Ghostwriting Life

Cheng Wangchuan is dead. This old writer famous for "Into the Wild" is highly respected in the literary world. When his assistant Ji Tan was sorting out his belongings, he found a navy blue notebook at the bottom of the drawer in his study - a diary of a female worker from 1983, signed by Su Qing. The diary writes about broken lamps in the workshop, repetitive hands on the assembly line, and dreams of the wind blowing through the wheat fields in the wilderness. Ji Tan made a comparison and discovered that the passages in "Into the Wilderness" that were highly praised by critics were copied almost intact from this diary. The last article was written in the autumn of 1985: "I gave the diary to the reporter. He said he could write it out for me. I didn't know whether to believe him or not." That reporter is Cheng Wangchuan. Nearly forty years later, Ji Tan found Su Qing in a shantytown. The factory closed down, her marriage was broken up, and her only son died early. This woman's life was crushed to pieces. She handed over the diary, thinking that the words would be seen, but even her name was erased. Now that Cheng Wangchuan's commemorative edition is about to be published, Su Qing's time is running out. She wanted nothing but a name. Ji Tan decided to seek justice for her. A story about silence and speaking out, stealing and repayment. Some voices are forty years late, but they must be heard.