Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 47 You are cheating
“This novel is really well written!”

"Qiu Ju Goes to Court" is considered long among short stories, with more than 28,000 words. It took Tao Yushu more than two hours to finish reading it.

Lin Chaoyang didn't say anything. He didn't want to expose his vest too early.

Not only will the surprise be gone, but it may also bring disaster to yourself.

"The Shepherd" was a first offense, so it can be forgiven, but "Qiu Ju Goes to Court" was a malicious attempt to generate revenue.

"You can also take a look tomorrow and we can discuss it."

The more you fear something, the more likely it will come. Before going to bed, Tao Yushu assigned Lin Chaoyang a task that made him toss and turn.

Why is it so difficult to give my wife a surprise?

We got up early the next day. Today was both the weekend and the Little New Year. Everyone in the family had a happy look on their face, and this joyful atmosphere also filled the apartment building and Yanyuan.

For Chinese people, Little New Year is the beginning of the New Year. Although the song about the busy New Year goes "Children, children, don't be greedy, after Laba comes the New Year", no one can be so extravagant as to start preparing for the New Year from Laba.

On the 23rd, sticky sugar melons; on the 24th, house cleaning day; on the 25th, making tofu…

From this day on, the atmosphere of the New Year officially becomes grand.

It is also from this day on that the Chinese people, who have been busy for a whole year, will prepare for the coming of the new year with a completely different joyful mood from usual days.

In the afternoon, Tao's mother was busy making dumplings. All the family members joined in. In more than an hour, they made more than 300 dumplings, enough for the whole family to have two or three meals.

"If you ask me, you should put more meat in the dumplings. Usually my mom is too stingy and doesn't want to put meat in them. Today's dumplings have enough meat and they taste so delicious!" Tao Yumo said with puffed cheeks.

"It's not just about the meat, it's also the Chaoyang family's mushrooms that work. The meat filling is so delicious." said the eldest brother-in-law.

The brother and sister turned into food critics and did not forget to taste the dumplings while eating them.

After eating and drinking to his heart's content, at night, Lin Chaoyang was about to throw himself on the bed and be a salted fish when he heard Tao Yushu ask, "Did you read the novel yesterday?"

"Which one?" Lin Chaoyang asked knowingly.

"That's it!"

Tao Yushu took out the magazine on the table and said this. Lin Chaoyang felt a headache.

"Then let me take a look first."

There was no way to hide, so Lin Chaoyang could only pretend to appreciate his masterpiece.

On the other side, Tao Yushu was busy revising the review on "The Shepherd" which she had submitted to "Wenyi Bao" some time ago but was not accepted.

Tao Yushu was so angry that she found out her husband was the author of "The Shepherd" that she was determined to republish the review.

Half a night passed in a flash. After Tao Yushu finished revising the manuscript, he came to ask Lin Chaoyang again.

"How was it? What do you think?"

As Lin Chaoyang listened to his wife's questions, a scene suddenly appeared in his mind where his junior high school Chinese teacher called on him to answer a question.

"Well, the novel is really well written."

"Please elaborate on this." Lin Chaoyang could only bite the bullet and continue, "The novel begins with the captain beating someone, and the clue is Qiu Ju's six ins and outs to seek justice for her husband. This complex structure may seem simple, but it actually requires a lot of creative skills. If it's not done well, it will become a chronicle, which is most likely to be monotonous and repetitive..."

Even if most Chinese people in later generations have not watched "Qiu Ju Goes to Court", most of them have heard of this movie, which is one of the early representative works of the national master Zhang Yimou.

The film is adapted from the short story "Wanjia Lawsuit" by writer Chen Yuanbin, and has been adapted to a certain extent, maintaining the core and ideology consistent with the novel.

The story of "Qiu Ju Goes to Court" is not complicated. Qiu Ju's husband Wang Qinglai had a dispute with the village chief Wang Shantang over their contracted land. The village chief kicked Wang Qinglai in the vitals in anger.

Qiu Ju was six months pregnant at the time and wanted to seek justice from her husband. She went to the village chief to reason with him, but he refused to admit his fault and claimed that he did not beat anyone for personal reasons.

Qiu Ju went to the township government to file a complaint with her big belly. After mediation, the village chief agreed to compensate Qiu Ju's family for their economic losses, but he refused to apologize and even threw the compensation money on the ground for Qiu Ju to pick up.

Qiu Ju, who felt insulted, did not pick up the money, but once again embarked on her journey to file a complaint. She went to the county public security bureau and the city, and finally to the People's Court, but she never received a satisfactory answer.

On New Year's Eve, Qiu Ju had a difficult birth, and the village chief and villagers braved the snow and wind to take Qiu Ju to the hospital. Qiu Ju's family was grateful for the village chief's actions and decided not to pursue the village chief's responsibility. But at this time, the city court sent a verdict that the village chief was detained for the crime of injury.

Lin Chaoyang's article "Qiu Ju Goes to Court" published in "Shanghai Literature and Art" combines the advantages of novels and movies, but unlike the movie which is set in rural Shaanxi in the late 1980s, he changed the background to the rural Northeast.

The story of the novel "Wanjia Suits" was not originally set in rural Shaanxi, but in rural southern China.

There is no sense of incongruity in Lin Chaoyang's changes, and the most important thing is that it fits the environment in which he grew up as an author.

“I think the two best aspects of the novel are the treatment of the characters and the ending.

There are no absolutely good guys or absolutely bad guys in this novel.

It was wrong for the village chief to beat someone, but he did it for the public good. When Qiu Ju sued him, he got angry and arrogant, but he still lent a helping hand when Qiu Ju was having a difficult childbirth.

As for Qiu Ju, she didn't ask for much, she just wanted an explanation from her husband, in other words, she wanted respect and an attitude. But in the eyes of the village chief and the government, her attitude was a bit like being unreasonable.

Finally, the village chief helped her when she was having difficulty giving birth, and her anger subsided. But at this moment, the law came to punish the village chief.

This not only reflects the lag and irony of procedures and systems, but also makes the ending of the story meaningful, profound and timeless.”

All the novels were written by Lin Chaoyang. To be honest, he has more say than anyone else.

They talked for more than ten minutes, during which Tao Yushu's face was very serious and his eyes showed a bit of admiration from time to time, which made him feel a little proud.

"You explained it very well. You can analyze it so well after just reading it once. No wonder you can write novels." Tao Yushu first praised Lin Chaoyang, and then said with some disappointment: "I don't have this talent."

"Who said that? Your reviews are so good. We are a couple, one writes novels, the other writes novel reviews. Together, we are invincible!"

Tao Yushu said: "But my review of "The Horse Herder" has not been published yet, how about you, the original author, give me some advice?"

"Wife, this is cheating."

"How can a legal marriage be considered cheating?"

"I'm glad to help you, but I have a small request." Lin Chaoyang leaned forward.

The figures are lingering under the lamp, and the cold wind is knocking on the window frame all night long, as if crying and complaining.

(End of this chapter)