Restart life

Chapter 424 0414 [The Place of White Clouds and Yellow Cranes]

The writers' forum and accommodations were held at the Donghu Hotel.

The location was personally chosen by Chen Guiliang.

Aside from Beijing, this was the place where the teacher most frequently stayed after the founding of the People's Republic of China. The old man visited here 48 times during his lifetime, staying for anywhere from ten days to half a year at a time.

After disembarking, stand on the dock.

Chen Guiliang was particularly excited and said to Bian Guanyue, "This is the land of white clouds and yellow cranes. Haha, those are the instructor's exact words."

A reporter asked, "What white clouds and yellow cranes?"

Everyone was collectively speechless.

The poem "Yellow Crane Tower" was indeed not included in the People's Education Press Chinese textbooks published before 2001. Some schools continued to use this version of the textbook until 2003.

If you don't read poetry yourself, you might not even know the line, "The Yellow Crane has flown away, never to return; the white clouds drift aimlessly for a thousand years."

But for a reporter to say something like that, especially one covering arts and culture news...

It's early today, and there are no plans, so you're free to do whatever you want.

If you don't like the hassle, you can sleep in the hotel.

If you like to wander around, feel free to explore. The hotel itself has a nice view, and there's also the former residence of a teacher nearby.

If you really want to go somewhere further, just visit Wuhan University next door. Alchemy isn't popular these days, so it shouldn't be too dangerous for boys.

Chen Guiliang, holding Guan Bianyue's hand, slowly walked towards the former residence of their teacher.

There were also more than ten other people, and it was unclear whether they wanted to visit the former residence or try to get closer to Chen Guiliang, but they followed them for a walk and chat.

Chen Guiliang also hired a tour guide.

"This is the hand-cranked telephone that the instructor used. Back then, there were rotary telephones, but the instructor was frugal and couldn't bear to replace it..."

"These are the slippers the instructor wore. The soles have been replaced three times, but the instructor has been wearing them all this time..."

"That was the smoking paraphernalia the instructor used, made of cloisonné, and he only used it once. The instructor said to the comrades around him: 'I am the son of a farmer, this kind of smoking paraphernalia is not suitable for me...'"

"That's the dining hall. During the three years, there were three rules for teachers' meals. No meat, no eggs, and no more than the allotted portion. The allotted portion was 8 qian, less than 1 liang. The teacher was a tall guy, 1.83 meters tall... He was so hungry that his whole body was swollen..."

You can take photos here.

Chen Guiliang took photos as he walked.

Some of the young writers who came with him looked disdainful, not taking the place seriously.

Chen Guiliang didn't bother to say anything.

Given the current ideological and public opinion environment, we cannot expect too much from them; it is enough for them to uphold the basic bottom line.

After visiting the teacher's former residence, Chen Guiliang strolled back.

Several more writers arrived, none of whom took a boat trip on the Yangtze River; they flew directly here to participate in the event.

Besides Han Han and Guo Xiaosi, there are also Wang Anyi, Jin Yucheng, and others.

Wang Anyi needs no introduction; she's a representative of contemporary Shanghai-style writers. Cheng Cun invited her. Cheng Cun is the vice chairman of the Shanghai Writers Association, and Wang Anyi is the chairman.

Kim Woo-sung is the author of "Blossoms," though the novel hasn't been written yet. His earlier works were published in "Sprout," and he's quite familiar with the editors there, which is why he was invited to join the gathering.

Others include Nado's father, Zhao Changtian, and the writer Ye Xin.

Han Han also came with his father...

Chen Guiliang is planning something big. He's going to launch an essay contest on Haiwainet, and it's an essay contest that will fill a gap in the Chinese literary scene.

He wants to establish a Chinese non-fiction literature award, selecting five works each year (one first prize, two second prizes, and three third prizes).

The first prize is 200 million yuan, and the winning works will be given priority to ByteDance for operation (with mandatory allocation within one year after the serialization is completed).

This was not something Chen Guiliang did on a whim.

ByteDance does indeed have a copyright management team!
It started with Chen Guiliang organizing a three-line poem activity on the school's intranet, and since then, a three-line poem competition has been held every spring. Winning and outstanding works are selected by netizens through voting, and then compiled into a book and sent to a publishing house for printing and distribution—mainly in collaboration with Li Xunhuan.

Next, users from HaiNei.com and XiaoNei.com write blog posts with high readership, which are then selected by ByteDance editors. After obtaining the author's consent, the posts are submitted to Li Xunhuan's publishing house for compilation and distribution.

Gradually, they started working on film and television copyrights again.

This thing originated from Chen Guiliang organizing a campus story relay, where a large number of students freely wrote their own love stories based on a few photos taken by Chen Guiliang.

Two of them became breakout hits.

A book titled "The Story Begins That Summer" was changed to "That Midsummer" before publication because the original title was too long and tedious. The author, suffering from chronic laziness, wrote only a few hundred thousand words over four years. This February, "That Midsummer" finally finished its serialization on Renren and HaiNei websites, garnering over 1300 million views.

Published in May by the ByteDance team, the novel has already sold over 30 copies and continues to be a bestseller. Film and television companies are eyeing it and are currently negotiating film and television rights.

Another book is called "Our Love," and you'd never guess from the title that it's actually a comedy. The novel's structure is very loose, consisting of all sorts of funny campus anecdotes.

It is particularly suitable for adaptation into a campus sitcom, or an early online self-made comedy!
Chen Guiliang doesn't plan to sell "Our Love"; he's had ByteDance buy the copyright from the author. He intends to create original online comedies in the future.

ByteDance even managed to publish an IT book, compiled from blog content by several IT bloggers on Haiwainet. It sold quite well, nearly 10 copies.

You never know what else ByteDance might come up with.

For example, the gaming genius from Peking University had his book, "The Road to Kingship in Three Kingdoms Kill," published by ByteDance. It actually sold over 3 copies…

"Old Zhang, you're finally here! You missed the eclipse!" Chen Guiliang laughed heartily.

Old Zhang's real name is Zhang Fenghua. He's from Northeast China. It's said that when he was born, his mother was gathering firewood in a birch forest. A gust of wind blew, and his water broke.

Zhang Fenghua used to be a moderator on Peking University's BBS. After university BBS implemented real-name registration, he resigned and came to ByteDance to work part-time. After graduating, he officially joined ByteDance, where he was responsible for selecting various blog posts and novels, and then learned about copyright management.

The two arrived at a lounge in the hotel.

Zhang Fenghua said, "Now that there's so much content, let's start our own publishing company. We don't need to continue working with Li Xunhuan. I've learned most of his methods, and I've figured out the distribution channels."

"Haha, you're quite good at learning from others," Chen Guiliang laughed.

Zhang Fenghua said, "I really don't understand why you're doing non-fiction this time. This kind of thing belongs to the category of pure literature, and it's pure literature that nobody in China writes. It's a niche within a niche, and it has absolutely no commercial value."

Chen Guiliang said, "If you like playing 'Three Kingdoms Kill,' then help publish 'Three Kingdoms Kill: The Road to Kings.' I can also do it according to my own preferences."

"The Road to Kingship in Three Kingdoms Kill has sold over 30,000 copies," Zhang Fenghua said.

Chen Guiliang said speechlessly, "That's because we advertised in the 'Three Kingdoms Kill' game. Damn it, we didn't earn a single penny from that book."

"Haha." Zhang Fenghua laughed awkwardly.

Nonfiction literature originated from the American novel *In Cold Blood* several decades ago. It encompasses nonfiction, but it is more than that.

Including Chen Guiliang's version of "Those Things of the Ming Dynasty", strictly speaking, it also belongs to historical non-fiction literature.

Early next year, People's Literature will vigorously promote non-fiction literary works, causing a great sensation in China's mainstream literary circles.

Looking at the chaotic environment, Chen Guiliang felt he should do something.

……

The writers' forum officially began the following day.

Hu Weishi made a guest appearance as the host.

Zhao Changtian gave the opening remarks first, followed by Chen Guiliang speaking as a sponsor.

"Thank you all for gracing this event. I also received an invitation to last year's 10th anniversary celebration of the New Concept Writing Competition, but I couldn't make it at the time. This time, I'm making up for it and also promoting my Weibo account; interested teachers can register..."

"In addition, ByteDance is planning to launch a non-fiction literature award... In the past few years, writing about the lives of the underprivileged has become popular in the mainstream Chinese literary scene, showcasing the tragic lives of farmers, migrant workers, and urban poor. There are many excellent works, but there are also quite a few fabricated ones. In the last two years, it seems that they have begun to reflect on this..."

"What are we reflecting on? We're reflecting on the writers, all of them living in air-conditioned cities, what right do they have to speak for farmers, migrant workers, and the urban poor? And are the plots in their novels just made up?"

"Some people claim to be doing field research in rural areas and interviewing at construction sites. But to be honest, the rural areas they depict seem to be stuck in the 80s. It's obvious they're fake; they probably haven't been to the countryside in twenty years..."

"When you actually go to the countryside, you'll find that urbanization has been incredibly rapid in recent years. In many provinces, there's practically no land disputes. If your land is left uncultivated, people won't even bother to farm it, even if you give it away..."

"The last novel I read was about writing from the lower classes, revolving around fights over land in rural Sichuan. Isn't that nonsense?"

"Society is developing, especially as the younger generation has grown up. Are college graduates earning one or two thousand yuan a month in big cities considered to be at the bottom? They are very likely to become the mainstream of the lower class in Chinese society in the future. Do we need literary works that reflect their lives?"

"There are many young adult fiction writers here, some of whom aspire to move closer to the mainstream literary scene. I believe this presents an opportunity: to write a non-fiction work that reflects the real lives of young people, showcasing the dreams, aspirations, and predicaments of contemporary young working-class individuals..."

When Chen Guiliang announced that the first prize was 200 million yuan and that ByteDance would help with the publicity and promotion, some people's eyes lit up.

Young writers who emerged from the New Concept Writing Competition, such as Han Han and Guo Xiaosi, are actually a minority. It's just that the market chose them, so their works sell very well.

Many young writers are actually very ambitious, but they just can't become famous!
Now, Chen Guiliang has built a platform for them.

Chen Guiliang continued, "I have already reached a cooperation agreement with *People's Literature* through Professor Wang Meng. Excellent non-fiction literary works can be serialized in *People's Literature* first, and then serialized on Haiwai.com a week after the magazine's release. Particularly popular works will not only be published, but also have the opportunity to be adapted into film and television..."

If you don't occupy the high ground of public opinion, someone else will.

Chen Guiliang may not be able to dominate the field, but he is willing to publish more normal novels.

I don't think I'll make much money; I'll just be okay as long as I don't lose money.

(End of this chapter)