Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 636: The Qin people also know how to hype!

Yu Hua himself understood this.

All of Shengshi Books' promotional activities for his book were centered around Zhang Yimou's film winning an award at the Venice Film Festival.

But the closer it got to the opening of the Venice Film Festival, the more nervous Yu Hua became.

What if Zhang Yimou's film really doesn't win an award? !

Fang Minghua naturally understood Yu Hua's worries, patted his shoulder and smiled and comforted him:
"Yu Hua, what are you worried about? Zhang Yimou has participated in the three major film festivals abroad. When did he return empty-handed? It's just a matter of winning an award. If he wins the Golden Lion Award, you will be rich too!"

"Thank you for your good wishes."

Yu Hua answered, but his expression seemed a little unconvinced.

Fang Minghua did not dwell on this issue any further and let the facts speak for themselves.

"Hey, Yu Hua, are you in a hurry to buy a house? If you don't have enough money, I can lend you some." Fang Minghua said again with concern.

"No, no, there's no rush. Let's talk about it in a year or two." Yu Hua said.

Although he was eager to live in a new house with his new wife, he was more eager to live in a house bought with his own money.

After having a meal at Yu Hua's home, Fang Minghua took a taxi back to the General Political Department compound. The next day, he went to the Xinhua Bookstore in Wangfujing to sign and sell books. After that, he took the train back to Xijing with Dai Jiali and other Shengshi Book staff.

It was already the second night when they arrived in Xijing, but Fang Minghua did not stay in a hotel. Instead, he went home directly. After opening the gate, Song Tangtang came out of the living room and quickly took the suitcase from his hand, smiling sweetly: "Husband, are you back from the Eastern Expedition?"

"Have you also read Guangming Daily?" Fang Minghua asked back.

"It's not Guangming Daily, it's our Qin Province Daily. The Qin Province Daily reposted the news article of the Guangming Daily reporter in full, and also reported the incident as news on the provincial TV station."

Oh, why is it so grand?

Nowadays, not many ordinary people read Guangming Daily and Qin Province Daily, but many watch TV and read the news.

With this kind of publicity, what was originally just a topic within the literary world suddenly went viral.

It turns out that the Propaganda Minister of Qin Province is named Wang Jucai. He graduated from the Chinese Language and Literature Department of Qin Normal University. He used to be a newspaper reporter and editor. He has been engaged in cultural propaganda for a long time and is very concerned about every move of the literary world.

After reading the article "Shaanxi Army's Eastern Expedition", he immediately felt that this was a great opportunity to promote Qin Province literature and writers! He immediately wrote a request for the Qin Province Daily to reprint the full text.

And it was forwarded to the Provincial Radio and Television Bureau and broadcast on TV as a news!
The provincial newspaper reprinted the article, and newspapers and periodicals in various prefecture-level cities followed suit. The provincial television station reported it, and of course the municipal television stations did not stop it. For a time, "The Qin Army's Eastern Expedition" became a hot topic among the people.

This caught Fang Minghua off guard.

"I heard from Bai Miao that the provincial TV station wants to produce a program to gather the six of you writers together for an interview or something, so that you can talk about your creative thoughts. They are waiting for you to come back now." Song Tangtang said.

Oops
The people of Qin Province, who have always been honest and simple, also know about hype.

Fang Minghua looked at his smiling wife and suddenly whispered in her ear: "Hey, my dear husband, I have returned from the Eastern Expedition and now I want to conquer you!"

"Disgusting! You stink, go take a shower first!"

The book signing event in Xijing continues.

The next day, Fang Minghua got up early, feeling refreshed. He went outside Chaoyangmen to eat a bowl of spicy soup, and then drove straight to Xuecheng Bookstore near Bianjia Village.

The first stop of the Xijing book signing and sale was at the Xuecheng Bookstore in Lei Xuecheng.

In recent years, Lei Xuecheng has been concentrating on running his own bookstore, which has become the largest private bookstore in Xijing City. It not only has four storefronts, but also the backyard of the bookstore - originally the yard of his wife Wu Meimei's home, which has now been developed as part of the bookstore, with tables and chairs placed there, tea served, and beautiful music played, for readers to read and rest after buying books.

The prototype of the book bar was born. Fang Minghua drove to the bookstore and saw a red banner hanging on the door of the bookstore, which read "Warmly congratulate Mr. Minghua, the leader of the Qin Army's Eastern Expedition, for signing and selling his new book in my store."

There was already a long queue in front of the bookstore. Fang Minghua entered from the side door. Dai Jiali, the staff of Shengshi Books, and Lei Xuecheng were all there.

They were all acquaintances, so there was no need for formalities. After a few simple chats, Fang Minghua got into work mode.

We took a break at noon. We had no appetite in such a hot day, so we all went to a snack bar outside to eat the Qin Province "three-piece set" - cold noodles, roujiamo, and Bingfeng.

After that, I went back to the bookstore to take a rest.

There were still readers in the bookstore. In order not to disturb the readers reading, Lei Xuecheng specially arranged an empty room for Fang Minghua and Dai Jiali. Everyone enjoyed the fans, drank tea and chatted.

Perhaps because the bookstore was doing well, Fang Minghua discovered that the tea prepared by Lei Xuecheng had become more premium. Today they were drinking Bamboo Leaf Green from Sichuan Province.

It is flat and smooth, emerald green with visible hairs, shaped like bamboo leaves, and has a tender green color. Although they are both green teas, there is still a certain difference between it and the Longjing tea that Fang Minghua often drinks.

Longjing has a fresh taste, long-lasting fragrance and sweet aftertaste, while Zhuyeqing has a refreshing and mellow taste, slightly bitter and long aftertaste, which is very suitable for cooling off in summer.

The three of them naturally talked about literature and the biggest topic in the literary world at that time: the Qin Army's Eastern Expedition.

Lei Xuecheng sat on a rattan chair, crossed his legs and talked.

"There are six books in the Qin Army's Eastern Expedition. I think the best ones are White Deer Plain, Wasted City and The Piano in a Factory."

"What about from the perspective of book market sales?" Dai Jiali asked a question.

"I'm not sure about other cities, but these three books are still the most popular in Xijing's book market." Lei Xuecheng said, "I dare say that the best-selling books in Xijing's literary market this year should be these three."

"Boss Lei, which book do you think will eventually win the sales championship?" Dai Jiali asked.

Lei Xuecheng pondered for a moment and said with a smile: "My personal opinion is that Minghua's book is quite well written, and it describes some things happening in today's society, which is easy to resonate with. However, the disadvantage is that it was published too late. It was published half a year later, which will definitely affect the sales volume for the whole year - of course, it is also possible that it will catch up later."

"Okay, Xuecheng, we are friends. There is no need for you to flatter me. Be realistic." Fang Minghua scolded with a smile.

Lei Xuecheng smiled and continued, "Except for The Piano in a Factory, I think Wasted City should have a slightly better sales volume."

"Why not "White Deer Plain"? Is it because it was released in October last year and its sales are sluggish this year? Or is it because it is not as well written as "Wasteland"? " Dai Jiali asked in return.

"No, no, from a literary point of view, I personally think that White Deer Plain is better than Wasted City, but Wasted City has its own advantages: it is about the present! More importantly, some of the sensitive plots in his book are very eye-catching. To be honest, most of the people who come to our store to buy this book are young men."

Dai Jiali certainly agreed with Lei Xuecheng's evaluation of Feidu.

If Fang Minghua had not instructed in advance not to use those erotic stories as a gimmick in the promotion of this book, perhaps a bigger fuss would have been made in the promotion and the effect might have been better.

"I'm worried about a problem now." Lei Xuecheng suddenly changed the subject.

"what is the problem?"

"It's about Wasted City. Wait, I'll show you something." Lei Xuecheng turned and left the room. Not long after, he took out a magazine: Literary Review.

There was an article suddenly published on it, which was a review of "Wasted City".

Professor Meng Fanhua of Yenching University wrote in "The Style of Imitation of Antiquity and Oriental Wonders": "The Wasted City is a poor continuation of the literary legacy of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and a model for the splicing of classics... The words of despair revealed in the book unexpectedly meet the mentality of today's decadent intellectuals, which is the best reason for its applause."

The intensity of the words is simply staggering.

(End of this chapter)