Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 614: Funeral in Northeast China
"What is your novel "Wasteland" about? It's about the confusion, decadence and even depravity of contemporary intellectuals! You are just ruthlessly tearing off the fig leaf on others. The main body of your novel is a group of literati who are being whipped. You say that people who have a certain degree of discourse power will easily let your book go, or even you?! You know, to put it bluntly, you and I are actually one of them. You are betraying the organization by doing this! If something goes wrong, who will dare to speak for you?!"

"But Zhong Shi's White Deer Plain is different. It criticizes feudal ethics and depicts rural life, which is what writers are good at. The erotic descriptions in it only reflect the most primitive instincts of farmers. What does it have to do with lofty literati?! Even if someone criticizes it, there will be more literati who will defend it - because it is about history, not the present!"

After hearing this, Jia Pingwa turned pale and became speechless.

"Brother Jia, listen to my advice," Fang Minghua continued in a soothing tone, "Delete those □□□□□□ (author deleted × hundred × ten × words). Your book is very good and very attractive. There is no need to use these gimmicks. Instead, it will bring unnecessary trouble to yourself."

"Also, please reconsider some of the sensitive plots in the novel. I will call Su Bin from Shengshi Books and ask him to arrange the publication of your book."

Jia Pingwa is gone.

Compared to the excited look when he came, he seemed a little depressed.

But if we want to prevent this book from having such an unfortunate fate and if Jia Pingwa's reputation needs to be ruined because of this book, as he himself said: "Before the publication of Wasted City, I was described as the cleanest person in the literary world; after the publication of Wasted City, I was described as the most rogue one in the literary world." This must be done.

There's no shame in that.

You have to know that in history, Chen Zhongshi, who was as stubborn as an ox, had to bow his head in order to get approved by the Mao Dun Prize: he modified the sensitive plots of the novel and published a revised version.

The same problem will probably arise in this version of "White Deer Plain". We'll talk about it then.

Originally, Fang Minghua was going to wait for Jia Pingwa to finish revising Wasted City before contacting Su Bin. However, just two days later, she suddenly received a call from her father.

"Minghua, there's an urgent telegram from home saying that your uncle has passed away. Please pack up and take the train back to Fengtian with me tomorrow."

"Uncle passed away? Okay, I'll prepare right away. Let's see if there are any plane tickets tomorrow. We'll take a plane back. That way it'll be faster." Fang Minghua said immediately.

"Okay, call me when you're done."

After hanging up the phone with his father, Fang Minghua quickly took out a telephone directory printed by the Xijing Post and Telecommunications Bureau from the drawer, which contained the ticket booking numbers of major airlines.

There was no Internet back then. If you wanted to take a plane, you either had to go to the airport check-in counter to book your ticket or call.

Coincidentally, Air China has a direct flight to Fengtian at 10: tomorrow morning. Fang Minghua immediately booked two tickets and told his father the news.

When Song Tangtang returned home in the evening, Fang Minghua told her that her uncle had passed away and that she had to go back to Fengtian with her father to attend the funeral.

Song Tangtang naturally didn't say anything, but just said to bring more clothes, as it's colder in the Northeast than here. I'll drive you two to the airport tomorrow morning.

"I'll pack your luggage for you." Song Tangtang said and was about to go upstairs.

Whenever Fang Minghua goes on a long trip, Song Tangtang is the one who packs his luggage as long as she is at home.

"Oh!" Fang Minghua suddenly thought of something.

"What's wrong?" Song Tangtang stopped.

"Pingwa's book hasn't been brought over yet. Let me make a phone call."

The first person Fang Minghua called was Su Bin's pager message. A few minutes later, Su Bin called home.

Fang Minghua briefly outlined the publication of Jia Pingwa's new book.

"I asked Jia Pingwa to send you the manuscript. I personally think it's quite well written. Of course, given that some parts of the book are sensitive, you should be careful when promoting it."

Su Bin agreed and said that he would study it carefully after Jia Pingwa sent the manuscript.

Fang Minghua's words were not groundless.

Historically, before the publication of Wasted City, the author and the publisher painstakingly came up with two "clever tricks": one was "□□□", and the other was to reveal a million-dollar royalty! Through these "hypes", the book became popular all of a sudden, and some booksellers brought cash to demand the book and blocked the publisher's door.

You become popular quickly, but you are more likely to attract jealousy.

You have to take it easy this time.

After calling Su Bin, Fang Minghua called Jia Pingwa's home directly and told him about his current situation and that he had to return to Fengtian immediately and would probably stay there for a few more days.

"Brother Jia, I'm worried that it will delay the publication of your new book, so I've made an agreement with Su Bin from Shengshi Books. You can send it to him directly after you revise it. If there are any problems, you two can communicate directly."

"Thank you, Minghua." Jia Pingwa's tone on the other end of the phone revealed gratitude.

"Why are you being so polite to me? We'll talk after I come back."

Early the next morning, Fang Minghua took his wife's car to the Xingfu Community in Xiaonanmen to pick up his father, and then went straight to Xianyang International Airport.

Just last year, Xianyang International Airport officially started operations and Xiguan Airport was subsequently closed.

At 10:, the father and son boarded the plane and flew directly to Fengtian.

The plane was flying smoothly in the clouds.

Fang Minghua glanced at his father beside him.

I saw my father wearing an old military coat, curled up in his seat and dozing off.

He suddenly discovered that his father had aged a lot.

Could it be because of my uncle’s death?

There were three brothers in my father Fang Changhe's generation. Fang Changhe was the second oldest. The eldest and the third oldest stayed in the Northeast, but the second oldest, Fang Changhe, came to Xijing to support the Northwest.

Fang Changhe's parents died in the early 1970s. After their parents passed away, the brothers' visits to each other decreased significantly.

Xijing is originally quite far from Liaoning Province. In Fang Minghua's memory, his parents and grandparents returned to their hometown after they passed away, and they never went back again.

So in Fang Minghua's memory, he did not have a deep impression of this uncle.

Of course, there are the necessary family etiquettes. As the only son of Fang Changhe, he must go back to attend the funeral according to custom.

Well, in addition to paying tribute to his uncle, he also went around to see what Northeast China was like in the early 1990s. He even brought a camera with him for this purpose.

The plane flew for more than two hours and landed at Taoxian International Airport.

As soon as he got off the plane, Fang Minghua shuddered.

Oh my god.

Winters in Northeast China are cold.

The woolen coat I was wearing seemed to be of no use, and the cold wind blew in.

The father and son left the airport, took the airport's special bus and headed for the city. When they arrived in the city, Fang Minghua and his son changed to a taxi.

Although Fang Minghua's hometown is in Beisipiao, Chaoyang, his father Fang Changhe's elder and younger brothers both work in Fengtian, and his deceased brother's home is in Tiexi District.

(End of this chapter)