1990: Starting from Baojia Street

After the publication of "Brothers", Yu Hua confronted people everywhere, and this incident itself was criticized by many people, especially some of his peers.

Zhou Yan paid attention to the content of the confrontation at that time, the main force of which was the avant-garde writer of the same generation, Can Xue, and Chen Xiwo, who later re-raised the banner of the avant-garde.

Zhou Yan was deeply impressed by the words of another writer, Chen Cun. He said that a writer should shut up after writing a work, and it is wrong for a writer like Yu Hua to come out and confront others. He also mentioned Han Shaogong and praised him highly, saying that when Han Shaogong finished his work and the media interviewed him, he did not say a word.

The reason why Zhou Yan was deeply impressed by Chen Cun's words was because Han Shaogong's part was difficult for Zhou Yan to understand.

Han Shaogong may not have said much in front of the media, but he did sue those who insulted him. It is ridiculous that Chen Cun used him to criticize Yu Hua.

In addition, there is one thing that Zhou Yan cannot understand about Chen Cun.

Chen Cun himself is a writer, so he should understand that writers are no different from ordinary people, with all their joys, sorrows, anger and happiness. It’s no big deal for Yu Hua to defend himself.

Many people have fundamental misunderstandings about writers as a group, and there are two different extremes.

Some people think too highly of writers, while others think too badly of them.

If readers don’t like a book, they may regard the writer as an unforgivable villain. If they like a book, they may regard the writer as a saint who is detached from the world.

Obviously, both situations are undesirable.

According to Zhou Yan's experience, there are no more or fewer bad writers than in other groups.

Apart from their works, they are no different from ordinary people.

It is completely impossible to understand the personality traits of an author through literary works.

After chatting for a while, Yu Hua felt that chatting was boring, so he suggested playing cards.

The others seconded the proposal, and finally a two-on-one match was arranged. Han Shaogong, Yu Hua and Su Tong took the field, while Zhou Yan and Shi Tiesheng watched from the side.

Zhou Yan originally thought that Yu Hua's cards were bad enough, but he didn't expect that Han Shaogong's cards were even worse. It took this guy a while just to sort out the cards after he got them.

After the cards are sorted, you still have to scratch your head for a while.

Zhou Yan had reason to suspect that Han Shaogong's hairline was lost because of playing cards.

Before they started playing, Zhou Yan mistakenly thought that Han Shaogong was very good at playing cards because he was the one who took the initiative to suggest adding some jackpots.

If you dare to take the initiative to propose a bet, you must have some support.

Now it seems that Han Shaogong is just a green hand and likes to play.

Their stakes are not that high, only one dollar per round.

But even though it was only one dollar per game, by the time of dinner, Han Shaogong had lost more than 20 dollars, and it only took a little over an hour.

Han Shaogong was outnumbered two-on-one most of the time, and basically lost every time.

If he gets good cards, Han Shaogong can still resist for a while, but if he gets bad cards, he will be completely powerless to resist and will be defeated quickly.

Finally, Zhou Yan reminded them that it was time to eat. Han Shaogong was still reluctant to leave and said that he would fight again after the meal.

On the way to the cafeteria, Han Shaogong thought he was just going to have a quick meal, but after arriving at the cafeteria, he discovered that Zhou Yan's cafeteria actually had private rooms, and they were well-decorated.

Seeing the bottles of Moutai on the table, Han Shaogong said in surprise, "This standard is a bit high."

The price of Moutai has increased again this year. The retail price outside ranges from RMB 160 to RMB 190. There are four bottles on the table, and the total cost is at least RMB 600, which is almost equal to Han Shaogong's monthly salary.

"These are all new wines from this year." Zhou Yan smiled. "I don't drink much wine normally, and I don't know much about wine, so I won't go wrong if I take this wine."

"You are too modest. I usually can't bear to drink this wine. Actually, when we have a meal together, there is no need to be formal. If we must drink, ordinary Erguotou is fine."

"This is just your first time here, so I'll give you some good wine. Next time you come, I won't have any good wine to treat you."

"If you bring this wine every time, I really won't dare to come again."

Yu Hua smiled and said, "Don't say so much. It's so cold today. Hurry up and have a couple of drinks to warm yourself up."

After saying that, he took the initiative to open the bottle and took on the responsibility of pouring the wine.

……

Except for Shi Tiesheng, the other four all drank.

They didn't drink too much, they all just ordered just enough, and the four of them shared two bottles of wine.

After dinner, Han Shaogong took Yu Hua and others to the office to play cards. Zhou Yan and the driver first sent Shi Tiesheng home. Given Shi Tiesheng's physical condition, he definitely couldn't stay up late.

It's already quite late to go home now.

The temporary dormitory at the studio has not been completed yet, otherwise Zhou Yan would not have bothered and would have let Shi Tiesheng live here directly.

When Zhou Yan returned to the studio after sending Shi Tiesheng, he saw that the light at the door of recording studio No. 2 was on, and felt a little strange.

It's already half past ten, is there anyone still working in the studio? I haven't heard of any urgent work today.

After getting off the car, Zhou Yan did not return to his office immediately, but went to recording studio No. 2 first.

The sign outside showed "Recording". Zhou Yan stuck his head out and looked inside through the small window, but the window was very small and he could only see the prison shed, and there was no one there.

Out of curiosity, he pushed the door open and walked in, and immediately saw Akina Nakamori standing inside.

Zhou Yan was a little surprised to see Akina Nakamori. Why was she here?

Akina Nakamori also saw Zhou Yan. Several expressions flashed across her face in an instant. Finally, she forced out a smile and waved to Zhou Yan through the glass as a greeting.

Zhou Yan just nodded. Akina Nakamori couldn't hear what he said because of the glass.

After that, Akina Nakamori fell into a state of confusion. She stood there, wearing headphones, and kept her head down flipping through the music score in front of her.

I don't know what she was looking for, she flipped through the music score over and over again.

Zhou Yan walked over, picked up the headphones, turned on the microphone, and asked, "Ms. Nakamori, what are you recording?"

After saying this, Zhou Yan suddenly realized that he was a little stupid. He forgot that Akina Nakamori didn't speak Chinese very well.

But to Zhou Yan's surprise, Akina Nakamori actually understood what he said and answered him in Chinese, "I'm practicing a song that I'll adapt from Japanese to Chinese."

Akina Nakamori's pronunciation is not very good, but Zhou Yan can already understand what she says. During this period, Akina Nakamori's Chinese level has improved a lot.

But that's true, they haven't seen each other for a long time. If Akina Nakamori studies hard, it's normal for her to make progress.

In fact, Akina Nakamori has spent quite a long time in China in the past few months.

After the release of "Snow Flower", Akina Nakamori's popularity not only recovered a lot in Japan, but her popularity in China also skyrocketed.

In the past few months, she has participated in many activities in China, traveling back and forth between several first-tier cities.

Spending a long time in China also provided opportunities for her to improve her Chinese.

When learning a foreign language, language environment is particularly important. During this period, Akina Nakamori has made much greater progress than before, especially in spoken English.

"Why are you alone? Where is your assistant?" Zhou Yan asked.

"I asked her to go back first."

Zhou Yan frowned. This assistant was too incompetent. Akina Nakamori asked her to go back, and she really went back, leaving Akina Nakamori in the studio late at night.

"How are you going to get back later?"

"Chengzi said she would drive over to pick me up."

"Ida Naoko?"

This was the name she translated, and Zhou Yan remembered it. "Yeah, yes."

“She has a Chinese driver’s license?”

"Yes, I have got it. She has been picking me up during this period."

Zhou Yan asked in surprise, "You have been in the studio all this time?"

During this period, Zhou Yan himself had been in the studio, but he had never seen Akina Nakamori once, so he was so surprised.

"Well, the new song is about to be recorded, and I need to hurry up and practice."

Zhou Yan looked at his watch and asked, "When are you going to go back?"

"Maybe, in a while."

Zhou Yan nodded and didn't say anything else. He could see that Akina Nakamori seemed reluctant to talk to him.

This is understandable, after all, they have encountered such embarrassing things before.

"Go back early in the evening."

After saying this, Zhou Yan turned around and left the recording studio.

Akina Nakamori stared at the door of the recording studio for a long time, then focused her attention on the music score again and started practicing again.

She came to the studio many times during this period, but each time she came when there were not many people around, just to avoid Zhou Yan.

Once or twice, she even saw Zhou Yan and almost ran away.

She still couldn't forget what happened that night.

……

After Zhou Yan left the recording studio, he went to the office.

The office was filled with smoke at the moment, with three cigarette pipes emitting smoke, causing visibility in the office to drop sharply.

Zhou Yan walked over, opened the window, and took a breath of the fresh air before he recovered.

"Don't you feel choked?"

"One to three." Yu Hua called out, then laughed, "Have you ever seen a fish drowned?"

After hearing Yu Hua's analogy, Zhou Yan was speechless. It turned out that in Yu Hua's eyes, water is to fish as cigarettes are to them.

"How is your battle going?" Zhou Yan asked.

Yu Hua boasted, "I finally have money for tomorrow's meal."

Zhou Yan glanced at the card table and it was obvious that Han Shaogong lost again, while Su Tong and Yu Hua won.

After hearing what Yu Hua said, Han Shaogong was very dissatisfied, "The one who laughs last is the winner. Winning money now does not mean you can win money in the end."

"That's right. Now I've only won enough money for tomorrow's meal. By the time the game is over, it will be enough for at least three days of meals."

Han Shaogong curled his lips and wanted to refute a few more words, but he didn't know how to refute. After all, the current situation was that he was the only one who lost badly.

And reason told him that if nothing unexpected happened, he would not be able to make his money back tonight.

Under the current circumstances, he would be doing well if he can stop losing money in the future.

Although it was getting late, Zhou Yan did not mention disbanding the game. The key point was that although Han Shaogong lost, he was still in high spirits and did not seem to want to rest.

In the end, Su Tong couldn't bear it anymore and suggested ending at around one o'clock.

Although Han Shaogong was somewhat reluctant, he still agreed.

But even if he agreed, he still didn't finish the game until two o'clock.

When the three of them finally settled the money, Su Tong was the big winner, winning more than fifty yuan, and Yu Hua also did well, winning more than forty yuan.

Only Han Shaogong had to bear it all, and lost nearly a hundred dollars in total.

Zhou Yan had never expected that Han Shaogong could lose a hundred dollars in a two-on-one game with one dollar per round. This card was really bad.

This amount of money is of course nothing to Han Shaogong, but no one wants to lose money, no matter how much it is.

So when the game was over, he was quite depressed. After all, before the game started, he was also ambitious and wanted to win money.

People who like playing cards still believe that they can win next time even if they have lost many times.

Before leaving, Yu Hua gave Han Shaogong another blow. He patted Han Shaogong on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Chairman Han, you came as you said, and you are so polite."

These words made Han Shaogong so angry that his teeth itched, but he couldn't do anything about Yu Hua.

Finally, he could only squeeze out a sentence, "Just wait, we'll fight again tonight."

Yu Hua bared his teeth and smiled, "I can't be so polite tonight. I'm embarrassed too."

Han Shaogong rolled his eyes and walked away.

After seeing the three of them off, Zhou Yan also returned home. After a quick wash, he went to bed.

Early the next morning, Zhou Yan heard some noise in a daze. When he opened his eyes, he saw Joey Wong sitting beside the bed, holding her head and staring at him.

"Third brother, you're awake."

Zhou Yan sat up and asked, "Xiao Xian, when did you come?"

"Just got here." Joey Wong looked at her watch, "Less than a minute."

"Didn't you say you'd arrive in the afternoon?"

"I wanted to see you, so I changed my flight."

"You should have told me and let me pick you up." Zhou Yan reached out and grabbed Wang Zuxian's hand, and then felt a chill in his palm.

Joey Wong had indeed just arrived, and her hands were cold.

Zhou Yan quickly pulled her hands under the quilt and said, "Your hands are so cold, come in and warm them up."

"It's okay. There's heating in the house. It will be fine in a while."

Although Wang Zuxian said this, she still let Zhou Yan hold her hand and place it under the quilt.

Zhou Yan put her hand on his chest, and she could clearly feel the heat coming from his chest.

"The flight is too early. There's no need to disturb your rest. I can come by myself."

Seeing Wang Zuxian's blushing face, Zhou Yan stretched out a hand to stroke the hair beside her ear and asked softly, "Have you had breakfast?"

Wang Zuxian shook her head, "No."

"Then go to sleep for a while, I'll make you breakfast."

"I can sleep, but I need to take a shower. I feel dirty after rushing all the way here."

"No way, isn't it still white and clean?" Zhou Yan smiled and kissed her on the forehead, "Then I'll go get you some water."

"Ah."

Zhou Yan got up and prepared some water for Wang Zuxian. Then he simply washed up and gave her breakfast. (End of this chapter)