Literary Master 1983

Chapter 271 International Writing Exchange
Yu Qie was also surprised when he saw Guan Moye's "apology letter".

Guan Moye is a man who can apologize for anything outside of literature. For example, when his novel became popular, his neighbor came to his door and said: "I am clearly a pig butcher, so why did you portray me as someone who skins people?"

Guan Moye felt ashamed and held a banquet to apologize to his neighbors.

Some people criticized Guan Moye for his ugly appearance, and Guan Moye sincerely apologized. After Guan Moye became famous, he held a calligraphy exhibition and was criticized for "writing too ugly". He apologized again and rarely wrote calligraphy for others after that.

However, he never apologized for his novels. He would rather stop writing and retire from the literary circle than apologize "literarily." However, his first apology was given to Yu Qie in person in front of many friends; the second was published in newspapers.

So Yu Qie was very surprised.

Holy crap! Is "Lurking" really so well-written that even Guan Moye was impressed?
Yu Hua, a mutual friend of the two, wrote a letter to Yu Qie: "Guan Moye is a very contradictory person, and he lives a very unclear life. On the one hand, he weeps for the revolutionary epic, and on the other hand, he always doubts whether all of this is just an artistic interpretation. He longs to write a spy novel like 'Lurking' to praise the beauty of faith, but he just can't write it. When you do write it, he reads it with great enthusiasm."

This reminded Yu Qie of an interview he had with Guan Moye, a judge, when spy novels won the Mao Dun Literature Prize in the new century.

I thought Guan Moye was going to offer some critical opinions. Unexpectedly, Guan Moye expressed his love for revolutionary spy novels and hoped that he could also write a decent spy novel.

Humans are truly complex.

In November, Yu returned to the capital.

The person who came to pick him up was the poet Liu Shahe, who was Ma Shitu's colleague at the Sichuan Provincial Writers Association. Liu Shahe was younger than Ma Shitu, only in his fifties this year. Liu Shahe's pen name was Liu Shahe, and his real name was also Liu Shahe.

In the 1930s, Liu Shahe was still surnamed Yu, and he was related to Yu Qie. Liu Shahe decided to write poetry. At that time, there was a very famous writer named "Liu Sha". So, he had to change his pen name to "Liu Shahe". In the 1950s, the Daily published an article calling for the governance of Liu Shahe in Hebei Province, titled "Resolutely Fight Against Liu Shahe"... which almost scared him to death. He thought they were going to target him, but it turned out to be a false alarm.

After that, Liu Shahe inexplicably started writing "Liu Shahe" on his ID card, which became his real name.

When Yu Qie saw Liu Shahe, he thought of Guan Moye. Both men were similarly "foolish," but they were lucky enough to avoid making any major mistakes. Liu Shahe was even luckier than Guan Moye in that his "foolishness" led him to become a figure of friendship between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait by chance.

Liu Shahe was the founder of the poetry journal *Stars*, and his status in the poetry world was legendary. Two years after *Stars* resumed publication in 82, Liu Shahe suddenly decided to introduce Taiwanese poets to mainland readers: Yu Guangzhong, Luo Fu, Zheng Chouyu, and other Taiwanese poets thus came into the view of mainland audiences.

This was difficult to explain logically at the time; Liu Shahe almost single-mindedly did it.

The magazine ran for twelve issues, one per issue, introducing twelve poets from Taiwan. Liu Shahe quickly became a symbol of friendship and enjoyed a high reputation on the island. Although there were still two years before the official thawing of relations between Taiwan and the mainland, academic exchanges had already begun, and relations were quite cordial. Liu Shahe and Yu Guangzhong wrote letters, expressing their patriotism through private correspondence, which were both published in the magazine.

Yu Guangzhong was deeply moved when he saw himself being introduced to the mainland, and wrote "The Cricket's Song": "Is it the one that escaped in my childhood? Forty years have passed, and it has come back to call me?"

Upon reading it, Liu Shahe immediately wrote a poem titled "That Cricket": "That cricket, with steel wings flapping in the golden wind, leaped across the strait, quietly descending from the sky above the island, landing in your yard... beside Mulan's loom... in Jiang Kui's poem... heard by laborers, heard by women longing for their husbands."

Regardless of the quality of the poem, the idea is quite good.

Their poetry duets have been selected for use in mainland Chinese language textbooks.

His visit to pick up Yu Qie this time was actually related to this. Liu Shahe said, "Did your teacher mention to you that 'Lurking' is very popular in Taiwan? The authorities originally wanted to control this novel, but it is just too popular, and the serialized version has spread everywhere. Now that your standalone edition is out, I think people in Taiwan will definitely buy it."

"Teacher Ma mentioned it to me."

“It’s like this, Yu Guangzhong, do you know? My friend from Taiwan has also read your novels…” At this point, Liu Shahe suddenly became excited, “You actually have many fans in Taiwan, and many writers who admire you! Although there are some who don’t like you, it doesn’t matter much. Everyone is eager to communicate with you.”

Yu asked, "Which writers are mentioned?"

"Lin Qingxuan, Li Ao, Yu Guangzhong... these people."

These people are indeed quite good; they frequently appear in Chinese reading comprehension questions. They are not on good terms with the current Taiwanese government, but they are not at the point of being wanted by the authorities. It seems that they can be contacted.

Let alone them, even Wen Ruian, the author of "Against the Tide," was wanted by the police, but it didn't affect anything.

Yu Qie thought it was alright: "When and where?"

“Next year, there will be an international writing conference at the University of Iowa in the United States. Yu Guangzhong will be there, and he has written to invite you to attend.”

International Writing Exchange Conference?
The name sounded familiar, but Yu Qie couldn't quite place it for a moment.

But then, when Liu Shahe mentioned "Wang Anyi" and "Nie Hualing," Yu Qie immediately remembered.

This writing exchange has been viewed with mixed reviews in later generations. It was an exchange project funded by an American foundation, and the participating writers were very famous at the time, but they rarely mentioned it afterward.

Nie Hualing is an anarchist who married an old white man. She is also a Chinese liberal. She injects too much of her own ideas into the exchange program and especially likes to promote the plot of "enemies becoming friends". Sometimes she specially invites those hostile writers to exchange ideas and promote their personal friendship in order to express that "the love of literature transcends national borders".

Two writers who were originally enemies ended up becoming a couple and having a child after coming to her. When the exchange program ended, they had to return to their respective countries and had to give the child to Nie Hualing to raise. Nie Hualing didn't see this as a tragedy, but rather as an achievement.

The public's stereotypical impression of those who engage in wild and unrestrained criticism in the literary world is related to these eccentric individuals.

This is a hot potato that you absolutely mustn't touch!

Yu Qie refused outright. "I heard this program takes too long, six months to a year, and I don't have that much time." Liu Shahe was quite disappointed and said, "The University of Iowa is a top-tier university in the United States, ranking among the best in the country for writing. How could you not take such an opportunity?"

Yu Qie laughed and said, "If it really comes down to going to America, I will naturally have a way to go gracefully."

“Nie Hualing is no ordinary person. She made a name for herself in the United States a long time ago. Don’t underestimate her just because she’s a female writer. When we go to the United States now, no matter which faction we belong to, we have to visit her. Even writers from Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union do the same.”

Yu Qie said, "She is formidable, but how does she compare to Marquez?"

Seeing that he said that, Liu Shahe had no choice but to give up.

Liu Shahe is the vice chairman of the Sichuan Provincial Writers Association and is currently staying at a guesthouse under the association's name. Yu Qie followed him to retrieve the flag that Ma Shitu had given him: five stars were placed at the four corners and in the middle, with the corners of the four smaller stars on the sides aligned with the large star in the middle.

This was embroidered overnight by the underground Communist Party members in Zhazidong. They learned about the news from the capital and the design of the national flag, and accidentally embroidered a "wrong" one.

Yu Qie held up the flag, overwhelmed with mixed emotions.

What he originally needed to see in a museum has now become his private collection. Liu Shahe said, "Your teacher values ​​this flag highly. He usually doesn't let anyone see it or bring it to other places. I never expected that he would give it to you."

Yu Qie said, "This is a sacred object of my sect, and I will treat it with utmost care in the future!"

------

At the end of 85, two major events occurred in the art world.

One is the publication and completion of Yu Qie's novel "Lurking," which became a pioneering work of contemporary spy novels. Its innovative combination with fun games made the novel even more popular, not only in mainland China, but also in neighboring Japan and Southeast Asia.

A group of left-wing writers translated the novel into their respective languages, and Yu Zecheng's charisma indeed transcended national borders. Subsequently, countless novels were created in imitation of characters like Yu Zecheng. Children saw it as an interesting adventure and game, while adults saw it as the story of an intellectual who initially had no interest in politics, but was forced to participate and ultimately persevered in his beliefs for life.

It evokes the image of ordinary people swept along by the tides of history, a feeling of being helpless yet forced to desperately go against the current... Many people share this sentiment.

The character Yu Zecheng is also considered to be the character that Yu Qie has played most like himself so far. Literary theorists have been looking for evidence, and there is a scene in the book where Yu Zecheng says to Cuiping, "You are just like Lin Daiyu."

Considering that Yu Qie's real-life fiancée is an actress in the "Dream of the Red Chamber" drama series, it's hard not to think that Yu Qie has planted an "Easter egg".

Of course, Zhang Li and Chen Xiaoxu would probably have different feelings if they saw this scene.

The novel was recorded as a radio drama by the host of CCTV's "Lianbo" program, becoming the second large-scale continuous radio drama after "Da Sa Ba". The male narrator "Zhao Zhongxiang" in the drama used a deep and magnetic tone to give the novel a strange "documentary" feel, which was surprisingly appropriate, as if it had really happened. At that time, the business department responsible for contacting overseas Chinese businessmen received a large number of letters from the public, hoping that they would "be good to Yu Zecheng after finding him".

Some people even blocked the entrance to the commerce department, crying out, "We've already reformed and opened up, why should Yu Zecheng suffer? Let him come back!"

Even the foreigners in the Hong Kong British government who understood Chinese were shocked when they saw this book: "Damn! So the mainland has been planting spies in the Chamber of Commerce all along. This Yu Zecheng has guns, brains, speaks English, and knows Morse code. How can we possibly outmaneuver him!"

Patriotic businessman Huo Yingdong was a fan of Yu Qie's books. During his visit to the mainland, after arriving in the capital, he met with Qiao Gong, and the group played bridge. In the midst of the pleasant atmosphere, he suddenly couldn't contain himself and asked, "I have a question that might be a mistake, but I really want to know..."

"What do you want to know? If you can tell me, I'll tell you."

"Is there really a Yu Zecheng on our side?"

Qiao Gong and the others exchanged glances and couldn't help but burst into laughter: "Well, I don't know either. You'll probably have to ask Yu Qie."

In Shenzhen, a city in the south, there was also a middle-aged conman who impersonated Yu Zecheng, a wealthy Hong Kong businessman, and swindled hundreds of thousands of yuan in loans. Fortunately, he was exposed by the real Hong Kong businessman at the last moment before he flew out of Shenzhen. Such incidents occurred repeatedly, to the point that the local government had to issue a document specifically to purchase a batch of Shanghai literary editions of the novel *Lurking* and distribute them to everyone, writing on the first page of the back cover of each book:
Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

The signature is Yu Qie's own name.

It was during the 1980s, a time when cult films were all the rage, and major studios were willing to make anything to sell tickets. When they saw Yu Qie write this "disclaimer," they followed suit and placed it at the beginning of their own films. If any viewers, after watching this film, had any wild thoughts or did anything they shouldn't have, then it was simply a matter of "any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental."

Although the selection process for the new Mao Dun Literature Prize has not yet begun, "Lurking" is already a shoo-in for a spot based on its subject matter and influence. 85 was a golden age for literature, with a new generation of writers emerging like mushrooms after rain, and new themes and stories appearing one after another. Many veteran writers were eliminated, but "Lurking" transcended time and space to win a spot.

The Wenyi Bao (Literary Gazette) held a "Selection of My Favorite Works," and Yu Qie's "Little Shoes," written at the beginning of the year, "Returning to One's Roots," written in the middle of the year, and "Lurking," written at the end of the year, dominated the top three spots in the readers' votes. The editorial department of Wenyi Bao had no choice but to withdraw the selection, saying, "From 1983 to 1985, we have not yet produced a writer who can truly be compared with Yu Qie."

The Writers Association held a meeting in Beijing and announced that it would host the first "Lu Xun Literary Prize" in 1987 to select novels with a word count of 350,000 or more. Since there were not many novels at that time, it was considered an award specifically set up for Yu Qie.

This year, due to inflation and currency depreciation overseas, there was a period of debate in academic circles about whether to continue trade with overseas countries. The southern coastal areas have already opened up and naturally won't suddenly stop, but vast inland areas remain in their previous state.

When officials took office in the mainland, they investigated the economic situation of rural areas and considered whether to open up the region like the southern coastal areas. The Guangming Daily sent a reporter to accompany them throughout the process, preparing to write a report.

A few years ago, this area was one of the poorest in the country. A leader visited several impoverished households, offering words of comfort and concern. He then discovered two young women huddled on the bed, unwilling to get up, because the family only had one pair of trousers. He went to another household, and this time the family had trousers. The leader was sitting on the kang (heated brick bed) talking to the family. However, upon going around to the edge of the kang, he found several children huddled together for warmth, having no trousers…

This impoverished place is now welcoming a new round of inspections. Reporters from the Guangming Daily want to know where the people are spending their money now that they have it.

(End of this chapter)