Exciting 1979!

Chapter 283 The First National First Prize
Afterwards, the two introduced themselves to each other. Yu Chenghui, whose hair and beard are not yet white, is just over 40 years old. Two years ago, he was hired as a coach by the Ningxia Wushu Team. His self-created double-handed sword is very famous in the martial arts circle.

According to Coach Wu Bin, Coach Yu had just finished filming "Shaolin Temple" and then went back to his hometown of Yantai. He was planning to transfer in Yanjing to return to Ningxia.

Since we were in Yanjing, we took the opportunity to pay a visit to the martial arts master Zhang Wenguang. Wu Bin happened to be there as well, so he offered to treat us to a meal.

Because the teacher, Zhang Wenguang, is a Hui Muslim, Hongbinlou Restaurant was specially chosen.

Wei Mingdao: "I know about 'Shaolin Temple'. It's been filming for more than half a year, right? Is it already finished?"

Yu Chenghui: "I've finished filming, but my old buddy Yu Hai is still filming. As for Xiao Li from your Yanjing martial arts team, he won't be back until even later."

Wei Ming nodded, thinking that this way, "Heroes Have Always Emerged from Among the Young" would definitely be among the first to be published.

Biaozi then focused on introducing the famous writer Wei Ming, but Old Master Zhang and Yu Jiansheng had no reaction at all. Who is this guy? They're not very familiar with him.

Biaozi: "The movie I made with Yanzi, 'Heroes Have Always Been Born Young,' was written by him."

"Oh, Wei the Madman!"

"I've heard this story on the box before. What a wonderful story!"

Now they finally heard about it. Coach Wu Bin laughed and said, "Xiao Wei is both scholarly and martial. With his long arms and legs, he would definitely look good practicing Tongbei Quan."

These martial arts instructors all claimed to be professionals. Zhang Wenguang and Yu Chenghui looked at Wei Ming and couldn't help but nod and discuss it enthusiastically. It was a pity that they knew Tongbei, but not many other styles.

Biaozi invited his master and the other two to come and eat together, but Grandpa Zhang waved his hand and declined. He said that there was no need for the elderly to force themselves to join the young people, and the young people would feel uncomfortable. However, he patted Biaozi's broad shoulder and told him to come visit him when he had time.

Biaozi's eyes lit up. After they left, Yanzi nudged him, and he realized what was happening. He quickly ran to the manager and told him to put the table of the three masters on his tab.

When he returned, Wei Ming laughed and said, "Biaozi, you still haven't answered my question. How was your actual combat performance?"

Xiao Mei chuckled, "I don't know about their fighting skills, but they certainly aren't very brave."

“I was just showing respect for my teacher,” Biaozi said, glancing back at him before answering earnestly, “Take Brother Feng for example…”

He still likes to use acquaintances as examples: "Brother Feng is in good shape, and he is also a master in the army. He won first place in the Beijing military skills competition. When we first entered Peking University, we were evenly matched. However, before I resigned, we had a private match. By then, I had already gained muscle and weight."

He didn't say the final result, but the implication was clear: even a military expert like Brother Feng was no match for him.

Wei Ming: "You could easily take on ten of Xiao Mei's like that, right?"

Mei Wenhua was about to protest when Biaozi said, "I can take down as many of Xiao Mei's as there are to come. There's no limit to how many there are."

Yunyun didn't like hearing this: "We are cultured people, and we disdain to compete with you in brute force."

Mei Wenhua chuckled at his wife, then retorted, "How many of my brother-in-laws like that could you take on?"

Biaozi actually started to think seriously, while Wei Ming rolled up his sleeves, revealing his well-built and fair muscles.

"Three, I guess," Biaozi estimated.

Wei Ming laughed: "You're still giving me face. Okay, with you here, Ah Long and I shouldn't have to worry about our personal safety in Hong Kong."

Yanzi pouted and said, "Oh, so you're treating our Biaozi like a bodyguard."

Gong Ying smiled and said, "After all, his name has the character 'Biao' in it. I'll have to trouble you to take good care of Ah Long when Brother Biao gets to Hong Kong."

Biaozi waved his hand dismissively: "No problem, no problem."

Seeing that all three of them had wives protecting them, while his Xiaohong was only concerned with eating.

Sigh, I miss my Lin-jie and Xue-jie.

When Wu Bin and his two companions finished their meal and went outside to pay the bill, they learned that the guests in the private room had already paid for it.

"Is he as strong as a calf?"

"What do you mean 'a cow'? He's a cow." the manager laughed.

Zhang Wenguang said to Wu Bin, "It's not appropriate to let someone else's child pay for this meal, it wasn't cheap."

Wu Bin waved his hand and said, "Teacher, you don't know, do you? The best-performing private shop on Xidan Street, Oriental New World, was opened by Biaozi and his friends. That kid earns more in a month than we do in a year."

"what!"

Not to mention Zhang Wenguang, even Yu Chenghui was shocked. His salary was alright, but Master Zhang was a master's supervisor and a ninth-dan martial arts master. His salary was incredibly high, equivalent to a year's salary in one month? He must be a big capitalist!
Wu Bin added, "It's rare for this kid to have such filial piety, so let's accept it. But teacher, you'll have to teach that kid a few more tricks later."

Zhang Wenguang laughed heartily: "At my age, how could I possibly hold back? Of course, I'll teach you as much as I can."

~
West Gate of Peking University.

Looking at the antique-style gate and the Peking University students coming and going, Zheng Yuanjie, even though he disdained exam-oriented education, showed a hint of envy.

Although Editor Lü repeatedly told him not to bother Wei unless necessary, after watching the latest three episodes of "Black Cat Detective," screenwriter Zheng Yuanjie still had a question he wanted to ask in person.

So here he is.

Rather than going to his home abruptly, it would be better to come directly to his workplace, since Zheng Yuanjie knew that Wei Ming worked at the Peking University Library.

Upon arriving at the library, he saw a staff member in the lobby on the first floor and immediately went up to him to explain his purpose: "Hello comrade, may I ask where Professor Wei Ming works? I need to speak with him."

Teacher Lin has seen far too many fervent book fans like Zheng Yuanjie; some have even come to his workplace to wait for him.

Normally he might need to make up a lie to get out, but not today, because Wei Ming was indeed not there.

"Oh, he went out; he's not in the library."

"Then I'll wait for him here, and I can also read a book while I'm at it." Zheng Yuanjie said calmly and unhurriedly.

“He might not be back until the afternoon, or he might go straight home after get off work,” Teacher Lin asked. “What do you need him for?”

"Oh, I'm Zheng Yuanjie, the new editor in charge of him at Children's Literature. I'd like to talk to him about something work-related."

"Oh, so you're an editor," Teacher Lin then pointed out, "Go to the main dining room and see, the Rubik's Cube Club is holding an event, and the club president has come to invite Teacher Wei."

"Rubik's Cube Club?" Zheng Yuanjie asked in confusion. What is a Rubik's Cube?
~
"I think the Rubik's Cube is an extreme sport, an extreme sport that tests both hand and brainpower..."

When the members of the Rubik's Cube Club surrounded Wei Ming and asked him to say a few words, Wei Ming, who may have been the first person to bring the Rubik's Cube sport to the mainland, said this, and then he had to explain to these clear-eyed college students what "extreme sports" meant.

After hearing his explanation, everyone nodded in agreement. They believed that the key to playing this game was to pursue extreme speed; being fast meant being awesome.

Although some people think this thing is meaningless and that playing it well can't solve mathematical problems, pushing something to its limit is meaningful for mathematicians. Otherwise, so many people would like to play Sudoku, even though it has no practical application.

Today, the Rubik's Cube Club held a unique Rubik's Cube speed competition in the main dining hall. Wei Hong did not participate, but members of Rubik's Cube Clubs from five different schools participated. The winner was a student surnamed Yang from the Department of Mathematics at Tsinghua University.

If President Wei participates, the competition will be a foregone conclusion.

Next, Wei Hong announced some good news: "Teacher Wei has decided to sponsor 20 Rubik's Cubes for our Rubik's Cube Club, so that every branch club can have its own Rubik's Cube in the future. Everyone, applause!"

Wei Ming, who had just received a sum of foreign exchange, said that this was nothing. Previously, the Rubik's Cube Club only had five Rubik's Cubes, and people from other schools had to come to Peking University to practice, which was very inconvenient.

Zheng Yuanjie came over after hearing the applause and recognized Wei Ming as the person standing in the middle.

After the crowd dispersed, when Wei Ming was left with only Wei Hong by his side, Zheng Yuanjie immediately approached him: "Hello, Teacher Wei, I am Zheng Yuanjie, the editor of Children's Literature who is taking over from Group Leader Lü."

Wei Ming looked him over. At this time, Old Zheng still had hair and wasn't wearing glasses.

"Oh, Zheng Yuanjie? The Zheng Yuanjie who wrote 'Blackie on Honesty Island'?" Wei Ming asked knowingly.

Zheng Yuanjie was somewhat surprised: "You actually knew me?"

Wei Ming: "You also published 'Heihei on Honesty Island' in the first issue of Children's Literature where I published my work."

“Yes, yes, that was my first fairy tale. After that, I focused on writing fairy tales, but my works didn’t have the same impact as yours,” he said frankly.

"I read your 'Pipilu's Side Story' a while ago. It's a very interesting work with a very rich imagination," Wei Ming praised.

Imagination is arguably Zheng Yuanjie's most precious quality. Perhaps it's because he never went to school that his imagination can be so unrestrained, irrational, and unbound by rules, whereas many educated people have lost those precious qualities during the process of being disciplined.

Hearing Wei Ming praise him like that, Zheng Yuanjie, who was not good at being polite, also flattered him a few times: "I can't compare to you. You can write both fairy tales and serious literature. The range is too big."

Wei Ming smiled and said, "You didn't come here just to praise me, did you?"

“Oh, I see,” Zheng Yuanjie said, “You left three stories of ‘Black Cat Detective’ for Editor Lü before. One-Ear has appeared in all three, but he still hasn’t been caught. So, is the main plot of ‘Black Cat Detective’ about catching One-Ear? Will it end after he’s caught?” Wei Ming shook his head: “Catching One-Ear alive is not the main plot. This is a fairy tale with a weak main plot, mainly for popular science. In the next plot, One-Ear might be caught, but I’ve read the readers’ letters. They have a love-hate relationship with One-Ear, so they might let One-Ear suffer a bit, then escape from prison and continue to oppose the police chief. Without a main villain who’s always around, the police chief will be very lonely.”

Wei Ming had even planned to have One-Ear stage a "Shawshank Redemption" scenario, reenacting an Andy-style prison break ahead of time.

Zheng Yuanjie asked doubtfully, "When will 'Black Cat Detective' be finished? Won't it be too long? I think readers also need an ending."

Wei Ming: You have the nerve to talk about me like that? "Pipilu's Adventures" has several million words, and "Shuke and Beta" has more than a million words.

Unlike the animated version, the story after the two mice is very adult. Shuke gets married twice, Beta has a one-night stand and later becomes a monk, and inevitably, it also touches on alien civilizations, making the style very different before and after.

Wei Ming, at least, has a clear creative intention, which is to popularize science and educate, and his overall style will follow this theme.

"It will definitely come to an end. When the readers get tired of reading and I get tired of writing, that will be the time for the final chapter to end. But I haven't thought about what to write for the finale yet. Maybe it will be when Black Cat Detective retires."

Zheng Yuanjie seemed to be deep in thought, wondering if this would become his motivation to continue developing the Pipilu series.

Afterwards, Zheng Yuanjie became interested in the Rubik's Cube in Wei Hong's hand.

Wei Ming took it and showed it to him, explaining the rules: "You're also a writer, and being an editor shouldn't interfere with your creative work. See if this little thing can be used to write a story."

Zheng Yuanjie turned the Rubik's Cube: "What can I write on this?"

Wei Ming gave a hint: "Besides the central axis structure, the Rubik's Cube has a total of 26 small cubes. Each small cube can be considered a world, and each world has different rules and local customs."

Zheng Yuanjie: "Just like Gulliver's Travels and Flowers in the Mirror!"

The story structure of "The Magic Cube Building" is indeed similar to these two classic works from the East and West, but it reflects the current reality more and has profound connotations. Many children even feel a chill after watching it.

Wei Ming only provided him with an idea; it was up to him to write the story two years ahead of schedule. In any case, he didn't have time to write it.

"Teacher Wei, are you free tomorrow? I'd like to discuss this story about the Rubik's Cube with you in more depth."

"Oh dear, I'm afraid tomorrow won't work. I have to go to the Writers' Association."

At this time, Zheng Yuanjie still longed to join the Writers' Association. He asked, "Do we go to meetings at the Writers' Association?"

Wei Ming shook his head: "Go collect the award, the National Excellent Novella Award."

The National Excellent Short Story Award has been held several times before, and Wei Ming has only written one short story, "The Ducks Know First When the Spring River Warms," ​​and won the award once.

However, this is the first time that the National Excellent Novella Award has been held. The selection scope is novellas written between 1977 and 1980, and all of Wei Ming's works are within the award period.

These two awards are usually selected jointly by the Writers Association and People's Literature, and later gradually evolved into the Lu Xun Literary Prize, which is the highest honor for short and medium-length novels in China.

However, Wei Ming did not know which novel won the award or what prize it was.

Because Mr. Mao Dun was already in the final stages of his life, the award ceremony was led by Mr. Ba Jin, who had arrived in Yanjing a few days earlier and received an article of special significance from Mr. Mao Dun's son, Wei Tao.

~
"Sister Chen!" Upon arriving at the scene, Wei Ming recognized a familiar face: Sister Chen Rong was there too.

In addition, there were acquaintances such as Aunt Zong Pu, Jiang Zilong, and Wang Meng.

Wei Ming can chat with Sister Chen Rong about her son Liang Zuo's performance at school, and with Aunt Zong Pu about their respective cats.

In addition, they introduced Wei Ming to some literary figures who were also present, such as Feng Jicai, Liu Shaotang, Zhang Kangkang, Lu Yanzhou, and a man who was always smoking and spoke with a Shaanxi accent named Lu Yao.

What a gathering of brilliant minds! They are all rising stars in the literary world today, and Wei Ming's camera finally has a chance to prove its worth.

At just over twenty years old, Wei Ming was definitely a junior among this group, but no one dared to underestimate him, based on just one-third of "The Right Path of the World is Full of Vicissitudes".

Writing a novel is too difficult, especially a long work of hundreds of thousands of words. It takes a lot of energy. Some people are in their thirties or forties and have never written a novel.

Moreover, "The Right Path in the World" is grand and magnificent. Although only one-third of it is available, its excellence is already foreseeable. When chatting with Wei Ming, everyone was looking forward to the second part, which will be published in the March issue of "Harvest" a few days later.

After chatting for a while and taking some photos, the awards ceremony officially began. Ba Jin, the first vice chairman of the Writers Association, and several other vice chairmen, including Liu Baiyu and Chen Huangmei, were also present.

A total of 15 writers won awards this time, including 5 first prize winners and 10 second prize winners.

First, for the first prize, Mr. Ba Jin on stage read out the work, the author's name, and the publication.

The first one is "Middle Age" by Chen Rong, published in the first issue of Harvest magazine in 1980.

Everyone spontaneously applauded. Sister Chen Rong was a late bloomer, officially debuting at the age of 40. Every work she did afterward received excellent feedback. For a long time, Liang Zuo was known as "Chen Rong's son who went to Peking University," while Liang Tian was "Chen Rong's only child who didn't go to Peking University."

Next is "On a River Without Navigation Markers," by Ye Weilin, published in Furong, Issue 3, 1980.

"Hibiscus" was a literary publication in Hunan, and Ye Weilin was mainly active in Hunan. Later, the novel was adapted into a film by Wu Tianming.

The third name mentioned was "Legend of Tianyun Mountain," a work by Lu Yanzhou, which Xie Jin was filming at the time.

Later, Lu Yanzhou's daughter-in-law, Wang Liping, wrote a TV series called "A Good Time," starring Hu Ge. His granddaughter became famous because her mother arranged for her to film a kissing scene with a young male actor, even though she was considered ugly.

The fourth one is "Butterfly," a work by Wang Meng, published in "October." It is a work with some stream of consciousness and a high degree of artistic merit.

Fifthly, the authors in the audience stared expectantly at the paper in Ba Jin's hand. Although all of them received awards, the first prize certainly sounded better than the second prize.

“The Spring of the Shepherd’s Class”, Wei Ming, People’s Literature, Issue 2, 1980.

Upon hearing his name called, Wei Ming immediately went up on stage and stood next to Wang Meng, Chen Rong, and others to receive the honor.

When the award for outstanding short story was presented last year, Wei Ming was unable to attend because he was not in Yanjing. This is the first time he has personally received a major literary award.

He was still a little dazed, but he could see a hint of envy in the eyes of his colleagues who were applauding below the stage.

At just 20 years old, she stood out from so many outstanding writers and works across the country, winning the National Excellent Short and Medium-Length Novel Award in two consecutive years.

That's why there isn't a national award for outstanding long novels; otherwise, he might have been chosen.

Wei Ming and four others won the first prize. Next, ten works, including Feng Jicai's "Ah!", Liu Shaotang's "The Willow Family", Zhang Kangkang's "The Light Morning Mist", Jiang Zilong's "The Pioneers", Zong Pu's "The Three Lives Stone", and Lu Yao's "A Thrilling Scene", won the second prize.

Each writer can only win an award for one work at most. Even Wei Ming's "The Herdsman" had a huge impact, yet only one of his works won an award.

It is worth mentioning that among these 15 works, Harvest stands out with six works, and October has five works, which is also quite impressive.

However, none of the works in "Hua Cheng," another of the Four Great Dan (female role) productions, won awards. This may be related to the fact that "Hua Cheng" is located far away in Guangzhou, making it difficult for the production team to reach the audience.

Moreover, most of these 15 works are related to that decade. Even Wei Ming's "The Spring of the Shepherd's Class" is a story from that period, which is somewhat like "national misfortune is poetic fortune." It is truly a huge treasure trove of material, but this treasure trove is only open for a limited time.

The results of this award will be announced in the April issue of People's Literature. The next selection of outstanding novellas nationwide will take place in 1981-1982, biennially.

As they left the Writers' Association, Sister Chen Rong asked Wei Ming about his upcoming creative plans.

Wei Ming thought for a moment. Wu Tianming from Xi'an Film Studio said he would adapt "The Terracotta Warriors of Ancient and Modern Times" but then nothing happened. So, he would most likely write the dinosaur science fiction novel that he had promised to publish in "Science Fiction World".

However, this novel will most likely not be published under the pen name "Wei Ming". As for what "Wei Ming" will write, he doesn't really have any ideas for the time being.

"The Right Path of the World is Full of Vicissitudes" truly consumed too much of his energy. So many characters, so many stories, so many deaths—the writer was exhausted. He'll probably write more games to refresh his mind next.

Oh right, I'm going to Hong Kong soon. How about writing a couple more scripts or some songs to test the waters?
There are still more than two months left, so you can take your time to think it over.

After having lunch outside, Wei Ming leisurely returned to Peking University in the afternoon and wrote the five characters "Jurassic Park" at his work station.

The idea of ​​resurrecting dinosaurs by extracting dinosaur genes from mosquitoes preserved in amber is not a new concept; it has been proposed by people both domestically and internationally.

For example, Chinese science fiction writer Zheng Wenguang wrote a science fiction novel called "Prehistoric World" in 1980, which resurrected ancient creatures. He also wrote a dinosaur-related novel called "Jurassic".

Actually, the most creative part of "Jurassic Park" is the word "park".

Zoos are becoming increasingly common in major and medium-sized cities in China, not to mention abroad. Generally, a zoo is considered good if it has a lion, a tiger, or a giraffe. If it has a giant panda, it will ignite tourists' desire to visit.

But what if this zoo has extinct prehistoric giant dinosaurs?

Moreover, this zoo is located on an island full of all kinds of dinosaurs, which, in addition to novelty, inevitably comes with another element—danger.

To some extent, Jurassic Park can also be seen as a horror novel, where the main characters are constantly facing life-threatening dangers from giant monsters.

Wei Ming had already read many books related to dinosaurs, including those from Peking University, Yenching Library, and foreign publications sent to him by Melinda. He had filled most of his notebook with data and information on various dinosaurs.

This accumulated knowledge allowed him to get started immediately, without the slightest hesitation.
(End of this chapter)