The literary era since 1979

Chapter 49 Reform Literature
Ding-dong, the bell for the end of get out of class rang throughout the school.

The cafeteria suddenly became lively and noisy, with people whispering to each other about their instructors, the May Day holiday and other interesting things.

Fangyan found Gu Hua and told him that "Furong Town" would be published on the front page of the July reflection special issue of "Yanjing Literature and Art".

Gu Hua's face turned red with excitement. He held his hand and shook it vigorously, saying "thank you" over and over.

"You're welcome."

Fang Yan smiled and glanced at Jiang Zilong who was standing and reading the newspaper with Mo Shen, thinking about the reform of literature.

"Hey! Big news! A big happy event!"

Suddenly, Mo Shen raised his hand and shouted, "Zilong's novel, "Director Qiao's Taking Office", is going to be on TV!"

"Where is it! Where is it!"

All of a sudden, everyone, including Fang Yan, focused their eyes on Mo Shen and Jiang Zilong, and some even came closer.

At that time, both the Yenching Daily and the Yenching Evening News had a special column dedicated to publishing previews and broadcast times of television programs, movies, operas, dramas, and competitions.

Today, I saw in the daily newspaper that a TV series adapted from the novel "The Record of Director Qiao's Taking Office" appeared, and it is still being broadcast on CCTV!

"Tomorrow night at 6 o'clock, isn't tomorrow Sunday?"

"That's great. I'll wait in front of the TV tomorrow."

"And me! And me!"

"..."

The people present responded one after another.

At this moment, Fang Yan walked up to Jiang Zilong and said, "I want to ask you something about reforming literature."

"Why are you suddenly interested in Reformation literature?"

Jiang Zilong was stunned at first, but he quickly reacted and lowered his voice and asked, "Is this the question that Mr. Mao assigned to you?"

"That's it."

Fangyan smiled bitterly and said that in addition to the spy war theme, Shen Yanbing gave him two other directions, one is the theme of the times, and the other is realism. Apart from this "To Live", he has no suitable idea for the latter for the time being.

It was the former who thought of "reform".

"When it comes to reforming literature, you've come to the right person."

Jiang Zilong reminded: "But this is not easy to write."

"For example?"

Fangyan was prepared and took out paper and pen.

"First of all, it's not a question of subject matter or content, but you must have a strong heart."

Jiang Zilong looked serious.

"A strong heart?"

Fangyan blinked in confusion.

“Yes, because it’s easy to get criticized.”

Jiang Zilong used himself as an example.

When "A Day in the Life of the Director of the Mechanical and Electrical Bureau" was first published, there was overwhelming criticism from readers to newspapers, and the tone became louder and louder, and the intensity became stronger and stronger.

Even an investigation team was organized.

When Jiang Zilong recalled this thrilling history, he couldn't help but laugh at himself: "I'm probably the only one in the country who has this blessing."

"so serious?"

Fangyan was startled.

"what is this."

Jiang Zilong shook his head and laughed, "Don't think that "Director Qiao's Taking Office" is so popular on CCTV now. Maybe I'm the only one who knows how miserable it was when the novel was published."

Fangyan listened to his talk patiently.

As soon as "The Record of Director Qiao's Taking Office" was published, it was criticized by the literary circles in Tianjin. Many newspapers even devoted 14 pages to criticizing it, sparking discussions across the country with mixed reviews.

"During that period, I produced the most works. I set a rule for myself: every time an article criticizing me appeared in the newspaper, I would write another short story."

Jiang Zilong smiled calmly: "They only aimed at the front of the train, but the train was moving, so they could only hit the back of the train. Sometimes they couldn't hit it, and the newspapers had just criticized this article, but before they could fully criticize it, my next article would come out."

"Wow, Zilong, Zilong, your name is really not wrong, you are simply the 'Zhao Zilong of the literary world', killing people seven times and getting out seven times." Fangyan exclaimed sincerely.

"Your metaphor is just right!"

Jiang Zilong laughed loudly: "Zhao Zilong is very brave, and I, Zilong, am also a courageous person. I am not afraid of anything."

"It's a good thing I asked you first."

Fangyan is also aware of the root of the dispute, after all, the situation is unclear.

This is also the reason why I have not done business until now. At most, I would do small things like buying monkey stamps. Because if I do something big, I might fail easily and even go to jail.

For example, Silly Melon Seeds.

"So, you must think it through. Reform literature is a dangerous place. You must be brave enough to write it." Jiang Zilong said with a smile, "But I think your situation will be better than mine. Don't forget, you have a teacher."

"Yes."

Fang Yan couldn't help but sigh: "If it weren't for this relationship, I wouldn't even dare to think about reform literature, but I guess the teacher also thought of this, so he didn't stop me from thinking about reform themes."

The two chatted animatedly, and soon Gu Hua, Mo Shen, Jia Dashan and others joined in and gave Fang Yan advice.

"Ten thousand yuan household? Family joint production chengbao?"

"This is still related to reform, the topic is somewhat sensitive, and we need to go to the countryside to observe and investigate."

"The counterattack against Annan, military themes should be okay, right?"

"The subject matter is good, but Yanzi is studying in the training institute, so how can he have the time and opportunity to go to the troops for field research?"

"........."

"Life, how about this topic?"

Amid the discussions, Wang Anyi suddenly spoke out.

"Life?"

Fang Yan, like Jiang Zilong and others, was extremely surprised.

"Look at this."

Wang Anyi took out the latest issue of "Huaxia Youth" borrowed from the library, turned to the page with the folded footer, and saw the words "Why does the road of life become narrower and narrower" written on it.

That's it!

The dead memories began to attack the dialect again.

The main content of the article "Why does the road of life become narrower and narrower" comes from a letter from a reader named "Pan Xiao".

Once this letter was published, it immediately triggered a nationwide discussion about life and outlook on life. The discussion lasted for more than half a year, and a total of 50,000 to 60,000 letters were received.

In my previous life, I also wrote letters to the editorial department.

"What is the meaning of life?"

“Where should life go?”

Wang Anyi looked left and right, "I feel that her confusion is not just hers. There must be many in our generation. The more confused they are, the more they need the power of literature and role models to guide them. What do you think?" Then he turned his gaze to Fangyan.

"I agree with An Yi that literature is a beacon of life that can illuminate the direction of the road ahead."

Tiening was the first to stand up and agree.

Listening to their speeches one by one, Fangyan touched his chin, and "Ordinary World", "The World", "Sunny Days", "The Shawshank Redemption", and "To Live" flashed through his mind. Either the time was not right and he couldn't write, or the background was not suitable.

For example, "The Ordinary World" involves the household joint responsibility system, and I don't know whether it has been implemented in northern Shaanxi yet!

In fact, the most appropriate one should be Lu Yao's "Life", but it's a pity that it is a novella.

Tsk, after asking around, I'm back to the starting point. It would be better to reform literature!

Fang Yan was depressed about the difficulty of the mission assigned by his master. If you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight. Perhaps this is the price of being Shen Yanbing's last disciple.

Just when he was planning to write "The Hidden" as a precautionary measure, Jiang Dan's voice came from the door.

She brought herself a good news: the sample copy of the latest issue of "Harvest" had been sent to the training institute!
Now that the sample book has arrived, will the remittance slip for the manuscript fee be late?

It’s about time to send it to your home, right?

　Jiang Zilong was awarded the Pioneer Medal for his reform literature, one of the top 40 figures of the 80th anniversary. The three major trends of the s were reform, scars, and reflection, but spy war literature was still a little behind.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)