1990: Starting from Baojia Street

Before Zhou Yan reached his office, he heard Tchaikovsky's "June Barcarolle" coming from inside.

No need to ask, it must be Yu Hua and the others who came. Apart from Yu Hua and the others, no one else would come to his office to listen to music.

He pushed the door open and saw Yu Hua and Shi Tiesheng each holding a cigarette and listening to music quietly.

Seeing that they were listening intently, Zhou Yan did not say anything. He walked quietly behind the desk and put down the documents in his hand.

Yu Hua saw Zhou Yan and asked, "Is your audition over?"

"Yeah." Zhou Yan nodded and joked, "You guys come here at this time to get dinner, right?"

Yu Hua pouted and said, "Just be content that I didn't come to eat your lunch. We originally wanted to go to the next door to join in the fun and watch the audition, but after thinking about it, we decided not to."

"If you want to join in the fun, you should come in the morning. There are not many people in the afternoon." Zhou Yan poured himself a cup of tea. "You guys didn't come here just to get dinner, did you?"

"What do you mean by free dinner? We are here to discuss business. The time for the workers' congress has been set, so we came to discuss it with you."

"When exactly?" Zhou Yan asked.

"December 16th to 20th."

Hearing this time, Zhou Yan frowned, because he had originally planned to go to the filming site of "Titanic" during that time. Now it seems that going to the set will have to be postponed.

Logically speaking, a "half-time writer" like Zhou Yan didn't need to join the fun of the Writers' Congress. His fame in the literary circle was not enough to be noticed. He didn't have many friends in the literary circle, mainly Yu Hua, Shi Tiesheng and Su Tong.

But last year the Writers Association paid great attention to him and Yu Hua and invited them to the Writers Association, with the purpose of having them participate in this year's Writers Congress. And it is said that the old minister Wang Meng also spoke about their joining the Writers Association.

The key point is that the Writers' Congress is held right next to his home, and it would not be good for him not to go.

"Since the time is set, we can just come together then. What are you guys here to discuss?"

"I just want to ask you how you got there. Do you want to go with the Jiangsu Writers Association?"

The Writers' Congress is divided into regions. Generally, the writers' associations of each province send representatives to come to Yenching to attend the Writers' Congress. This raises the question of who to represent.

For example, Yu Hua is from Zhejiang. Logically, he should join the ZJ provincial delegation, but he is not a member of the ZJ Provincial Writers Association, so he will not join the ZJ provincial delegation but go directly there.

Zhou Yan is different from Yu Hua. He is not only a member of the China Writers Association, but also a member of the Jiangsu Writers Association. Su Tong had said before that when the delegation of the Jiangsu Writers Association comes, he should be brought along.

"I'll check out the news from Su Province. If they want to take me with them, I'll go with them. Anyway, whether I go with them or not is just in name only. I'll just go directly from here when the time comes."

Shi Tiesheng smiled and said, "I think you might as well not represent Su Province, so that they can have a vacant spot and bring an extra person with you."

Zhou Yan nodded. What Shi Tiesheng said made sense. The number of places and funding for the delegations of writers' associations in various places were fixed. If Zhou Yan was on the list, the Jiangsu Writers Association would have to take one person off.

He originally joined the Jiangsu Writers Association just to gain a reputation. He had no interactions with other writers in Jiangsu Province, so naturally there would be no conflicts of interest. But if he took up a quota, he might not offend anyone.

Even though only one person was taken down, more than one person might have been offended.

Although Zhou Yan was not afraid of offending people, this matter was of no significance to him, so there was no need to offend anyone because of it.

Yu Hua was particularly disgusted by these things and curled his lips and said, "I told you, joining the Writers Association is not necessarily a good thing. When there are too many people, things will become particularly troublesome, and there will be more things to guard against."

Shi Tiesheng put out the cigarette in his hand and laughed, "People are like magnets, dragging themselves on the beach. The farther they drag, the more iron filings they get. One day, the magnet will run out of steam and the iron filings will naturally scatter. It's fine if it only attracts iron filings, but if you're not careful, you'll get other things stuck on you."

"Does a person have to be a magnet?"

"That's not necessarily the case. It could be iron filings. It could also be something else, such as a pile of stinky dog ​​shit." When he said this, Shi Tiesheng started laughing first.

Yu Hua rolled his eyes, "Tie Sheng, you are getting more and more out of tune now. Who did this dog offend? It has to be dog shit, not other shit?"

"It's not necessarily dog ​​poop. It's just that when I was playing in the sand, I always ran into dog poop. Dogs like to bury their poop in the sand."

Yu Hua nodded in agreement, "This is indeed a reflection of realism."

“That’s what we call experience.”

……

Zhou Yan couldn't help but roll his eyes. One second they were still talking about the Workers' Congress, and the next second they started talking about shit.

The key point is, while they were talking about shit, Tchaikovsky's "June Barcarolle" was floating in the room. No matter how much sadness was contained in this song, it was washed away by their conversation.

Zhou Yan had no intention of joining in the discussion about dog shit. He just stood up and walked to the stereo and stopped the music. He was worried that if he continued like this, the next time he heard "June Boat Song", he would be unable to help but think of dog shit.

He had just turned off the music when he heard Yu Hua say, "We are just going to the Writers' Congress to join in the fun, but many of our acquaintances will be there, so we can have a good time together. I haven't seen some of them for a long time, and I miss them a lot."

Shi Tiesheng directly exposed him, "I think you want to play cards."

"Playing cards is just a way to keep in touch with each other."

Zhou Yan looked at Yu Hua, thinking that this guy might be too idle recently, so he had to find something for him to do quickly.

The publication of "Xu Sanguan Selling Blood" in Korea has been basically completed and it should be published by the end of the year. Next year, Zhou Yan plans to arrange several book signing sessions for Yu Hua in Korea.

Later, I will find an opportunity to translate Yu Hua’s other works into English, sell them to the United States, and arrange some activities for him in the United States.

Yu Hua didn't know Zhou Yan was planning to take advantage of him at this time. He was excitedly discussing with Shi Tiesheng which people he should form a card game with during the congress.

"When the time comes, we can just bring Su Tong along and find one or two more people..."

As he said that, Yu Hua looked at Zhou Yan again, "Forget about you, you are always the audience."

Zhou Yan shrugged. "You want to win my money? Two words: No way."

"You are the richest among my friends, but you don't show up. It makes me feel like I have a mountain of treasure but don't know where to start."

Shi Tiesheng teased, "Zhou Yan just doesn't play cards, not that he can't play. Based on his memory, if you play cards with him, you will only strengthen his treasure mountain."

"Tie Sheng, you are not an expert at what you say. Playing cards is not just about having a good memory. It also requires a sense of harmony between man and nature. You know Bi Feiyu, that guy is better at counting cards than anyone else, but he loses at least six out of ten hands."

"You've even brought out metaphysics in playing cards, even the unity of man and nature came up." "Tsk, what unity of man and nature? He's just talking about luck."

Yu Hua said confidently, "That's right, playing cards depends on this. And luck can be divided into two parts, one is luck, the other is qi. Luck is not something that can be controlled by human power, but qi is different. Qi includes many things, such as momentum, rhythm..."

Whenever the topic of playing cards comes up, Yu Hua becomes particularly excited and talks a lot.

Yu Hua was talking happily here when Joey Wong and Chen Derong walked in.

Seeing the two, Joey Wong was not surprised at all and greeted them with a smile, "Brother Yu, Brother Tie Sheng, you are here too."

Seeing Wang Zuxian and the others, Yu Hua stopped talking and replied with a smile, "Xiaoxian is here."

Shi Tiesheng also nodded and responded with a smile, "Hello."

Wang Zuxian also took the opportunity to introduce Chen Derong, "This is my sister, Chen Derong. Xiaorong, this is brother Yu Hua, and brother Shi Tiesheng, both of whom are great writers."

"I feel embarrassed when you say that." Yu Hua smiled and waved her hands, then looked at Chen Derong and asked in surprise, "Did you act in "The Plum Blossom Mark"?"

Chen Derong nodded, "Yes, I played it."

Zhou Yan said with a smile, "You have also read The Plum Blossom Mark."

"I usually don't watch TV dramas very often, but this TV drama is so popular that you can see it everywhere. Your sister-in-law also likes to watch it and praised the leading actress for her good looks. I didn't expect that I would get to see the leading actress today. Thanks to you, I have met many big stars."

Yu Hua was just being modest. Even without Zhou Yan, he had met many big stars.

Just through the movie "To Live", he met some of the most famous male and female actors in mainland China today.

No matter how famous Chen Derong is, she can't compare to Gong Li.

However, what Yu Hua said was not wrong. After "The Plum Blossom Mark" was broadcast, it was very popular, especially among some female audiences.

Many people look down on Qiong Yao, but it must be said that Qiong Yao's dramas are the absolute traffic kings in this era. Her routines have completely grasped the pulse of the audience of this era.

Facing Yu Hua's praise, Chen Derong also said modestly, "In front of you, I dare not call myself a big star."

Yu Hua was not one to make small talk. She smiled and shook her head, then said to Joey Wong, "You probably won't leave this time. The filming will start soon."

"Well, even though I'm a member of the crew this time, all subsequent actions will be under the command of Director Zhou. I'll go wherever he tells me to go." Joey Wong joked.

Hearing what Wang Zuxian said, Yu Hua smiled meaningfully.

He has always felt that there is some unclear ambiguity between Zhou Yan and Joey Wong. What he said sounds like the husband and wife are following his lead. Maybe the rumors in the market are true.

Zhou Yan also saw the smile on Yu Hua's face. He changed the subject and asked, "What do you two want to see me about now?"

"I heard the auditions were over, so I came over to ask, how was your day?"

"Well, not bad, but the final result still needs to wait until we finish watching today's audition video." Zhou Yan nodded, then raised his hand and asked them to sit down, "Sit down and talk, it's almost time for dinner, let's go eat together later. You are here today, and the cafeteria will have extra meals today."

"Don't talk like we're really here to eat for free... What extra dishes did you add? Do you have braised pork?"

"must have."

Yu Hua nodded with satisfaction, "You hired several good chefs for the cafeteria, and the braised pork is very good."

Zhou Yan and Yu Hua have great differences when it comes to eating, but they both like the same dish, which is braised pork.

The reason why Zhou Yan went to the Yanjing Factory to eat every day was because the braised pork in their factory was good. Because he was sweet-talker and good at dealing with people, the brothers and sisters who served the food were happy to give him more.

Later, Zhou Yan rarely came, but they still kept talking about him.

"I opened a bottle of Wuliangye before, and there is still half a bottle in the cafeteria. Do you want to drink it tonight?" Zhou Yan asked with a smile.

Zhou Yan's proposal made Yu Hua eager to make a move, but after thinking it over, he rejected the temptation. "I have to go home early tonight. Let's save the wine for next time. Next time, we will drink together."

"The crew will be going to Pengcheng soon. I'm afraid I won't have time to drink with you for a while."

"It's okay, let's wait until the meeting starts. It will be more lively when there are more people, but half a bottle of wine won't be enough."

"Well, I can still afford the wine." Zhou Yan suddenly realized, "That's not right. Why do they need me to entertain them when they come to attend the Writers' Congress?"

"There's nothing I can do. You're the best man in the world." Yu Hua directly put a compliment on Zhou Yan's head.

Chen Derong, who was standing next to them, couldn't help but ask curiously, "What is the Zuodaihui?"

"It's the National Congress of the Chinese Writers Association." Wang Zuxian explained to her with a smile, and then asked, "This year is the fifth session, right? Has the date been confirmed?"

"Well, the time is set. It will start on December 16th," said Yu Hua.

Chen Derong couldn't help but raise her eyebrows, thinking that it was different to be in a relationship with a writer. Even the Writers' Congress knew about it.

However, it was only at this time that Chen Derong realized that Zhou Yan was also a writer.

Zhou Yan's identity as a writer is known to more people in mainland China and Japan, but fewer people in Taiwan know him because his novels have never been published there. Even the movie "Tree Hole" is not well-known in Taiwan.

As for Yu Hua and Shi Tiesheng, Chen Derong had never heard of them.

Of course, there are intersections between the literary circle and the film and television circle, but the only intersection between Chen Derong and the literary circle is Qiong Yao, while the popular literary circle and the serious literary circle are clearly distinct.

Speaking of which, Chen Derong now has a new connection in the serious literary circle, Zhou Yan.

Chen Derong showed great curiosity about a circle that she didn't know much about, and then asked, "Is this writers' congress large in scale?"

Zhou Yan nodded. "Big, very big, the kind you see on the news."

The Writers' Congress is not just a meeting of the Writers Association. It is not just writers who attend, but also politicians from all walks of life. There will also be speeches by national leaders. It can be said to be the highest-level event in the literary and art world. (End of this chapter)