Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 810 Treat
November 17, Saturday, the day after the meeting ended.

Early in the morning, Chen Fan took Jiang Tiantian back to the Jingxi Hotel.

The car stopped in front of the hotel. Chen Fan didn't get out. He looked around and, seeing no one nearby, secretly squeezed her hand and said, "After I'm done with this busy period, I'll come to Shanghai to see you."

Jiang Tiantian took his hand in return and smiled, "It's okay, if you're busy, we can come see you too."

Today she will meet with the Shanghai delegation, and then the group will take the train back together. While staying in a different hotel could be explained by Mr. Ba's instructions or a shortage of rooms, a group trip cannot be an exception; unified action is necessary.

Unless she becomes a leader one day, she won't be able to move around freely like Chen Fan.

Watching her walk into the hotel, Chen Fan turned the steering wheel and drove to the Friendship Store to make purchases.

Originally, the Friendship Store only accepted foreigners and people traveling abroad to shop, but when Chen Fan showed the wad of US dollars in his hand, the staff at the door decisively let him in.

Everyone has relatives and friends. As long as you pay in foreign currency, you can gain the friendship of the Friendship Store and enter freely.

Chen Fan browsed around inside and bought a batch of ingredients, including fruits, snacks, and dried fruits. He loaded them into his car and drove straight home.

By this time, no one was home. Liu Juan and Ma Lan had gone to work at the Taoist temple, and even their dog, Xiao Hei, had gone with them. Chen Fan hadn't informed them, so naturally, no one was there to help him.

Perfect timing, with no outsiders around. Chen Fan completely let loose, grabbing two rolling pins and unleashing his "madman's staff technique," relentlessly pounding a pile of beef. In just two minutes, he had minced two pounds of beef into a paste with a gelatinous texture, enough to make beef balls that could be used to play ping-pong.

Then wash what needs to be washed and cut what needs to be cut.

The cleaver danced in his hands, demonstrating various Chinese culinary techniques such as straight, push, pull, saw, press, shake, roll, and swivel. In less than an hour, he had processed more than a dozen kinds of ingredients.

Then came frying, deep-frying, roasting, steaming, baking... each ingredient was pre-processed.

The ingredients must be pre-processed so that cooking won't be too much of a hassle later. Otherwise, how could he possibly prepare a feast by himself?

After getting everything ready, it was barely nine o'clock.

All I can say is that people get up really early at this time of year.

Next, we just wait for the guests to arrive.

She changed into a simple set of home clothes, which was basically a white cotton shirt, blue trousers, and a pair of cloth shoes with thick soles.

Chen Fan leisurely turned on the radio, and as the sound from the radio played, he took out a teapot from the cabinet and brewed a pot of jasmine tea, a favorite among Beijing residents.

He then poured himself a cup of tea, sat down, and listened to the radio broadcast while drinking the tea.

"The Fourth National Congress of Literary and Art Workers solemnly concluded in Beijing..."

"Leaders met with delegates to the Fourth Congress of Literary and Art Workers..."

"The Publicity Department and the Ministry of Culture held a grand tea party to entertain the delegates of the National Congress of Literary and Art Circles and to celebrate the successful conclusion of the fourth National Congress of Literary and Art Circles."

"The China Federation of Literary and Art Circles has selected a new presidium, with Mao Dun elected as honorary chairman and Zhou Yang as chairman..."

I'd almost finished my tea, and all the news was about the National Congress of Literary and Art Workers.

Chen Fan sighed helplessly, got up and walked to the newspaper rack, picking up today's newspaper.

Then I looked at it, and wow.

Second-rate newspapers and several major national newspapers, such as Guangming Daily, devoted their entire front pages to content related to the National Congress of Literary and Art Workers.

Then I flipped to the Beijing Daily and found two more local news items.

That's true. Newspapers and magazines are also within the scope of the arts and culture field. They're all our own people, so we definitely have to put them on the front page. If the buzz isn't huge, we can't even call ourselves cultured people.

Chen Fan glanced at the newspaper, tossed it onto the table, checked the time, and couldn't help but wonder, "Why isn't he here yet?"

According to the plan, after the meeting, he was to return to Jiangnan as soon as possible to finish the sequel to "The Taoist Priest Comes Down the Mountain".

However, the detention last night aroused the interest of many people.

For example, He Qingsheng didn't appear at the old political commissar's dinner table, so he was very curious about what Chen Fan had said and insisted on pestering him to find out.

In addition, there were several elderly gentlemen who also wanted to have a chat with him.

After all, last night was rather rushed, and with leaders present, it was difficult to say many things directly.

Therefore, Chen Fan simply invited them to his home for a small gathering, which could be considered a small-scale reception.

On the one hand, we expressed our gratitude to the elderly gentlemen; on the other hand, if there were any questions, we could raise them all at once at the dinner table, and he would certainly answer them to the best of his ability.

So this morning, after seeing Jiang Tiantian off, he went to buy a lot of ingredients and prepared a large banquet, just waiting for the guests to arrive.

Just as he was wondering why they hadn't arrived yet, there was a knock on the front door.

Chen Fan snapped out of his daze and quickly got up and walked outside.

Before I even opened the door, I could hear voices outside.

He Qingsheng: "Old Tan, doesn't your hand hurt from slapping?"

Tan Yong said, "It hurts! But I think this yard is quite big. Maybe I didn't hit it hard enough. He can't hear me from inside the house. Besides, there's no door knocker on the gate. It's inconvenient to hit it."

Ba Jin's voice rang out from the side, "Hey, Comrade Tan Yong, is it possible that this thing on the wall is a doorbell?"

Xu Qizhen: "I'll give it a try."

Then I heard the doorbell ringing inside the house.

Chen Fan, with a sour face, didn't open the small door but opened both large doors directly, and said to Tan Yong, "It seems I'll have to nail a wooden sign above the doorbell with the word 'Doorbell' written on it, so I won't have to worry about the door being damaged by knocking."

Tan Yong's face fell. "You're making fun of me!"

Chen Fan said seriously, "No, I'm just worried about my door."

He then bowed and gestured for them to come in, saying, "Mr. Mao, Mr. Ba, Mr. Ye, Mr. Xia, Mr. He, gentlemen, please come in."

These elderly gentlemen, along with He Qingsheng, Tan Yong, and Xu Qizhen, are our guests today.

Old Mao strode inside and said with a smile, "If you want to nail a wooden sign, you can't write the words on it yourself."

Then, seeing the huge open space, he couldn't help but click his tongue and say, "It's a waste not to build a basketball court on this land."

Old Ba followed behind and added, "Otherwise, we won't be able to keep them."

Then, looking at the field, he said, "We can build another badminton court, a volleyball court, and a few ping-pong tables."

Old Ye walked up to Chen Fan, clasped his hands together, and smiled at him, "Instead of writing the words 'doorbell,' why not draw an arrow? That should prevent theft."

Then, looking at the open space and then at the building, which was equivalent to a four-story building, he adjusted his glasses and said, "This building of yours is probably only two and a half stories high. Was it a library before?"

Chen Fan's expression remained unchanged as he chuckled and said, "If no one lives here anymore, we can turn it into a library."

Old Xia and Old He walked over, supporting each other. Old He chuckled softly and said to Old Ye, "It's just a doorbell, why are you taking it so seriously? Why don't you just draw a sketch on the door? No one should be able to take that door away."

Then, looking at the house and the yard, he clicked his tongue and remarked, "This house is really big."

Old Xia snorted twice, "If someone is willing, they can take away not only a door, but even a wall."

Ever since this old gentleman limped on a windy day, he has become prone to extreme emotions. When he is happy, he can laugh and talk, but he can easily become angry if he is provoked by something.

Fortunately, most of the people who came today were his old acquaintances who knew his situation. If no one had picked him up, everything would have been fine in a little while.

Sure enough, after making a complaint, he went to look at houses too.

After He Qingsheng and the other two came in and closed the door, Chen Fan quickly walked a few steps to welcome them into the house.

As soon as He Qingsheng stepped through the door, he was startled and looked around the huge living room. "Why is this place like a restaurant? The first floor has private seating areas and the second floor has private rooms. Isn't it creepy to live in such a large space?"

Chen Fan gestured, leading the person towards the tea table, and said, "A larger space is better for ventilation. As long as the room is small enough to sleep in, it's fine."

Mr. Ba looked around and nodded slightly. "I must say, I quite like this spacious design."

Old Mao walked to the tea table, sat down with his hands on the table, and said with a smile, "It is indeed quite airy and not stuffy."

They all brought gifts, wrapped in small paper packets tied with hemp rope, piled up on the table, making it impossible to tell what they were. Chen Fan sniffed; hmm, there was tea and pastries, indeed all worthless items.

He glanced at it and then looked away, picking up the teapot to pour them tea. "Freshly brewed jasmine tea, the temperature is just right now."

Taking the teacup, Ba Jin's gaze was drawn to the table. "Is your table made of huanghuali wood?"

Upon hearing this, the others also looked around.

When He Qingsheng saw the decorations in the house, he was immediately shocked. "Good heavens, the floor is teak, and the furniture is either rosewood, golden nanmu, or huanghuali. You must have spent a lot of money on these things."

Xu Qizhen laughed from the side, "You forgot, he spent three thousand yuan on his house in Wenyi New Village..."

Before she could finish speaking, Old Xia asked curiously, "Is the Wenyi New Village a dormitory built by your work unit? What kind of house costs three thousand?"

Company dormitories are generally not built to be too large, and they are not charged for. Even if an individual pays to buy them out, they will only charge a cost fee, excluding labor costs, which would be at most one or two thousand yuan.

Three thousand yuan?

Could it be that Chen Fan's dormitory was built to the standard of a small Western-style building?
Xu Qizhen explained with a smile, "The house itself isn't worth much; it's just a 120-square-meter flat that cost less than a thousand yuan to build. But the furniture inside is valuable; it's all made of the finest sandalwood, and it only cost a total of three thousand yuan."

In the countryside, it costs more than a thousand yuan to build an 80-square-meter brick house, but he got a big house with sandalwood furniture for three thousand yuan. It can only be said that the way the arts and culture circles go is really wild. They always want to buy things cheaper than outside.

Old He didn't say much. He sat in his chair, looked around, and just smiled and nodded. "Young Chen knows how to manage a household."

Chen Fan poured tea, then took out several plates of dried fruit from the cabinet, and then brought out a large tray from the kitchen.

Looking at the tray full of apples, bananas, pears, grapes, and other fruits, Old Mao couldn't help but gasp. "You're not often in Beijing, how did you manage to buy so much fruit?"

Chen Fan wiped his hands, sat down in the main seat, and said with a smile, "As long as you have US dollars, you can buy whatever you want at the Friendship Store, and you can buy whatever you want."

He then looked at Mr. Mao and Mr. Buffett and asked, "Don't you have overseas royalties? Haven't you ever used foreign exchange to buy things?"

Before the two elders could speak, He Qingsheng said irritably from the side, "Do you think everyone has foreign exchange reserves like you? At most, others are given a certain amount of remittance certificates, which are saved up to buy scarce goods. Who is like you, with so much money that you can use it directly for living expenses?"

Chen Fan blinked and laughed, “That’s different. I write popular novels, which sell well and naturally earn more royalties. On the other hand, Mao Lao and Ba Lao write serious literature with high artistic value, the kind that can win awards. So their sales are not as good as mine, and their royalties are naturally not as high as mine.”

He then gave an example, saying, "For instance, the sales of Harvest magazine are definitely far less than those of Story Club."

This remark immediately drew laughter.

Now, each issue of "Story Club" sells over 60 copies, sometimes even exceeding 80. A few years later, in 85, it achieved a miracle of 760 million copies sold in a single issue, making it the most popular magazine in the country. Even in the history of global periodicals, this number is considered the ceiling.

When it comes to sales, no one can compare to "Story Club".

When the laughter subsided, Old Mao frowned slightly and looked at Chen Fan, saying, "Last night, you also mentioned foreign bestsellers, and some book fans even imitate the content of the books. I can tell that you were referring to the guiding influence of books on people."

However, at both the opening ceremony on the first day and the closing ceremony yesterday, the leaders avoided discussing this issue. They only mentioned "art and literature serve the people" during a small meeting. Last night, he called you in again and talked about the current state of the arts and literature circles abroad. Is there some deeper meaning behind this?

Seeing that Elder Mao had gotten down to business, Chen Fan put down his teacup and said seriously, "In fact, in my opinion, the leader has not only talked about it, but has also clearly stated his attitude and opinions."

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent, staring intently at him.

Chen Fan looked at everyone with a serious expression and said softly, "What did we say before? We said that 'literature and art serve politics.' This statement itself is not wrong. From the time of the revolutionary base area to the present, our literature and art have always been rooted in the masses and created with politics as the guide."

He looked at everyone and saw them all nod slightly before continuing, "But what was the result? We all saw the consequences of overemphasizing politics."

Now everyone stopped nodding and became more serious than the last.

Chen Fan continued, “The leader specifically stated at another meeting that, ‘We will not continue to use the slogan that literature and art are subordinate to politics, because this slogan is easy to become a theoretical basis for arbitrarily interfering with literature and art, and long-term practice has proven that it does more harm than good to the development of literature and art.’”

However, the leader emphasized, "This certainly doesn't mean that art and literature can be separated from politics. Art and literature cannot be separated from politics."

After speaking, Chen Fan suddenly turned to look at Ba Jin and said, "You studied in France, have you ever read 'The Crowd' by French social psychologist Gustave Le Bon, published in 1895?"

Mr. Ba was slightly taken aback. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I know this book. It seems to be a work on group psychology, but I haven't read it."

Chen Fan smiled and said, "Then I can just make things up."

Buffett immediately chuckled, and the others also let out a soft laugh.

But the next second, everyone's expressions turned serious again, and they continued to look at Chen Fan.

Chen Fan coughed lightly and said, "The core of this book can be summed up in one sentence: 'Ordinary people can be guided.'"

He looked at everyone again and said seriously, "Countless events in history have proven this point of view, so what the leader said is very true: literature and art cannot be separated from politics."

A book, whether good or mediocre, will have an impact on people as long as it is seen…

As he spoke, he looked at Elder Xia, Elder Ye, and Elder He, saying, "Similarly, a movie, a painting, or a song can achieve the same effect. In fact, for most ordinary people who lack the ability to discern, popular art has a greater impact than serious art."

Therefore, as artists, we have to consider what we want to express when we create works, and what impact this will have on society and the public.

It's not about what kind of honors my work will receive or how much attention it will get from leaders.

At this point, Chen Fan picked up his teacup, took a sip, slowly put it down, looked at everyone again, and smiled, "I think this is probably why the leader called me over."

After he finished speaking, no one spoke immediately.

Several minutes later, Mao Lao raised his head and said with a serious face, "From last year to this year, many people have been talking about emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts. Even at yesterday's closing ceremony, Lao Xia was still saying that we cannot be bound by outdated ideas and that we must carry out the emancipation of the mind to the end, and expand and deepen it."

I think that everyone's thinking is generally correct regarding the direction of artistic creation, and everyone knows which direction to take.

But the key point is that, so far, no one has been able to propose a concrete approach to this.

He looked up at Chen Fan as he spoke, "The point you're making is very important. The fact that literary and artistic works can influence the masses and society means that they cannot exist independently of politics."

The leader also said that the people are the mother of literary and artistic workers. Indeed, the people are the mother. Without the people, there would be no literature and art. Literature and art come from the people.

Combining these factors, the creative direction for artists and writers becomes clear.

Mr. Ye nodded in agreement. “As Mr. Li said, we should look at problems from two sides. We should look at both the positive and the negative. So when we are creating, we should not only talk about the beautiful, but also criticize the mistakes, so that people know what is good and what is bad.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Old Xia immediately continued, "From this perspective, the film 'Little Lotus Just Beginning to Show Its Tip' directed by Comrade Xiao Chen is a work with very obvious 'two-way differentiation'."

Through the different actions of the film characters, the audience is told that by actively facing difficulties without waiting for handouts, and by being valuable to the people, one can achieve great things. Conversely, those who simply sit at home waiting for a job offer from the neighborhood committee will not receive a job offer, let alone a better life. This kind of behavior must be criticized…

Chen Fan sat to the side, watching them talk animatedly, his mind still a little dazed.

Honestly, the movies I make don't really have that many meanings. They show the positive side, but there's really no criticism.

When Jiang Tiantian was writing her novel, she was more inspired by the vitality of Shenzhen and the stagnation and lifelessness of the mainland.

I simply added some comedic elements when adapting the film, made the characters more three-dimensional, and made some minor adjustments.

If you use this movie as an example to come up with some profound meaning, don't try to drag me into it. It has nothing to do with me, so don't talk nonsense!

No one paid attention to the screams in Chen Fan's head, since they couldn't hear them anyway.

At this point, Comrade Xiao Chen's value had been completely exhausted. Any further discussions were the responsibility of the leaders of the literary and art federation, and even He Qingsheng couldn't get a word in edgewise, let alone Xiao Chen.

Chen Fan could only pull Xu Qizhen to the kitchen and ask her to help out. Before long, she prepared a large table of delicious dishes.

Then treat them to a good meal and drinks, and call the Federation of Literary and Art Circles to send a car to pick them up.

After seeing the elderly gentlemen off, He Qingsheng and his two companions also prepared to leave.

Chen Fan escorted him to the door, and He Qingsheng turned to look at him and said, "Last night you were called over to dinner by your superiors. Right now, the entire literary and art community is probably watching you. But don't worry too much. After the literary and art congress, associations at all levels will definitely get moving. Once they get busy, they won't have time to pay attention to you."

Xu Qizhen added, "Old He means that you should go back and not see anyone, focus on finishing the movie, and deal with everything else next year."

Chen Fan nodded and smiled, "That's what I think too."

Tan Yong didn't say anything, just waved his hand and said, "We still have some business to take care of in the capital, so we won't see you off tomorrow."

After saying that, he turned around and walked out.

Chen Fan stood at the door, watching them walk away before turning around and closing the door. He then shoved his head into the house, muttering to himself that after filming the movie, he would speed up the pace a bit, finish his university courses ahead of schedule, and then go back to Lujiawan to find some peace and quiet.

Otherwise, if it were really as He Qingsheng said, being watched by the entire literary and artistic community would be quite uncomfortable no matter how you look at it.

(End of this chapter)