Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 640: Stay Calm and Be Well

"Come on, everyone. Wang Shuo is a coward who curses others in newspapers and magazines every day. Now he is finally being cursed by others. This is a cause for celebration! Come on, let's have a drink!" Jia Pingwa raised his glass.

"Pingwa, take it easy, it's all about your body." Lu Yao was drinking Bingfeng, so he reminded him.

"I know, I'll just drink three cups because I'm happy today. Come on, come on."

After hearing Jia Pingwa's words, everyone raised their glasses.

"What do you think? Do I need to get involved? This is an opportunity." Jia Pingwa asked, putting down his wine glass.

Everyone understood what Jia Pingwa meant and were ready to give him a beating.

"Pingwa, why don't we just focus on writing novels instead of doing all this nonsense?" Chen Zhongshi was the first to object.

Chen Zhongshi has a very stubborn temper, or what we call a "coward" in Guanzhong dialect, but he is very popular in the literary world.

First, he is the oldest among this group of writers, so he naturally gains the respect of others. Second, whether in official circles or in the literary world, he does not like to do small things behind people's backs, and he speaks to people's faces, which also wins everyone's favor.

Lu Yao also said that literary theory is not our strong point, and instead of spending time on engaging in verbal battles with others, it would be better to do something serious, such as writing a novel.

"Minghua, what do you think?" Jia Pingwa turned around and asked Fang Minghua.

"Brother Jia, I suggest you listen to Teacher Chen and Brother Lu and keep quiet." Fang Minghua said bluntly:

"In fact, the book you wrote, Wasted City, is exactly what they want to criticize: the degeneration of writers and artists has promoted the sensory entertainment of the masses, and literary "games" have replaced "soul salvation." Do you think they will be happy if you stand on their side and criticize Wang Shuo? I am sure that as soon as you open your mouth, they may turn their guns and criticize you in a minute."

"Minghua is right. Why do they want to scold Wang Shuo? Besides the fact that what the kid wrote really made those people hate him, there is another very important reason: he is too arrogant! He talks nonsense with his big mouth! If not you, Wang Shuo, who else can they target?" Lu Yao also began his own analysis.

"It seems that I listened to Minghua some time ago and kept silent and escaped the disaster." Jia Pingwa said self-deprecatingly.

"Of course." Lu Yao glanced at him, took out a pack of Hongtashan cigarettes from his bag, gave one to the other three, lit one, and then slowly said, "Do you remember the campaign against spiritual pollution ten years ago? I feel that this time is comparable to that time."

Lu Yao’s words shocked the others.

Of course, everyone still remembers what happened ten years ago. Many writers were in trouble. The most unlucky one was Fang Minghua. Several of his books were taken off the shelves and banned from sale.

Fortunately, the storm passed quickly and did not cause much damage to everyone, but only those involved knew how serious it was.

Seeing everyone was silent, Fang Minghua smiled.

"There's no need to be so nervous. I think this discussion will be limited to academics and ideas, and will not involve politics. It's already the 1990s, and the social atmosphere today is completely different from that of ten years ago."

That's true. Everyone nodded after hearing this.

"Pingwa, regarding this matter, I suggest you continue to remain silent. Those people are scolding Wang Shuo, with Wang Shuo's temper, how can he hold back? He will definitely scold back, and then it will be fun. We just need to watch from the sidelines."

"Yes, I won't get involved!" Chen Zhongshi also expressed his opinion.

"Okay then, I'll listen to you." Jia Pingwa said.

"Hey, leaders, you won't participate in this great discussion on humanistic spirit?" Bai Miao, who had been listening to the conversation of the four people without saying a word, spoke up: "I am still waiting for you to write a few commentary articles so that I can publish them in Yanhe." "Okay, Bai Miao, you can find someone else. Anyway, I won't write." Fang Minghua refused: "If you have the time to chat, you might as well play a few rounds of mahjong."

"Ah, it's becoming increasingly difficult for me to be the editor-in-chief of Yanhe magazine." Bai Miao couldn't help but lament.

When she got home in the evening, the two children and the babysitter were already asleep. Song Tangtang was still sitting on the bed in the bedroom reading a book. When she saw Fang Minghua tiptoeing in, she asked, "Who invited us today?"

"Pingwa." Fang Minghua briefly recounted what had happened.

"Hehe, do you guys really want to sit on the mountain and watch the fight between tigers?" Song Tangtang said with a giggle.

"To be honest, I don't like Wang Shuo's "madness", but I also hate those young students who act like they are the only ones sober while the rest of the world is drunk. And if things go wrong, the debate may turn into personal attacks, which is boring."

"That's good. It's better to calm down and write something than to talk big." Song Tangtang said.

"Well, what about Zhang Yimou? How is his mood recently? The article also criticized him by name." Fang Minghua asked again.

"I told him what you meant, and told him not to get involved."

"Yes, for Zhang Yimou, as long as the films he made can be released and the audience likes to watch them, he doesn't have to worry about anything else. He can take a good rest during this period after winning the award."

"He has been helping me plan the construction of a studio recently." Song Tangtang said.

"That's good. Everyone, please stay calm and be well."

Two recent films produced by Shengshi Film and Television, "A Chinese Odyssey" and "To Live", have been released in mainland China.

Among them, the two "A Chinese Odyssey" films achieved a box office of 1.2 million yuan in both sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong, with an investment of nearly 4500 million yuan. It was not a big profit, but there was a slight surplus, which made Stephen Chow and Song Tangtang feel relieved.

The invested money can be recovered.

This film has been invited to participate in this year's Hong Kong Film Awards and has become a big favorite.

In addition to being released in mainland China, the film "To Live" has also been purchased by countries and regions such as Italy, France, the United States, and Hong Kong, China, and has begun to be released one after another.

The box office of this kind of art film will not be very good, but there is no problem in breaking even. More importantly, there are audio and video copyrights, which can also make money but the battle line will be long.

Shengshi Films and Television suspended investment in filming in the second half of the year, and the company's main efforts were focused on the construction of the photography base.

It is planned to invest RMB 9000 million to acquire 60 mu of land near the TV tower to build two of the most advanced studios in the country and some ancillary facilities.

In the literary world, compared with the bustling "Qin Army's Eastern Expedition" craze in the first half of the year, the Qin Province literary world in the second half of the year suddenly became deserted. Several famous writers, including Fang Minghua, seemed to have gone into seclusion and rarely published their works in newspapers and magazines.

But in contrast, the literary world in Yenching was exceptionally lively.

Wang Shuo, who was criticized by name, finally couldn't help it and published "Wang Shuo's Notice of Leaving the Literary Circle" in Xinmin Evening News, accusing "Who are you? You are all fake lofty moral idealists!", directly attacking the group of young scholars in Shanghai.

This was like stirring up a hornet's nest, and the literary world was in an uproar.

(End of this chapter)