Back to 80: My Literary Life

Fang Minghua stayed at the foot of the mountain for three days before leaving.

During these three days, in addition to Ke Bing, Fang Minghua also interviewed some other young employees, including a technician who had just joined the factory last year.

Unlike Ke Bing and his generation, who came to Factory 182 for work assigned by the state, this young man named Wang Dong graduated from Xijing University of Electronic Science and Technology and came here during the campus recruitment.

"Are you satisfied with your current living and working conditions?" Fang Minghua asked.

"To be honest, I'm not satisfied. What I said during the recruitment was too far from the reality. I feel like I was deceived to come here."

Wang Dong's frankness made the other young people laugh.

"However, the factory is working on the early warning aircraft project. I think staying here still has a future." Wang Dong added at the end.

On the train back to Xijing, there were caves outside and caves, and the light inside the car was also flickering. Fang Minghua thought of what he saw and heard in Factory 182 these days.

Whether it is the ideals and beliefs of the older generation Sun Yuanchao, the confusion and persistence of the middle-aged Ke Bing, or the hopes of the new generation Wang Dong, they all constitute the truest side of this third-line factory.

Factory 182 is a microcosm of the entire third-line enterprise and also a microcosm of an era.

There are very few literary works about third-line enterprises, and even fewer are famous. However, Jia Zhangke shot a film "Twenty-Four Cities" in the 2000s, which is relatively famous.

The main story line of the film revolves around three generations of "factory beauties" in a Sichuan aviation factory. Through the life experiences and emotional journeys of three generations of "factory beauties" in the 1960s, 1980s and now, it reflects the impact and experience of ordinary people brought by the development of cities and changes in living environment in China's urbanization process.

The film's perspective is relatively unique, and the shooting method is also unique, using a documentary and feature film double-film structure.

However, this shooting method has also attracted many criticisms: the combination of fiction and record boasted in the film is actually not new.

What's more serious is that the record and fiction are seriously disconnected, and the three generations of factory beauties played by professional actors are very embarrassing. Losing the flexibility and overall unity with the extras, playing with fire completely out of control.

What is even more criticized is the 24 cities in the name of this movie. Although the director believes that 24 is not only a landmark name, but also has different meanings such as 24 hours a day, the 24 traditional Chinese solar terms, and Du Fu's "24 cities of hibiscus, Jinguan has been prosperous since ancient times".

But what the audience saw was that he was nakedly advertising for this building called "24 Cities"!

However, as a novel, these situations do not exist, and Fang Minghua did not intend to write a documentary literature, but Chief Jia's narration from the perspective of three generations of factory beauties is very interesting.

This narrative perspective can be used as a reference.

The theme of this movie inherits the consistent Jia Zhangke-style questioning and reflection, with a strong sense of salvation and human care, and deeply points out the harm of the system to individuals. It is an anti-system!

Fang Minghua does not quite agree with this point or is not entirely right.

As a special period, taking such an approach has a certain objectivity. We cannot look at it from the perspective of future generations and just blame it.

Writing about this period of history, as the German artist Anselm Kiefer said: "I am not nostalgic, I want to remember."

Record this period of history through novels.

After returning to Xijing, Fang Minghua immediately started writing.

The name of the novel is based on the geographical environment of Factory 182, named "Up and Down the Mountain"

The first generation is from the perspective of General Liu's lover, the beautiful Fudan University student, who came from the big city to this remote mountain valley. The gap between ideals and reality brought her unforgettable past.

The second generation is Ke Bing's lover, the "second generation of the factory". At this time, it was already the 1980s, the factory's economic benefits declined sharply, diversion, layoffs. The pride of the working class also disappeared, and a series of family changes.

The third generation uses Wang Dong as the prototype, but becomes a female college student. Standing on the threshold of the new century, she looks at this factory that has long lost its glory, but it is pregnant with hope in decline. Where should she go?

The weather in April was sunny and windy, which was a good season for fishing. However, Fang Minghua stayed at home all day and wrote furiously, rarely going out, which surprised his fishing friends.

What kind of amazing article is this guy creating at home?

Let's see.

Today is the weekend. The two kids went to play at their classmates' houses, the wife went back to her parents' home to visit her parents, and the babysitter went shopping after finishing housework. Fang Minghua naturally didn't care about such things, and was alone at home quietly.

Fang Minghua was typing on the keyboard in the study room, and suddenly heard the doorbell microphone installed in the corridor on the second floor ring.

Is someone coming?

Fang Minghua was too lazy to answer, but the doorbell rang stubbornly.

Moreover, the old German Shepherd didn't bark?

Acquaintance?

This forced him to go downstairs, and when he opened the door at the gate of the yard, he saw Lu Yao, Jia Pingwa, and Bai Miao.

"What are you doing?" Fang Minghua was surprised.

"It's okay, just take a walk." Jia Pingwa said, and walked into the yard slowly with his hands behind his back.

"You didn't even call me. Aren't you worried that I'm not at home?" Fang Minghua followed up.

"We just wanted to launch a surprise attack. You didn't go fishing when I asked you to. Are you staying at home writing a masterpiece?"

"Oh, oh, oh, don't laugh at me. What masterpiece? Didn't everyone write something during the meeting at Tianhan? I've been busy with this recently."

"What's the content? Let's take a look." Bai Miao immediately became interested.

"No, the first draft is not finished yet." Fang Minghua refused: "But I can tell you the general content, it's about the third-line factory."

"Minghua, you went to Factory 182 during the meeting, and I heard that you stayed there for another week, so you came back to write this?" Bai Miao asked.

"Everyone, sit down, I'll pour you some tea." Fang Minghua greeted.

"Sit in the yard, the sun is nice." Lu Yao suggested.

"Okay."

The three of them moved out a small table and rattan chairs by themselves, Fang Minghua brewed a pot of Mingqian Longjing, and everyone drank tea and chatted in the yard.

"Minghua, are you suddenly interested in this kind of state-owned enterprise theme? Is it like the book "The Piano in a Factory" you wrote a few years ago?" Lu Yao asked.

"Not quite the same, that book mainly writes about the survival of laid-off workers after the enterprise restructuring, this one has a larger span, from the 1960s to the present, the theme is relatively positive." Fang Minghua suddenly became interested.

"I'll recite a poem for you."

After speaking, he cleared his throat and recited.

"I will stand on the high tower of the factory or on the steam drum room and sing loudly,

or play the cantabile andante on the piano keys like Tchaikovsky,

or write the cantabile andante on paper like Yu Xian..."

"Oh, it really has a taste of heavy industrial aesthetics." Bai Miao commented immediately.

"Hehe. How about we play a few hands?" Fang Minghua smiled and suddenly changed the subject.

"Play mahjong?"

"You three came together, are you really here to see what I write?!"

"Haha, Minghua knows us well. If we don't play a few hands today, how can we be worthy of this beautiful spring?!"

Soon, the sound of mahjong rang out in the small courtyard.

The days passed by so leisurely, and in a blink of an eye it was May. The novel was not finished yet, and Fang Minghua had to leave for Lanzhou because the award ceremony of the 4th World Chinese Literature Award was to be held there.