Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 720 Literary Salon Held in Los Angeles

Fang Minghua and his family's vacation in San Francisco began.

Since Li Li's winter vacation was over and she had to go to school, and sometimes she also had to go to work at a publishing house, it was basically Fang Minghua who took his wife and two children out for fun.

Having been in San Francisco for three months, he is familiar with the places there, including the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, Lombardy Street, Twin Peaks, and Chinatown. He also visited Silicon Valley, which is a little further away.

Fang Minghua also took them to Stanford University to meet the two children's uncle, Liu Jianjun.

Just last weekend, while Li Li was on vacation, the five of them drove Fang Minghua's Buick to Los Angeles, heading south along the famous California Highway 1.

One side faces the vast Pacific Ocean and the other side is the Rocky Mountains. On one side are the raging waves and the dotted sails; on the other side are the cliffs and the green mountains. Feel the summer sea breeze and the exotic atmosphere.

On the way, we also took a detour to the small town of Todos Santos, which is the location of the hotel described in the famous song "Hotel California" by the Eagles. Thousands of fans and musicians flocked here.
Fang Minghua is not a fan of the Eagles, but she also likes this song.

Especially when driving on California Highway 1, singing this song feels really good.

On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Cool wind blows hair on dark desert highway

Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air
The warm smell of cannabis permeates the air

Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
Far ahead, I see flickering lights

As the Spring Festival draws closer, the city of San Francisco is beginning to have the flavor of the Chinese New Year, with red lanterns hung on both sides of the streets and all kinds of New Year goods and traditional handicrafts displayed in front of shops.

Fang Minghua and her two children also pasted couplets on the door of the villa and hung a red lantern on the balcony. Although it looked a bit out of place, the familiar feeling still made people happy.

Li Li was busy with classes and work at the publishing house, so Song Tangtang felt obliged to participate in the work of the publishing house. As the vice chairman of Shengshi Group and general manager of Shengshi Film and Television, she managed hundreds of employees. It was not a difficult task for her to assist Li Li in managing a publishing house with more than 50 people.

To facilitate her work, Fang Minghua, the actual controller of the publishing house, also gave her the title of "Special Assistant to the Manager".

While the two women were busy outside, Fang Minghua became a "househusband", cooking every day, supervising the two children to do their homework, and buying large amounts of food from the supermarket in preparation for the upcoming Chinese New Year.

That afternoon, Fang Minghua prepared some oil-splashed pulled noodles and waited with her children for the two sisters to come home for dinner. Li Li drove back from school first. After she came in and changed her shoes, her first question was, "Where's my cousin?"

"He hasn't come back yet, but he should be back soon." Fang Minghua looked at the clock hanging on the wall and the hands had already passed six o'clock.

Why.
My wife's coming here revealed her nature as a workaholic. She has been not leaving get off work on time in the past two days.

On the one hand, Fang Minghua is worried about her health, and on the other hand, she is worried that if you ask your employees to work overtime with you, they will protest and say that you are breaking the law.

Maybe the local labor department will come knocking on your door.

Li Li said "oh" and suddenly thought of something and said, "Minghua, I received a call today from a man named Bingling who claimed to be the president of the Chinese Writers Association of America. He said that the association was going to hold a literary salon in Los Angeles and invited you to attend."

"National Chinese Writers Association? I haven't heard of it?" Fang Minghua was a little surprised.

"According to him, it was established not long ago. Bingling introduced himself as Jiang Weimin. He was a writer and also worked as a journalist in China. He joined the Fujian Writers Association in 82. He came to the United States the year before last and is now lecturing at Yale University." Li Li said as she took off her down jacket, revealing her slender figure.

"Do you know who else he invited this time?" Fang Minghua asked again.

"Well, he mentioned some people whose names I don't remember clearly, including Zha Jianying, Yang Lian, Zhang Ling, and Li Tuo, the former editor of Yenching Literature! Yes, and Bei Dao! Bei Dao is now teaching at the University of California, Davis, and he will go there too."

Li Li mentioned several names in one breath, and Fang Minghua heard it.
I know quite a few of them!

Yang Lian was someone the poet Fang Minghua had met, as well as Zhang Ling. In 1985, she and Zhang Xianliang came to Iowa, the United States, to participate in the "International Writing Program" and stayed together for three months. After the girl returned to China, she immediately applied for a visa and went back to the United States. There has been no news of her since then.

Not to mention Li Tuo, I have met him several times at literary critics meetings in China. As for Bei Dao, I have only met him twice, once at the award ceremony of a poetry essay competition organized by Contemporary magazine in 81.

Another time was in the winter of 86, when the Xingxing Poetry Magazine held an award ceremony for the "Top Ten Young and Middle-aged Poets" in Chengdu. At that time, Fang Minghua happened to be attending the Galaxy Award ceremony held by Science and Literature, and was invited to attend a poets' gathering after the ceremony.

Now just for Bei Dao's participation I have to go and take a look!
Thinking of this, Fang Minghua asked: "What time? Where is the specific location?"

"February 2th, the location is in a Chinese villa in Los Angeles. He said he will send you an invitation with specific information on it." Li Li replied.

"Hey. What are you two talking about? Where are the two kids?" The living room door opened and a woman's voice was heard.

Song Tangtang is back.

"Cousin, someone invited Minghua to attend a literary salon." Li Li came over to help take the bag from Song Tangtang and told her what happened with a smile.

"Bei Dao and Li Tuo are participating? Minghua, I think you should go and listen." Song Tangtang expressed his opinion.

"I thought so too. Los Angeles is not far from San Francisco anyway." Fang Minghua nodded.

"Where are the kids? Where are the two kids?" Song Tangtang put on slippers and asked quickly.

"They're watching TV upstairs. Don't worry, they can only watch TV-G rated." Fang Minghua explained with a smile.

"I'll go upstairs and take a look." Song Tangtang seemed a little worried, and went upstairs without even taking off her coat.

Everything is broadcast on American TV, and we can’t let our two children see anything they shouldn’t and learn bad habits.

This is what Song Tangtang is most worried about.

But watching TV also has its benefits. The two children’s English level has improved by leaps and bounds, and they can even run over and play with the little girl next door.

Not long after, Song Tangtang came down from upstairs with her two children. After washing their hands, they sat in the restaurant to eat the oil-splashed noodles made by Fang Minghua.

In addition, a vegetable salad was prepared - a large plate of lettuce, magnolia greens, cherry tomatoes, and purple cabbage.

Song Tangtang likes to eat this, saying that it helps in losing weight. She eats this at night if she doesn’t eat carbohydrates.

The whole family was eating and chatting. Song Tangtang looked at Fang Minghua and said, "Minghua, I also want to go to Los Angeles."

Fang Minghua was about to put a clove of garlic into his mouth when he heard his wife say this and immediately replied:

"Why, come to the salon with me? Sure."

"No, I want to visit Hollywood. Last time I took the kids there, I just took a quick look. This time I want to visit a film company and get a deeper understanding." Song Tangtang expressed her opinion.

(End of this chapter)