The literary era since 1979

Chapter 5 Found a treasure
"This is our editor-in-chief, Mr. Li Qingquan."

"This is the deputy editor-in-chief, Mr. Wang Meng."

After Wang Jie's introduction, Fangyan shook hands with the two people politely and exchanged greetings for a while.

"I thought you weren't coming for a few days."

Li Qingquan simply understood the whole story and said kindly, "I didn't expect you to come so soon and revise the manuscript so quickly. You finished revising the manuscript right after you arrived."

"Please take a look. I'll eat first."

Zhou Yanru handed over the manuscript paper.

Wang Meng asked Li Qingquan to read it first, and then he looked at Fang Yan, "You just said that your book The Horse Herder is not scar literature?"

"No."

Fang Yan shook his head. "After discussing with Teacher Zhou, I feel that the scar novel "Loess Plateau" is enough. I want to try something different."

"Do you think scar novels are bad?"

Wang Meng, Ji Xiuying and others looked at each other.

“You can’t say it’s bad, but you can’t say it’s too good either.”

Fangyan replied, "I know that many people have been left with various scars in their bodies and minds, and many works now write about these things, but I think a person or a country should not always be immersed in such things. We should cheer up, stand up, and look forward in life."

Wang Meng folded his arms, "No wonder your "Loess Plateau" is so energetic and positive, but why is the ending of "The Shepherd" so gloomy?"

"Where there is light, there is darkness."

Fangyan repeated the motive he had told Zhou Yanru.

Wang Meng nodded. "Since you think your adaptation of The Horse Herder is not scar literature, then what do you think it is?"

“I want to think of this as a kind of reflective literature.”

There was a firmness in the dialect tone.

“Reflective literature?”

Not only Wang Meng, but also Li Qingquan, Zhou Yanru and everyone else present were all shocked by this unprecedented proposal.

"Yes, scars are a tragedy."

Fangyan said seriously, as if he was interviewing for a civil servant position, "But Mr. Lu Xun said that tragedy is to destroy the valuable things in life in front of others."

Then he held up two fingers and said, "It can be seen that tragedy should have two levels. The first is to express disaster, and the second is to show the sublime in the disaster. I think scar literature only stays at the first level, blindly expressing grievances and narrating misfortunes, but ignores the portrayal of personality."

"hiss!"

When these words were spoken, everyone was shocked.

Wang Meng adjusted his glasses and gave him a scrutinizing look.

Zhou Yanru, Li Yue and others looked at Fang Yan in a different light. After all, the first thing he said was Ai Qing, and the next thing he said was Lu Xun.

At this age, he actually has such literary accomplishment? !

Wang Jie covered her mouth and laughed, she was extremely excited, this writer was discovered by herself with her keen eyes!

"How do you think it should be portrayed?"

Li Qingquan raised his head with interest.

"People in every era have their own sufferings. The key lies in how people bear them." Fang Yan said, "How does the saying go? There is only one kind of heroism in the world, and that is to still love life after seeing the truth of life."

"Who said this?"

Li Yue's eyes lit up and he immediately copied it down on paper.

“I don’t know. I just saw it by chance.”

Fangyan laughed and said, "So I want to reflect on the suffering and scars and find the strength to move forward."

"Comrade Xiao Fang, how old are you this year?"

Li Qingquan looked up and down at his young face.

"19 years old." Fangyan replied.

This kid is only nineteen? !
Li Qingquan, Wang Meng and others looked at each other in bewilderment. Wang Jie widened her eyes even more. How could he be so mature even though he is only 7 years younger than me?
"You read a lot of books. You must have graduated from high school, right?"

Li Yue couldn't help but interrupt.

“As soon as I graduated, I went to the countryside.”

Fangyan drank up all the water in the rice bowl.

“Is life in the countryside hard?”

Wang Meng was very curious. "Many educated youth of your age can't stand the hardship and grievances of going to the countryside. They all want to shout and vent. Have you ever thought about this?"

"Of course I have."

Fangyan shook his head. "But when I think about it, it is indeed hard, but it is mainly because I am desperate for the future. I feel that I will have to stay in the countryside for the rest of my life and will never be able to go back. But now we can return to the city, but farmers don't have this opportunity. They may have to stay in the countryside for the rest of their lives. Who can they talk to about their suffering?" "Hiss!!"

There was an uproar in the room, and even Zhou Yanru put down her chopsticks.

At such a young age, you have such awareness?
Is he really a genius!

"Thinking about it this way, I don't think going to the countryside is a bad thing. At least I know that life in the countryside is really hard and life as a farmer is really difficult."

Fangyan wondered whether this answer was appropriate.

After all, he has his eyes on the contract workers of Yenching Literature and Art!

"So, it's not easy for you to come back to Yanjing. Take this opportunity to stay in Yanjing for a few more days."

Zhou Yanru is considerate and her eyes are full of love.

"Yes."

Wang Meng also understood what she meant. "It's not finished just because you have revised the manuscript. It still needs to go through the final review. During this time, you have to stay in Yanjing. There may be some places that need to be revised."

"no problem."

Fang Yan smiled and said, "I just want to go home."

"You are a local of Yanjing, so we don't need to arrange anything for you. If you want to visit the attractions, go visit the attractions. If you want to go home, go home. In short, just have fun in Yanjing."

Li Qingquan spoke gently, "Don't worry about returning to northern Shaanxi. We will give you a letter of introduction and buy you a ticket when the time comes."

Zhou Yanru reminded him again that he could come to the cafeteria at noon, as Yenching Literature and Art would provide him with meals, but he would have to figure out his own way for dinner.

Fortunately, there is a subsidy of 2 yuan every day!

The dialect is what we are looking for. One more day of staying means one more day of earning.

And it was exactly what he wanted. He was just thinking about how to get closer to the editorial department of Yenching Literature and Art after shocking everyone, so as to take advantage of the opportunity to get a contract worker position. Now this opportunity came to him!
Watching Li Qingquan, Wang Meng and Zhou Yanru walk mysteriously into the small room, he didn't think much about it and followed Wang Jie and the others to go outside the house to wash the rice bowls.

"Look."

Li Qingquan handed the manuscript to Wang Meng.

Wang Meng nodded. "Okay, let me see what he meant by 'reflective literature'."

"I think the 'reflective literature' mentioned by Fang Yan is worth studying." Zhou Yanru emphasized, "What do you think, Mr. Li?"

Li Qingquan hummed, "Scar literature is still too limited. Most of the follow-up works are personal emotional catharsis, but this reflective literature really touches on the essence."

"Correct."

Wang Meng said as he read the poem: "The 'reflection' he mentioned is similar to the one I am currently conceiving, 'Butterfly'. When we reflect on history, we should also reflect on our personal responsibilities towards history. We should not just talk about suffering but also reflect on it."

"Speaking of 'reflection', Ru Zhijuan's 'A Story of Wrong Editing' published in People's Literature at the beginning of the year, and Zhang Jie, who you discovered, published 'The Child from the Forest' in our magazine last year, all have this 'reflection' tendency."

Zhou Yanru poured two glasses of water for them.

"There is also the November issue of "Love, Can't Be Forgotten". Although it has the shadow of scar literature, at its core, what Zhang Jie writes is the same as Fang Yan, which is about ideal love and reflection." Li Qingquan said with a smile, "This is a new literary tendency. If we grasp it, it may become a new literary trend after scars."

“Rethinking Literature.”

Zhou Yanru had mixed feelings. She had not expected that the dialect would open a brand new door for them that was different from scar literature.

Perhaps "The Shepherd" will become the pioneering work of reflective literature, and "Yenching Literature and Art" is the standard-bearer of the wave of reflective literature and also an important stronghold of reflective literature.

When they thought of this, all three of them were excited.

"This article, The Horse Herder, will be placed on the front page of the latest issue of the novel section. Mr. Li, Mr. Zhou, what do you think?"

Wang Meng looked left and right.

"I have no opinion."

Zhou Yanru was the first to express her opinion, "And I think The Horse Herder has a good chance of being selected for the National Short Story Award next year."

Li Qingquan smiled and said, "That's right, Teacher Zhou, this dialect is worth cultivating. It has great potential for becoming a writer."

"Xiao Wang and I will keep a close eye on him."

Zhou Yanru promised solemnly.

Since Li Qingquan took office, Yenching Literature and Art has adopted the "cluster grenade" approach to focus on training potential new writers. Fang Yan, like Zhang Jie, is now included in the list.

"Congratulations, Teacher Zhou, your apprentice has found a treasure this time." Wang Meng smiled like a blooming chrysanthemum.

"It should be said that Xiao Wang found a treasure for our Yenching Literature and Art." Zhou Yanru raised her hand.

"That's right, haha."

Li Qingquan smiled, and the other two also laughed.

The office is filled with a happy atmosphere.

　Thanks to Maimai Miaomiao for the 100 Starting Coins.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)