Chapter 532 Lin Weimin in Other People's Eyes
"He has a lot of shortcomings." Tang Yuqiu, wearing a pair of reading glasses, couldn't help but fall into memories when facing Christian Salmon's question.
"This kid has been a restless person since he entered the Institute of Literature and Art. He would cause trouble every few days, especially at the beginning of the school year. The director scolded him several times, and we teachers would also criticize him from time to time.
From our perspective as teachers, we could see that he was not focused on writing at all at that time.
Fortunately, after a period of time, he was finally able to behave himself. At least he was able to learn, and he made rapid progress.
At that time, they were the first batch of students after our Institute of Cultural Research resumed operations. Everyone from top to bottom attached great importance to them, and the teachers we invited were all respected seniors.
The classmates in the class studied very hard. Most of them were older than him, and some were even his parents’ generation, but he treated them with equal respect.
But he is a kind person, he can get along with everyone, and everyone has a good impression of him."
Christian Salmon listened to Tang Yuqiu's words and finally heard some negative comments about Lin Weimin from the people around him.
The people Christian Salmon wanted to visit were within the scope defined by himself, and then Lin Weimin provided him with several candidates, including Lin Weimin's friends, teachers, and classmates.
After finishing his visit to Shi Tiesheng, Christian Salmon went to the National Academy of Arts and Letters and found Tang Yuqiu.
In the selection of the division commander, Lin Weimin did not let Christian Salmon disturb Mr. Wan, who had been unwell recently.
Lin Weimin was one of the most outstanding students since the resumption of the Institute of Literature. Tang Yuqiu knew all about his experiences as a student at the school. Sometimes she talked in such detail that Christian Salmon had to interrupt her.
He could see that Lin Weimin was the pride of Teacher Tang.
"He has been very busy with work and writing these years, so his schedule is always tight. But he still comes back to visit occasionally, and he also visits me during the holidays. I even wrote the preface for his first book!"
Tang Yuqiu looked somewhat proud when he said this.
Christian Salmon felt a little helpless, as the visit seemed to have returned to its old ways.
"By the way, let me show you something."
Tang Yuqiu led Christian Salmon to the library of the National Academy of Arts and Letters, pointed to the sign hanging at the door and said, "The books in this library are all donated for the people!"
Christian Salmon asked in surprise, "Donated a library of books?"
"That's right. In the past few years, our college's operating funds were not very sufficient, and the library's collection of books has always been small. The students who came here to study raised a lot of opinions. At that time, the leaders of the college came up with a solution and asked former students to help donate some books.
When Weimin heard the news, he donated a lot of books to the library. Now most of the books in the library were donated by him, and he spent tens of thousands of dollars at that time.
You Americans have no idea about the prices in our country, this is basically equivalent to the income of an ordinary working class person in our country for 30 or 40 years.”
Christian Salmon had heard about Lin Weimin's heroic act of spending tens of millions of dollars before, so he felt no wavering when he heard the figure of tens of thousands of dollars again.
However, this did make him look at Lin Weimin with new eyes again. A person may donate once out of personal feelings or to gain fame, but it is impossible for him to keep doing so.
According to everyone's description, Lin Weimin has never stopped donating money over the years. If he didn't really want to help others, he would not have done so again and again.
He has a hot heart!
After finishing the interview at the National Academy of Arts, Christian Salmon set off again. This time he was going to Tianjin, another big city in China, more than 100 kilometers away from Yanjing.
Jiang Zilong had received a call from Lin Weimin in advance, so he was not surprised at all by Christian Salmon's visit.
The visit took place at Jiang Zilon's home. Jiang Zilon was Lin Weimin's classmate at the Institute of Literature, and the two started their conversation with the Institute of Literature.
"Teacher Tang should be retiring soon, right? She was already in her forties when she was in charge of our class!" Jiang Zilong sighed.
"According to Teacher Tang, Lin was very restless when studying at school." Christian Salmon asked.
Jiang Zilong smiled. "He was only 20 years old at that time, the youngest student in the class, so it was normal for him to be restless. You have to know that the students in our class are quite special, so they are relatively older. One student who lived in the same dormitory with Weimin was already 50 years old. In terms of age, we are all of the same generation as his father, so we didn't think there was anything wrong with him. We treated him like a junior."
"Can you tell me what your most direct impression of Du Linweimin was at that time?"
"Impression? He must be a natural!" Jiang Zilong smoked a cigarette, the smoke lingering in front of his eyes. He recalled the past, "Weimin is born to do this job. This is the consensus of our classmates."
"Can you give me an example?"
During Christian Salmon's interviews, several interviewees mentioned Lin Weimin's talent in writing.
"For example... I remember when we went to Xiao Xi Tian Er to watch a foreign movie, it was your American movie "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", and during the break, everyone chatted casually.
Weimin casually told everyone about an inspiration he got from a movie, and Teacher Tang asked him to write it into a novel. A few days later, the novel was published, and it won the National Excellent Short Story Award the following year. "
Jiang Zilong paused for a moment, "Oh, by the way, there is another thing, which is his writing efficiency. You may not know that when he is serious about writing, his efficiency is very exaggerated. The novel Farewell My Concubine was published in your country, the United States. You should know that, right?"
"Yes, I have seen it."
"When Weimin first started working at the editorial department of Contemporary Magazine, he was alone in his dormitory during the Chinese New Year when inspiration struck him. He finished writing this novel in just one week."
"A week?"
Christian Salmon looked at Jiang Zilong in surprise. He had already read the English version of "Farewell My Concubine". The length of the novel should be at least 100,000 words. How could it be possible to finish writing it in one week?
"It's exaggerated, right? Many people don't believe it when they first hear it. I'm also a writer. If I work hard, four or five thousand words a day is usually a lot. But he can write up to 20,000 words a day. Tell me, isn't this a talent?"
Christian Salmon nodded. If what Jiang Zilon said was true, then it was indeed a talent, and a very strong one at that.
For a normal person, even copying 20,000 words a day is a huge workload, let alone writing 20,000 words that are meaningful?
Christian Salmon couldn't help but recall the content of "Farewell My Concubine" in his mind. Did such a wonderful novel really take only one week to write?
Unbelievable!
“In fact, it’s not just about the efficiency of his creation. I think Weimin is also a very talented writer in terms of the breadth and versatility of his creation.
You don't know much about the development of the domestic literary world in recent years. Let me put it simply: the works of our generation of writers are almost all based on our own experiences in previous years.
The experiences of those years were like a sheepfold, which provided us with capital and nutrients, but also confined us to a comfort zone. Without this circle, some people would not even be able to write novels.
But Weimin is different. He never limits himself to a narrow field and is always able to find something worth expressing. I admire him very much for this.”
Christian Salmon thought about the novels he had read. The styles of the novels published by Lin Weimin in the United States were indeed very different. It seemed that each one broke the rules, and they were all very well written and always touched people's hearts.
After talking for a long time about the topic of creation, Christian Salmon turned the conversation to another aspect.
"In your eyes, what kind of person do you think Lin Weimin is?"
"This range is too large, it's hard to say!"
"It's okay, you can say whatever you think of."
Jiang Zilong pondered for a long time and said, "Weimin is the youngest in our class, but he is the most trustworthy friend, a friend I can trust with my wife and children."
The translator at the side pondered for a long time before saying the phrase "entrusting wife and son to others"; Christian Salmon didn't quite understand it.
"Let me give you an example and you'll understand. We had a classmate in the Institute of Literature named Guo Yudao. He was only in his early forties at the time..."
Jiang Zilong told Christian Salmon about the example of Guo Yudao. He nodded with emotion and understood what Jiang Zilong wanted to express.
“It is indeed a reassuring thing to have such a friend!”
Christian Salmon also spoke out about Richard Yates.
Jiang Zilong smiled easily. "It's something that Weimin can do. It fits his style. Who doesn't want a friend like this?"
Christian Salmon nodded in agreement.
Before he knew it, the visit had been going on for half a day, and Christian Salmon asked the question that had been bothering him.
"I want you to talk about Lin's shortcomings. I have talked to several people, and everyone always talks about his shining points, but rarely mentions his shortcomings. This seems unreal!"
Jiang Zilong thought about this question seriously, and Christian Salmon waited for his answer.
After a long while, Jiang Zilong said, "Of course Weimin does have some shortcomings, but... it's hard to explain!"
"What's wrong with that? As a friend, you also have the obligation to remind him."
Jiang Zilong hesitated and said, "This... involves privacy!"
After hearing what he said, Christian Salmon became even more curious. Jiang Zilong was so cautious, it must be a very personal matter.
"I can promise not to include this in the interview!"
Christian Salmon was very knowledgeable and dispelled Jiang Zilon's concerns with just one sentence. It was obvious that he had done this kind of thing many times before.
Jiang Zilong no longer had any psychological burden, so he said, "He is a person who is rather slow in emotions. The word slow is not quite appropriate. He is a bit like a stone."
Christian Salmon's gossiping instinct was fully aroused. "Can you give me an example?"
"I told you not to log out, and not to spread it casually!"
I'm a foreign journalist, are you afraid that I will spread the news?
"no problem!"
"When we were in the Institute of Literature, there was a girl in our class..." Jiang Zilong is almost fifty years old, but his eyes light up when he talks about gossip.
Christian Salmon couldn't help but ask at the end: "So, the lady is still unmarried?"
Jiang Zilong nodded.
Christian Salmon frowned, moved by the beauty of unrequited love. "What a lingering love story. It reminds me of Lin's The Lover."
Jiang Zilong sighed softly, "When you are young, you must not meet someone who is too stunning!"
Christian Salmon felt the same way and was right.
(End of this chapter)
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