detail, and you'll pay with your own life, or the life of a comrade!

Yu Zecheng was initially an insignificant figure, an artsy youth, and exceptionally naive about politics, even far less so than his girlfriend Zuo Lan. However, this very person gradually became a tenacious fighter, truly contributing to the people rather than his own family.

We can all be Yu Zecheng.

Several talented young women at the Shanghai Film Studio have shown particular interest in Yu Qie's novels. This is a book club organized by the sisters Gong Xue and Gong Ying, specializing in inspirational stories, and it has now attracted actresses such as Wu Haiyan and Zhao Jing to join.

After reading the novel, the actresses wept uncontrollably and took turns sharing their thoughts on the spot.

Gong Xue was particularly moved by one particular scene: "Yu Zecheng was an ordinary person during the war, forced by the circumstances to become a spy. He had his own 'small joys' (which he probably learned from Da Bing). When faced with parting with Zuo Lan, Yu Zecheng left a letter tucked inside the novel 'February,' expressing his love to Zuo Lan..."

“I specifically sought out this novel to read. It turns out that ‘February’ is a novel by the writer Rou Shi, which tells the story of intellectuals who are not in control of their own lives and have to submit to others for a penny or two… It is completely consistent with Yu Zecheng’s situation.”

Gong Ying commented after her sister's comment: "Yu Zecheng has wronged Zuo Lan so much. I don't know how Zuo Lan could have fallen for Yu Zecheng, and Yu Zecheng even caused Zuo Lan's death on the spot... It seems that people who like Yu Zecheng never have a good ending!"

Gong Xue disliked her sister's unfounded comments: "Zuo Lan is Yu Zecheng's comrade, and this comradeship goes beyond personal feelings."

Gong Ying shook her head: "I don't like this kind of plot where women become the price of men's growth."

Gong Xue was greatly surprised. She thought her younger sister was perceptive and wasn't just talking nonsense, but she also felt there was something fishy going on: "Don't you also like Yu Qie? Why don't you think his writing is acceptable?"

“I have never liked Yu Qie. I only started liking him because you like him—I am not Yu Qie’s appendage!”

These words were spoken publicly in the book club, and the other actors were all visibly shaken.

Then came several local literary review magazines. Shanghai Literature was the first to be targeted. Li Ziyun, the editor-in-chief of its fiction section and one of the organizers of the Hangzhou conference, said: "There is no need to analyze the techniques of this novel now, because it was written by Yu Qie. He is a lecturer on techniques at the Academy of Literature, and we all learned from him."

"What truly surprised me was that Yu Qie truly understood the meaning of faith. Xie Ruolin had faith, which was money; Yu Zecheng had faith from the beginning, and he stated it directly, that he believed in love... The author doesn't explicitly state which faith is more powerful, leaving it to the reader to judge."

“I’ll just tell you one story here. In the Zhazidong prison, the secret agents tortured the underground party members in every way possible, but to no avail. The day before the execution, they discovered that the underground party members were still holding a democratic evaluation meeting to study the spirit of the party… The secret agents finally panicked and said, ‘I can never beat them.’ Faith is something more precious than life and death!”

Soon, the novel's influence extended beyond literary circles.

The Guangming Daily published an article titled "A Question of Faith: A Message to Adults":

"The most valuable thing about this novel is that Yu Qie has listed a variety of human beings... What are old things, what are new things, why the old should go away, and why the new should replace them. There is no slogan, only the real feelings of each time."

"At the end of this episode, Yu Zecheng sees Zuo Lan's body, yet he doesn't even show a trace of sadness, because he's in enemy territory. We can infer that in this silent moment, Yu Zecheng has become a true warrior, and Yu Qie must have a grand plan for him!"

(End of this chapter)