Chapter 259 How about I give you a name?
In the streetside restaurant, Leng Jiefang had a worried look on his face.
This time he took a special leave from his unit and came to Yanjing to offer suggestions to CCTV on the filming of "Dream of Red Mansions", but he did not expect the result to be like this.
Lin Weimin's comfort made him feel much better. If he really couldn't get over the issue, he could just write a letter to CCTV.
But Lin Weimin, who had just picked up the documents in his bag and was looking through them, was shaking a manuscript and asked excitedly, "Did you write this?"
Leng Jiefang looked at the manuscript paper whose edges had been worn out and nodded.
"Your name is Leng Jiefang?"
"Yeah." Leng Jiefang was puzzled. Didn't they just confirm each other's names? Why were they still asking?
"What about your pen name? Do you have a pen name?" Lin Weimin asked.
Leng Jiefang shook his head. He didn't have a pen name. He even used his real name to publish articles in the Redology Journal.
Seeing him shaking his head to deny, Lin Weimin was puzzled.
"No pen name? Why not?"
Leng Jiefang was even more confused. Why did he have to have a pen name?
"Teacher Lin, what do you mean by this?"
Seeing Leng Jiefang's face full of suspicion, Lin Weimin could only temporarily suppress his anxiety and said, "Nothing. I just think your novel is well written. I see you haven't finished it yet?"
Leng Jiefang nodded and said, "It's not finished yet."
"How did you come up with the idea of writing a novel on this subject? This is a bit obscure!" Lin Weimin asked with interest.
Leng Jiefang explained: "Speaking of this, I have to talk about the Redology Conference I attended in Shanghai last year. At that time, I was invited by Mr. Feng to attend the Redology Conference, where I met many senior Redology researchers and benefited a lot from communicating with everyone.
Later, when chatting with the teachers, they talked about the three generations of emperors Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong involved in the story of "Dream of Red Mansions".
You also know that when we study Dream of the Red Chamber, we cannot avoid studying the three dynasties of the Qing Dynasty.
The teachers all felt a little regretful. They all felt sorry that there were no literary works describing Kangxi, an emperor with great talent and strategy, in the domestic literary world.
At that time, I was secretly building up my energy in my heart. Since no one else is writing it, then I will write it!
Anyway, few people touch on this field and subject matter, so even if the writing is not good, it is not shameful. "
At this point, Leng Jiefang smiled and asked, "Teacher Lin, I wrote this novel behind closed doors and never asked anyone for advice. What do you think of the novel you just read?
Lin Weimin once again looked seriously at Lin Jiefang's honest face and said solemnly: "It's well written!"
Leng Jiefang asked in surprise: "Really?"
Lin Weimin nodded, "Of course it's true. There's no need to joke about this kind of thing."
He then asked, "I see that your novel starts with the sudden ordination of Emperor Shunzhi to a monk and the ascension of Emperor Kangxi to the throne at the age of eight, and gradually leads to the plot of eliminating Oboi and pacifying the Three Feudatories. Are you trying to describe all the achievements of Emperor Kangxi throughout his life?"
Leng Jiefang showed a shy look on his face, "Am I a little too arrogant?"
Lin Weimin shook his head and said, "How could that be? To be a writer you need to have such ambition!"
Leng Jiefang blushed a little when Lin Weimin praised him, "But I don't have much writing experience. I'm just groping in the dark, figuring things out on my own."
“Hahaha!” Lin Weimin laughed heartily and said, “I think you, a blind man, are quite good at feeling!”
Leng Jiefang was still a little unsure, "Is it really that good?"
"Comrade Jiefang, let me say something about you. People are praising you with good intentions, so why can you always be so suspicious of them?" Lin Weimin pretended to be unhappy.
Leng Jiefang waved his hands hurriedly, "Teacher Lin, that's not what I meant..."
Lin Weimin restrained his expression, smiled and said, "I know, I was just joking with you. You, don't be so unconfident. Your novel is good if it's good, and bad if it's bad. Do I have to deliberately lie to you?"
Leng Jiefang quickly shook his head, "That's definitely not possible."
"So, what do you have to question?" Lin Weimin spread his hands.
"I just can't believe it!" Leng Jiefang said.
"Haha!" Lin Weimin laughed kindly and changed the subject, "Which publication do you plan to publish this novel in?"
Leng Jiefang's face flashed with confusion. "Publish? I haven't thought about it. I haven't finished writing this novel yet. I don't even know if I'm qualified to publish it."
"I am qualified, of course I am qualified!" Lin Weimin laughed, looked into Leng Jiefang's eyes, and said, "Let's publish it in our Contemporary Magazine."
"Ah!" Leng Jiefang let out a short cry, his eyes full of disbelief.
"Published in Contemporary?"
Lin Weimin was very satisfied with his reaction, "Not bad!"
"This, this, this..." Leng Jiefang was so excited that he was at a loss. He stood up and paced back and forth in the hotel.
"Stop walking around in circles and give me something straight, okay?" Lin Weimin waited for him for two minutes, and seeing that he had no intention of stopping, he asked again.
Leng Jiefang finally stopped, and after suppressing his inner excitement and ecstasy, he regained some of his rationality.
"Teacher Lin, I haven't finished writing this novel yet, and I don't know what the final quality will be!"
"It doesn't matter, I have to finish writing it before I can post it!"
Leng Jiefang couldn't believe Lin Weimin's reasonableness.
"Can it really work?"
"What's wrong with that? As long as the quality of the manuscript is up to standard, everything will be fine."
After repeated confirmation, Leng Jiefang finally believed it.
Lin Weimin pulled him to sit down again and asked about the process and planning of novel writing.
I learned that his novel was planned to have four volumes, and "Seizing the Palace" was only the first volume.
Lin Weimin felt relieved, that's right!
Teacher Lin smiled again and asked, "Comrade Jiefang, I think the manuscript is almost finished, right?"
Leng Jiefang had not yet realized the environment he was in, and answered honestly: "There is still a small part missing. This is just a first draft, and revision is a big project. There are many places where I haven't checked the historical materials clearly."
"When it comes to Qing Dynasty historical materials, there is no place more comprehensive than Yanjing. I think your trip to Beijing this time is in vain. Why don't you stay here for a few days and look up the materials carefully?"
Looking up information in this era is not like in later generations, where you can just type a few words on the computer and search. Most of the time, the information needed for writing is a tedious task that makes the creators scratch their heads.
Lin Weimin's proposal made Leng Jiefang's eyes light up.
Yes, since I can’t get involved in the affairs of Dream of the Red Chamber anyway, I might as well focus all my energy on the novel.
This time he went out and asked for more than a week's leave from his company. It was really a waste for him to just go back like that.
But……
Seeing Leng Jiefang looking embarrassed, Lin Weimin asked, "Is there any difficulty?"
"Teacher Lin, your idea is good, but I have no place to stay in Yanjing!"
I've been waiting for you to say this!
"Come to our unit!" Lin Weimin said without hesitation.
Leng Jiefang looked at Lin Weimin in surprise. What do you mean? Why are you going to your unit?
Lin Weimin explained: "You may not know that our unit provides a guesthouse specifically for writers from other places who come to Beijing to revise their manuscripts."
Leng Jiefang felt a little embarrassed and said, "Teacher Lin, I'm afraid it's not appropriate for me to go. I'm here to look up information for myself..."
"Why is it inappropriate? Aren't you looking up information to write a better novel? Haven't you almost finished writing the novel? Now I am mainly looking for information to enrich the content of the novel, which is also considered revision!"
this……
Leng Jiefang felt touched. What revision was going on? He knew that this was Teacher Lin giving him the green light!
"How is it?" Lin Weimin asked again when he saw that he didn't speak.
"Thank you so much, Teacher Lin!" Leng Jiefang said with gratitude.
"Hey, why are you being so polite? I'm doing this to help you create better works. Won't your works be published in our Contemporary Magazine after you finish writing them?"
Leng Jiefang now feels like a man would die for his confidant. He is an unknown literature lover who has never published a decent novel before and has only published two research articles in the less well-known Redology journal.
Yet he was so loved by a great writer like Mr. Lin that he was invited to publish his novel in "Contemporary" even though he hadn't finished it yet, and the writer even found him a place to live.
I am so touched!
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. You can enjoy the treatment of a cadre when you come to our unit to revise manuscripts, and you will also receive a subsidy of two yuan per day." Lin Weimin said.
There is still money?
Leng Jiefang was even more moved!
The two dollars a day subsidy is equivalent to my salary at work.
Teacher Lin, you are such a good person!
"By the way, Jiefang, you don't have a pen name yet, right?" Lin Weimin suddenly asked.
Leng Jiefang looked confused. Why did he mention the pen name out of the blue?
"No."
"You're about to publish a novel, so you can't be without a pen name. How about I give you one?" Lin Weimin asked with a smile.
Faced with Teacher Lin’s “good intentions”, Lin Jiefang was deeply moved.
“That’s great!”
"Yeah!" Lin Weimin was very satisfied with his attitude.
After pondering for a moment, Teacher Lin narrowed his eyes slightly, looking calm and composed, like a hermit, and then slowly spoke.
"Your name is Leng Jiefang. Leng means cold. Jiefang comes from the book "Anshiliu" in Qimin Yaoshu: In the middle of October, wrap it with cattails, and it will be freed in early February. In February, the cold winter will pass, the river will thaw, and all things will revive.
Why not just call me Er Yue He!"
(End of this chapter)
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