The literary era since 1979

With the premiere of "Die Hard" approaching, Fang Yan returned to Hong Kong before Gong Xing.

Gong Xing continued to stay in Yanjing and discussed in detail the preparations for "Farewell My Concubine" with Wu Tianming, Zhang Yimou, Mo Shen and others from the Xi'an Film Studio. At the same time, with the help of Fang Yan, Chen Huaikai, Chen Kaige and others were also invited to participate in the filming, and the entire crew was extremely luxurious.

The couple said goodbye at the Capital International Airport, and then Fang Yan took a flight to Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong.

As soon as he returned home and took a short rest, he called Lin Qingxia's residence.

"I've already arranged it. The day before Die Hard is released, someone will bring your sister's family and your uncle's family to Hong Kong to reunite with your family. I'll arrange for them to stay at the Miramar Hotel. Qingxia, what do you think?"

"Great! There's nothing better than this!"

Lin Qingxia thanked him repeatedly, and then vowed to bear all the expenses for her sister, uncle and their family to come to Hong Kong.

"Such a small matter..."

"This is no small matter. You've been busy running around for our family's affairs, and it's hard enough. How can I let you spend money?"

The two of them tried to refuse for a while, but finally Fang Yan saw that Lin Qingxia was determined to do so, so he stopped forcing it.

Lin Qingxia's tone was somewhat doubtful. "When you recommended me to star in Die Hard, did you already plan to have my sister, uncle and his family reunite with us during the premiere?"

"It was just an accidental planting of willows that led to the formation of a forest."

Fang Yan said, "This gathering is just the beginning. There will be many opportunities in the future. Tell your parents that there will be new policies soon. When the time comes, compatriots from Taiwan will be very welcome to visit relatives and travel in the mainland, and they will be guaranteed to come and go freely."

“Really!!”

Lin Qingxia was very excited.

Fang Yan said: "When the time comes, I hope you can do me a favor."

Lin Qingxia said seriously: "Don't mention one, even if it's five or ten, as long as it's within my ability, I will definitely do my best to help you."

"Just one."

Fangyan conveyed the mainland's intention, wanting to invite Lin Qingxia and her family to be interviewed and cooperate with publicity.

After all, an "ice-breaking trip" like this requires some positive examples to promote it, and the greater the fame and significance, the better.

Lin Qingxia thought for a moment, then agreed without hesitation, "I will cooperate with you in whatever way you want me to."

Fangyan smiled, and suddenly heard a faint sobbing sound on the phone. It was obvious that this great news made Lin Qingxia cry with joy.

After comforting her for a while, the crying gradually died down. "Qingxia, tell your uncle and aunt the good news as soon as possible, so that they can make preparations early. I have asked Jiahe to reserve a seat for you at the premiere. Then, you can have a good chat."

After Lin Qingxia expressed her thanks again, she hung up the phone.

Fangyan touched his hungry stomach and was too lazy to cook, so he simply went downstairs and came to a nearby street where business was booming.

I saw that the roast goose shop where I often ordered takeout was already packed. The boss was chopping the roast goose deftly, but he would always pause from time to time, his attention drawn to the radio, which was playing the second radio drama of "Ghost Blows Out the Light" launched by Hong Kong Radio.

At this moment, the customers sitting in the store pricked up their ears, and some even looked away so hard that the hot roast goose rice had gone cold.

Fangyan turned his gaze to the other side. The bustling street seemed to be frozen in time. Passers-by stood almost motionless, listening quietly to "The Yellow Skin Tomb", fearing to miss any punctuation mark. Such a scene actually attracted more people to stop.

After looking around for a while, I found that no one in the street with a radio was listening to the "Wesley" radio drama.

The corners of his mouth rose slightly, and then he chose a food stall. As soon as he sat down, he heard the discussions of the diners around him.

"This "Ghost Blows Out the Light" is good in every way, but it is broadcast too short every day and I can't enjoy it enough."

"That's right. Every time it's so short, only 30 minutes."

"The shortness of the story isn't the biggest problem. The worst part is that every time I get excited about it, the sequel suddenly stops, leaving me with a tingling feeling."

"The person who wrote this broadcast script is really a piece of shit! And the author of "Ghost Blows Out the Light" is so secretive. Why can't he just publish the second, third, and subsequent novels openly? Listening to the broadcast episode by episode like this really makes me feel uncomfortable!"

"Hush, I heard that the author of "Ghost Blows Out the Light" seems to be Fang Sheng?"

"Mr. Fang? He's the writer Fang from the mainland. How do you know he wrote Ghost Blows Out the Light?"

"I also read it in a newspaper, where Ni Zhen, the son of Ni Xu, named the author."

"........."

Seeing everyone gasp, Fangyan's mood for eating suddenly turned cold, and his eyes narrowed into slits.

…………

The next day, at Joint Publishing Company in Hong Kong.

When Fang Yan arrived at the office, he saw Pan Yaoming holding the Hong Kong Economic Journal, his eyes fixed on the news in the financial sector.

"What is Lao Pan looking at?"

"Iwako?!"

Pan Yaoming was startled, and then he was overjoyed when he saw this familiar face.

Fang Yan said, "You look so engrossed, are you reading the stock market news again?"

"The one who understands me is Yanzi."

Pan Yaoming grinned. Although he had made a lot of money from Japanese yen and foreign exchange thanks to his close relationship with Fang Yan, Bai Ruoxue and others, he did not stop. Instead, he continued to give the bulk of the money to Fang Yan's fund to operate on his behalf, and took advantage of the momentum of the Hang Seng Index's surge to invest in Hong Kong stocks.

"If you believe me, sell all the stocks you have these days."

"Sell everything? Sell all the stocks?"

"Yes, no matter whether you make a profit or a loss, throw it all away, don't hesitate."

"Yanzi, you asked me to do this, is it the stock market..."

"You guessed right. Ruoxue and I both think the market is going to collapse."

Fang Yan stared at Pan Yaoming with a serious face.

"No way?" Pan Yaoming's eyes widened, confused. The Hong Kong stock market was obviously in a very good situation. The Hang Seng Index was likely to break through 10 points in October and set a new historical record. The stocks he held also maintained a record of making more money than losing money under this favorable trend.

With such a good situation, how could the Hong Kong stock market collapse?

“What if the cause of the collapse is not internal, but external?”

Fangyan casually mentioned the speculation that the United States might experience a stock market crash in the near future.

"This this……"

Pan Yaoming was startled and his head was buzzing.

"At present, this is just speculation by Ruoxue and I. If a stock market crash occurs in the United States, you can definitely guess the consequences yourself." Fang Yan said, "That would be a global stock market crash, or even a financial crisis. Do you think the Hong Kong stock market, which is inextricably linked to the US economy, will not be affected?"

Pan Yaoming asked curiously, "What should I do next if I sell all these stocks?"

Fang Yan reminded him, "Leave it to Ruoxue. Of course, you can also do it yourself, which is to short the Hang Seng Index."

Pan Yaoming stammered, "Still...let's leave it to Ruoxue. I've never shorted index futures before."

The two exchanged stock market information for a while, and Fang Yan then mentioned to Pan Yaoming what Ni Zhen and his son Ni Zhe did with "Ghost Blowing Out the Light".

"Since the broadcast of Yellow Skin Grave, its ratings are still far ahead of Wesley. It seems that Ni Zhu and Ni Zhen can't stand losing. Especially Ni Zhen, I don't know how many times he has publicly criticized and belittled Ghost Blows Out the Light in the newspapers."

After hearing what Pan Yaoming said, Fang Yan said nothing, but his face became gloomy.

"This Ni Zhen is a complete playboy who has no knowledge or skills. He got into Huang Zhan's advertising company by relying on his father's connections."

"Oh, so now you are working for Huang Zhan!"

"That's right. A small writer often appears in gossip magazines. Recently, I heard that he wants to quit his job and become an actor."

Pan Yaoming said disdainfully: "Just based on his looks, can he be a star?"

Fang Yan sneered, "Haha."

Pan Yaoming said: "I think we should fight back against them. They have already taken advantage of us. We can't just sit there and do nothing, right?"

"Forget about Ni Zhen, he is too low-class, and it is not worth it to bully the weak. Ni Xie is still so-so."

Fangyan touched his chin and said, "We can also use this opportunity to fight back and push the popularity and topic level of "Ghost Blows Out the Light" to a higher level."

"There are still several rounds of boxing championships to go. The ring match between "Ghost Blows Out the Light" and "Wei Sili" can continue."

Pan Yaoming agreed very much, "But how do you plan to punch?"

"As the saying goes, 'hit the snake at its most vulnerable part.'"

Fangyan curled his lips. It sounded strange. It was well known that Ni Xun was a writer, but he seemed unable to remember any famous works. The only one that could be called a hit seemed to be the "Wei Sili" series, which was known as the "Hong Kong science fiction adventure masterpiece."

Precisely in the dimension of science fiction literature, whether it is soft science fiction or hard science fiction, "Wesley" cannot be considered a qualified work.

"Are you trying to label "Weisley" as 'pseudo-science fiction'?"

Pan Yaoming suddenly realized.

"Didn't Ni Zhuo brazenly say in the newspaper that the knowledge of Feng Shui, Yin Yang, Geomancy and metaphysics contained in Ghost Blows Out the Light is wrong, and that there are serious scientific errors and logical problems. He also said that Ghost Blows Out the Light is just a poor imitation of Wesley..."

Fangyan smiled and said, "Then let's pick on the thorns of Wesley to see if it can withstand it."

"That's it. However, it's more convenient for you to personally handle this matter. Or let me be the vanguard and fight Ni Zhuan for a few rounds?"

Pan Yaoming suggested seriously.

"You won't be fighting alone. I will write a comment in support of you in the name of the author of Ghost Blows Out the Light."

Fangyan patted his shoulder.

Pan Yaoming's eyes lit up, "Okay, let's teach this father and son a lesson!"

…………

The argument that "Wesley is 'pseudo-science fiction'" first appeared in the Oriental Daily.

It immediately attracted the attention of the Hong Kong media, especially during the fierce competition between the radio dramas "Wesley" and "Ghost Blows Out the Light" for ratings. Many media outlets that were intent on intensifying the conflict between the two sides immediately smelled an opportunity, added fuel to the fire, and exaggerated and distorted the views of this review.

After all, the review was signed by Pan Yaoming, the deputy editor-in-chief of the Hong Kong Joint Publishing Company, which published "Ghost Blows Out the Light".

Obviously, facing the aggressive criticism from Ni Xun and his son, even if the author of "Ghost Blows Out the Light" could remain calm, Joint Publishing House of Hong Kong would not continue to stand idly by. This article by Pan Yaoming has been regarded as a powerful counterattack by Joint Publishing House of Hong Kong.

The media reported the incident extensively and fanned the flames, and soon the debate over whether "Wei Sili" is pseudo-science fiction began to sweep across Hong Kong.

Citizens from all over Hong Kong also brought chairs, benches, melon seeds and peanuts, ready to watch the show and eat melons. They were already tired of the previous drama between Hong Kong Radio and Hong Kong Commercial Radio, and now the debate between "Ghost Blows Out the Light" and "Wei Sili" entered the second round. No one wanted to miss such a wonderful drama.

The result really lived up to expectations. In his article criticizing "Wesley is pseudo-science fiction", Pan Yaoming specifically pointed out an outrageous plot in the "Wesley" series, which was that after Wesley arrived in Antarctica, he killed a polar bear in order to fill his stomach and keep warm.

Polar bears can actually appear in Antarctica. Could it be that the continental plates have drifted again?
The common sense errors and scientific loopholes in the "Wesley" series have been pointed out one by one. It is hard to say whether it is serious or not, but it is definitely funnier than "Ghost Blows Out the Light". More and more newspapers are reprinting the comments and are also doing popular science work.

There were even some people who wanted to watch the fun and immediately called Ni Xun's home, hoping to interview him in person and have him correct these mistakes.

In such a turbulent public opinion situation, even if Ni Gua wanted to be an ostrich, it was impossible for him to ignore it. He had to bite the bullet and responded in a rather "rogue" manner in Ming Pao, saying, "There are indeed no polar bears in Antarctica, but there are no Wesleys in the world either."

Fangyan would not give Ni Xun face, and in the name of the author of "Ghost Blowing the Light", he wrote in the "Oriental Daily" in a sarcastic tone:
"There are no polar bears in Antarctica, isn't it because Wesley ate them all?"

When he took part in the debate in this way, the second battle between "Ghost Blows Out the Light" and "Wei Sili" was once again pushed to a new climax.

Seeing that the situation was developing increasingly in a direction that was unfavorable to them, Ni Xian and his son Ni Zhen could no longer sit still. They not only used the connections they had accumulated in the media industry to attract more reporters, editors and critics to support and solidarity with them, they also began to appear frequently on Hong Kong Commercial Radio.

While using the excuse of clarification in the column to vigorously promote "Wei Sili", he also vaguely belittled and criticized "Ghost Blows Out the Light".

But if they can do it, how can Fang Yan, Pan Yaoming and others not do more and better?
The confrontation between the two sides has directly increased the attention and topicality of "Ghost Blows Out the Light", and the listening rate and novel sales have both skyrocketed.

After all, the citizens of Hong Kong have seen many street fights since they were young, but a literary fight between literati may be the first time in their lives.

Beat him! Beat him harder, I want to see a river of blood! (End of this chapter)