Chapter 42 The spring breeze of reform blows across the earth!
“Wow… so touching! Xiaofang and Xiaocao are so pitiful!”

“This bastard Song Jingming is a ruthless person! He is a scumbag, a jerk! He is even more Huang Shiren than Huang Shiren, a hypocritical scholar! Bastard!”

Nine o’clock in the evening, in the bedroom.

Yang Shuan was leaning on two pillows, with his wife’s shoulder resting on him. His wife’s crystal tears had wet a large area of ​​his pajamas.

His wife was crying heart-wrenchingly, sobbing and cursing Song Jingming.

By the way, Yang Shuan was also scolded.

Yang Shuan was a native of Yizhang County, Hunan Province. He was a writer of historical novels and fairy tales. He entered the Chinese Department of Peking University in 1956. In 1958, the journalism major of the Chinese Department was split into the Journalism Department of Renmin University of China, and he transferred there.

After graduating from university, he worked as a middle school teacher, editor and chief editor of literary magazines. He has written more than ten historical novels, including “September Chrysanthemum”, “The Remains of Emperor Yang of Sui”, “The Life of Emperor Li Houzhu”, and “Confucius”.

In 1978, the fairy tale “The Foal and the Donkey” was published in the sixth issue of the “Children’s Literature” series and was rated as an outstanding work of children’s literature.

Therefore, his wife’s words “unfaithful scholar” were also a curse on him.

At this moment, Yang Shuan finally finished reading the masterpiece “Fragrant Grass” which has 300,000 words.

What surprised him was that the overall tone was so gloomy and desolate.

But what is hard to imagine is that in the first volume, summer, the author Cheng Kaiyan’s writing style is so warm, so lively, and so enthusiastic.

It tells the story of the struggle of educated youth in southern Xinjiang, showing their indomitable spirit. Through the protagonist’s growth experience, it reflects the hardships and growth experienced by the educated youth generation in a special historical period.

But what moved Yang Shuan the most was that it was a film with a theme completely different from scars.

It can even be said that in 1980, when scar literature was in vogue, Yang Shu’an gave us a glimpse of the tip of the iceberg of the new literary trend.

“No wonder Zhang Guangnian, the editor-in-chief of People’s Literature, was so concerned and urged the author to submit to People’s Literature, even offering a famous writer’s remuneration of 10 yuan per thousand words.

New literature! Will our Fangcao also rise to prominence like the People’s Literature that opened the Scar Era? “

Although Yang Shu’an had been reading for a whole day and was very tired mentally and physically, he was extremely excited at this moment.

He immediately pushed his wife away, stood up, dressed, and sat down at the desk.

I began to write down my own understanding and thoughts on the story of “Fragrant Grass”, which is also the manuscript for a meeting in a few days.

The azure blue ink overflowed from the steel tip, and as Yang Shu’an waved his wrist, thin characters were left on the paper.

“Cheng Kaiyan’s novel “Fragrant Grass” is like a knife that cuts open the curtain of scar literature hanging over the literary world, bringing a new perspective and a new theme.

Novels can be written like this!
Even the theme of passionate educated youth is still only a part, and the fragrant grass is all-encompassing, just like a real world. This is a great realist masterpiece!

Yes, great work.

The author can see various elements in it, youth, love, passion and unity.

Under the temptation of returning to the city, the educated youth abandoned their wives and children. In order to return to the city, they displayed their human nature to the fullest amidst the multiple contradictions of morality, reason, and ideals!

In my opinion, this novel is not just about Xiaofang and Xiaocao, mother and daughter, but also hides some deeper ideas that are yet to be discovered.

But the deepest underlying tone is naturally his tragic thought.

The tragedies that run through all three volumes are numerous.

Using the time sequence of spring, summer, autumn and winter, it shows people a real world.

The false and non-existent spring, the blooming and warm summer, the depressed and fruitful autumn, and the dead and cold winter.

From the era of educated youth going to the countryside, to the 1980s, and then to the 1990s.

What is even more shocking is that such a tragic world already exists and is even happening right before our eyes, in every corner, big and small, of this land.

He did not forget the quote he saw at the beginning of the novel:

This story is based on real events.

Why is there no spring…Because there has never been spring!

Is this just talking about the mother and daughter?
No.

The false spring brought brief happiness and growth to Xiaofang and Xiaocao, mother and daughter.

But it was fleeting, in order to return to its big city, for the sake of profit and future, it abandoned family love! It abandoned morality!

It seems to me that the experiences of the mother and daughter are basically the same!
It’s just that what mother Xiaofang encountered was a false spring, while Xiaocao encountered a real spring.

It’s just that this real “spring” is destructive and has the tenacity of the proletariat. It is this “spring” that nurtures the grass that has lost its mother in a humble and stealing manner.

But this “Spring” was detained and taken away by the police. This brother often taught Xiaocao not to steal. At this moment, I only felt the irony and disparity from the world…

The bottom line of society is that when a person cannot survive, laws, morals, and ethics cannot constrain him. Only the most basic ideas of good and evil can judge him. “

……

The next morning, in the Fangcao editorial office, several young girls and older sisters were gossiping.

“Have you heard? Editor-in-Chief Yang cried after reading the article ‘Fragrant Grass’ yesterday!”

“Really? This is really big news. A grown man even cried after reading it! What kind of masterpiece is this?”

“Cough cough!”

“Hello editor-in-chief!”

Yang Shuan coughed lightly and announced to everyone, “Everyone continue to do your own things. I have a piece of fragrant grass here. Who would like to review it?”

“I me me!”

Young editors participated enthusiastically, all wanting to see what kind of novel could make a man in his forties or fifties cry.

The results were not as expected.

For several days in a row, occasional sobbing sounds and red eyes of everyone could be heard in the Fangcao editorial office.

Two days later, in the editorial meeting room of “Fangcao”.

In the past few days, everyone has come to understand how excellent, brilliant, and profound the novel, which has the same name as their own publication, is.

So after consultation with several deputy editors-in-chief, the editors started a preliminary discussion meeting for the work.

There was a message on the blackboard saying “Discussion meeting on the work “Fragrant Grass””.

In the conference room of less than 50 square meters, there were more than 20 editors and a dozen new editors sitting together.

Yang Shuan held the manuscript in his hand and gave a passionate speech for nearly an hour, introducing “Fragrant Grass” to everyone from scratch:
“Teacher Cheng Kaiyan’s book is set in China from the mid-70s to the s, a period of years, from rural areas to cities, through complex conflicts and entanglements.

With Xiaofang and her daughter Xiaocao as the center, the film portrays the images of many ordinary people from all walks of life at that time.

Labor and love, frustration and pursuit, pain and joy, daily life and huge social conflicts are intricately intertwined, profoundly showing the difficult and tortuous path that ordinary people have taken in the historical process of the great era.

Comrades, when will spring come?

Here, I personally wonder what the author is implying when he writes about the grass burning itself to death in winter at the end?
Wild fire, in spring.

Winter is here, can spring be far behind?
What time is it now?
The spring breeze of reform and opening up blows across the land, and the grand blueprint of the four modernizations leaps forward like a thousand-mile horse!
Comrades! Spring has arrived! “

Suddenly, warm applause broke out in the small office.

After two days of fermentation and circulation, almost most of the editors in the editorial department have read the article “Fragrant Grass”.

After today’s discussion, everyone realized that a masterpiece was about to emerge in their Fangcao Magazine.

“Chen Shanshan! You will be responsible for the next connection. I want to see Teacher Cheng, the author of “Fragrant Grass”, come to Jiangcheng in a week!”

After the meeting, Yang Shuan directly called out Chen Shanshan.

“Yes, Editor-in-Chief! I’ll write to Teacher Cheng right away!”

Chen Shanshan immediately stood up and said seriously.

This top student from the Chinese Department of Wuhan University also became a loyal fan of the book after reading “Fragrant Grass”.

If there was only one copy of the manuscript, she would have wanted to read it several more times!
……

At the same time, Jiangcheng Song and Dance Theater is located on Jiefang Avenue.

“Xiao Li! There’s a letter for you! It’s from the capital!”

“It was sent by someone named Cheng Kaiyan!”

“Hehehe! Could it be my little lover?”

“That’s it!”

Please speak in a civilized and rational manner, crab. The author has a sensitive heart, so please be kind to him. Thank you.

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(End of this chapter)