Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 494 Fang Minghua as a Lobbyist
Fang Minghua saw an advertisement for a pager at the entrance of the telecommunications bureau:

"Call me if you need anything!"

It is indeed the forefront of reform and opening up.

Fang Minghua sighed in his heart that he had not noticed the pager business in Xijing. Perhaps it had already been launched but had a small audience.

Walk a little further and turn into Binhai Avenue. Fang Minghua remembers that when he came here at the beginning of last year, it was still farmland, but now it has become a construction site with buildings rising from the ground, and more are wastelands that have been fenced off but not yet developed.

A real estate feast is about to begin in Hainan.

After a long walk, Fang Minghua was driving on Haifu Road, the busiest street in Haikou, when he suddenly heard a recorded horn voice coming from a newsstand on the side of the road:
"Great news, great news! Hainan Records will cease publication soon, and the last issue will be out of print! Everyone hurry up and buy it, don't miss the chance!"

"Hainan Documentary" has ceased publication? !
Wasn't this a magazine founded by Han Shaogong when he came to Hainan at the beginning of last year? How come it was discontinued so soon?
After Fang Minghua pulled over, he got out and bought a copy from the newsstand.

Sure enough, there was a farewell notice in the newspaper. 20 newspaper staff members, including Han Shaogong, said goodbye to the readers and expressed their sincere gratitude to the authors and collaborators who cared, helped and understood us in the past days.
Fang Minghua sighed after reading it.

Han Shaogong’s Hainan dream was shattered.

Fang Minghua took the newspaper back to the car and returned to the hotel.

I watched TV in the hotel and then went to sleep. The next morning, after breakfast, I dialed Shu Bin’s office number in the hotel room.

"I'm Shu Bin. Who are you?" Mandarin with a strong Hunan accent came from the microphone.

"Hello, Director Shu, I am Fang Minghua from the Qin Province Writers Association."

"Chairman Fang." Shu Bin's tone became noticeably more enthusiastic: "You've come to Hainan?"

"Yes, I'm staying at Wanghailou in Haikou now. Are you free tonight? I'd like to treat you to a meal alone, right at Wanghailou."

Want to date me alone?

Shu Bin hesitated for a moment, but finally agreed.

"Okay then, I'll come over after get off work."

"Okay, I'll call you after I book a room. Bye!"

After hanging up the phone, Fang Minghua crossed his legs and picked up the "Hainan Documentary" magazine that he bought at the newsstand last night.

Minutes of the Soviet Union's Political Reform

"In May in Yanjing, there is no red carpet at the airport"

The title alone is eye-catching.

No wonder the magazine was discontinued. In the words of later generations, some of the content was madly testing the edge of 404.

Fang Minghua shook his head, put down the newspaper, picked up the Longjing tea he brought from home on the coffee table, and drank it leisurely.

At Hainan Publishing House, Shu Bin sat at his desk, thinking about the call from Fang Minghua just now.

Although Fang Minghua only said on the phone that he wanted to have dinner and reminisce about the past.

But the two of them have only met once and have never been in touch before, so what is there to talk about?

Shu Bin had already vaguely guessed Fang Minghua's intention.

It is said that Fang Minghua has a close relationship with Zhao Hongjun of Shengshi Book Publishing Company. At the beginning of last year, when Zhao Hongjun hosted a dinner at Wanghailou, Fang Minghua was there to accompany him.

Moreover, Zhao Hongjun had specifically visited him once two months ago.

He thought about it, opened the drawer, picked up a book in traditional Chinese characters, "A New Interpretation of the Analects of Confucius" - a work by Nan Huaijin, and put it in his briefcase.

Maybe it will be useful.

It was still quite hot in Haikou in September, and I heard that a typhoon was coming soon, so Fang Minghua didn't run around. He just stayed in the room and watched TV or something.

Turning to CCTV, I unexpectedly saw Zhao Hongjun, dressed in a suit and tie, talking in front of the camera about donating money to build a school in Bandeng Village, Baiyin, Gansu Province.

When talking about corporate social responsibility, of course, we will not forget to publicize the Hope Project of the Youth Development Foundation, which has just been established, and call on responsible entrepreneurs in the whole society to donate funds.

Finally, a very popular slogan of this era was quoted.

“No matter how poor you are, you must not neglect education; no matter how hard it is, you must not make your children suffer!”

He has a good image and an entrepreneurial style.

Fang Minghua smiled as he watched Zhao Hongjun on TV.

In addition, Yu Longhai and his colleagues tried their best to promote the Hope Project and even mobilized CCTV!

Of course the effect is definitely good.

After looking around for a while, Fang Minghua looked at his watch and it was already past 6:05 in the afternoon, so he left the room and went to the private room on the second floor that he had reserved.

More than ten minutes later, there was a knock on the door, and a waitress in a cheongsam came in with a middle-aged man. It was Shu Bin. "Director Shu."

"Chairman Fang."

After they shook hands, they sat down.

The dishes were ready. Not too much for two people, but they were very exquisite, including Hele crab, coconut chicken and a Hunan dish - Mao's braised pork.

The wine is directly Moutai.

The two of them chatted while eating.

"Chairman Fang, I heard that you resigned from the position of editor-in-chief of Yanhe?" Shu Bin asked.

"Yes, my contract expired and I didn't renew it. I wanted to relax and write something for a while." Fang Minghua smiled and poured the other party a glass of wine.

"I saw on the street yesterday that the Hainan Documentary magazine run by Chairman Han has ceased publication?"

"Yeah. Some things are really frustrating." Shu Bin said with regret: "Now Shaogong is just like you, preparing to go back to the desk and write again."

“Oh it’s really not easy to do things now.”

"It's not easy. I thought Hainan was a special economic zone, and the policies there would be more flexible than in the mainland, and I could do a lot of things there. But it's not what I imagined."

Shu Bin shook his head, picked up the glass and drank it all.

"Haha, Director Shu, maybe it would be better to change to another place. As the saying goes, a tree that is moved will die, but a person who is moved will live." Fang Minghua said as he filled the other person's glass.

This word?

Is there something in the words?

Shu Bin obviously sensed it, but he didn't respond.

The two chatted for a while about everything under the sun, and after drinking most of a bottle of Moutai, Fang Minghua finally spoke.

"Director Su, I came to Haikou this time on behalf of my friend, Zhao Hongjun. I'm sure you know him."

"I know him. Mr. Zhao and I had a drink together two months ago." Su Bin replied with a smile.

"I heard about this from Hongjun. He invited me to be the manager of Haikou Shengshi Book Publishing Company, but you refused."

"Yes, I am not capable enough to take on this role."

"Director Shu, we are friends, so let's not beat around the bush. You are certainly not refusing this position because you are incompetent. We all know that you still want to make a career in the publishing industry." Fang Minghua said with a smile.

"But this year, the domestic situation has changed dramatically, and national policies will be gradually tightened. According to your original idea, it will be difficult to make a career in Hainan Publishing House."

After hearing Fang Minghua's words, Shu Bin showed a trace of pain on his face.

"But Shengshi Books can. If you take this position, you will have great power. Mr. Zhao's focus is still in Xijing. You have the final say here. And don't worry, we will not repeat the mistakes of Hainan Documentary."

"Why? You are a private company and you don't even have a book number!"

Shu Bin's words were a bit aggressive, but Fang Minghua just smiled faintly.

"You don't have to worry about the book number issue. Even if there is no Hainan Publishing House, we will find other publishing houses to cooperate with us. The most important thing is that we do not get involved in politics."

Fang Minghua's words were meaningful, and Shu Bin could hear it.

Didn’t the Hainan Chronicle make this mistake?

"But you only publish books like 'The Housewife', 'Ghost Blows Out the Light', and other romance and martial arts novels that have no literary value!" Shu Bin said with a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

What the hell!

This is really heartbreaking.

However, Fang Minghua was not angry.

"Director Shu, what you said is biased. Haven't we published books such as "Ordinary World" and "Norwegian Wood" that have both literary value and economic benefits?"

Shu Bin could not deny this.

I never thought that a private publishing house would have such vision!

This is also what he admires most.

Shu Bin held the wine glass and fell into deep thought.

Fang Minghua was not in a hurry and ate his food slowly.

(End of this chapter)