Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 475 Discussion
"Are you from the zoo?"

Although Chen Fan's tone carried a hint of inquiry, his eyes were full of confidence.

Old Guo was somewhat surprised, "How did you guess?"

He looked at He Qingsheng, who was already sitting down and eating sunflower seeds, and asked helplessly, "Old He, did you talk to him?"

He Qingsheng shook his head repeatedly, "Is it worth it for me to talk to him about this?"

He then pointed to the tables and chairs, "What are you all standing there for? Sit down."

Then everyone rushed in and pulled out chairs to sit down.

Chen Fan consciously sat down on the chair in the far corner.

These are all veterans of the literary world in Jiangnan Province. They were members of the provincial branch of the Writers Association more than a decade ago. Even though many of them have not published any works for many years, their status in the Writers Association is still far beyond what he can compare to now.

Old Guo seemed very interested in him, sat down next to him, and asked, "Old He didn't tell you? How did you guess?"

Chen Fan laughed and said, "Because I also raise livestock, so I'm quite familiar with the smell of livestock."

At this moment, Old Xu, who was sitting opposite, laughed and said, "Then you've become one step closer to us old guys. There aren't many people in this house who haven't raised livestock."

He Qingsheng found it somewhat amusing and looked at Chen Fan, asking, "You raise livestock? Could it be that you really are a member of Luwan—no, I should say Lujiawan—cooperative?"

Hearing this, Lao Guo turned to look at him, but pointed at Chen Fan, saying, "Lao He, haven't you looked into his situation?"

He Qingsheng was slightly taken aback. "What's going on?"

Old Guo turned to look at Chen Fan, who smiled but remained silent. He then turned back to He Qingsheng and said, "This is a long story. I'll tell you about it later."

He looked at Chen Fan again and asked for the third time, "So you smelled my scent, but it was different from the scent of livestock, so you judged that I was from the zoo?"

Chen Fan smiled and nodded, "Actually, I started out as a veterinarian."

Old Guo suddenly realized, raised his hand and patted his head, "I forgot about that!"

He shook his head and sighed, "Your skills are too varied; all I remember about you is that you're a doctor."

The others exchanged bewildered glances. He Qingsheng looked at Chen Fan in surprise, "You're a veterinarian?"

Old Xu's eyes were full of amazement: "In the production team, veterinarians are highly sought after."

Old Guo laughed and said, "He's no ordinary veterinarian. Even the head of their commune's veterinary station is ashamed of his own abilities. Moreover, he has trained 12 qualified production team veterinarians."

However, all 12 veterinarians took the college entrance exam this time, and they all got into top universities. Fortunately, when the news of the resumption of the college entrance exam was announced, their production team recruited a new batch of people.

So, in terms of lineage, he's already a grandmaster-level figure, and he even has grand-disciples!

Chen Fan quickly waved his hand, "No, no, the production team doesn't follow the old ways. Everyone does their own thing, so there's no need for a 'secretary'."

"That's incredible!"

He Qingsheng gave him a thumbs up, then said to Lao Guo, "Let's not wait any longer, let's tell everyone Xiao Chen's story now."

He laughed heartily, turned around and looked at everyone, and said with a smile, "I think you're all interested too."

Almost everyone nodded repeatedly, looking at Chen Fan with curiosity on their faces.

They now know that this Chen Fan is the same Chen Fan from the health system who invented the new emergency treatment method. They have also heard that he is proficient in veterinary medicine and has a good literary foundation. The article he published in Jiangnan Literature and Art is also of great literary value.

Unfortunately, he is quite young, and I haven't heard of such an interesting junior for many years, so I naturally want to learn about his upbringing.

Seeing that everyone was interested, Lao Guo decided to give a talk.

But the protagonist blushed and shook his head and waved his hands, "No, no, no, there's really nothing to say, and it's too embarrassing."

It can control blood and qi, so blushing is no big deal.

Seeing that Chen Fan was strongly declining, He Qingsheng did not insist.

Anyway, there's plenty of time later. We can find Lao Guo to tell stories after the meeting.

He put down the sunflower seeds in his hand, clapped his hands lightly, turned his neck to look around at everyone, and said softly, "I called everyone here today for no other reason than that we haven't seen each other for many years, so we wanted to get together."

He looked at Chen Fan and smiled, "And Xiao Chen, I plan to be his recommender. If all goes well, he will be the first new member of our Writers Association's Jiangnan Provincial Branch in sixteen years. I would also like to introduce him to everyone and ask for your support."

Chen Fan quickly stood up and waved to everyone, "Greetings, seniors."

Everyone waved to him in a friendly manner, responding in varying degrees of disharmony: "No problem." "Welcome, welcome." "It's our pleasure." "You're welcome."...

The whole thing was disorganized and chaotic.

However, the general consensus is that the matter has been approved here!
After Chen Fan sat down, He Qingsheng introduced the 18 people present to him. After the introductions, He Qingsheng said to him, "There are four more representatives from two regions who will arrive this evening. However, the weather is uncertain today. If they arrive too late, I will introduce them to you tomorrow."

Chen Fan nodded slightly and smiled, "Okay, thank you, Editor-in-Chief He."

He Qingsheng smiled, then looked at the others, "Since we still have time this afternoon, let's have a brief chat."

Old Guo took out a pack of cigarettes, pulled one out and handed it to Chen Fan, took one for himself, and then handed the rest of the pack to the side, saying, "Take it yourself."

Just as he was about to reach for a match, Chen Fan's lighter was handed to him.

Old Guo smiled at Chen Fan and said, "Hey, this lighter is pretty good."

He held a cigarette in one hand and Chen Fan's hand in the other, gently patting the back of his hand. He took a deep drag, exhaled a puff of smoke, and then looked at He Qingsheng, asking, "What's the theme?"

He Qingsheng was also handing out cigarettes to the side. At this time, besides melon seeds and peanuts, there were already 6 packs of cigarettes on the table.

Moreover, including several female representatives, they were all heavy smokers.

Chen Fan sat at the end of the table, smoking in the corner and watching everyone through the smoke.

He was also quite curious about how writers held meetings. He Qingsheng lit a cigarette and said seriously, "What else could it be? Of course, it's creation."

He looked around and said, “In earlier years, there was a creative committee. At that time, there were at least two discussion meetings on the works every week. The committee was responsible for leading the writers’ creative, critical, and learning activities, as well as guiding popularization work.”

He paused for a moment, then sighed softly, “At that time, among all the functional departments of the Writers Association, the Creative Committee was the most active and had the closest contact with its members. Although the Creative Committee was later dissolved, the habit of discussing creative works and contacting members was retained.”

He looked up at everyone and saw that they were all staring at him intently, especially his old buddies, whose eyes were full of memories. He couldn't help but feel a sense of relief.

The predecessor of the Writers Association was the All-China Federation of Literary and Art Workers, abbreviated as Writers Association. This association was established more than two months before the founding of the People's Republic of China, and it was not until October 1953 that it was formally reorganized into the Writers Association.

The Creative Committee is a specialized agency under the Writers Association, and strictly speaking, it was established six months earlier than the Writers Association. This is because the Writers Association was reorganized from the Writers Association, while the Creative Committee was directly transferred from it.

At that time, the founding committee had great power and functions, including organizing study sessions, carrying out creative activities, investigating and understanding the current state of creative work, selecting and compiling outstanding works for publication, editing the Writers Association's internal publication "Writers' Newsletter," and contacting members in various regions to strengthen ties.

This means that a writer's life, career, and creative work are all under the jurisdiction of the creative committee.

However, as early as January 1958, the founding committee, which had only existed for 4 years and 9 months, was forcibly dissolved, and the relevant cadres were transferred to work on the farm.

From its establishment to its dissolution, the founding committee was chaired by Shao Quanlin, Zhou Yang, Liu Baiyu, and Kang Zhuo, and chaired by Sha Ting, Shao Quanlin, Li Ji, and Han Zi. Members of the founding committee included Chen Huangmei, Cao Yu, Chen Baichen, Ai Qing, Yuan Shuipai, Zhang Tianyi, Lao She, and Wang Yaping.

This gives us an idea of ​​what kind of organization it is.

Everyone in this meeting room today, except for Chen Fan, came from that era. Back then, they were passionate young writers, but now they have become the backbone of rebuilding the Jiangnan Provincial Branch of the Writers Association.

After a brief silence, He Qingsheng smiled and continued, "Now that the Creative Committee is gone, we can still learn from its role and discuss how contemporary literary creation should proceed."

He paused for two seconds, looked around, and asked, "Who wants to speak?"

After a moment, Old Xu spoke first, "I think the first thing is the issue of marking lines, what can be written and what cannot be written, this point must be made clear."

As soon as he said that, almost everyone nodded in agreement.

He Qingsheng, on the other hand, shook his head with a smile, "I think this is the least debatable issue."

He looked around at everyone and laughed, "Now that things have come to this, is there anyone among us who doesn't know what can be written and what can't be written?"

As he spoke, he started counting on his fingers, saying, "We must stand firm on our position, we must not tolerate feudal superstition, we cannot go against the grain, and we cannot go backwards."

After he finished speaking, he took a puff of his cigarette and tapped the table lightly. "It's nothing more than these few points. Besides, when you do creative work, you still have to submit your work to magazines and newspapers. Before it's published, it has to be reviewed by editors. If it's not suitable, it won't get published."

He flicked off his cigarette ash, chuckled, and said, "You don't actually intend to make a handwritten copy, do you?"

"Banned books" that couldn't be published but were very popular would circulate in handwritten form. That was the period when handwritten copies were most popular. Later, many handwritten copies came out of the "underground" and were published publicly, and even adapted into movies.

It's clear that there are indeed many high-quality products among them. Of course, there are also many "inferior products".

After a few light laughs, a female representative stubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray, looked up, and said, "Let's talk about the topic then."

She turned her head and looked around at everyone. "I think everyone should have read 'The Class Teacher' in the 11th issue of People's Literature last year, right?"

Seeing everyone nodding, she continued, "I think this article will definitely become a representative of a new theme. It exposes the harm done to teenagers in the past period, and such articles are most likely to resonate with the educated youth group."

As she spoke, she looked at He Qingsheng and asked, "Should we take a closer look at this creative direction?"

Since everyone here is a writer, publications like *People's Literature* are essential reading for them.

The article "The Class Teacher" has generated a great deal of discussion in society since its publication, and the fact that this representative brought it up has sparked a lot of discussion.

Everyone was having a lively discussion. Some said it was acceptable to write it that way, while others said that although the article objectively reflected a certain reality, it was biased and had a somewhat gloomy tone.

He Qingsheng also expressed his opinion: "Of course we should seriously reflect on and resolutely correct the mistakes that have already occurred, but we cannot only stand on the position of one group, but should also think about it from multiple perspectives."

He looked at everyone and said, “Don’t forget, many of these things are things we have personally experienced, and similar things happen around us.”

We can certainly incorporate these examples into our creative work.

Everyone must understand that one of the roles, and indeed one of the most important core roles, of our literary creation is to shoulder the important responsibility of promoting culture and policies.

In closing, he looked at the representative who had made the suggestion, saying, “I think ‘The Class Teacher’ only stays at the level of exposure. We need to think more deeply, that is, the reflection after the exposure, and even deeper, the stance and suggestions after the reflection. I hope that our writers will create works that are positive and constructive.”

The female representative nodded without hesitation, "It was because I didn't think it through enough, and my idea was flawed."

She looked at everyone and smiled, “As expected of Lao He, I agree with his approach: from exposure to reflection, and then to renewed determination after reflection. This is a very good approach, and it is more meaningful than simply exposing someone.”

Everyone else nodded.

Chen Fan sat in the corner, having long since finished his cigarette. He was now eating sunflower seeds, occasionally taking a sip of water, and attentively watching their discussion.

If you're not familiar with the short story "The Class Teacher," then let me tell you about another one—well, it hadn't been published yet at that time.

That is the short story "The Wound," published in Wenhui Daily on August 11, 1978, by Lu Xinhua.

That said, when Chen Fan first learned to write, he even thought about making money, but it went against his original intention and he couldn't write anything, so he went on to write "On the Hopeful Fields," a story about cadres stationed in rural areas.

Fortunately, he has made enough money now and no longer needs to rely on these kinds of articles to make money. Otherwise, it would be like eating shit, which is really disgusting.

When the female representative mentioned "The Class Teacher," he was about to offer a "timid" suggestion at the last minute: to add what He Qingsheng had just said.

Unexpectedly, the veteran writer was indeed a veteran writer, with a very profound understanding of the issues. He pointed out the problems directly and even gave suggestions for future creative work.

That "The Herdsman" magazine followed that same approach. Oh, "The Herdsman" hasn't come out yet, but Chen Fan wrote "The Ferryman," but which magazine did he send it to?

I don't know when it will be published, but it should be soon, right?

Just as Chen Fan was pondering, he suddenly heard He Qingsheng's voice from beside him, "Yesterday, Xiao Chen suggested creating a work with love as its theme, and I think it's a good idea."

When he looked up, he saw He Qingsheng looking at him and saying, "Xiao Chen, why don't you tell everyone this story, focusing on your creative process? Tell us how you came up with this theme and story?"

(End of this chapter)