Chapter 464 No One Is Exempt

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 literary achievements 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 had basically reported to the Xijiao Hotel before the 14th. If they stayed in Beijing later, they would basically have checked in 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. It would be okay 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 them, 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 personally. 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, and his children were alienated because of Ms. Chen."

"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."

"yes."

…

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 Ms. 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 influenced 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 was not older people who made 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. Basically, they were all 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 has many identities. Compared with his identities as an actor, director and musician, his identity as a writer is the least noticeable.

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 "Death of the Mayor", "Knife in the Clear Water" and "Tree Hole", which was also a gust of wind in the literary world.

At that time, many people were discussing the new writer named "Zhou Chan" who suddenly appeared.

However, after this gust of wind blew, Zhou Yan seemed to disappear in the literary circle and no new works appeared.

Many people told Zhou Yan that it was a great loss to the literary world that he did not publish new works now.

It is hard to say how many of these words are sincere, but if Zhou Yan really keeps publishing works, everyone's attitude towards him may not be as gentle as it is now.

Since ancient times, literati look down on each other. Although everyone greets each other at the venue today, they may not like each other in private.

…

The conference was very boring for Zhou Yan and his friends. Except for the beginning when the leader came to comfort them, Zhou Yan and his friends were completely in a state of emptiness.

They didn't listen to the content of the meeting at all.

When the meeting ended at around five o'clock, Yu Hua patted his head and said, "I didn't take anything in."

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Can you be a little more low-key?"

There were many people in the meeting, so they should be more cautious when speaking and avoid causing trouble for themselves. Especially since Zhai Taifeng was standing not far away, he would definitely be unhappy if Yu Hua heard what he said.

At the conference today, Zhai Taifeng gave a work report entitled "Standing at the forefront of the times and welcoming the new century of literary prosperity."

This kind of report must be more about form than content. No matter who goes up to speak, it will be the same, and it will be equally boring.

Yu Hua smiled, looked up and looked around, and asked, "Are we going to Xijiao Hotel with the main group, or where else?"

Zhou Yan shrugged and said, "I can do either, it's up to you."

The main thing is to see Shi Tiesheng. It's so cold, Shi Tiesheng is not mobile, and Xijiao Hotel is far from Ditan Park. If he goes to Xijiao Hotel at this time, Shi Tiesheng will be very late.

"Let's go and have a look. Minister Wang said that we should learn to integrate into the group." Yu Hua pinched Shi Tiesheng's shoulder again, "If it's too late, we will stay in Xijiao Hotel for one night. Anyway, we have reserved a room for us, so it's a waste if we don't stay."

Zhou Yan smiled and nodded, "Well, this loss is really not worth it."

...

On the way to Xijiao Hotel, Liu Zhenyun kept praising Zhou Yan's luxury car in the car.

One moment he praised the soft seats, and the other moment he praised the powerful air conditioner. In the end, when there was nothing else to praise, he even praised the beautiful steering wheel.

Zhou Yan was not sitting in a luxury car today, but a Santana 2000.

This car was only released last year. It is considered a high-end car in China, but it is definitely not as good as Liu Zhenyun said.

Zhou Yan and his friends did not plan to bring others with them, but they happened to meet Liu Zhenyun when they were going out. He asked a question and Zhou Yan invited them.

A bus was arranged from the hall to Xijiao Hotel, but the number was not enough, so one group could not leave.

The rest of the people either waited for the next bus or took a bus by themselves.

Liu Zhenyun was smart and knew that Zhou Yan and his friends had a car, so he came to ask.

Yu Hua had a headache listening to this, and couldn't help but say, "It's not the New Year yet, so you should save the New Year greetings for later."

Liu Zhenyun smiled, "I just got on the car, and I have no way to repay you, so I'll praise Zhou Yan a few words as the fare."

"If you say less, I'm sure Zhou Yan will be more grateful to you."

Zhou Yan sat in the co-pilot seat and said with a smile, "Teacher Liu, don't be so polite. It's my honor to let you get on the car."

"Look, when it comes to praising people, I'm still an amateur, and Teacher Zhou is a master."

After that, Liu Zhenyun stopped praising people randomly and started to communicate 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 that a few years ago, when we took Tie Sheng to play in the Northeast, we carried Tie Sheng when we were catching the train. Now cars are becoming more and more popular, and Tie Sheng will be able to go out more in the future."

Shi Tiesheng smiled and said, "Transportation is convenient, but you may not have time."

After he said this, there was a silence in the car.

After all, things are different now than they were in the past. Everyone's life has changed dramatically. It's hard to have the courage of a few grown men to go wherever they want.

Take Yu Hua for example. If he goes on a long trip, he has to leave Yu Haiguo to Chen Hong alone.

Although Chen Hong is the main person taking care of the child when Yu Hua is at home, it is two different things whether he is at home or not.

At his age, the proportion of family in life will definitely increase.

Seeing their silence, Zhou Yan laughed, "If you want to go out, there will be plenty of time later. We can make an appointment to go out and play together in the spring next year."

Yu Hua also laughed, "Why don't you take us with you when you go abroad for concerts 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 Selling Blood" will be published in Korea. You must go there next spring."

"What should I do?"

"If the book sells well, you must hold a few book signings to give back to the fans who support you?"

"I don't know if it will sell well or not."

"If it doesn't sell well, then you have to go out and promote it 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. But 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, 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?"

"Have a high hat on people."

"Everyone in the world eats this." After saying 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. He said so many words, but he didn’t take any of them seriously. This was the first defeat I encountered in my career, which 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." clear."

After he said this, Zhou Yan and Yu Hua both 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, myself included."

Seeing his dejected look, the other three laughed, and the car was filled with a happy atmosphere. (End of chapter)