Chapter 235 Recording the Era for Thirty Years

Inside the Peking University library, Li Changhe sat at his desk, holding a ballpoint pen in his hand, turning it around boredly.

He is perfecting the content direction of his long novel.

As for writing a long novel, Li Changhe actually had an idea in his mind a long time ago. After all, in this era, the subject matter he could choose from was extremely limited.

One is the revolutionary military literature, similar to "Drawing Sword", which portrays a heroic character like Li Yunlong.

One type is contemporary urban literature, similar to "Blood Romance", "The World" and "To Live".

Other themes, such as science fiction and martial arts, can also be written, but in this era, these themes are too niche, both in terms of reader base and social influence.

Li Changhe thought about it and chose the latter.

He planned to write a contemporary urban novel, and this time, he planned to write from the perspective of a rural child and make fun of the educated youth who went to the countryside.

Well, an opportunistic educated youth, plus a simple rural protagonist.

He wanted to portray a microcosm of an era, the insurmountable gap between urban educated youth and rural youth in the dual economic environment.

The title of the book is "The Birth of the Times", and he has even thought of the ending.

When the simple and hardworking protagonist studied hard and was admitted to university, he came to the city to look for the scumbag educated youth who abandoned his wife and children, only to find that the man had gone abroad to study under the identity of the new cadre's wife.

The final ending is that this scumbag chose to betray his motherland and stay overseas, abandoning his wife and family at home. As a result, in the free and democratic world, he was "shot down by the gunshots of freedom."

Part of the theme of the book is the scumbag educated youth's journey to the countryside, which is also the angle that Li Changhe wants to mock and criticize.

Of course, there must be not only criticism but also warmth and outstanding representatives of educated youth.

For example, the educated youth and rural youth who studied hard and were the pride of the era who dedicated themselves to the country.

After all, in this era, people still prefer characters that are true, kind, and beautiful.

Li Changhe really wants to see what the social response will be after he writes this book.
It’s quite interesting to think that he, as the founder of educated youth literature, could do such a thing!

Thinking of this, the corners of Li Changhe's mouth curled up slightly.

Then, sitting in front of the table, Li Changhe began to write on the draft paper.

"In the winter of 1970, ten-year-old Liang Xiaoshan followed his father to Beijing for the first time to visit his aunt's family, even though their home was only kilometers away from here."

The era of choice is a forbidden zone that cannot be touched by future generations.

As for whether it can be published in the end, Li Changhe is not considering it for the time being.

Because for him, this book really allows him to write whatever he wants.

Anyway, he doesn't have to worry about money now.

As Li Changhe began to write, time began to pass quietly.

Li Changhe did not write this book quickly, and he often deleted and reduced the content, tearing out the completed manuscript and rewriting it.

So when Zhu Lin saw Li Changhe sitting at his desk and writing furiously on Wednesday night, she walked over curiously.

"Are you planning to start writing again?"

"I'm going to write a long story, and now is just the beginning!"

Li Changhe put down the pen in his hand and said to Zhu Lin with a smile.

"Write a long novel?"

“How long will this take to write?”

Zhu Lin asked in surprise.

"That's hard to say. I think it would be great if I can finish it before graduation!"

Li Changhe said with a smile.

He wasn't going to graduate until the spring of 82, so he still had more than two years to go.

He is indeed not in any hurry for this book and plans to work on it slowly.

"It's so long, how many words do you have to write?"

"It's hard to say, just write whatever comes to mind!"

Today's long novels are not like the online novels of later generations, which can easily be several million words long.

Generally speaking, a novel with more than 500,000 words is considered a long novel. Li Changhe only has one novel with more than 1 million words, "Ordinary World."

In the era of handwriting, this length is indeed quite shocking.

Perhaps this is also the reason why novels are extremely influential in this era. In terms of length alone, it is not something that ordinary people can construct.

"You're so hesitant, is there something wrong?"

At this time, Li Changhe pulled Zhu Lin over, let her sit on his lap, held her waist and asked softly.

Zhu Lin hesitated for a moment, then said softly, "Old Tian asked me to ask you about this matter."

"It's about the Youth Film Studio."

"Youth Film Studio?"

Li Changhe felt a little unfamiliar when he heard the name.

"This Youth Film Studio was previously established by our school at the invitation of the Beijing government for the purpose of shooting short films, and later became an experimental film studio for teaching purposes at our school."

"It was closed later, but our school reopened it last year and renamed it Beijing Youth Film Studio this year."

"In other words, your school is now qualified to make movies?"

Li Changhe asked in surprise.

"Of course there is. Our teacher is currently filming a movie about Sino-Japanese friendship. I think it's called "Sakura"."

Zhu Lin said to Li Changhe.

Li Changhe curled his lips when he heard this. What a bullshit of Sino-Japanese friendship!

Of course, this sentence is still not suitable to be said in this era. After all, the country now has requirements for books.

However, the 1980s were indeed a decade of friendship between China and Japan, and the premise of this friendship actually stemmed from the friendship between China and the United States.

So, there is no such thing as friendship between countries, it’s all about interests!

"So you guys also want to make a movie at the Youth Studio?"

After Li Changhe complained a few words in his mind, he immediately returned to the main topic.

Zhu Lin said softly, "It's almost like that, but it's not a movie."

"Recently, the Youth Film Studio has received a new batch of filming equipment for school teaching and teachers to use for filming."

"Tian Zhuangzhuang has the ability to borrow equipment from the factory, and he wants to try to organize a party and shoot a short film."

"But there is no good book now, so he asked me to come back and ask you if you are interested in publishing a book."

"Publish a script and make a short film?"

"So you don't actually have much film, do you?"

Li Changhe thought for a moment and asked.

Even if Tian Zhuangzhuang had connections, the Youth Film Studio could at most lend him some photographic equipment, but they would never give him too much film.

This thing is a consumable and expensive, so it is impossible to allow Tian Zhuangzhuang to keep making it.

"Of course. I think it will only take about ten to twenty minutes."

"Well, are you interested in writing for him?"

Zhu Lin asked Li Changhe curiously.

Li Changhe thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "It's not interesting to play a short film in such a short time."

“Why not make a documentary?”

"Documentary?"

Zhu Lin was a little surprised when she heard what Li Changhe said.

It's not that she doesn't know about documentaries, but this genre is still relatively rare. The directing department of Beijing Film Academy currently does not have a documentary major.

"Yes, instead of making a short film, I think you should make a documentary."

Li Changhe said with a smile.

"Documentary, what does it record?" Zhu Lin asked curiously.

"Record the capital, record the youth, record this era and look forward to the next 30 years."

"You can choose various historically significant locations in the capital, and then select people of different professions and identities to ask questions."

"This year is the first year of reform. We have put forward the slogan of reform in our country. So you can let people look forward to what China will be like in 20 or 30 years."

"After filming, seal the film and wait 20 or 30 years before taking it out. Then film the same people in the same place again and continue to question them."

"how do you feel?"

Li Changhe said with a smile.

After hearing this, Zhu Lin's eyes lit up.

"It sounds interesting, but the time span is a bit long."

"Thirty years, when will it be?"

"In 2009, we were all in our s."

"It can also be shot in batches of ten or twenty years. I think thirty years is a good span, from twenty to fifty years old, which basically represents the youth journey of a generation."

Li Changhe said with a smile.

Zhu Lin nodded in understanding: "Now that you put it that way, it is indeed true."

"In 30 years, I don't know what our country will become. I think it's quite interesting. I'll talk to Tian Zhuangzhuang about it when I go back tomorrow."

Zhu Lin said softly, but her expression changed immediately after she finished speaking.

The main thing is that Li Changhe's hands have already begun to gently rub, wipe and pick at this time.

"Hate it, don't you still want to write a novel?"

Feeling a series of strange sensations coming from the front of her, she felt helpless.

"No more writing!"

Li Changhe lowered his head and spoke softly at this moment.

I have a beautiful woman in my arms, how can I write a stupid novel?

The next day, Li Changhe returned to school, and Zhu Lin also took a bus from Xiaoxitian back to Zhuxinzhuang early in the morning.

When they arrived at the classroom, Tian Zhuangzhuang and a few others were chatting. When they saw Zhu Lin come in, they immediately came over to greet her.

"How is it, Zhu Lin, what did Lao Li say?"

"He didn't agree to write a book for us."

Zhu Lin said to Tian Zhuangzhuang with a smile.

"Look, Old Tian, ​​I told you that it's impossible to ask him to do such a small thing. It's better for me to write it myself."

Chen Kaige came over and said that he also considered himself a literary youth and wrote some short articles from time to time.

"Why are you in such a hurry? I haven't finished yet!"

When Zhu Lin heard Chen Kaige coming over to attack their Li Changhe, she immediately opened her mouth and continued.

"Does he have any other suggestions?"

Tian Zhuangzhuang was too lazy to pay attention to Chen Kaige.

Chen Kaige does have some literary talent, but he and Chen Kaige can't see eye to eye, even though they are childhood friends.

"He said we had too little film and it would be pointless to make a movie, so he suggested we make a documentary."

"Documentary?"

Tian Zhuangzhuang was a little surprised when he heard Li Changhe's suggestion.

Zhu Lin continued, "Yes, it's a documentary. He said that this year is the first year of reform and opening up in our country, so we can make a documentary at this time."

"Record what?"

Chen Kaige also asked curiously at this moment.

"Record the current capital and the lives of people today, including you and me."

"He said he could ask someone about the country's future prospects. For example, Kaige, what do you think the capital and the country will be like in 30 years?"

"Then he said that 30 years later, we could find the same people at the same place and continue interviewing them."

"I think this is quite interesting, although the time span is a bit long, thirty years."

"But Changhe said that thirty years is exactly the youth of a generation, and it can also witness the ending of several generations."

“If the time is too long, we can shoot another wave every ten or twenty years, that’s fine!”

After hearing what Zhu Lin said, Chen Kaige also became interested: "Don't say anything, Lao Tian, ​​this does sound interesting."

"It's a documentary, recording the first year of reform and opening up and looking into the future. Can this be considered a documentary about humanistic life?"

Tian Zhuangzhuang said thoughtfully at this time.

There are actually a lot of documentaries in China, but most of them were documentaries for political propaganda purposes, or landscape photography.

There has never been a documentary like this one that focuses on human life before.

Of course, this doesn’t look like an accurate film, but more like an interview clip.

But if we really follow what Li Changhe said, record some of the famous scenery of the capital during this era and add some cultural dialogues, and then make a comparison across time and space with those thirty years later, it would be really interesting to listen to.

"Let me think about this!"

Tian Zhuangzhuang began to think at this time.

Seeing this, Chen Kaige didn't say anything else.

Zhu Lin walked aside.

"Linlin, what are you discussing with Lao Tian?"

After sitting down, Hu Mei came over and asked.

Nowadays there are still some relatively clear boundaries between men and women, especially among unmarried men and women.

Sometimes there is an invisible barrier between these female classmates and their male classmates, mainly because they are afraid of rumors.

Only Zhu Lin has a good relationship with Tian Zhuangzhuang and Chen Kaige.

"Nothing much. Lao Tian asked me to ask our Chang He about a script, and Chang He gave me some suggestions."

Zhu Lin said to Hu Mei with a smile.

It is not yet public knowledge that Tian Zhuangzhuang borrowed equipment from the Youth Film Studio. After all, the equipment has not been borrowed and has not been publicized.

At this time, Zhu Lin would not speak for him.

"He wouldn't be thinking about the script now, would he? I heard that you guys are filming a movie with the Beijing Film Studio during the summer vacation?"

Hu Mei asked curiously at this time.

"You all know this?"

Zhu Lin was a little surprised.

"Shaohong said, don't forget, her family is also from the Beijing Film Studio."

Hu Mei said with a smile.

Zhu Lin reacted immediately and glanced at Tian Zhuangzhuang and Chen Kaige. Li Shaohong's mother also worked in the Beijing Film Studio, from a script supervisor to an assistant director, and was also a graduate of the Beijing Film Academy.

"Yes, it was a coincidence. Director Wang Yang and Director Ling Zifeng of Beijing Film Studio asked Tian Zhuangzhuang and Chen Kaige to lead the way to our house and ask Changhe to write a script."

"Then Changhe discussed it and Director Wang Yang made the final decision. He asked us to follow the group for training."

“Then we followed the crew for some time during the summer vacation.”

Zhu Lin gave a brief explanation.

There was only envy in Hu Mei's eyes at this moment.

There's nothing I can do about it, because she has a good husband!
(More in the evening!)

(End of this chapter)