Reborn in 1977

Chapter 703 Performance Program

On the sofa in the living room, Chen Fan held a phone in one hand and a cigarette in the other, but forgot to smoke it.

His brow was furrowed tightly, his face full of puzzlement, "Old Ba, I'm from the Jiangnan Writers Association, you want me to perform a program at the Shanghai Writers Association's literary gala? Doesn't that seem a bit unreasonable?"

Ba Lao's voice came from the receiver, "From the angle you're speaking from, it does seem a bit far-fetched, but, in the past few days at the National Writers Association's office meeting that just concluded, a new batch of national member lists were approved, and it was unanimously decided to accept Comrade Chen Fan, a member of the Jiangnan Writers Association recommended by Comrade He Qingsheng, as a national member. Congratulations, congratulations."

Chen Fan blinked rapidly, "Ah?"

I'm a national member now?

Uncle He recommended me?

When did that happen?

Ba Lao hummed twice, "Originally, this work of approving and receiving new members was originally planned to be arranged at the plenary work conference in March. But you are now, after all, the vice chairman and vice president of the Jiangnan Writers Association, yet you don't even have the status of a national member, which is very inappropriate, so this item was temporarily added to the agenda.

Since you are now in Shanghai, the General Association has entrusted this notification task to me. Your national membership certificate has also been brought back by me from Beijing. It's late today, and tomorrow is Sunday, so come to my house tomorrow to pick it up."

Chen Fan's mind was still thinking about the connections Ba Lao was talking about. After he finished speaking, he instinctively said "Oh," and then asked, "How many people are in this batch?"

Ba Lao, "I said it was a special situation, of course there's only you."

Chen Fan came back to his senses, his lips twitching slightly. Then why did you say it was a batch?

A batch of one?

But being able to become a national member, he was still quite happy in his heart.

But thinking of the problem Ba Lao had just mentioned, he became unhappy again, "Even if I become a national member, I still don't need to perform a program at the Shanghai literary and art gala, right?"

Ba Lao coughed twice, "Isn't it because I heard from Little He that you're good at both the harmonica and the accordion? The Writers Association has participated in several literary and art galas before, but we who are engaged in writing, how could we have any talent performances, so every time we can only sit below and crack melon seeds,…"

Chen Fan: …So envious.

Ba Lao was still talking, "If it were before, then we could only continue to drink tea and crack melon seeds below, just like in the past, without any sense of participation.

This time, isn't it because you're here? Although you're not a Shanghai member, you're a national member, representing our Writers Association to perform on stage, there's no problem at all, it's completely justifiable, so this task can only be entrusted to you."

Chen Fan looked at the cigarette that was about to burn out, quickly brought it to his mouth and took a puff, then threw it into the ashtray. He took out another one, picked up the lighter and lit it, and said with a bitter face, "Listening to what you mean, I have to go on stage?"

Ba Lao, "…If you have to understand it that way, it's actually possible."

Chen Fan smacked his lips and sighed deeply, "I shouldn't have been idle and bored, playing the harmonica at home."

Ba Lao, "Even if you didn't play it in the dormitory of the Jiangnan Writers Association, it's also written in your file, I remember there's quite a bit, what erhu, flute, violin, piano, you're even qualified to join the Musicians Association."

Chen Fan frowned tightly, "File? Who wrote my file?"

Really, can't my little talents really be hidden?

Ba Lao laughed heartily a few times, "Files are all filled out by the unit. I won't talk about your previous files, the later files were filled out by several leaders of the Lujiawan Brigade Department. They have a very high evaluation of you.

What a flexible mind, fast learning progress, the ability to draw inferences about other cases from one instance, and also selfless, willing to teach skills to others, very high teaching skills, all good words."

Hearing these words, Chen Fan couldn't help but feel a little grief-stricken, "How could Secretary Yang and the others do this, writing me so well, aren't they afraid that I will be transferred away by other units."

Ba Lao, "Uh, I've seen the evaluation time above, it seems to be when you were transferred to the Yunhu Health Department?"

Chen Fan,…Then it's okay.

Ba Lao felt that he had said almost everything, and finally ended with a sentence, "Since you have no objections, then think carefully about the program you want to perform. When you come to me tomorrow to pick up your membership certificate, tell me the program, so I can have someone report it.

That, you have to perform the day after tomorrow, so hurry up, you must take it seriously, that's it."

After speaking, he hung up the phone with a snap.

Chen Fan let out a long breath, listlessly put down the phone, and silently took a puff of cigarette.

Jiang Tiantian came over with a teacup, gently placed it in front of him, looked at his face, and said softly, "Lili said the meal is ready, should we eat now or wait a while?"

Chen Fan flicked the ash off the cigarette with one hand and waved the other, "Let's eat."

After finishing this cigarette and drinking two sips of tea, he walked over after the two sisters had set the table.

Sitting upright in the main seat, as soon as his butt touched the chair, Jiang Lili poured him a glass of warm yellow wine, while Jiang Tiantian served two bowls of rice on the side.

Only during the New Year holidays would they accompany Chen Fan to drink a little. Usually, they wouldn't dare to touch alcohol.

Mainly because it's easy to get a buzz. If you accidentally get drunk, it's not elegant.

Chen Fan took a sip of the old wine and frowned slightly.

Jiang Lili immediately said, "The wine you brewed yourself is finished. This is Daughter Red bought at the foreign-related store."

Chen Fan nodded lightly, "It's okay."

Jiang Tiantian picked up her chopsticks, but didn't eat first, but looked at him and asked, "Did something happen just now?"

Chen Fan looked at her and smiled, "Ba Lao called and told me two things. One is that he went to Beijing the day before yesterday for a meeting. At this meeting, Uncle He's application to recommend me to join the National Writers Association was approved."

The two sisters' eyes lit up instantly, and they said in unison, "You've become a national member?"

Chen Fan looked at the two of them and smiled, "You two are really telepathic, you speak the same way."

Jiang Lili looked at her sister, the smile on her face even more pronounced, "We are sisters, of course we are telepathic."

Then she looked at him again, "Being a national member, you can be called a great writer, right?"

Chen Fan had long been called Writer Chen, but no one had called him "Great Writer" yet, because he had not joined the National Writers Association.

Although becoming a member of the National Writers Association does not necessarily mean being a great writer, a great writer must be a member of the National Writers Association.

There are mainly two standards for measuring a great writer. One is that there is at least one work that is enough to be passed down to future generations, and the other is the status of a national member.

The former is the recognition of readers and peers, and the latter is the official recognition.

With Chen Fan's fame and works, he has already met the first standard. Not to mention anything else, the sales of the three novels "Ferryman", "Yunhu Love" and "Shanghai Spy Shadow" are comparable to the works of writers such as Mr. Mao Dun and Ba Lao. Mr. Xia Yan has also taken a fancy to them and bought the adaptation rights through the Shanghai Film Studio. If this doesn't count as being passed down to future generations, then what does?!

Now that he's been accepted as a national member, fulfilling another condition, Jiang Lili naturally calls him a Great Writer at the first opportunity.

Chen Fan calmly waved his hand, "Just an empty title, not worth mentioning."

Seeing his feigned composure and the hint of smugness in his eyes, the two sisters exchanged glances, barely able to suppress their amusement.

Jiang Lili picked up a slice of braised pork and placed it in his bowl, asking, "So, what's the second thing?"

Chen Fan immediately pursed his lips, picked up the braised pork, took a big bite, and with a gentle press, the smooth, fatty meat and the tender, lean meat instantly melted together and slid down his throat.

He took a sip of rice wine to cleanse his palate before sighing and saying, "Isn't it almost New Year's Day? The Shanghai literary and art circles are holding a Spring Festival Gala, and Elder Ba, on the grounds that I'm a national member and can participate in Shanghai's literary activities, wants me to perform a program."

He let out another long sigh, "I haven't even participated in the Jiangnan Writers Association's activities, and now I have to participate in the activities here…"

He suddenly looked up at the two sisters, his face serious, and said, "Do you believe that when we return to Jiangnan, if the Jiangnan literary and art circles organize a Spring Festival Gala, Uncle He and the others will definitely not let me off!"

Hearing this, the two sisters couldn't help but look at each other.

That possibility was very high.

Given this year's situation, it was highly unlikely that there wouldn't be a Spring Festival celebration. But if they had to participate in the Federation of Literary and Art Circles' Spring Festival Gala, how would they celebrate the New Year?

Chen Fan picked a meatball and put it in his mouth. Not hearing them speak for a moment, he looked up.

He saw that the two sisters didn't seem so happy anymore, and he immediately understood what they were thinking, so he couldn't help but smile and say, "It's okay, cross that bridge when we come to it. Besides, Spring Festival and New Year's Day are different. Who doesn't go home for Spring Festival? Even if there really is a gala, it won't necessarily be on New Year's Eve or the first day of the New Year. Maybe it'll be a few days earlier or later."

Hearing this, the two sisters thought it made sense. Before, they saw many galas in the newspapers held in the twelfth lunar month, and those in the first lunar month were after the fifth day. Thinking of this, they relaxed and continued eating.

Chen Fan finished his wine in a few gulps, reached out and took the bowl of rice that Jiang Tiantian handed him, took a few mouthfuls, and asked, "Does your school have any activities?"

Jiang Lili suddenly woke up and quickly said, "I almost forgot to tell you, I have to go to school tomorrow afternoon to rehearse. I'm performing a chorus with my classmates, and we're performing the night after tomorrow."

Chen Fan frowned slightly, "No holiday on New Year's Day?"

There were already few holidays this year, and they were taking up another day. Wasn't that unreasonable?

Jiang Lili smiled, "Originally, the New Year's Day literary performance was scheduled for tonight, but some classmates suggested that performing during study time would affect learning, so they suggested putting it on New Year's Day itself.

Anyway, the students all live on campus, and those who don't live on campus all have homes here. Holding the event on New Year's Day won't have any impact.

And tomorrow is Sunday, which is connected to New Year's Day, making it convenient for students to rehearse and take the stage with a fuller attitude. That's a win-win situation."

Jiang Tiantian nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, we're about the same."

Chen Fan pursed his lips. Okay, he forgot again that people's ideas were different this year.

What people in later generations hated most was holding events on holidays, especially company gatherings and training sessions. It was simply blatant occupation of rest time, and those events were also very annoying. He didn't see any cohesion, but he accumulated a lot of resentment.

But now, people are very willing to participate in these activities, and they are even afraid of affecting their studies and production. Most of them use evenings and weekends to carry them out, which can be regarded as the differentiation of the times.

Of course, this is the general situation. There are also people who hate it as much as later generations, and there are many of them, but no one dares to say it openly. Unlike later generations, it is completely one-sided and so neat.

After Chen Fan understood, he looked at the two of them again and became a little curious about their programs. "Are you both participating in the performance? What kind of program are you performing?"

The two sisters looked at each other, both a little embarrassed.

Jiang Tiantian lowered her head and said, "Our class is also a chorus. The song is 'Ode to the Motherland'."

"Ode to the Motherland" was a song created this year, and no one sang it later, but it is quite popular now.

The first sentence is "Through the fire and against the storm, the Chinese nation has stood up."

A very popular song.

Chen Fan nodded and looked at Jiang Lili again.

Jiang Lili smiled and said, "We are singing an old song, 'Yellow River Cantata'."

Chen Fan smiled and said, "You, a child who grew up by the Yangtze River, are singing about the Yellow River. It's a bit out of place."

Jiang Lili pouted, "What? This is the song decided after the class discussion."

She glanced at Chen Fan and said with a chuckle, "Besides, there is no song about the Yangtze River."

Chen Fan blinked. Oh, "Ode to the Yangtze River" hasn't come out yet, of course not.

At this time, Jiang Tiantian asked again, "Xiao Fan, Elder Ba asked you to participate in the performance, what program are you going to perform?"

Chen Fan came back to his senses and shook his head, "Haven't thought about it yet."

After saying that, he continued to eat.

The temperature outside was very low. Even if the fireplace was lit in the house, the food was easy to cool down, so he had to eat it while it was hot.

Jiang Lili was not in a hurry to eat, but stared at him with her eyes, and said softly, "Why don't you perform a piece of 'Castle in the Sky'?"

Jiang Tiantian immediately turned her head to look at her, and asked curiously, "'Castle in the Sky'? What is that?"

Speaking of this, Jiang Lili's eyes lit up, "It was during the National Day celebration held in Lujiawan last year that Xiao Fan casually played a piece of accordion music. It sounded especially beautiful. That feeling was like floating in the sky. The same, it's a feeling I've never had before."

Jiang Tiantian's curiosity grew even stronger, and she turned to look at Chen Fan, "Why haven't I ever heard you play it?"

Chen Fan uh-ed, without speaking. That thing hadn't been created yet, why would he play it for no reason?

At that time, he was just teasing Anquan, playing a small piece, but he didn't expect Jiang Lili to remember it.

Jiang Lili continued to stare at him, her eyes full of hope, "Xiao Fan, play it for us later, okay?"

If it had been before, she would not have dared to make such a request, not because she was afraid that Chen Fan would not agree, but because the style of the music was very inconsistent with the current orthodox instruments.

No one in the countryside knows music, so they just listened to it. If it is played in the city, if someone with ulterior motives hears it, it will cause trouble, it will not be good.