At my insistence, he finally answered my phone one night. Like I used to listen to his lectures, his voice is a bit like a woman's, deep and slow, and at the same time very measured. Maybe he was wary of strangers. At first, he had to ask about my background. When he heard that my name was Cai Cheng, he said that he was deeply impressed, but it seemed that he couldn't remember it clearly. I told him that it was two years ago at one of your book sales, and I gave you a manuscript of prose. I didn't expect you to be a very enthusiastic person. It didn't take you long to give it to a big newspaper in the south together with your warm recommendation letter. "Hey, yes, yes, there is such a thing, are you Cai Cheng? ! "The distance between us suddenly narrowed.
I have to say, mom
Every successful person likes to tell stories about his childhood. The dribs and drabs from childhood laid their first step towards success. Liang is no exception. The first topic he talked to me was reading comic books when I was a child.
Born in Harbin, Heilongjiang, Liang is a contemporary of China. My father is the first generation of construction workers in China, and he travels all the year round, which makes Liang's impression of his father relatively indifferent since he was a child. All he knows is that apart from work, his father is unsmiling and taciturn, and his mother is a good tailor who can tell many stories. When my mother is free, she always likes telling stories to attract five Liang brothers and sisters around her, so that they can't go out to play. Liang explained that at that time, the streets were chaotic and the boys were active, so the mother was afraid that they would make something out of nothing. Mother is the authority in the family.
Liang still remembers the folk historical stories told to him by his mother, such as The Fairy Couple, The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, The Legend of Jigong and The Legend of Baogong. Mothers tell stories not to tell stories, but more importantly, they want to teach their children how to be human through stories.
Recalling his mother, Liang is full of deep feelings.
"My mother's family still has some family ties. My grandfather is a teacher. I taught my mother to know some words, read some books and teach her how to be a person. Mother grew up under such an educational concept. Mother not only passed on her strong and tenacious character to me, but also passed on her idea of being a compassionate, filial, kind, upright and decent person. "
Liang believes that each of us has experienced many teachers from primary school to middle school to university, but nothing has a decisive influence on ourselves. She is the teacher who really enters the depths of our lives. Mother education is life education.
At that time, the Liang family had many children and the economy was very difficult, but the mother tried her best to create conditions for her children to study more. Comic books are another kind of enlightening reading for Liang besides his mother. This comic book shop is Liang's favorite "San Tan Yin Yue", which accompanied Liang through an unforgettable childhood.
The "first work" on the wall
Those illustrated "picture books" directly destroyed Liang's sensitive literary seeds. It is this "picture book" that makes Liang interested in literature.
When I was a child, Liang was a master storyteller. Every time he finishes reading a picture book, he tells the story in the book to his classmates. It doesn't matter if he can't remember some stories clearly. Give full play to his imagination and embellish the hero. Children like to listen to strange stories, and they are fascinated by them. In the future, if something happens, they will all revolve around the beam.
In the fourth grade of primary school, Liang joined the "reporter group" of the school. To be a "little reporter", you have to write some "small reports", otherwise you will be "untenable" in this position. Seeing that other "little reporters" were eager to try, Liang also began the germination of his own writing.
Writing a composition is a headache for many primary and middle school students. Liang is no exception. He doesn't know what to write when he writes. Liang felt that it was not enough to write the story on the "picture book" written by others; Writing fictional stories in your mind is very fragmented and difficult to organize. Liang was lost in confusion.
By chance, Liang read Andersen's The Little Match Girl. The fate of the little girl in the story caught him at once and made him realize. "I have lived in the poorest quadrangle in Harbin since I was a child. There are some little people living around me. Although they are poor and life is not easy, their kindness has traditional virtues and is worthy of respect. At that time, it suddenly occurred to me that it is not good to write stories about these little people around you? "
In this way, Liang carefully handed in an exercise of "Big Brother Neighbor", but it was quickly praised by the teacher, and was neatly copied by a classmate who wrote a good hand to the blackboard where advertisements were posted in the cinema. This is how Liang's first novel was published.
"At that time, there was no school newspaper and no place to publish students' works. Good composition teachers are all published on the advertising blackboard of Harbin Red Youth Cinema. At that time, people had no cultural life. Every time I went to the movies, of course, many people read my composition posted in advertisements, and its influence in the local area was no less than that published in open newspapers. It was under such stimulation that I began my dream of being a writer. " Said to the beam.
Thoughts in famous books
Among the writers I have contacted, when it comes to their growth, there is not a writer who doesn't mention literary masterpieces at home and abroad. Extensive reading of literary masterpieces is a "common problem" for any writer in his youth. Speaking of his reading experience, Liang naturally talked about those literary masterpieces that influenced him.
Liang belongs to the third generation (1966 ~ 1968 high school and junior high school graduates). For that generation of teenagers, it was simply a "book shortage era." Apart from the overwhelming "little red book", there are almost no other books to read, and reading Chinese and foreign literary masterpieces is a luxury. In fact, it is not that there are no good books, but they are all "sealed". The school library was "locked", and many bookstores moved good books underground and closed down.
Liang's reading memory of that era left a deep impression. "I really couldn't find any good books at that time, but we often discussed things about books together. My brother is also a literary youth. He often brings many students who love literature to discuss problems at home. I have nothing to do and often hang out with them, so I know the news of many good books, such as Resurrection, Hunter's Notes, Love Life, Les Miserables and so on. Knowing the news of so many good books, I will pay attention to the collection consciously in the future. It is really hard to find a lot. By the time I graduated from junior high school, I had read many such books, and reading famous books was really interesting. The story in the book and the ideas behind it can impress you at once. "
It is inevitable to talk about reading nowadays. Liang thinks that there are too many books for teenagers to choose from, so it is necessary to have the ability to choose. They are like eyes with hooks, they can tell which books are good and which books should be read carefully at once, otherwise they will take many detours and even ramps.
When a person studies in adolescence, it will often affect and benefit his life. For Liang, this is directly reflected in the perspective of civilian consciousness, the moral sense of distinguishing right from wrong, the sympathy of comforting the little people at the bottom, and the strong idealism that reading determines writing.
Liang's writing began with writing about the little people around him. Maybe he didn't think of it himself. On this road, he unconsciously came to today.
"serious professors" in universities
Writing has made Liang's. Because of his persistent writing achievements, Liang worked as a part-time teacher for one year after graduating from junior high school, then joined the army as a professional reporter and was sent to Fudan University in Shanghai for further study. Then he took root in Beijing, first as a screenwriter in China Children's Film Studio, and then transferred to beijing language and culture university as a professor. After experiencing too many ups and downs in life, today's Liang still maintains his heart color and background color when he was young-as a civilian.
But as a civilian, Liang just lacks a warm smiling face. I'm a little surprised at this. I didn't see him smile in our two-hour interview. Even when it comes to childhood fun, his humor is hidden deep. There is no doubt that Liang is a serious person. Even in life, you rarely see him smile happily.
Maybe there are many things in reality that make Liang unable to relax.
Liang told me that no matter whether he used to be a primary and secondary school teacher or a university teacher today, he felt that the relationship between teachers and students should be similar to love. You must have emotional input and a sense of responsibility, otherwise you can't be a good teacher. As a teacher, you have the responsibility to teach things that are conducive to students' further study, postgraduate entrance examination and career choice. This is what any teacher must do well, but the reality is that many teachers can't do well, which makes people worry. Because we are exam-oriented education, students are under great pressure, and there is little time for reading and entertainment, not to mention the cultivation of humanistic quality, which requires teachers to guide and care more. ...
As a responsible teacher, Liang's teaching experience in recent years has made him feel infinitely tired. The reporter saw that on his desk, there were students' homework and papers that he had not finished correcting, which were circled and carefully corrected. "One disadvantage of being a teacher is that the work seems endless. Sometimes I really want to write, but I just can't spare the whole time. I find that writing is like smoking addiction. I really want to retire early and concentrate on writing at home. " Liang is still a face of seriousness.
After the visit, I want to ask Liang to write a few words for himself. He said it was too sudden. Let him think about it. I looked around his room during his ten-minute meditation. The living room is simple. I didn't see anything in the living room of a great writer except a few art paintings hanging on the wall. Not even a decent study or a computer. All his writing is done on a rectangular board with a few sheets of paper at one end. This is obviously because he suffers from severe cervical spondylosis.