In October 2013, I received a call from the editor of "Youth Literature and Art" and learned that my short story "A Bar is also a Bar" won the "Chen Bochui Children's Literature Award" Outstanding Work Award that year, and I was going to attend the award ceremony in mid-November. This news made me a little confused, not overwhelmed by joy - the sudden good news was certainly "fluttering", but the most important thing was that at that moment, I found that I was really related to the name "Chen Bochui". For my personal upbringing, this "re-encounter" with Elder Chen was not only wonderful, but also of great significance.
Why is it "re-encounter"? I had to start with a school-wide ceremony in my fifth grade. At that time, I was studying at Luoyang Primary School in Baoshan District, located in Luodian Town, Baoshan District, which was founded in 1905 and trained many great predecessors. One day, the teacher solemnly told us that Grandpa Chen Bochui was going back to his alma mater to see. We are all excited, everyone knows that Chen Bochui is a very famous writer, he is Luoyang Primary School out of the way, is our alumni! At that time, my knowledge of the title "writer" was limited to the name of the square printed on the cover of the book or in front of the inner page of the work. I felt so distant, so sacred. The long names on the covers of foreign novels in my uncle's bookcase were particularly unfamiliar, and the authors of domestic original children's novels were a little more affectionate, but for me, who was still sitting at the writing desk and biting the pencil head to compose small compositions, it was still out of reach. In this way, Mr. Chen Bochui will be the first great writer in my life to see "up close", so of course I am very excited to think about it.
One day in May 1989, mr. Lao really came to Luoyang Primary School, and he returned to his alma mater to donate books. The school held a grand book donation ceremony on the playground. At that moment, as one of the more than a thousand elementary school students on the playground, I tiptoed and desperately lifted my neck, and I could only see the vague figure of an old man on the podium. I was a little frustrated, and even envied the drum and trumpet players under the podium. After the ceremony, we returned to the classroom in a group, and heard that Mr. Chen lao did not leave immediately. A voice in my heart said, "Hurry up and find him!" But he quickly dispelled the idea. Even if I see the old gentleman, what should I say? "Grandpa Chen, hello! I am a schoolboy and I like to write essays the most! "Ah, that's funny—in my childish mind at the time, I thought that seeing a great writer always had to have a little bit of talent to get his hands on... Let's say you're at least like a drummer under the podium!
At that time, "becoming a writer" was a luxury for me. But many times, when flipping through favorite books, or excerpting witty sentences from encounters, I think of myself who once stood in the playground crowd tiptoeing, looking for a big writer with curious and eager eyes, and I couldn't help but think: If I can publish my work one day, will I be closer to the writer?
Feng & Lan represents works
Now that I think about it, the seeds planted in my heart as a child are warm, expectant, yearning for literature, and regretful... They all become the inner force that grows upwards. Unconsciously, I was pulled by them and walked slowly and firmly in the direction of children's literature creation. If it is a lovely coincidence that I "met" Mr. Chen Bochui in my childhood, then when I became an adult, I was fortunate to win the 25th Chen Bochui Children's Literature Award for Outstanding Works, which is a great encouragement for me to "change tracks" after the age of 30 to start children's literature creation. Maybe fate is like this, seemingly unconscious, but in fact, it has long been laid, and everything comes from the echoes of childhood. (Feng & Lan)