Backtracking to the Age of Literature and Art

After the third week of classes in Huangcao Village, Yu Dong packed up his things and prepared to go back, but was stopped by Yu Hua.

"Member, help me bring something home."

"What? For sister-in-law and Haiguo?" Yu Dong asked curiously.

Yu Hua shook her head, then took out a roll of manuscript paper, and said with a smile, "I wrote something two days ago, please send it to Zhongshan for me, and see if they publish it."

"Manuscript?" Yu Dong's eyes widened in disbelief.

Yu Hua's output is the rarest among them. In the past two years, he occasionally published one or two essays, but in the past two years, he has basically produced nothing. Unexpectedly, after staying here for more than two weeks, he wrote a articles.

"Let me see?" Yu Dong asked.

"Look, Old Wang has already seen it." Yu Hua said casually.

"Fiction, or essay?" Yu Dong asked again.

"novel."

Yu Dong looked at the manuscript in his hand and roughly estimated it. There were only thirty or forty sheets of manuscript paper, and each page counted as 350 words, which was estimated to be more than 1 words.

This amount is very small for Dong. Sometimes he can write so much in half a day, not to mention Yu Dong, but some writers with a slightly higher output can only write in a day or two.

But for a contestant like Yu Hua, being able to write more than 1 words in more than two weeks can be said to be very productive. Moreover, Yu Hua certainly did not start writing as soon as he came to Huangcao Village, so the writing time must be less than Half a month.

"How long have you been writing this novel?"

Yu Hua thought for a while and said, "About a week."

For a week, I had to write an average of nearly [-] words a day, which was very fast.

"I thought you were playing cards with them every day here." Yu Dong joked.

Speaking of playing cards, Yu Hua felt a little embarrassed, "Hey, I still have to play cards, mainly to connect with other teachers. Of course, I also need to write articles, mainly because I have nothing else to do here. Doing and writing something can also pass the time.”

Yu Dong nodded with satisfaction, "Okay, I will send your manuscript to "Zhong Shan". If they don't accept it, it will be sent to "Harvest"."

Yu Hua smiled, "Actually, I don't care which one I send it to, you can figure it out."

Yu Dong nodded, "Okay, then I'm leaving."

On the way back, Yu Dong unfolded Yu Hua's manuscript. To Yu Dong's surprise, the name of the novel was neatly written on the top of the first page. The name of the novel turned out to be——Going on a Long Trip at the Age of 42.

This name reminds Yu Dong of Yu Hua's famous novel "Going Away". Compared with the novel "Going Away" itself, Yu Dong is more familiar with the story behind this novel, because every time he drinks, Yu Hua Always talk about that time.

At that time, Yu Hua had been writing for several years. He had also published novels in the "Yenjing Literature" magazine and even won the "Yenjing Literature" award. However, he was still a little transparent in the literary world and did not have much reputation. .

But the year when "Going Away" was published was the first highlight moment in his life. At that time, he published several novels in "Yanjing Literature" and "Harvest" one after another, and joined the literature lecture of Lu Xun Academy of Literature class, that was when Yu Hua was most passionate.

Some people say that if you want to know the writer Yu Hua, you must read his "To Live", but if you want to know the pioneer writer Yu Hua, then you must read "Going Away".

This does not necessarily mean that "Going Away" can better reflect Yu Hua's pioneering nature than "Screaming in the Drizzle", but "Going Away" can indeed better summarize the early Yu Hua.

At that time, Yu Hua's writing was not as proficient as "To Live" and "Xu Sanguan's Story of Selling Blood". Some readers even thought that this novel might have been written by a junior high school student when they read "Going Away" , and must be a junior high school student with average academic performance. The application of this novel in words will indeed give people this illusion.

When reading "A Long Journey", it is easy to think of Kafka. In fact, Yu Hua himself admitted that he was deeply influenced by Kafka, at least when he wrote this novel.

The story of the novel is very escaping, giving people a sense of absurdity and weird discontinuity.

Withdrawing his thoughts, Yu Dong took a slow breath, and then began to open the manuscript in his hand.

"Old man Li's son asked someone to bring a letter back to report his safety. He sent it back with the letter, and there was still 500 yuan. After half a day, everyone in the village knew that old man Li's son Li Manzi made a lot of money outside..."

Yu Dong sat on the tractor, driving at a very slow speed, but the road was too bumpy, so Yu Dong and the manuscript in Yu Dong's hand rose and fell, following the rhythm of the unharvested rice in the field.

When the tractor was approaching the town, Yu Dong finished the novel.

The story begins when Li Manzi, a well-known gangster in Dahuang Village, asked someone to send 500 yuan back. Because of the 500 yuan, everyone in the village said that Li Manzi made a lot of money outside.Also because of this rumor, the old and young people in the village are very kind to old man Li.

"I" is a substitute teacher in the village. I'm in my 40s, married once, but my wife ran away, and now I live alone. After hearing that Li Manzi made a lot of money, "I" felt 1 uncomfortable. People like Li Laizi can make money, but a peaceful person like me has to endure poverty.

Finally, "I" decided to go to the city to see if I could make money.

The furthest thing "I" had ever traveled before was to go to the county town to help the school buy things, but in order to earn a lot of money, "I" decided to go to Pengcheng where Li Manzi lived.

In order to go to Pengcheng, I prepared for a long time and brought all the money I had saved for many years, but on the car from the county to the city, I was robbed and lost all the money on me, so I couldn’t go again Pengcheng, because I can no longer afford a train ticket to Pengcheng.

I have two choices, one is to stay in our city, the other is to go back to the village, no matter which choice is very difficult for me.

Going back to the village, first of all, I will lose face, because I have already told people that I am going to Pengcheng before I come, and I need a ticket to go back to the village. If I walk, I will not be able to go back in a few days.

Staying in the city, I am penniless now, and I don't even have a place to live, so surviving is a problem.

In the end, I decided to stay in the city, and was lucky enough to find a job at a construction site, with a daily salary of [-] yuan. I lived on the construction site. I thought about saving for a while, and when I had saved enough to travel to Pengcheng, I Set off again, and when I get rich and return to the village, no one will know that I have stayed here for a while.

But unfortunately, our foreman ran away before I got paid.

The contractor ran away, and I followed my fellow workers to ask for wages. After a few days of asking, I gave up, because I wanted to live, and the money in my hand was almost not enough for me to eat.

Although I was cheated by the contractor, I still had to go to other construction sites to work, hoping that the next contractor would be a good person.

On the second day when I came to the new construction site, a big incident happened on the construction site. Two workers fought, and one of them was killed. I followed the others and ran over to see that there was a person lying in a pool of blood, who was dead. And I recognized at a glance that it was Li Manzi who died.

Later, the police came to the construction site and asked who knew Li Manzi, but no one responded, and neither did I.

Later, Li Manzi's father came to claim the body at the construction site. I hid in the shed and dared not go out. The reason why I did not dare to go out was because I was worried that old man Li would tell people that I was working at the construction site.

A few months later, I saved some money and instead of going to Pengcheng, I spent the money to change my clothes, bought some wrapped gifts, and went back to the village.

People in the village said that I had made a fortune, and they all hung around me. I shared with them what I had seen and heard in Pengcheng.

Some people asked me if I met Li Manzi in Pengcheng. I heard that Li Manzi became a big boss in Pengcheng.

……

After reading this novel, Yu Dong thought of "My Uncle Yule". Both novels talk about vanity, but they are not only about vanity. "Going on a Long Trip at the Age of 42" also tells about the current social situation in China , reflecting socially exaggerated disparities.

However, compared with the "Going Away" back then, although there are many absurdities in the style of this novel, it is much softer and not as sharp as before.As Yu Hua himself said, he used to think about how to write, but now he thinks more about what to write.

In addition, although the novel does not focus too much, it also reflects a social problem, that is, many teachers now choose to "go to sea", either to do business or go out to work, because they do earn more by going out to work.

Although Li Laizi's situation is quite special, in fact, many years of people go to big cities to work, and their monthly salary can be several hundred yuan, and the better ones can be stable to thousands, and there are some more special jobs, a few dollars a month. Thousands can be earned.

These people returned to the village and built big houses one after another. How could other people not be jealous?

Yu Dong put away the manuscripts carefully, and then smiled. Sending Yu Hua here is indeed the right thing to do. He is already looking forward to more works from Yu Hua.

And Wang Xiaobo, whether it's "Bronze Age" or "Black Iron Age", come out quickly.

……

After returning to Jinling, Yu Dong didn't even go back to Jinyi, and directly drove the car to the "Zhongshan" magazine, and then sent the manuscript directly to Su Tong.

According to the general submission process, the manuscript must be sent to the literary editor first. If the literary editor thinks that the work passes the test, it will be recommended to the novel team leader, and then the novel team leader will recommend it upwards. The novel is submitted to the magazine and then published. There is a long process.

But since it is Yu Hua's manuscript, it is naturally privileged to skip other procedures and enter the editor's office.

Su Tong was originally reading the manuscript for the next issue, and was about to light a cigarette when he was tired, when he saw Yu Dong knocking on the door.

Seeing Yu Dong, Su Tong was very surprised, "Why are you here?"

In the past, Yu Dong often came to their magazine, but in the past two years, there have been fewer visits. On the one hand, Yu Dong is indeed busy, and on the other hand, his current situation is not suitable for running around.

Yu Dong raised the manuscript in his hand, "I'm here to deliver the manuscript to you."

"Manuscript? Yours?"

Su Tong put away the cigarette case and stood up quickly. They hadn't received Yu Dong's manuscript for a long time, so he was very excited when he heard that Yu Dong sent the manuscript.

Yu Dong smiled and said, "It's not mine, it's Yu Hua's."

"Yu Hua's...you can also, show me quickly."

Regardless of whether it was Yu Dong's or Yu Hua's manuscript, the weight was heavy enough, and they hadn't received Yu Hua's manuscript for a long time.

Yu Dong walked over with a smile and handed the manuscript to Su Tong, "I just brought this manuscript from Huangcao Village, and it's still warm."

Su Tong suddenly said, "Oh, you recently went to the countryside to support teaching. I asked you why you suddenly delivered the manuscript yourself. How about it? Teaching in the countryside is quite difficult, right?"

"Actually, it's not bad. The students are quite obedient."

"Students in rural areas are relatively poor, so I need you to put some thought into it... My boy, the title of the novel is 42-year-old Going Away. Is Yu Hua 42 years old this year?"

"Your focus is quite strange."

"Haha, I just didn't expect him to be in his 40s. Time flies. You sit down for a while, and I'll read the manuscript, so I won't pour you tea."

"No, read it quickly, and decide whether to use it or not after reading it. If you don't use it, I will send it to "Harvest" to have a look."

When he heard "Harvest", Su Tong rolled his eyes, "No need, I can give you the answer now, we will definitely use this novel in "Zhongshan", if it won't be published in the next issue, it will definitely be published in the next issue. "

"Don't decide after reading it?"

"No, don't wait here anymore. Leave the manuscript here with me while Yu Hua waits for us to publish it. The royalties will be paid to you and other authors."

Seeing that Su Tong was so determined, Yu Dong smiled, "In that case, that's fine, I'll go back first."

"Well, you go back, these two days should be very busy in deep space, is there a new game online today?"

Yu Dong gave a thumbs up, "You know all about this?"

"Yeah, even people like me who don't play computers know it. I read it from the "Yangtze Evening News". It said that a game company under your company released a game some time ago, and it has become popular all over the world. There will be another game coming out today, and everyone is looking forward to it.”

"If you're curious, I'll take you to play a new game tonight?"

Su Tong waved his hands again and again, "Forget it, I don't have the talent in this area. You know, Yu Hua and Wang Xiaobo laugh at me every day, saying that I can't even use the keyboard well."

Yu Dong smiled, Yu Hua and Wang Xiaobo were right, Su Tong really couldn't even use the keyboard well, let alone playing games, it would be a problem for him to type on the computer.

And Yu Hua and Wang Xiaobo happen to be computer experts among writers, so they are absolutely qualified to laugh at Su Tong.