Chapter 143 Great Friendship

Chapter 143 Great Friendship

Chapter 143 Great Friendship

Ning Chunyan was attracted at first sight.

Wang Zixu's writing is like ice and fire, and the words alone can catch your eyes. After reading the first paragraph, Ning Chunyan seemed to be back to the time when she first read Marquez's "One Hundred Years of Solitude".

But his writing style is not like that of Marquez. His style is more like a combination of Lu Xun and Wang Zengqi, cold, sophisticated, particular about sentence structure and rhythm, and a little playful.

Wang Zixu had actually already spoiled the story for her just now, but it was obvious that Wang Zixu's summary was an extremely abstract summary, which gave people an impression that was completely different from the story itself.

When reading a story, you can't just read the synopsis. If you line up the synopses of all the famous works in history, at first glance it would be nothing more than a collection of melodramatic plots.

The "cliché" plot is precisely derived from the "classics". If you read too many "classics", they will become "cliché". In academic terms, "classics" are essentially a story framework paradigm that all human beings can empathize with. If you follow this framework too much and lack the charm and details of the classics themselves, it will become "cliché".

Take the classic literary theme of "twins" for example. Two brothers, due to their different personalities, eventually embark on completely different paths in life - this is the case in Yu Hua's "Brothers" and "Ordinary World". Guo Jing and Yang Kang in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" and Xiaoyuer and Hua Wuque in "The Twins of Heroes" are all extensions of this theme. If we just summarize it, the content is essentially the same.

Reading the synopsis of the novel is like looking at the ocean from afar. On the surface, it looks just blue. Reading the text is like diving into the bottom of the ocean, seeing colorful corals, migrating fish, rugged continental shelves, and turtles suddenly appearing in the dark distance. These magnificent scenes are far from being summarized by the phrase "blue sea". The value of the novel lies here, not in the blue.

Wang Zixu's novel gave Ning Chunyan the illusion of diving: marine creatures popped up one after another, it was dizzying, and they were all species she didn't recognize.

The characters in his novels were very special, yet made her feel very familiar and flesh-and-blood, as if they were people she had seen around her, yet she couldn't identify them with any specific people.

Not only the first generation of male and female protagonists, but also other characters such as the private school teacher, farmhand, parents, and cowherd are impressive. Until the end of the first chapter, Ning Chunyan couldn't figure out how the story progressed to the anti-Japanese war, war, and spy war plots in the later part.

Therefore, even though she had been spoiled, it did not affect her urge to read at all, and the more she read, the more she wanted to read.

Lu Qingxuan sat beside her with a focused expression, her two dark eyes fixed on the manuscript paper, just like a student who read the same paper with her deskmate in high school. Sometimes when Ning Chunyan turned the pages too fast, she would take the paper and lower her head to read it backwards.

...Wang Zixu walked out the door and lit a cigarette.

This was the first time he showed this work to others. He had read his own work too many times and had lost his ability to judge whether it was good or bad. At this time, Xiao Mengyin influenced his mentality and he was eager to hear the readers' comments.

But he was afraid to hear the readers' comments. If Ning Chunyan had a negative opinion of his work after reading it, he would most likely make major cuts, even deleting the settings of the four generations of protagonists and leaving only one generation - that might be more to the taste of the judges and would have fewer words.

Wang Zixu stood outside the door nervously for a long time. In the room, Ning Chunyan and Lu Qingxuan finally finished reading the manuscript.

As soon as he walked in, Ning Chunyan looked up and stared at him: "There are only 8 words, what about the rest?"

Wang Zixu said: "This part is the revised draft. I have revised it 12 times. The rest has not been revised much. It is saved in my computer and has not been typed out."

Ning Chunyan blinked his eyes. "Revised 12 times? No wonder I felt it was so refined when I read it! How many times do you plan to revise it in total?"

"At least 20 times."

"Don't change it, don't change it. I'm afraid you'll lose the essence of it."

Wang Zixu asked, "What do you think of this part?"

Ning Chunyan took a sip of water, turned to the first page of the manuscript, and spoke quickly:
"Just for this part, it can be said that it is perfect. Not a single word can be deleted, the plot is closely linked, the characters don't say a word of nonsense, and the plot is always tense. I really don't know how else I can change it."

“That’s the problem.”

Wang Zixu sighed and sat down. "Writing about four generations in 120 years is still a bit sparse. In fact, I originally planned to write about five generations. The fourth generation is actually two sons. They became rivals in love, and it was not until the fifth generation that they finally got together. This way, I can show this 4-year history more comprehensively, and make the plot more compact, always extending the vigorous and young hope..."

Ning Chunyan was stunned: "Then why not write it this way? I think it's more interesting and more reasonable."

"It's too long," Wang Zixu said. "When I wrote the third generation, I knew I couldn't stop. By the fifth generation, the word count might have reached 60. I had no choice but to delete the first generation."

"Don't delete it!" Ning Chunyan slammed the table. "Such a good idea, it would be a shame to delete it? Such a good work, can you bear to let it become imperfect?"

Wang Zixu said: "But if the words are too long, the Feishi Literature Award..."

"Never mind the Feishi Literary Award!"

Ning Chunyan waved her hand, held his hand, and said sincerely: "The Feishi Literature Award is selected every year, and there will be winners every year, but your idea can only appear once in the history of the world from now on. Once you write it, it is finalized. Many years later, even if you want to rewrite it, you may not have the ambition and energy you have today. If you don't write this idea to perfection now, you will never be able to make up for this shortcoming."

Wang Zixu fell into deep thought for a long time, then said, "In this case, if I write another 10 words, I will have to aim for 60 words, which is more than twice as much as One Hundred Years of Solitude."

Ning Chunyan said: "It doesn't matter. If you think about it this way, even if you write 60 words, it will only be enough for one-fifth of "Remembrance of Things Past".

"I mean, I wrote 60 words, who can publish it?"

Ning Chunyan straightened his chest and patted it with his hand: "Have you forgotten what I do?"

Wang Zixu said, "You mean, publish it in the New Appreciation magazine? I've thought about it, but it won't work. You see, I'm the editor-in-chief here, and if I publish my own article, it will cause gossip."

Ning Chunyan said: "The quality of your work is here, who can gossip about it?"

Wang Zixu lamented that she was still young after all, and had no sensitivity to the dangers of the world and human nature: "If people really want to make things difficult for you, they don't need the truth, they will only believe the little essays on the Internet. No matter how well I write novels, others will not read them. Even if they do, they will only say that this person writes well, but his character is not good. You can't defend yourself. The more you defend yourself, the worse your character becomes."

Lu Qingxuan said quietly, "Sister Xiaochun, the first issue of New Appreciation magazine is actually very important. No matter what, publishing a 60-word long serial is too risky. It's not only risky for your magazine, but also for this work."

Ning Chunyan became melancholy. "That's true. It's still a question whether my New Appreciation can get into a first-rate magazine. If I fail, my reputation might be ruined, and your novel might be dragged down with it."

The prince smiled falsely: "I'm not worried about that. Your magazine will definitely become first-rate. Didn't you invite Chen Qingluo to be the editor-in-chief?"

When he mentioned the words "Chen Qingluo", his voice trembled slightly, but fortunately he concealed it well. Then, he pretended to be calm and asked:

"Why isn't Chen Qingluo here?"

Ning Chunyan said without even raising her head: "She is in seclusion again. She can't come to work in the near future, so she'll just be listed as a member. We'll cover for the first two months of the magazine's publication."

Lu Qingxuan tilted her head and glanced at her. Just now she was aggressively asking for an interview, but now she is calling it "us". Sister Xiaochun is really simple-minded.

Wang Zixu did not ask any more questions, Ning Chunyan said: "60 words does sound a bit too much, why don't you try to reduce it, even if it's reduced to 59 words, or 49 words, it will give people a different feeling." Wang Zixu looked embarrassed: "In fact, I wrote it concisely in the first version, and deleted very little. According to this -word revision method, at most it can be reduced from more than words to ."

Ning Chunyan said, "Then don't worry about the issue of publication. Don't you have the phone number of the editor of Yangtze River? It would be best if you can publish it in Yangtze River. They will treat you as a writer they have nurtured and take good care of you. If you can't publish it, I can help you contact other magazines."

Ning Chunyan said very confidently, and asked Wang Zixu to rest assured. Wang Zixu couldn't rest assured. He couldn't think too much about this problem, but he couldn't not think too much. If he thought too much, his mind would be confused, and he would hesitate when typing. The small hesitations would continue in each word, and finally lead to a big disaster, which would lower the quality of the whole novel.

Ning Chunyan was right. This idea was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him, and it was final. If he couldn't write it well now, he couldn't make up for it later.

At present, there has been no polyphonic novel of such a large scale in the history of Chinese literature: geographically, it ranges from the eastern coast to the northwest desert, from cities to rural areas; in terms of time, it ranges from the invasion of China by the Eight-Nation Alliance a hundred years ago to dancing in JK at a comic convention a hundred years later; at the micro level, there are people who deliver cows and make a fortune by selling screws and getting stuck in A-share speculation; at the macro level, there are people who are dedicated to their country and their lives and are willing to make changes.

These worldly conditions are so naturally crammed into the same novel, with various thoughts, countless kinds of people, and a time of drastic change. Without any pretense, it naturally exudes a flavor of magical realism, which is exciting just to think about.

The older generation of writers can't write it, their vision doesn't see the present; the younger ones are too immature. Only he can write it. If he writes it, he will be the first in the history of Chinese literature, and those who come after him will just follow suit. They can't be copied.

In fact, he didn't dare to start. This idea had been in his mind for a long time. He always felt that he didn't have enough experience. If it weren't for the Feishi Literature Award, he would have rushed to 50 words. Otherwise, he wouldn't dare to start for at least 10 years. Now that he has started, he can't retreat. Retreating would mean failure.

Wang Zixu retracted his gaze and said, "Then I don't want to think about publishing it yet. There will always be a way out. I will finish writing this work to perfection first."

Ning Chunyan was very excited. That's right, that's how it should be. If we can't get Fei Shi, we can get Mao Dun.

Wang Zixu wanted to make the shot of chicken blood he had finally given his heart last longer, so he deliberately changed the subject and asked, "How many novels have you prepared for the first issue? When do you plan to publish it?"

Ning Chunyan found it easy to talk about others, but when he talked about himself, he became unhappy and said, "I have nothing to say."

"what?"

"No, at least one." She said, "With my connections, I can get at least one manuscript from the little prince."

"Oh?" Lu Qingxuan stood up and said, "Sister Xiaochun, do you know the little prince?"

"We have been spiritual friends for a long time." Ning Chunyan said in a profound manner.

Wang Zixu thought to himself that she had used the wrong word. Spiritual friendship refers to two people knowing each other without communicating. She even sent him several private photos of herself and reported her daily trivialities. He even knew the styles of her stockings by heart. What kind of spiritual friendship was this?

In order to make it look more convincing, he said pretentiously, "The Little Prince wrote about speech therapy. What are you going to publish? A collection of his dirty talk?"

Ning Chunyan was a little annoyed by his disdain and said angrily: "What do you mean by dirty talk? Your misunderstanding of the Little Prince should be severely criticized. This does not conform to the tone of our magazine. I run this magazine just for the Little Prince. Don't influence my thinking."

Wang Zixu sighed in his heart that he couldn't afford to offend the star chasers. He said, "What kind of manuscript will he submit? Have you discussed it?"

Ning Chunyan didn't say yes or no, but just said: "It depends on what he wants to write. If he can give me a serious novel, it would be the best. If not, an essay will be fine."

Wang Zixu said, "What if he just gives you a random script and tells you to figure it out on your own?"

Ning Chunyan said firmly: "He won't."

……

She guessed correctly, Wang Zixu really didn't know how to do that.

He is the kind of person who will return a favor tenfold or a hundredfold to others if they do him a favor. But he will not say it out loud, he will only put it into action. He hopes to prove his sincerity with his actions. It is just like what Wang Er said in "The Golden Age" about "great friendship".

If he said, "You treat me well first and I will repay you a hundredfold later," you would feel that it is an exchange of interests. Is it still a "great friendship"? Great friendship should be selfless. Great friendship comes from great tacit understanding.

On the way to the lecture hall of Nanjing University, Wang Zixu's mind was full of ideas. What kind of novel should he write for Ning Chunyan? It should be interesting, show strength, and preferably establish the overall style of this magazine.

"Wang Zixu!"

He turned around and saw Xu Rongrong running towards him breathlessly:

"I've been calling you for a long time, why didn't you respond? Have you seen Zhao Peilin?"

Wang Zixu said: "No."

"I had a quarrel with him, and he said it was my fault that you disappeared, and he went to look for you. Didn't you see it?"

"He didn't bring his cell phone?"

"His phone is out of battery."

Wang Zixu glanced at his watch and said, "He must go to the symposium. If you want to find him, just go there and wait for him."

Xu Rongrong frowned and said, "Who wants to look for him? That guy is foul-mouthed and has no manners. He asks for girls' contact information every day outside the school, but pretends to be a gentleman inside the school. I don't even want to hang out with him. If it weren't for the fact that he helped me with my postgraduate entrance examination review, I wouldn't want to talk to him."

Wang Zixu said, "Didn't you get admitted as a recommendation?"

"But he helped me with advice before I was admitted."

The prince humbly thought that perhaps this was also an alternative form of "great friendship".

He glanced at his watch again: "Then I'll go by myself. Goodbye."

Xu Rongrong followed him relentlessly: "I want to attend the symposium, too."

“Are you also interested in contemporary literature?”

"I'm also from the Chinese Department. I guess all the students in the Chinese Department will go. That's Yanzi Mountain. No student in the Chinese Department would dare to miss the opportunity to see Yanzi Mountain."

(End of this chapter)