Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 490 "Rural Teacher Trilogy" (Fourth Update)
The novel "Wasted City" is completely different in style from Jia Pingwa's previous novels, and the work has received mixed reviews.

Perhaps this is due to the things that happened to him in recent years and the changes in his state of mind?

The funeral was officially held at eight o'clock the next morning. In the countryside, this is called "going up the mountain". For the villagers of Dihua Town, it was also going up the mountain - the cemetery was on the hillside behind the town.

The funeral route is measured in advance by a fortune teller. Once the route is chosen, no matter if it is sunny or rainy, they will build bridges over rivers and build stairs over slopes, and they will never look back.

As the eldest son, Jia Pingwa was dressed in mourning and walked at the front of the team holding his father's portrait in his hands. When they arrived at the burial site, they "lowered the coffin" according to the instructions of the Yin-Yang master. Jia Pingwa also wrote an elegy and read it in front of his father's grave.

"My father, Jia Yanchun, taught in the countryside all his life and retired to Dihua, Danfeng County. His stomach cancer recurred at the beginning of the year and he was bedridden three months later. He suffered from hunger and pain, pain and hunger. He suffered until the evening of the 27th day when he suddenly died with a smile."

It is written with true feelings.

After the funeral, the Jia family held a banquet to thank the guests and those who helped. After the meal, Fang Minghua and his family drove back to Xijing.

It was seven days later that I saw Jia Pingwa again.

After August, there were a lot of meetings at the Writers Association. People often had to study every two or three days and learn various documents. No leave was allowed, and even Chen Zhongshi, who was writing behind closed doors in Bai Lu Yuan, was no exception.

It is for this reason that Fang Minghua, Chen Zhongshi and others can get together to chat, and that is what happened today.

After studying in the morning, we had discussions in the afternoon. At noon, we ate at the Writers Association's kitchen. It was terribly hot outside, so no one went home and just chatted in Fang Minghua's office - because the tea in his office was high-quality, not the labor protection tea issued by the Writers Association but the Longjing tea brought from his own home. Everyone liked drinking tea, so of course they would not give up this opportunity.

The four of them were chatting while drinking hot tea and enjoying the electric fan.

Jia Pingwa's face still looked a little yellow, but he was in much better spirits than before. He stopped drinking, but he kept smoking.

"Zhongshi, have you finished writing your book "White Deer Plain"? " Jia Pingwa asked casually.

Although Chen Zhongshi has not disclosed the content of his novel so far, everyone knows the title of his novel - which is his hometown, Bai Lu Yuan.

Chen Zhongshi was also smoking a cigar called "Bashan", a brand produced by a factory in Hanzhong area. It had a strong taste but was cheap.

He listened to Jia Pingwa's question and said, "It's still early. The first draft is finished, but the second draft is less than halfway done."

"Minghua, I heard that you are also preparing a long novel?" Jia Pingwa asked Fang Minghua who was sitting next to him.

Fang Minghua did not hide it and generously admitted that he was writing a novel on rural education.

"Are you writing about rural education again? Together with your previous works, "Rural Teachers" and "No One Left Behind," wouldn't this be a trilogy?"

Fang Minghua hadn't noticed this problem, but after hearing what Jia Pingwa said, he realized it was indeed the case.

"Lu Yao, what about you?"

"I haven't written a novel. I'm writing an essay, mainly about my feelings about "Ordinary World". This is at the invitation of Ying Minghua," said Lu Yao.

"It's not me, it's the readers." Fang Ming denied.

After "Ordinary World" was officially published, it has been printed twice. A huge readership wanted to know the background and feelings of Lu Yao in writing this novel. These readers' letters were transferred to Shengshi Books by Shenzhen Haitian Publishing House, which was the nominal publisher, and then handed to Fang Ming by Song Tangtang.

So Fang Minghua met Lu Yao and invited him to write an essay.

Lu Yao agreed and has been working on this recently. The essay is called "Morning Starts at Noon". Lu Yao has also written about it in history and it is very touching.

It is very common for writers to write essays, let alone a best-selling work like "Ordinary World". Jia Pingwa nodded and said nothing more.

"Pingwa, you asked so many questions, so what are you writing?" Lu Yao asked back.

"I've been worrying about my father's affairs for the past few months, so how can I have the energy to write?" Jia Pingwa smiled bitterly: "But after burying my father, I stayed in my hometown for a few days, and after I calmed down, I had some ideas."

"What do you think?" Lu Yao asked. "I want to change."

"Change what?"

"I used to write about the countryside, about our Shangzhou, but now I want to write about the city, about Xijing where we live now. In the past, I wrote about traditional narratives, but now I want to write something more magical."

When Chen Zhongshi, who had been relatively silent just now, heard Jia Pingwa say that he was going to write a more "magical" novel, he looked up at him.

"Magic? Magic realism?"

"Yes, Zhuangzi was lost in a dream of butterflies in the morning, and King Wang placed his spring love on the cuckoo." Jia Pingwa slowly exhaled a smoke ring.

Poems by Li Shangyin.

When Chen Zhongshi heard this, he actually smiled, and all the wrinkles on his face smoothed out.

"You say, this is strange?"

"What's strange?"

"The book I'm writing now also has a touch of magical realism. Lu Yao's article "The Tree of Life" published at the beginning of the year also has magic in it. OK, Pingwa, the new book you're preparing now is also about magical realism. Minghua, what about the book you're writing now?"

Chen Zhongshi turned his head and looked at Fang Minghua.

"I don't have it. I'm an honest realist, but I use the writing techniques of new realism novels." Fang Minghua told the truth.

"Look at you, you were shouting about avant-garde writing a few years ago, all about stream of consciousness, postmodernism, and magical realism. Now we listen to you, but you are running to the reality again, and we can't keep up."

The other two people laughed when they heard it.

Think about it, this is indeed the truth.

But this is just a joke. As for what writing technique to use, it is the writer's own business.

After chatting about literature for a while, we turned to health. Jia Pingwa has hepatitis B, and several close friends already know about it. Everyone is concerned about his current health.
"I have a say in hepatitis B." The speaker was Lu Yao. "Although it cannot be cured, it is much milder than my liver cirrhosis. As long as you take medicine on time and pay more attention to your diet, it will be fine. So, Pingwa, don't worry about it. Don't you think I'm fine now?"

"That's true. But I can't drink anymore."

Thinking of the time when he drank "Zao Shao" and the world in the cup, Jia Pingwa sighed.

"Among the four of us, two can't drink, leaving Zhongshi and Minghua. You should drink less, otherwise we will see you and get jealous." Lu Yao said half-jokingly and half-seriously.

"Okay, my wife also told me to drink less. She also specifically reminded me before we went to the United States this time. I can find someone to dance with, but I can't find anyone to drink with. You two can drink, too. What's the point of it being just me and Teacher Chen?" Fang Minghua said.

But it is true. From then on, Fang Minghua drank much less.

In addition to writing, I occasionally give lectures at Western University.

This year, all major universities across the country will resume classes in August to make up for the courses missed in the previous semester.

There was nothing new in Fang Minghua's lecture. They were all some literary theories that he had talked about before: stream of consciousness, avant-garde literature, new realism novels, etc.

These literary theories had been published publicly long ago, and he just simplified the content, but he went into more depth in some places - after all, he was facing graduate students in the Chinese Department.

They are not writers but they do have a high level of literary theory.

At the end of August, Song Tangtang, who had gone to the United States, returned to China with her two children.

(End of this chapter)