Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 704 Harry Potter Rejected

The people in the Provincial Writers Association soon learned that Fang Minghua had received a doctorate from Northwest University, and several of them who were close to him immediately started to ask him to treat them. Fang Minghua had no choice but to set up a table at Xijing Restaurant.

At the banquet, everyone raised their glasses to congratulate Fang Minghua. Jia Pingwa was even more envious, holding up his glass and saying, "Minghua, I really envy you. As an undergraduate student at Xi'an University, I have always dreamed of my alma mater awarding me an honorary doctorate."

"Haha, Brother Jia, don't worry, I will give it to you." Fang Minghua laughed.

However, Jia Pingwa's wish seemed to have never been realized. Later, the University of Macau seemed to have awarded him an honorary doctorate.

By the end of September, Fang Minghua had published three articles in succession in the Literary Gazette and no longer cared about the matter. He also locked the doctoral degree certificate in a drawer in his study. To him, it was just another line of beautiful text in his resume.

For more than a month, Fang Minghua has been writing the second Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

It mainly tells the story of Harry, who is in his second year at the magic school. He, Ron and Rui Fang learn that there is a secret room in Hogwarts, which was left by Slytherin.

When several students from Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were petrified, but no students from Slytherin were petrified, everyone knew that the prank came from Slytherin students.

Then, another bad news about the Chamber of Secrets came: Ron's sister Ginny was captured by Voldemort and was in danger of death. Harry and Ron were very anxious after hearing this, so the only way to save everyone was to open the Chamber of Secrets and subdue Voldemort.

In the end, Harry defeated Voldemort with his wisdom and courage and successfully rescued Ginny.

This book continues the magical world of the previous work, with twists and turns in the plot, and is also one of the more exciting ones in the Harry Potter series.

Fang Minghua didn't write much in more than a month, only about 70,000 words. Anyway, there was no rush, as the first part had not yet been officially published - Li Li called a few days ago and said that all the translations had been completed, and she was contacting Simon Company for publishing matters.

Tomorrow is National Day, and there are three days off in total. Fang Minghua and his wife decided to take the children out for a drive and go to Chenggu in Tianhan area. They heard that there is a place called Orange Garden that is rich in citrus fruits. In autumn, the mountains and fields are full of orange oranges, which is a spectacular sight.

In the evening, Song Tangtang packed her luggage. She had to worry about everything for the family of four when they went out. Moreover, going to Chenggu required crossing the Qinling Mountains, which would take at least two days.

Fang Minghua was supervising his two children doing their homework upstairs. He told them seriously: "Only if you finish your homework seriously can you play happily!"

Whether you listen or not, a father should say what he should say.

At this time, the nanny came upstairs and told Fang Minghua: "Brother Fang, Sister Li called you long distance from the United States."

Li Li?

"Got it. I'll go to my study to answer it."

Fang Minghua came to his study, picked up the phone and said jokingly, "Lili, I wish you a happy National Day."

"Brother-in-law." Li Li's tone didn't seem very happy: "Let me tell you something. The negotiations between me and Simon Company broke down."

"Did the deal break down?"

"Yes, Simon & Co. refused to publish this Harry Potter book."

Fang Minghua was a little surprised.

"A few days ago you called and said that Simon's vice president Johnson had read the manuscript and felt it was very good and was ready to publish it as soon as possible. How come you suddenly changed your mind?" Fang Minghua was a little surprised.

"The problem is not with Johnson, but with their president Evans. He refused to publish the book unless the character of Ruifang was changed to an English-American girl." Li Li explained the reason.

"why?"

"He said this is in line with the reading habits of British and American people. Later, I heard Johnson tell me privately that their president is an extreme right-winger who advocates white supremacy and is very indignant that you chose a Chinese girl as the heroine of this Western magic novel." "Oh, is that so." Fang Minghua replied calmly: "No change."

"Brother-in-law, I also think it shouldn't be changed. From a literary point of view, the character of Ruifang is very well written. We can't indulge these people's bad habits." Li Li replied, and then said:
"Don't worry, I have already contacted Random House in the United States. Their vice president, Mr. George, admires you very much and is willing to discuss the publication of this book in detail. I plan to send the manuscript over this afternoon."

Of course Fang Minghua had heard of Random House.

One of the famous book publishing companies in the United States, it was founded in 1925 and has a long history. It is known as the world's largest English-language commercial international publishing house, comparable to Simon Company.

Fang Minghua did not lose anything by letting Random House publish this book. Both companies are well-known publishing companies, and Fang Minghua believed that once the contract was signed, Random House would do no worse than Simon in terms of book operations.

But he didn't plan to do that.

"Lili, don't worry. If Simon Company doesn't want to publish it, the manuscript will be left with you." Fang Minghua said slowly.

"what?"

"I'll think about it again."

"Okay then." Li Li didn't know what Fang Minghua was considering, but since he said so, she would do as he said.

"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. Do you want to chat with your cousin?" Fang Minghua said with a smile.

"Okay."

"Hold on."

Fang Minghao put the microphone on the table, walked out of the study and shouted to Song Tangtang who was busy in the bedroom next door: "Tangtang, Lili calls and wants to talk to you."

"Okay, I'll be right over."

While the two sisters were chatting on the phone, Fang Minghua went to watch the children do their homework - she could not neglect her responsibilities.

At around nine o'clock in the evening, the two children finally finished their homework and ran downstairs to watch TV, cheering. Fang Minghua was also liberated. Just as he returned to his study, Song Tangtang walked in.

"Minghua, I heard from Lili that Simon Company refused to publish your book?"

"Yes, it's no big deal. Let's leave the manuscript with Lili for now." Fang Minghua said as he turned on the computer.

"Hey, tell me, why can't a Chinese girl be the heroine of this book? Our country is very welcoming to Americans, but I didn't expect them to be so discriminatory against us." Song Tangtang sighed.

"In the United States, racial discrimination is everywhere." Fang Minghua said with a smile: "Okay, you don't have to worry about it."

"I'm worried about Lili - do you think she will also suffer discrimination in the United States?" Song Tangtang said.

"Lili is a university professor after all, she is a high-level talent, so this kind of thing will happen less often." Fang Minghua comforted her, "Okay, stop thinking about it, have you prepared your things for Tianhan tomorrow?"

"Everything is ready."

"That's great. Let's set out at 7am and cross the Qinling Mountains to enjoy the oranges!"

(End of this chapter)