Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 13 I dreamed of Li Bai
The next day, when Zhang Yan returned to Hengjiang from Tianjin, he had Dou Wei's pager number in his hand again.

With these unexpected gains, the hardships along the way didn't seem so unbearable anymore.

When they arrived in Hengjiang, it was already past 2 p.m. Because they had called home in advance, the father, Zhang Xingguo, specially borrowed a tricycle and loaded the two large bags of luggage and his son onto the vehicle.

Although they had only been apart for a few days, the father and son seemed to have endless things to talk about on the way. Zhang Yan recounted his experiences in Tianjin, while Zhang Xingguo talked about his business trips when he was young.

When they arrived at the entrance of the tenement building, Sun Xiaohong and Zhang Fang were already waiting eagerly. Only after seeing his younger sister did Zhang Yan belatedly realize that it was Sunday.

"Brother, brother~!"

Zhang Fang jumped three feet high to greet him, and rushed over to the two large bags of luggage, overtaking Zhang Yan: "What did you buy? Where's the gift you bought for me?!"

"Damn girl!"

Sun Xiaohong scolded in an annoyed tone, "All you care about is the gifts, you don't even care about your brother first."

"How can I not!"

Zhang Fang pouted and turned her head, pretending to be serious, to ask, "Comrade Zhang Yan, how was your mission in Tianjin this time? Did you live up to the expectations of the Party and the people?"

"You brat~"

Zhang Yan grinned and vigorously rubbed his younger sister's head.

"You're the one who smells bad!"

As Zhang Fang was speaking, she suddenly sniffed and exclaimed in surprise, "Brother, you really do have an unpleasant smell!"

“Nonsense, after a five-hour car ride, how could I not smell?” Zhang Yan said, picking up a large bundle from the car and gesturing, “You don’t like the smell, huh? Then you can just forget about this gift.”

"No, no, no!"

After laughing and joking around for a while, the family of four finally returned home.

Zhang Fang couldn't wait to unpack the bundle, separating out her own portion and happily examining each item one by one.

Sun Xiaohong complained to her son about spending money recklessly while holding up the new clothes to herself.

Zhang Xingguo's attitude was somewhat complicated. He took the brand-name fountain pen from his son, remained silent for a moment, and then sighed, "He's really grown up."

These few words conveyed both a sense of relief and pride, as well as a vague and inexplicable sense of loneliness.

Then he stood up and said, "Let's go take a shower first, and then have a couple of drinks when we get back."

Sun Xiaohong quickly stopped him, saying, "Let's eat first. We've been traveling for most of the day, our son must be starving!"

"No need, I ate two big fried dough twists on the way."

Zhang Yan had been to the public bathhouse on the street corner countless times with his father since he was a child, but this time left the deepest impression on him.

Facing his son, who had truly grown up, Zhang Xingguo wanted to offer some more advice, but then felt there was nothing to say, and it ultimately turned into a recollection of past hardships and present happiness.

During this rambling narration, Zhang Yan suddenly realized for a moment that his father was gradually getting old.

…………

For the next two weeks, Zhang Yan did not rush to write the next part. Instead, he revised the original draft again, corrected all the flaws pointed out by the editorial department, and mailed it to Wang Zhongqi before May 20th.

Six days later, in the afternoon.

Zhang Yan received the first sample issue of the revised "Popular Fiction Newspaper". Looking at the cover, which still maintained the style of the 80s, Zhang Yan suddenly felt that he could also make a name for himself in design.

However, the thought was fleeting and he quickly put it out of his mind.

Excitedly, I flipped open the magazine, and the first story was none other than "The Great Detective of the Dream of the Red Chamber." Moreover, an editor's note was added before the main text, praising the novel to the skies and calling it a classic work that pioneered a new genre.

Zhang Yan's face flushed, but he couldn't suppress the smile on his lips.

However, it's too early to be happy. The real test for this novel will be the feedback after its official release on June 1st.

Because Zhang Yan had given prior instructions, a total of ten sample copies of the first issue were sent. After Zhang Yang signed them, he gave three copies to his father. One of them was unsurprisingly given to Zhou Nan's father, and the other was given to the editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper.

Zhang Yan gave another copy to the printing factory director and sent one each to Guo Chuanlin and Dou Wei. He intended to keep the remaining four copies for emergencies, but on Sunday, Zhang Fang "robbed" one of them and took it to school to show off.

Next, Zhang Yan returned to a state of anxiety and restlessness, anxiously awaiting the final arrival of 'Judgment Day'.

On the 27th, Zhang Yan suddenly received a notification from the printing factory's mailroom, saying that a madman from Beijing was making a fuss about letting him answer the phone.

The capital city, madmen.

The combination of these two elements immediately reminded Zhang Yan of Dou Wei.

Judging by the time, Dou Wei should have already read the sample copy. Is he calling now to share his thoughts after reading it?

Since he couldn't concentrate on writing anyway, Zhang Yan found a convenience store with a public phone and dialed Dou Wei's landline.

The phone rang for a long time without being answered. Just as Zhang Yan was about to give up, a voice suddenly came from the receiver: "I dreamed about Li Bai last night!"

"WTF?"

Zhang Yan thought he had misheard.

"I told you I dreamt about Li Bai last night!"

Dou Wei shouted into the phone, "It's Li Bai from the Tang Dynasty, the great poet Li Bai, the one who wrote 'Bring in the Wine'..."

"Stop, stop, stop!"

Seeing Dou Wei begin to explain Li Bai's life and deeds, Zhang Yan quickly interrupted, "Of course I know Li Bai, but what does it have to do with me that you dreamed about Li Bai?"

"I dreamt of Li Bai after reading your novel! Uh, for a while it was Du Fu, but that doesn't matter. The important thing is that this dream was so unique and amazing, you know?!"

Just from the sound of his voice, Zhang Yan could imagine Dou Wei on the other end of the phone, excitedly gesturing wildly, but he still had no idea what Dou Wei was trying to say.

So he could only say helplessly, "Can you calm down and start from the beginning?"

Dou Wei took a deep breath on the other end of the phone, and when he spoke again, he was still somewhat incoherent, but he managed to explain the matter clearly.

It turns out that Dou Wei received the sample copy yesterday at noon. He wasn't particularly moved by other aspects, but the part about copying poems during time travel really struck him.

Dou Wei's first thought was that if he could travel back to 85 and write "Nothing to My Name," "The Fake Monk," and "Rock and Roll on the New Long March," could he replace Cui Jian and become the godfather of rock and roll in China?

But he immediately slapped himself hard, forcing himself to forget this shameful thought—however, judging from his retelling of this passage, he clearly hadn't really let go of the idea.

After that, some random thoughts popped into Dou Wei's head.

He probably overthought things, because that night he dreamed that he had traveled through time and even discussed the commonalities between poetry and rock music with Li Bai.

Then Li Bai picked up the guzheng and Dou Wei held the guitar, and the two of them started singing and dancing in the Golden Palace. There was also a woman dancing beside them, who looked like Jiang Xin, or perhaps Yang Guifei.

Just as they were singing happily, a group of children suddenly rushed up and snatched Dou Wei's guitar. Dou Wei and Du Fu chased after them together, with Du Fu shouting as they ran: "The village children are bullying me, an old and weak man!"

While chasing, Dou Wei suddenly lost his footing and fell into the rushing river.

When he finally managed to struggle his way out of the water, he found himself floating in the sky, while Li Bai, barefoot, was passionately fighting with Gao Lishi, who was carrying his boot.

"No, what exactly do you want to say?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yan couldn't help but interrupt Dou Wei again.

"I just thought this dream was really awesome, and I wanted to write a song about it," Dou Wei said, his voice suddenly rising again: "No, actually I wrote it in the dream, but I forgot it when I woke up!"

"so what?"

"Does your novel contain similar content later on? Tell me quickly, I want to dream about Li Bai and Du Fu again tonight, and then carefully write down the songs I wrote in my dreams!"

Zhang Yan: "..."

The gatekeeper was absolutely right; this guy really is crazy.

(End of this chapter)