1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 90 Your novel is completely wrong

"This camera is good." Acheng was quite impressed with Jiang Xian's Seagull 205.

"The pictures taken with a fixed-focus lens are clearer than those taken with a large lens, and the colors are more vivid," said Jiang Xian.

"Sure, sure. You know the equipment."

The two of them adjusted parameters, took pictures over and over, and fiddled with them for a long time without getting tired. It was obvious that they were just like Teacher Chen, who was interested in photography and were fellow travelers.

"Writer Jiang, there's a phone call looking for you from someone named Li Xiaolin." The comrade in the guesthouse's message room informed him.

"Hey, I'll be there right away."

Jiang Xian hurried to the switchboard and called back.

The call was connected quickly, and Li Xiaolin's sincere voice was heard on the other end.

"Jiang Xian, my father and I are in Beijing now. Do you want to come over to meet him and tell him in detail about the novel you talked about the other day?"

"Okay."

Can I see Ba ​​Lao?!
Jiang Xian's heart was filled with anxiety.

I glanced at Zhong Acheng standing aside. It was all thanks to him that the leak happened. If he did it on the first day, he would have to do it on the fifteenth day too, so he covered the microphone.

"Ah Cheng, do you want to see Ba ​​Jin?"

"Who?"

"Ba Jin."

Zhong Acheng was completely stunned.

He had heard Jiang Xian say before that he was a writer, so he didn't ask further.

now
How can I still get in touch with Ba Jin? Who is he?
"Ok, Ok."

"Of course I want to see you. Can I?"

"I will help you ask."

Jiang Xian asked Li Xiaolin again what he thought, saying that a friend of his really wanted to meet Ba Jin, and asked if he could take him over.

"It's okay, just bring him with you." Li Xiaolin didn't mind.

When Jiang Xian told Zhong Acheng the good news, he thought for a few seconds and then ran away.

"Where are you going?"

"I can't go empty-handed. I'll go home and get one of my paintings for Mr. Ba."

This reminded Jiang Xian.

I heard that Ba Jin liked stamp collecting, so I took a few copies of the stamp envelopes from his collection.

Stamp envelopes are more valuable for collection than stamps.

In fact, Jiang Xian didn’t have any good stamps, so this gift wasn’t very precious. What was valuable was the thought put into it.

Ba Jin lived in the Heping Hotel in Jinyu Hutong. Jiang Xian thought it was a very elegant place, but unexpectedly it was so shabby.

"Sister Xiaolin."

"Why did you bring anything with you? Don't be like this."

"It's not something precious."

After exchanging a few words with Li Xiaolin, she led him to Ba Jin's room with a smile.

"Mr. Ba!" "Hello! Please take a seat!"

It was a great feeling to meet Ba Jin. He looked quite energetic, but his strong Sichuan accent made it difficult to understand him.

Jiang Xian first made a brief introduction. When he mentioned the name of Zhong Acheng's father, Ba Jin nodded and praised him as a master.

"Kid, I heard Xiaolin talk about your novel, and I'm also very curious about what kind of novel you can write?" Ba Jin laughed heartily.

Li Xiaolin poured them two glasses of water and said, "Teacher Jiang, we have a long time today. Can you explain it in more detail?"

Jiang Xian showed a kind expression, "Master Ba is here today, so I will explain it in detail. I haven't started writing yet. If there are any parts worth revising, I hope Master Ba will give me some advice."

Ba Jin shook his head. "It's not really teaching me. You write better than I do. You are very talented."

"Thank you for the compliment." Jiang Xian said hurriedly.

Ba Jin's early representative works include "Cold Nights", "Family" and "Torrent Trilogy". In terms of literary quality and thought, it may be difficult for him to occupy a prominent position, but he was able to create "Random Thoughts" in his later years, which is enough to establish his unshakable position in the history of modern literature.

"The story I wrote is actually very simple and can be summed up in one poem: Looking back at Chang'an, I see piles of embroidery, and on the top of the mountain, thousands of doors open one after another. A horseman in red dust makes the concubine smile, but no one knows that it is the lychees coming."

"What's the connection between Du Mu's three quatrains about passing by Huaqing Palace and the novel you wrote?" Li Xiaolin wondered, and Zhong Acheng was also puzzled.

Jiang Xian took a sip of water and said slowly: "You may not know in Shanghai that people in the north like to store vegetables for the winter. They rely on cabbage to get through the winter. Some time ago, I went home to store vegetables for the winter and accidentally participated in the transportation of winter vegetables.

How were these winter-stored vegetables transported into the capital? As early as before the second dog days, the city had issued a quota for planting winter-stored Chinese cabbage to each district and county. Before the beginning of winter, farmers had to be organized to cut and harvest the cabbage. In the middle of the night, when we were all asleep, the driver drove the truck into the city and unloaded the vegetables. But that was not all. The cabbages had to be piled up one by one, covered with straw mats and sacks, and pressed down with bricks, for fear that the vegetables would be frozen by the strong night wind.

I was thinking, it must be so difficult to transport these winter stored vegetables into the capital, so what about the lychees in the poem?

If litchi is separated from the branch, its color will change in one day, its fragrance will change in two days, and its taste will change in three days.

I often read Tang poetry and I really like the artistic conception of ancient poetry. I was very curious about the story behind the line "A horse gallops through the dusty world, and the concubine smiles. No one knows that lychees are coming."

"I see." Ba Jin nodded slowly. "It's not easy for you to think of these things from real life. These are all things and poems that we are very familiar with, but you can actually write them into a novel."

"Okay, okay." Zhong Acheng also agreed.

"This is the first time I've heard of someone writing a novel like this." Li Xiaolin exclaimed in amazement.

It is said that Jiang Xian is an avant-garde writer.

After he wrote "Furong Town", Li Xiaolin thought he would gradually integrate into the mainstream, but he did not expect that he would choose to go further and further on the avant-garde road.

This made Li Xiaolin appreciate it even more.

What they want in "Harvest" is such avant-garde articles.

It was also because of this that "Harvest" later brought out the "Five Tigers of The Legend of the Condor Heroes" of the literary world: "The Beggar of the North" Hong Feng, "The Emperor of the South" Su Tong, "The Evil of the East" Yu Hua, "The Poison of the West" Ma Yuan, and "The Mystical Power of the Center" Ge Fei.

These five people are collectively likened to the Five Tigers of The Legend of the Condor Heroes in the literary world and are regarded as representatives of avant-garde literature.

"Can you tell me more about it? How do you plan to write the novel?" Ba Jin asked. "It's not easy to write about the Tang Dynasty. You need to have some research, otherwise you will be criticized."

"Regarding this aspect of history, I have been asking Professor Shen Congwen for advice, and I also went to Yenching University to listen to Professor Deng Guangming's lectures on the history of the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties."

"Mao Lin is indeed an expert in this field, and Deng Guangming is also a master. There will be no problem if you listen to them both." Ba Jin said with a smile.

He and Shen Congwen had a deep friendship. The two hit it off right away and became lifelong friends.

Jiang Xian simply recounted his idea for the article "Lychees in Chang'an", namely: Li Shande, a minor official, relied on his mathematical ability and coincidences to transport still fresh lychees from the distant Lingnan to the imperial concubine's bedroom.

After listening for a long time, Zhong Acheng couldn't help but speak:
"Jiang Xian, there is a fundamental problem with your novel."

"The lychees used as tribute in the Tang Dynasty could not have come from Lingnan. They should have come from Bashu."

"This novel of yours is completely wrong!"

(End of this chapter)