Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 224 If you never forget it, there will be repercussions

That night, Zhang Chao stayed at the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou. Opened in 1983, the hotel is the first five-star hotel in China and has hosted heads of state such as the Queen of England.

But now it is 2006, and even the best hotels are beginning to age. In July, the height of summer, Zhang Chao clearly felt that the room was not cooled enough, and compared with other five-star hotels he had stayed in, the comfort was indeed slightly inferior.

Fortunately, the hotel's Chinese restaurant "Yutang Chunnuan" tastes excellent. At that time, it had not yet been awarded a Michelin star, and the products were not as exaggerated as they were later. It was basically the taste of traditional Cantonese cuisine. However, Zhang Chao was alone and could not order two dishes.

Zhang Chao looked at the menu for a long time, and finally conservatively ordered half a sunflower chicken, a portion of stuffed tofu, and a portion of dry fried beef noodles. These are all old dishes that the chefs are used to making, and each one seems to be a standard answer when it is served.

After eating, you can take a walk on Shamian Island where the white swans are located to experience the exotic atmosphere here. Shamian Island was originally an oval sandbar on the north bank of Baietan Lake in the Pearl River. It was formed by alluvial deposits of the Pearl River and was originally named Shicuizhou. In 1859, it became a British and French concession and was renamed Shamian.

On this small island of only 0.3 square kilometers, there are consulates of Britain, France, the United States, the Soviet Union and other countries, as well as the old sites of banks such as Standard Chartered and HSBC, and several small churches. However, most of the foreign affairs agencies here have moved away and rented out the old buildings for profit; only the consulates of some small countries can only continue to operate because they cannot afford to buy other office locations, and there are armed police standing guard outside.

Zhang Chao's Blackberry didn't have a camera, and he also wanted to avoid phone calls, so he simply left his phone in the hotel room, only taking his room card and wallet with him, so he could wander around in peace. At that time, Shamian had not yet been fully commercialized, and there were still many residents on the island. After nightfall, many elderly people moved out bamboo chairs and sat under the trees on the roadside to enjoy the cool, fanning themselves with cattail leaves, and chatting with their neighbors.

There is also a primary school on the island, and naturally there are many children running around. The air is filled with the faint smell of river water and the fragrance of food from every household. Looking from afar at the lights of the high-rise buildings in the center of Yangcheng, it really feels like a world away.

Zhang Chao smiled self-deprecatingly. It seemed that he could only enjoy a moment of leisure in the intervals between a bunch of things. When he returned to the hotel tonight, he would start scheming again as soon as he closed his eyes and opened them again.

As he was walking, Zhang Chao saw a small church in front of him, which was brightly lit and full of music. It was actually holding a service at night. He took a look at the door and saw a Chinese priest standing on the stage preaching, with many believers sitting in the front row and some tourists in the back.

Zhang Chao did not go in, but walked around the small hut next to it that sold religious items. The goods here were not guarded by anyone, and you could take whatever you wanted, just based on your heart. However, most of the small souvenirs looked like they were from Yiwu, nothing special.

However, the posters and paintings that left the deepest impression on him were a few posters with a woman in Qing Dynasty royal clothing holding a little boy in the same clothing. At first, Zhang Chao was puzzled. Was this Empress Dowager Cixi holding Emperor Guangxu? It was not until he saw a circle of holy light behind the heads of "Cixi" and "Guangxu" that he realized what was going on.

Looking again, next to this painting, there is another one of "Empress Ma" holding "Zhu Biao", with a circle of holy light behind her head as well.

Somehow, looking at these two paintings with a touch of black humor, Zhang Chao thought of Hong Kong Island.

It was past nine o'clock in the evening when Zhang Chao returned to his hotel room. He picked up his cell phone and saw that he had more than ten missed calls. Three of them were from Pan Yaoming and one was from Xu Zidong. The rest were probably from media reporters.

Zhang Chao did not call back immediately, but took a shower before sending a text message to Pan Yaoming and Xu Zidong, telling them the time and place of his arrival in Hong Kong Island tomorrow. After thinking about it, he also sent a text message to the reporters.

The next morning, Zhang Chao declined Huacheng Society's suggestion to find a special car to take him to Hong Kong Island, and instead took the T801 Guangzhou-Kowloon through train to Hong Kong Island. Although it was a direct train, it stopped at Dongguan City in the middle, and then rushed to its destination at lightning speed.

This train was considered the cleanest and most considerate train in China before the opening of the EMU and high-speed rail. This was Zhang Chao's first time riding a train after his rebirth, and naturally brought back many memories.

The train departed from Guangzhou at 9:04 and arrived at Hung Hom Station in Kowloon before 11:. As soon as Zhang Chao got out of the station, he saw someone holding a big sign with the Chinese characters "Zhang Chao" waiting for him in the crowd. A circle of reporters surrounded the sign.

Seeing Zhang Chao approaching, the reporters scrambled to the front and asked in stiff Mandarin: "Excuse me, is Zhang Shengjie here to try to get Hong Kong Island players to come north to compete?"

"Excuse me, what does Mr. Zhang want to meet with Zhong Weiming for?"

"I heard that Mr. Zhang is going to make an important announcement. What is it?"

"How many days will Mr. Zhang stay in Hong Kong this time?"

"I heard that Mr. Zhang has a secret lover in Hong Kong Island. Is it Tracy?"

"Huh?!" Zhang Chao was confused when he heard this. Who is Tracy? He only knew one Tracy, and that was Tracy McGrady. Didn't they only notify the cultural reporters? Why did the entertainment reporters come too?
However, Zhang Chao quickly adjusted himself. He calmly told the reporter: "The semi-finals of the 'New Concept Essay Contest' will be held soon, but the semi-finalists from Hong Kong Island are under tremendous pressure from public opinion. Of course I have to come and find out.

This year's competition has expanded to include both sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong, hoping that more young people writing in Chinese can be seen. I don't understand the twists and turns of the matter, but I have a basic principle - the cause and effect sown by adults should not be borne by these children. "

The reporter then asked: "Then is the 'important matter' you mentioned related to this?"

Zhang Chao said: "It is related to literature, but it is not related to literature. Looking back at history, Mr. Lu Xun gave speeches at the Sheung Wan Chinese Church in Hong Kong Island for two consecutive days in 1927. The themes were "Silent China" and "The Old Tune Has Been Sung". Every time he gave a speech, the church was surrounded by enthusiastic young people from Hong Kong Island.

These two speeches are often regarded as the beginning of Hong Kong's new literature, and it has been 79 years since then. Everyone knows that I was inspired a lot by Mr. Lu Xun, so I hope to find a place in Hong Kong Island to build a museum that can reflect his literary spirit.

It doesn't have to be a memorial hall, after all, he said before his death, "Don't do any memorial activities." 79 years ago, the British Hong Kong authorities tried their best to prevent Mr. Lu Xun from influencing the youth of Hong Kong Island at that time. Not only did they send opponents to maliciously request tickets in advance to reduce the attendance rate, but they also prevented newspapers from publishing the speech afterwards.

They wanted to put the great master into the "cold storage" of history and try their best to eliminate his influence, but two years later, the first literary magazine in Hong Kong, "Iron Horse", was founded. "Iron Horse" already had articles like "The First Scream", and the editor also hoped to use this magazine to "get rid of the antiques", echoing Mr. Lu Xun's "The Old Tune Has Been Sung".

Now that 79 years have passed, many young literary people in Hong Kong may not know about this past. I am bringing up the past today because I hope that this museum can be completed next year, which is the 80th anniversary of Mr. Lu Xun’s speech in Hong Kong.

It can also be regarded as a response to the young people’s earnest expectations of him 80 years later.”

Journalists in Hong Kong have long been immersed in an entertainment atmosphere of "everything is excessive, everything is crazy". Even those covering the cultural field are used to the meticulous, sarcastic and playful style of Hong Kong literati. They have never seen Zhang Chao's style, which is both solemn and grand, yet specific.

What they thought was a "major matter" was nothing more than meeting with so-and-so, or offering more extra rewards to the contestants in the semi-finals to stimulate them to participate, but it turned out to be such a "big deal".

You know, Hong Kong Island is a place where every inch of land is valuable. Setting up a literary museum here will definitely be a losing business. Is Zhang Chao here to make a contribution?
While everyone was stunned, Zhang Chao got into the car that came to pick him up and headed towards Victoria Harbour.

(There are too many things to do today, so there is only one chapter today, and I have to take a day off tomorrow. But there will be a small extra chapter tomorrow.)
(End of this chapter)