The literary era since 1979

Chapter 145 It's Not Easy to Follow Teacher Fang

The sound of car bells spread into the training headquarters compound.

Wang Shuo and Ye Jing sat face to face, with a plate of peanuts and smashed cucumbers and a bottle of Red Star Erguotou on the table.

"So, your manuscript has been approved, right?"

Ye Jing threw peanuts into her mouth.

"Of course, it was approved right after the review!"

Wang Shuo said proudly, "You will be able to see my masterpiece in the February issue of October next year."

"See what you can do."

Ye Jing curled her lips, "I said your novel has been published, it's a bit shabby to treat me to this for such a big event. Take out your royalties, and at least treat me to a meal at Quanjude or Donglaishun instead of Lao Mo."

Wang Shuo said, "That won't work. I'll keep the royalties to treat Teacher Fang to a meal at Lao Mo to make amends."

"Oh, he keeps calling me 'Teacher Fang', which sounds quite affectionate." Ye Jing pouted and said, "I don't know who it is, but every day when he comes back from revising the manuscript, he curses me 'Fang Ba Pi'."

"These are two different things. I'm not exaggerating. After receiving this guidance from Teacher Fang, I never want to touch literature again in my life."

"Really?"

"Really! Whoever touches it is a piece of stinky shit!"

Wang Shuo drank Erguotou with tears on his face.

Being locked up in a small dark room in the editorial department of October by Fangyan, and undergoing intensive literary training and spiritual spurring, his writing level can’t be said to have improved by leaps and bounds, but it can at least be said to have improved rapidly.

But the donkeys in the production team were not used like this!

He suffered so much "torture", which caused great harm to his young heart and he fell deeply into the shadow of Teacher Fang.

"Is it that serious? Why don't you run away?"

Ye Jing teased, "Are you afraid that Teacher Fang will beat you, or are you afraid that your father will beat you with a belt?"

"Brother, will you be afraid?"

Wang Shuo said: "It's just that after suffering so much, my novel was rejected in the end, so my previous suffering was not in vain."

"That makes sense!" Ye Jing said.

"Besides, Mr. Fang is a good person and teaches well, but it's not easy to follow him." Wang Shuo said: "Anyway, no matter what, it's better for us not to touch literature in the future."

"So you don't want to be a writer anymore, and you plan to go back to selling sugar water?"

Ye Jing stared at her childhood friend.

"Sugar and salt water!" Wang Shuo corrected, "But I don't want to stay in the pharmaceutical company anymore. This iron rice bowl is boring."

"Then what exactly do you want to do?" Ye Jing asked.

"It's impossible for me to write anymore. I will never write in my lifetime. I don't want to have a stable job anymore. I might as well do business."

Wang Shuo said, "There was a news article a while ago that said, 'If miracles have a color, it must be Chinese red.' Have you seen it?"

Ye Jing said: "Of course I have read it. This is what Teacher Ren Fang said. Our unit even held a meeting to discuss it."

"Yes, it was Teacher Fang. Just this one sentence made the stall owner rich." Wang Shuo nodded, "After reading the news, I was thinking, if he can make money, why can't we?"

Ye Jing asked: "Indeed, then what do you want to do?"

Wang Shuo said: "I haven't figured it out yet. When I do, I will definitely make a name for myself."

The two men discussed it for a while and decided that they really liked eating roast duck, so they decided to quit their jobs and open a roast duck restaurant together.

Ye Jing glanced at him and said, "Actually, if you follow Teacher Fang, you won't be too bad."

"Of course not. You don't know how crazy it was after The Mountain was published," Wang Shuo described. "So many letters came from all over the world. Moreover, the postal and telecommunications system specially organized a literature lecture for Teacher Fang and sent leaders to the company to pick him up."

"That pie, I was so envious at that time!"

…………

Since its publication, "That Mountain, That Man, That Dog" has made a splash in the postal system. Letters from all directions have poured into the dialect, written by postmen and delivered by postmen. Some come from cities, and some come from rural areas.

Most of them are letters of thanks, but there are also invitations from post offices across the country, hoping to come here and give speeches to the postmen.

Dialects should be promoted as much as possible, but today's literary lecture cannot be promoted at all. It is jointly organized by the Ministry of Culture, the Writers Association, and the postal and telecommunications system, with a grand ceremony and an unprecedented lineup.

Even people from the Yenching Writers Association, the Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and the editorial department of Yenching Literature could only sit in the second and third rows.

What the dialect wants to express is basically creative ideas, experiences, feelings, insights, etc., blah blah.

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa."

The applause was like a tide, surging.

The leaders of the postal and telecommunications system were all smiling. "That Mountain, That Man, That Dog" caused a strong response in society, brought widespread attention to postmen, and made the entire postal industry stand out among all walks of life. Compared with the literary creations of the steel, machinery, railway, medical and other systems, it is far ahead.

Far ahead!

According to rumors, the heads of relevant departments such as steel and railways were greatly stimulated and urged professional writers to write well. Their requirements were not high, and they just wanted the quality of the novel to be similar to that of "That Mountain".

An article written in dialect stirred up the entire literary world!
Some writers who originally just wanted to get away with this creative task were forced to show their true abilities and give it their all.

At this time, "King of Volumes" Fangyan finished his literature lecture and chatted with the leaders present, including Zhang Guangnian.

"I didn't expect that your first creative task would be completed so well in this way. Junior brother, you have improved again."

"Brother, thank you for the compliment."

Fang Yan smiled and said, "This is all thanks to the teachers of Yenching Literature, as well as Mr. Cong Wen and Mr. Wang for their guidance and help."

"I'm taking you to see an old friend of mine."

Zhang Guangnian nodded with satisfaction.

When Fangyan arrived, he realized that the person he met was Zhou Weizhi.

This heavyweight in the music world is not only the first conductor of the "Yellow River Cantata", but also the composer of "Defeat the United States | Ambitious Wolf", which is the battle song of the Volunteer Army, "We are vigorous and high-spirited, crossing the Yalu River."

"Xiao Fang, I've always heard Guangnian mention you as his proud junior brother, and today I finally have the honor of meeting you in person."

"It's my honor to see you here."

The two got to know each other through Zhang Guangnian's introduction.

During the chat, Fangyan learned that the original Culture Department was merged with the Publishing, Cultural Relics, Foreign Language Publishing and other departments to form a new Culture Department. The previous Huang Baizhi was transferred to the Chinese and Foreign Language Committee, and now Zhou Weizhi is the acting director of the entire department.

Zhou Weizhi smiled and spoke at a moderate pace:
"According to the Cultural Cooperation Agreement, we sign annual cultural exchange agreements with other countries every year, and include film, literature, drama, and opera in this year's exchange projects..."

I was confused by the dialect at first, but when I heard that Japan would send a cultural exchange group to visit China at the beginning of next year to pave the way for the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the ministry would organize a delegation of corresponding specifications, and I was selected as one of them.

For a moment, the whole person was a little stunned, "Me?"

"Yes, you will attend a series of cultural exchange activities to be held as a representative of young writers in the literary world."

Zhang Guangnian patted his left shoulder.

"When the time comes, you must behave well."

Zhou Weizhi patted his right shoulder.

"I will!"

Fangyan promised solemnly.

Zhou Weizhi carefully explained some requirements and details: "We will also select a number of outstanding literary works in recent years so that we can bring them out at Sino-Japanese exchange activities and discuss them with each other. If nothing unexpected happens, they will be introduced to Japan and translated and published later."

“Several of your works are also on the shortlist.”

Zhang Guangnian continued, "As for which ones, we are still discussing it internally. As the original author, you can recommend yourself. As long as the reasons are sufficient and appropriate, we will adopt it at our discretion."

"Works suitable for literary communication..."

Fangyan touched his chin, thoughtfully.

(End of this chapter)