Back to 80: My Literary Life

Chen Zhongshi followed Fang Minghua, put the filled snakeskin bags in the trunk of the car, and then got in the car.

The car drove towards Yuxiangmen. Fang Minghua chatted with Chen Zhongshi while driving.

"Teacher Chen, have you finished writing your novel?"

"It's finished."

"It's over? So soon?" Fang Minghua was surprised.

He vaguely remembered that "White Deer Plain" was first published in 1993. It was only 1989 and it was finished?

Chen Zhongshi said: "The first draft is only after it is finished. In fact, it is still just a show. It is still early for the official completion. After the New Year, I will prepare to revise and start the second draft."

I see!

Fang Minghua understood, and he suddenly became interested: "Teacher Chen, can you let me appreciate your first draft?"

Unexpectedly, Chen Zhongshi refused.

"Minghua, it's not that I won't show it to you. I won't show it to anyone until I finish writing it. Why? It's like us Guanzhong people steaming buns. When the buns are halfway steamed, what are you most afraid of? We're most afraid of taking off the lid. ! Because as soon as the lid of the pot is lifted, the air is released, so the steamed buns are cooked."

Chen Zhongshi's metaphor immediately made Fang Minghua laugh.

"It makes sense. I'm just curious. OK, I'll read it after you finish it."

Chen Zhongshi was in a good mood today. When talking about his novel, he smiled and said, "I won't talk about the content. I can tell you interesting things about writing this novel."

"What's the fun story?"

"In order to collect materials, I visited Lantian, Chang'an, Xianning and other places to do humanistic research. This summer, probably in April, I made a special trip to pay homage to Niu Zhaolian's tomb in Sanli Town, Lantian. Do you know Niu Zhaolian?"

"I have heard that he was the last master of the "Guanzhong School" in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. He was respected as the "Guanzhong Great Confucian" and "the only person in Guanzhong after Hengqu."

"Yes, that's him!"

"I admired his knowledge very much. After paying homage to him, I returned to my hometown and started writing formally. I wrote the first sentence of the novel on the manuscript paper: Bai Jiaxuan later boasted that he married seven women in his life. ”

"Did you borrow this beginning from the first sentence of "One Hundred Years of Solitude" written by Marquez: Many years later, facing the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia will remember that his father took him to That distant afternoon when I was looking at ice cubes." Fang Minghua asked.

"Yes, that's right." Chen Zhongshi did not deny it.

"I like this book, and to tell you the truth, I also borrowed some of his writing techniques in the novel."

"Magical Realism?"

"Yes, it's the magical realism you talked about a few years ago, and I'm starting to follow the trend, haha."

"Coincidentally, Lu Yao's recent novella, submitted for "Yanhe", also used magical realism writing techniques." Fang Minghua said.

"Oh, he's not stubborn anymore? Hahaha." Chen Zhongshi laughed after hearing this.

The two chatted and laughed, and the car soon arrived at Yuxiangmen Bus Station. Fang Minghua put Chen Zhongshi on the minibus bound for Bailuyuan and waved.

"Teacher Chen, I would like to wish you a happy birthday. Hurry up and finish writing. When spring comes, we will go to you to play cards and drink."

"Okay."

As expected, people feel refreshed when happy events occur.

Perhaps, after completing the first draft of "White Deer Plain", Chen Zhongshi felt relaxed.

Fang Minghua thought this way.

The Spring Festival arrived in 1989. On this day, Fang Minghua, his wife and their two children returned to their parents' house early. They steamed buns, made dumplings, and made the "Eight Great Bowls of Guanzhong" together, and the family was full of laughter.

After the New Year's Eve dinner, in addition to watching the Spring Festival Gala, there is another activity tonight, taking the children to the yard downstairs to set off cannons.

There is no prohibition policy these days, and the whole Xijing City is now filled with crackling sounds. The two children are only two years old, but they are also very interested in this stuff.

Fang Minghua discovered that Tiantian, as an elder brother, was not as courageous as his sister Ruirui. The little girl bravely lit the firecrackers on the ground with a stick of incense, while the elder brother stood far away with his hands covering his ears.

Why.

This girl just follows her mother.

It was only after Fang Minghua got married that he learned that Song Tangtang was very naughty and mischievous when he was young, and was definitely not the elegant and cool person he is now.

The 1989 Spring Festival Gala was the last Spring Festival Gala in the 1980s. Mainland pop culture had already taken off, the Hong Kong and Taiwan music scene ushered in the "golden decade", and the period of comprehensive development of TV programs was slowly coming.

The 1989 Spring Festival Gala was a concentrated review of these cultural phenomena of the 1980s, tapping the pulse of the times at the end of the year and welcoming the arrival of the new decade.

But for the songs of this Spring Festival Gala, Fang Minghua feels that they are not as eye-catching as the previous ones, such as "The Moon A Thousand Miles Away", "Love in the Heart", "Grandma's Penghu Bay" and "Follow the Feeling".

It seems that it is not as popular as "A Fire in the Winter" sung by Fei Xiang in 1987. After all, Hong Kong and Taiwan music is played in the streets now, so it is not surprising.

On the first day of junior high school, a family of four took their parents to drive around the city for a day. On the second day of junior high school, it was the day when the daughter-in-law returned to her parents' home. Since it was the first time for younger sister Fang Mingli and son-in-law Li Jianjun to return home, Fang Minghua and Song Tangtang discussed it. I stayed at home on the second day of the lunar month, and returned to my father-in-law's house on the third day of the lunar month.

This is a big event. Fang Minghua's family and his sister Fang Mingmei's family are back, making it extremely lively.

My younger sister Fang Mingli was wearing a red woolen coat, which was less youthful than before and more mature than before. Liu Jianjun was wearing a blue suit and tie.

This is fashionable these days.

Of course, both of them were carrying large and small bags of gifts.

"You're back, why are you carrying so many things? Why spend so much money? Your salary is not high." Mother Zhang Fenglan happily accepted the gifts brought by her son-in-law and daughter while complaining.

The two daughters and daughter-in-law Song Tangtang went to the kitchen to help cook, and several men sat on the sofa in the living room to chat, and the children stared at the TV - "Journey to the West" was playing.

"Jianjun, are you busy at work?" Fang Minghua asked casually.

"Not busy."

"Not busy? No overtime?" Fang Minghua remembered that his sister often worked overtime at the company before she got married?

"Now the military industry enterprises are not profitable, the funds allocated by the state are limited, and many scientific research projects cannot be carried out. Working hours are enough, why do we need to work overtime?" Liu Jianjun explained.

"Hey, Jianjun, how much can you get in a month?" The eldest son-in-law asked the younger son-in-law with some curiosity.

"183 yuan."

"Are there any bonuses?"

"No."

"Then your unit's salary is really low, not as high as the salary of my apprentices in the workshop. You are a graduate student, why is your salary so low?"

"No way, the unit's performance is not good." Liu Jianjun smiled bitterly.

"The country is really, it's hard to cultivate talents with such high academic qualifications like you, but they don't give high salaries." The eldest son-in-law couldn't help shaking his head.

The eldest son-in-law is called Chen Yaoming, a worker at the No. 6 National Cotton Mill, and now the team leader of the workshop.

Fang Minghua didn't speak.

Your cotton mill is now at its most glorious moment, but it will soon go downhill!

But the performance of military enterprises is too low, right?

But it seems that it hasn't reached the worst time yet.