The literary era since 1979

Chapter 38 Teacher Xiao Fang, I Want to Improve

At night, the students were free to move around.

Some took a walk, some read books, and some formed teams to play table tennis.

But most of the people gathered in a small bungalow.

Because there is a color TV inside.

Although it is not as clear as black and white, and if you tune the channel incorrectly, all the images will continue to shake and deform, but it is worse than nothing. At this time, a female host appears on the screen to announce the show.

"Who is this person?"

Everyone whispered to each other, but no one answered.

"Who? A goblin!"

Mo Shen noticed a figure approaching him out of the corner of his eye.

"Lao Mo, where is my manuscript?"

Fangyan squatted down so as not to block the view from the back row.

"With Gu Hua and Zi Long."

Mo Shen stood up.

The two walked to the back row and saw Jiang Zilong and Gu Hua whispering to each other. The manuscript had already fallen into the hands of Tie Ning, Wang Anyi and others.

Those who were recruited into the institute were all the best in the local literary world. When they heard that Fangyan was going to submit a manuscript to "Harvest", they all rushed to take a look at the quality of the manuscript!
"Ya Zi, how did you come up with the theme of spy war?"

Mo Shen couldn't help but be curious.

"learn by analogy."

Fang Yan laughed and said, "Since we can have anti-espionage themes, why can't we have undercover themes that focus on our underground workers?"

Mo Shen sighed, "Let me think about it, I definitely can't think of it. The key is that you can think of it, and the thought and story are so strong!"

"Thoughtfulness and storytelling are one aspect, and literary quality is another."

Gu Hua was amazed: "Look at this inner monologue written by Yan Zi, and the connection between the beginning and the end is so smooth..."

“I used the montage technique commonly used in movie scripts.”

Dialects are spoken bluntly.

"Montage?"

Everyone was shocked, and each of them looked like they didn't understand but were greatly shocked.

“And this beginning, this is the first time I’ve seen it.”

Jiang Zilong asked, "I was a little confused at first, but after reading it carefully several times, I realized it was brilliant. It was really brilliant! It was able to blend the past and the present so skillfully in one sentence."

"It was just a sudden thought."

When Fangyan heard their comments, the corners of his mouth curled up.

After my own revisions and processing, "The Counterfeit Calculation" has a total of 10.4 words, which has reached the standard of a novella.

"The Shepherd" is the first short story.

"The Counterfeit Calculation" is the first novella, which is an improvement!
(ps: word count is not the only criterion. Lu Yao's "Life" has 14.4 words and won the National Excellent Novella Award. "To Live" has 12 words, but it is considered a novel.)
The manuscript was circulated among the crowd, and everyone who read it was convinced, but along with the conviction came a heavy pressure.

In front of him, these gifted children of heaven seemed to be lost in the crowd in an instant. What a huge psychological blow this must have caused!
Can we still have fun?

"What a pity! I know nothing about this kind of subject matter. I don't know how to write it, and I can't write it." Jiang Zilong sighed.

Fangyan comforted him: "Every profession has its own specialties. Every writer has his own strengths. There is no need to force it."

"You are right. I will still focus on reform literature and continue to explore the reform and conflicts of state-owned enterprises."

Jiang Zilong nodded solemnly.

"I really envy you guys. You have all found your own writing direction." Mo Shen looked for comfort from Gu Hua.

Gu Hua, however, surprised him by saying, "I have already thought about it. To be more precise, I decided on it before I enrolled in school."

"What direction?"

Fang Yan and others looked at him in unison.

“It’s about reflecting on literature.”

Gu Huazhi said that "The Shepherd" and the wave of reflective literature it set off suddenly inspired him, and he happened to have a story on hand.

Fang Yan said, "Tell us about it." "I went to a large mountainous county for an interview, and the people at the county cultural center told me about a widow's unjust case."

Gu Hua simply recounted the story. The story itself was very tragic. This widow had lost two husbands, but she was full of fatalistic thoughts and blamed herself for her bad luck, being alone and unlucky in marriage.

Fangyan immediately guessed that it was the prototype of the story of "Furong Town".

"I plan to process this story and add a character similar to Xu Lingjun, but without the interpersonal warmth of The Shepherd. He will suffer from bullying and humiliation, and then form a miserable couple with the widow protagonist."

Gu Hua said seriously: "Comfort each other in times of suffering."

"Not enough." Fang Yan shook his head.

"What's not enough, Yanzi, can you tell me?"

Gu Hua asked seriously.

Fangyan suggested: “I think since I’m writing about the countryside, why not combine reflection and the countryside?”

"Yanzi, you hit the nail on the head. I have the same idea. I plan to integrate the people and events in the rural areas of southern Hunan that I have been familiar with for more than 20 years into this."

Gu Hua slapped his thigh as if he had met a close friend.

The two of them had a very pleasant chat. Fangyan did not directly lead with the movie version, but instead took out a similar one, "The Beautiful Legend of Sicily", and used it to communicate with Gu Hua.

“Isn’t it a bit vulgar to be jealous of appearance?”

"Then change it."

"Quality is more important than appearance. It is better to focus all the good qualities of rural women in this role, such as kindness, hard work, tolerance, enthusiasm, and then a charming appearance."

Gu Hua said, "What do you think, Yanzi?"

"I think I can."

Fang Yan asked, "Have you thought of a title for the novel?"

Gu Hua said, "How about calling it a distant mountain town?"

"It's not special and not eye-catching." Fangyan shook his head.

Gu Hua took out a pen and wrote down 15 titles on a piece of paper, including "Mountain Town Romance", "Mountain Town Girl", "Hibiscus River", "Yuye Creek", etc., but none of them caught his eye.

"In my opinion, since the river, stream, and town you mentioned have always been called 'Furong River', 'Yuye Creek', and 'Furong Town', it might be better to just use 'Furong Town'."

Fang Yan asked Jiang Zilong and the other two for their opinions.

Mo Shen agreed, "This is good. It succinctly points out that the whole story takes place in Furong Town."

Jiang Zilong nodded in agreement: "Yanzi said that he was an assistant editor, but if you ask me, your level is already higher than many editors I have met. In time, you may become a famous editor."

"I think so."

Gu Hua, Mo Shen and others agreed with this.

"Authors and screenwriters complement each other. Whether I can become a famous screenwriter depends on all of you."

Fangyan looked at Gu Hua and said that "Yanjing Literature and Art" is focusing on a special topic on reflective literature this year, and all good works of reflective literature will be accepted. He hopes that "Furong Town" can submit their article to them.

"Of course no problem, and Teacher Xiao Fang must be responsible for my article "Furong Town." Gu Hua readily agreed.

"No, no, I'm not worthy of the title of 'teacher'. Let's just do things normally." Fangyan raised his hand.

"How can this be? When you are working, you must use your job title!" Gu Hua said seriously, "Teacher Xiao Fang, please take care of me in the future."

"Take care of each other and make progress together!"

Fangyan shook hands with him and smiled knowingly.

"Lao Gu has finished speaking. Teacher Xiao Fang, it's my turn."

Mo Shen couldn't wait to get closer.

Previously, Fang Yan recommended Lu Yao's manuscript to "Contemporary", and now he is helping Gu Hua find a good way out for "Furong Town".

Teacher Xiao Fang, I, Lao Mo, also want to make progress!

"Comrade Fangyan, could you please take a look at my manuscript as well?"

The actions of the four of them were noticed by the other people present early on, especially after listening to the conversation between Gu Hua and Fang Yan, their gazes towards Fang Yan became even more passionate, with gleams in their eyes.

Teacher Xiao Fang, we really want to make progress!

　Thanks to Xueji Yanhuang for the 100 starting coins.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)