Back to 80: My Literary Life

Fang Minghua doesn't think he is a romantic person at heart, but he is indeed interested in Zhai Yongming's tavern.

I guess after listening to Zhao Lei's song "Chengdu", people who like folk songs are interested in Chengdu, Yulin Road (actually there is no Yulin Road in Chengdu), and the taverns on Yulin Road.

So, he decided to go to Chengdu, cancel the plane ticket to Yanjing, and fly to Chengdu instead.

Song Tangtang and his team were doing the final road show for the listing of Shengshi Film and Television. They went to Huacheng. There were only Fang Minghua and the nanny at home. He told the nanny and flew to Chengdu the next day.

After arriving at Tianfu Airport in Chengdu, Fang Minghua took a taxi straight to the city and stayed at the Kempinski Hotel not far from Yulin Road. Then he called Zhai Yongming and told him that he had come to Chengdu to check into the hotel.

"You live in Kempinski? It's quite close to my Baiye Bistro. I'll come to pick you up." Zhai Yongming said.

"No, just tell me the specific address and I'll come over." Fang Minghua said.

"Okay, I'll also call Liu Jiakun and ask him to come over." After Zhai Yongming told the specific address of the bar, Fang Minghua went downstairs and left the hotel.

Fang Minghua was walking on Yulin West Road, surrounded by lush trees on both sides. Behind the green shade, there were one after another unique taverns.

He quickly found this tavern called "White Night".

This is an old courtyard that retains the four-pillar and three-mountain-style Western door head from the Republic of China period. There is an old rammed wall from the Qing Dynasty building in the courtyard, mixed with residual tiles from the Han Dynasty.

Fang Minghua went in and saw that the east and west wings of the house still had their original doors and windows. There are two loquat trees and a dead tree in the courtyard. Two or two ancient eucalyptus trees cover the sky and the sun, shrouding the white night in green shade.

The sun is setting now, and the entire courtyard is covered with a light golden color.

Fang Minghua walked through the courtyard and saw a woman on the bar in the main hall, it was Zhai Yongming.

Zhai Yongming was older than Fang Minghua. He had long curly hair and wore a plaid sweater. When he saw Fang Minghua coming in, he walked out of the bar and waved to him with a smile.

"The environment here is nice." Fang Minghua said with a smile as he looked at the surrounding decorations.

"Okay? Friends usually come over to have a drink. How about I help you make a cocktail?" Zhai Yongming asked.

"You know how?" Fang Minghua was a little surprised, thinking that the bar had a dedicated bartender.

"I've been in the United States for a few years and I've learned a lot. You sit down first."

Fang Minghua found an empty seat in the hall and sat down. Zhai Yongming returned to the bar and quickly mixed the drinks. Fang Minghua looked at her technique and found that she was quite skillful.

Within a few minutes, a plate was brought out with two cocktails of different colors on it.

Zhai Yongming placed a blue cocktail in front of Fang Minghua and said, "Try this. It's made with whiskey almond liqueur. It's called Godfather."

"The Godfather? The movie "The Godfather"?" Fang Minghua asked.

"Yes, the almond-flavored liqueur in the raw material was originally made from Italy's famous liqueur Amarete, and the Godfather is the name of the mafia leader, so later people also called this cocktail the Godfather, which suits you very well." Zhai Yongming Said with a smile.

"Why is it suitable for me?" Fang Minghua was slightly surprised.

"Because, some people call you the godfather of film in China."

"Ah?" Fang Minghua was even more stunned.

Zhai Yongming smiled: "Although I am not involved in the film and television industry, I know a few famous young directors."

Before Fang Minghua could speak, Zhai Yongming continued: "I know Jia Zhangke. He came to Chengdu in 2000 from the "Turn of the Century: Film and Literature Seminar" and stayed in my pub for several days."

"There are also Wang Xiaoshuai and Lou Ye. Lou Ye, a young director, has a certain poetic temperament. They have all been to my bar and occasionally talk about you. Some people call you teacher, but more people call you godfather, the godfather of movies."

"These young people are talking nonsense." Fang Minghua said with a smile, picking up the cup of "Godfather" and taking a sip.

"How does it taste? Can you taste the feeling of having great power and dominating the world like Vito Corleone in "The Godfather"?" Zhai Yongming asked with a smile.

Fang Minghua shook his head.

"I didn't drink it. To be honest, I don't think it tastes as good as Xifeng in Qin Province. Maybe some beer."

Zhai Yongming burst out laughing after hearing this.

"What you said reminds me of the way Shang Zhongmin treated you to hot pot when you came to Chengdu more than ten years ago. After all these years, you don't seem to have changed at all. Okay, I'll ask the waiter to change the beer for you."

"No, don't waste it." Fang Minghua quickly replied: "Yes, have you seen Shang Zhongmin again?"

"I've seen him before. He's now a wealthy boss. I almost didn't recognize him when I met him on the street. I've also seen him with Li Yawei and Hu Dong. It was just by chance."

"Didn't you come to your tavern?" Fang Minghua asked.

Check out the 16-9 book bar to see the correct version!

"I invited you, but they didn't come. They said your White Night Tavern is a gathering place for poets. We don't write poems anymore, so why are we here?"

Fang Minghua was silent for a while.

"Of course there are poets. Ouyang Jianghe also comes to play sometimes, as well as He Xiaozhu, Hai Hai, and Yan University teacher Hu Xudong. These people also write poetry, but they are not as famous as Shang Zhongmin and others. We often talk about poetry together."

Zhai Yongming continued: "There are also writers, Ma Yuan, you must be familiar with it, right? He has been a frequent visitor here for a while, and of course there are directors and literary young people, so it is not lonely here."

Fang Minghua looked around. It was only evening, but there were already many people in the tavern. It seemed that business was still booming.

In fact, every city has a gathering place for young literary people like this. For example, in Xijing Xuecheng Bookstore, in addition to holding reading salons from time to time, Lei Xuecheng also held a small-scale poetry meeting for amateur literary enthusiasts to entertain themselves.

As the two were chatting, a middle-aged man with a short haircut and a leather jacket walked into the tavern. Zhai Yongming saw him and waved to him. The man came over with a smile.

"Minghua, let me introduce you. This is my good friend Liu Jiakun." Zhai Yongming introduced.

"Hello, Chairman Fang." Liu Jiakun hurriedly shook hands.

"Hello, Mr. Liu."

After Liu Jiakun sat down, Zhai Yongming stood up and said, "I'll ask the waiter to get you some wine. You can chat slowly. I'll go and do something."

Soon, the waiter brought a bag of beer and the two drank slowly.

"Do you come here often?" Fang Minghua looked at Zhai Yongming who was busy at the bar and asked.

"Come and sit here when you have nothing to do. There are many poets and writers here. I used to be considered a half-writer, haha." Liu Jiakun said with a smile.

The two chatted for a while and then got down to business.