Back to 80: My Literary Life

Fang Minghua saw an advertisement for a pager at the entrance of the telecommunications bureau:

"Call me if you have any questions!"

It is indeed the frontier of reform and opening up.

Fang Minghua sighed in his heart. He had not noticed the pager business in Xijing. Perhaps it has been launched but the audience is small.

Walking further and turning into Binhai Avenue, Fang Minghua remembered that it was still a farmland when he came here at the beginning of last year, but now it has become a construction site, with buildings rising from the ground, and more are fenced but undeveloped wastelands.

A real estate feast in Hainan is about to begin.

After a long walk, Fang Minghua drove on Haifu Road, the most prosperous street in Haikou, and suddenly heard a recorded loudspeaker voice from a newsstand on the roadside:

"Big news, big news! "Hainan Documentary" is about to cease publication, and now the last issue will be out of print! Everyone hurry up and buy it, the opportunity will not come again!"

"Hainan Documentary" has ceased publication? !

Isn't this a magazine founded by Han Shaogong when he came to Hainan at the beginning of last year? Why did it cease publication so soon?

After Fang Minghua pulled over, he got off the car and bought a copy at the newsstand.

Sure enough, there was a farewell notice in the newspaper. 20 newspaper staff members, including Han Shaogong, bid farewell to the readers and expressed sincere gratitude to the authors and collaborators who cared, helped and understood us in the past days.

Fang Minghua sighed after reading it.

Han Shaogong's Hainan dream was shattered.

Fang Minghua took the newspaper back to the car and returned to the hotel.

I watched TV in the hotel and went to sleep. After breakfast the next morning, he dialed the phone number of Shu Bin's office in the hotel room.

"I am Shu Bin, who are you?" Mandarin with a strong Hunan accent came from the microphone.

"Hello, Director Shu, I am Fang Minghua from the Qin Province Writers Association."

"Chairman Fang." Shu Bin's tone became obviously enthusiastic: "Are you in Hainan?"

"Yes, I am living in Haikou Wanghai Tower now. Are you free tonight? I want to invite you to dinner alone, just at Wanghai Tower."

Ask me alone?

Shu Bin hesitated, but still agreed.

"Well, I'll come after get off work."

"Okay, I'll call you after I book a private room, bye!"

After hanging up the phone, Fang Minghua crossed his legs and picked up the Hainan Documentary magazine he bought at the newsstand last night.

"Minutes of Soviet Political Reform"

"In May, the airport lost its red carpet"

The title alone is eye-catching.

No wonder the magazine was discontinued. In the words of later generations, some of the content was madly testing the edge of 404.

Fang Minghua shook his head, put down the newspaper, picked up the Longjing tea he brought from home on the coffee table, and drank it leisurely.

At Hainan Publishing House, Shu Bin sat at his desk, thinking about the call from Fang Minghua just now.

Although Fang Minghua only said on the phone that he wanted to have a meal and reminisce about the past.

But the two had only met once and had never contacted each other before. What was there to talk about?

Shu Bin had already vaguely guessed Fang Minghua's intention.

It is said that Fang Minghua has a close relationship with Zhao Hongjun of Shengshi Book Publishing Company. At the beginning of last year, Zhao Hongjun invited Fang Minghua to Wanghailou for dinner.

Moreover, Zhao Hongjun had specially visited him two months ago.

He thought about it, opened the drawer and took out a book in traditional Chinese characters, "A Different Interpretation of the Analects" - a work by Nan Huaijin, and put it in his briefcase.

Maybe it will be useful.

It was still quite hot in Haikou in September, and it was said that a typhoon was coming soon, so Fang Minghua did not run around, but stayed in the room, watching TV or something.

Turning to CCTV, I didn't expect to see Zhao Hongjun in a suit and leather shoes talking to the camera, talking about donating money to repair a school in Baiyin Bandeng Village, Gansu Province.

Talking about corporate social responsibility, of course, he would not forget to publicize the Hope Project of the Youth Development Foundation, which had just been established. He called on responsible entrepreneurs in the whole society to donate money.

Finally, he quoted a very popular slogan of this era.

"No matter how poor you are, you can't be poor in education, and no matter how hard it is, you can't make children suffer!"

He has a good image and an entrepreneurial style.

Fang Minghua smiled as she watched Zhao Hongjun on TV.

Also, Yu Longhai and his team tried their best to promote the Hope Project, and even used CCTV!

Of course, the effect must be good.

After watching for a while, Fang Minghua looked at his watch and saw that it was already five minutes after six in the afternoon, so he left the room and went to the private room on the second floor that had been reserved.

More than ten minutes later, there was a knock on the door, and a waitress in a cheongsam walked in with a middle-aged man, who was Shu Bin.

"Director Shu."

"Chairman Fang."

After shaking hands, the two sat down.

The dishes were ready, and there was not much for two people, but they were very delicate, including Hele crab, coconut chicken, and a Hunan dish - Mao's braised pork.

The wine was directly Maotai.

The two chatted while eating.

"Chairman Fang, I heard that you resigned from the position of editor-in-chief of "Yanhe"?" Shu Bin asked.

"Yes, I didn't renew my contract when it expired, and I wanted to be free for a while and write something." Fang Minghua smiled and poured a glass of wine for the other party.

"I saw on the street yesterday that the Hainan Chronicles, run by Chairman Han, has stopped publishing?"

"Yes. Some things are really frustrating." Shu Bin said with regret: "Now the young workers are just like you, preparing to go back to their desks and write again."

"Oh, it's really not easy to do things now."

"It's not easy. I originally thought that Hainan was a special economic zone, with more flexible policies than the mainland, and that I could do a lot of work, but it was not what I imagined."

Shu Bin shook his head, picked up the wine glass and drank it in one gulp.

"Haha, Director Shu, it might be better to change the place. As the saying goes, a good tree will die if you move it, but a person will live if you move it." Fang Minghua said while filling the cup.

This word?

Is there something in the words?

Shu Bin clearly felt it, but he didn't answer.

The two chatted for a while, and after finishing most of the bottle of Maotai, Fang Minghua said.

"Director Su, I came to Haikou this time on the entrustment of my friend, Zhao Hongjun, whom I believe you also know."

"We know each other. Mr. Zhao and I drank together in the past two months." Su Bin replied with a smile.

"I heard the Red Army talk about this. He invited me to be the manager of Haikou Shengshi Book Publishing Company, but you declined."

"Yes, I am not capable enough to take on the role."

"Director Shu, we are also friends, so we won't beat around the bush. Your refusal of this position is certainly not due to lack of ability. We all know that you still want to make a career in the publishing industry." Fang Minghua said with a smile.

"But this year, the domestic situation has undergone tremendous changes, and national policies will gradually tighten. According to your original idea, I think it will be more difficult to make a career in Hainan Publishing House."

After listening to Fang Minghua's words, Shu Bin's face showed a trace of pain.

"But Shengshi Books can. If you take this position, you will have great power. Mr. Zhao's focus is still on Xijing. You have the final say here. And you can rest assured that we will not repeat the mistakes of "Hainan Chronicles"."

"Why? You are privately owned and you don't even have a book number!"

Shu Bin's words were a bit aggressive, but Fang Minghua smiled lightly after hearing them.

"You don't have to worry about the book number issue at all. Even if there is no Hainan Publishing House, we will find other publishing houses to cooperate with us. The most important thing is that we are not involved in politics."

Fang Minghua's words were so meaningful that Shu Bin couldn't tell.

Didn't "Hainan Chronicle" make this mistake?

"But, you will only publish books with no literary value such as "Female Leader", "Ghost Blows Out the Lamp" and romance and martial arts books!" Shu Bin said with a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

Damn it!

This is heartbreaking.

However, Fang Minghua was not angry.

"Director Shu, what you said is biased. Haven't we published books like "The Ordinary World" and "Norwegian Wood" that have both literary value and economic benefits?"

Shu Bin couldn't deny this.

I never expected that a private publishing house would have such a vision!

This is what he admires most.

Shu Bin held the wine glass and fell into deep thought.

Fang Minghua was not in a hurry and ate the food slowly.