Xu Chi lacks public popularity, but he is not an unknown person.
He definitely has a place in the literary world.
It's just that his achievements in literature were mainly in reportage and translation of foreign literature. He had no achievements in novel creation. Ordinary readers know very little about him.
Xu Chi translated Shelley's selected poems "Tomorrow", "Selected Translations of Eliade", "The Abbey of Paris" and "Walden", and Zhou Yan read them all.
There are also his reportages, among which Zhou Yan has also read the more famous ones "The Light of Geology" and "Goldbach's Conjecture".
His sudden jump from a building was definitely a big deal in the literary world.
Su Tong exclaimed, "Yesterday morning, I met Mr. Zhang Shouren in the hotel corridor and heard about this from him. I was very shocked at the time. I didn't expect that Mr. Xu would choose to bid farewell to the world in this way at this time. .”
"I heard from Mr. Feng Yidai. I heard from Mr. Feng that they got the news on the afternoon of the 14th. As of yesterday, everyone in the Xijiao Hotel already knew the news."
Most of the activities of this Writers’ Congress were held at the Xijiao Hotel. Writers from outside Beijing basically reported to the Xijiao Hotel before the 14th. If they stayed in Beijing later, they basically reported on the 14th. .
Logically speaking, Zhou Yan and the others should have reported to the Xijiao Hotel on the 14th, but Zhou Yan and the others did not go.
Originally, reporting on the 14th was not mandatory, so it was fine if Zhou Yan and the others didn't go, but they just didn't expect to miss such news.
Feng Yidai and Zhang Shouren are both seniors in the literary world. There are slightly more connections between these seniors, especially Feng Yidai. He and Xu Chi are only one year apart in age, one is eighty-three and the other is eighty-two.
Therefore, they were also the first to hear the news of Xu Chi's death.
"Why did Mr. Xu do this?" Yu Hua asked.
Wang Anyi shook his head, "I don't know the details. These things have been discussed in various rooms in the past two days. I am not very familiar with Mr. Xu. Apart from his works, I know very little about him. According to some people who are familiar with him There may be many reasons for his suicide. Zhao Benfu said that he probably chose this path because his second marriage failed, he met an unkind person, his children were alienated because of Ms. Chen, and he was unhappy.”
"Oh, that's possible. I heard that he and his youngest daughter haven't seen each other for a long time because of Ms. Chen." Shi Tiesheng said.
Zhou Yan glanced at Shi Tiesheng, a little surprised. It was rare for him to pay attention to other people's gossip.
"At that time, he was getting married for the second time, and many people were not optimistic about it."
"Yeah."
……
Zhou Yan didn't know much about Xu Chi's gossip. After listening to them chatting for a while, he realized that Xu Chi had a twilight love affair a few years ago and married an associate professor who was twenty years younger than him.
Although this relationship did not last long, because of the lady surnamed Chen, his relationship with his children was so bad that they even turned against each other.
In fact, there is a difference of twenty years, and Ms. Chen is not young anymore. After all, what happened only a few years ago, Xu Chi was almost eighty years old at that time, and Ms. Chen was also close to sixty.
It is unreasonable to say that Xu Chi is coveting the beauty of the woman. He is probably older and wants to find someone to live with so that he will not be alone every day.
However, no one is sure that this is the real reason why Xu Chi jumped off the building. If he jumped off the building because of this, the timing was not right.
Xu Chi's marriage to a woman surnamed Chen was short-lived and they separated long ago. If you want to commit suicide because of this matter, why wait until this time?
There are several other theories. One is that Xu Chi became obsessed with playing computer games and was affected by the decadent emotions spread by certain religions, leading to a dead end.
Some people say that they committed suicide because they couldn't bear the pain.
Others said it was because writers from Hubei ran to say goodbye to him before attending the Writers' Congress, which made him feel alone and lonely.
After all, it stands to reason that Xu Chi is a director of the Writers' Association, and if he is in good health, he should come to Yanjing to attend the event this time.
……
The news of Xu Chi's death cast an invisible shadow over the venue, because not long after the incident happened, it was inevitable that this topic would be brought up when everyone got together to chat.
It's not that everyone is keen on spreading this kind of news, it's just that when something like this happens, they have to sigh.
In particular, some older writers have even developed a feeling of sadness and believe that some of the problems faced by older writers should be solved.
Some people even suggested that the Writers' Association build an apartment for senior writers and provide them with escorts to address their concerns about loneliness.
It is not older people who make this suggestion, but younger writers.
As for why such a suggestion was made, it is unknown whether it was out of concern for the seniors or for some other reasons.
Although these seniors of the Writers' Association are generally not as well-known to the public today as young writers, they have mastered most of the resources in the literary world, and many of them are leaders of the Writers' Association.
Before Zhou Yan took his seat, he met and chatted with about thirty writers, mostly well-known seniors, such as Bi Shumin, Gao Hongbo, Zhao Benfu, Zhang Cheng...
They are all very interested in Zhou Yan. After all, among the more than 800 members of the Writers' Association who came to the conference today, Zhou Yan can be said to be the most special one.
Zhou Yan's identities are diverse, but compared to his roles as an actor, director, and musician, his identity as a writer is the least conspicuous.
When many people chat with Zhou Yan, they still subconsciously do not regard Zhou Yan as a person in the literary world.
When Zhou Yan first came out, he wrote several works such as "Death of the Mayor", "Knife in Clear Water" and "Tree Hole", which can be regarded as a gust of wind in the literary world.
At that time, many people were discussing the sudden emergence of a new writer called "Zhou Chan".
It's just that after this gust of wind blew, Zhou Yan seemed to disappear in the literary circle, and no new works appeared anymore.
Many people have told Zhou Yan that it is a great loss to the literary world that he does not publish new works now.
It’s hard to say how sincere these words are, but if Zhou Yan really kept producing works, everyone’s attitude towards him might not be as gentle as it is now.
Literati have looked down on each other since ancient times. Even if everyone greets each other at the venue today and says hello to me, everyone may not like each other in private.
……
The conference was very boring for Zhou Yan and the others. Except for the first time when the chief came to express condolences to them, Zhou Yan and the others were completely idle afterwards.
They didn't listen much to the content of the meeting.
When the meeting ended at about five o'clock, Yu Hua patted his head and said, "Nothing was put in."
Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Can you be a little more low-key?"
There are a lot of people talking at the venue, so you should be more careful with your words to avoid causing trouble for yourself. Especially Zhai Taifeng was standing not far away. Yu Hua would definitely be unhappy if he heard what he said.
At today's conference, Zhai Taifeng gave a work report entitled "Standing at the forefront of the times and welcoming the new century of literary prosperity."
For this kind of report, the form must be greater than the content. No matter who comes up and talks about it, it will be the same and boring.
Yu Hua smiled, raised his head, looked around behind him, and asked, "Are we going to the Xijiao Hotel with the army, or are we going somewhere?"
Zhou Yan shrugged and said, "I can do it, it's up to you."
The main thing was to see Shi Tiesheng. It was a cold day and Shi Tiesheng had difficulty moving. The Xijiao Hotel was far away from Ditan Park. If he went to the Xijiao Hotel at this time, it would be very late for Shi Tiesheng to go back.
"Let's go and have a look. Didn't Minister Wang say that we should learn to integrate into the group?" Yu Hua squeezed Shi Tiesheng's shoulder again, "If it's too late, we'll stay one night at the Xijiao Hotel. Anyway, there's room for us. If you don’t have a room, it will be useless.”
Zhou Yan smiled and nodded, "Well, you really can't afford this loss."
……
On the way to the Xijiao Hotel, Liu Zhenyun kept praising Zhou Yan's car in the car.
At one time, he praised the softness of the seats, and at another time, he praised the power of the air conditioner. In the end, he stopped praising it, and even praised the beautiful steering wheel.
Zhou Yan was riding in either a luxury car today or a Santana 2000.
This car was only released last year. It can be considered a high-end car in China, but it is definitely not as good as Liu Zhenyun said.
Originally, Zhou Yan and the others did not plan to bring anyone else with them, but they happened to meet Liu Zhenyun when they were going out. He asked, and Zhou Yan extended the invitation.
Buses were arranged from the synagogue to the Xijiao Hotel, but there were not enough of them and one group could not go.
The remaining people either wait for the next bus or take the bus there by themselves.
Liu Zhenyun was smart and knew that Zhou Yan and the others had a car, so he came over to ask.
Yu Hua's head hurt when he heard this, and he couldn't help but say, "It's not the New Year yet. You should save it for some time to say New Year greetings."
Liu Zhenyun smiled and said, "I didn't just get on the bus and have nothing to repay, so I paid Zhou Yan a few compliments as my fare."
"If you had said fewer words, I'm sure Zhou Yan would be more grateful to you."
Zhou Yan sat in the passenger seat and said with a smile, "Teacher Liu, don't be so polite. It's my honor to let you ride with me."
"Look, when it comes to flattering people, I'm still a layman, but Teacher Zhou is the best at it."
After that, Liu Zhenyun stopped complimenting people and started communicating with them normally.
After chatting for a while, Liu Zhenyun said with emotion, "The development of the times is getting better and better. I still remember a few years ago, when we took Tie Sheng to play in the Northeast, and when we caught the train, we were the ones carrying him. Now. Cars are becoming more and more popular, and Tiesheng will be able to go out more in the future.”
Shi Tiesheng smiled and said: "The transportation is convenient, but you may not have time."
After he said this, there was a silence in the car.
After all, things are no longer the same now as they were back then. Everyone’s lives have undergone tremendous changes, and it’s hard to have the courage of a few big men to leave at the drop of a hat.
Take Yu Hua for example, if he goes on a long journey, he will have to leave Yu Haiguo to Chen Hong alone.
Although Chen Hong was mainly responsible for taking care of the children when Yu Hua was at home, it was two different things whether he was at home or not.
At his age, family will definitely play an increasingly important role in his life.
Seeing their silence, Zhou Yan laughed and said, "If you want to go out, there will be plenty of time later. If you have time next spring, we can make an appointment to go out and have fun together."
Yu Hua also laughed, "How about you take us with you when you go to a concert abroad in the future."
"If you are willing to go, of course I have no problem. But you may not have time next year. "Xu Sanguan Sells Blood" will be published in Korea, so you must go there next spring."
"What should I do?"
"If the book sells well, why don't you go and hold a few book signings to give back to the book fans who support you?"
“I don’t know whether it will sell well or not.”
"If it doesn't sell well, then you have to go out and publicize it hard so that everyone will buy your book."
Liu Zhenyun smiled and said, "Teacher Zhou is right. The smell of wine is so deep in the alley. If you don't show your face, no one will know who you are. However, you still can't do it by yourself. Someone else has to do it to be convincing. After you go there, you must first establish a good relationship with some local writers and critics, treat them to meals, drinks, and then play cards. After you get to know each other well, they will also be willing to give you good words in the media and newspapers. A few words.”
"You are the most suitable person to do this job of being a courtesan. Let me tell you, the Koreans are the worst offenders."
"Which one do I have?"
"Wear a high hat for others."
"Everyone in the world eats this." When he said this, Liu Zhenyun paused and then said, "Not everyone in the world eats it. I think Teacher Zhou won't eat it. From the afternoon we met, I praised him. There were so many words, but not one of them was taken seriously. This is the first defeat I have encountered in my career. It shows that Teacher Zhou is different from ordinary people.”
If ordinary people heard Liu Zhenyun's words, they would probably get angry.
But Zhou Yan himself is a "master of flattery" and is well versed in its ways. As soon as he heard these words, he knew that Liu Zhenyun was still flattering him.
He smiled and said, "Teacher Liu, you praise me so much that I can't take it. How can you take it seriously? But I have benefited a lot from my contact with Teacher Liu today. You seem to be complimenting me, but you are actually It is cost-effective and very efficient to use this method to understand others. Such a philosophy of life shows that Teacher Liu has great wisdom. We all need to learn from Teacher Liu, don’t you think so, Lao Yu? ”
Yu Hua nodded, "He is indeed unique in this aspect."
Liu Zhenyun was also stunned by this combination of punches. He waved his hands with a smile and said, "There is nothing to learn from this. I just like to observe and study more. As long as you observe more, you can do it." Understand.”
After he said this, both Zhou Yan and Yu Hua pursed their lips. Shi Tiesheng looked at Liu Zhenyun with a smile, "Zhenyun, you hunt geese all day long, but you still get pecked in the eye by the geese."
Upon hearing this, Liu Zhenyun immediately realized that Zhou Yan and Yu Hua were teaming up to give him a high hat.
He shook his head and sighed, "My theory is correct. There is no one in the world who doesn't love top hats, including myself."
Seeing his dejected look, the other three laughed, and the car was filled with a happy atmosphere. (End of chapter)