Literary Master 1978

The reporters had a lot of questions and asked them enthusiastically.

"I heard that before The Truman Show was published, a movie of the same name had already started shooting in Hong Kong. When will the movie be released?"

"Yes. The movie has indeed started shooting and is expected to be released in the middle of next year."

"Why did The Truman Show cooperate with a Hong Kong film company instead of a domestic film studio?"

"It's a long story. In fact, the reason why I wrote The Truman Show was related to my participation in the Academy Awards last year.

After I won the award last year, Director Li Hanxiang found me and said that Xu Guanwen was seeking transformation and wanted me to help write a script.

Due to some reasons at the time, this idea was not discussed in depth. But this incident also gave me some inspiration.

I have seen many of Xu Guanwen's movies. As an actor, his acting style and personal characteristics are very distinctive.

I tried to create a protagonist in his image. The novel "The Truman Show" actually had the protagonist first, and then the story.

Later, when the novel was almost finished, Xu Guanwen found me again. We talked about the story, and the two sides hit it off and decided to make the novel into a movie. "

The reporters didn't expect that there was such a story behind "The Truman Show". They listened to Lin Chaoyang's story and wrote furiously. These are all news materials!

For reporters, such content is definitely more attractive than simply reporting on new books.

The next few people asked several questions about film cooperation in a row. Su Chen saw that the theme of the press conference was going off track, so he had to come forward in time and end the press conference.

After the press conference, Lin Chaoyang accepted interviews from several media present and was busy until the evening.

The next morning, Guangzhou, Yanjing Road.

A group of sanitation workers in uniform just came out of their homes, ready to start today's work.

In three hours, this street will wake up and become a first-class bustling and noisy place in Guangzhou, so they must complete the street cleaning work before dawn.

Some sanitation workers are assigned to clean up areas close to them, so they start working as soon as they arrive. They work silently, and the empty streets are only the "rustling" sound of brooms sweeping across the asphalt road.

The cleaning area assigned to Lu Xu is near the Taipingguan Restaurant, and he has to walk half a street. When he just walked to the vicinity of the restaurant, he suddenly found that there seemed to be a group of shadows in front of him. He was startled and stopped.

After squinting his eyes and taking a closer look, he found that it was indeed a group of people, so he walked forward with courage.

The closer he got, the more he heard the whispers and yawns of the crowd, and he was relieved.

At this time, in the darkness behind him, voices and footsteps suddenly sounded.

"Hurry up, take two steps faster!"

"Why are you in such a hurry? It's so early, there must be no one in front of us."

When Lu Xu turned around, he saw several young figures hurriedly passing by him and then went to the crowd.

A young man held a flashlight in his hand and swept upwards. In the darkness, a beam of light hit the sign hanging on the second floor, illuminating the four big red characters "Xinhua Bookstore".

"I told you to hurry up, look, how many people are there in front of you?" Someone complained.

"I got up at one o'clock, and it's only two o'clock now. It's not that we came late and walked slowly, but they came too early."

"Oh, everyone came too early!"

"You're talking about others, aren't you the same!"

After staring at the excitement for a while, Lu Xu lowered his head and swept the street.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, it was common for readers to line up all night every time Xinhua Bookstore received a popular new book.

In the past two years, as the domestic shortage of printing paper has improved, the publications in the market have become more abundant and the supply is sufficient, the situation of readers queuing up in the middle of the night to buy books has become less and less.

Taipingguan Restaurant is less than 20 meters away from Xinhua Bookstore. He is responsible for the sanitation here. He has not encountered this situation for a long time and almost forgot about it.

I don’t know what new books are on sale today. I haven’t seen such a scene in front of Xinhua Bookstore for a long time.

Thinking of this in his heart, Lu Xu did not delay and kept waving the broom in his hand.

He is 26 years old this year. He has persisted in such repetitive mechanical labor for 8 years. Almost every day’s work is to get up at one o’clock in the morning, work on the street until six o’clock, and then go to have breakfast.

After breakfast, he can find a place to rest, and then stare at the area he is responsible for, and he can get off work at 1 o’clock in the afternoon.

Sometimes when he swings the broom, he can’t help but imagine that what he holds is not a broom, but a brush magnified hundreds or thousands of times.

And this empty street is his canvas, the night is like ink, allowing him to paint freely.

Whenever he thinks of this, he is full of pride and feels that his talent has nowhere to be displayed.

But when he really gets home from work and intends to paint, he finds that his talent may have been used on the street. He sits in front of the paper and pen for an hour or two, with an empty mind.

One of the great benefits of doing repetitive physical labor is that the mind can be empty. Unconsciously, the sky gradually brightens, and Lu Xu's work is coming to an end.

He swept the last street in one breath, rested for a while with the broom, and his eyes involuntarily fell in front of the Xinhua Bookstore.

He didn't look over there on purpose, but was attracted by the scenery in front of Xinhua Bookstore.

On Yanjing Road in the early morning, under the sign of Xinhua Bookstore, readers who came to buy books had lined up in front of the bookstore.

Yanjing Road is said to be the most prosperous street in Guangzhou, but it is only about ten meters wide, so readers lined up not in front of the bookstore, but along the street.

Lu Xu's eyes followed the crowd and moved back. Wherever he looked, there were people queuing up, at least more than a mile long.

He couldn't help but be amazed. Which foreign classic is going to be released?

It's so popular!

After watching the excitement for a while, Lu Xu curiously asked a middle-aged man who was queuing.

"Brother, there are so many of you queuing up. What book is on the shelves today?"

"It's Lin Chaoyang's new book, and there is a signing event. It's at Xinhua Bookstore."

Lu Xu was surprised to hear the news. He didn't expect that Lin Chaoyang's new book was going to be released.

He is not a literature lover, but he has read novels such as "The Wreath under the Mountain", "The Chess Master" and "Shutter Island".

The novels he read have a common feature, that is, they are very story-oriented and have an atmosphere that makes people unable to help but immerse themselves in them. They are very suitable for readers who like to read popular books.

Lu Xu asked curiously, "Brother, what is his new book about?"

The middle-aged man said, "I heard that it is quite novel. I don't know the details, but it is said that it has been made into a movie in Hong Kong."

Hearing this, Lu Xu was surprised again.

Living in Guangzhou, Hong Kong's movies, TV and other entertainment activities have almost penetrated into the lives of every citizen, and Lu Xu has naturally watched many Hong Kong movies.

He simply believes that Hong Kong movies are much better than mainland movies.

He thought of "Behind the Curtain" and "The Chess Master". It seems not surprising that Lin Chaoyang's new novel was made into a movie in Hong Kong. He also won the Best Screenwriter Award at the Academy Awards.

After being told by the middle-aged man, Lu Xu was also full of curiosity about this novel that was about to be released, and hesitated whether to buy one to take a look.

But he looked at the endless line of readers and thought, forget it. Wouldn't it be nice to take a break instead of waiting in line?

After thanking the middle-aged man, Lu Xu came to the morning tea shop. He looked at the citizens who were sitting in the morning tea shop and drinking porridge and eating cream cakes leisurely, and his eyes flashed with envy.

He still had to go to work and had no time to drink morning tea. Instead, he came to the naan stand next to the morning tea shop. The stand had just been set up.

"Uncle Mujiang, give me some naan."

Lu Xu is from Guangdong. He used to be not used to eating northwestern-style noodles, but since Uncle Wu Lamujiang's naan stand opened last year, he has won his favor.

Not only him, Uncle Wu Lamujiang's naan has also been favored by many nearby workers who do manual labor.

The reason is simple. This thing is really good for hunger!

The key is that it is not afraid of being put away. It is also convenient to carry. Just put it in your pocket, but it is a bit water-consuming to eat.

I found a place to eat some naan and filled my stomach. I still had half of the naan left, so I skipped lunch.

The leader didn't assign any tasks this morning, so Lu Xu only had to wait on the street until 1 p.m. to get off work.

He sat on the street, and his eyes were attracted by the long line of readers in front of Xinhua Bookstore.

The line seemed to have no end. Although it kept moving forward, there was no end.

Lu Xu sat there and counted. In such a short time, more than 40 people had come out of the bookstore, and each of them had more than one book in his hand.

Some of these books were brought by readers themselves, and some were bought at the stalls set up at the door of the bookstore.

How many books did they sell in a day?

Lu Xu couldn't help but sigh in his heart, he really deserves to be a great writer!

But he was more curious about these readers. Today was a rare sunny day in Guangzhou in August, with a temperature of 34 or 35 degrees, and it was stuffy and humid.

Even if you hold an umbrella and find a cool place when queuing, it is still a difficult thing.

Lu Xu was ashamed of the perseverance of these readers, and then an idea came to his mind.

Should I go and see what the great writer looks like?

With this idea, he couldn't sit still.

He got up and went to the outside of Xinhua Bookstore, standing on the street, looking into the bookstore. It happened that there were several readers waiting for autographs in the bookstore, blocking the figure of the great writer.

Lu Xu moved back and forth a few steps, almost bumping into the readers who were queuing, but still didn't see Lin Chaoyang's true face.

Originally, he was not so curious about Lin Chaoyang's appearance, but now the person was right in front of him, but he couldn't see it at such a short distance, which was really a bit depressing.

After waiting for a while, the readers changed a group of people, and he still couldn't see the face of the great writer. Today's bookstore was not open because of an event, and only readers who participated in the signing were allowed to enter.

Lu Xu became more and more depressed the more he thought about it, and then he held his breath in his heart. He had to see it today.

He ran all the way to the end of the line and lined up.

But after waiting in line for half an hour, he regretted it a little bit. The line was too long.

Under the scorching sun, sweating profusely, it had been half an hour, but why did it feel like there were no fewer people in front of him?

Lu Xu turned his head and looked behind him, and suddenly felt balanced again.

Because he discovered that at this moment, a team of forty or fifty people had formed behind him unknowingly, and everyone, like him, was also suffering from the high temperature.

At noon, he took out the remaining half of the naan, which just solved the problem of eating.

The team moved forward little by little. When Lu Xu was bored, he occasionally looked up at the sky, hoping that the sun would set quickly. Yanjing Road was lined with several-story buildings. At almost four o'clock in the afternoon, the sun went to the west. The location is invisible.

After the sun really set, he felt a little anxious again.

Why isn't it my turn yet? I have to go to work in the middle of the night.

But after queuing for a long time, he felt it was not worthwhile to give up like this, so he could only hold on and continue queuing.

It was around five o'clock in the evening, and seeing that there were still a few people left before he could enter the bookstore, Lu Xu felt suddenly excited for some reason.

He was holding the book he just bought in his hand. Although he hadn't read it yet, he felt it must be a good book.

Finally it was his turn to enter the bookstore. He swayed left and right through the readers in front of him and saw Lin Chaoyang, who was lowering his head to sign a book. He was so excited that he couldn't express it in words.

When it was his turn, Lu Xu handed over the book in his hand, with a smile on his face, "I particularly like your novels."

"Thank you." Lin Chaoyang raised his head, his face and body covered with sweat. There was no air conditioning in the bookstore. This day was almost like staying in a steamer. It was no better than the readers queuing outside.

He asked Lu Xu: "What is your name?"

"My name is Lu Xu."

Lu Xu was talking about Guangpu. Lin Chaoyang was a little surprised when he heard the name, "Lu Xun?"

"It's Lu Xu. Lu Zhishen's Lu, Xuri's Xu."

"Oh, Lu Xu. I thought it was Lu Xun. Speaking of which, Mr. Lu Xun has some connections with you in Guangdong."

Lin Chaoyang had a friendly smile and was approachable. He signed autographs for Lu Xu while chatting and laughing with him.

Lu Xu felt something hot and unspeakable in his heart as he listened to his ordinary chatter.

When signing, Lin Chaoyang also wrote a blessing on the title page of the book, "Thank you Comrade Lu Xu for your support. I hope this book can bring you inspiration and happiness", followed by the signature.

The content of the blessing was very simple, and Lu Xu was filled with joy when he saw it.

"Thank you, thank you!"

He said thank you repeatedly, and then left the bookstore with some reluctance.

After leaving the bookstore, he carefully studied Lin Chaoyang's blessings and signature in the dim light outside.

If you don't say that he is a great writer, even the words he writes are so beautiful, and there is no pretentiousness at all.

Lu Xu thought again that Lin Chaoyang had just said that his name was very similar to "Lu Xun", and he couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in his heart. It was indeed a bit similar. Why hadn't he noticed it before?

By the way, what is the connection between Mr. Lu Xun and Guangdong?

He thought to himself that he would have to check this matter when he got back.

Holding the book in his hand, he turned his attention to the readers who were still queuing outside.

Compared with during the day, the queue was much shorter now, but by visual inspection there were still 180 people.

The group was still queuing up, but he had already gotten a copy of "The Truman Show" signed by Lin Chaoyang.

Lu Xu looked at the cover of the book again with a happy face. He wanted to take a good look at the book when he got back.

When I got home, it was already half past six in the evening. After a hasty dinner, it was windy and humid outside.

It looked like it was going to rain again. Lu Xu closed the doors and windows tightly, took a cold shower for himself, and then lay down on the mat.

He opened "The Truman Show" and admired the signature on the title page for a while before reading the text.

Truman is a happy office worker. Every day, he wears a standard office suit, carries his briefcase, appears in front of his Victorian-style home surrounded by a picket fence, and steps onto the picturesque landscape. street on the outskirts of town.

Neighbor Pan Sheng was whistling while cleaning the trash can. Truman would always say hello to him when he walked to his car.

"Good morning, Truman!"

Pan Sheng's skillful and enthusiastic greetings seemed to have been practiced thousands of times.

Truman came to the car. His car license plate read "Ocean Paradise - a great place to live."

"Good morning, Pan Sheng! I'm afraid I won't see you again today, so I might as well tell you now, good afternoon, good evening, and have a good sleep!"

The person who responded to him was Pan Sheng's dog Paluto, who barked happily at Truman...

Lu Xu is not a literature lover. He usually reads a lot of popular novels, especially the martial arts novels in Xiangjiang and Wandao that have become very popular in recent years. Every time he buys a copy, he is always fascinated by it.

"The Truman Show" is a bit boring compared to ordinary martial arts novels, but the writing is not bad. This is Lin Chaoyang's long-standing style.

Therefore, when Lu Xu read the novel, he did not feel unfamiliar. Instead, he felt yearned for the lifestyles in economically developed areas described in the novel.

But as he read the novel, he began to notice more and more something was wrong. He wondered if it was his imagination.

He always felt that the casual words of those around Truman were like commercials on TV, blunt and boring, but Truman seemed to be enjoying them without noticing.

He leads a happy, step-by-step life. He greets his neighbors when he goes out every day, chats with potential customers on the street, and goes to the newsagency to buy newspapers and magazines.

But he also has his own little worries. Because his father drowned when he was young, he didn't dare to take a boat, and he never even went out to the town.

His first love girlfriend suddenly disappeared. It is said that she went to Fiji. There has been no news for more than ten years. He can only buy fashion magazines one by one, tear off the facial features of the model who looks like his first love on the picture card, and go home to piece them together.

Until one day, his long-dead father suddenly appeared again, but before he could recognize him, his father was kidnapped by a stranger who suddenly appeared on the street. He excitedly told his mother about it, but his mother did not believe her son at all.

From this incident, he gradually sensitively captured some discordant details in life.

Lu Xu continued to dig out the truth from Truman's perspective. He found that he seemed to be under surveillance all the time. No matter where he went or what he did, it seemed that someone had planned it.

Seeing that Truman in the novel seemed to be caught in a huge conspiracy, Lu Xu's heart was also hanging.

"Bang bang bang!"

Lu Xu's immersion was interrupted by his mother knocking on the window, "Go to bed quickly, you still have to go to work."

After being reminded by his mother, Lu Xu glanced at the time and it was already past nine o'clock in the evening.

He had to go to work at one o'clock, so Lu Xu quickly put down the book and closed his eyes.

But he lay there for a while, and his mind was full of Truman's experience. What kind of conspiracy did he fall into? Are those people around him all disguised? What secrets does Taoyuan Island hide?

Can't sleep! Can't sleep at all!

After lying in bed for half an hour, Lu Xu, who couldn't sleep at last, simply got up and flipped through the novel again. It was midnight when he had to go to work.

He yawned and reluctantly put down the novel. The mystery in his heart was finally revealed.

It turned out that Truman was chosen to be the protagonist of a reality show that was almost real since he was born. All his life experiences were actually completed in a huge studio.

And the relatives and friends around him were actually actors. His life was full of hypocrisy and control. Every detail was recorded by the camera for the whole world to watch.

Although Lu Xu had never seen a reality show, it did not prevent him from understanding this format. He understood this format as a TV series that was broadcast around the clock, and the protagonist was not aware of it.

It was really a big lie!

Lu Xu thought that if he had been raised in such a cage called an island, which was actually a studio, and his family and friends were all actors, he would go crazy the moment he learned the truth.

After the mystery in his heart was revealed, Lu Xu felt sad for Truman and worried about him. Unfortunately, it was too late, otherwise he really wanted to continue watching and see how Truman would deal with those lies and control next.

After changing into work clothes, Lu Xu set off again.

Since yesterday morning, he has not slept for thirty hours. Even an iron man can't stand another day of work today.

But there is a good news that it started raining at around seven o'clock last night, and it was still raining when he went to work, so he didn't have to work in the early morning today.

Yanjing Road was quiet in the early morning. Lu Xu and several colleagues hid in a shed at the intersection to rest until dawn.

After getting up early and having breakfast, the rain was still falling. Lu Xu and others were relieved again. If nothing unexpected happened, they could slack off all day.

After more than 30 hours of no sleep, Lu Xu was yawning from sleepiness. In order to be more energetic, he ran along Yanjing Road to check if there was much garbage, otherwise it would be their job after the rain.

It rained heavily today. There were only a few customers in other shops on Yanjing Road, but when Lu Xu passed by Xinhua Bookstore, he found that there were not much fewer people inside.

He stood at the door of the bookstore for a while and saw several readers coming out of the bookstore. The book cover in their hands was very familiar. It was the book "The Truman Show" he had been reading yesterday.

Seeing this scene, Lu Xu couldn't help but think of the scene of the book signing yesterday. He walked into the bookstore by accident and heard two salesmen chatting there.

"Hurry up and ask the manager to transfer some goods. If we continue to sell like this, the inventory will not last until the day after tomorrow."

"These readers are really exaggerating. It's fine that we sold so much at the book signing yesterday, but why are there so many people coming today in such a heavy rain?"

"He is a great writer and is very popular! I think these 3,000 books are not enough to sell for three days. It's really exaggerating. It's almost equal to the total sales of other books."

The salesperson's chatter reached Lu Xu's ears. He didn't know why he felt a sense of pride in his heart. He guessed it was probably because he also bought "The Truman Show".

After leaving the bookstore, Lu Xu looked at the sky and really wanted to get off work early and go home to read novels!

"This weather is really unpredictable. The sun was so strong yesterday, and it rained without stopping."

As soon as they got on the train, Lin Chaoyang complained to Li Shifei.

The main reason for his complaint was not the weather, but because he was supposed to take a plane to Shanghai today, but the flight was cancelled due to weather reasons, so he had to change to the train. The two of them got on the train near noon.

Yesterday's book signing was much more popular than expected. It didn't end until after 8pm. Xinhua Bookstore finally counted that 2,100 books were sold.

Lin Chaoyang certainly couldn't write blessings and signatures on all the books. Some readers bought several books at a time, signed their names on all of them, but only wrote blessings on one book.

Even so, after a whole day, Lin Chaoyang was exhausted and his back ached. It was more tiring than writing more than 10,000 words a day.

Yesterday's book signing lasted until 8pm, and it was already 11pm when I went back to the hotel. I got up at 5am to catch the flight, but the flight was cancelled and I had to go to the train station again.

After all this trouble, Lin Chaoyang got on the train, exhausted.

"Thank you for your hard work! Thank you for your hard work!"

Li Shifei listened to Lin Chaoyang's words with a gentle attitude, and even handed him a cup of water.

There was no way, who made him the God of Wealth of Huacheng Publishing House?

"It's not hard, it's mainly time."

Leaving Tao Yushu in Hong Kong, even though Tao Yumo was looking after her, he was still a little worried, after all, she was almost seven months pregnant.

The biggest advantage of flying is that it is fast and can save some time. Now the plane has become a train, and he has to waste another day on the road.

Lin Chaoyang noticed the impatience in his tone, calmed down, and said to Li Shifei: "Old Li, you have worked hard, not more relaxed than me."

Li Shifei laughed and said: "I can't ask for such hard work! Just hold on, you will definitely be home before the 21st."

Lin Chaoyang nodded.

No words along the way, arrived in Shanghai.

Huacheng Publishing House chose the Xinhua Bookstore on Nanjing Road for the book signing event for "The Truman Show". As one of the most prosperous cities in Asia, Nanjing Road is the essence of Shanghai, where the most prosperous shopping malls and well-known stores in Shanghai are gathered.

The buildings on both sides of the street are Western-style buildings, full of exotic customs.

Nanjing Road Xinhua Bookstore is located at the intersection of Nanjing Road and Shandong Road. It has been the largest bookstore in Shanghai since 1956, and even had the reputation of "the largest bookstore in the Far East".

Early that morning, Lin Chaoyang, led by Li Shifei, came to the entrance of Xinhua Bookstore on Nanjing Road. Looking at the endless queue in front of the bookstore, Lin Chaoyang felt numb and regretted it.

Why did they agree to hold a book signing event?