Chapter 202 The One with Small Eyes
The publication of "The Horse-Trapping Man" was scheduled for January 1983 in the form of a supplement to "People's Literature". Even after the People's Art Theatre obtained the rights to adapt the script, it had to wait for several months until the novel was published before it could be adapted to prevent the content of the novel from being leaked.
Autumn in Yanjing always seems to be short. It feels like just after two cool weekends, the weather suddenly became cold. Lin Weimin was shivering on his motorcycle to and from get off work. Today he had no choice but to put on a leather jacket, which still helps to block the wind.
Zhu Changsheng walked into the office shivering, his nose red from the cold, and said, "Winter is a little early this year!"
Liu Yin complained, "That's right, I have to wrap myself in thick clothes again."
Her starting point is entirely based on the beauty of the clothes.
Colleagues just entered the office, chatted for a while, and then slowly got into work mode.
Lin Weimin's idea of trying to publish new works by new authors in the January issue was recognized by Qin Chaoyang, and colleagues in the editorial department have also been contacting potential authors recently.
This newcomer does not refer to age or writing time, but to potential authors who have not yet been truly discovered.
Regardless of whether or not the author has published any work before, as long as they have not yet achieved a certain level of influence, they can give it a try.
After all, Contemporary is an authoritative literary magazine targeting readers across the country.
Lin Weimin had a letter in his hand, and the person who wrote to him was Lu Yao.
Since its publication last year, "Life" has been extremely popular among readers across the country and even won an award at the National Excellent Short and Medium Stories Awards Ceremony in March this year.
At the same time, the book was also published. It has been reprinted twice and the sales volume has exceeded 600,000 copies. Lu Yao received a considerable amount of royalties for this and his life has been very comfortable recently.
But the purpose of his letter was not to show off, but to tell Lin Weimin that he had handed over the film adaptation of "Life" to Wu Tianming.
Lu Yao told Lin Weimin in the letter that Wu Tianming had visited him several times over the past six months, and every time he came to his house, he would have a long talk with him, and the topic of conversation naturally revolved around how to adapt "Life". Lu Yao was moved and finally agreed to hand over "Life" to him, and also agreed to be the screenwriter of the "Life" movie.
Wu Tianming approached the Xi'an Film Studio for funding for the filming of "Life", and all of this is consistent with Lin Weimin's memory.
While writing back to Lu Yao to encourage him to participate in the writing of the film script, Lin Weimin also did not forget to urge him to submit his manuscript.
We can't let this guy forget his original profession just because he is involved in film creation.
While looking through other letters, Lin Weimin found another letter from an acquaintance.
Because they had been in correspondence before, Lin Weimin knew that Ma Yuan had graduated from Liaodong University this summer and then chose to work in Tibet.
The letter I sent him this time not only talked about my recent situation, but also included a submission.
"LS River Goddess".
Lin Weimin's eyes were on the manuscript paper, and for some reason the image of Ma Yuan emerged in his mind, with thick eyebrows, big eyes, a straight nose and a wide mouth. He was used to staring with his eyes wide open, and he deliberately spoke loudly to bluff, just like the article in front of him.
After reading the novel, Lin Weimin pondered for a long time, trying to determine whether the novel met the acceptance criteria of Contemporary.
If we only look at the quality of the writing, it seems to be a little lacking.
13 people go to the LS River for vacation, and their ages are represented by numbers. It uses atmosphere as a suspenseful hook, first the smell of a dead pig is heard not far away during the dinner, and then 2 tells a story that seems to have a mysterious meaning.
Then we went swimming in the cold water. The LS River Goddess was actually just a sand sculpture created by the collective improvisation of the 8 buried on the beach.
The result of mystification is dissolution. In fact, there is no mystery in the novel.
If this were the view of the older generation of critics, they would definitely criticize the novel as a complete "narrative trap."
In recent years, literary circles seem to like to use the view of British aesthetician Clive Bell, that art is a meaningful form.
Ma Yuan's narrative in the novel attracts readers, which constitutes the form.
This novel is strong in form, but also weak in form. Such works that focus on form have almost no core, let alone thoughtfulness. This is the fundamental reason why many critics of the older generation look down on such works that use narrative as the core.
But Lin Weimin felt that Ma Yuan seemed to be slowly finding his own style, a style that was unique and, at least so far, Lin Weimin had not seen in other domestic writers.
He handed the novel to his colleagues and prepared to hear their opinions first.
Everyone had the same opinion and the structure was very innovative, but the story was too weak and it seemed a bit forced to publish it in Contemporary Magazine.
To say that it is barely acceptable is an understatement. To be precise, it does not meet the standards for acceptance.
After the manuscript was sent to Qin Chaoyang, Lin Weimin still wanted to fight for it.
"Ma Yuan's personal style is very prominent, and he is gradually forming his own style. I think this style is rare among domestic writers, and we should cultivate it."
Qin Chaoyang listened to Lin Weimin's words and thought for a long time. He attached great importance to Lin Weimin's words and said, "Then let's do this. Write him a letter and ask if he has other works of similar style, or if he wants to create another one."
"Leader, after you tell them this, we must use it. Otherwise, it will be just a joke."
Qin Chaoyang glared at him and said, "You are the major general of my army!"
He groaned for a moment and said, "As long as he can perfect a decent work based on this style, I will allow him to publish it."
"Leader, what is a acceptable work? Isn't your standard too vague?" Lin Weimin asked relentlessly.
"As an editor, don't you know what's going on?" Qin Chaoyang scolded him.
Qin Chaoyang was also helpless, feeling that Lin Weimin was always causing him trouble.
Lin Weimin chuckled twice, "Then I'll give him a call and ask him to get it out quickly."
Qin Chaoyang frowned and asked, "Why are you so anxious?"
Lin Weimin said: "Let him appear in the January issue!"
Qin Chaoyang nodded, "Okay, as long as his next work is a little more mature than this one, let him do it."
After getting Qin Chaoyang's promise, Lin Weimin happily planned to contact Ma Yuan immediately, and used Qin Chaoyang's phone to make an outside call.
Lin Weimin told Ma Yuan the decision of Contemporary Magazine and asked him to take it seriously. Ma Yuan on the other end of the phone also realized that this was a rare opportunity and promised to write a decent work as soon as possible.
After hanging up the phone, Qin Chaoyang shook his head and said, "Don't think too highly of yourself, it's not that easy to write a good work."
Lin Weimin said lightly: "I feel relaxed without any pressure. Writing is different from other things. Sometimes pushing yourself can really have a miraculous effect."
"You're full of heresies!" Qin Chaoyang scolded and threw a copy of "Lotus Pond" to Lin Weimin.
"There's a young man here who writes some pretty good stuff. See if you can arrange a manuscript with him."
Lin Weimin opened the catalog and was about to ask "Who is it?", but his eyes were fixed on the catalog.
"Mo Yan?"
Qin Chaoyang asked in surprise: "You are paying attention to it too?"
Lin Weimin couldn't say that he had foresight, so he could only nod and say, "This young man writes well, he's a good candidate."
"That's great. I'll leave the task of collecting manuscripts from him to you."
Lin Weimin naturally agreed, "Okay, leave it to me."
He turned around and left the office, and came back a few minutes later with a leave request in his hand.
"What do you mean?"
"Please ask for leave!"
"What leave?"
"Chuang... No, I'm going to collect manuscripts."
Lin Weimin shook the "Lotus Pond" in his hand.
Qin Chaoyang was speechless for a moment, "Why do you do whatever you want?"
"Didn't you tell me to leave this to me? I am just responding to your call."
Qin Chaoyang was helpless, "Okay, I'll give you leave."
From the time the topic of manuscript compilation was discussed to the time Lin Weimin took the note and asked for leave, it took less than five minutes in total. It can be said that the efficiency was amazing.
Unfortunately, the phone call took too long. It took Lin Weimin two hours to find out Mo Yan's address in a roundabout way.
Mo Yan now works in a military office in Yanqing, which is less than a hundred kilometers away from Yanjing. Lin Weimin said hello to Qin Chaoyang and rode away on his motorcycle.
The road conditions were poor those days. Lin Weimin asked for the address of the troops along the way and it took him half a day to find the place.
When he arrived at the military gate, it was already evening. Lin Weimin showed his ID and letter of introduction to the sentry on duty at the gate, but the sentry said it was too late and asked Lin Weimin to come back tomorrow.
Lin Weimin had no choice but to find a guesthouse to stay in. It was not until the next morning that he entered the military compound.
Lin Weimin met Mo Yan in an office. He is now a political instructor in the army.
Just as Lin Weimin remembered, the eyes were small, about the size of mung beans.
"Hello, Teacher Lin!" Mo Yan shook hands with Lin Weimin somewhat stiffly.
The sentry who brought Lin Weimin left tactfully. Mo Yan asked Lin Weimin to sit down and poured him a cup of tea.
Lin Weimin then explained his purpose, "I saw the novel you published in Lianchi, and I came here specifically to ask you to write an article for me."
Although Mo Yan had already guessed Lin Weimin's purpose, he couldn't help but look surprised and delighted when he finished speaking.
"How is it? Do you have any new works recently? We at Contemporary are planning to introduce a group of fresh writers and works to our readers in the January issue of next year. If the quality of your work is good, this is a rare opportunity." Lin Weimin said in a bewitching tone.
Mo Yan's heart beat fast when he heard his words.
His hometown is Gaomi in eastern Shandong. He joined the army in 1976. He has been writing and submitting articles since 1978. It was not until last year that he finally published his first novel "Rainy Spring Night" in "Lian Chi". This year he published another article "Ugly Soldier" in the magazine.
"Lian Chi" is a publication issued by the municipal Federation of Literary and Art Circles and has limited influence.
But even so, it still played an extremely important role in Mo Yan's life.
Thanks to the publication of two short stories in Lotus Pond, Mo Yan, who had served in the army for many years, was finally promoted to a platoon-level instructor by his superiors this summer.
Mo Yan knew very well that he had no family background and no academic qualifications, and this extraordinary promotion was based on his continuous writing during his time in the army.
Of course Mo Yan knew Lin Weimin's name, and he had even read every one of his works. He also knew that Lin Weimin was currently an editor at Contemporary Magazine. His visit to the army to solicit manuscripts was a rare opportunity for him!
This opportunity is no less important than his decision to join the army!
Mo Yan told himself, I must seize the opportunity.
(End of this chapter)
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