Chapter 111: The teacher does not have to be better than the disciple
After Lin Weimin left, the discussion in the People's Art Theatre's conference room came to an end, and the old seniors left the meeting room with sighs.
Only Yi Shizhi was sitting there alone with a frown on his face.
Lin Weimin is Mr. Wan's disciple, and he wrote scripts for the People's Art Theater out of Mr. Wan's favor. Now that things have come to this, Shi Yizhi is feeling extremely troubled.
After thinking it over, he decided that he might have to ask Mr. Wan for help in this matter.
"For the people! For the people!"
Yi Shizhi found Lin Weimin who was about to leave on a bicycle at the entrance of the People's Art Theatre and quickly called out to him.
"Teacher Yu, do you have anything else to say?"
"Are you free? Let's go talk to Mr. Wan."
Lin Weimin knew that Yi Shizhi must still be worried about "Farewell My Concubine". He instinctively didn't want to go to Mr. Wan's house. Going there would be like causing trouble for the old man.
But because of Shi Yizhi's face, he had to go.
"good."
The two of them came to Mr. Wan's house together, and Shi Zhi said, "Mr. Jiabao, I'm sorry to bother you!"
"Haha, come and sit down. I have nothing to do tonight."
Lin Weimin and Yi Shizhi sat down, exchanged a few words and then explained their purpose.
Mr. Wan pondered for a long time.
Seeing his expression, Shi Yizhi explained, "Mr. Jiabao, our colleagues in the hospital are not trying to embarrass Weimin. From the perspective of artists like us, Weimin's script is very good and has extremely high artistic value. But the play has to be performed in public after all, and some people think that we should still take into account the information being disseminated and the audience's perception."
Mr. Wan nodded slightly. "The opinions of the comrades in the hospital make some sense. I was not thoughtful enough before. But as Weimin said, if we make changes, the essence of this book will probably be lost."
"Alas!" Yi Shizhi sighed deeply, "This is where the difficulty lies!"
Mr. Wan asked, "Weimin, tell me what you think."
Lin Weimin had a headache. What ideas could he have? The script was written for the art theater. If they wanted it, they could keep it. If they didn’t want it, they could take it away.
It is impossible to change it. Once it is changed, it will be completely unrecognizable.
He saw that Shi Yi had a sad face and the teacher was also thinking.
He didn't want to embarrass Mr. Wan, so he suddenly had an idea and said, "Teacher, Mr. Yu, the comrades in the academy are worried about the outside world's evaluation and influence of this play, so can we make a prediction in advance?"
"What do you mean?" Mr. Wan asked.
Lin Weimin said: "When Farewell My Concubine was about to be published in People's Literature, we also encountered today's problem. But after discussion within our publishing house, we finally decided to publish it. The sample issue of this issue of People's Literature has come out, and I was thinking, why don't we use People's Literature to conduct a reader survey?"
Yi Shizhi said: "You mean to decide whether to change the script of Farewell My Concubine based on the readers' evaluation of the novel?"
Lin Weimin shook his head. "I still say the same thing. Either don't go on stage, or don't change a word. What I mean is to decide whether Farewell My Concubine can be on the stage of the People's Art Theatre through evaluation."
"Then how do you evaluate it?" Yi Shizhi asked.
"It's very simple. The readers will give the score on a 10-point scale, with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest. The passing score for school students is 60 points, and the excellent score is 85 points. Everyone recognizes the excellence of the script, so we will raise the standard to 90 points.
If the readers' rating of Farewell My Concubine can reach 9 points or above, then the People's Art Theatre will stage this play. Otherwise, if it does not reach 9 points, then I will pretend that I have never written this script."
After listening to Lin Weimin's statement, Shi Zhi and Mr. Wan were silent for a moment.
"For the people, you are digging a hole for yourself!" Yi Shizhi sighed.
Lin Weimin smiled and said, "It can't be said that he is digging a hole for himself. The quality of the script is an objective fact, and everyone acknowledges it. Now everyone is concerned about the audience and readers, so we will put this standard on everyone and let the public judge us. I have confidence in what I write."
Yi Shizhi asked, "Mr. Jiabao, what do you think?"
Mr. Wan looked at Lin Weimin with a dark look in his eyes. He hesitated for a long time before saying, "Then let's do as Weimin wants."
"Okay, then I will contact the Guowen Publishing House tomorrow." Yi Shizhi said.
Mr. Wan waved his hand and said, "Let me talk to Comrade Wen Jing."
Lin Weimin reminded him, “Teacher, the next issue of People’s Literature will be published soon.”
Mr. Wan stood up and said, "I'll call right away."
People at Mr. Wan and Yan Wenjing's level all have telephones installed at home. Mr. Wan's phone is in the study. He goes in to make a call, and Lin Weimin and Yi Shizhi wait in the living room.
A few minutes later, Mr. Wan came out of the study and said, "I have already discussed this with Comrade Wen Jing. The publication of this issue of People's Literature will be postponed for one day to implement the reader survey. I suggest that not only Farewell My Concubine, but all the works in this issue can participate in this survey. If the response is good, this habit can be retained!"
Yi Shizhi said: "Mr. Jiabao, you are really thoughtful."
Lin Weimin smiled and said, "This is also a good thing for our company. With the readers' judgment, even if someone criticizes us, we can educate him with Premier Zhou's words: the people like to hear and see."
Mr. Wan and Shi Yizhi smiled, and Mr. Wan said, "Thanks for your good idea."
"Hey, I'm just being pushed into a corner."
With Lin Weimin's idea, the debate about "Farewell My Concubine" can be put aside for the time being, and the rest will be left to the readers to judge.
Lin Weimin and Yi Shizhi said goodbye and left Muxidi.
After the two left, Mr. Wan sat on the sofa for a long time.
Until Li Yuru came over and called him, "What are you thinking about?"
Mr. Wan shook his head gently, "Old! Old!"
In fact, he knew very well the purpose of Shi Yizhi bringing Lin Weimin here today.
Even though Yi Shizhi is now the first vice president of the hospital, in terms of seniority, it is unlikely that he can overpower the older colleagues in the hospital.
After all, what we are discussing now is not administrative affairs, but artistic creation, so it is not appropriate for Yizhi to suppress everyone's objections in his capacity as dean.
The only person who can open his mouth is yourself.
There was a flash of torment in Mr. Wan's eyes. It is true that the older you are in the world, the less courageous you become.
The wind and rain of these years have obliterated the courage and determination of those days.
Lin Weimin’s young face flashed through his mind.
Weimin proposed this idea simply because he didn't want to embarrass me.
Thinking of this, Mr. Wan felt even more upset.
Li Yuru was Mr. Wan's bedmate and understood his psychology very well. She comforted him by saying, "The disciple does not have to be inferior to the teacher, and the teacher does not have to be better than the disciple."
When Mr. Wan heard his wife's words, he felt relieved and at the same time a little proud.
This is my disciple Wan Jiabao. He is not only talented and has character, but also responsible!
A somewhat relieved smile appeared on his face. "Yes. I should be happy to have such a student."
(End of this chapter)
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