Back to 80: My Literary Life

"Xiao Fang, don't worry." Xiao Dai said on the phone.

No rush either.

It is now late April, and the construction of a family building built by internal funds raised by the Planning Commission has broken ground. Fang Minghua has paid half of the money in accordance with regulations, and will pay the other half after the house is repaired.

There is still time.

At work, Jia Pingwa went to her hometown to retreat for two months and came back. I won’t give you prose when it comes to prose. I will give you a novella published in "Yanhe": "Xiao Yueqianben", which tells the story of what happened in "Yanhe". The story of a small village in Qinnan.

When Fang Minghua reads it, it seems to have the flavor of Shen Congwen's "Border Town": a ferry boat, an orphan girl who lost her mother, and two boys. Just like "Border Town", no one is a villain, and everyone is cute.

Wang Anyi also sent a novella "Epilogue", written in a slightly stream-of-consciousness style. The letter also told Fang Minghua that she and her mother were invited to participate in the "International Writing Program" literary activity at the University of Iowa in the United States, which lasted four months.

"Xiao Fang, you should go out for a walk if you have the chance. The world outside is very exciting." Wang Anyi said at the end of the letter.

Yeah, I know.

It’s also helpless.

I want to go out and take a look, but now is not the time.

There was another news from "Harvest". Xiao Dai told him that after the negotiation with "Sanlian" bookstore collapsed, it was even less likely that he was working with another mainland publishing house in Hong Kong, "The Commercial Press".

Is there no chance?

But sometimes luck comes and it’s really unstoppable.

A plane landed at Hongqiao International Airport from Xiangjiang, and a very elegant middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses and carrying a suitcase came out.

He is Chen Jiawei, the editor of Hong Kong's Ming Pao magazine. He was entrusted by the president, Mr. Cha Liangyong, to come to Shanghai to discuss with the Shanghai People's Publishing House the publication of the martial arts novel "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" written by Mr. Cha Liangyong in the mainland.

In October 1980, Huacheng's "Martial Arts" magazine serialized "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" written by Mr. Cha Liangyong under the pseudonym Jin Yong for the first time. This was the first time that Jin Yong's novels officially entered the eyes of mainland readers.

Soon, "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" shocked mainland readers with its twists and turns of the legendary plot, the ups and downs of the love between children, and the grand theme of family, country, and world. For a time, the paper in Luoyang was very expensive, and it was circulated among men, women, and children.

With this successful attempt, Cha Liangyong wanted to continue his efforts and set his sights on Shanghai, hoping to officially publish this book in the form of a single volume.

Chen Jiawei was the front-line stander.

At first he was ambitious and thought it would be easy, but after negotiating with the publisher, he realized how difficult it was.

Shanghai is not a flower city.

Shencheng Publishing House is not a "Martial Arts" magazine.

How could a large publishing house publish such a popular or even vulgar novel?

Chen Jiawei had no choice but to prepare to go back home, took a taxi back to the hotel, and planned to entrust the hotel to help him buy a ticket to Xiangjiang.

What I didn't expect was that before the plane ticket arrived, someone came to my door. It was Xiao Dai, the deputy editor of "Harvest" magazine.

Of course they didn’t know each other, but after introducing each other and showing their work ID cards, the two of them were colleagues and soon started chatting.

"Editor Xiao, how did you know that I came to Shanghai to publish Mr. Cha's book?" Chen Jiawei was very confused about this.

Xiao Dai laughed and told the whole story.

It turns out that the Municipal Press and Publication Bureau held a meeting yesterday, and all the leaders of major publishing houses, newspapers and magazines in Shanghai attended. During the break during the meeting, Xiao Dai and Editor Zhang of Shanghai Publishing House were familiar with each other. When the two were chatting, Editor Zhang mentioned The editor of Ming Pao asked him about the martial arts book written by Liang Yong, the publisher.

"This person from Xiangjiang really thinks that Shencheng Publishing House is a "Martial Arts" magazine? How could he publish such a vulgar book?" Editor Zhang was a little indignant.

"This kind of book must not be published!"

Xiao Dai knew that Editor Zhang was relatively conservative, but this was not his concern. His attention was on the editor of Ming Pao from Xiangjiang.

Of course he knows what kind of newspaper "Ming Pao" is. In the late 1950s, Cha Liangyongchu and another friend co-founded "Ming Pao". After so many years of development, it has become a very influential paper media company in the Xiangjiang area. , a large-scale media company that integrates newspapers, magazines, and publishing.

He thought of the manuscript of "The Legend of Wukong" that was still in the magazine. He wondered if Ming Pao was interested in it.

So I found out the hotel where Chen Jiawei was staying and made a special trip over.

Of course, Xiao Dai didn't say the specific details.

However, Chen Jiawei thought that Xiao Dai wanted to publish "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" and immediately praised the book greatly. At the grand occasion of the publication in Huacheng, Xiao Dai did not expect that after hearing it, he said:

"I'm sorry, Mr. Chen. I don't want to publish the book written by Mr. Cha, but a novel I have here. I want to publish it in Xiangjiang, so I want to talk to you, Mr. Chen."

When Chen Jiawei heard this, he immediately lost interest and said:

"Mr. Xiao, I know that since the reform and opening up in the Mainland, a large number of excellent novels have emerged in the literary world, but these are all scar literature. To be honest, Xiangjiang readers are not interested."

"The year before last, the Xiangjiang Literary Research Society published Mr. Yang Jiang's "Collection of Reflections", but the sales were not very good. After all, Xiangjiang is a commercial society. Although this kind of pure literature has high literary value, it has a small audience."

Chen Jiawei is very candid.

The implication is that even Mr. Yang Jiang's books are not selling well in Hong Kong, so you should stop recommending the so-called excellent works written by your writers.

Xiao Dai had expected it and was not angry. He still spoke in a kind tone: "I know, but this book is not a scar literature, and it is very interesting."

"Really?" Chen Jiawei was a little skeptical.

Xiao Dai didn't say much, and took out a stack of manuscripts from the briefcase he was carrying and handed them to him.

"Mr. Chen, see for yourself."

Chen Jiawei took it over dubiously.

"The Legend of Wukong"?

Writing a fanfic of "Journey to the West"?

Although it is in simplified Chinese, it is not a problem at all for him as an editor.

He opened the manuscript and was immediately moved by a line in the preface.

“I want this day, no longer can it cover my eyes;

If I want this land, I can no longer bury my heart;

I want all those Buddhas to disappear into thin air."

mad!

Crazy enough!

This is the lawless Monkey King.

Chen Jiawei sat on the bed and looked seriously.

Wow!

How dare someone rewrite "Journey to the West" like this again? !

And why does this language have the sense of humor that people in Xiangjiang have when speaking?

From an editor's point of view, he doesn't know how well this book will sell in the mainland, but it is popular in Hong Kong!

He raised his head and looked at Xiao Dai with an excited expression: "Editor-in-Chief Xiao, I am personally very interested in this book. I want to take it back to Xiangjiang and let our president, Mr. Cha, read it and strive for publication!"

Xiao Dai felt a little embarrassed after hearing this: "Editor Chen, this book has not been publicly released in the mainland, and the original manuscript cannot be taken away."

"Understood, do you understand? I will make a copy and take it with me! I will never leak the contents of the book to anyone. We can sign a temporary agreement. If the contents are leaked in Xiangjiang, we, Ming Pao, will be held accountable."

"Okay." Xiao Dai agreed happily.

Thank you Dao Yao Buddha and others for your monthly votes