Back to 80: My Literary Life

Of course, I took a plane from Yanjing.

There were no direct flights from Yanjing to Edinburgh, so I had to go to London first.

Fang Minghua took Cathay Pacific, which took off at 4:30 pm, transferred to Hong Kong, stopped for more than an hour and then continued to fly. After a long journey of 20 hours, he arrived at London Heathrow Airport at 5 am.

Fang Minghua was not in a hurry to get on the road, but took the airport bus to London and stayed in the booked Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

This is a five-star hotel located in Hyde Park. Surrounded by famous buildings such as Trafalgar Square, the British Museum, the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, the hotel garden is only one street away from the Royal Patrol Horse Guards. Every day at breakfast time, British knights lined up and passed by.

Fang Minghua simply washed up and went to the Amber restaurant on the first floor of the hotel. He ordered an English breakfast, bacon, fried eggs, sausages, and a cup of English black tea to taste slowly.

Sure enough, I saw a team of soldiers wearing British classical costumes and riding tall horses coming slowly from the window, and people on both sides of the street were taking pictures with cameras.

In fact, it was just a guard of honor, which made it so mysterious.

After dinner, Fang Minghua went shopping alone with his luggage. It must be said that the geographical location of this hotel is quite good. Many famous attractions in Lunda are concentrated nearby, and you can basically see them all in one day.

In the afternoon, Fang Minghua stayed in the British Museum for a while. The museum is very large and it is estimated that it will take more than an afternoon to see it all. The Chinese exhibition hall (China Pavilion) alone occupies several halls. Looking at these familiar things, Fang Minghua couldn't help complaining in his heart.

This is really shameless. The cultural relics stolen and robbed from China are placed here openly.

Fang Minghua suddenly remembered the tens of thousands of calligraphy and paintings he had privately collected. Although the artistic value cannot be compared with these cultural relics, according to the latest prices of Christie's auction house in Hong Kong, it is estimated that they are worth more than ten billion, right?

Since the 1990s, the prices of celebrity paintings and calligraphy have been rising in Hong Kong. I heard that a four-screen painting of Zhang Daqian, "Lotus", was sold at Christie's last year for 8.29 million Hong Kong dollars!

In history, these tens of thousands of paintings and calligraphy seemed to have been bought by some overseas Chinese and taken abroad for auction, and scattered all over the world.

Fortunately, I got it by myself.

In fact, these paintings and calligraphy are not for sale. No matter how much they are worth, I am not short of money. In two years, I can set up a private museum like Ma Weidu, but I don't need to charge admission, and everyone can visit for free.

Fang Minghua stayed in London for a day and went to Edinburgh the next morning, naturally by train.

As long as there is no emergency, Fang Minghua likes to take the train.

Unlike Americans, British people like to take the train. The east coast line from London to Edinburgh is known as the most beautiful east coast line.

The starting point of the east coast line is King's Cross Station in London, and the end point is Waverley Station in Edinburgh. This route connects London and Yorkshire, northeast England and Scotland, and is a major transportation artery in the east of the British Isles.

Fang Minghua got on the train and found his seat, but he didn't expect it to be occupied by a British girl, who looked like a middle school student. There were also girls of her age around her, chattering.

After communicating, I learned that they were all together, preparing to go to Edinburgh to attend the Book Art Festival, and wanted to sit together. I hope Fang Minghua can change seats. The girl who occupied her seat pointed to a seat in a row behind the next side, a little shy.

This is possible.

Fang Minghua agreed very happily.

For him, it doesn't matter where he sits.

"Thank you." The girl hurriedly thanked him.

"You're welcome." Fang Minghua glanced at the girl. She was not very pretty, with two braids and a few freckles on her nose.

But she still looked quite pleasing to the eye.

Girls of this age, as long as they are not too ugly, look more comfortable.

Youth is a kind of beauty.

Fang Minghua came to her seat, put down her travel bag and began to look at the scenery outside.

After leaving London, looking around, the fields were also full of golden rapeseed flowers, which looked similar to the Tianhan area and pleasing to the eye.

However, there were more villages in Tianhan than here.

It took nearly five hours and almost noon to arrive in Edinburgh, and finally stayed at the Royal Mile Hotel.

In fact, whether in London or Edinburgh, the hotels Fang Minghua stayed in were all contacted by Li Li. Now that the domestic Internet has just started, the specific information of these hotels cannot be found on the Internet for the time being.

Li Li has been to these places, and it is much more convenient to learn about British hotels in the United States than in mainland China.

After Fang Minghua moved in, she felt that the hotel was really good, located on the historic Royal Mile.

The vibrant colorful furniture, fluffy carpets and velvet curtains in the room made people feel very comfortable.

Standing by the window, you can see the castles in Edinburgh.

At lunch, a young woman in her thirties named Lucy came and introduced herself as a staff member of the marketing department of Heinemann Publishing House, who was specifically responsible for Fang Minghua's trip to Edinburgh.

Unlike the fiery passion of American women, Lucy also had flaming red lips and wore a black suit, with a hint of dignity in her faint smile.

After a brief self-introduction, she took out a document from her bag and handed it to Fang Minghua, which stated the arrangements for participating in the Edinburgh Book Festival.

In fact, Fang Minghua had seen all these things in the email, but this time it was specific to a certain time.

However, the schedule had one more item than the email: dinner with famous British writer James Coleman.

Seeing Fang Minghua's slightly surprised look, Lucy explained: "James Coleman is a famous writer in our country. He heard that you were coming to Edinburgh and wanted to meet you. He said that you are good friends."

"Yes, we are friends." Fang Minghua said with a smile.

I met James Coleman in 1994 when I participated in the Trega Literary Award in Nevento, Italy. At that time, James Coleman was shortlisted for his work "Too Late" which had just won the British Booker Prize, but he lost to Fang Minghua's "Skywalker".

Since then, the two have known each other. In 1995, this "Too Late" was shortlisted for the second World Chinese Literature Award. James Coleman went to Xijing and Fang Minghua specially received him.

So the two are friends.

In this case, it's up to you.

Lunch was settled in the hotel. Lucy accompanied Fang Minghua to taste typical Scottish dishes: Cullen haddock soup and haggis, known as the national dish of Scotland, which is made from sheep offal, oats, onions and spices, served with mashed potatoes and radishes, and the aroma was overflowing.

Fang Minghua felt that it was like a Northeastern hotpot no matter how he ate it.

After dinner, Lucy wanted to accompany Fang Minghua to visit Edinburgh, but he declined.

He just knew English and took a local map. He liked to be free and easy with a backpack on his back.