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

Chapter 327, "Triumphant Return at Midnight," has surpassed 1,000 copies.

On January 20th, second-year students in the Chinese Department of Yenching University were anxiously awaiting Liu Yimin's "trial."

The moment the Chinese literature students received Liu Yimin's exam paper in the exam hall, they probably went through all the mistakes they had made in class.

They were all wondering what they had done to make Professor Liu treat them this way.

After the wailing subsided, they reluctantly began writing, some even failing to finish.

Inside the communal office, Liu Yimin looked at the exam papers with great amusement; some of them were far too easy to grade.

However, Liu Yimin adhered to the principle of "scoring appropriately based on the difficulty of the questions," awarding points as long as there were outstanding parts.

If the angle of approach is good, even if it's not finished, I'll still give it a small full mark.

When Wu Zuxiang and Sun Yushi were grading the papers, each one had more and more words written on it than the last, and the handwriting was so messy that the old professor had to use a magnifying glass to read it. Liu Yimin sighed that grading these papers was not easy.

Liu Yimin finished grading the papers but did not record the scores. Instead, he took the papers back to the Overseas Chinese Apartment and had their "teacher's wife" add the scores for them.

"Teacher Liu, what should I do if I make a mistake?" Zhu Lin asked, looking at the test paper.

"When the papers are handed out, if they make a mistake, they can come to me for a review. Zhu Lin, I believe in you; you're so good at math, you definitely won't make a mistake!"

Liu Yimin didn't stop working either; he picked up a stack of books and started calculating.

There were 160 people, and it took two people a whole night to calculate the scores.

At 11 o'clock, Zhu Lin rubbed his sore eyes, exhaled a breath of stale air and said, "Teacher Liu, I can't take it anymore, I have to go to sleep, my neck is so sore!"

Liu Yimin closed the test paper, smiled, and stood up behind Zhu Lin: "Come on, let me rub it for you. You've been a great help to me!"

Feeling the soreness in her neck subside, Zhu Lin showed a very satisfied expression.

After a while, Zhu Lin said, "Come on, Teacher Liu, let me massage you too!"

Zhu Lin learned a massage technique from her mother, massaging from the neck to the head. After the massage, her mind felt much clearer.

"Teacher Liu, Senior Brother Cui said you should take some time to reply to a few letters from readers, and then publish them in 'People's Literature' so that the soldiers on the front lines can see them," Zhu Lin said while giving a massage.

"Okay, I've been thinking about this too these past couple of days. I don't have much to do after the school exams, so I'll go to the courtyard house and pick out a few letters!"

"If you don't want to go, I'll pick out a few and bring them back for you at noon!"

"It's nothing. I haven't been to a courtyard house in a while, and I really miss it."

Sanhua, who had been silent all along, glanced at the two of them and said with a smile, "Alright, alright, I'll take you too!"

"Sanhua also likes courtyard houses!"

They were both very tired, and fell asleep in bed without much conversation.

The next day, Liu Yimin went to the school and distributed the test papers to the students. After checking, he found that one student had indeed made a mistake.

59 points is one point short; that one point difference is the difference between passing and failing.

The student's bitter face instantly turned into a smug expression, even happier than the top student in the entire department.

"Students, this test was quite difficult, but you'll see from the grading that it wasn't that hard. These questions focused on your literary reasoning and creative answering abilities."

Chinese literature departments don't train writers; they train literary critics. A critic's job is to learn to look at issues from various angles, so when you encounter difficult problems, don't fret, but bravely try to solve them.

Okay, that's all for now! See you next year, everyone!

Only two students in the entire department failed. This failure rate is relatively low compared to other courses in the department.

A saying began to circulate among the Chinese literature students: "Professor Liu may set difficult questions, but he is generous with his grades."

After leaving the school, I rode my motorcycle through the biting cold wind to the courtyard house.

Flocks of crows flew overhead in the hutongs of Yanjing, their cries mournful, and the blue bricks and vermilion doors seemed to exude a chill. Sanhua hopped about on the eaves of the courtyard houses and on the ginkgo trees, startling the magpies that had been perched on the eaves and treetops, which flew away to other places.

Liu Yimin took off his gloves, rubbed his red and cold face, ran to the coal stove in the kitchen to warm himself up, and then went to the study to open the reader letters for "Triumphant at Midnight".

The bookshelves in the study are already full of letters from readers; it seems we'll have to find another room.

Because the letters were from frontline soldiers, Liu Yimin replied to many of them. Most of them were not worth publishing, but it was different for the soldiers who sent them.

Liu Yimin spent the entire day sitting in his study in the courtyard house writing replies. In addition, he carefully selected two representative letters to reply to.

One of the stories was about a relationship problem. He and his partner were getting older, and she was eager to get married, but he was on the front lines and felt that his life was in danger. He didn't know what to do.

According to his description, the woman is a loyal and devoted woman who has been waiting for him since he joined the army.

In the letter, Liu Yimin advised him to cherish the person in front of him, and analyzed the situation from both the woman's and his own perspectives.

However, Liu Yimin also had some questions. Logically speaking, since frontline troops are frequently rotated, it wouldn't take long for them to get married after they are withdrawn.

Liu Yimin muttered to himself, "They're probably a special forces unit, always on the front lines."

The second letter was from a college student who joined the army in 77. After completing pre-battle training and arriving at the front lines, he wrote down everything he had seen and heard on the battlefield for Liu Yimin. In addition, his words carried the arrogance of a college student, as he felt that in some areas, the junior officers on the front lines were not doing a good enough job.

This is a common problem for college students going to the front lines; officers who follow soldiers to become officers often can't get the job done.

Comrade, we must examine each problem we encounter in depth and analyze its causes. We may not understand them, but they may be correct.

If, after in-depth analysis, you still cannot understand, then you should humbly seek guidance. In this way, you will know what is good and what is bad; you should diligently learn what is correct and dare to fight against what is incorrect!

】

"Teacher Liu, the mailbox is almost full!" Zhu Lin shook the mailbox at the entrance of the alley and said with a smile.

“I’m taking Sanhua with me. I’m going to People’s Literature and Art magazine. I’ll give them the manuscript while there are still people there.”

The film version of "Triumph at Midnight" was finally edited at the end of January, and the Ministry of Culture called to invite Liu Yimin and Zhu Lin to participate in the final screening.

Liu Yimin and Zhu Lin arrived at the Ministry of Culture hand in hand. Inside the screening room, the projectionist had already prepared everything.

Zhou Yang and Xia Yan from the Ministry of Culture, Liu Peiran and director Li Jun from the August First Film Studio, and Wang Yang and director Wang Yang from the Beijing Film Studio were all waiting here.

Liu Peiran spoke first: "This film was not easy to edit. Our factory's golden scissors edited it three times before it was finalized. Yimin, take a good look. It definitely did not let the novel down!"

Li Jun and Wang Yan both looked a bit haggard; they had been quite worried about this movie.

Xia Yan said, "Let's go in. The colleagues from China Film Group and film companies from various regions are waiting!"

"China Film Group is here too?" Liu Yimin asked in surprise.

Wang Yang said, "Not only China Film Group, but also colleagues from newspapers are here. This time, film companies from various regions will directly report the number of copies they need. After they report, the newspaper colleagues will publish the news first to promote it."

Upon entering the screening room, Ding Daming, the manager of China Film Group, greeted Liu Yimin and then looked at Wang Yang and Liu Peiran with a smile.

Neither of them looked pleased. Such a good film, yet their own profits were limited. Thinking about how much money China Film Group was making this time, Liu Peiran and Wang Yang lost all interest in watching.

[Below the wind-swept walls of Yanjing, the camera pans to the outside of the city, where Zhu Lin, wearing a heavy Northeastern-style coat and carrying a large bundle of luggage, walks into the frame.]

In the darkness, Zhu Lin held Liu Yimin's hand, admiring herself in the movie, a smile unconsciously spreading across her face.

The narrative unfolds smoothly, but the plot is more tightly paced than the original TV series. When the scenes on the battlefield came on, everyone's hearts were constantly in their throats.

The realistic sounds of charging and shells firing gave China Film Group and local film companies increasing confidence.

As the farewell shots were fired at the martyrs' cemetery, a brief silence was followed by a burst of enthusiastic applause in the screening room.

Ding Daming, general manager of China Film Group Corporation, praised: "The decision made by the higher authorities this time was wise. The collaboration between August First Film Studio and Beijing Film Studio has produced the highest level of artistic achievement."

Wang Yang snorted: "China Film Group isn't willing to take more profits. If our two film companies split the profits, it's basically like trying to lure a donkey with a carrot – all talk and no action!"

"This is a task assigned by our superiors; how can it be measured in terms of money!" China Film Group shamelessly retorted.

Xia Yan waved her hand: "Alright, let's stop talking and go to the conference room!"

Inside the Ministry of Culture's conference room, at the order of the leaders of China Film Corporation, film companies from various regions began to report their numbers.

"Jiangsu Film Company, please give us your numbers first!" The leader of China Film Group looked at the representative of Jiangsu Film Company with a smile.

"We'll order ninety!" The representative from Suying Company said slowly, glancing disdainfully at the entire room.

After the representative from Suying Company finished speaking, his words stirred up a storm in the meeting room. Everyone started discussing it and began to adjust their expectations for the numbers they were reporting.

"Ninety? Ten short of a hundred!" a leader from China Film Group said.

Zhou Yang, Xia Yan, and the people from the film studio all looked at Su Ying. Su Ying's boss slowly exhaled a puff of smoke, with a hint of nonchalance: "Then we'll add ten more. It's just an extra 100,000 yuan!"

This really gives off a Su Daqiang vibe!

"Alright, Suzhou Film Company, one hundred copies. The rest of the film companies, please report your quantities!" The leader of China Film Group Corporation was beaming. One hundred copies, at ten thousand five hundred yuan per copy, one hundred copies would sell for one million five hundred thousand yuan.

Li Jun excitedly grabbed his thigh, and Liu Yimin asked in a low voice, "Director Li, why are you so excited?"

"Yimin, you don't know. Jiangsu Province is a leading province in film consumption in the country, accounting for almost one-tenth of the national total. The fact that they set a limit of one hundred means that the final number of copies can reach more than one thousand, more than one thousand!"

Recently, among domestic films, only "The Gunshots of the Secret Service" from 79 sold over a thousand copies; "Romance on Lushan Mountain" is still far behind!

Thinking of this, Li Jun managed to stop trembling.

Sure enough, by the end, the number of copies reached 1,100. If it weren't for Zhou Yang and Xia Yan being there, the leaders of China Film Group would have already put their legs up on the conference table.

Liu Peiran and Wang Yang were so jealous that their eyes were bloodshot, and they wished they could tear China Film Group apart.

The total filming budget was one million, with a profit of over ten million, but the two film companies only received a few hundred thousand in profit.

Xia Yan and Zhou Yang noticed that Liu Peiran and Wang Yang seemed a bit off, so they exchanged a glance and decided to quietly leave the venue.

Wang Yang and Liu Peiran stood up simultaneously, their chairs crashing to the floor with a thud, startling everyone in the conference room. They both shouted in unison, "Boss, this isn't fair! This isn't fair!"

(End of this chapter)