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

Chapter 344 Winning the Lu Xun Literary Prize Again

The General Political Department and the Film Bureau eventually handed over "The Acacia Tree in the Minefield" to the August First Film Studio, and Li Jun and Wei Lian from the August First Film Studio came to them.

Liu Yimin handed over the adapted film script to them. Their actors were already in place, and they could start filming immediately after receiving the script.

The August First Film Studio implemented a mentorship system, with Li Jun mentoring Wei Lian. Wei Lian would handle most of the work, while Li Jun would oversee the general direction.

If this film is well-made, Wei Lian will most likely become the director directly, and he'll get the "assistant" title.

"This time, our factory contributed 70 yuan of its own money. We don't have the Beijing Film Studio, but our funding is definitely sufficient. We'll still be filming on location at the front lines." Li Jun proudly crossed his legs.

Wei Lian, sitting next to them, was very reserved. He picked up the teapot and refilled the water for the two of them.

"Director Li, I trust you both. Comrade Wei Lian is also highly skilled; I'm completely confident in your teamwork!"

Li Jun glanced at Liu Yimin: "It seems you're not planning to come to the front lines with us this time. Without you, filming at the front will be a bit more lonely!"

"Haha, Director Li, what are you saying?" Liu Yimin couldn't help but laugh.

Li Jun took a sip of tea and said, "That's right. With you here, the leaders in the army will be much more enthusiastic about supporting us. Your influence on the front lines is comparable to that of two regiments!"

In response to Li Jun's words, Liu Yimin laughed heartily again: "Director Li, you flatter me too much. Which unit did you go to?"

"It's the same place we went to last time. We're familiar with the terrain and the people!"

Liu Yimin immediately said, "I'll buy some things and ask my friends in the film crew to bring them to the soldiers."

"Okay, we have a large crew, we can bring anything. There's something else, you know about the Feitian Awards for TV dramas, right? Starting this year, our country has also established the Golden Eagle Awards. I think 'Wolf Smoke Over Beiping' has the potential to win both awards, Yimin, what do you think?"

Wei Lian's gaze also fell upon them, and Liu Yimin said, "Our country doesn't have many TV dramas right now. Judging from the production and content of 'Wolf Smoke Over Beiping,' it can definitely be considered excellent. Winning an award is absolutely no problem."

Li Jun and Wei Lian exchanged a glance: "If 'The Flames of War in Beiping' can win the first Golden Eagle Award, we will be remembered in history. In the future, when people mention the Golden Eagle Award, they will think of us. Our lives are limited. If people can think of us through our works in the future, then we will have no regrets as directors."

Li Jun and Wei Lian showed Liu Yimin the cast list. The main actors were Tang Guoqiang and several other young actors from the August First Film Studio. Chen Peisi didn't get a leading role; he was just playing a minor character.

As Liu Yimin said, Feng Xiaogang is still playing the role of an ingrate.

Liu Yimin took Li Jun and Wei Lian out to buy a lot of things, including some books and magazines, as well as a lot of candy.

After much deliberation, they decided that candy was the easiest to carry and could be shared. The three of them bought almost all the candy in the department store, tied a large sack of candy to their car, and delivered it to the August First Film Studio.

The employees of the August First Film Studio were stunned when they saw it, thinking that Liu Yimin was giving them a perk.

"Yimin, don't worry, I will definitely deliver these candies to the soldiers!" Li Jun said sincerely, holding Liu Yimin's hand.

Wei Lian interjected, "Even if we lose our equipment, we can't lose the sugar!"

"Comrade Wei Lian, you can't afford to lose the equipment!" Liu Yimin said hurriedly.

Liu Peiran, the deputy director of the August First Film Studio, felt regretful when he came downstairs and heard that Liu Yimin was not going to the front line.

However, they quickly pulled Liu Yimin into the meeting room, where they looked at the document and had everyone discuss it to see if there were any parts that needed to be revised.

"With the success of 'Triumph at Midnight' as a precedent, we can't let 'Acacia Tree in the Minefield' be too bad. Yimin, if you have anything to say to the crew, please say it in advance." Liu Peiran asked Liu Yimin to say a few words first.

Liu Yimin nodded and said, "Directors, I'll just share my thoughts. First, we need to film the college students' naive and splendid imaginations about the battlefield. They are intellectuals, going to the battlefield with a patriotic heart, wanting to use their knowledge and their own bodies to change the war. It's normal for intellectuals to initially think of the battlefield in a simple way."

Secondly, don't deliberately express a sense of tragedy; let the thunder roar in the silence. Okay, that's all I have to say. Everyone, please read the script and let me know as soon as possible if you have any changes needed.

Wei Lian said, "Should we add some more slogans about being ready to die for one's country?"

"Comrade Wei Lian, I don't think that's necessary. Ordinary words can perfectly illustrate the soldiers' composure and fearlessness in the face of sacrifice. There's no need to add slogans to make it more tragic."

Liu Yimin smiled and retorted that Wei Lian was originally the director of "Acacia Tree in the Minefield," but judging from the current situation, the director's style is not as mature as that of later generations.

Wei Lian nodded quickly: "I understand!"

Li Jun said, "I agree with Yimin's opinion!"

Afterwards, Liu Yimin sat in the conference room and made four or five changes on the spot.

"I wish you success!" Liu Yimin said with a smile.

Li Jun escorted Liu Yimin downstairs and ran into Chen Peisi on the way. Chen Peisi, who was listless at the time, perked up when he saw Liu Yimin, but his energy vanished as soon as he saw Li Jun next to him.

They probably approached Liu Yimin with comments like, "With his looks, he should be playing the lead role." Liu Yimin patted him on the shoulder and said, "Keep it up. Gold will shine sooner or later."

Chen Peisi excitedly saw the two off, and then one of them muttered, "My gold is being covered by a tattered rag, it will never shine."

When Liu Yimin returned to the Overseas Chinese Apartment, Zhu Lin had already come home from get off work and was cooking. The house was filled with the aroma of toon leaves and eggs.

"Teacher Liu, please try my stir-fried eggs with toon leaves. I got it from Aunt Liang at the courtyard house today."

Upon hearing this, Liu Yimin remarked with emotion, "Aunt Liang, it's been so long since I've seen her, I really miss her."

"How about we stay in a courtyard house in April or May? The weather is neither too hot nor too cold then, and it's quite spacious in a courtyard house. Sanhua hasn't been to a courtyard house in a long time," Zhu Lin asked, turning around while holding a wok.

Liu Yimin nodded in agreement: "Great! Living here for a long time is indeed a bit stuffy. It's very comfortable to look up and see the sky in the courtyard. It's just that it's inconvenient to go to the toilet and take a shower!"

After dinner, Zhu Lin took out some baby clothes she had bought and showed them to Liu Yimin: "I'll send these to my sister-in-law tomorrow."

"It's still a long way from my sister-in-law giving birth, and besides, we don't even know if it's a boy or a girl yet, so buying it too early is too premature," Liu Yimin said with a smile.

Zhu Lin carefully folded and put the clothes away: "The clothes I bought can be worn by both boys and girls. You can't buy baby clothes in Rucheng at all, but you can find them in the department store in Wangfujing, so I just bought them."

The clothes were beige, and could indeed be worn by both boys and girls. The next day, Liu Yimin and Zhu Lin moved into the courtyard house. The roof tiles had been repaired this year, and the house looked brand new.

As soon as Sanhua was put down, she started running around in the yard, making the tiles on the eaves clatter.

Liu Yimin and Zhu Lin swept the yard inside and out, sprinkling water on the ground in the bedroom and yard. Just as they were about to rest, Aunt Liang's voice rang out at the door.

The two people walked over with brooms, and Liu Yimin called out enthusiastically, "Aunt Liang."

Aunt Liang greeted him warmly, pointing to Liu Yimin's motorcycle and saying, "I knew it was you as soon as I saw this motorcycle. The locust flowers I just picked are so fresh, have some for you to try."

"Aunt Liang, thank you, but you should keep them for yourself. Your family is large, and these locust flowers are hard to pick. Look, your hands are bleeding from the pricks!" Liu Yimin said politely.

"There are plenty of roads outside, I've dropped you off!"

Aunt Liang looked around, quickly poured the locust flowers from the basket onto the freshly wiped stone table, and waved goodbye before Liu Yimin could speak.

The moment he stepped out the door, he turned back and shouted to the two of them, "We're eating for lunch today! The sooner we eat them, the fresher they'll be. If you want to eat elm seeds, just tell me."

In the spring in the north, there are many gifts from nature that we can eat. Locust flowers are the flowers of the locust tree. They are sweet when eaten raw, and taste especially delicious when mixed with toppings and steamed.

Locust trees are covered in thorns, and you can easily prick your hand if you're not careful.

"Aunt Liang is so hospitable!" Zhu Lin said with a smile as she picked locust flowers and soaked them in the water.

Liu Yimin laughed and said, "Amidst all the 'Oh my!' sounds, this auntie's Shandong accent is really endearing. Let's give her something too. Chinese people believe that a close neighbor is worse than a distant relative."

"Okay, Teacher Liu, leave it to me. I'll bring Aunt Liang something another day and keep in touch!"

In mid-April, the textbook writing process was progressing rapidly, and "Beloved" was finally completed.

Liu Yimin put the manuscript in an envelope and wrote a letter to Xu Chi, asking him to translate it.

Just as he threw the letter into the mailbox, Lu Yao and Jiang Zilong, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, appeared together at the entrance of the alley.

"Hey, it's been a long time! We've been waiting for you all!" Liu Yimin said with a smile.

"Yimin, the copper pot I gave you will finally come in handy today! We're going to have hot pot in the courtyard!" Jiang Zilong said excitedly.

The winners of the second Lu Xun Literary Prize for novellas are about to be announced. Liu Yimin's "Triumph at Midnight" won the novella prize, while Lu Yao's "Life" and Jiang Zilong's "Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Cyan, Blue, and Violet" both won the novel prize.

In addition to winning the Lu Xun Literary Prize for novella, "Triumph at Midnight" also won the Harvest Literary Prize.

Of course, Liu Yimin did not participate in the Harvest literary award; the prize money was sent directly to him.

Liu Yimin saw the news of the two winning awards in the newspaper and knew that it was only a matter of time before they came to the courtyard house.

"Today's hot pot is all-you-can-eat mutton, but Comrade Jiang Zilong, let me ask you, how are the sales of your copper pots?" Liu Yimin asked with a smile.

Jiang Zilong thanked him, saying, "That's a good idea. We've supplied a lot of goods to restaurants in Yanjing. Ordinary people rarely buy copper pots to eat hot pot. In addition, we've also made pots for Sichuan province."

The three of them entered the courtyard. Lu Yao and Jiang Zilong couldn't wait to sneak into Liu Yimin's study, but unfortunately, there was nothing inside.

However, when they saw the mountain of letters from readers, the two were speechless. Lu Yao said sourly, "My readers seem to know nothing about writing letters!"

"Comrade Lu Yao, how's the movie adaptation of your novel 'Life' coming along?" Liu Yimin asked.

"It's all done. I've also had some colleagues from the film studio with me this time. They've sent the film to China Film Group Corporation for a screening. I don't know how many copies they'll sell, but it's definitely not enough compared to what you've got."

When talking about the film adaptation, Lu Yao couldn't help but feel a little proud, as this was his first script to be adapted into a movie.

Jiang Zilong took it in stride and said to Lu Yao, "Take it easy. Not many movies in China can sell 100 copies, let alone 1000. That's extremely rare."

Jiang Zilong recounted what he saw in Tianjin: even today, large numbers of viewers in Tianjin are queuing up to buy tickets for the movie "Triumph at Midnight," and some have watched it five or six times, knowing every detail inside and out.

"When I passed by the movie theater, some people in line were standing in the crowd, talking excitedly about the details of the movie. 'Triumph at Midnight' has won the hearts of readers and audiences from both a literary and cinematic perspective."

After Jiang Zilong finished speaking, Lu Yao said, "I also took my daughter to see it, but unfortunately she is too young to understand it."

"Let me introduce you to a friend, Comrade Lu Yao and Comrade Jiang Zilong. He has been wanting to meet you for a long time."

Liu Yimin called Liu Zhenyun and invited him to have hot pot that evening.

In the evening, when Zhu Lin got off work, Liu Yimin and the others had already bought meat and sliced ​​it.

"Comrade Zhu Lin, I'm sorry to bother you," Lu Yao said with a smile.

Zhu Lin hurriedly said, "Comrade Lu Yao, we're old friends. I'm so happy that you came here as soon as you arrived in Yanjing."

Zhu Lin's words made Lu Yao and Jiang Zilong laugh happily. Together, they set up a pot rack on the stone table in the yard, placed charcoal in the middle, and put the hot pot on it, thus creating a hot pot.

After everyone had finished setting things up, Liu Zhenyun arrived. Liu Yimin said with a smile, "You're really lucky, we've finished our work and you're here now."

Liu Zhenyun said helplessly, "Sigh, working in the editorial department is really exhausting. My eyes are getting blurry from all the work, and I almost crashed into the toilet while riding my bicycle."

"I didn't learn anything else in Yanjing, except how to be witty," Liu Yimin joked, before introducing Lu Yao and Jiang Zilong to Liu Zhenyun.

Liu Zhenyun held the two people's hands with great interest, his face full of smiles, and kept saying that he had finally met them in person.

Upon learning that Liu Zhenyun was an editor, the two initially thought he was trying to poach their manuscripts. However, they breathed a sigh of relief when they heard that it was from the Farmers' Daily.

Liu Yimin picked up a piece of hot pot meat and asked with a smile, "Comrade Lu Yao, Comrade Jiang Zilong, you are both outstanding writers among workers and peasants. Zhenyun has long wanted to interview you. Your visit to Yanjing this time is a good opportunity. How about it? Will you agree to an interview?"

(End of this chapter)