Chapter 437 Aba Alai
The next evening, Lin Weimin and Tong Zhonggui hosted a banquet at Quanjude to entertain their friend Comrade Alai from the southwest region.
Alai is a Tibetan. After graduating from a normal school, he became a teacher. He began to write poetry in 1982. Last year, he was transferred to "Grassland" under the AB State Literature Bureau as an editor.
When meeting Lin Weimin, a nationally renowned writer, Alai was a little nervous and shy at first.
Recently, the news that Lin Weimin has won the US Literature Award again has been widely circulated. This is not the first time that he has been recognized by a foreign literary award.
In Ale's opinion, at least among contemporary writers, Lin Weimin should be considered unique.
Not only because of the awards and honors he has won, but also because of his works.
After exchanging pleasantries for a while, the group gradually became more friendly and Alai's true nature showed.
Lin Weimin's alcohol tolerance is average, and he never persuades others to drink when he drinks. But Alai never needs to be persuaded to drink. He is a Tibetan, loves to drink and has an amazing alcohol tolerance. He often drinks a glass of wine after saying a few words and getting happy.
He drank at least six or seven taels of liquor in more than half an hour, but he didn't look drunk at all. Instead, he seemed to be getting more sober the more he drank, and his eyes were bright.
"My favorite of yours is 'The Horse Tamer'. It is very interesting and describes the customs and habits of our southwestern region very realistically. As a Tibetan, I can't find any fault with it." Alai said to Lin Weimin.
Lin Weimin laughed and said, "To get such an evaluation from a Tibetan like you is worthy of the information I looked up."
Alai muttered, "Is it all just looking up information? I thought you lived in our place!"
Lin Weimin smiled, and Tong Zhonggui said, "Teacher Lin's writing attitude is very rigorous. He will check all the information involved in his writing. Not only for "The Horse Catcher", but also for "The Ming Dynasty 1566", the information he checked was so numerous that it was overwhelming."
Many of the materials consulted in "The Ming Dynasty 1566" were handled by Tong Zhonggui, so he has the right to speak.
Alai said, "I really envy writers like you who can write novels by just looking up information. I can't do that."
“For full-time writers, creation is a process of constantly consuming one’s own reserves. Only by constantly collecting creative materials can we support our creation.
You have lived in the southwest since you were a child. Your Tibetan history has a lot of oral literature, which is the nourishment for your creation. There are so many things to write about. "
Lin Weimin's words were very much to Alai's liking. His creations were always improvisational and full of the Tibetans' unique sense of freedom.
This kind of freedom also allowed him to experience the joy of creation. On the contrary, Lin Weimin's orthodox writing style made him feel depressed and uncomfortable.
"Teacher Lin, you are right. When I heard you say that writing a novel requires an outline, synopsis, and materials, I felt bored. I don't even know what my novel will look like before I start writing. How can I come up with these things?" said Alai.
He was impatient with the desk work of writing, not because he despised these things, but because it was his nature.
This thing has its pros and cons. When he was just starting out, these were not a problem because of the nourishment he received from the environment he grew up in.
But when literary creation really enters the deep water zone, it is often these meticulous desk work that determines the final quality of the work.
In the words of later talk show hosts: Who doesn’t write five minutes of good jokes a year?
Due to the experiences in their first twenty or thirty years of life, many writers often burst out with amazing creativity in the early stages of their creation.
But as time goes by, we will find that many writers lose their strength or even run out of ideas after passing the initial stage.
After listening to Lin Weimin's insights, Alai nodded. Although he did not like this way of creation, he knew that Lin Weimin was right.
As they drank and chatted, the topic turned to Ale's creations.
It had only been a short time since he switched from poetry writing to novel writing and he had no experience. When they chatted, Lin Weimin's occasional words would often give him a feeling of enlightenment.
"You just mentioned the unique 'Tusi culture' in your area. I think there is a lot of room for exploration. You can try to write about it later, and then send the finished product to us for us to see." Lin Weimin said to Alai.
Lin Weimin's words were a disguised form of commissioning an article. Alai was very happy to hear this and said, "I'll write it when I get back!"
Lin Weimin smiled and nodded. I have been training you for more than half a year, and the results are finally coming.
Teacher Lin couldn't help but sigh in his heart, it is becoming more and more difficult to collect manuscripts nowadays!
Alai went to Yanjing on a business trip and stayed there for only three days. He returned to Aba two days later.
Lin Weimin told Tong Zhonggui to keep a close eye on this kid and not let him be distracted and be lured away by other publications.
Tong Zhonggui didn't understand why Lin Weimin valued Alai, but he believed in Lin Weimin's vision. Since Teacher Lin had given instructions, he would definitely keep a close eye on Alai.
One day in April, Cheng Zaochun presided over a meeting to convey the above spirit to everyone.
After the meeting, everyone walked out of the meeting room together.
Lin Weimin asked, "What has Comrade Lao Niu been busy with recently?"
Ever since Niu Han went to help out at the Writers Association, he has rarely been to work at the National Literature Society since he returned. Three days a week is considered a lot for him, and it is not easy to see him at other times.
"Write poetry and essays!" Niu Han replied.
Lin Weimin nodded and said jokingly, "Not bad. Not like those retired old men and women who always record this and that!"
"I will definitely convey this to you when I get together with everyone later," said Niu Han.
"Hey, Uncle Niu, look at you, I was just joking. You can't do this, or I'll offend all those retired old men and women in the community, which will directly affect my future progress!"
There are many editors in Guowen Publishing House, and many of them have multiple identities. They write novels, essays, poems, and reportage. Any of them is a well-known figure in the outside world.
Especially among the group of retired seniors, there are many respected literary predecessors.
Lin Weimin was not wrong when he said that they "recorded this and compiled that". As intellectuals, when they retire and have nothing to do, they will naturally recall the past and complain occasionally.
"I mean to ask them to stop keeping their own writings to themselves and send more of them to your New Literature Materials. Isn't this a mutually beneficial thing?"
Niu Han snorted, "That's still human language!"
After chatting about some meaningless gossip, Lin Weimin returned to the editorial office in the back building.
Several colleagues were talking about a case that was reported in the newspaper some time ago. Pei Shutang, a music teacher in Gansu, was sentenced to seven years in prison for raping his female students.
"People like this should be shot directly!"
"This kid is lucky that he didn't catch up with the group a few years ago."
"It's only been a few years, and you still dare to do this. You are so bold."
Everyone was indignant when they were discussing this, and Lin Weimin frowned as he listened.
He understood everyone's sense of justice, but as far as he knew, this case was a complete case of wrongful conviction.
Pei Shutang is a vocal teacher at the cultural center. Because his student Liu had some flaws in her singing, he kept her behind before the performance for individual tutoring.
Unexpectedly, a few days later, Liu, accompanied by her fiancé, suddenly accused Pei Shutang of rape.
Pei Shutang was sentenced to prison for this. After he was released from prison, Pei Shutang found Liu and asked her to admit to slandering him. However, Pei Shutang was acquitted in 2011. Only Pei Shutang, the person involved, knew the bitterness and difficulty involved.
There was a period of time in later generations when news of this kind was all the rage. Lin Weimin even went to the Internet to search for it. He was shocked by the search.
In addition to Pei Shutang's case, there are many other cases with similar situations. Without exception, they are all because some scumbags, out of some evil mentality, framed the people around them. Because of their absolutely weak position, once this happens, even if there is no evidence, these framed people have no way to defend themselves.
Because what they face are not only the law, but also the simple moral concepts in the hearts of the people.
Driven by the herd mentality, many people don’t care about evidence or not. The Internet in later generations has proved this countless times.
Lin Weimin sighed helplessly. Pei Shutang was not the worst case. The worst case he had seen was that of teacher Wang Kangfu who was falsely accused of rape by his students in the 1960s. He served ten years in prison and still had to endure discrimination and insults from people around him after he was released from prison.
After being released from prison, Wang Kangfu has been running around trying to prove his innocence.
He waited for fifty years to be cleared of this innocence. It was not until 2016, fifty years after the incident, that the teacher was finally cleared of the charges.
A small lie resulted in half a century of humiliation.
Thinking of the movie and several real cases he knew, Lin Weimin's good mood disappeared in an instant.
There are really a lot of beasts in this world. They are obviously beasts, but they still wear human skins. Not only do they wear human skins, they also wear the skins of the vulnerable.
Everyone was chatting indignantly without realizing that the target of their anger was just an innocent person.
This feeling made Lin Weimin feel a little depressed, and he sat in the office until the end of the day.
Later, there was a movie called "The Hunt", which tells the story of a teacher Lucas who was shown affection by a female student Kara because of his kindness and gentle personality. Lucas rejected Kara's confession out of morality in his heart, but Kara held a grudge against Lucas for his rejection, and lied and slandered Lucas for violating her. Since then, Lucas' life fell into hell, and he finally lost his life.
A small lie is enough to make a monster and destroy a good person.
Lin Weimin never thought of himself as a nosy person, but the frustration of knowing the truth but not being able to speak out made him feel uncomfortable.
He sat there until it was completely dark, then he finally came to his senses, thought for a moment, spread out the manuscript paper, and took off the cap of the pen on the table. Since he couldn't say it out loud, he might as well write it down.
(End of this chapter)
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