Romantic Annotation

Author: Liang Xiaosheng et al
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1998-05-01
Features: A collection of selected works from Literary Weekly·Literary Mass: Zhao Mei's Repayment, Zhang Xin's What Is Life, Cheng Nai'an's Love's Crutch, Ye Xin's Bigamy?, Liang Xiaosheng's The Life of a Kite, Zhao Changtian's Fragment: Zong Wei's Sunday Afternoon Tutoring, where Zong Wei visits Wu Meng's house every Sunday afternoon to help Meng Meng with homework and dines there for dinner before leaving. The small room originally belonging to Wu Hua has now become Meng Meng's, whom Zong Wei has redecorated to look fresh and tidy. Light blue curtains, a clean small square table, spotless floors, and neatly folded clothes and shoes arranged in order give the room a warm and clean appearance. At that time, the term "cozy" was not yet popular, but when it became more widely used later, Zong Wei realized that the feeling back then was truly cozy. It was only then that he realized the difference between men and women and truly regarded Wu Meng as a woman, a beautiful and lovely girl. In that instant, he felt as if all the sunlight from outside the curtains streamed into the room. He marveled at this magical transformation and loved the room. They sat at the small square table by the window. Zong Wei noticed how lovely and interesting women were. Wu Meng was reading a book, her profile bathed in sunlight, turning her hair golden. Each strand seemed to catch his attention, and he absentmindedly started counting her hair, one by one, slowly, every time he reached a thousand strands, he felt a strong urge to make a mark on her hair. Wu Meng knew Zong Wei was watching her, and she felt proud, excited, yet slightly shy. She just kept reading. Zong Wei felt that he was falling in love. Vows Everything was so wonderful and natural that later, Zong Wei attributed everything that followed to how perfect and natural it had been. He concluded that business was like "sweet after bitter," while love was "sweet before bitter," and without bitterness, it was bland. Wu Meng and Zong Wei continued to sit quietly, in perfect harmony, once a week, for two years. They just discussed homework and shared jokes, nothing happened, nothing was broken. Until Wu Meng also got into university. One day, Wu Meng asked Zong Wei, "Why were you always staring at the back of my head back then?" Zong Wei replied, "I was counting your hair, every time I reached a thousand strands, I wanted to make a mark on it." Wu Meng smiled, amused by the Zong Wei who counted her hair. She had known since she was thirteen that one day she would have him. She wanted to marry him, to be his gentle wife. But later, Zong Wei thought it was all because of that damn beauty pageant. Later, as a successful businessman, Zong Wei organized a lively beauty pageant. On the final day, he sat on the stage, looking at the opulent studio, and found it absurd. Before the competition, he went backstage to visit the contestants, who were all beautiful. It was foolish to pick the best among a group of beautiful women, as they seemed dull together. One after another, women walked past him, showcasing every part of their bodies. Gowns, swimsuits, cheongsams—Zong Wei watched with satisfaction but no longer felt anything. The judges solemnly raised white cards to show their scores. Everything seemed to be happening with great seriousness. The winning contestant was announced, and the judges asked Zong Wei to make the final decision. Money was good; it could bring so many women to entertain him with a joke. After the announcement, he saw the beautiful women with tear-filled eyes. Women should be appreciated one by one, he thought, and he believed it and did so.
Afterword: The stories in this collection are selected works by some of the most vibrant and influential young and middle-aged writers in contemporary literature, published in Literary Weekly·Literary Mass. These works are realistic in theme, colored with the vibrancy of urban life after the reform and opening up. They emphasize linguistic artistry and readability, another distinctive feature of these novels. She is a bright flower in the garden of recent fiction and a striking sight in the field of newspaper supplements. Literary Weekly decided to launch a color titled Literary Mass, with the of: serving the masses, guiding the masses, and elevating the masses, to meet the diverse spiritual and cultural needs of the people. High-quality, appealing works for both refined and popular audiences are the core content of Literary Mass, while short stories of about ten thousand words are its "mainstay" and "flagship" products. Since its inception in early 1996, Literary Mass has won its place in the cultural market, with over a thousand retail outlets in Shanghai and the Jiangnan region, distributing nearly one hundred thousand copies. The popularity of Literary Mass among readers is largely due to the charm of these novels. In China, the publication of short stories in newspaper supplements has a history of over a hundred years, and serialized novels in newspapers appeared as early as the early Republic of China. Throughout the history of New Chinese Literature, newspapers have always been the primary platform for short story publication. However, in recent years, short stories have nearly disappeared from newspapers, while novels in professional journals have become longer and more obscure, their plots and stories seemingly "deconstructed," leaving ordinary readers bored and discouraged. To enable readers to enjoy short stories in newspapers, to give fiction a broader audience, and to preserve and promote the tradition of publishing short stories in newspaper supplements, the editorial team of Literary Mass decided to dedicate significant effort to their short story section. This initiative was supported by many writers, who set aside other projects to write for the newspaper or condensed their long-form ideas into short stories for Literary Mass. As the saying goes, "No effort goes unrewarded." Now, some newspaper supplements have resumed publishing short stories, and some of Literary Mass's works have been repeatedly selected and reprinted in other publications. However, the current state of short story creation is far from ideal, and readers' demand for fiction, especially their aesthetic expectations, remains largely unmet. We must continue to strive, and we look forward to the continued support of fiction writers. On the occasion of the 1,000th issue of Literary Weekly, we have compiled a selection of stories from Literary Mass for publication. Due to space and format constraints, as well as the limitations of the editors' expertise and judgment, some selections may not be perfect, and we kindly ask for understanding. Here, we sincerely thank the fiction writers who generously contributed to Literary Mass! Without their strong support, there would be no Literary Mass today, nor this collection of stories. The leaders and editors of Nanhai Publishing House have provided great support and assistance for the publication of this book, and we extend our gratitude to them as well! Editors April 1998