Literary Master 1978

On the campus of Yenching Normal University, the morning class had just ended. Tao Yushu and his classmates came out of the classroom and walked towards the cafeteria.

"What were you watching during class? Did you even go to Teacher Han's class to watch it?" Tao Yushu asked Wu Yingfang, a female classmate next to her.

In the morning class, teacher Han Zhaoqi taught "Historical Records", which was widely welcomed by students from the Chinese Department of Yan Normal University.

Wu Yingfang revealed the magazine tucked in the textbook and said with a somewhat mysterious tone, "The novel just published, "Wrangler", is another "Scar"!"

The words "Yanjing Literature and Art" were clearly written on the cover of the magazine. Tao Yushu asked: "The Wrangler?"

"Well, I think it's even better than "Scars"." Wu Yingfang said with a look of longing in her eyes, "I wish I could get to know Xu Lingjun in the novel. He is tall, handsome, and gentle. The author's pen name is Xu Lingjun, what do you think? Could it be that he wrote Xu Lingjun in his own image?"

Tao Yushu had never read the novel, so she joked: "I'm acting like a nympho again!"

"What a nymphomaniac! You'll know after you see it."

"Okay, let's go eat quickly."

"Yanjing Literature and Art" is a relatively old literary publication in China, and because its chief editors were Lao She and Zhao Shuli, it is quite famous nationwide.

In the past two years, domestic literature has made a new start, because in the face of long-established ideological and artistic precepts, it is not easy to overcome the numerous obstacles set by cold dogma.

And because the styles of the two directors in succession in the past two years have been relatively conservative, "Yanjing Literature and Art" did not publish many influential works after it resumed publication.

In the view of Zhou Yanru, a senior editor, "The Wrangler" written by Lin Chaoyang is exactly the same as "Class Teacher" published in "People's Daily" at the beginning of the year and "Scar" published in "Wenhui Po" in the middle of the year.

They all contain strong accusations against the past era, uncovering the scars caused by that era on people, and accurately presenting the tragedy of the era in words.

But what makes "Wrangler" better than these two is that it is not just a blind accusation. The reflection and warmth in it are more moving, and it is a level higher than the two in terms of conception.

Especially in the creation of the character of the father, it is very symbolic, and the relationship between father and son is also handled very wisely. While echoing the readers' inner feelings, it also achieves rationality and restraint, successfully creating a character like Xu Lingjun. The image of an intellectual who has gone through hardships but never changed his original intention.

All these factors come together, and Zhou Yanru simply believes that "The Wrangler", even if it cannot have as strong an influence as "Scars", should still be a temporary choice, enough to make Lin Chaoyang famous in the literary world.

Obviously, her idea makes sense.

On the day the eleventh issue of "Yanjing Literature and Art" was published, she was walking in the Yanjing Federation of Literary and Art Circles Building and already started to hear discussions about "The Wrangler". Another day later, someone came to the editorial office to ask the editors about the author and the inside story of "Wrangler".

Although reader feedback has not yet arrived, Zhou Yanru can easily judge based on her many years of experience—

"Wrangler" is going to be a hit!

A week later, as soon as Zhou Yanru went to work, she received a piece of news from Li Qingquan, the newly appointed person in charge of the publication.

I got a call from the publishing house, saying that the eleventh issue of "Yanjing Literature and Art" was sold out too fast, and the stock was running low, so we needed to print more copies.

"Additional printing? It's only been a week!"

Zhou Yanru's tone was a bit surprised. The sales volume of "Yanjing Literature and Art" has been very stable in the past two years, with few reprints.

"Is it Wrangler?"

Li Qingquan looked happy and nodded. "The Wrangler" was a work that he and Zhou Yanru were unanimously optimistic about. For this reason, the two of them colluded in private before he took office.

Now it seems that this work has indeed lived up to their ardent expectations.

"Let's print 50,000 more copies first."

Li Qingquan was beaming with joy. He only reported to the editorial office on the 23rd of last month and had a good start before his business was straightened out.

If Zhou Yanru wants to say "conservative", it doesn't take much. If "Wrangler" triggers a tenth of the public opinion wave of "Scar", the sales volume of this issue of "Yanjing Literature and Art" may double. Previously, "Yanjing Literature and Art" The sales volume has been stable between 200,000 and 300,000 copies.

However, printing is not a one-time deal. If the sales are good, you can continue to add more, so Zhou Yanru did not say anything.

"Old Zhou!"

While the two were talking, Zhang Dening called out to Zhou Yanru with a happy face and held up the newspaper in his hand, "Look at this!"

"What?"

Zhou Yanru took the newspaper, which was today's Yanjing Daily. Zhang Dening pointed to one of the sections of the newspaper, "Look!"

"\u003cWrangler\u003e: Suffering is a Mirror" - Hu Depei.

"Is there a review article so soon? Or was it written by Hu Depei?" Zhou Yanru was surprised and happy.

Hu Depei is a senior editor of the People's Literature Publishing House and is currently the deputy editor-in-chief of the magazine "New Literary Historical Materials". He is also a literary critic. His book "The Art of "Li Zicheng"" has become a key player in the study of "Li Zicheng" in the literary world. The information is quite influential.

"It seems that "Wrangler" is indeed going to be popular!" Zhang Dening said happily.

"It's too early to tell."

Although Zhou Yanru felt the same in her heart, she said it very conservatively.

"What about adding this?" Zhang Dening took a few more letters from the table.

"Is this... a letter from a reader?"

Zhang Dening nodded, "It just arrived this morning."

In a week, the publication was reprinted, the review articles were published, and the readers' feedback began to arrive. All the signs showed that "The Shepherd" was forming a considerable influence.

Zhou Yanru casually opened a letter. This letter came from a worker named Zhu Hong from the 2207 Factory in Yanjing City. She was also an educated youth. After 7 years in the countryside, she returned to Yanjing in 1976.

"...The sufferings suffered by Xu Lingjun are the concentrated embodiment of the experiences of our generation. The protagonist Xu Lingjun has experienced all these hardships, such as being sent to the countryside for reeducation through labor, a harsh environment, and political turmoil.

But it is precisely these hardships that gradually cultivated his love for the land under his feet. He still has a heart that loves life. His character is worthy of our respect and praise.

When I read "Scars", I burst into tears, because that work vented my dissatisfaction and resentment about the past years.

But when I read "The Shepherd", in addition to the empathy, I felt more that human nature was perfected in the midst of hardships. I not only saw the accusation of the past in it, but also the reflection, warmth and beauty.

I think the success of "The Shepherd" lies in this."

Feeling the spiritual power that the writer gained from the novel "The Shepherd", Zhou Yanru said to Zhang Dening: "The Shepherd, it's done!"