Back to 80: My Literary Life

These two days, he has been busy going to the train station or airport to pick up people, picking up judges from all over the country.

These are big names in the literary world, and they are all relatively old. Driving to pick them up is convenient and more importantly, a kind of etiquette.

In fact, he shouldn't do this personally, but people like Zhang Yanqian in the jury office don't know how to drive, and going there in person also shows respect.

This afternoon, he went to the airport to pick up the Taiwanese poet Yu Guangzhong.

Yu Guangzhong is not only a famous poet but also a famous essayist. Liang Shiqiu once commented: "Yu Guangzhong writes poems with his right hand and essays with his left hand. His achievements are unparalleled in the world."

Of course, in the mainland, his poems are mainly circulated.

"Homesickness", "Homesickness Four Rhymes", "Looking for Li Bai", etc. are widely circulated in the mainland.

In the waiting hall, Fang Minghua held a sign, and soon saw a white-haired old man, and there was a young man next to him - his student and assistant.

It should be him.

Before Fang Minghua came to this era, he had seen photos of Yu Guangzhong on the Internet. He was very thin.

He hurried over holding the sign, and the other party also saw him coming.

"You are Mr. Yu Guangzhong, right?" Fang Minghua took the initiative to speak.

"I am, who are you?"

"I am Fang Minghua, welcome, welcome." Fang Minghua stretched out his right hand.

The two held hands together.

"Mr. Fang, the young are awesome." Yu Guangzhong sighed: "At such a young age, you can organize such a big event and promote Chinese writing to the world. It's amazing!"

"No, Mr. Yu, this is to thank you for your support to our younger generation. You have worked hard all the way."

In this era, there was no "three links". Yu Guangzhong flew to Hong Kong first, then went through customs to Shenzhen and took a flight to Xijing.

After hearing Fang Minghua's words, Yu Guangzhong smiled heartily: "Going home is worth it no matter how hard it is!"

Fang Minghua certainly understood what he meant by this sentence.

He moved to Taiwan with his family in 1950 and has not been back for more than 40 years!

In the early 1970s, Yu Guangzhong, who had not returned to the mainland for more than 20 years, was homesick and wrote "Homesickness" in his old house on Xiamen Street in Taipei.

When I was a child

Homesickness is a small stamp

I am on this side

My mother is on the other side

There are four paragraphs in total, but it is said that Yu Guangzhong later added the fifth paragraph:

And in the future,

Homesickness is a long bridge,

I go to the other side,

You come to this side!

For more than 40 years, this poem has been widely circulated among Chinese people at home and abroad.

I followed Fang Minghua out of the terminal hall and got into an off-road vehicle to drive to the city.

In the car, Yu Guangzhong sat in the back seat and looked out the window at the busy traffic outside.

Fang Minghua drove the car and asked with a smile: "Mr. Yu, is this your first time in Xijing?"

"Yes, I was born in Nanjing. When I was young, I went to Jinling University, and then transferred to Xiamen University. I basically moved around Jiangnan and didn't come to Xijing. I didn't see that it was once the capital of the Tang Dynasty."

"But, Mr. Yu, you wrote poems about the Tang Dynasty a long time ago."

Fang Minghua sang the popular poem.

When the wine enters the heroic stomach, seven parts turn into moonlight

The remaining three parts whistle into sword energy

When the embroidered mouth spits out, it is half of the prosperous Tang Dynasty

From Kaiyuan to Tianbao, from Luoyang to Xianyang

Yu Guangzhong laughed: "The poem has arrived but the person has not, and now I have arrived! I must go to see the Terracotta Warriors and Huaqing Pool. Although I am old, my legs and feet are still strong. I must climb the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. I will ride my horse in the spring breeze and see all the flowers in Chang'an in one day!

It is indeed old and strong.

"Okay, I will accompany you to climb the Big Wild Goose Pagoda! "

As the two chatted, Yu Guangzhong suddenly changed the topic: "Mr. Fang, will Haizi, the author of the book "Haizi's Selected Short and Medium Poems", come to attend this literary award ceremony?"

It turned out that according to the arrangement of the judges' office, the final review meeting of the jury is expected to take ten days. After selecting the winning works of five major categories, they will not be published in the newspaper immediately.

Two days after the meeting, the first World Chinese Literature Award ceremony will be held. The authors of the 25 shortlisted works will be invited to attend the ceremony, and the award presenters will announce the winning results on the spot.

Haizi's selected poems have been shortlisted, so he is naturally invited.

Now, hearing Yu Guangzhong asking this, Fang Minghua's face darkened, and he said truthfully: "Haizi is not in good condition recently. Our office has not received a reply from him to attend the meeting. "

After that, Fang Minghua briefly explained Haizi's situation and that he was still receiving treatment in the hospital of Yanjing.

After hearing this, Yu Guangzhong repeatedly expressed regret: "This Mr. Haizi, his poems are full of romanticism, and they are easy to read. He is simply a genius in writing poems!"

"Mr. Yu, according to you, Haizi's poetry collection is better than Mr. Luo Fu's "Moonlight House"? "

"Haha, "Moonlight House" is of course not bad. It was rated as an excellent extracurricular reading material for primary and secondary school students in Taiwan. However, Luo Fu and I are old, lacking the passion of young people. Poetry conveys emotions and songs express aspirations! I don't think you can write good poems without passion." After Yu Guangzhong finished speaking, he added:

"Mr. Fang, this must not be heard by Luo Fu, he will chase me to my house to settle accounts with me." After speaking, he laughed.

"There is a chance! "Fang Minghua was secretly delighted.

Among the 13 judges, Yu Guangzhong was the only real poet, and he played a crucial role in which poetry collection would win the grand prize.

After sending Yu Guangzhong and his assistant to Tangcheng Hotel, Fang Minghua went downstairs to the front desk and made a phone call to Xichuan in Yanjing.

Naturally, he was asking about Haizi.

"Xichuan, can Haizi come to Yanjing to attend the award ceremony?" Fang Minghua asked directly without beating around the bush.

"I am communicating with Yihe's doctor in the hospital. The doctor said that his condition is basically under control and he is about to meet the discharge criteria. It's just that he has been a little depressed recently and doesn't want to eat. I don't know what he is thinking."

Fang Minghua sighed and said, "Why don't you come? Maybe seeing his favorite poems will make him feel better."

"Okay, so, I'll take a leave to accompany him to Yanjing, which is more appropriate."

"Okay, thank you for your hard work. Call me when you come and I'll pick you up."

"Okay, goodbye."

After hanging up the phone, Fang Minghua sighed softly.

Ever since Haizi was rescued from suicide and sent to a mental hospital, Fang Minghua has paid attention to this information.

Schizophrenia is a relatively difficult disease to cure and cannot be completely cured, but through timely diagnosis and treatment, about half of the patients can achieve clinical cure or basic cure, and restore their ability to work and take care of themselves.

I hope Haizi will recover soon.

Wang Meng, Feng Mu, Qian Zhongshu, Liu Yichang and others have arrived one after another, and literary superstars have gathered in Xijing.

On Monday, April 6, the final selection of the first World Chinese Literature Award kicked off.