This time Zhou Hexuan was competing with Chiang Kai-shek. After "Ta Kung Pao" was suspended, he directly wrote an article and sent it to the "Fei Gong" magazine.
The editor-in-chief of "Fei Gong" has changed several times. The current editor-in-chief is none other than the great writer Ba Jin.
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Ba Jin served as an editorial board member of the National Salvation Daily, but was ordered to cease publication by the government early last year. At the same time, he also co-edited "Fenghuo" (formerly known as "Scream") with Mao Dun. This magazine had a great influence in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War.
However, due to the impact of the war, the headquarters of "Fenghuo" moved from Shanghai to Guangzhou and then to Hong Kong. It was forced to cease publication due to the fall of Hong Kong.
Ba Jin then traveled around the southwest, specializing in cultural propaganda work.
The editor-in-chief of "Fei Gong" resigned due to illness last year, and Zhou Hexuan wrote to invite Ba Jin to take over. Under Ba Jin's hands, "Fei Gong" began to publish articles by many left-wing writers, including Mao Dun, Guo Moruo, Yu Dafu, Yang Shuo and others.
, various challenges to the limits of Chiang Kai-shek's endurance.
To be honest, "Fei Gong" is not far away from suspending publication.
"Editor Li, here is an article written by Mr. Zhou himself." Luo Binji knocked on the door and entered the editor's office.
Luo Binji's true identity is an underground party, but due to the war, he has lost contact with the party organization for two years. Since then, he has been traveling to various places to engage in literary creation. Even when he came to Chongqing, Luo Binji could not regain contact with the party organization, which shows that the Communist Party
How strict is the party's confidentiality work.
Luo Binji was recruited by Ba Jin into Fei Gong magazine and is currently the editor in charge of the novel section.
Ba Jin smiled and said: "Mr. Zhou hasn't contributed to "Fei Gong" for a long time. Please show it to me."
"This is a novella. It made my hair stand on end and my vest became cold when I read it." Luo Binji said.
"Is it the realistic magicism of "The Goddess" again?" Ba Jin asked.
Luo Binji shook his head and said: "Documentary."
Ba Jin opened the manuscript and saw that the novel was called "Human Market".
The protagonist's family is a rich farmer who owns 30 acres of dry land. They are self-sufficient in farming and hire long-term workers to help when farming is busy.
At the beginning of the novel, the hero and heroine are complaining about the poor harvest, and then a collection team comes. Six people and three mules live in the protagonist's house and have to eat white flour and eggs every meal. Even the rations of the protagonist and his wife are eaten.
Used it to feed the mules.
Due to last year's procurement task, the protagonist's family's grain reserves have been emptied out. This year, we have been hit by drought and locust plagues one after another, making it impossible to complete the procurement amount set by the county government.
In desperation, the protagonist had no choice but to go to his father-in-law's house in a neighboring village to borrow grain. When he arrived, he discovered that his father-in-law had sold his cattle and part of the land, bought grain and barely made up the amount before sending the grain collector away. But his father-in-law's house had no choice but to borrow grain.
But there is no food rations. Rice shops have limited sales every day because the price of food is too low, and the price of rice on the black market is too high to afford.
The father-in-law, who was a small landowner, hanged himself with his family because they had no rice to cook with.
The protagonist buried his father-in-law's family hastily, and after returning home, he contacted the big landowner and sold land to buy grain to pay for the acquisition.
When the government collects land tax, it only collects grain, but when it purchases military grain, it only gives legal currency, and it is paid at the official price. The protagonist receives only enough money to feed his family for a few days, and even if the land is sold out, it will not last for half a month, because
The big landowners lowered prices aggressively and took advantage of the situation to rob them.
The protagonist's family began to eat grass roots and bark, but the grass roots and bark in the village were quickly eaten. They heard that wild goose dung could satisfy their hunger, so they picked up wild goose dung everywhere and ate it. The youngest son died of illness while eating wild goose dung.
When news of the younger son's death spread, someone immediately came to buy the body and offered a small bag of wheat bran.
The protagonist was determined not to sell it, so he buried his son's body quietly overnight, only to find out the next day that someone had stolen the body and dug it up. He and his wife went crazy and searched everywhere, but there was no clue after searching all day.
My daughter is also missing.
The eldest son was dying and said: "My sister was taken away by Granny Zhang from the same village. Granny Zhang wants to feed them meat."
The protagonist immediately rushed into Granny Zhang's home and found that the old woman was cooking meat, and there were pieces of his daughter's clothes on the ground. After fighting for a while, the protagonist subdued the old woman, and found that there were bones under the old woman's bed. He was shocked and angry and immediately reported it to the police.
The protagonist began to flee with his family, but his eldest son starved to death on the road. He finally took a train to the provincial border, but was driven back by the local garrison, and encountered human traffickers on the way.
The protagonist wants to sell his wife to prevent her from starving to death. The wife also wants to sell herself to get some food for her husband and eldest daughter.
During the transaction, the wife said: "Your pants are torn, wear mine."
The protagonist puts on his wife's pants, the couple hugs each other and cries, and then they say goodbye forever.
The protagonist continued to escape with his eldest daughter who was 6 years old, and came to a county town. In the middle of the night, he felt someone pushing him in his sleep. He immediately opened his eyes and asked: "What are you doing?"
"He's not dead yet, go look elsewhere." The man said to his accomplices.
The protagonist vaguely saw those people carrying corpses under the moonlight, and was so frightened that he held his daughter and shivered.
The next morning, the protagonist took his daughter to beg for food in the city, and followed a man in a suit who was eating steamed buns and begging hard.
The gentleman suddenly stood up and shouted in horror: "Boss, why are there nails in your buns?"
A few days later, the eldest daughter starved to death. The protagonist could no longer dig a hole to bury her, so he had to drag her to a secret place to hide. He saw an elm tree there that had not been completely peeled, and immediately hugged the trunk and gnawed it.
Chewing heavily, I finally had another uncomfortable day.
At night, the protagonist discovered that someone was quietly moving the road to dump the corpse. He followed him out of curiosity and asked, "How much can the corpse be sold for?"
The other party replied: "Children are the most expensive, followed by adults. Old people don't want it, and stale ones don't want it either."
As a result, the protagonist became a corpse mover. He stared at the dying people like a vulture every day, and at night he dragged the corpse to the market to exchange for food rations.
The darkest part of the novel is the description of the human market.
Everywhere else is dilapidated and depressing, and the land is full of people hungry, but the human market is still bustling. The people there are talking and laughing, full of energy, and everyone is friendly and kind, and even help each other with small things, just like a paradise.
The protagonist also regained his complexion, his skin became rosy, and he even picked up a hungry refugee woman to be his wife.
The novel ends amidst the bustle and laughter in the market. The protagonist, wearing a pair of obviously ill-fitting trousers, carries millet and walks towards his new wife who is waiting for him.
"Mingcheng really... dares to write." Ba Jin wiped his sweat and said.
Luo Binji smiled bitterly and said: "Once this novel is published, Fei Gong will cease publication. Should I find a job in advance?"
"It's time to find a job again," Ba Jin helplessly shook his head. "This novella has about 70,000 to 80,000 words, and it will definitely not be finished in one issue. Anyway, it is the last issue. I suggest that the number of pages in the magazine be increased, and "Human Market" must be included.
"All published."
"That's the only way." Luo Binji said.
Ba Jin flipped through the manuscript of the novel again and repeatedly read the description of the human market in the second half. The human market was like a paradise, so prosperous, so noisy, so joyful, so kind and loving, so... creepy.
Ba Jin felt that he would definitely not be able to sleep tonight.