Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 19 Literary Veterans
After lunch, Zhang Yan went back to Peking University Third Hospital with Luan Shu because Guo Chuanlin said he needed to contact that writer friend first.

He had said he was there to visit Dou Wei, but he barely exchanged a few words with him before getting caught up in 'death rock'.

When they arrived at the hospital, Dou Wei was clearly still reeling from the defeat. His first words to Zhang Yan were, "Do you think I should scrap 'Dream Back to Tang Dynasty' and start over, or begin from scratch..."

"I think you should take good care of yourself!"

Luan Shu quickly replied, "Besides, doesn't Wang Fei think your songs are better? She's a fellow labelmate of Beyond!"

Dou Wei remained silent for a long time, then covered his head again.

Luan Shu shrugged at Zhang Yan and Jiang Xin, giving them a look that said, "You can't reason with him."

Zhang Yan walked over and directly lifted Dou Wei's blanket, but not his upper body; he lifted the blanket covering his lower body.

Dou Wei felt someone pull back the blanket and stare at his injured leg. He couldn't help but stick his head out again, glaring at them and asking, "What are you doing?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to confirm whether you have a broken bone or a terminal illness." Zhang Yan met his gaze. "You're writing a song, not a will. Why are you in such a hurry? Ding Wu must be almost thirty by now. If you still can't write a song you think is awesome by the time you get to his age..."

At this point, he deliberately paused to whet Dou Wei's appetite.

Dou Wei also subconsciously asked, "What if you can't write it?"

"That proves you really don't have that ability."

"屮~"

Dou Wei retorted angrily, "Can't you speak like a human being? How could I possibly be inferior to an old rogue? Just wait and see how I deal with him in the future!"

"Yes, we have to take him down!"

Jiang Xin clenched her fists, her face filled with excitement.

This girl is so capable!

While Zhang Yan was internally complaining, he gestured to her not to rush to "do it" and to feed the pork rib soup to Dou Wei first.

Jiang Xin then realized what was happening.

So while feeding Dou Wei, she curiously asked Luan Shu, "Is Wang Fei really a fellow student of Beyond? How come I've never heard of such a person before?"

“How could this be fake? I have the album she gave me; it’s definitely from the same management company as Beyond.”

Zhang Yan was also quite interested in Wang Fei, so he followed up by asking, "Then why didn't she come to Hong Kong Island, but instead came back to Beijing?"

Seeing that both of them were interested in Wang Fei, Luan Shu briefly explained her situation.

Wang Fei can be considered a 'child star', having released an album at the age of 14. However, she only covered other people's old songs, which she herself did not like, feeling as if she was dancing in shackles, which was not what she wanted at all.

Later, he immigrated to Hong Kong Island and signed with Beyond's company. He thought he would finally have a bright future, but the company packaged him as the "Little Teresa Teng of Hong Kong Island," gave him the stage name Wang Jingwen, and released a few trendy albums.

As a result, album sales were mediocre, and she was criticized by Hong Kong media for not being fashionable enough and for having problems with her Cantonese.

Feeling upset, Wang Fei went back to Beijing alone to clear her head. Influenced by Beyond, she wanted to experience the rock music scene in Beijing, and that's how she met Luan Shu.

Luan Shu finally shrugged and said, "So you should be content. At least we can sing the songs we want to sing."

Dou Wei ignored him and turned to ask Zhang Yan, "What are your plans for tonight?"

Zhang Yan said, "What else can we arrange? Stay in a hotel. I have some things to do tomorrow, so I'll come see you again tonight."

Upon hearing this, Dou Wei pulled out a bunch of keys from under his pillow and tossed them to Zhang Yan, saying, "Why stay in a hotel? I can't go back anyway, so you can watch the house for me for the next couple of days."

Zhang Yan had gotten used to the way these people behaved and didn't bother to be polite with him. He took the keys and said, "Alright, I'll just have to make do."

The group chatted for a while longer. Zhang Yan had originally intended to find out Lao Lang's contact information, because Lao Lang was the least successful person he had encountered among the playlist characters.

Perhaps my plan to find a mentor in the music industry can be realized by working with him.

But considering that I wouldn't be staying for more than a few days, there was no reason to just show up at their door, and I didn't have enough capital to carry out the plan.

So Zhang Yan ultimately didn't ask.

Around 2 p.m., Guo Chuanlin arrived in a van to pick him up. It wasn't until the van drove out of the gate of Peking University Third Hospital that Zhang Yan finally learned that the writer he was going to visit was Shi Tiesheng.

Then his first thought was: the person who should go is not himself, but Dou Wei, who has broken his leg and is heartbroken.

Although "Me and the Temple of Heaven," which shocked the entire literary world, would not be officially published until 1991, Shi Tiesheng, who was disabled but determined, was already quite famous in the mid-to-late 80s.

For example, Zhang Yan's father, Zhang Xingguo, was particularly fond of Shi Tiesheng's essays and novels.

Zhang Yan asked, somewhat puzzled, "Fourth Brother, how did you get involved with Teacher Shi?"

This form of address was just changed at noon at Donglaishun, since the other party had offered to help, and Zhang Yan didn't want to be too distant.

“Brother Tiesheng really likes rock music, especially after he got married last year. He would occasionally go to see live performances. Although he didn’t go often, you know his situation. Anyone would be curious to see him on stage. So we got to know each other over time. Later, I would record any good songs I heard and send them to Brother Tiesheng.”

[PS: Shi Tiesheng has an essay called "For example, rock and roll and writing."] At this point, Guo Chuanlin added, "Actually, this is the first time I've brought people there. After all, rock musicians are never careful with their words, and I'm afraid they'll go there and talk nonsense."

Zhang Yan understood the meaning behind his words and quickly said, "Fourth Brother, don't worry. I will definitely treat a literary senior like Teacher Shi with utmost respect."

"That's good."

Guo Chuanlin added, "Actually, Brother Tiesheng really enjoys communicating with young people, especially since you're a novelist—when I first contacted him, he said he wanted to find your books to read, and it would be best to finish reading them before we talk."

Later, when I heard that you wanted to inquire about publishing matters, I readily agreed to meet today.

No wonder there were June to September issues of "Popular Fiction Newspaper" in the car. Zhang Yan had initially thought that Guo Chuanlin had finally become interested in his novels—Guo Chuanlin probably hadn't read much of the first issue he'd sent earlier.

We arrived near the Temple of Earth.

Guo Chuanlin parked the car on the side of the road, rolled up the few copies of "Popular Fiction Newspaper", and took Zhang Yang to Shi Tiesheng's house.

As soon as he arrived at the door, he saw a woman sitting on a small stool cleaning fish. Guo Chuanlin immediately greeted her, "Hey~ Sister-in-law, the food looks good today!"

"Then you can eat here tonight."

The woman stood up with a smile. She was petite, and it was obvious that one shoulder was higher than the other. Zhang Yan knew that it was because she had a congenital leg disability.

This woman is Chen Ximi, Shi Tiesheng's wife, an artistic young woman who graduated from the Department of Mathematics at Northwest University.

Chen Ximi led the two into the house, and Shi Tiesheng, who had heard the commotion, wheeled himself out of the study to greet them. He tilted his head slightly to look at Zhang Yan, then nodded and smiled, "That's great."

"Brother Tiesheng."

Guo Chuanlin quickly introduced, "This is Zhang Yan, whom I told you about on the phone."

As he spoke, he handed over the magazine he had been holding: "The first thing you see in this magazine is his ongoing novel."

Shi Tiesheng took the magazine, smoothed out the wrinkles, and then said, "Let's go inside and talk."

"You guys chat."

Chen Ximi said from behind, "I haven't cleaned my fish yet."

Zhang Yan and Guo Chuanlin followed the wheelchair into the study. Shi Tiesheng first invited the two to sit down, then placed the four magazines on the desk before turning to Zhang Yan and saying, "We're about ten years apart, may I call you Xiao Zhang?"

"Please call me whatever you like."

Zhang Yan nervously rubbed his hands together and said, "My dad really likes your articles. By the way, Professor Shi, could you write an autograph for my dad?"

"Haha~"

Shi Tiesheng laughed, his voice not loud, but strangely friendly. He asked, "And what about yourself? What are your thoughts on my article?"

"This……"

Faced with this disabled but determined literary senior, Zhang Yan instinctively did not want to lie, but he was also afraid that if he told the truth, he would touch Shi Tiesheng's sore spot.

"Just say what you think."

Shi Tiesheng seemed to have seen through Zhang Yan's thoughts. He pointed outside and said, half-seriously and half-jokingly, "I'm doing very well now, better than ever before. I don't think I'll give up on myself just because of a few honest words from a young person."

"It's actually nothing."

Zhang Yan then said, "I first read your article in 85. That spring, I published a poem in a magazine and started fantasizing about becoming a great poet like Gu Cheng or Hai Zi. I wrote a lot of random stuff."

Later, all my submissions were rejected, I failed the college entrance exam, and the girl I had a crush on got into university. I was extremely depressed and couldn't muster any enthusiasm for anything.

My father used your story to encourage me and showed me your books, "Life on a String," "My Distant Qingping Bay," and "Grandma's Stars."

Perhaps I'm a bit of a perfectionist, but the more compelling your writing, your story, and your deeds are, the more I can't help but try to empathize with you...

Then it felt like something was weighing me down, a heavy weight that kept sinking me down, making me feel incredibly uncomfortable.

I then had nightmares for two more days in a row. Although these dreams made me admire you even more, I haven't dared to touch your articles since then.

After listening, Shi Tiesheng was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and laughed, "So there is such a situation. It seems that you are a person with a strong sense of empathy. Such a person should be able to go further on the path of literature."

As he spoke, he stroked the magazine on the table: "Now I'm even more looking forward to your articles."

Seeing Shi Tiesheng's reaction, Zhang Yan first breathed a sigh of relief, then said somewhat awkwardly, "Well... actually, the main reason I wrote this novel was to become famous and make money."

"Who doesn't want to be famous or make money?"

Shi Tiesheng laughed and said, "As the saying goes, 'Money isn't everything, but you can't do anything without it.' In the past, every time I received my royalties, I would happily treat myself to a better meal..."

Just then, a loud voice suddenly came from outside: "Tiesheng, Tiesheng, come out and play football!"

(End of this chapter)