Writer 1978: I Need to Give the Literary World a Lesson

Chapter 143 The Literary Congress and Script Fees

The National Congress of Literary and Art Workers—officially the National Congress of Chinese Literary and Art Workers—is being held for the fourth time this year, after being interrupted for several years due to well-known reasons.

At this literary and art congress, the leadership will determine the nature of this debate.

Now that a bunch of people have gathered here to talk, everyone will know who is who.

Just like what the young Grand Secretary said: "The treacherous minister has already shown himself!"

"Comrade Zhou, I don't mind if you want to protect young people. But what if other young writers are criticized and lose their ambition?"

Liu Yimin deliberately made it sound very serious, leaving Zhou Yanru and Zhang Dening stunned and at a loss for what to do.

Zhang Dening, being young, clicked her tongue and said, "It can't be that serious, can it?"

"Why wouldn't you? Senior sister, what would you do if a group of people insulted you?"

"Scold back!"

"Are there even more people criticizing it now?"

"Then curse them back!"

Everyone's criticizing you!

"What should I do?" Zhang Dening didn't continue.

Editor-in-Chief Li Qingquan came over, and after understanding the situation, he tried to smooth things over: "This controversy has had a wide-ranging impact, and the voices of young people are also crucial. After all, the future of the literary world still belongs to you young people, especially you, Yimin."

I'm certain you won't be a supporting character in the future literary world. Mr. Cao Yu's students are definitely not ordinary people. Young people, too, need to grow through trials and tribulations. We all know about your experiences in France, and everyone admires you immensely.

We at *Yanjing Literature and Art* have always wanted to invite you, and we hope you'll submit more articles. Literary magazines aren't limited to *People's Literature and Art* and *Harvest*; our *Yanjing Literature and Art* is also excellent.

Li Qingquan used to work for *People's Literature and Art*, and now he's trying to poach talent from *People's Literature and Art*. He praised Liu Yimin so highly that it made it impossible for Liu to say anything else.

Liu Yimin himself didn't have any particular problem; he just disliked their approach.

"Comrade Liu Yimin, after the Literary and Art Congress, we would like to hold a seminar on 'The Flames of War in Beiping' to study the customs and literary creations of old Beiping together. What do you think?"

You're holding a seminar on the works of "People's Literature and Art"? Liu Yimin could already imagine how furious Cui Daoyi would be when he found out.
"Is this in accordance with the rules?" Liu Yimin asked with a smile.

Looking at Liu Yimin's smiling face, Zhou Yanru thought to herself, "He changes his expression so quickly; he's already smiling." Their sole purpose in holding the seminar was to actively win over Liu Yimin, ideally making him a loyal writer for *Yanjing Literature*.

"How is it not in line with our research? The literary works of old Beiping are naturally the authentic ones for our study. After all, it is Yenching Literature and Art. We also hope to have more works that reflect the character and style of people in old Beiping."

"Okay, I'll participate then!"

Holding a symposium on one's works is an important way to increase one's reputation. Being invited to a symposium means that people recognize the value of your work, so Liu Yimin would naturally attend.

Zhuge Liang never imagined that, hundreds of years later, his own farming site would become the subject of a literary symposium.

Logically, Liu Yimin shouldn't have attended the Fourth National Congress of Literary and Art Circles. Since he was neither a member of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles nor the Writers' Association, he had no right to participate. However, Li Ji, the head of the Writers' Association, specially invited Liu Yimin to attend and urged him to join the local Writers' Association. To enter the national Writers' Association, one must first come from the local level.

If it weren't for this regulation, Li Ji would have loved to make Liu Yimin a member of the Writers' Association directly.

More than 3,000 people gathered in the Great Hall of the People. On the first day of the literary and art congress, Liu Yimin met the elderly man who had planned the blueprint for the future and listened to speeches from various leaders.

The current debate in the arts and literature circles has been characterized.

In addition, four prominent figures whom Liu Yimin knew—Zhou Yang, Xia Yan, Mao Dun, and Ba Jin—returned to lead the Federation of Literary and Art Circles. At the conference, Ba Jin specifically mentioned his trip to France, urging literary works to learn from Liu Yimin and bravely venture out into the world.

Liu Yimin's teacher, Cao Yu, didn't hold a position in the literary association as high as the others. But that's normal; Cao Yu mainly focused on drama, while the others were engaged in literary creation.

The overall tone of the literary and art congress was: emancipate the mind, actively create, and let people's literature and art serve the people. Xia Yan's speech was quite interesting; there are no forbidden zones in artistic creation, but a patriotic writer knows what should be beneficial to improving the people's revolutionary spirit and aesthetic level.

Xia Yan also invited Liu Yimin to attend the Film Association's congress. At the meeting, he talked at length about script innovation, emphasizing the need to liberate thinking and write good scripts that are popular with the people.

They cited the Shanghai Film Studio's production of "Romance on Lushan Mountain" as an example and invited Liu Yimin to give a speech.

"I've always felt that movies are closer to the masses than literary novels because they are easier for everyone to understand and have no reading barriers. My purpose in writing screenplays is to reach the broadest masses of people. I also enjoy watching movies, and I want to see many movies. I believe that everyone here can fulfill my wish and the wishes of the people."

Amid applause, Liu Yimin stepped down from the podium.

After sitting down, Xu Sangchu, the director of Shanghai Film Studio, ran over and sat down next to Liu Yimin: "Hello, Comrade Liu Yimin, I am Xu Sangchu, the director of Shanghai Film Studio. You can call me Lao Xu!"

"Hello, Director Xu!" Liu Yimin said in a low voice.

"Comrade Liu Yimin, your script is very well written. It is currently being filmed in Lushan. On behalf of Shanghai Film Studio, I thank you."

The script is great, hurry up and pay me!

After Zhang Mengzhao returned to Shanghai, he promised to pay the script fee, but he hasn't done so yet, not even by telegram. Liu Yimin even wondered if the Shanghai Film Studio was planning to renege on the deal.

It's really not Zhang Mengzhao's fault. After she asked for payment, she went to Lushan to scout locations before the factory could even discuss it. She also always thought the factory had already paid her.

As if knowing what Liu Yimin was thinking, he took out an envelope and quietly slipped it into Liu Yimin's bag: "After discussing it, our factory has decided that the script fee will be 1200 yuan! This price is the result of several days of research by the factory, and it is currently the highest script fee that our Shanghai Film Studio has received this year."

One important reason why I was able to receive 1200 yuan is that the novel "Romance on Lushan Mountain" was already very famous before it was adapted into a film, so it wouldn't be appropriate to give less.

If we give too much, there will be a lot of arguments in the factory!
Liu Yimin touched the thickness of the envelope and thought to himself, "Comrade Zhang Mengzhao, this is the result of all your hard work."

Liu Yimin was mentally calculating how much money he had saved, and Xu Sangchu, seeing his furrowed brows, assumed he was dissatisfied.

He then explained again: "The film 'Romance on Lushan Mountain' doesn't actually meet the standards of a feature film, so the script fee was much lower."

Liu Yimin nodded and thanked Xu Sangchu.

"Comrade Yimin, there's something else the production team would like to ask for your opinion on!"

(End of this chapter)