Literary Master 1983

Chapter 265 Open Ending
An excited Wang Anyi plans to write her experiences in New York into a novel and send it back to China.

"The lurking story has an indescribable magic; it truly interprets the topic of 'faith.' Every character in the story has faith—faith in money, faith in officialdom, faith in living a good life… It is a love letter from the old era written for modern Chinese people. Even those who are not interested have to admit that Yu Zecheng is a noble warrior and admire his character!"

The first person to see this article was another writer living in the United States, Yan Geling (Fanghua).

In fact, the reason this group of Chinese female writers were able to go to the United States for exchanges was initially achieved through an academic invitation from Yan Geling, who worked at her American university. Yan Geling, from a high-ranking family, had also written novels in the "scar literature" style and had settled in the United States early on. Fundamentally, she clearly does not approve of Yu Qie's current work, *Lurking*, nor does she approve of Yu Zecheng.

She heard that Wang Anyi hadn't done any proper research after coming to the United States, but instead was busy introducing mainland spy novels abroad. She said with dissatisfaction, "Wang Anyi, you've picked up the sesame seeds and lost the watermelon. Your first priority in coming to the United States is to learn about the trends in world literature, and your second priority is to make some connections with celebrities—the poet Bei Dao is studying in the United States now, and there are many famous people from Taiwan here. You shouldn't waste your time."

"Third, you should introduce outstanding writers from mainland China to the United States. Our literary scene is very lively right now, but others don't know anything about it or acknowledge it. If we don't go abroad, people won't know how good we are, and we ourselves won't know either."

After hearing this, Wang Anyi quieted down for a while; she didn't want to offend Yan Geling. The mainland academic community, newly established abroad, was extremely weak. Many ostensibly official study tours and exchanges were actually organized by individual professors and celebrities using their influence.

Offending this person is tantamount to cutting off that path.

Unexpectedly, her husband called her from overseas again. During this three-minute call, the novel *Lurking* was mentioned. Wang Anyi will never forget this day!
Because transoceanic calls are extremely expensive, her husband wrote down everything he wanted to say on slips of paper and rehearsed it many times.

"An Yi, do you need money? I can send you some."

"unnecessary."

"An Yi, here are some home appliances and reference books that I hope you can bring back to China from the United States. I'll read them to you one by one. They are a Sanyo tape recorder, a Siemens refrigerator..."

"I know it all."

"..."

Her husband spoke faster and faster, becoming increasingly anxious. The call, originally scheduled for three minutes, ended far ahead of schedule.

After realizing this, both of them paused for a couple of seconds during the call. Wang Anyi said, "We still have some time. Do you have anything interesting to share with me?"

Her husband blurted out, "Lurking! Yu Zecheng!"

Wang Anyi immediately exclaimed as if struck by lightning: "I saw it too! I saw it too!"

She couldn't help but scream, and tears streamed down her face.

Before hanging up the phone, the couple didn't use their usual sweet words to say goodbye. Instead, they imitated code names from espionage: "Comrade Emei Peak (Yu Zecheng's early code name), the organization awaits your return! We wish you safety!"

"Received, Emei Peak will definitely return safely!"

Emboldened by that phone call, Wang Anyi, disregarding everything else, began recommending the novel *Lurking* to the local Chinese community. Yan Geling, unable to bear it any longer, called her over and said, "Yu Qie is indeed a good writer. Even if you want to promote him, you should promote novels with universal value like *Happy Hunting* and *Little Shoes*..."

Wang Anyi offered no explanation, but instead placed the two issues of Harvest magazine serializing "Lurking" on Yan Geling's page. "You can talk about it after you've read them."

After finishing reading these novels over several nights, Yan Geling called Wang Anyi over again. This time, she sighed and said, "These novels are indeed well-written, and I was quite moved by them, but you must always remember, while Yu Zecheng is good, our world doesn't have a thousand Yu Zechengs, but rather nine hundred and ninety-nine Xie Ruolins, Station Chief Wu, and others..."

"We live in an era in which Yu Zecheng has gradually left us."

Ultimately, Wang Anyi wrote about her experiences during her exchange in the United States and the popularity of "Lurking" in an article and sent it back to China.

This news once again sparked widespread reposting in China, with critics using "studies from everyday life" to recall the novel's unparalleled popularity:
Excellent novels can transcend national borders, and the commercial elements in "Lurking" are enough to make it appreciated by readers in other countries.

Li Ziyun, a local editor in Shanghai, commented: "Just as Conan Doyle's Chinese readers may not know Baker Street or be familiar with London in the steam age, it doesn't stop them from liking Sherlock Holmes and Watson."

The publisher behind Harvest magazine was Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House. They realized that since Lurker could be liked by Chinese people, he would naturally be liked by people in Eastern Europe, Korea, and even South Vietnam. Ba Jin's series of works were published all over the world and he was known as a "traveler," including in Russia and Eastern Europe.

Yu Qie's "Children of Heaven" has become very popular in Central Asia and other places, which has already shown his potential.

Yu Qie's novels are popular in Japan and hard to find in Southeast Asia, but surprisingly, they haven't gained much traction in the "big brother" country where he should be reading his novels the most. This isn't because his writing is bad, but because there were substantial physical barriers to entry.

Novels from mainland China cannot be published in Big Brother's country, while Big Brother's novels are shelved for many years. This situation only began to change last year.

Last year, Zhang Li and Chen Xiaoxu stayed in Yuqie for a long time and saw a TV series imported from the Soviet Union, which happened to be a sign of a turning point in their relationship.

We're always the ones looking at others; it's time for others to look at us!
Therefore, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Literature and Art commissioned top translators to translate the novel *Lurking* word for word. The usual fee for translating a novel is one to two yuan per thousand words, but this time it rose to two yuan and fifty cents. A group of translators fiercely competed for the translation job of *Lurking*.

Many writers who had previously interacted with Yu Qie contacted him, hoping he would give them the opportunity. Yu Qie then realized, "Wow, there are so many people in the literary world who can speak Russian!"

He only knows a little Japanese and Spanish; he really can't compare to these people.

Yu Qie's editor in "October" was Zhang Shouren, a Russian language expert whose main job was as a translator. He made a special trip to Shanghai to find Yu Qie.

After knocking on the door and entering, Zhang Shouren said, "Yu Qie, I've come here... Oh dear, why do you have two girls here!"

you do not say!

Gong Ying and Gu Zilinuer, like spies, would come in every now and then to offer their concern and care.

Zhang Shouren happened to catch them.

Unashamed, they introduced themselves: "I am an actress from the Shanghai Film Studio, Gong Ying (Guzilinur)."

Zhang Shouren couldn't help but frown: Back then, he and Wang Meng came to Shanghai to visit the writer Zhang Xian. They were preparing to commend the writer on behalf of the Writers Association, but his wife complained to them about his infidelity, which made the two of them very embarrassed.

Wang Meng, the chairman of the Writers Association, had seen many such things and didn't take them seriously. However, the veteran editor Zhang Shouren was greatly shocked. As an editor, he kept quiet until after Zhang Xian's death when he wrote about these things in an article.

Regardless, Zhang Shouren came to ask Yu Qie for help.

He said, “Yuqie, our relations with our big brother in the north have improved, and the fact that your novel ‘Children of Heaven’ has reached Central Asia is proof of that. When the film was shown in the Czech Republic, some people brought pirated copies of the novel to watch it… which shows that you can publish the book here.” Yuqie understood Zhang Shouren’s meaning, of course, and also intended to entrust this task to him.

Russians would certainly enjoy this kind of novel; they have a philosophy of suffering. The whole society praises "martyrs" and "ascetics," a unique cultural aesthetic rarely seen in the world.

Yu Qie said, "I trust you to handle this."

Zhang Shouren immediately burst into laughter: "I'm going to benefit too. Although it hasn't been published yet, I can already see the grand occasion."

This is true.

When Yu Qie finished writing the third part and was preparing to come up with a good ending for "Lurking", he received a special gift from the address of the editorial department of "October".

Two bottles of top-quality red wine and $50,000. This gift was brought by a North Korean diplomatic official in China at the time.

The editorial department of "October" was immediately in an uproar:

Why $50,000?

"Could it be the money Yu Qie donated for the 'Spring Rain Action'?"

"Yu Qie actually donated so much... and others gave a lot too!"

"Not much, not much. This is a one-off deal, meaning there won't be any more copyright fees after this."

"—Isn't that a loss? Isn't North Korea quite developed? They're capable of using people's resources without paying them?"

"There's nothing we can do about the loss. Can you ask them for money back? They even kidnapped the director, you know? It's like a magic trick! I heard that a female director was 'invited' there, crying and saying that she and her husband had separated and could not reunite... Then, out of kindness, they 'invited' the director's husband as well."

"Isn't this a reunion? If you want a reunion, I'll give you one."

"Go if you want to have this kind of reunion. They're too kind-hearted, they're practically radiant, I can't stand it."

……

Of course, the $50,000 didn't end up in their hands; it was exchanged for local currency. Yu Qie was truly a master at earning foreign exchange. As for the two bottles of red wine, Zhang Shouren, who frequently traveled between the two cities, managed to bring them from the capital to Shanghai. One bottle was given to Mr. Ba, and the other was shared between Yu Qie and Zhang Shouren.

"cheers!"

Yu Qie and Zhang Shouren, like oxen devouring peonies, finished off a whole bottle of French red wine in one night. This leader of the neighboring country was probably an artistic youth, who once remarked, "If I hadn't become xxx, I should be a film director," and so on.

Not only that, he actually directed the film "The Flower Girl," which was very popular throughout mainland China and truly possessed artistic aesthetics.

Zhang Shouren felt this matter was too abstract: "I'm not surprised that he got his hands on 'Lurking' from somewhere, since your novels are pirated everywhere... What I find strange is why you sent him French red wine, or even a piece of Korean ginseng."

Yu Qie, of course, knew what was going on. Sending red wine meant the person drank a lot; he had a nickname, "the wine connoisseur." The original timeline of the TV series "Lurking" was also introduced to North Korea, becoming a national phenomenon. Yu Zecheng was an idol who influenced a generation; almost everyone knew him.

This is just happening again, nothing strange about it.

Zhang Shouren then discussed how to arrange the ending: "This is a difficult matter. Historically, most of the underground party members who went to Taiwan sacrificed their lives; but we are a story, and such an arrangement would be too cruel; if Yu Zecheng continues to thrive and continue to be an underground party member, and is given special cultivation, it would go against history, making the Kuomintang seem like they are worse than pigs and dogs, and that they have not learned their lesson... It's difficult, really difficult!"

What's so difficult?
The original ending is like this: Yu Zecheng and Wanqiu get married in Taiwan and continue to work as underground party members. Cuiping is pregnant with Yu Zecheng's child and holds the child alone in the Taihang Mountains, gazing southeast. However, there is not a trace of smile in Yu Zecheng and Wanqiu's wedding photo, and the photo is also black and white.

It actually implies that they must have sacrificed themselves.

Yu Qie said, "Why not just have an open ending? Yu Zecheng was indeed taken to Taiwan, but Station Chief Wu embezzled a large sum of money and sent him to Hong Kong to work as a business manager, moving from politics to business. Maybe one of the entrepreneurs who invested in the mainland after the reform and opening up was the original 'Yu Zecheng'!"

"You mean, Yu Zecheng faked his death?" Zhang Shouren asked in surprise. "How could that be? Who could possibly cooperate?"

"Station Chief Wu."

"Station Chief Wu is helping Yu Zecheng too? Yu Zecheng! Tell me why?" Zhang Shouren asked anxiously. "Could it be that there were some clues buried in the beginning of the novel that I didn't see? Why is Station Chief Wu cooperating with him?"

The staff dormitory at the Shanghai Film Studio was the Khrushchev Building, a brick building with extremely poor soundproofing. Zhang Shouren's voice was quite penetrating in the darkness, but Yu Qie suddenly became mysterious, pondering how to arrange things.

Unexpectedly, this pause brought an eerie silence to the air, as if many people were holding their breath. Suddenly, his dormitory door creaked open with an unbearable groan.

"Who is it? Please come in!" Yu Qie said.

"Locked~ It's locked~" came from outside the door.

Zhang Shouren quickly went to open the door, and sure enough, it was the Gong sisters, Gong Xue and Gong Ying, along with Gu Zilinuer. They looked extremely embarrassed: "We didn't mean to come and eavesdrop." They then started blaming each other, with Gong Ying saying, "It's all Gu Zilinuer's fault for standing at the door! I saw that my sister hadn't come back for a long time, and I was worried about her, so I came over too."

Gong Xue said, "I saw Guzilinuer here and wondered what she was listening to..."

Guzilinur was the most embarrassed. She said, "I live right next to you. The soundproofing in this dormitory is not good. I get so engrossed in the story, but I can never hear it clearly... so I... so I put it on the door."

It turned out they were all there to listen to a novel.

This incident deeply moved Yu Qie, reminding him of something Ma Shitu had told him—during the Republic of China era, entertainment was scarce. In a teahouse, if someone launched into a particularly impressive story, the entire teahouse would fall silent, everyone craning their ears to listen.

If someone can consistently achieve this effect, the teahouse owner will waive their tea fee and offer them melon seeds and candied fruit, hoping they will come often.

Zhang Shouren stroked his chin, thinking to himself: Yu Qie is indeed different from Zhang Xian. He doesn't deceive others with sweet words, but with real skills.

(End of this chapter)