Literary Master 1983

Chapter 440 I will win the Nobel Prize for my nation

Internationally, there was so much to happen in 1989. The world's great upheavals were precisely a precious opportunity for a writer like him.

Currently, the Nobel Prize selection mainly considers two aspects: one is purely literary works, which is disadvantageous for writers of less commonly spoken languages ​​and is not easy to succeed in. This is because the subtlety of pure literature is greatly diminished once it is translated.

In the West, the most famous Chinese poet is not Li Bai or Du Fu, but a relatively unknown figure to the Chinese: the Tang Dynasty monk Hanshan.

This person is completely unknown in China; even their birth date and death date are completely unknown!
However, Han Shan was a prominent figure in the West. His relatively simple and straightforward poetry actually made it easier for translators to convey the original meaning, thus his poems were well-received by Westerners!
Another type is grand themes, which Yu Qie happens to excel at.

Finally, Carmen offered her solution: she had called on all her writers, especially those who had won the Nobel Prize, to write Yu Qie's name on the nomination.

This is a little trick to make Yu Qie's name appear multiple times.

At the same time, she was also in contact with the old men at the Swedish Academy, wanting to ensure that they would keep their promises when Yuche accomplished his great feat.

This reminded Yu Qie of Zhu Shengchang, a member of the Mao Dun Literature Prize judging panel.

Yu Qie said, "What if one or two people refuse to vote for us no matter what? They have the right; they just don't appreciate us. Because the Nobel Prize committee is so small, every vote could become a veto at crucial moments!"

Carmen's answer was simple: "Then he would lose the funding of several international publishers forever, and I have guns and bullets. In fact, there are unspoken rules about the Nobel Prize that everyone knows about, and we understand each other! When someone breaks the rules and humiliates me, I have to protect my own reputation."

No wonder Latin America has produced so many Nobel laureates in literature.

So there was a physical threat involved too!

Carmen wasn't referring to shooting the Nobel Prize committee members, of course; she was saying she was willing to go down in flames. She wouldn't let Yu Qie end up like Haruki Murakami in the future, constantly being used for publicity but never receiving the award.

Anyone can ride on Murakami Haruki's back! Rock singers, feminist novelists... these people win awards in front of him, and even if Murakami Haruki eventually gets what he wants, he can hardly be said to have any literary status.

The good news is that sinologist Göran Malmqvist has been elected a member of the Swedish Academy. He studies Southwestern Mandarin and can even speak the Sichuan dialect. His wife is also from Sichuan Province and is the daughter of the former president of Chongqing University.

Among the Nobel Prize committee members, Göran Malmqvist is the only one who truly understands Chinese literature. He could become a key figure in the committee, achieving the same effect as Yu Qie's promotion of Lu Yao.

“We’ve already started, and this is the only thing I’m doing this year,” Carmen said.

In late October, the results of the third Mao Dun Literature Prize were announced as scheduled.

As expected, Yu Qie won the top prize and a cash prize of three thousand yuan. He donated the prize money and announced that he would "never participate in the Mao Dun Literature Prize competition again."

Reporters flocked to the scene, their minds still on the recent Nobel Prize selection. They believed that Yu Qie withdrew because he felt the Nobel Prize selection results were unfair and wanted to withdraw.

This was a sign that he wanted to retire.

This idea is reasonable and in line with human nature. Because Yu Qie is still so young, he can take a break from his career for a while. No one in the world could have predicted that he would go all out instead.

The late Shen Congwen experienced such a period, and he was also one of the Nobel Prize nominees. In the 1940s and 50s, Shen Congwen went through a period of failure in his literary career. He suddenly turned his attention to the study of traditional Chinese clothing, and then he stopped writing novels for decades.

There were ups and downs. Shen Congwen wanted to pick up his novel writing career again, but he found that his inspiration had disappeared and his personality had changed drastically.

Another nominee, Qian Zhongshu, was in the same boat. The TV series adapted from "Fortress Besieged" aired that year. Qian Zhongshu originally intended to write a full-length novel, but it ended up being a game.

Because long-term research can wear down a writer's energy, Qian Zhongshu was ultimately unable to return to a creative state.

Is Yuqie about to begin as well?
For a time, readers paid attention to Yu Qie's response through various channels, whether it was the campus radio station at Yenching University, the employee broadcasts in state-owned factories, or the color television that was emerging in the south.

In this interview, Yu Qie publicly stated: "The Mao Dun Prize is not awarded to writers who have already won it in principle. I broke this tradition, but I should not have a third time!"

The interviewer was Liang Heng from the Guangming Daily. He was a renowned journalist at the time, whose work primarily focused on major social events during the reform and opening-up period. He chose to interview Yu Qie because he believed that "Yu Qie's response" could become one of the major events of the 1980s.

When people are old and frail, they will remember what happened on this day.

“Professor Yu, your answer has touched many people’s hearts. I am also a reader, and I hope you will not disappear from my world.” He asked tentatively.

This probing question received a cheerful reply from Yu Qie: "Of course I won't disappear!"

Then, Yu Qie said, "I want to win the Nobel Prize in Literature for my people, and I will come back."

Yu Qie said many things afterward, but none were as well-known as "winning the Nobel Prize for the nation" and "I will come back." This answer greatly boosted the readers' confidence. Liang Heng wrote in the Guangming Daily:

"Why should one win the Nobel Prize for their nation? Yu Qie told me that Najib Mahfouz is a great writer in the Arab world, and all his novels are written in Arabic, so his success is more difficult and more worthy of praise!"

"He succeeded using his mother tongue, which means that Arabic literature is truly recognized. Yu Qie should also succeed as a Chinese writer, using Chinese characters."
-
The editorial office of "Contemporary" magazine on Chaonei Street.

The editors are all looking at the latest news.

Yu Qie: I will come back!

"I am determined to win the Nobel Prize for our nation!"

"How many newspapers are there now?" someone asked.

Another person replied, "That's the thirty-seventh! Actually, there's no newspaper that hasn't mentioned Teacher Yu. He was answering a reporter's question, but he acted like he had written a great article, which led everyone to reprint it!"

"That's truly a magnificent piece of writing! I will come back! I will win the Nobel Prize for my nation! Besides Professor Yu, who else would dare to say something like that?!"

The editorial staff fell silent for a moment.

Although Yu Qie did not win the Nobel Prize, he gained public sympathy, contrary to what his deputy editor-in-chief Zhu Shengchang had predicted.

Moreover, Yu Qie didn't lose heart; he truly launched his assault on the Nobel Prize. For some reason, the people at *Contemporary* magazine actually believed Yu Qie would succeed. If he did succeed, everyone would be forever infamous.

Editor He Qizhi sighed, "Now we have become the sinners against our nation."

The editors at Contemporary magazine have been feeling lonely lately. People on the first and second floors don't talk to them, and colleagues from People's Literature Publishing House, Oriental Literature Publishing House, and other organizations also give them strange looks when they see them.

Some people even showed expressions of "looking at traitors," which caused the editors great distress. This was not what they had expected.

Why does Deputy Editor-in-Chief Zhu Shengchang believe that Yu Qie's loss of the Nobel Prize will lead to a counterattack?
In September of this year, at the Seoul Olympics, gymnastics prince Li Ning made a mistake, losing several gold medals he had hoped to win. As a result, Li Ning suffered what may be the first instance of cyberbullying in Chinese history, with former sports fans writing letters to insult him and cursing him to die a violent death!

Li Ning once thought he had a lot of die-hard fans, but now he realizes that they are all just gold medal fans! These people only support Li Ning when he wins; Li Ning is just a tool for them to build their confidence.

Unable to bear this huge contrast, Li Ning sadly announced his retirement.

It is clear that Chinese people do not necessarily respect those "great people"!

However, it is now the editorial department of *Contemporary* magazine that is facing a counterattack. There is a large group of book lovers in China who genuinely support Yu Qie; they even dared to question the credibility of Westerners in the face of adversity, which was simply unbelievable in the 1980s.

In the past, this tacit rejection alone would have been enough to drive a person crazy.

Zhu Shengchang couldn't stand it anymore. He angrily said, "Yu Qie hasn't even won the Nobel Prize yet, and everyone already respects him and obeys his orders! What will happen if he wins the Nobel Prize?"

"Shh!" He Qizhi pulled him back. "Keep your voice down, don't let the People's Literature Publishing House hear you."

"So what if the People's Literature Publishing House heard about it? What era are we living in? That kind of thing isn't popular anymore!" Zhu Shengchang said.

“You’re right, but you need to keep your voice down. Otherwise they might report you to Wang Meng and write it into some memoir. Your reputation is already bad enough! Old Zhu, you’ve always been a good person. You shouldn’t be treated like this.”

The People's Literature Publishing House and the editorial office of *Contemporary* magazine were separated by only a wall. They knew each other and often visited each other. This would have been an excellent support base, but in recent years, the key figure in People's Literature Publishing House has been "Wang Meng," and Wang Meng is practically in cahoots with Yu Qie. Now, following the example of the top, the People's Literature Publishing House has isolated them.

"Sigh!" Zhu Shengchang was about to collapse!
He asked Ho Chi-chi, "Are you planning to apologize again? Are you going to write a public apology and publish it in 'October' magazine?"

He Qizhi didn't say yes or no. He only said, "Many people in our company feel that we can apologize."

"Damn it! How can you apologize?!" Zhu Shengchang pleaded earnestly. "Even if we pretended to be dead, it would be better than apologizing! If you apologize, wouldn't that confirm that *Contemporary* is a second-rate magazine? An entire editorial department can't compare to a few articles or slogans from others... We've become someone else's stepping stone! A footnote on their legendary road!"

"Things have come to this point, there's no going back."

Unexpectedly, that afternoon, Qin Yang, the editor-in-chief who had been out of the public eye for a long time, returned and called Zhu Shengchang and Zhou Changyi to his office for a private chat.

what's the topic?

A short while later, Zhu Shengchang and Zhou Changyi came out, their faces ashen.

Qin Yang said, "Xiao Zhou's performance in Lu Yao's novel was poor and far below par. I've made the decision that he should be transferred to the reportage section and will be prohibited from engaging in literary editing for three years."

No one asked why.

Zhou Changyi was just a junior editor. The reason he was able to withstand the pressure was because the deputy editor-in-chief, Zhu Shengchang, protected him.

So, how did Zhu Shengchang handle it?

Qin Yang spoke very politely: "I was on a business trip in Xinjiang Province before. On my way back, I saw several writers from the Southern School expressing their support for Yu Qie. Of course, the most important support came from Ba Jin! It really made me lose face! After I arrived in Beijing, Wang Meng also privately approached me and explained the situation."

"However, what touched me the most was a small bookseller near my home. He cried his heart out because Yu Qie didn't win the Nobel Prize; he was really heartbroken! After a while, he cheered up again, and I asked him why. Just this morning, he gave me the news about Yu Qie!"

"He will come back; he will bring the Nobel Prize to the nation! He has inspired millions of Chinese readers!"

Qin Yang grew increasingly angry as he spoke. Suddenly, he raised his hand and said, "I'm going to organize a vote now to put Lao Zhu in the reportage group as well. He shouldn't be working in the literature group anymore. What do you think?"

After a moment of silence in the editorial office, many people raised their hands while keeping their heads down. Qin Yang could easily see that the number of votes exceeded half.

"Old Zhu...did you see that...?"

After "Ordinary World" won the award, Zhu Shengchang had already anticipated this. He said disappointedly, "You will suffer retribution! Because I stood up for the dignity of everyone at 'Contemporary' magazine!"

"It's not a good thing for writers to outweigh platforms! Today Lu Yao can force you to apologize, and so can Lu Ping! New writers can too! Literary magazines should maintain their style! What you're doing... will only hasten the demise of our literary journals and completely force us editors to become mere supplementary tools! If the skin is gone, what will the hair cling to?"

Zhu Shengchang felt that he had considered it for the sake of "Contemporary".

He rushed out and engaged in such an unequal battle with Yu Qie for the sake of everyone. Unfortunately, his own comrades betrayed him.

Zhu Shengchang gazed once more at his colleagues at *Contemporary* magazine. Together, they had shaped the golden decade of Chinese literature, hoping to create a vast and diverse literary landscape. Instead, they had produced a man who held absolute power! Was this a deep-seated human reverence for authority, or a fear of Yu Qie's retaliation?

Zhu Shengchang would rather be the latter! However, he was dismayed to find in this vote that the former was more likely to win.

So what will happen?
Yu Qie's success is a success for Chinese literature. People will say that the 1980s were indeed a golden age for Chinese literature, because our best minds won the Nobel Prize. Our peak was higher than anyone else's! This era of literature belonged to the Chinese!
What happens if the remaining cut fails?

Is this fair to others?

All he could leave behind were these words:

"Also, Yu Qie will never win the Nobel Prize in Literature!"

(End of this chapter)