The literary era since 1979

Shichahai at night.

After Fang Yan and Gong Xing had eaten the meal prepared by Yang Xia, they both returned home to their courtyard house on Yandaixie Street.

After all, the house in Nanluoguxiang is a large compound, so most of Yang Xia’s hoarded items are stored in various warehouses in the compound.

After cleaning up for a while, Fangyan was sweating all over, so he went to the bathhouse to take a bath. When he came back, he was holding a ripe watermelon.

Gong Xing skillfully put the watermelons into the bucket, and then slowly extended the rope down until the watermelons were soaked in the well.

"The post-production work such as editing and dubbing for Farewell My Concubine has been completed, and we are discussing holding an internal preview."

"Oh?"

Fangyan raised his eyebrows.

"This is also what the leaders of the Film Bureau meant."

Gong Xing said: "Director Teng said that they would hold the meeting after you, the great writer and producer who also serves as the screenwriter, return to Beijing."

"In that case, let's set it for the weekend."

Fangyan calculated the days and planned to go to the editorial office of "Mystery World" tomorrow.

"That's fine. You can also invite Tiesheng, Xiaolan, Yuhua and the others to attend the preview."

Gong Xing walked into the house and took the electric fan to the yard.

Fangyan lay in the rocking chair, enjoying the cool breeze from the electric fan while opening letters sent from all directions.

Most of them congratulated him on winning the Nebula Award and bringing glory to the country, such as Tie Ning, Wang Anyi, Jiang Zilong, Mo Shen, Lu Yao...

"This time, The Three-Body Problem won the Nebula Award, which is even more glorious than the last time you won the Oscar for Best Screenplay."

Gong Xing said that it was no exaggeration to say that the whole country was in an uproar, with newspapers, radio stations and television stations reporting and commenting on the incident almost continuously.

Even the literary and art circles held seminars one after another about "The Three-Body Problem" winning the Nebula Award, and even Yang Xiao and others were invited to attend the meetings.

"Wow, this is as good as winning the Nobel Prize in Literature."

Fangyan couldn't help but make a joke.

"Virtue!"

Gong Xing smiled and said, "If you really win the Nobel Prize in Literature, I'm afraid the ceremony will be ten or a hundred times more grand than this one. I think it will be as grand as the Chinese women's volleyball team's three consecutive championships. But I don't know if we can achieve that in our lifetime..."

"You never know. Maybe once Farewell My Concubine is shown at the Cannes Film Festival, I'll be able to get a nomination."

Fangyan blinked playfully.

"real or fake?"

Gong Xing shuddered.

"I can only say that there is a 60 to 70 percent chance."

Fangyan had previously talked with Jason Epstein about the Nobel Prize in Literature. Although most of the literature awards he has won so far are for popular literature, this is also because the literature in most parts of the world has so-called restrictions on the nationality of writers.

For example, the Booker Prize, considered to be the "highest literary award in contemporary English fiction", is nominated by authors from the UK and the Commonwealth.

For example, the Prix Goncourt, France's highest literary award, is not awarded to writers from other countries except France.

Therefore, it is impossible to build momentum through countless trend-setting awards like the Golden Globe Awards, like the Oscars do. And even if it can build momentum, it still depends on the voting preferences of the Swedish Academy judges. So before winning the Nobel Prize in Literature, it is best to get a nomination first.

Now, with works such as "Farewell My Concubine" and other works successfully entering the European and American markets, it is more than enough for him to be nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

"so tall?!"

Gong Xing was surprised and delighted.

"You underestimate your man."

Fangyan rolled his eyes.

"I'm not looking down on you. I'm just a little worried. What if Farewell My Concubine fails at the Cannes Film Festival..."

There was a trace of sadness between Gong Xing's brows.

"Here we go again, what are you afraid of?"

Fang Yan said confidently, "This is the fruit of our joint efforts. Even if you don't have confidence in yourself, don't you have confidence in me? Let me tell you this, the reason why we sent Farewell My Concubine to the Cannes Film Festival is to win awards for our country!" Gong Xing blushed, "You are getting more and more ridiculous, what 'fruit'?

"Since you've said that, I'm really not going to be serious with you."

Fang Yan said: "Hey, I'm going to 'crystallize' with you again!"

"Stop it, stop it. The watermelon is still in the well. Let's eat the watermelon first..."

Gong Xing's reluctant voice echoed in the courtyard.

Facts have proved that no matter how sweet the watermelon is, it is not as sweet as Gong Xing himself.

………………

The next day, Fangyan, feeling refreshed, went out early in the morning and headed straight for Lama Temple Street.

All the editorial staff of "Mystery World" were present. Yu Hua, Wang Shuo, Zhong Acheng and others immediately swarmed over when they saw Fang Yan.

"Teacher Fang, I knew that the Nebula Award would be yours sooner or later!"

"Teacher Fang is awesome! Long live Teacher Fang!"

"Teacher Fang, did you bring the Nebula Award trophy? I have never seen what a foreign literary award trophy looks like!"

"........."

Everyone gathered around Fangyan, chattering and talking at once, and the house was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

Fang Yan was also prepared. He handed the Nebula Award trophy to Yu Hua with a smile, "Take it and have a look."

Seeing Yu Hua holding the trophy, Wang Shuo immediately came over and looked her up and down:

"This is the Nebula Award..."

"It's a pity that I don't have the talent to write science fiction."

There was a hint of regret in Yu Hua's tone.

As everyone was watching, Shi Tiesheng pushed his wheelchair to Fang Yan and reminded him:
"The Writers Association and the Federation of Literary and Art Circles sent someone here not long ago. They said they would wait for you to come back and hold a celebration party and seminar for you. At the meeting, you can share your experience in writing The Three-Body Problem, your feelings after winning the Nebula Award, and your thoughts on science fiction literature..."

"Let's save these for the day when the World Science Fiction Convention is held."

Fang Yan said seriously: "I have something more important to discuss with you now."

"You said."

Shi Tiesheng was very surprised.

"I've got a Hollywood script and I need your help."

Dialect bluntly said that a script would be tailor-made for Francis Coppola, the director of the "Godfather" series.

"What! No, no, absolutely not!"

Shi Tiesheng acted as if to say "please seek help from someone else".

Fang Yan said: "Why not?"

"You asked me to help you write a domestic script, which is of course no problem, but this is a foreign one, and it's from Hollywood, which I have never written before."

Shi Tiesheng frowned, "If it's not well written, wouldn't it bring shame to you as well?"

"You're mistaken. I want you to join the script creation as the original author."

Fangyan cast a meaningful look.

"Me? The original author?"

Shi Tiesheng was stunned at first, but soon realized that Fang Yan wanted to adapt his novel into a Hollywood movie.

But if you think about it carefully, it seems that there is nothing on hand that can alarm Hollywood, or even worthy of Francis Coppola's efforts.

"You are wrong, how can there be nothing?"

Fangyan looked at Shi Tiesheng on the left and Chen Ximi on the right, "Have you forgotten the previously published book 'The Intouchables'?" (End of this chapter)