Back to 80: My Literary Life

Li Li followed Fang Minghua to the second floor and came to his study room. She sat at the table next to his computer and switched to the home page of the document.

""Hello! Mr. Tree"? Brother-in-law, the name of your novel is so strange. Is it a comedy novel?"

"How about some coffee or tea? I'll make it for you." Fang Minghua asked.

"No, brother-in-law, you go about your business."

"Okay, I'll go down and see the two kids to prevent the little ones from causing trouble," Fang Minghua said.

"OK."

Fang Minghua turned around and left the study and returned to the living room on the first floor. He watched TV with them for a while, and then was pestered by the children to tell stories and play games until the two children were satisfied.

Before Li Li came down, Fang Minghua looked at the clock on the wall. It was already five o'clock in the afternoon, and he was ready to cook.

The two children have gone home, and they can't make do with instant noodles like they sometimes do by themselves, not to mention that Li Li is still here.

I went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. There were meat and vegetables inside, but the meat was still in the freezer and had not been defrosted.

But it doesn't matter. When Song Tangtang came back from her trip to the United States last year, she bought a microwave oven made by Siemens in Germany at a foreign exchange store, and it had a good defrosting effect.

Fang Minghua put a piece of pork on a plate and defrosted it in the microwave, then washed rice, cooked, washed vegetables, and started busy in the kitchen.

After a while, the kitchen door was pushed open and Li Li walked in. Fang Minghua noticed that her eyes were a little red.

"Have you finished reading?"

"Well, brother-in-law, you lied to me! It's not a comedy at all, it's a tragedy!" Li Li said.

"Haha." Fang Minghua laughed, but did not stop. He put the washed celery on the chopping board and picked up the kitchen knife to cut it. He also said: "It depends on personal understanding. Of course, you understand it well." ”

"Brother-in-law, let me cut it." The girl said proactively.

"Can you chop vegetables?"

"Yes, I often cook by myself in the United States, making our Chinese food, and Demi even praises me." Li Li washed her hands and picked up the kitchen knife.

Fang Minghua couldn't help but remember that Li Li came to his house as a guest a few years ago and poured oil on the bowl of noodles he ordered.

The noodles are so thick.

Fang Minghua will never forget this meal of fried noodles.

But today, Li Li's performance was a bit beyond Fang Minghua's expectations.

You are very familiar with chopping vegetables.

It seems that I did practice in the United States.

The girl was helping to cut vegetables, and Fang Minghua was not idle either. He washed the thawed pork, cut it into shreds, and then rubbed it with oil. The two of them got busy in the kitchen.

Of course I can’t forget to talk about literature.

"Brother-in-law, I found that you now like to write stories about little people in reality." Li Li said.

"Um?"

"After I came back, I read "Yanhe" and saw the article "Textile Girl" written by you, and this article "Hello! Mr. Tree". One is about the city and the other is about the countryside. They are all real life. The little and medium-sized characters, their joys and sorrows, their joys and sorrows, their fates are really pitiful.”

"Because, in reality, most of them are small people. If we don't write about them, who would we write about? Some writers like to write about history and the past, but I now feel that writing about the present has more practical significance."

"But what you wrote is so sad and miserable. I guess some people will be unhappy after reading it."

Fang Minghua laughed after hearing this: "But this is reality, and reality is even crueler than fiction. You can't always whitewash it, right?"

"Well, brother-in-law, I admire you more and more. You really look like the American Mark Twain."

"No, no, I heard that Mark Twain was a failed investor. I don't want to be like him." Fang Minghua joked upon hearing this.

This sentence made Li Li laugh.

Mark Twain was indeed a great writer, but he was a very failed investor. All the money he earned from writing novels was invested. As a result, he lost all his money and was in debt.

"Brother-in-law, you are not like Mark Twain, you are like Marquez! You have mastered the magical realism writing techniques in this novel, and I also saw the shadow of Mr. K in Kafka's "The Castle". Brother-in-law, you are really That’s awesome!”

"Okay, okay, stop praising me, I won't be able to find you if you praise me any more." Fang Minghua said with a smile.

"Brother-in-law, hurry up and finish writing. I will translate it into English for you right away, as well as your article "Textile Girl"!" Li Li said.

"OK."

The two talked about Li Li's life in San Francisco and the translation of novels by a group of like-minded people.

Fang Minghua found that she was quite happy living in the United States.

I want to ask about her and her husband's situation, but when I think about her husband being gay, what's there to ask? Make other girls unhappy.

We had dinner together at home in the evening. After that, Li Li played with her two children for a while and then she was about to say goodbye and go home.

Ruirui was unwilling and yelled at Li Li to sleep with her at night.

There was no problem sleeping with the little girl, but her cousin Song Tangtang was not at home. If word got out that she would spend the night here, there would inevitably be gossip, so Li Li refused with a smile.

The little girl was a little unhappy.

Fang Minghua had no choice but to coax her and tell her that he would take her and her brother to the zoo tomorrow. The little girl became happy and made another request:

"I want my aunt to go see giant pandas with us!"

"Okay, my aunt will come with me tomorrow." Li Li said.

The little girl became happy now.

The next morning at around eight o'clock, Li Li arrived at Fang Minghua's courtyard on time. Fang Minghua drove to the zoo with the two children and Li Li. They played for most of the day before returning. After Li Li returned home, Fang Minghua sent the two children to her parents-in-law and returned to continue her writing.

Two days later, his wife Song Tangtang finally returned from Shandong Province.

A short separation is better than a new marriage. There is no need to elaborate on the intimacy between the couple. After a burst of passion, the two lay on the bed, and Fang Minghua talked about some of her situations at home.

"Lili is back? I'll go to visit her tomorrow." Song Tangtang was very happy to hear this and said immediately.

"Hey, aren't you going to see the two kids? They miss their mother."

"Simple, I'll drive to my parents' house to pick up the two kids tomorrow, and then go to my second aunt's house together." Song Tangtang suddenly realized something was wrong after saying this.

"No, my second aunt is looking forward to having a grandchild every day, but Lili is in this situation now. If I take the two kids there, it will be a nuisance to my second aunt."

"Okay, you go to see Lili, I will go to your parents' house tomorrow to pick up the two kids." Fang Minghua said.

"Forget it, go to see Lili the day after tomorrow, I will pick up the kids tomorrow, and I still have to visit my parents."

"Okay."

"Minghua, what do you think we should do with Lili's current situation? When I went to the United States last year, Lili told me that she likes children very much. If she doesn't want them, it will be difficult for her to have them in a few years when she is older."

Song Tangtang thought of her cousin and began to worry again.

"It's simple, divorce that gay, find a new man to marry and have children. With Lili's looks and status, can't she find one?" Fang Minghua asked back.

"But, that depends on Lili's own preference." Song Tangtang sighed faintly.

"There's nothing we can do about it."

Song Tangtang glanced at Fang Minghua and said nothing more.

They got up, took a shower, and put on their clothes. Song Tangtang wanted to read the novel written by Fang Minghua again, and Fang Minghua agreed.