1990: Starting from Baojia Street

The wedding went very smoothly. Even though there were some minor mistakes in some processes, they had little impact on the overall process and the guests did not notice them.

The ceremony did not take long, the whole process took less than half an hour.

However, the ceremony ended and the show started immediately.

I heard that the show was put together by Li Biru and her friends. Zhou Yan had never watched it before. He originally thought that most of the shows were musical instrument performances, after all, these are what they are good at.

However, what Zhou Yan did not expect was that among all the programs, there were only one or two related to musical instrument performance, and the rest were various language programs and interactive programs between the stage and the audience.

Fang Xiu and her friends prepared a lot of gifts, and basically they would throw a gift to the audience after every show.

From this perspective, it would be better to have fewer musical instruments. After all, this is a wedding and everyone is still eating. If there really is a symphony for everyone, it would be bad for the guests to eat, and it would also be bad not to eat.

Originally, Fang Xiu and Zou Yong invited Zhou Yan to come on stage and say a few words, but Zhou Yan refused.

Today's protagonists are Fang Xiu and Zou Yong, so he should not go on stage and steal the show.

But even though he didn't want to steal the show, many people still came to toast him after the dinner started.

Zhou Yan didn’t actually know most of the people who came to toast him, and because most of the people who knew Zhou Yan would not bother him in such occasions.

Zhou Yan also never refused anyone who came. No matter who came, he would chat with the other person for a few words. He would not drink the wine, but would just raise the glass to show his appreciation.

The guests who came today are all relatives and friends of the bride and groom, and Zhou Yan must give them face.

"You are too busy with your business."

After a group of people who came to toast had just left, Yu Hua, who was sitting next to Zhou Yan, said with a smile.

When Fang Xiu got married, not only Yu Hua came, but Shi Tiesheng also came in a wheelchair.

Yu Hua and Shi Tiesheng can be said to be the most loyal fans of the Piano Youth Orchestra. Whenever they have nothing to do, they will come to listen to the orchestra's rehearsals.

For a while, the two of them attended rehearsals more often than Zhou Yan.

If the two of them didn't show up for a few days, the band members would all be concerned about whether something had happened to them.

Moreover, they have listened to the songs played by the orchestra so many times that they are very familiar with them. Sometimes when there are new people in the orchestra, these two people can go up and give them some serious pointers.

After listening to so much music, of course they had to come and join in the fun as the band leader was getting married.

Yu Hua's wife Chen Hong was sitting next to him with Yu Haiguo. When she heard what Yu Hua said, Chen Hong laughed and said, "That's because Teacher Zhou is so popular. Is it because no one came to toast you that you feel jealous?"

After being teased by his wife, Yu Hua said with a smile, "Ask Zhou Yan himself, do I envy him, or does he envy me?"

Zhou Yan smiled and responded, "I am envious."

What he said was not just a compliment; he really envied Yu Hua.

Yu Hua is in a very good condition now. He has a happy family, financial freedom, and basically has no worries. When he has inspiration, he creates, and when he doesn’t have inspiration, he enjoys life.

If you have any hobbies, you can develop them at any time.

Over the years, Yu Hua has been obsessed with many things. For a while, he was obsessed with cars and thought about driving various classic models every day.

His hobby was very expensive, so it was impossible for him to buy a car with his own money. Fortunately, he had a good friend like Zhou Yan, and he had ridden in and driven many models of cars. He also bought a Santana and usually took Shi Tiesheng around.

Also because Yu Hua had a car, Shi Tiesheng's living area expanded a lot. Sometimes Yu Hua would drive Shi Tiesheng to farther places. Of course, they only went to places where they could return on the same day.

For a period of time, Yu Hua was obsessed with fishing. He spent every day studying various fishing rods, baits, and the habits of various fish.

In order to avoid feeling lonely, he tried his best to persuade Shi Tiesheng to go fishing with him, and he took Shi Tiesheng with him every time he went fishing.

But every time Shi Tiesheng followed him, he didn't go fishing. Instead, he sat next to him, smoking, reading and chatting with him.

However, he was only addicted to these things for a while, and then turned to other hobbies.

Listening to music is the only thing he persists in for the longest time. After so many years, his family has accumulated a set of audio equipment worth tens of thousands of dollars, and even the cost of records has reached five figures.

That is to say, he often bought records from Zhou Yan and took them home, otherwise he might not be able to stop at five figures.

Whether it was the records he got from Zhou Yan or some music-related gadgets, they were all very valuable. If he had to spend his own money, he would definitely not be willing to do so.

What’s interesting is that Yu Hua is reluctant to spend money directly on buying things, but he spends a lot of money.

For example, he had previously stolen from Zhou Yan a collector's edition of Bach's Cello Suite BWV 1976, which was recorded live by Fournier at the Church of St. Boniface in Geneva in 1007. This album cost one or two thousand yuan, and Yu Hua himself would definitely not be willing to spend money to buy it.

However, after taking it away, in order to compensate Zhou Yan, he would deliberately bring Zhou Yan some records from time to time, which were things Zhou Yan didn't have.

These things are not expensive, they only cost tens or hundreds of dollars, but due to the large quantity, the total price is more than that of the collector's edition vinyl.

Yu Hua was reluctant to spend a lot of money on himself, but he didn't feel bad at all to spend a little money on Zhou Yan from time to time.

If he had been more open-minded, instead of taking the records from Zhou Yan and then thinking about compensating Zhou Yan, he could have just used the money to buy records directly.

Of course, Yu Hua’s financial strength now allows him to splurge occasionally. In recent years, his royalties have been increasing, even to the point that he has begun to look down on the remuneration.

Because the family has no financial pressure, his wife Chen Hong can let him spend money on hobbies. These hobbies of his don't cost too much money.

Besides, seeing Yu Hua developing other hobbies is better than playing cards with others every day.

What Zhou Yan envies most about Yu Hua is that he has become a mainstay of Chinese literary circles, but there are still not many people who know him on the street.

Just like today, so many people came to toast Zhou Yan, but no one recognized Yu Hua.

If you are not easily recognized, you can avoid a lot of trouble.

Zhou Yan is already well-known among the public, and now that he is starring in his own movie, his face has become even more well-known.

Now when he walks on the street, the possibility of being recognized is much higher than before.

Although Zhou Yan was speaking from the heart, Chen Hong didn't necessarily take it seriously. After all, Zhou Yan was someone that everyone envied.

After a while, no one came to toast, so Yu Hua asked again, "Have you decided to go to Hong Kong?"

"I will definitely go. After all, our band also has a mission."

"If you want to go, then I will go too." Yu Hua smiled and looked at Shi Tiesheng, "Tiesheng, come with us to visit Xiangjiang."

In the past, Shi Tiesheng would probably remain silent, because he knew that he would be a burden if he went out, so he would not go out if he could. But now, running around with Yu Hua and the others every day, he has gradually become accustomed to going out.

Shi Tiesheng pushed up his glasses and said, "I do want to go to Xiangjiang, but you may have to work harder."

"It's okay. We have a lot of people in our group and everyone can help out when the time comes." Yu Hua said with a smile.

Zhou Yan said, "You can go with our band. We have chartered a plane, so it will be more convenient for us."

Nowadays, when a piano youth orchestra travels, they basically charter their own plane, which is not only comfortable but also saves a lot of trouble.

If they didn't charter a plane, it would be a lot of trouble just to transport their musical instruments.

In the case of a chartered flight, it would be a very wise choice for Shi Tiesheng to go with him. At that time, Shi Tiesheng could just go to the front with Zhou Yan and there would be no need to squeeze in the small seat in the back.

Shi Tiesheng also knew that it would be easier to follow Zhou Yan, so he smiled and said, "Then I won't be polite."

Yu Hua beside him raised his eyebrows and said, "Your plane can't be missing a seat for me, right?"

Zhou Yan looked Yu Hua up and down, "I'm the leader of the orchestra, so it's reasonable for me to go with the orchestra, right? Tie Sheng's situation is special, so people can understand why he goes with us. But if you go with us, the people in the Writers Association will say you're being special."

Yu Hua said with a smile, "I'm not afraid of people saying I'm special."

"He is more afraid that he can't get special treatment." Shi Tiesheng said with a smile.

"Don't talk nonsense." Yu Hua said righteously, and then laughed, "Tie Ning called me and said that this trip to Hong Kong for cultural exchange is not a public trip, and asked us to be more serious and make our own contributions to the cultural exchange between the two sides."

"What did you tell her?" Zhou Yan asked with a smile.

"Of course I agreed immediately. Later, I told her that writers like us don't have enough social influence, so why not work with your orchestra? For example, let's go to your concerts together."

"What did she say?"

Yu Hua curled her lips, "She refused outright."

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "It would be strange if she didn't refuse. I told you not to go on a trip, but you want to go to a concert."

“The time doesn’t conflict.”

There is indeed no conflict in time, otherwise Zhou Yan would not be able to participate in the activities of the Writers Association.

However, Tie Ning must not adopt this suggestion, otherwise it will be reported and have a bad impact.

"We are going to Hong Kong for literary exchange this time. Who will be attending?" Zhou Yan asked curiously.

Yu Hua thought for a moment and said, "I just heard that Liu Yichang and Feng Wei were going to be there, but I don't know about the others."

"Who is Feng Weicai?"

Of the two names Yu Hua mentioned, Zhou Yan only knew Liu Yichang.

Liu Yichang was born in Shanghu. In his early years, he lived in Yudu, Shanghu and other places. Later, before liberation, he went to Hong Kong and served as the editor-in-chief of "Hong Kong Literature". He was hailed as the godfather of Hong Kong literature.

Zhou Yan actually didn't know much about Liu Yichang, except that he had read a few of his novels before.

Liu Yichang's works are experimental and innovative to a certain extent, and he likes to try a variety of expressive techniques.

It is a good thing for writers to try to innovate, but it is a taboo not to have their own style.

This is the case with Liu Yichang. When people talk about him, they only remember that he likes to try various styles, but they can't really describe his own unique style.

And if we talk about Liu Yichang's representative work, the most recognized one should be his novel "The Drunkard".

"The Drunkard" is considered to be the first stream-of-consciousness novel in China, but as a stream-of-consciousness novel, it is not very outstanding.

Zhou Yan has read this novel. When he read the first part, he even felt like he was reading Liu Yichang's autobiography.

The drunkard is a professional writer with rich life experience and high literary literacy.

He has run a newspaper and a publishing house. After arriving in Hong Kong, he began to write experimental novels and advocated innovation in literature.

This setting seems to be exactly the same as Liu Yichang's personal experience.

Although the drunkard in the book has great ideals, Hong Kong literature and art are constrained by utilitarian values, and serious literature has difficulty surviving.

Therefore, the drunkard had to rewrite martial arts novels in order to survive, but because the weird martial arts were not written well enough, he lost his place and turned to writing pornographic novels.

……

No matter what, Liu Yichang's status in Hong Kong literature is very high.

But then again, as written in "The Drunkard", there is no environment for serious literature to survive in Hong Kong, so there are simply few writers worth mentioning.

Not only are there no writers, but not many people in Hong Kong read serious literature.

From a long time ago, Hong Kong's reading market has been dominated by martial arts, fantasy and other themes. Later, even themes like martial arts and fantasy found it difficult to survive, and many martial arts novels had to add some colorful elements.

"The Drunkard" was written to criticize these phenomena in Hong Kong's literary and art circles.

But to be honest, although "The Drunkard" satirizes and criticizes these phenomena, few people have actually read this novel.

If few people have read this novel, would the criticism be meaningless?
Yu Hua smiled and replied to Zhou Yan, "Feng Weicai is a well-known literary critic in Hong Kong. He has close ties with the mainland, and I have met him before. More than ten years ago, he came to Yenching University to interview Shen Congwen, and published "Interview with Shen Congwen on Border Town" in Hong Kong Literature."

Shi Tiesheng nodded and said, "Yes, I have read this article as well, because it is a rare opportunity for Shi Tiesheng to review his masterpiece Border Town in his later years."

Zhou Yan remembered that Shen Congwen died in 88. At that time, Zhou Yan was preparing for his semester project in his sophomore year. One day, he suddenly saw the news of Shen Congwen's death in the newspaper.

Feng Weicai should have also come to Yenching in the years before 88.

Yu Hua smiled and said, "Actually, I don't mind communicating with the authors of martial arts and fantasy novels in Hong Kong. I also like to read some of their novels."

Zhou Yan also smiled, "You are willing to communicate, but the question is, are others willing to communicate with you?"

Popular novels and serious novels are two completely different systems. Even if they do not look down on each other, there are still some problems when they sit down and communicate together.

Besides, Yu Hua may look down on the authors of martial arts novels, but other serious writers may not. (End of this chapter)