Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 24 The Young Man's Fame Grows Through Debate

After scaring away his second aunt, Zhang Yan finally went back to sleeping on his wire bed. Although it was hard, narrow, and low, it inexplicably felt more comfortable than the bed outside.

Unfortunately, he was forced to flee to Tianjin after only a few days at home.

There was nothing that could be done. The news of the second aunt's "trouble" could only scare away the relatives who wanted to freeload, but it couldn't stop the onlookers who wanted to watch the show—some of whom had even come specifically to see what was going on because they heard that Zhang Yan had run into trouble.

There's no peace and quiet all day long, so I can't write anything at all.

Moreover, having just put on this big show, it's not a good time to bring up buying a house again in the short term—at least not in Hengjiang.

Helpless, he could only flee to Tianjin again.

After returning to Tianjin, Zhang Yan began to focus on writing, intending to finish "The Great Detective of the Red Chamber" before moving on to other things.

During this period, the special issue was unsurprisingly a great success. However, what sparked the most discussion this time was neither the protagonist's display of his future knowledge, nor the interaction between the protagonist and Baochai, nor the novel case, but Zhang Yan's reimagining of Jia Yucun.

In the original book, Jia Yucun is just a supporting character with not many scenes and not many outstanding moments.

However, Zhang Yan incorporated all the memorable lines about villains collected by middle-aged authors into the character of Jia Yucun, and concentrated them in the "Yongding River breach case":

'How is the character for "official" written? It's two mouths, one above the other. You have to feed the top mouth first before you can feed the bottom one!'

"To save the people, save the officials first. If the officials can't survive, how can you save the people?"

"This pound of grain can be exchanged for three pounds of bran! That means the grain that would have saved one person can now save three."

"Ordinary people don't understand right and wrong. As long as the person killed is of higher status or greater wealth than them, they're happy—today the Emperor kills the River Conservancy Commissioner, and the whole city cheers; tomorrow he kills you, Magistrate Sun, and the whole city cheers the same way!"

"I've suffered too. I once believed that only through hardship could one rise above others. But the old saying is true: you are what you eat. Suffering won't make you superior; you have to eat others!"

'There are two gold bars here…'

With over a dozen famous quotes piled together, coupled with Zhang Yan's superior writing style compared to the original author, a classic image of a corrupt official leaps off the page.

In the early 90s, the resurgence of Machiavellianism was just beginning, so after the special edition was published, many people highly praised Jia Yucun in the book and regarded his classic quotes as the golden rule.

Seeing the letters praising Jia Yucun as "insightful," "intelligent," and "wise about life" pouring in like snowflakes, the editorial department panicked, fearing that they would once again face the wrath of the anti-vulgarity campaign.

So he hurriedly published articles in magazines and newspapers to defend himself, saying that he was not praising corrupt officials and villains, but rather portraying them as people who spout fallacies and are actually utterly wicked.

The direct consequence of this was that the October sales of "Popular Fiction Newspaper" reached 840,000 copies, a surge of 130,000 copies compared to the 710,000 copies sold in September.

It's worth noting that in May, the sales of "Popular Fiction" magazine were only slightly over 400,000 copies. This means that Zhang Yan single-handedly more than doubled the magazine's sales.

The entire magazine staff was naturally overjoyed, eager to read more poetry and books.

In October, another event occurred that made the editors of Popular Fiction Daily very proud: Legends of Today and Yesterday also published a time-travel novel.

In the past, it was always the Popular Fiction Newspaper that followed the trend of Legends Today and Yesterday, but this is the first time the tables have turned!

This completely confirms the editor's note's assessment that it "set a precedent." Editor-in-chief Feng Jingyuan simply ordered that, starting in November, these six characters be printed directly on the cover.

But as the saying goes, fame brings trouble, and by early November, trouble finally came knocking.

A renowned scholar of *Dream of the Red Chamber* publicly published an article denouncing the novel for being full of petty scheming and bloody violence, and even openly advocating for Jia Yucun, which not only desecrated and distorted the classic masterpiece but also had a negative influence on the public.

This scholar of *Dream of the Red Chamber* is quite influential in the field. After he published his critical article, several other scholars of *Dream of the Red Chamber* came forward to accuse *Detective of the Red Chamber* of distorting the classic.

Under the influence of these scholars of *Dream of the Red Chamber*, the number of protest letters received by the magazine immediately increased exponentially, many of which were from fans who hadn't even read the book before launching their attacks.

As a result, the editorial department of Popular Fiction Newspaper was once again on high alert and even held a special meeting to discuss countermeasures.

Zhang Yan, who was finishing up his novel, was also invited.

However, before the countermeasures meeting could be held, President Zhang Shaomei sent someone to pick up Zhang Yan.

Zhang Yan had assumed that Zhang Shaomei was contacting him to deal with the criticism from scholars of "Dream of the Red Chamber," but to his surprise, Zhang Shaomei didn't mention that at all. Instead, she invited Zhang Yan to join the Tianjin Writers Association in her capacity as the executive secretary of the Tianjin Writers Association Secretariat.

These days, being able to join a provincial writers' association is a very honorable and prestigious thing.

Faced with this unexpected offer, Zhang Yan was a little confused and asked, "But I'm from Hebei, how can I join the Tianjin Writers Association?" "Am I not from Hebei? The president and vice president of our Tianjin Writers Association are also from Hebei." Zhang Shaomei smiled slightly and said, "If you're willing, the magazine can transfer your work relationship from Hengjiang Third Printing Plant, so you can focus on your writing in Tianjin."

He paused, then added, "The Tianjin Writers Association needs fresh blood more right now and is more willing to protect young people from the storms of life."

I understand. As long as I join the Tianjin Writers Association, they are willing to mobilize their connections and resources to help me quell the escalating public pressure.

However, Zhang Yan did not think that he was worthy of the Tianjin Writers Association's eagerness to recruit him.

Ultimately, it was the Tianjin Literature Magazine that wanted to keep him as a cash cow.

This is not unusual. In the 80s, many writers who became famous would be transferred to magazines or cultural and educational institutions to work under their names, with full pay and bonuses, and without having to take on any specific work.

Moreover, this was a transfer from a fifth-tier city to a big city like Tianjin.

This kind of treatment is something many people would beg for.

Not to mention, Zhang Shaomei was also willing to use her influence in the Tianjin Writers Association to protect Zhang Yan from harm.

The corresponding cost is that the revenue from the subsequent publication of the novel will be reduced to some extent, and Zhang Yan will definitely prioritize publishing new books in magazines under Tianjin Literature in the future.

However, if the Tianjin literary establishment were to exploit him too much, he could certainly choose to resign and go into business.

Therefore, overall, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

Despite this thought, Zhang Yan did not rush to make a decision, but said that this was a big matter and he needed to think it over carefully first.

After leaving Zhang Shaomei's place.

He then made a phone call to Professor Shi Tiesheng—since meeting Professor Shi Tiesheng in early September, Zhang Yan had been corresponding with him and occasionally contacting him by phone.

Through their conversations, Zhang Yan grew to admire this humble and open-minded senior in the literary world more and more. Now that he was facing some troubles, he naturally wanted to hear his opinion.

After hearing the whole story, Shi Tiesheng smiled and said, "Joining the Writers Association is a good thing. Whether it's the Tianjin Writers Association or the Hebei Writers Association, they are all Chinese writers associations."

However, I don't think there's any need to rush. You could try responding to the criticisms from the scholars of *Dream of the Red Chamber* first. As the saying goes, truth becomes clearer through debate, and young people can certainly become more famous through debate—I mean, more famous.

After listening to Shi Tiesheng's advice, Zhang Yan suddenly understood.

If I were to join the Tianjin Writers Association or the Tianjin Literature Magazine now, I would be relying on Zhang Shaomei for protection and would owe her a favor.

As everyone knows, talking about money hurts feelings, and talking about feelings hurts money.

But if Zhang Yan had to bear the brunt of this damage himself and then join Tianjin Literature, the situation would have been completely different.

Besides, how can young people become famous quickly if they don't make a splash?

As for the issue of the red line against vulgarity...

Since Professor Shi Tiesheng has given advice, the risk of this matter should not be too great.

So what's there to hesitate about?
It's just arguing in the newspaper, that's what we men used to do!

Hearing Zhang Yan's high spirits, Shi Tiesheng reminded him on the phone: "Young people should be energetic, but they must not act impulsively. After all, the other party is a senior in the literary world. Even if you want to refute him, you must pay attention to the way you do it."

After careful consideration, Zhang Yan realized that this was indeed the case; his goal was to resolve the conflict, not to escalate it.

Otherwise, if things escalate and they really attract the ire of those who oppose vulgarity and obscenity, their weak arms and legs won't be able to withstand it.

The next day.

As he was pondering how to respond, he received a call from Beijing. The caller identified himself as a reporter from the China Youth Daily and wanted to interview him about the recent controversial topics.

Needless to say, this must be Professor Shi Tiesheng's connections.

But the reporter's next sentence completely stunned Zhang Yan:
"We can also chat about the death rock in the morgue. I heard that you, Teacher Zhang, were one of the people involved? This matter is being talked about all over Beijing right now."

(End of this chapter)