The literary era since 1979

The atmosphere of the welcoming banquet was extremely harmonious, with people toasting each other, drinking and chatting, and everyone became more and more familiar with each other.

The party was over and everyone left, but Fang Yan, Pan Yaoming, Xiao Zi and others were still not satisfied, so they suggested going for a night tea.

In addition to the tradition of drinking morning tea, Hong Kong also has the habit of having evening tea.

Initially, restaurants and teahouses were two industries with clear boundaries between them. Restaurants did not sell snacks and teahouses did not operate evening business, so the two did not interfere with each other.

In order to attract customers, teahouses in Hong Kong would specially go to Guangzhou to invite some singers, also known as famous actors, to sing.

In the 60s and s, there were even the "Four Heavenly Kings" of overnight tea, whose influence was no less than that of the Four Heavenly Kings of Hong Kong and Taiwan. Tea drinkers only needed to buy a tea coupon to listen to songs all night long in the teahouse. However, in the late s, the government required licenses to sell singing.

The teahouse owners found it troublesome and simply closed down. As a result, although there is night tea in Hong Kong today, it is like a late-night canteen, providing people with a quiet place to drink tea and chat. The food is similar to that of morning tea, but with a few more snacks, such as golden dew crisps and egg loose eggs.

"Boss, give me some sugar rings, smiling dates, jiaozi, and chicken biscuits..."

Pan Yaoming picked up the menu and ordered with ease, "Another pot of shengpu tea and six cups of black milk tea, let's drink them first."

Dong Xiuyu glanced at the price and sobered up immediately. She was shocked and said, "Isn't this too expensive?"

"Comrade Xiu Yu, there is no need to save money for Lao Pan. He is extremely rich." Fang Yan said with a playful expression.

Pan Yaoming rolled his eyes in annoyance. If we really talk about wealth, no one present could be richer than Fangyan, but he did not expose it in person.

"Vice President Dong, don't listen to Yan Zi's nonsense. I may not be able to afford the expensive ones, but I can still treat you to night tea."

As he spoke, he raised the cup of red milk tea brought by the waiter and gestured to everyone, "Have a drink, you're welcome."

"Just now at the table, there were some things that were difficult to talk about. Now that we are all here in private, let's talk about it."

Xiao Zi cast an inquiring look at him, "Yanzi, I heard from you and Xiuyu that you are here to help the bookstore with its commercial transformation?"

Fang Yan nodded. "I just said this at the dinner table. Things are different now. In the past, Sanlian Bookstore was operated as a literary and artistic united front in Hong Kong, but now the strategic direction needs to be adjusted. We need to develop in the direction of commercialization, popularization, and popularization."

Xiao Zi asked: "Then tell me in detail what you are going to do?"

“Since we want to move towards commercialization, popularization and popularization, we must understand what Hong Kong readers like to read now.”

Fang Yan said: "Only when there is demand can there be a market, and only then can we publish commercial popular novels that fit Hong Kong culture and readers' tastes."

"How about martial arts novels?"

Dong Xiu-yu feels that half of the mainland's martial arts craze is due to martial arts novels from Hong Kong and Taiwan, so the martial arts novel atmosphere in Hong Kong must be very strong.

However, the results were far from what was expected.

Pan Yaoming shook his head and smiled bitterly, saying that now is the most depressed time for martial arts novels, whether in Hong Kong or Taiwan.

Dong Xiuyu was shocked: "No way?"

"That's true. Nowadays, only great martial arts novels like Jin Yong, Gu Long, Liang Yusheng, and Yanzi can sell well."

There was a hint of heaviness in Xiao Zi's tone.

Fangyan thought about it for a while and figured it out. The reason why the novels of martial arts masters like Fangyan and Jinyong are still selling well is mainly thanks to the TV series and movies adapted from the novels, which boosted the sales of the original works. However, from the overall environment, martial arts novels have declined. "Besides, even if I hire someone to write martial arts novels, I really can't think of any other suitable candidates except Yanzi."

Pan Yaoming said that Gu Long has passed away and Liang Yusheng has stopped writing, so even if Jin Yong can still write, he will choose Ming Pao, his own publication, as his first choice for publishing and reprinting.

Fangyan touched his chin. If he really chose a martial arts novel, there would be options. The name "Huang Yi" suddenly flashed through his mind.

“Although martial arts novels are not popular, I think pure romance novels, or novels with romantic themes, are an area worth exploring.”

Pan Yaoming said that it was precisely because the dialect version of "Love Letter" sold well in Hong Kong, Taiwan and other places that the potential of romance novels was evident.

"This is worth noting, but most of the writers who are good at this are female writers, such as Yi Shu, Qiong Yao, and Li Bihua..."

Xiao Zi frowned. "Their asking price is not low, and every time they make a bid, it will cause a fight among the major publishing companies in Hong Kong. Whether in terms of financial resources or relationships, they may not be willing to hand over their works to our Joint Publishing Company for publication."

"I can't guarantee the success of Yi Shu and Qiong Yao, but if it's Li Bihua, I'm pretty sure I can win her over."

Fangyan looked left and right, "Apart from romance novels, is there anything else?"

Xiao Zi, Pan Yaoming and others looked at each other, and then turned their eyes to Fang Yan, wanting to hear the opinion of the editor-in-chief.

"Cough cough."

Fangyan cleared his throat and the first thing he proposed was suspense, mystery and criminal detective novels.

Whether in Japan or Hong Kong, this type of subject matter has been popular from the 80s to the 90s. After all, TVB has produced a large number of criminal investigation TV dramas, such as "Criminal Investigation Files", "Forensic Files", "Forensic Heroes" and other series.

Even in the 21st century, Japanese mystery literature of various genres has flooded into the country, creating a craze in the domestic book market.

Coincidentally, the first season of "The Inspector General of the Song Dynasty" has already been premiered in China, and Fang Yan is preparing to connect TVB with the Yanjing Television Art Center to introduce "The Inspector General of the Song Dynasty" to Hong Kong TV stations for broadcast. Maybe he can also authorize TVB to shoot the "Justice Records" series of TV dramas.

By then, suspense and mystery novels including "Song Ci, the Inspector General of the Song Dynasty" will probably sell well in Hong Kong.

"Okay, this is a really great idea, and there's more!"

Pan Yaoming's face was full of excitement and joy.

At this moment, at the counter not far away, the boss who had finished his work returned to his seat, took out the radio, and skillfully tuned to the Hong Kong Commercial Radio Station.

Next to the ears of the dialect, one can clearly hear that the radio station is now broadcasting the "Wesley" series of audio dramas.

"By the way, Ni Xian's Wesley series is also very popular."

Pan Yaoming said: "Although it is considered a science fiction novel, it is different from your "The Three-Body Problem" and "The Ring".

Fangyan smiled and said that rather than a science fiction novel, Wesley's novel was more like an adventure novel that incorporated multiple elements, mixed with a lot of knowledge about feng shui, geomancy, tomb robbing, yin and yang, astrology, and metaphysics, which was a modified version of "Raiders of the Lost Ark".

For example, the movie "Wesley: The Overlord Takes Off His Armor" is adapted from the chapter "Feng Shui" in the original novel.

As soon as I thought of this, inspiration suddenly emerged. If we really want to talk about the originator of tomb-raiding adventure novels, who can be more legitimate than this one! (End of this chapter)