1990: Starting from Baojia Street

There was no need for the reporter just now to be so anxious. Although the interview session was not arranged in advance, Zhou Yan still stayed in the interview area for a while.

Not only did he stay himself, he also brought the Writers Association's exchange group to stay.

Group leader Tie Ning originally thought that these fans were here to pick up Zhou Yan and his group, and the reporters were also here for Zhou Yan, so their Writers Association exchange group could just go over to the side.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Yan pulled them down directly.

Perhaps because the scene of the male reporter being dragged away just now left a deep impression on the other reporters at the scene, when Zhou Yan brought Tie Ning and others to the interview area, the reporters at the scene were very restrained and did not ask chaotic questions.

No one wants to be "asked to leave" by the security personnel on site for disturbing the order.

They all saw that the security personnel around them were staring at them hungrily.

For a moment, the reporters were polite and finally the reporter from ATV asked the first question.

"Hello, Director Zhou, welcome to Hong Kong. I am Lin Shiyi, a reporter from ATV. You are the first group of people to come to Hong Kong after the handover. What do you think of coming to Hong Kong again?"

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "New Year, new atmosphere. Every year is better than the last. This time, it is not only the Piano Youth Orchestra that came to Hong Kong, but also the cultural exchange group sent by the Writers Association. I came to Hong Kong in a dual capacity. Not only was I in the Piano Youth Orchestra, I was also fortunate enough to join the exchange group of the Writers Association. The people standing next to me are all members of the cultural exchange group. This is Tie Ning, the vice chairman of the Writers Association. She is also the leader of this exchange group."

Hearing Zhou Yan's initiative to introduce, the reporters naturally gave him face and greeted Tie Ning and the others one after another.

Tie Ning and the others couldn't help but be amazed when looking at the dozens of reporters at the scene. Before coming, they had never thought that they would be able to face such a scene.

The exchange groups from the Writers Association are all official activities. Although some reporters follow, most of them are official and the number is very small. Naturally, the enthusiasm will not be too high. It is all official business.

The scene before them now was like a big star’s trip. It was impossible for ordinary stars to have such a lineup.

Zhou Yan's situation is truly unprecedented.

Even in the 1980s when writers were most popular, Chinese writers were not as popular.

Some people may say, what kind of writer is Zhou Yan? He is clearly in the film and television industry.

But Tie Ning disagreed with this statement. She believed that Zhou Yan was definitely a writer, otherwise they would not have invited Zhou Yan to this exchange meeting and even wanted Zhou Yan to be the group leader.

Although the Writers Association was impressed by Zhou Yan's fame, the prerequisite was that Zhou Yan was indeed a writer and a writer with good achievements.

It is true that there are always some people who are regarded as talented men and women in various circles. These people may have produced some works, or a few short poems, or a few articles, or even written novels.

For example, another very famous director nowadays is Chen Kaige. He is a literary youth. He published poems and novels in the 1970s and 1980s, but because the quality of his works is average and the output is not enough, few people know him.

If the works have no output and quality, they naturally cannot be considered as part of the literary circle.

But Zhou Yan is different. Zhou Yan had a very high starting point in literature. His debut work, "The River Wet by Rain", was published in a magazine of the same level as "Huacheng". Later, he published his works in "Yenching Literature" one after another.

Moreover, Zhou Yan's early novels have all attracted much attention without exception.

At that time, when Zhou Yan was not yet famous, his novel "The Knife in Clear Water" was adapted into a movie by Huang Jianxin, a director from Chang'an Film Studio. As far as Tie Ning can recall, there is no other Chinese writer with such a high starting point as Zhou Yan.

Many of the writers in this exchange group had a smooth start.

For example, Mo Yan, after publishing novels for four or five years, became famous in the literary world with his article "Transparent Carrot". He then published the novella "Red Sorghum", which immediately caused a sensation in the literary world.

Many people think that Mo Yan, who graduated from elementary school and worked for many years, started literary creation relatively late, but he was only 31 years old when he published "Red Sorghum".

Another person, Yu Hua, graduated from junior high school and published his first novel at the age of 23. He won the "Yenching Literature Award" in the same year.

There is also Liu Zhenyun, who returned from the army and took the college entrance examination, then entered the Chinese Department of Yenching University as the provincial champion in liberal arts. A few years after graduation, he began to publish novels in "People's Literature", including "A Pile of Feathers", which made him famous in the literary world.

The start of these people all had some legendary qualities, but compared with Zhou Yan, they were a little lacking.

When Zhou Yan wrote "Tree Hole", he seemed to be only twenty-two or twenty-three years old.

Judging from their past works, Zhou Yan, like Yu Hua and others, are the backbone of today's literary world.

It’s just because Zhou Yan’s other identities are so dazzling that people often overlook his achievements in the literary world.

If we have to say which domestic writer is somewhat similar to Zhou Yan, it would probably be Wang Shuo.

Wang Shuo produced many excellent works in his twenties and began to participate in film and television creation in the late 1990s. The TV series "Desire" he participated in producing in caused a sensation across the country and directly created the highest ratings record in the history of Chinese TV drama development.

Later, many of the film and television dramas he participated in producing or adapted from his novels achieved remarkable results, such as "The Story of the Editorial Department", "Getting High", and "Sunny Days".

Among them, "Sunny Days" directly earned 50 million box office and won the box office champion of the year.

In literature, Wang Shuo is unique and a writer who cannot be ignored in the literary world. His contributions to literature are both literary and non-literary.

In the field of film and television, his achievements in the past few years have been unmatched.

However, compared with Zhou Yan, Wang Shuo's achievements in film and television are still not impressive enough.

On the one hand, Zhou Yan is the director, screenwriter, composer and even actor of his own movies. On the other hand, the box office of Zhou Yan's movies is much higher, and his influence is not only in China, but also radiates abroad.

……

Zhou Yan did not stay in the press interview area for too long. He chatted with the reporters for about three minutes and then left with everyone.

Although it lasted only more than three minutes, the reporters were very satisfied. In this time, they had asked most of the key questions they wanted to ask.

Because Hong Kong just returned recently and "Time Traveler" won the box office again, the reporters' questions were focused on these two areas.

However, reporters did not ask in depth about the issue of returning to Hong Kong. They basically asked from the side, such as asking whether Zhou Yan would have a lot of contact with his friends in Hong Kong in the future and whether there would be more cooperation.

As for questions related to "Time Traveler", they were all concentrated overseas, either asking about the latest situation of the movie in Japan, or asking Zhou Yan whether he had any prospects for the movie's release in North America.

Even if Zhou Yan didn't tell them about the situation in Japan, they would actually be able to find out very quickly. The information gap between the two sides was not obvious.

As for the situation in North America, Zhou Yan only said that he hoped to surpass the performance of "The Sixth Sense" at that time, and did not say anything else.

Some reporters also directly compared "Rumble in the Bronx" with "Time Traveler" and asked Zhou Yan whether he believed that the latter could surpass the box office record set by the former in North America.

Zhou Yan certainly couldn't give a direct answer to such a question. He only said that he hoped that discourse films would get better and better.

……

After arriving at the hotel, Zhou Yan had just packed his clothes when the door of the room was knocked open.

Zhou Yan ran to open the door, only to see Yu Hua pushing Shi Tiesheng standing at the door. "Go out for a walk?" Yu Hua said with a smile.

Zhou Yan looked around the corridor and saw no one else. "Just the three of us?"

"And Mo Yan, Liu Zhenyun and Chi Zijian, they are already waiting for us downstairs." Shi Tiesheng said.

"Where are you going?" Zhou Yan asked.

"Don't people say Hong Kong is a shopping paradise? Let's go shopping in the mall." Yu Hua said with a smile.

Zhou Yan smiled and asked, "How much money do you have to go shopping?"

"One thousand five... uh, there are one thousand two hundred and five left."

Zhou Yan knew without his explanation that another idiot had lost money on the plane.

"One thousand two hundred and fifty, spend it sparingly."

The Writers Association exchange group will be staying in Hong Kong for nearly two weeks this time. If they don't spend the 1,250 yuan frugally, they won't be able to make it back to Yenching.

As for shopping, it’s not impossible. You definitely can’t go to a big mall to buy things from big brands, but it’s okay to browse for carpets.

In fact, the money Yu Hua brought was considered a lot in the exchange group, because he was considered a rich man in the group.

The writers in this exchange group are all quite famous, but their assets vary greatly.

There is no need to talk about Zhou Yan, there is no writer in the country who is richer than him.

Yu Hua's works have high sales and many adaptations. The most important thing is that the collection of works that he, Zhou Yan and Shi Tiesheng got published by Neon Publishing House had very high sales and brought him considerable royalties.

There is also "Xu Sanguan Selling Blood", which has been published in Goryeo and has generated considerable royalties.

For other writers, the royalties are very small, and the remuneration is not very valuable nowadays, so their income is relatively low.

This time, the Writers Association provided food, accommodation, and transportation, so they only had a few hundred yuan on them.

A few hundred yuan is not a small amount. After all, it is their salary for one or two months in the company.

Shi Tiesheng smiled and said, "He also knows that his money is not worth spending in Hong Kong, so he just wants to go and experience it for himself."

"Forget about shopping. I'm more familiar with Hong Kong. I'll take you around."

"I've been waiting for you to say this." Yu Hua smiled with narrowed eyes.

Zhou Yan curled his lips. Yu Hua was a mean guy.

"Wait, I'll dress up."

……

Ten minutes later, Zhou Yan, wearing a baseball cap and a mask, walked out of the hotel with Yu Hua and others.

Zhou Yan did not take them to the mall, but went to the seaside first.

The hotel where they stayed was not far from the seafront. From the hotel gate, it took about seven or eight minutes to walk to Tsim Sha Tsui Platform No. 2.

The temperature in Hong Kong in July is not very high, but because of the high humidity, it feels very stuffy at around 30 degrees. You will feel wet all over if you move.

But the weather is good today, it feels only about 20 degrees, and the sea breeze doesn't feel stuffy at all.

This kind of weather is perfect for a walk along the shore, or finding a place on the shore to sit and rest.

Although Yu Hua and his friends said they were going shopping, they were in a good mood when they were taken to the shore to enjoy the sea breeze.

People like them rarely see the seaport. The weather in Yanjing is not very good at this time of year, not as good as that in Hong Kong.

"Is this Victoria Harbour?" Liu Zhenyun asked.

Zhou Yan nodded, "That's right."

He pointed to the west and said, "There is a pier over there. You can take a boat to Central, but we don't have much time today, so don't go there. If you want to go to Central, wait until you have some free time in a couple of days. If you want to go shopping, go over there. There are a lot of luxury stores by the pier."

In fact, they could go to Central now and visit the night market there at night, but Zhou Yan didn't want to accompany them, and it was not realistic for them to take a boat there by themselves.

Mo Yan waved his hand. "Let's not go shopping. Stores all over the world are similar. You can also see them in Yanjing. Even if they are different, they are probably just a little more prosperous than those stores in Yanjing. I think it's nice to just take a walk by the harbor."

Liu Zhenyun was unwilling to just wander around the harbor, so he asked Zhou Yan, "Is there any place worth visiting nearby?"

Zhou Yan thought for a moment and said, "Go west, there is a Hong Kong Art Museum. Past the Hong Kong Art Museum is the Hong Kong Cultural Center, where our orchestra will perform. Go north, there is a Hong Kong Polytechnic University, but you probably won't be interested. Go northeast, and you can see the Hung Hom Stadium, where there are often performances, but I don't know if there will be any today."

"I won't watch the performance. Where is Hong Kong University? I want to go and see it." Liu Zhenyun said again.

Zhou Yan smiled and pointed to the other side: "Then we have to go to the other side."

Hearing that Hong Kong University was across the street, Liu Zhenyun curled his lips and said, "Let's visit again later."

Mo Yan smiled and said, "Why don't we go to the art museum and then think about what we're going to eat tonight."

He is always concerned about what to eat wherever he goes. Today in Hong Kong, he naturally wants to try some local specialties.

"There's a pretty good Cantonese restaurant nearby, not far away. I'll take you there after we finish visiting the art gallery."

Chi Zijian smiled and said, "You are very familiar with the local area. If we came here, we would be at a loss."

"It doesn't matter if we grope around blindly. Hong Kong is so small anyway, we can't get lost anyway." Zhou Yan joked.

Chi Zijian looked around and said with a smile, "Don't worry if you laugh at me, I've been walking for such a while that I don't even know where the hotel we're staying in is."

Shi Tiesheng also laughed, "I have long lost the ability to tell east from west. If you sell me out later, I won't be able to do anything about it."

Yu Hua curled his lips and said, "If I sell you, how much would you be worth?"

Liu Zhenyun looked at Shi Tiesheng's wheelchair and said, "Instead of selling him, why not sell him this wheelchair? I think this wheelchair is worth some money."

Zhou Yan looked at Yu Hua, then at Liu Zhenyun. He had previously thought that Yu Hua was pretty mean, but now it seemed that there were even meaner people than him. (End of this chapter)