Chapter 286 Timely Rain in Tianjin
On the 25th day of the lunar year, Lin Weimin went to the Capital Library on the pretext of looking for information for his creation, and spent a long time flipping through newspapers and magazines from the past few days.
Damn it, these people, they don’t even take a break during the New Year, and they just keep criticizing.
Instead of seeing any intervention measures from the relevant departments, Lin Weimin saw several articles criticizing him.
Too many lice won't bite, too many debts won't worry you, that's what you say, but this thing is just like a mosquito, hovering around you, which is enough to make you annoyed.
Fortunately, one good thing is that the intensity of criticism seems to have decreased recently. At least after searching for a long time, Lin Weimin found that the frequency of articles criticizing him is less than before.
This is a good sign!
Lin Weimin casually flipped open another newspaper. It was this morning's "Yenching Youth Daily". Previously, reporter Li Xiangyang had published a commentary article titled "Let the Bullets Fly for a While", which caused a stir, but was soon drowned out by a tide of criticism.
Huh?
As Lin Weimin quickly browsed the newspaper, he found something interesting.
"This is……"
It was on the second page of the Yenching Youth Daily that an article caught his attention.
"Comrade Xiangyang:
Hello, I have received your letter. In the last correspondence you mentioned that you hoped to write a review article about Comrade Weimin and The Lover. I read it through your newspaper a few days ago and I express my approval and gratitude.
Since the publication of "Lover" in "Contemporary", the reviews have been mixed, and the public opinion has been overwhelming. Let's not talk about the readers for now. Many colleagues and seniors have written articles with indignation, and they are ready to bring Comrade Weimin to justice. Last month, I also learned from a friend that Comrade Weimin has suspended his work because of this incident. The seriousness of the situation can't help but remind me of my experience a few years ago, and I can't help feeling sad for the rabbit's death.
…
The prototype of the character "Guo Yudao" in "The Lover" is actually Guo Yudao, a native of Xinye in southern Hebei Province, a middle school teacher in XN City, and also a children's literature writer. He has written the short story "Young Eagles on the Prairie", novellas "The Sound of the Piano by the Agate River", "Adventures on Bird Island", "The Secret Under the Water", etc.
Brother Yudao was a classmate of mine and Comrade Lin Weimin at the Institute of Literature. Our batch of students entered the Institute in April 1980 and graduated in October. The lessons we learned in just six months will benefit us for the rest of our lives, and we have also forged a deep friendship.
Unfortunately, Brother Yudao passed away due to illness in May this year. Before his death, Brother Yudao and his wife went to Yenching for medical treatment and made great contributions to the people.
Unfortunately, Brother Yudao's condition was so serious that the hospital was helpless. In the end, Brother Yudao and his wife decided to return to their hometown for conservative treatment. Before leaving, Brother Yudao said goodbye to Comrade Weimin and said that the biggest regret in his life was that he had not written a novel that could stand up. Comrade Weimin had a humorous personality and joked that he would write a novel and burn it for Brother Yudao.
Later, he really wrote it. The Lover was completed during the "Contemporary Novel Seminar", when many famous domestic writers gathered at the Dongshan Hotel in Yantai. I was lucky enough to be invited to the seminar and talked about this novel with Comrade Weimin.
Comrade Weimin once told me that Lao Guo (Guo Yudao) had a very hard life, and I promised Lao Guo that I would let him be a rich kid and have an unforgettable love story. It was a very sad moment.
I was lucky enough to read "The Lover" as soon as it was published. In the novel, Guo Yudao and Jian were deeply in love. Although they were separated by the world, they remained loyal to each other until death. It was a moving story. After reading it, I closed the book in admiration. Comrade Weimin fulfilled his promise to Brother Yudao.
…
After Brother Yudao passed away, Comrade Weimin also provided financial assistance to Brother Yudao's family. Brother Yudao's wife told this when comrades from the Xining Literary Association visited her to express their condolences, and later it was heard by many colleagues in the literary world.
…
The above matters are complicated and confusing due to the excitement. Comrade Xiangyang can decide whether there is any usable material, or publish this reply letter in the newspaper.
Zilong only wants to say one thing here: "Guo Yudao" in "The Lover" is definitely not a traitorous businessman in old Shanghai. Comrade Weimin has been slandered and smeared by villains this time, which is not only a personal injury to him, but also a slander to the deceased brother Yudao. I have informed the Xining Literary Association of this matter, and I hope you will write to verify the situation and make the news public.
..."
This article on the second page of "Yenching Youth Daily" is much longer than ordinary articles. Its title is "Rediscussing Lin Weimin and "The Lover"" and its subtitle is "A Record of Correspondence with Writer Jiang Zilong and Xining Literary Association".
The author is again Li Xiangyang, the overly enthusiastic journalist comrade in Lin Weimin's impression.
The article of more than 4,000 words is mostly the correspondence between Li Xiangyang, Jiang Zilon and the Xining Literary Association. The rest is Li Xiangyang's account of how he became interested in the criticism of Lin Weimin and then wrote this article.
At the end of the article, Li Xiangyang did not forget to call on readers to distinguish right from wrong and not be fooled by the tricks of sinister villains. At the same time, he pointed out from a high-level perspective that the trend of being convicted for speech should not be allowed to continue, and history must not be reversed...
After reading the entire article, Lin Weimin felt completely refreshed.
Although the content of Lao Jiang's letter praised him like a living saint, which was a bit corny, who wouldn't feel happy when being praised?
How is Lin Weimin doing now?
Jiang Zilong took the risk of asking Li Xiangyang to publish their correspondence in the newspaper to promote Lin Weimin, which really touched Lin Weimin.
"Old ginger! Old ginger!" Lin Weimin patted the newspaper and muttered to himself.
I always thought that you, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, looked like a big brother.
Now it seems that you are the top position in the Institute of Literature Research!
I would like to call you the timely rain of Tianjin.
Then he looked at the newspaper and saw the three words "Li Xiangyang".
I didn't have much feeling about Lin Weimin, this journalist comrade who was overly enthusiastic in my impression, but in the two articles, the first one was okay. It felt like he just interpreted Lin Weimin and the novel "The Lover" from a different perspective from most critics, and of course it was mainly praise.
But in this second article, people feel that he is Lin Weimin's attorney, advocating for Lin Weimin, the writer who was "imprisoned for crying out injustice," and doing his best to do so.
You have to know that in this era, if you are involved in an incident like Lin Weimin, losing your job is just a small matter...
Lin Weimin couldn't figure out why Li Xiangyang was here. Could it be that he just liked his work?
And how could the "Yenching Youth Daily" publish an article with such an obvious bias?
Lin Weimin thought about it and had a hunch in his heart.
He quickly packed up his things, left the Capital Library, and went to the cultural center where Qu Xiaowei worked.
"Why are you here?" Qu Xiaowei asked in surprise.
"Let me borrow your workplace's phone number."
Seeing that Lin Weimin had a serious expression and it was obvious that he had something important to do, Qu Xiaowei quickly took him to the director's office and borrowed a phone.
"Who are you calling?" Qu Xiaowei asked.
"Old ginger!"
Qu Xiaowei was puzzled. Why was he calling Lao Jiang in such a hurry?
Lin Weimin saw the doubt in his heart and did not explain much. Instead, he threw a newspaper to Qu Xiaowei. This was the newspaper Lin Weimin bought on the way here.
I called the long-distance station and waited for more than half an hour before the call came through.
"Lao Jiang! Haha, my good brother! You are really a timely rain for Tianjin!"
As soon as the call was connected, Lin Weimin burst into laughter, which scared Qu Xiaowei.
However, he had already finished reading the copy of "Yenching Youth Daily" brought by Lin Weimin, so he naturally understood Lin Weimin's excitement.
"What is going on?" Lin Weimin asked Jiang Zilon on the phone.
Although he could roughly understand the whole story from the article in the Yanjing Metropolis Daily, Lin Weimin still didn't understand the details and needed Jiang Zilong to help him clear up the confusion.
Jiang Zilong explained on the phone that Li Xiangyang contacted him through someone from the Tianjin Literary Association. At first, he just said that he knew that he and Lin Weimin were classmates at the Institute of Literature Research, so he wanted to know his opinion on the novel "The Lover".
Jiang Zilong also regarded this as just an ordinary correspondence. He and Lin Weimin had a close friendship, and the quality of "The Lover" was indeed good. In addition, the large-scale criticism of Lin Weimin outside really reminded him of the situation he faced in previous years, which was almost exactly the same. So he praised the work "The Lover" in his correspondence.
Later, he saw Li Xiangyang's first commentary article in the Yanjing Metropolis Daily.
"Haha, I didn't think too much at the time. I just wanted to speak up for justice. If Mr. Chen hadn't helped me back then, I wouldn't be where I am today. Now you are facing the same situation. Since someone has found me, I must say something fair. But I really didn't expect that Li Xiangyang would write me another letter later..."
Li Xiangyang's second letter told Jiang Zilon that comrades from relevant departments found him after reading his commentary article and hoped that he could write another article, not only to overwhelm the current one-sided public opinion criticizing, attacking and smearing Lin Weimin, but also to try to bridge the impact of these negative public opinions on Lin Weimin himself over this period of time.
"I was also confused at the time. How could this matter be linked to the relevant departments? To be honest, I have no problem letting you say a few good words for me in the newspaper.
But you may have seen in this article that Comrade Li Xiangyang and I were almost reduced to gunners firing artillery shells. I was a little hesitant in the face of this situation.
It was not until the relevant parties understood my hesitation and called me personally that I felt relieved.
So, the contents of that letter, how should I put it, are half true and half false. The contents about you are all true, and the contents about my correspondence with Li Xiangyang, haha..."
Jiang Zilong couldn't help laughing when he said this.
"Not worth mentioning, haha, not worth mentioning!"
He did not hesitate to state the truth that he was deeply involved in this matter because he was commissioned by relevant departments, but this did not diminish Lin Weimin's gratitude to him.
"Lao Jiang, don't say that. Strong winds reveal strong grass, and turbulent times reveal loyal ministers. I want to thank you for this matter." Lin Weimin said sincerely.
"No, please don't. If you want to thank someone, you should thank the relevant departments and Comrade Li Xiangyang. One of them gave advice behind the scenes, and the other took the lead in the front. Without them, this matter would never have been accomplished.
Of course, what is more important is you. If it weren't for your contribution to the country, the relevant departments would not have gone to such great lengths.
For the people, to be honest, when Mr. Chen spoke up for me, he was also implicated, and in the end it was only after the Prime Minister was alerted that the matter was settled.
Although your incident this time did not alarm the Prime Minister, it has made a department of this level plan for you and rack their brains. It is really enviable!
Brother, I have never enjoyed such treatment in my life!"
Jiang Zilong's tone on the phone was full of envy.
After understanding the whole story, Lin Weimin didn't know whether to laugh or cry when listening to Jiang Zilong's words.
"Okay, next time there's something like this, come and experience it for yourself!"
Jiang Zilong said quickly: "Forget it. It's enough to experience this kind of thing once in a lifetime."
After saying that, the two couldn't help but burst into laughter.
(End of this chapter)
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