Chapter 438: Hunting
Lin Weimin likes the name "The Hunt" very much. It is an innocent accusation, a hunt of good people by the villain and his accomplices.
He had no intention of using his pen to act as judge, but even if one person who did not know the truth saw his writings and chose to watch rationally, it would mean one less accomplice.
The general plot of the novel was based on the movie "The Hunt", and Lin Weimin made localized adjustments.
When writing, Lin Weimin hesitated for a moment, wondering whether to set the story in the United States. After all, he had criticized the United States a lot in his previous work "Burning".
Moreover, this incident happened in China and the impact is quite large. If the novel is really published, it will easily be attacked and exploited by people with ulterior motives.
But this thought only flashed through his mind, and he became firm.
Afraid of a dick!
If I'm not afraid of those evil people who do bad things, why should I be afraid of them?
With his heart pounding with emotion, Lin Weimin wrote with divine inspiration.
The night passed in a flash, and Lin Weimin kept writing except for washing his face in the middle.
It wasn't until he heard the footsteps of his colleagues heading to work in the corridor that he came to his senses.
Looking at the dozens of pages of manuscript he had written overnight, he stood up and knocked on the door of Qin Chaoyang's office.
Qin Chaoyang had just arrived at the office and greeted Lin Weimin with a smile. Then he heard Lin Weimin say, "Old Qin, I want to take a leave!"
"Take a leave? How many days? What for?"
"Creation is fake!"
Qin Chaoyang was pinching tea leaves into the teacup, and upon hearing this, he could not put the tea leaves down.
"Why are you inviting me again?" He looked at Lin Weimin's condition and asked, "Did you not sleep all night?"
"I got some inspiration!" Lin Weimin replied, with an anxious expression on his face.
Seeing this, Qin Chaoyang knew that the inspiration must have come too quickly and he could not hold it back.
If I don't approve this fake, it will probably leak out of my crotch.
"Okay, when will you be back?"
"About seven or eight days."
After talking to Qin Chaoyang, Lin Weimin couldn't wait to leave the editorial office with his bag.
Watching his back as he left, Qin Chaoyang couldn't help but sigh in his heart, young people are still the best, inspiration comes so easily and can't be held back.
While he was sighing, he saw Niu Han coming upstairs and called out, "Old Niu!"
Niu Han came over and asked, "What?"
“Did you see Weimin?”
"I see. What's the matter? You look anxious. Is there something urgent?"
Qin Chaoyang did not answer his question, but asked: "What did you say to him after the meeting yesterday? Look how upset the child is!"
Niu Han was confused. "Don't accuse a good person. It was obviously this guy who provoked me, an old comrade."
Seeing that he failed to trick Niu Han, Qin Chaoyang said to himself, "I really don't know what this kid can write this time!"
The news that Lin Weimin had taken another "creative leave" had spread throughout the Guowen Society while everyone was still drinking their first cup of tea in the office.
Like Qin Chaoyang, all colleagues were curious about this matter.
A week passed in a flash, and Lin Weimin appeared in the Guowen Society again, quickly attracting the attention of his colleagues.
"Weimin, have you finished writing your new novel?"
Lin Weimin responded to his colleagues' concerns with a few words. He first went to the editorial office to sign in, canceled his leave, and then came to the front building.
Comrade Xie has been restless for the past few days since he heard that Lin Weimin had taken a creative leave. Every day when he sits in the office, his biggest concern is when Lin Weimin will come to work.
Going to work means finishing the manuscript, and once the manuscript is finished, it must be published. Where can it be published? Of course, it is published in People's Literature.
Thank God for his mercy. Comrade Xie had been looking forward to it for a long time and finally Comrade Weimin came back.
"Finished?"
"I've finished it."
These two sentences, like a secret code, instantly brought a bright smile to Comrade Xie's face. He stretched out his hand to Lin Weimin and soon received a manuscript.
After reading the manuscript of the novel, Comrade Xie fell silent and found Lin Weimin's office.
"Your novel..."
Lin Weimin looked at him and asked, "What's the matter? Can't send it?"
Xie Mingqing shook his head. "I can't say for sure. Editor-in-Chief Liu was suspended recently."
Lin Weimin didn't say anything. From the novel he wrote, he naturally knew the reason behind Lao Xie's attitude.
In this movie "The Hunt", although everyone's malice towards the male protagonist is due to being deceived, the fact is that these people have become accomplices of the lying little girl and the executioners of evil.
Each of them has an unshirkable responsibility for the death of the male protagonist.
This kind of treatment is no longer gloomy, but dark, which is a bit taboo.
"Weimin, I think we should put this novel on hold before publishing it!" Xie Mingqing advised tactfully.
Lin Weimin knew very well what Xie Mingqing meant. The public opinion situation had been tightening since the beginning of this year, and it would be easy for him to be criticized if he published this novel now.
"Slow down? How long?" Lin Weimin asked.
Xie Mingqing was speechless. He also saw Lin Weimin's firm attitude.
"You have just finished writing the review for People's Literature. It is indeed not appropriate to publish this novel. I will think of a way!" Lin Weimin gave Xie Mingqing a way out.
Xie Mingqing sighed and left the office.
He knew that if he didn't publish it this time, he might not be able to publish Lin Weimin's works again in the future.
But he had no choice. People's Literature had just been criticized some time ago, and Teacher Liu was still suspended from his job. If he published The Hunting at this time, it would be like hanging himself - he was saying he wanted to die.
After Xie Mingqing left, Lin Weimin sat in a chair and thought for a while, then got up and went to Qin Chaoyang's office.
The next day, Qin Chaoyang sat in his office with a sad face. He had finished reading Lin Weimin's novel.
Qin Chaoyang sensed something was wrong when Lin Weimin came to him with the manuscript yesterday.
This guy's works have always been published in "People's Literature" and will only be brought to the editorial department under one circumstances.
"You're putting me in a difficult position!" Qin Chaoyang said helplessly.
"Lao Tan, I'm not saying anything bad about you. But you don't have the responsibility of Lao Meng in this regard. No wonder he can become the president."
Lin Weimin's heart-piercing words made Qin Chaoyang glare at him fiercely, "Then go find Lao Meng!"
"He has retired, but I can still find him! You are the boss of the editorial department now." Lin Weimin said nonchalantly.
Qin Chaoyang glanced at him unhappily, then sighed and said, "You are really giving me a hard time!"
After hesitating for a long time, Qin Chaoyang said, "Okay, send it, send it, I'm an old man anyway."
Lin Weimin laughed when he heard this, "You are really courageous!"
Seeing his overbearing face, Comrade Tan no longer had the heart to scold him. This kid was as thick-skinned as a city wall.
Lin Weimin and Qin Chaoyang reached a tacit understanding, but the manuscript still had to be reviewed by colleagues in the editorial department. This was the rule.
The manuscript was passed to colleagues, and everyone looked around and looked at each other in confusion.
A few days ago, everyone was discussing the rape case in the office, and Lin Weimin immediately pulled out this novel and said the two had nothing to do with each other. No one would believe it even if they were beaten to death.
"Weimin, why did you design the plot of the novel this way?" Liu Yin asked, expressing everyone's thoughts.
Lin Weimin couldn't say it because he knew the truth. He explained, "I just let my thoughts wander when I was listening to everyone chatting that day. If I wrote this story based on the case, it would be boring. Isn't it more interesting now?"
Everyone nodded hesitantly, but felt something was wrong.
This design is indeed a stroke of genius, but the problem is...
"Aren't you afraid that others will say you are making an innuendo?"
"Did I insinuate it? Can you find out which case my plot is similar to? Can you connect such different things together? Do you think anyone will believe you if you say you are not guilty?"
Lin Weimin's rhetorical question left everyone speechless.
Indeed, the plot of "The Hunt" is different from the case they know.
If you simply put yourself in the shoes of a bystander who saw a woman being raped a few days ago, reading this novel would be more or less a little awkward, because after all, everyone was looking at the problem from the perspective of the victim at that time.
However, Lin Weimin's novel provides everyone with a new perspective. Not only that, it also deeply criticizes onlookers like them.
In the novel, Lin Weimin was particularly careful to avoid issues that might involve law enforcement agencies. The male protagonist in the novel was framed but was released due to insufficient evidence.
Zhang Zhonge took off his reading glasses and said, "The question now is not whether to allude or not. We literary creators have the freedom to create. The most taboo thing about this novel is that it is too dark. According to Weimin's writing style, all onlookers are accomplices."
Tong Zhonggui raised an objection: "I think there is nothing wrong with what Teacher Lin wrote. This way of writing is precisely to warn us spectators not to stand on the moral high ground and judge others at will."
He Qizhi agreed with Zhang Zhonge's opinion and said, "Old Zhang is right. Weimin, if you publish this novel, it will easily attract criticism."
Lin Weimin smiled and said, "Some time ago, people on the right scolded me, and now people on the left scold me. It's a balance now, which is good!"
Seeing his nonchalant attitude, everyone understood.
Since Lin Weimin came up with this novel, he must have considered the possible risks and repercussions after publication.
To be honest, is the novel "The Hunt" a good one?
Good! Not just good, but really good!
Just reading the novel and thinking about its title gives one a chilling feeling.
We have all been through those years and are all too familiar with this feeling.
The desperate atmosphere in the novel makes people feel a heartbreaking pain, and vividly displays the darkness and evil of human nature.
Literary works are not only praises, but also criticisms and revelations.
Lin Weimin's "The Hunt" interprets this sentence very well.
After Lin Weimin finished speaking, his colleagues fell into a brief silence.
"The Hunt" is extremely excellent in every aspect, whether in terms of writing structure, plot development, or thoughtfulness and literary quality.
People even have a feeling that this novel may be the best of all the works written by Lin Weimin in recent years.
"I'm still inclined to publish it. It would be a shame if a novel like this wasn't published!"
When everyone was silent, Zhang Zhongye, who raised the question at the beginning, was the first to stand up and support Lin Weimin.
Then it was Liu Yin's turn. "Publish it! Weimin is the editor-in-chief anyway. If anyone causes trouble, we can say that he, the editor-in-chief, published it without authorization and it has nothing to do with us."
After Liu Yin finished speaking, everyone burst into laughter.
The atmosphere in the office relaxed, and others expressed their opinions one after another, and finally all agreed to publish it.
Lin Weimin looked at everyone with a sincere smile on his face, "Thank you everyone!"
On the afternoon of the day when the editorial department of Contemporary reached a consensus on the publication of Hunting, Lin Weimin was urgently summoned to the president's office.
As soon as they met, Cheng Zaochun's face was filled with bitterness and resentment.
"All the words I told you were in vain!"
"How could that be possible! Leader, your speeches are all valuable advice. I, Xiaolin, keep them in mind and recite them silently from time to time." Lin Weimin joked.
"Stop talking nonsense to me!" Cheng Zaochun glared at him, "What's the matter with that movie 'The Hunt'?"
"You mean that novel? Well, my writing is like a flood, I can't control it, I write like a god!"
Cheng Zaochun was furious when he saw Lin Weimin's playful smile, "I'm talking to you seriously! Be serious!"
After being scolded, Lin Weimin became more honest and said, "Why, can't we writers have a little creative freedom?"
"Who doesn't let you be free? But you can't commit a crime against the wind!" Cheng Zaochun said angrily.
"Not really. Boss, my novel is just a critique of human nature. It's not a grand narrative. It won't attract attention from the higher-ups."
"It will be too late when the higher-ups start to target us!"
Seeing that Cheng Zaochun was not giving in, Lin Weimin simply said, "Well, then, I won't publish the novel, I won't write it anymore, and I won't write it anymore!"
"What do you mean?" Cheng Zaochun asked angrily.
"What do you mean? That's what you mean. You're only concerned about writing a novel, but why don't you care about my shit and farts?"
Seeing that he was getting more and more outrageous, Cheng Zaochun pointed at him angrily, "You..."
Lin Weimin stiffened his neck, and Cheng Zaochun was so angry that he couldn't speak.
"Bastard!" After waiting for a while, Cheng Zaochun finally uttered the words.
Seeing that his momentum was weakening, Lin Weimin secretly felt lucky.
Just when I was about to say something soft, I heard Cheng Zaochun say, "How about... you send the manuscript to Harvest?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Weimin widened his eyes and looked at Cheng Zaochun in disbelief.
Cheng Zaochun was a little embarrassed by his gaze, and glared at him angrily, "What are you looking at? Wasn't this all forced by you, kid?"
"Old Cheng, you have become a bad person after becoming the president!" Lin Weimin said quietly after a long while.
Cheng Zaochun's momentum was completely gone, and he said, "Whatever you want, whatever you want. I tell you, if they want to sack you, don't say I didn't protect you!"
"It's good to be suspended from work, just like a vacation!" Lin Weimin said in a single tone.
Cheng Zaochun was feeling aggrieved and wanted to give Lin Weimin two big slaps, but I told you not to talk nonsense!
(End of this chapter)
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