Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 816 815 "I'm not nostalgic, I want to remember."

Fang Minghua stayed at the foot of the mountain for three days before leaving.

During these three days, in addition to Ke Bing, Fang Minghua also interviewed some other young employees, including a technician who joined the factory only last year.

Unlike Ke Bing and his generation who were assigned by the state to work at Factory 182, this young man named Wang Dong graduated from Xijing University of Electronic Science and Technology and came here during the campus recruitment.

"Are you satisfied with your current living and working conditions?" Fang Minghua asked.

"To be honest, I'm not satisfied. What was said during the recruitment process is so different from the reality. I feel like I was deceived into coming here."

Wang Dong's frankness made the other young men laugh.

"However, the factory is working on an early warning aircraft project. I think there is still a future in staying here," Wang Dong added.

On the train back to Xijing, there were caves one after another outside, and the light inside the car was flickering. Fang Minghua thought about what he had seen and heard at Factory 182 in the past few days.

Whether it is the ideals and beliefs of the older generation such as Sun Yuanchao, the confusion and persistence of the middle-aged Ke Bing, or the hopes of the new generation such as Wang Dong, they all constitute the truest side of this third-line factory.

Factory 182 is a microcosm of the entire Third Line enterprise and also a microcosm of an era.

There are very few literary works written about third-line enterprises, and even fewer that are famous. However, Jia Zhangke made a relatively famous film called "Twenty-Four Cities" in the 2000s.

The main story line of the film revolves around three generations of "factory beauties" in an aviation factory in Sichuan Province. Through the life experiences and emotional journeys of the three generations of "factory beauties" in the 60s, 80s and now, it reflects the impact and experience of China's urbanization process, the development of cities, and the changes in living environment on ordinary people.

The film has a unique perspective and shooting method, using a dual structure of documentary and feature film.

But this filming method has also attracted a lot of criticism: the combination of fiction and documentation that the film boasts is actually not new.

What is more serious is that the record is seriously out of touch with the fiction, and the three generations of factory beauties played by professional actors are very awkward. They have lost the flexibility and overall unity of the crowd actors, and are completely out of control playing with fire.

What is even more criticized is the "Twenty-Four Cities" in the title of this movie. Although the director believes that 24 is not only a landmark name, it also has different meanings such as 1 hours in a day and the 24 traditional Chinese solar terms, as well as Du Fu's "Twenty-four cities are full of hibiscus, and Jinguan has been prosperous since ancient times."

But what the audience saw was that he was blatantly advertising for this real estate project called "24 Cities"!

However, as a novel, these situations do not exist, and Fang Minghua did not intend to write it as a documentary, but Chief Jia's narration from the perspective of three generations of factory beauties is very interesting.

You can learn from this narrative perspective.

The theme of this movie inherits Jia Zhangke's usual questioning and reflection, with a strong sense of salvation and concern for humanity. It profoundly points out the harm that the system does to individuals. It is an anti-systemic film!
Fang Minghua does not quite agree with this point or it is not entirely correct.

As it was a special period, there was a certain objectivity in the approach taken. We cannot look at it from the perspective of future generations and simply blame them.

Writing about this history, as the German artist Anselm Kiefer said, “I am not nostalgic, I want to remember.”

Record this history through novels.

After returning to Xijing, Fang Minghua immediately started writing.

The name of the novel is based on the geographical environment of Factory 182, and is named "Up and Down the Mountain"

The first generation is told from the perspective of Mr. Liu’s lover, a beautiful Fudan university student, who came from a big city to this remote mountain valley. The gap between her ideals and reality brought her memories that were difficult to let go.

The second generation is Ke Bing's lover, the "second generation of the factory". At this time, it was already the 1980s, and the economic benefits of the factory declined sharply, with layoffs and layoffs. The pride of the working class also disappeared, and a series of family changes occurred.

Let’s use Wang Dong as the prototype for the third generation, except that he becomes a female college student. Standing on the threshold of the new century, she looks at this factory which has long lost its glory, yet still breeds hope in its decline. Where should she go?
The weather in April was sunny and windy, which was a very suitable season for fishing. However, Fang Minghua stayed at home all day writing and seldom went out, which surprised his fishing friends.

What kind of shocking article is this guy creating at home?
Go and have a look.

Today is the weekend. The two kids went to their friends' houses to play, my wife went back to her parents' home to visit them, and the babysitter went shopping after finishing her housework. Fang Minghua naturally wouldn't care about these things and stayed at home quietly.

Fang Minghua was typing away on the keyboard in the study when he suddenly heard the doorbell microphone installed in the corridor on the second floor ring. Is someone coming?
Fang Minghua was too lazy to answer, but the doorbell kept ringing.

Moreover, old German Shepherd dogs don’t bark?

acquaintance?

This forced him to go downstairs. When he opened the door at the gate of the yard, he saw Lu Yao, Jia Pingwa, and Bai Miao.

"What are you doing?" Fang Minghua was surprised.

"It's okay, let's take a walk." Jia Pingwa said, and slowly walked into the yard with his hands behind his back.

"You didn't even call me. Aren't you worried that I'm not at home?" Fang Minghua followed.

"We just wanted to launch a surprise attack. You didn't go fishing when I asked you to. Are you staying at home writing another masterpiece?"

"Okay, okay, don't laugh at me. What kind of masterpiece do you mean? When we had a meeting in Tianhan, didn't we call on everyone to write something? I've been busy with this recently."

"What's it about? Let's take a look." Bai Miao immediately became interested.

"No, the first draft is not finished yet." Fang Minghua refused: "But you can tell me the general content. It's about the Third Line Factory."

"Minghua, you went to Factory 182 for a meeting. I heard that you stayed there for another week. So you came back to write this?" Bai Miao asked.

"Please sit down, everyone. I'll pour you some tea." Fang Minghua invited them.

"Let's sit in the yard. The sun is shining brightly." Lu Yao suggested.

"Row."

The three of them brought out a small table and rattan chairs by themselves. Fang Minghua brewed a pot of Mingqian Longjing tea, and everyone drank tea and chatted in the yard.

"Minghua, are you suddenly interested in this kind of state-owned enterprise theme? Is it like the book "The Piano in a Factory" you wrote a few years ago?" Lu Yao asked.

"They are somewhat different. That book mainly talks about the survival of laid-off workers after enterprise restructuring, while this one covers a wider range, from the 1960s to the present, and the theme is relatively positive." Fang Minghua suddenly became interested.

"I'll recite a poem for you."

After that he cleared his throat and recited.

"I will sing from the factory tower or the steamhouse,
Or play the cantabile Andante on the keys like Tchaikovsky,
Or like Yu Xian writing a melodious andante on paper..."

"Haha, it does have a bit of heavy industrial aesthetics." Bai Miao commented immediately.

"Hey, how about we try it a few times?" Fang Minghua smiled and suddenly changed the subject.

"Play majiang?"

"You three came here together, are you really here just to see what I write?!"

"Haha, Minghua is the one who understands us. If we don't rub a few times today, how can we be worthy of this beautiful spring day?!"

Soon, the sound of mahjong could be heard in the small courtyard.

The days passed by slowly, and in the blink of an eye it was May. The novel was not yet finished, and Fang Minghua had to leave for Lanzhou because the 4th World Chinese Literature Award Ceremony would be held there.

(End of this chapter)