The literary era since 1979

Chapter 174 Broken Chapter Dog

The sun sets outside the library.

Gong Xing recalled how he had just watched "The Garland under the Mountain" and said embarrassedly:
"I'm sorry, I lost my composure just now."

"Don't apologize, it's totally understandable."

Fang Yan waved his hand and said, "I think it would be hard for anyone to not be moved after reading this novel."

"That's right, that's right."

Li Cunbao revealed that he cried more than once while writing "The Garland under the Mountain".

“A good work can only move others if it moves yourself.”

Fang Yan smiled and said, "When Lu Yao wrote "Life", it was the same. Your performance just proves that "The Wreath under the Mountain" will also be a heart-shaking masterpiece!"

When Li Cunbao heard that his novel might reach the level of "Life", his face was filled with excitement.

“This is a day worth celebrating.”

Fangyan said, "To celebrate the completion of The Wreath Under the Mountain, let's go out for a good meal tonight."

Li Cunbao sighed: "I have been busy writing articles these days and have not tasted the food in Nanning yet."

Fang Yan turned to look at Gong Xing and extended an invitation.

Gong Xing readily agreed, "What shall we eat?"

"Among us, you are the one who is most familiar with Nanning." Fang Yan and Li Cunbao looked at each other and asked her to make the decision at the same time.

Gong Xing said with a smile that he had been completely led by Xia Liyan these days, walking and eating all the way.

Fangyan asked: "What impressed you the most?"

"Of course it's vermicelli!"

Gong Xing talked about the rice noodle culture of western Guangxi in great detail.

"What kind of noodles are you guys eating? Is it snail noodles?"

Li Cunbao tried it once in Liuzhou and never wanted to touch it again.

Gong Xing asked Fang Yan in a low voice: "Teacher Fang, what is this snail noodle? Why does it seem to me that Teacher Li is a little bit..."

“Simply put, it’s noodles cooked in snail soup, served with pickled bamboo shoots, green vegetables, peanuts and yuba.”

According to Fangyan, this was accidentally invented by a private restaurant in Liuzhou last year, and is now slowly becoming popular.

"Can snail soup be used to make noodles?"

Gong Xing swallowed his saliva and asked, "How does it taste?"

"This is like the stinky tofu in Yanjing. It smells bad but tastes good. But it depends on the person. Cun Bao can't stand the faint stench." Fangyan smiled.

Li Cunbao said helplessly: "That's not 'light', and have you ever seen chili oil floating in a dark soup base?"

Gong Xing opened his mouth in surprise, "Nanning's delicacies also vary from person to person. I don't know if you can get used to it."

"If I remember correctly, you are from Shanghai."

Li Cunbao was very surprised, "Can you eat this?"

"I'm fine. I went to the countryside to work in western Jiangxi. After a long time, I can eat a little spicy food. However, the spiciness in western Guangxi is quite different from that in western Jiangxi." Gong Xing smiled.

In dialect, "Is it the kind that is sour and spicy with a hint of sweetness?"

Gong Xing's eyes lit up, "That's right, it's sour, spicy, and a little sweet, it's really appetizing."

Li Cunbao said: "Listening to you guys chatting has whetted my appetite, let's fill our stomachs quickly."

The three of them finally got together and came to the state-owned restaurant where Xia Liyan had brought Gong Xing before.

On the wall, there is a blackboard with a recipe written on it.

Laoyou rice noodles, spring roll rice noodles, Chunjiang duck feet...

Fangyan learned from the waiter that there was a post office nearby, so he asked Gong Xing and Li Cunbao to order the food first while he went to send a telegram to the editorial office of October.

"The first draft has been completed and will be mailed soon. Please check it."

When I came back from work, I happened to pass by a sour food stall and bought a mango.

"Yanzi, why did you come back just now!"

Li Cunbao asked him to sit down quickly, and the steaming rice noodle rolls were already on the table.

Raw meat or vegetarian ingredients are put together with rice milk on a tray and steamed in a steamer. After the rice noodles are cooked, add a spoonful of yellow skin sauce. It’s delicious!
While eating, take out the sour mango to share.

"Yanzi, this fruit you bought is so weird?"

Li Cunbao was very surprised, "Why is there chili powder sprinkled on it, and..."

"It's salt. This is called 'sour pickled fruit'."

Gong Xing repeated exactly what Xia Liyan had told her.

Fang Yan smiled and said, "Do you want to try it?"

"I'd better give up."

Li Cunbao said shyly: "I finally believe that 'looking at plums can quench thirst' is true. Just looking at this sour mango makes my mouth water. It seems that the obsession of western Guangxi with 'sour' is no less than that of eastern Shandong with 'salty'."

"Teacher Fang, let me try it."

Gong Xing took a piece and was so sour that his eyes lit up immediately: "This taste is so weird, how can I describe it?"

As he spoke, he picked up another piece and put it in his mouth. "It's very sour, a little spicy, and a little sweet. It's a bit like the spicy and sour radish strips that Mr. Fang wrote about in A Bite of China."

Li Cunbao exclaimed in amazement: "I didn't expect Gong Xing to be so talented in eating."

"And on acid."

Fang Yan joked: "There is a saying in the local area, 'Heroes are hard to resist beautiful women, and beauties are hard to resist sour food stalls.'"

Gong Xing blushed, "I, I don't want to eat anymore."

The dialect says: "If you like it, eat more. It's good for your health. The climate in western Guangxi is cold and humid, so the locals like to eat sour things to remove moisture and quench thirst, especially sour food, which is a 'good recipe' for cooling off in summer." "Yanzi, if you say so, then I have to try it too."

Li Cunbao became interested. "It has been passed down to this day, so there must be a reason for its existence."

Gong Xing said: "Teacher Fang, I didn't expect you to know so much."

"That's natural."

Li Cunbao said: "Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to write a masterpiece like A Bite of China that captures the essence of food."

"Will Teacher Fang continue to write this kind of prose in the future?"

Gong Xing noticed Fang Yan looking at him with a smile, and hurriedly explained that he was asking on behalf of Xia Liyan and others, as they all hoped to write an essay about the cuisine of western Guangxi.

"Sometimes, but not now."

Fang Yan said, "I need to finish the manuscript on hand first."

"That's right, hurry up and write. Your military fantasy really makes my blood boil. I can't stop reading it."

Li Cunbao sighed, "It's a pity that I haven't finished it. I only write a little bit every day, which is not enough."

Once reminded, Gong Xing remembered those inspiring sentences and a fire ignited in his heart.

"Teacher Fang, can you lend me your manuscript for a while?"

"It's done."

Fangyan thought for a moment and nodded.

Come to my room tonight and discuss the drama together...

Bah, discuss literature!

………………

After returning to the guesthouse after dinner, Gong Xing walked into Fangyan’s room for the first time.

"Please take a seat."

Fangyan asked her to sit down and handed her the manuscript.

Gong Xing took the manuscript and flipped through it, until he came to the character relationship table, which was densely packed and complicated.

Yan Shuangying...Hu Bayi...

Duan Dayong, the son of Duan Peng, was named "Dayong" in memory of his fallen comrade Wei Heshang...

Railway, Yuan Lang’s boss… Old A Team…

Leng Yuanchao, Leng Feng's father...

The members of the special forces are listed above. Although the characters are introduced in just a few words, one can vaguely feel that each character can expand into countless stories.

"You read it first, I'll write the draft for a while."

Fangyan brought some hot water and said, "We'll talk after you finish watching it."

"Ah."

Gong Xing watched him pull out a chair and sit at the table. He then looked at his profile for a while before turning his attention to the novel.

The whole bedroom was very quiet, with only the sound of writing and turning pages.

The first and second parts have basically been written, and there is not much deviation from the outline and synopsis she had read before.

The third part writes about the destruction of the "Simberlin Radar". Our army sent out special forces to eliminate this "culprit", so they formulated a combat plan and released false information. A second backup radar system will be delivered to the front line soon.

Use fake radar as bait to lure the snake out of its hole and catch the turtle in the jar.

In order to lure the enemy into taking the bait, the artillery launched multiple rounds of bombardment, causing psychological and physical pressure on the enemy, forcing superiors to intervene in command and urge the special forces to carry out sabotage.

(PS: This is a simplified version of the real story)
The plot of the battle of wits and courage is closely linked and full of ups and downs. The more you read, the more fascinated you will be.

Just when I was enjoying the show, it suddenly ended at the most exciting part, and my emotions were completely messed up.

Teacher Fang, how could it be interrupted here?

Gong Xing looked up at him and said, "Teacher Fang, is there nothing left?"

"Nothing."

Fangyan half turned around and said, "Look, I'm writing right now."

"You write it very well. It's more exciting than any military literature I've read before." Gong Xing praised repeatedly, "I've never seen a military novel written like this!"

"This is called 'military fantasy', which is a newly created branch of military literature." Fangyan explained seriously.

Gong Xing understood the concept of military fantasy literature and his eyes widened.

"No wonder you wrote 'special operations' in it. I feel like I've never heard of it in the army."

"You were a soldier too?"

"I was a cultural soldier, but not for long."

The two started with the topic of Gong Xing's military service, and gradually moved on to talk about performances, poetry, movies, and dramas...

As the night grew deeper, Gong Xing was still not satisfied, but the topic had to be ended and forcibly disconnected.

Nowadays, unless they are married, if a man and a woman are alone in a room late at night, even if nothing is going on, news of something bad may spread.

"See you tomorrow."

Fangyan walked her to the door with a smile on his face.

"See you tomorrow, Teacher Fang."

Gong Xing returned to his room, washed up briefly, turned off the lights and went to bed.

The quilt made a rustling sound and I tossed and turned but couldn't fall asleep.

My mind is full of dialect. It would be fine if the novel was interrupted at the most interesting part, but the conversation was also interrupted at the most interesting part!
The more I thought about it, the more itchy my heart felt, as if more than a hundred dialects were crawling on my heart. Why was it so uncomfortable?

(End of this chapter)