The literary era since 1979

At noon, the sun shines on the banks of Yenching University's Weiming Lake, making the water sparkle but remain calm.

The students sat in a circle, staring at the person sitting in the middle. He was holding a guitar and humming:
"Spring flowers bloom and autumn wind blows,

And the setting sun in winter.

Melancholy youth, young me,

I used to think so ignorantly
The windmill is in the song of the four seasons..."

Once the Taiwan campus songs were introduced to the mainland, they immediately became popular on campus, especially among the literary and artistic youth.

Looking at the youthful students, teacher Qiu Ning's eyes flashed with a hint of disappointment, and he couldn't help but sigh:
"It's nice to be young."

Afterwards, he went to the mailroom with a big belly, took out the various newspapers and magazines he subscribed to as usual, and then returned to the office.

At this moment, there were only a few people in the huge office, basically colleagues who had just finished lunch.

They gathered in groups of three or four, talking and laughing, some were annoyed and angry, and some even cursed, "This is the worst class I have ever taught."

"Dong dong dong."

Qiu Ning knocked on the door, holding up the magazine in his hand and said, "I brought it."

"Hi, Mr. Qiu, thank you for your hard work!"

The people who were chatting animatedly just now suddenly swarmed over like dogs smelling something.

Those who were concerned about current affairs took away magazines such as "Qiushi" and "Banyuetan" at the first opportunity. Those who were passionate about martial arts also scrambled for "Legends of the Past and Present" and "Wulin". Some were quick to take away "The World of Mystery", "The World of Science Fiction" and even "The World of Comics".

Only the once popular literary journals, such as "People's Literature", "Contemporary", "Zhongshan", etc., have become less popular.

After all, "Science Fiction World" serializes novels included in the "World Science Fiction Convention Special Series", which includes Fang Yan's "The Matrix", and "Comic World" serializes Fang Yan's two masterpieces, "Ghost Blowing Out the Light" and "Xuan-Yuan Sword" with both pictures and texts.

Although there have been no works in dialect in "Mystery World" for a long time, the "Criminal Investigation Team" series is an evergreen.

"Ugh."

One of the teachers, who was wearing glasses, picked up "People's Literature" and flipped through a few pages, looking bored.

"Since Mr. Fang was transferred from Renwen Press to Joint Publishing in Hong Kong, the quality and level of People's Literature has really been declining."

"That's right! When Teacher Fang was in charge of People's Literature, every article was a masterpiece, worthy of careful reading and repeated consideration."

"The novels published nowadays are good, but they are just so-so. There is nothing new or good about them."

"But magazines like Zhongshan and Contemporary are pretty good. The new realist novels they publish are just what I like!"

"Great minds think alike. I think so too. These new realist novels are really well written. They are not about the trivialities of ordinary people, but about the grievances and twists and turns of ordinary citizens. They are so real and so immersive."

Everyone was chattering, and all they were talking about were the "new realism novels" that were currently popular in the literary world, such as Liu Zhenyun's "Unit."

"Not bad, but if we really want to talk about the best, it has to be the realistic TV series like Desire and I Love My Family."

Qiu Ning agreed very much with what the teacher with glasses said, but it was a pity that there were too few high-quality TV dramas like this.

Suddenly, a voice emerged from the crowd: "My wife works at Yanjing TV Station. During a meeting, I heard from the TV Art Center that they are planning to shoot a new TV series about real life."

"real or fake?"

"Could it be I Love My Family 2? I saw on TV that there are several episodes of I Love My Family!"

"It's not I Love My Family 2, but it's also closely related to I Love My Family. The protagonist is Li Dongbao, who appeared in I Love My Family. It seems to be about the story of the Human Guide, where he works. Yes, the name is The Story of the Editorial Department."

"This name sounds interesting, but I don't know when I can see it." "…"

They chatted for a while, and gradually, the whole office became quiet, so quiet that you could almost hear a pin drop.

Qiu Ning has the habit of taking a nap at noon. Before going to bed, he would occasionally flip through a literary magazine that no one cares about to help him sleep.

I picked up an unread copy of People's Literature from the pile of magazines, casually flipped to the table of contents, and prepared to pick one that I liked and take a look at it.

"The Rise of Great Powers: Portugal"!
"The Rise of Great Powers: Spain"!
The eye-catching title caught my sleepy eyes, and I instantly became more alert.

This name is really impressive!

Subconsciously, I wanted to take a look at who the author was. Who on earth was that person and how dare he come up with such a domineering book title?

When Qiu Ning saw the word "dialect" was written in the author column, he became alert and his previous sleepiness immediately disappeared.

It turns out that he is a powerful literary figure, yet he is so terrifying!
I immediately became interested and my eyes fell on the first word in the first line. Once I started reading, I couldn't stop.

After a long time, more and more people around noticed Qiu Ning's abnormality and looked at him secretly.

I never expected that someone who usually felt sleepy after reading a literary magazine, instead of feeling sleepy, seemed to become more and more excited the more he read.

The teacher wearing glasses asked in surprise: "Teacher Qiu, is there any rare good article in this issue of People's Literature?"

"It's indeed a good article! It's a good article written by Teacher Fang!"

Qiu Ning blurted out.

When they heard that the author was writing in dialect, everyone present was shocked and a burst of exclamations broke out in the office.

The teacher with glasses had shining eyes. "What new novel has Teacher Fang published?"

Qiu Ning said: "It doesn't look like a novel. It's called "The Rise of Great Powers."

"what?!"

The whole room was instantly in uproar.

"Teacher Fang's "The Rise of Great Powers" has finally come out with a new chapter!"

Everyone put down their magazines and swarmed towards Qiu Ning.

"again?"

Qiu Ning looked suspicious.

"You haven't read The Rise of Great Powers: France, have you?"

The teacher with glasses was very surprised. "It's the article that was hotly discussed in newspapers some time ago."

Qiu Ning shook his head in bewilderment. After asking, he learned that Fang Yan's "The Rise of Great Powers" had sparked a great debate in France. It was even reprinted in China by the Xinhua News Agency and quickly became a sensation. He was deeply shocked and stammered:
"This...this...you know, I rarely read historical articles like this."

"So, have you taken a liking to this copy of People's Literature? If you do, can I take a look at it?"

"Yes, yes, give me the next one."

Just as everyone was arguing about "lining up", the teacher with glasses seemed to have thought of something and quickly rummaged through the pile of magazines.

As he expected, the number of copies of People's Literature distributed to the department was not just one, but three!

Suddenly, the whole audience was in an uproar, and everyone's interest in other journals was gradually replaced by "The Rise of Great Powers". (End of this chapter)