Literary Master 1983

Chapter 417 The Greatest and the Most Ordinary
"Yuqie, Yuqie!" Zhang Shouren knocked on the door.

With a "whoosh," the door opened, revealing a rugged face.

Yu Qie!

"We only met during the Chinese New Year this year, and in just three or four months, you've gotten so tanned!"

As Zhang Shouren spoke, he unloaded a sack of letters that was tied to the back of his bicycle.

Yu Qie picked up the bag of letters with one hand and replied, "I've been traveling around a lot lately, going to the front lines to offer my condolences, and I'm also intensifying my training."

"What to practice?"

"Marksmanship! Bayonet! Hand-to-hand combat!" Yu Qie rolled up his sleeves.

This made Zhang Shouren notice Yu Qie's arm.

“Your arms are too thick, almost as thick as some skinny people’s thighs! The last time I saw someone this strong was when I saw Feng Jicai in Youth Literature.”

Feng Jicai was once a professional basketball player for the Tianjin team, and he was nearly two meters tall! He was known as a "giant in the literary (painting) world".

"That's still incomparable; his bones are a whole size bigger than mine."

Zhang Shouren couldn't help but chuckle: he couldn't quite understand why a writer would need to develop such a muscular physique.

Mainland writers are generally short and thin. When Feng Jicai visited Britain for the first time in 81, he shocked British writers—he was completely different from other mainland writers.

Therefore, every time they went abroad after that, the delegation always wanted to bring Feng Jicai along, because he represented the "high standard" of the mainland literary scene and could make everyone look good.

However, Feng Jicai was always brought up to save face, which eventually affected his creative work.

Perhaps Yu Qie just likes to go abroad and make a name for himself?

Zhang Shouren thought to himself.

He first saw the Audi and Santana parked there.

After entering Yu Qie's house, he discovered that all the things Yu Qie used to like—motorcycles, multi-speed bicycles, and even the angular Japanese game consoles in the house—had been thrown into the storage room.

Chen Xiaoxu was busy at the foundation, leaving only Yu Qie and Zhang Li, who had difficulty moving around, at home.

Zhang Li was heavily pregnant, and Zhang Shouren understood everything at a glance.

"Are you about to give birth? When is the expected date?"

"In June, he was born a big, healthy boy."

"Weren't you going south?"

"Yes! I named him Yu Houqi, but how about Yu Zhennan? The day he was born is just too coincidental."

Zhang Shouren was overwhelmed with emotion: "I've finally seen you become a father! You've become so mature! If Editor Wang were still alive, he would be very gratified."

"Was I not steady before?" Yu Qie asked with a smile.

"Oh! Very composed!" Zhang Li winked at him, then gave a seemingly dissatisfied snort. She then left the room.

The door was closed, leaving only Zhang Shouren and Yu Qie.

"I have two things to discuss with you: one is the personnel changes within the company, and the other is about your novel."

"Why are you asking me about your personnel changes? You're not going to... make me attend a meeting, are you?"

Zhang Shouren gave him a strange look.

“You are the soul of our magazine, October. Besides, this year, it’s become harder to run a fiction magazine than before… With the royalty system about to be implemented, it’s hard to get a manuscript from a famous writer even for twenty yuan. The younger generation of writers all recognize you and submitted their work to our magazine because of you. It’s not just the manuscript fee that’s the incentive.”

Upon hearing this, Yu Qie had a strange feeling: since entering the literary world, he had always been known for his great achievements at a young age. Now, the time had finally come when all the "seedlings" of the literary world were smaller than Yu Qie.

“I’m getting old,” Yu Qie said.

"You're only twenty-five, what's so old about you? We're the ones who are truly old."

“When I teach at Yenching University, everyone in the audience is much younger than me. You know, there are some child prodigies at Yenching University who are 15 or 16 years old, and when they come to my class… I really feel old.”

"You're not old."

"Do you know my friend Nie Weiping? He needs oxygen to play chess now. He gets dizzy from calculating so much, and he can't beat those up-and-coming players."

“Writing novels is different, Yu Qie,” Zhang Shouren said with a smile, shaking his head and not arguing with him.

Then he asked, "What do you think about Chen Dongjie being appointed as the head of the novel group?"

"Do I really have to give my opinion?" Yu Qie asked somewhat seriously.

Your opinion is very important!

The head of the novel group at "October" is a special position.

Due to the magazine's unique nature, the fiction section is actually the most important section. In Yu Qie's memory, Chen Dongjie, a graduate of Shandong University, had to endure more than ten years of hardship before becoming the head of the department, but now the company has made him the "heir apparent" ahead of time.

"Why was he the one who was trained?" Yu Qie let slip the answer.

Zhang Shouren wasn't surprised. Instead, he said, "Because everyone thinks Xiao Chen is one of your people. Few of our newly recruited editors have had any contact with you... You're a legendary figure. Chen Dongjie is not only a semi-expert in Yu Xue studies, but also has a deep understanding of the publishing industry."

"I also have a good relationship with Luo Yihe, so why isn't Luo Yihe taking over?"

"Luo Yihe is the son of a high-ranking official, and his conditions are too good. He only wants to devote himself to modern poetry."

"Okay, I have no objection."

With just a few words, Chen Dongjie's progress was evident.

Another thing was that Zhang Shouren was writing literary reviews. Besides being an editor, he was also a well-known Russian literature researcher and a "Turgenev expert."

"The Battle of Laoshan," a medium-length novel, possessed the grandeur of a masterpiece, greatly intriguing Zhang Shouren. He was itching to write something and sought Yu Qie's advice.

Yu Qie read Zhang Shouren's first draft: Wow! It's surprisingly insightful.

Zhang Shouren believes that military novels have undergone several transformations, marked by Li Cunbao's "Garland at the Foot of the Mountain." The past was the old military novel, and the present is the new "military novel."

Yu Qie's military trilogy solidified the foundation of the new school of military novels and represented the pinnacle of this genre.

This is a commentary that establishes his status.

"Okay, that's a very insightful comment. I support you, feel free to post it."

This commentary was subsequently published in the *Literary Gazette*. Due to its insightful nature, it was quickly reprinted by several other publications.

At the front lines, in the rear camps where the troops were resting, the soldiers opened newspapers and magazines.

The new cohort of writers at the Academy of Literature also turned to newspapers and magazines.

The central government and its long-time advocates for speaking out on social issues have also seen this commentary.

…How did Liang Sanxi come to be? In the spring of 79, writer Li Cunbao lived and ate with the soldiers on the front lines for four months. He heard a story: a company officer who had enlisted from the countryside had accumulated a lot of debt since joining the army due to extreme poverty at home. Before going to the battlefield, he wrote a letter to his wife at home, hoping that after his death, his pension would be used to pay off his debts, and that she would think more about the country's difficulties and not ask the organization for help… Before the story was even finished, Li Cunbao was already in tears.

"He came back and cried to me, and that comrade became the prototype for Liang Sanxi's family in 'Wreaths at the Foot of the Mountain.' After several revisions, I immediately understood the enormous changes the novel had brought about, which were simply unprecedented. In the past, writers always ignored the intricate connections between military life and the whole society, resulting in a narrow vision and an isolated 'military camp' literature, as if they lived in a utopia... From that day on, military literature was truly liberated!"

"But Li Cunbao was far from reaching the pinnacle of literature, and soon we welcomed a new revolutionary! He arrived shouting the slogan 'We are together!'"

Although it's early summer, Xiyuan is still cool and pleasant. It rained yesterday, and there are fallen leaves and stagnant water stains on the road.

"Wow!"

A car drove across the pond. Shortly after, several people got out of the car and hurriedly turned into the yard.

“—Mr. Qiao, Mr. Qiao!” a comrade whispered.

"what happened?"

"These are today's major newspapers and news articles. There's a literary review that I personally found very insightful..."

"Okay, you can put it here for now."

Qiao Gong changed his clothes and looked at the article titled "Revolutionaries of Military Literature." The author was an editor named Zhang Shouren, who had collaborated with many famous writers.

In his commentary, he vehemently criticized past "military literature," arguing that it suffered from the following main shortcomings:
Blind optimism.

A perfect and ideal character.

And the "single aesthetic feature" resulting from the former two.

Simply put, these articles never treat the soldiers as "people." They all seem to have the same personality, capable of charging bravely at a single command—though there have certainly been such people, and quite a few at that.

However, not all the people on the front lines are such perfect figures.

Just as Yu Qie met with the soldiers of the "Sharp Knife Company" again and found that many of them had gone into business, the previous military literature actually only affirmed the most glorious side of the soldiers and used them as role models to shape them.

This person's sense of right and wrong and values ​​have been ignored, which is not only inconsistent with the actual situation on the front line, but also loses its propaganda significance to society.

If readers cannot empathize with the story, then society cannot inspire greater affirmation of the soldiers.

This is natural.

Why do military units always tirelessly organize writing workshops?

It's not just about giving soldiers a pressure relief valve, but also about shaping the image of soldiers for society.

Qiao Gong frowned, but then his brows relaxed and he read softly, “The letter from my fiancée is a new peak in military literature. Four years later, we see the bloody battle of Laoshan again. The author describes in detail the motivations and family backgrounds of each person and explores deeper social connotations.”

"We thus understand that greatness does not lie in godlike figures, but in ordinary people like us who chose to defend their country and fight to the death."

"The greatest and the most ordinary."

Qiao Gong slapped his thigh: That's a great point!

The greatest, and the most ordinary!

Everything else is too formal and cumbersome! This one sentence is enough!

Isn't that exactly right?

This review in the *Literary Gazette* is excellent! It clearly explains why Yu Qie's military fiction is so popular. Fundamentally, he is creating novels of a new dimension, and naturally, he aims to deliver a devastating blow to past military fiction!
This is still the writer's insight—seemingly on the battlefield, but actually in the thoughts outside the battlefield.

Although Qiao Gong enjoyed reading novels, he did not like reading literary criticism. Moreover, he did not like traditional novels and preferred popular novels with exciting plots, such as martial arts novels.

He had read "The Fiancée's Letter" and "The Garland at the Foot of the Mountain" and was very satisfied with them.

These novels are nothing like those literary works.

And now there is a novel that represents a "new height" - "The Battle of Laoshan"!
Several of his old friends found him here and invited him to play cards. But they found him holding a book and reading. "I'm not playing cards anymore, I'm not playing today."

"Really not going to fight?"

"Stop playing."

Two or three hours later, his medic forced him to let go, and he reluctantly raised his head.

This novel is more than just a new achievement; it's a masterpiece, a collection of many "letters from my fiancée." Every character is vividly portrayed, with distinct strengths and weaknesses... and these imperfect individuals form an indestructible collective.

He summoned someone and gave them detailed instructions... In mid-May, an unprecedented honor appeared.

Regulars at the bridge games bought two thousand copies of the novel at their own expense and donated them to the soldiers at the front. This created a strong "Laoshan" craze in the military and society at large.

The soldiers praised Yu, saying that he had captured their own experiences. Wang Meng then convened a discussion meeting, where she fully affirmed Yu's achievement as a "new height in military literature."

This is yet another title for Yu Qie.

Countless people are waiting for the ending of "The Battle of Laoshan".

At this time, Yu Qie also set off for the south. He attended his last literature class of the first half of the year at Yenching University.

Yenching University's Chinese Department organized a series of writer training courses. These emerging writers in their early twenties attended classes, ate, and lived together with the Chinese Department students. Yu Qie noticed that their articles frequently mentioned Márquez and Yu Qie, but rarely mentioned Shen Congwen.

Shen Congwen had only been dead for two months, and it was as if he had vanished from the world.

If Shen Congwen were still alive, Old Shen might find this state to be quite to his liking.

The world now belongs to Yu Qie. No one is causing trouble for Shen Congwen, nor is anyone praising him.

Do you know Shen Congwen? What do you think of his literary achievements?

Students, who pay attention to the literary scene, immediately said, "He's not a perfect person," and "He wrote about his simple life amidst the mainstream ideology"... These were the words Yu Qie used to "define" Shen Congwen a few months ago.

Yu Qie was very disappointed: "These are all my words! Did you even say anything of your own?"

The students looked at each other in confusion.

"Then you don't really know Shen Congwen!"

At this moment, Yu Qie understood even more why Shen Congwen was always overlooked.

He was ambitious in his youth, but in his later years he disappeared from the literary scene and was marginalized in the cultural world, so destitute that he could only do cultural relics research.

Although the small town of Fenghuang in "Border Town" will benefit from his writing and transform into a major cultural and tourism city in the future, Shen Congwen has never participated in the most important topics of the times... He has shown a surprisingly consistent escapist attitude in his relationships and career.

As Shen Congwen himself said, he was a third-rate "country bumpkin" who ultimately reaped the bitter fruit of being forgotten.

This is something Yu Qie should be wary of.

On the way to the south, he happened to be traveling the same route as Zhang Zhaohe. During this time, Zhang Zhaohe, Shen Congwen's lover, had come to a realization and decided to send Shen Congwen back to Fenghuang.

Upon hearing about this, Yu Qie also took the time to see Shen Congwen off on his final journey.

(End of this chapter)