Chapter 278 You deserve to die

"Lover" is a love novel, which is Lin Weimin's definition of this novel.

Of course, he also anticipated the controversy that might arise after the publication of this novel.

But he didn't expect that this controversy would come so quickly and violently!

On November 8, less than a week after "Contemporary" went public, "Yanjing Daily" took the lead in publishing a commentary article. The author of the article was the veteran writer Liu Feiyu.

"The world is deteriorating and people's hearts are not as old as they used to be. Our revolutionary ancestors risked their lives to build such a great country, but it is sad and infuriating that they have fostered such dirty people."

After Lin Weimin read the article, he was most impressed by this sentence. He is the "disciple" the old writer calls him.

Liu Yin flipped through the newspaper and said jokingly: "Editor Lin, do you have any feelings that you would like to express?"

Lin Weimin shook his head helplessly and said nonsense.

Lin Weimin had never read the works of Liu Feiyu, an old writer, but Meng Weizai gave him a general knowledge of his qualifications. He was an existence that Lin Weimin could not criticize, and he could only accept it.

Just be patient, it will be over soon, Lin Weimin warned himself in his heart.

On November 12, just one week after "Contemporary" was launched, the editorial department gradually began to receive letters and comments from readers about the content of this issue as usual.

Among the letters received in the past two days, the two words "lover" have become a must-have word in every letter. Readers' evaluations of this novel in their letters are polarized.

Some people praise this novel as the best love novel in contemporary Chinese literature, while others sneer at the content of this novel and even curse it.

This type of people almost all have a common characteristic, which is to start finding fault with the title of the book.

The Chinese people's respect for words has become a habit and taboo since ancient times. You say that you praise love, but your name is Lover. What is the logic of this? I think you are using the title of the book to attract attention!

Secondly, the novel’s description of the revelry and wealth in old Shanghai has been called by some as “reviving the souls of capitalism and the Fruit Party.”

Finally, the novel involves some actions and psychological descriptions of the two male and female protagonists when they are deeply in love, which was rated by these readers as "using sensuality and eroticism to obtain low-level fun."

Lin Weimin was a little surprised after reading these letters from readers. It seemed that he had really done something heinous.

There are experts among the masses!

Apart from anything else, this ability alone is beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Tong Zhonggui opened letters from readers one by one and handed them to Lin Weimin, feeling uneasy.

He comforted: "Teacher Lin, "Lover" is a good work, these people just don't understand it."

Lin Weimin smiled nonchalantly and said: "You can't say it's a good work, it has to be evaluated by the people."

Tong Zhonggui didn't understand the meaning of Lin Weimin's words for a moment, thinking he said them out of anger.

In the middle of the season, there were more and more letters from readers, and the polarization of evaluations of "Lover" became more and more prominent. Lin Weimin could no longer read the letters, and he still had a lot of work to do.

After Liu Feiyu, several old writers came forward to criticize "The Lover".

"Dirty literary garbage", "low-level works catering to low-level people with disgusting low-level taste", "spiritual pollution to the people"...

More and more conservative writers joined the ranks of criticizing "The Lover", and then began to criticize the author Lin Weimin.

Colleagues in the editorial department began to worry about Lin Weimin.

The last time Lin Weimin received such widespread criticism was after the release of "Farewell My Concubine", but the words used at that time were not as intense as this time!

Moreover, the writers criticized this time are generally older and have seniority, so their words have more weight and are not easy to refute.

You said that whether he was relying on his old age or selling off his old age, or whether the stones in the latrine were smelly and hard, there was nothing he could do against them.

By the end of the year, criticism of "Lover" and Lin Weimin seemed to have gradually formed a trend. If you look for it, your colleagues in the editorial department can see content about this matter in various newspapers and magazines almost every day.

An old writer with a conservative style, a teaching scholar in a university, an ordinary worker in a factory, a student in an ivory tower, a serious cadre...

People who have come from the era of struggle are very sensitive to this situation.

Colleagues in the editorial department have a hunch that this wave of criticism may not be so easy to overcome.

Therefore, the pressure in the editorial office has been very low in the past two days, and everyone will observe Lin Weimin's condition from time to time.

He acted like a normal person. He read the newspaper at noon that day and said to everyone with a smile: "It's really lively now. Movie stars are all locked up."

What was published in the newspaper was the news that the movie actor Chi Zhiqiang, now noted, was arrested and imprisoned for "hooliganism".

Lin Weimin guessed that the large-scale criticism he has received recently may have something to do with this trend.

At the cusp of the crisis in 1983, any small problem could be fatal.

Colleagues saw that Lin Weimin's demeanor was mostly relaxed and carefree, and their worries eased a little.

A few days later, it was already the end of the month.

Another new force has been added to the army of critics of Lin Weimin, and he is also a heavyweight.

A senior comrade with high qualifications submitted an article to the literary review magazine "Literary Review", titled "Degeneration and Betrayal in the Contemporary Literary World", and made a long and lengthy criticism of Lin Weimin and "The Lover".

In the article, he openly claimed that the prototype of "Guo Yudao" described by Lin Weimin in the novel was a traitorous businessman in old Shanghai.

This kind of slander and accusation is not without vicious intentions. If the previous wave of criticism was just full of all kinds of over-the-top ideas, this article can be regarded as a powerful blow to those who regard Lin Weimin as a "thorn in the flesh" and "a thorn in the flesh".

arms.

Look, he is beautifying traitors!

Once this charge is confirmed, the blow to Lin Weimin is likely to be fatal.

This kind of person almost pointed at Lin Weimin's nose and cursed: "You deserve to die!"

That afternoon, Wan Fang knocked on the door of the editorial department of "Contemporary" for the first time in a long time.

"Sister, why are you here?"

"My dad asked you to go to dinner."

Without thinking too much, Lin Weimin knew that Mr. Wan must be worried about him.

I arrived at Muxidi in the evening as promised. When I walked in, I saw Mr. Wan and his wife busy in the kitchen.

"Teacher, why did you cook by yourself today?" Lin Weimin asked with a smile.

"You sit down for a while and eat later!" Mr. Wan said.

"You're always working, so how can I make sense?"

Lin Weimin washed his hands and went to the kitchen to wash vegetables.

Mr. Wan was cutting potatoes, and the blade of the knife struck the chopping board, making a "chop chop chop" sound.

"Have you been quite busy at work recently?" Mr. Wan suddenly asked.

In Lin Weimin's interactions and daily chats with him, this sentence pattern rarely appeared.

"It's okay, that's it, just those jobs."

After a while, Mr. Wan asked again: "Have you listened to the criticism from outside?"

This is the key point why Mr. Wan called Lin Weimin here today.

"I heard it and I saw it."

"What do you think?"

Lin Weimin shook the freshly washed cabbage slices and drained the water in the basin. "What do you think? Listening to the cries of the crickets, why don't you plant the land?"

Hearing Lin Weimin's words, Mr. Wan couldn't help laughing, "It seems I'm worrying too much!"

Lin Weimin said: "Thank you, teacher, for your concern."

After pondering for a moment, Mr. Wan said: "I wrote an article and planned to publish it in the newspaper."

Lin Weimin knew that this was definitely to protect him from the wind and rain.

"I can't always let you take action. As a student, I can't always hide under your wings."

"What? Your wings are stiff and you want to fly out?" Mr. Wan asked, pretending to be angry.

"Look at what you said. I will be your child at some point!" Lin Weimin pretended to be a good boy.

"Stop doing this!"

The teacher and the student joked for a while, but Lin Weimin resolutely refused Mr. Wan's offer of help.

After all, Lin Weimin has been in the literary world for a few years, and he has long been used to the ups and downs in public opinion. He only has a normal mind when it comes to criticism from the outside world.

Literary creations are judged by readers as to whether they are good or bad.

Beyond the scope of literature, those vicious attacks with malicious intent were the ones that hurt him the most.

But these attacks are precisely the ones he has the weakest counterattack against. Even if Mr. Wan takes action, he cannot eliminate the bad influence caused by the remnants of the past.

They hope that such criticism and slander can pull Lin Weimin down and drag him into the quagmire, just like those cases they have tried repeatedly in the past.

The big difference between this turmoil and the one in "Farewell My Concubine" is that many people have taken offense to the person and are not willing to attack Lin Weimin by slandering, slandering, and smearing him.

Faced with such a complicated situation, not only could Mr. Wan write one or two articles and publish them in newspapers, it would not be able to save Lin Weimin's reputation that had been ruined by those people.

Mr. Wan also understood the current situation. Even though Lin Weimin acted as if nothing had happened, he still felt a little worried.

Lin Weimin also saw what Mr. Wan was thinking. While he was moved, he also felt a little guilty.
To be continued...