Jiang Shuiyuan didn't know if there was salmon, caviar and French white wine in Maxim's restaurant, in fact, he only knew that there was such a Western restaurant in Beijing when he occasionally saw a list of famous food restaurants in a certain magazine. As for the various mouth-watering delicacies, they are just based on the pictures.

The sky outside was completely dark, and the wind swept the torrential rain like a net, sweeping through the open space outside the conference room from time to time, and the magnolia, camphor, and Hua Mulian swayed violently in the wind and rain, as if they could not withstand such a fierce baptism. The rain is pouring everywhere, and the parents who used to block the door have disappeared without a trace, presumably looking for a place to shelter from the rain or buy rain gear for their children.

Jiang Shuiyuan retracted his gaze and continued to write:

"I'm not like that, I never eat for lunch. If you want to eat, you only eat a little, never more. And I eat this little bit mainly to take this opportunity to chat. I can't eat anything anymore unless they have that big asparagus. When it comes to Maxim, it would be a pity not to eat some asparagus. ”

My heart sank. I've seen asparagus in the store before, and I know it's horribly expensive. In the past, whenever I saw asparagus, I used to salivate.

"Madame wants to know if you have any of those big asparagus," I asked the waiter.

I tried my best to get him to say no. A pleasant smile appeared on his broad, clerical pious face, and he said to me in an affirmative tone that they had big, good, tender asparagus, which were simply rare treasures.

"I'm not hungry at all," sighed my guest, "but if you insist on eating me, I'm not averse to eating some asparagus." ”

That's how I ordered it.

"Won't you eat some?"

"No, I never eat asparagus. ”

"I know people who don't like asparagus. The truth is, you eat too much meat and hurt your appetite. ”

We waited for the asparagus to be ready and delivered. I was suddenly frightened. Now it's not a question of how much money I have left to make ends meet for the month. It's whether I have enough money to pay the bills. It would be embarrassing if I had to borrow ten francs from a guest. I can't do anything like that.

I knew how much money I had around me, and if the bill exceeded that, I was determined to do so: reach into my pocket. Then he deliberately screamed, jumped up and said that the money was picked up by the thief. Of course, it would be embarrassing if she didn't have enough money to pay the bills. In that case, the only way to do that would be to leave my watch and pay for it later.

The asparagus was served. Juicy and mouth-watering. I watched as the wicked woman gulped asparagus into her stomach and politely talked about the current state of the theater scene in Beijing. She finally finished eating.

"Drink some coffee!" I said.

"Okay, let's have an ice cream and coffee. She replied.

By this point, I didn't care about anything and ordered coffee for myself and an ice cream and coffee for her.

"You know, I'm a firm believer," she said as she ate ice cream. "When a person stands up after a meal, he should feel that he is not very full. ”

"Are you still hungry?" I asked weakly.

"Oh, no. I'm not hungry. You know, I don't eat lunch. I have a cup of coffee in the morning. Then I ate in the evening, but I always had at most one dish for lunch. I'm saying this for you. ”

"Oh, I see!"

Jiang Shuiyuan shook his wrist, which was a little sore. This is the first time he has written such a long essay in the examination room, and the veins in his head are clear and the thoughts are flowing, but his hands are tired enough, and the handwriting is crooked. It's like a line of egrets going to the sky. No wonder everyone says that being a writer is an individual's life, and it seems that this is indeed the case, just writing 8,000 or 10,000 words a day is enough to discourage many people!

"The writing is good, steady and calm and full of spirit, accurate and vivid but not pretentious. The plot is also very smooth, and no inconsistencies have been found so far, which makes people have the urge to continue reading!" It was Fang Quan, the editor-in-chief of "Cultivation" magazine, who had been standing behind him for a while. Jiang Shuiyuan had already discovered his deposit, but he was just writing in Xingtou, and he was too lazy to bother to take care of him.

However, his comments are very incisive, and for young writers, writing and plot are the two major hurdles on their way to success.

Let's start with the language.

Most teenagers' writing is simple and immature, just like a country child entering the city for the first time, and the grass has just sprouted in early spring, with a jerky and timid taste. At this time, the teacher will follow the temptation to say: make more analogies, use more comparisons, quote more famous quotes, and then teach students often full of blunt metaphors, empty comparisons, and famous people do not know that they have not said or not. Successful examples include sentences such as "Quiet mountains with dark green undulations, lonely birds suddenly soaring into the sky in golden wheat fields, gray iron stop signs flying by" or "I smile quietly, like a red rose quietly blooming among the verdant branches in May".

Others were poisoned by foreign writers such as Raymond Carver and decided to write prose. Xiaobaiwen is not impossible to write, the key is to be like Tao Yuanming, "quality and solid, light and flavorful", "luxury to see the truth", rather than thin as bamboo, light as water, like compressed biscuits only pursue fullness, regardless of taste.

As the editor-in-chief of the magazine, in fact, Fang Quan still likes the style of traditional literature in his heart, which reads plainly and tastes calm and vigorous, but the works of those young writers he usually comes into contact with are obviously still jerky, but they pretend to be old, and they are obviously empty, but they pretend to be old. That pretentiousness made him feel uncomfortable!

Let's talk about the plot.

Chinese teenagers have limited life experience, and their daily life is nothing more than exercising between home and school, clubbing, playing music, running away, falling in love and other plots in literary works, the material is from film and television dramas or magazines, and then staying at home and fictionalizing them. The story is similar, and you can imagine it. Fang Quan once made such a joke in the editorial department: Among the ten love stories submitted, the normal situation is four car accidents, three terminal illnesses, two jumping off buildings, one missing, and the last time has to be a school transfer. This shows how dire the life of middle school students in our country is!

How can an article that uses fake language to describe a fantasy that is not in the right place? However, many middle school students still like this tone. Since there are writers and markets, Fang Quan has to give in many times. Make concessions to these nonsensical articles. When he saw Jiang Shuiyuan's composition, his eyes suddenly lit up: This is the work of the young writer I have been looking for!

"Could you please hold back your impulses and wait until I'm done writing before you read it?" replied Jiang Shuiyuan impatiently.

"I'm really looking forward to your end now, and I hope you don't let me down. ”

"If you want to see the end, then you'd better stay silent now!" Jiang Shuiyuan watched the raindrops gradually become lighter and the sky brightened slightly. Hurry up and write:

Then, something terrible happened. While we were waiting for coffee, the foreman waiter, with a flattering smile on his face, brought a large basket full of extra-large peaches, red like the face of an innocent girl, and its color was as magnificent as a Western landscape painting. At that time, the peaches were certainly not yet season, and only God knew how much it would cost to buy them. But soon I found out, because my guests were talking. While absentmindedly taking one.

"You see, you've stuffed a belly full of meat," she said, pointing to my poor little piece of lamb chop, "and there's nothing more to eat." And I just had a snack, and I could taste another peach. ”

The bill is coming. After I made the payment, I realized that the money I had left was not enough to pay a decent tip. Her gaze paused for a moment on the three francs I had left for the waiter, and I knew that she would think I was a miser. But when I walked out of the restaurant, I was faced with a whole month of expenses to pay. And there is nothing in the pocket.

"You learn from me," she said, shaking hands. "Lunch is at most one dish. ”

"I'll do better," I replied, "I'm not going to eat anything tonight." ”

"Humorist!" She said triumphantly and jumped into a carriage. "You're a great humorist!"

Writing this, Jiang Shuiyuan flicked his wrist again. He felt that his wrist was swollen, and he even doubted that he would be able to pick up chopsticks at lunch today. So he decided never to do such a thankless stupid thing again. It's a joke about the body and life!

"This is the end of yours?" It's too bland and not brilliant enough!" Fang Quan took the opportunity to comment, "You Chinese teachers should have taught how to write a good article, right? The simplest requirements are crested heads, pork belly, and leopard tails." Do you understand the leopard's tail? It is like a leopard that cuts it violently with all its strength, cutting it categorically and neatly. But it's fascinating. The best example of this is the O'Henry-esque ending!"

"How long is it until the end of the race?"

Jiang Shuiyuan looked around and found that there were already many people in the examination room, and the rest were either working hard to write, or looking back to examine their compositions and correct the sick sentences and typos. And Yue Wenjing and the tall and thin boy I met yesterday were standing in the corridor at the door of the conference room, chatting and looking into the examination room, as if they were waiting for someone.

Fang Quan looked at his watch: "There are less than five minutes left!"

"That should be enough!" Jiang Shuiyuan picked up the pen and wrote the last few lines:

But I finally got my revenge.

I don't think I'm a vengeful person, but when even the gods of heaven were provoked to intervene in their affairs, I saw this end with contentment, and I was forgiven. - Now she weighs 290 pounds.

"Beautiful! perfect O'Henry-esque ending!" Fang Quan rubbed his hands and said excitedly, "Although I haven't seen other people's essays yet, I dare to pack tickets, you will definitely be the first prize winner of this essay contest! Also, I will discuss with the president that I will use your article and those short poems as the main features of the next issue of the magazine, and I will definitely be able to become an instant hit!"

"Oh, is it?" Jiang Shuiyuan said noncommittally, stood up and put the "Lunch" in his pocket, and then took the one-page one-act play "Exile" and prepared to hand it in.

"Huh, what are you going to do?" Fang Quan hurriedly stopped him.

Jiang Shuiyuan said: "As you can see, of course it's the papers! Isn't the game about to end?"

"Then why do you put your essay in your pocket?"

"Because the essay to be handed in is the one I have in my hand, not the one in my pocket. ”

"Why don't you do both?"

"Isn't it a requirement to choose one of two topics?"

"That's so, but since you've written both, why don't you hand them all in?—— and take a step back, I think the novel you put away is obviously better than the drama you're going to hand in, and if you only hand in one, you should also hand in that novel!"

Jiang Shuiyuan shook his head: "My opinion is just the opposite of yours. If it is a Chinese language test or other essay competition, it is natural that the chances of winning a novel are relatively high, but now this is a new concept essay competition! What is a 'new concept'? In your words, it means new thinking, new expression, and real experience. The so-called 'new thinking' is to break the shackles of old concepts and norms, break the rigidity and conservatism, and advocate unrestrainedness, while the 'new expression' is not limited by themes and genres, and opposes the same word and the same word. Right?

"Among the more than 200 people who took the re-examination today, it is estimated that the vast majority of them have written novels, and it is absolutely rare to use the genre of drama, and I may even be the only one, is it considered not to be restricted by genres, and is opposed to a thousand people? Even if someone writes a drama like me, who will use less than 100 words to complete it? According to strict theories of drama, the structure of a drama must have a beginning, progress, climax, and ending, but I only have two lines of dialogue, can it be regarded as breaking the shackles of old concepts and norms?

"Therefore, this drama is the work that best meets the requirements of the competition, not the novel!"

"Uh......" Fang Quan realized at this time that the little guy opposite was not only a contestant in the New Concept Essay Contest, but also an excellent debater in the difficult theory of Chinese Studies, and arguing with him was undoubtedly self-inflicted. At the moment, he directly resorted to force, seized the novel from his pocket, and took the drama: "Don't move, I'll do the work for you, just sit here honestly!"

"Everyone is arguing, what are you doing?" Jiang Shuiyuan muttered, "Also, can't you leave the venue after handing in the papers?"

"Didn't the president promise to invite you to Maxim for dinner? I just happened to dip your light and open a foreign meat! Don't run around, I patted the president's chest and will definitely bring you!" Fang Quanqian instructed. (To be continued......)