The literary era since 1979

Once the opening ceremony of the National Youth Writers' Symposium was reported by mainstream literary media such as the Literary Gazette and the Literature Newspaper, it immediately attracted attention from the literary world, especially the series of questions and answers from dialect and avant-garde writers, which swept in like a whirlwind and caused an uproar.

“Gerquez doesn’t admit that he is a magical realist writer?”

“The fundamental core of literary genres such as magical realism and hallucinatory realism lies in realism!”

"Avant-garde literature has lost its 'avant-garde' essence and has not transformed 'avant-garde' into 'innovation' at all..."

Various viewpoints and arguments have become the hottest topics in the literary world for a while. More and more newspapers and magazines have joined the debate, either under the banner of supporting the "revival of realism" or standing on the standpoint of "avant-garde literature."

As a result, the National Youth Writers' Symposium has just opened, but the level of discussion and attention it has received far exceeds that of last year's West Lake Conference.

Wang Meng, the initiator and organizer of this conference, was surprised and delighted, and immediately invited Fang Yan to his office:

"Yanzi, this time I can have such a glorious time, it's all thanks to you."

"It's all thanks to everyone's hard work. I just did my part."

Fangyan smiled and sat down.

"Even if you say so, the credit is yours!"

Wang Meng said that through the two conferences, West Lake and Xiangshan, People's Literature not only witnessed the birth of the "root-seeking literature" genre and the subsequent creative trend, but also called on writers in the literary world to return to realistic literature, making it worthy of being a weather vane of Chinese literature.

"I am responsible for the first part, but the greatest credit belongs to you."

Fang Yan said: "Since you took over as the editor-in-chief of People's Literature, we have been united and at ease. We don't need too many meetings or too many tedious discussions. The editorial department can maintain high speed in the rough sea and never deviate from its course. All the crew members can fully display their talents. Everything is under your protection. There is no need to worry about anything..."

The two of them had a wave of commercial promotion for each other, and with them as the main and deputy editor-in-chief, People's Literature is indeed thriving and becoming great again.

But looking back on his editing career, the only thing that Wang Meng regretted was that he never got the ideal manuscripts of popular female writers such as Zhang Jie, Tie Ning, and Wang Anyi. He sighed quietly, "In fact, I repeatedly asked them to edit their manuscripts, and I even visited some of them in person."

"There will be opportunities in the future."

Fangyan said comfortingly.

"I'm afraid that's not possible for the time being."

Wang Meng shook his head.

"How do you say this?"

Dialects are very curious.

"I'm only telling you this. Don't tell anyone in the agency."

After Wang Meng saw his solemn promise, he said sincerely: "I have some unfortunate news."

Fangyan listened quietly. "Yanzi, I have been managing People's Literature with you until now. When I think about it carefully, although I can't say that we are loyal to each other and share honor and disgrace, we have been working together happily and complementing each other. However, now we have to go our separate ways. In other words, things have come to a regrettable and irreversible situation. I have tried to change it many times, but in the end it was of no avail..."

For a moment, my mind was in a mess and I didn't understand what he was trying to say at all.

"I... am leaving."

Wang Meng's eyes were filled with reluctance.

"what?!"

Fangyan looked him up and down in shock, mistakenly thinking that he was suffering from a terminal illness and would not live long.

"I really don't want to leave yet. I want to continue staying in the editorial department and fight side by side with you."

Wang Meng frowned and said, "We should bring People's Literature to a higher level to comfort Mr. Mao's spirit in heaven!"

"Teacher Wang, I am so heartbroken."

Fang Yan's heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly felt a sense of loss. "Does your family know about this?"

Wang Meng said that he had only discussed the matter with his wife for the time being.

"When did you get notified?"

"Not long ago."

"Well, how much time do you have?" "If it's quick, it will be the end of December, but I hope to hold on until the end of the year and finish the things I have on hand before leaving."

There was a hint of heaviness in Wang Meng's tone.

I always felt that there was something strange about the dialect, but I couldn't tell what was wrong. I felt that the atmosphere had become solemn and sad.

Wang Meng said: "There's no need to be so sad. We can still meet often at the Ministry of Culture."

"what?"

When he heard the word "cultural department", Fangyan was stunned.

Wang Meng said that he wanted to be promoted from Renwenshe to the cultural department to replace Zhu Muzhi.

Fangyan was startled and immediately put away the handkerchief that he was about to wipe his tears. Only then did he realize that he had misunderstood everything from the beginning to the end.

It turns out that the news coming from the ward was not bad news about the death, but good news from the delivery room - the baby was promoted!

As a result, the painful and sad mood just now was swept away, and his face was filled with joy and excitement, and he congratulated repeatedly:
"This is good news. Congratulations, Teacher Wang!"

"Don't congratulate me. If this matter really cannot be pushed away, I will never agree to it!"

Wang Meng showed a helpless expression.

After asking, Fangyan found out that shortly before the National Youth Writers Symposium, when Wang Meng was leading a writers delegation to participate in the event, he happened to run into some leaders who were discussing who should take over the management of the cultural department. There were many candidates on the list at that time, but no one among these people could reach a consensus, and they all chose him, who was "delivered to their doorstep".

"I was flattered. I said I couldn't do it, but they said I could."

Wang Meng said distressedly: "I declined three or four times and asked them to find someone else, but this made them think that I was more suitable to go to the ministry."

"Teacher Wang, to be honest, I think you are a good candidate for this position," Fang Yan consoled.

"How can it be suitable?"

Wang Meng smiled bitterly and said that although he had served as editor-in-chief of several literary journals such as "Yenching Literature" and "People's Literature", and had also been in charge of the Yenching Writers Association, he was definitely not prepared to take charge of the cultural department, and had never thought that he had the ability to manage, make decisions, and take responsibility.

"You are being too modest."

Fang Yan half-jokingly said, "You have managed People's Literature so well and it is thriving. It is more than just one department. Besides, with your reputation, Mr. Wang, even if you add one or two departments like the Writers Association and the Federation of Literary and Art Circles, it won't be too much."

"Hey, you should use your flattery skills on editing and writing!"

Wang Meng rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Fangyan smiled and said, "This is not flattery, I am just telling the truth."

"If I didn't know that you didn't know this news, I would have thought that you were lobbying for your senior brother and the leaders."

Wang Meng looked worried. He had always been offering suggestions as a literary and artistic worker, but he never thought that one day he would be giving orders.

Fangyan poured him some water and comforted him, saying, "You have to stand up straight. You don't know how much energy you have inside your body!"

Wang Meng took a sip of water to calm down his worries:

"Although I agreed to the transfer, I did have a condition. That is, I would only work for three years. Once the three-year term is up, I would resign. At that time, they would have to find a more suitable candidate to replace me. I would also be freed from the paperwork and continue to create well."

"What are you doing?"

Fangyan's eyes widened in surprise.

"I just want to write novels for the rest of my life, instead of using writing as a stepping stone."

Wang Meng said that he has been in the position of editor-in-chief of "People's Literature" for a long time and has begun to feel overwhelmed in literary creation. Unlike him, he still has such a strong imagination and creativity. If his term of office exceeds three years, his pursuit of literature may go against his original intention.

"You are so noble and upright. If I were you, I might not be able to make such a bold decision."

Fangyan grinned and chuckled.

"You are such a shrewd boy. If it were you, you would be even more unwilling to take on the role than I am."

Wang Meng patted him on the shoulder and said earnestly: "Don't be like me. What I regret most now is that during those years when my creative inspiration was the most gushing, I didn't write more works that satisfied myself and my readers." (End of this chapter)