Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 697: Old House on Julu Road

"What's the matter, Chairman Wang? Did he come to you to complain?" Fang Minghua asked back.

"I'm not complaining, I'm just sharing some of my own opinions." Wang Meng laughed, "I know Lao Liu well. He's a bit stubborn and not very open-minded. I gave him some advice."

Fang Minghua nodded.

Of course he knew that Wang Meng was not here to call him to task.

"Minghua, I remember that in the past two years of great discussions on humanistic spirit, I rarely saw anything you wrote." Wang Meng changed the subject and asked.

Let me say this again.
"Chairman Wang, I have never been to university, and my knowledge of literary theory and literacy is not high, so I don't think I can speak in such high-level academic discussions." Fang Minghua looked humble.

"Oh, Minghua, who has always been eloquent in the literary world, when did he become so humble? His literary theory literacy is not high? When he was just in his early twenties, he went to Lanzhou University to teach students about stream-of-consciousness novels? How many people understood this stuff at that time?"

"Also, just this afternoon, you cited classics and gave a long speech that stunned Liu Guowei. Now you are saying in front of me that you are not qualified?"

After hearing what Wang Meng said, Fang Minghua didn't know what to say and just chuckled twice.

"As a person over 60 and about to retire, I should not be involved in this discussion, especially in supporting Wang Shuo. I also know that there are many dross in Wang Shuo's novels and they cannot be considered classics at all."

Wang Meng looked at the green lotus leaves all over the lake and said, "But his novels are not too harmful. At most, they are just a pastime after dinner. They are not scary."

"What's so scary?" Fang Minghua asked.

"What's scary is that those who criticized him, under the banner of reshaping the humanistic spirit, demanded that Wang Shuo and others who participated in the incident be denounced and 'eliminated' one by one."

"We have made a tearful and bloody accusation against Zhang Yimou's 'shameless act' of 'using movies to discredit the motherland'."

"This is horrible. I get chills when I see these words. It's the 1990s now, why are words from that era appearing again? Haven't we suffered enough? Do we have to go through it all over again?!"

Having said that, Wang Meng looked at Fang Minghua with some excitement.

So that's what I was worried about!
These older generation literati who came from that era always have a sense of vigilance in their hearts.

"No, Chairman Wang, you don't have to worry too much. After all, times have changed and the situation you think will not occur." Fang Minghua looked relaxed.

“You are very optimistic.”

"Yes."

"Haha, okay, maybe I'm overthinking. Let's go over there, to Su Causeway. Among the ancient Chinese literati, I admire Su Shi the most. He is not only a literati but also a man of action. He built water conservancy projects and made contributions to future generations. Haha, he is also a gourmet."

The two walked towards Su Causeway.

During the several days of meetings, everyone expressed their opinions and debated with each other. During the break, they would go to visit West Lake in groups of three or four with friends.

I heard that two years ago, the local government carried out a major renovation of the West Lake, demolishing Huizhou Building and Mingyue Bay Hotel, relocating Yutan Hotel, and restoring scenic spots such as "Pinghu Autumn Moon". Now the West Lake looks much more beautiful.

Of course, Fang Minghua did not forget to find a tea shop and buy two kilograms of special-grade Longjing tea produced in the Meijiawu area.

The last two days were a big discussion on humanistic spirit, but Fang Minghua took a leave of absence.

"Minghua, are you really leaving?" asked Lu Yao, who lived in the same room with him.

"I do have some urgent business in Shanghai, so I have to hurry over. I asked for leave from the conference group, and Chairman Wang approved it." Fang Minghua said as he packed his things.

He was going to Shanghai, but he didn't dare say so when asking for leave.

My family called and said my mother was suddenly seriously ill and I had to go back immediately.
Only with this reason would Wang Meng let him go, so he could only let his mother down. After leaving West Lake Hotel, Fang Minghua took a taxi to the train station and bought a train ticket to Shanghai. He did not forget to call Zhao Hongjun to ask him to send someone to pick him up, and then took the train to Shanghai.

More than three hours later, we arrived at Hongqiao Station and saw Jin Bo as soon as we got out of the station.

"Teacher Fang, I'll take you to the hotel." Jin Bo enthusiastically helped Fang Minghua carry her luggage. "Boss Zhao has something to do at noon, so I'm afraid he won't be able to make it. I'll go to lunch with you."

"No need, just take me to the hotel and go home. I'll eat alone." Fang Minghua declined.

I still stayed at the New Jinjiang Hotel. At lunchtime, I had a quick meal in the hotel restaurant, took a shower and slept for a while. Then I heard someone knocking on the door.

When I looked over, I saw Zhao Hongjun standing at the door wearing sunglasses and holding a mobile phone.

"The meeting is over?"

"Not yet, but it's not interesting. I might as well look at houses." Fang Minghua said with a smile.

"Haha, I knew you couldn't forget the old house. I've already contacted the agent. Let's go there now."

"Have some tea to cool down?"

"No need, let's finish our work quickly and have a drink in the evening!" Zhao Hongjun said without turning his head.

Fang Minghua followed him down the elevator, walked out of the hotel and got into the Mercedes-Benz.

The place that Zhao Hongjun had been looking after was on Julu Road in Jing'an District. When the two of them drove over, there was already a young man in a washed white short-sleeved shirt and a tie waiting at the gate of the yard.

His surname is Zhang. Although he is young, he has worked in a real estate agency for several years, specializing in the buying and selling of old houses.

When I saw the Mercedes-Benz coming, I waited for the car to stop and quickly came over to help open the door.

"Mr. Zhao, you're here." The young man was very attentive.

"This is my friend, Fang Minghua. He bought a house." Zhao Hongjun introduced to Xiao Zhang.

Fang Minghua didn't let him reveal his specific identity. Xiao Zhang looked at the other person and felt that he looked familiar, but he didn't dare to ask more.

The two men shook hands and led them into the door.

Fang Minghua took a closer look and found that the main building was a three-story brick and wood structure with red tiles, white walls, a pointed roof, and oval steel windows. There were gardens in front and back, and four huge ginkgo trees with their branches and leaves extending outside the wall.

"This is an English-style garden house, built in 1930. There are 12 buildings in total, including this one, arranged along the road. This building complex is the first project of the internationally renowned architect Hudec after he set up his own business. The International Hotel, Wukang Building, and Grandview Cinema were all designed by Hudec."

Xiao Zhang introduced as he walked.

"This house has a property certificate area of ​​about 407 square meters, a land area of ​​about 657 square meters, including a basement of 75.53 square meters. The specific numbers are on the property certificate."

Finally, the three of them entered the living room on the first floor. It was almost empty and obviously had not been lived in for a long time. It was covered with dust.

"The owner of this property moved to Los Angeles, USA with his family five years ago. He applied for a green card at the beginning of this year and recently entrusted our agency to help sell it," Xiao Zhang hurriedly introduced.

Fang Minghua nodded, went up the wrought iron stairs, and looked around on the second and third floors and the balcony. Both the rooms and the walls were old, and the garden was overgrown with weeds. If he really wanted to move in, he would have to clean it up.

But he was not in a hurry, since he didn't plan to move in right away. The courtyard houses in Yanjing had been vacant all along.

(End of this chapter)