Chapter 467: Half-step to Great Perfection
After spending more than half a month in France, Lin Weimin finally landed at the Capital Airport.
As soon as he came out of the passage, he was surrounded by reporters and enjoyed the same treatment as when Zhang Yimou returned home with honors.
Lin Weimin was very confused. It had been half a month since he won the award, and he had returned to China without notifying anyone. How did these reporters know about it?
He thought that his return to China would be quiet, but in fact it had already become known to everyone through the History Museum.
As he walked out, he chatted with the reporters, trying to find out what had happened.
Lin Weimin rarely accepts media interviews except when it is necessary or unavoidable, but the influence of the Goncourt Prize does make it difficult for him to avoid media attention.
However, what Lin Weimin did not expect was that the Press and Publication Administration, the Ministry of Rites and the Chinese Association of Literary and Art Circles also sent people to pick him up at the airport.
It is understandable that the Ministry of Rites came, but what about the Chinese Association of Literary and Art Circles also sending people?
Lin Weimin and several department leaders stood together, facing the camera for a group photo. Lin Weimin looked at the flash with a smile on his face, but asked, "Leader, why is Lao Zhang here?"
"There is a traitor among us!" said Bian Shu.
Lin Weimin was interviewed and several leaders also showed up.
When being interviewed by reporters, Bian Shu directly talked about the press conference.
Lin Weimin won such a great literary award as the Prix Goncourt and returned from abroad with honors. How could the Press and Publication Administration not publicize it well?
"The Press and Publication Administration will hold a press conference at 9:30 tomorrow. All media friends are welcome to attend."
"Leader, can you ask for my opinion on this matter?" Lin Weimin said dissatisfiedly.
"Our Publishing House is your mother's home. Are you planning to ask the Ministry of Rites or the Cultural Association to hold this press conference?"
Zhang Guangnian continued, "Weimin is a senior member of our National Federation of Literary and Art Circles. He joined the association in 1980. Besides, the Goncourt Prize he won is also a literary award. It is reasonable for us to hold the press conference."
He is very efficient when digging a hole and never lags behind when it comes to grabbing credit.
It has to be you!
If it weren't for the fact that they had worked together before, Lin Weimin really wanted to spit a mouthful of sticky phlegm at him.
Lin Weimin looked at the border office and then at Zhang Guangnian.
Never mind, choose the lesser of two evils.
The leader of the Ministry of Rites looked at Bian Shu and Zhang Guangnian with a smile and said, "No matter how you fight, we will not lose our position in the propaganda field. This is what we are in the business of!"
The next morning, the press conference was held as scheduled. Lin Weimin briefly reported on the details of his winning the Goncourt Prize. Then the leaders spoke and reporters asked questions. There were also interviews after the press conference, which wasted a whole day.
"Leader, I've been suspended from work. How do you calculate my salary today?" Lin Weimin asked jokingly.
Cheng Zaochun was in a good mood today. "Don't worry, I will definitely make it up to you when the time comes."
As the leader of the National Literature Society, Cheng Zaochun will naturally attend today's press conference.
In recent days, Cheng Zaochun's mood has been just like the wind in Yanjing right now, very volatile.
The printing factory worked as hard as possible, and the extra books finally began to be shipped within a week after Lin Weimin won the award. During these few days, trucks carrying goods left the printing factory one after another, transporting the books to the railway station freight station, and within a few days, they were distributed all over the country.
The starving bookstores and post offices across the country finally drank the life-saving milk, the popularity of the award continued, and the sales situation was very good.
With Lin Weimin returning to China, the authorities and the media will certainly do more publicity, and this craze will probably continue for some time.
The bonuses and benefits for this year at the Guowen Publishing House have been settled.
The way Cheng Zaochun looked at Lin Weimin was as if he was looking at a naked baby holding a gold ingot!
After the press conference and a day of interviews, Lin Weimin refused all subsequent interviews, including the request from the Cultural Association to organize a symposium for him.
Including the time he spent in France, he has been giving interviews every day for more than half a month. He felt like he was going to vomit if he continued. The time he spent winning the award this time was longer than the time he spent giving interviews in the previous few years combined.
The Press and Publication Administration, the Ministry of Rites, and the Chinese Association of Literary and Art Circles were relentless and would call Lin Weimin whenever they had nothing to do, or even visit him in person.
Finally, Lin Weimin had no choice but to use the excuse of creating new works, and only then did the group of people calm down.
I have been abroad for more than half a month and have had almost no idle time. Now that I am back in Yanjing, I can finally relax and don’t have to go to work. My life is so comfortable.
While he was staying at home and enjoying his leisure time, the publicity campaign for his return to China reached its climax again.
Since the government and the Cultural Association could not find any evidence against Lin Weimin, they turned their attention to the people around him.
My classmates at the Institute of Literature, my teachers, my colleagues at the Chinese Literature Publishing House, my good writers...
Anyone who had close contact with Lin Weimin basically could not escape harassment.
For a while, content about Lin Weimin was all over the newspapers, radio broadcasts, and television stations across the country, giving Lin Weimin a saturation public opinion propaganda.
The direct consequence of such publicity was that Lin Weimin became a household name throughout the country, known to everyone, young and old, in a short period of time. Even an old rural lady would know him.
"Who? Lin Weimin? I know him, he's a great writer!"
That's probably the kind of fame it has.
The ultimate effect of the influence of the Goncourt Prize has finally appeared. In the hearts of countless Chinese people, when Lin Weimin's name is mentioned, the first impression that comes to their mind is "great writer."
This "big" is not an exaggeration or an adjective, but a thought that comes from the heart.
He won a major foreign literary award that no one has ever won before. If he is not a great writer, then what is he?
Before winning the award, Lin Weimin was already a famous writer known throughout the country. There was no one better than him among his peers in the contemporary literary world. Even many older senior writers who have been famous for many years find it difficult to compare with him in terms of influence and popularity.
Now with the blessing of the Goncourt Prize, Lin Weimin's reputation is at its peak and he is a shining star in the contemporary literary world. If he suddenly became famous now, he would immediately become a legendary genius.
To use the terminology of later online novels, Lin Weimin's current fame should be at the level of "half-step great perfection". Going further up, he would be at the level of Lu, Guo and others.
So terrifying!
With his fame rising again, his status in the literary world will naturally rise as well, as can be seen from the current attitude of the Literary Association.
Even if Lin Weimin does not show up, local literary associations will take the initiative to organize symposiums, seminars and other activities to discuss his works.
In addition to these activities, what is more intuitive is the sales volume of the works.
After winning the award, the sales of all Lin Weimin's works in recent years have shown a blowout growth. The inventory could not last for a few days, and the printing factory had to work overtime. The printed books had to be packed and loaded onto the trucks before the ink could even dry.
According to statistics from Guowen Publishing House, within half a month, the number of books sent out from the printing factory has reached a staggering 4 million copies, 80% of which are works by Lin Weimin.
But even so, new orders still appear from time to time in various places.
With public opinion nationwide so heated, this situation may continue for some time, but no one knows how long it will last.
Anyway, it has been more than 20 days since I won the award, and the sales momentum is still strong.
Colleagues at the Guowen Publishing House have never missed Comrade Lin Weimin so much.
This is the God of Wealth of the Guowen Society!
Although he was suspended from work, his legend was still everywhere in the world.
The style of a great writer is nothing more than this.
Lin Weimin, who is stuck at home, is not idle either. He has been working overtime to write a new novel.
Andre obviously did not follow him back to China, but Lin Weimin always felt that someone was watching him from behind. This feeling was especially strong when he was not writing.
It only disappears when you pick up the pen.
Damn Andre!
Every day before picking up the pen, Lin Weimin would curse a few words. This has become a ritual before he starts writing.
Teacher Lin is very efficient because he is focused on his work.
It took more than a week, but most of the novel has been written.
At the end, Teacher Lin was in a dilemma.
In the original novel, the male protagonist promised his son that he would reward him with a big tank if he won the game, and then the ending was that American soldiers drove a tank to pick up his son.
This ending definitely won’t work.
Damn it, as an arms dealer, America did contribute a lot to World War II and accelerated the demise of the Axis powers, but it is too much to glorify him as a savior.
Lin Weimin hesitated for a long time, and finally changed the American soldiers to Soviet soldiers.
Although he also dislikes the Russians, at least writing this way is realistic.
After finishing the novel, Lin Weimin finally put down his pen. The eyes that followed him like a shadow also disappeared, and he felt relaxed all over.
Tao Huimin brought over a cup of tea, and seeing Lin Weimin put down his pen, she said, "Take a break."
Lin Weimin stood up and stretched, "I've finished writing."
"Finished? So quickly?"
Teacher Lin was unhappy. He is now very sensitive to certain words.
“That’s called efficiency.”
Tao Huimin ignored him and picked up the manuscript on the table. Since they were together, Tao Huimin has always been his first reader.
Tao Huimin always read as much as Lin Weimin wrote. It took her half an hour to finish reading the ending, and Tao Huimin's eyes were filled with tears.
"How can you be so cruel? Garyan is such a kind person!"
"If he doesn't die, the novel won't reach a high enough level!"
Literary works have to tear the beauty into pieces.
If everything has a happy ending, wouldn’t that make it a soap opera?
"Did you write this male protagonist based on your own image?" Tao Huimin asked again.
Lin Weimin: ???
The prototype of the protagonist of my novel is a French chatterbox, okay?
Even though I haven't told you the prototype of the protagonist of this novel, isn't it a bit too much for you to guess that it was based on my own creation?
After sleeping in the same bed together for so many years, it seems that you still don’t know me well enough!
Teacher Lin felt it necessary to ask Teacher Tao to get to know him better. After all, he was about to meet his future mother-in-law, and it wouldn't do to be so awkward.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
