Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 648 Chapter 647 "It's a different story, next year it will be my turn."

The weather is nice today, and the winter sun makes people feel warm. Fang Minghua is sitting in the yard drinking tea, with Bai Miao sitting opposite him.

It seems that he is in a good mood.

"Bai Miao, you were doing a good job as editor-in-chief, why did you suddenly quit?" Fang Minghua asked.

Bai Miao put down the teacup in his hand and looked at Fang Minghua: "Minghua, haven't you noticed that I have aged a lot in the past few years?"

Fang Minghua looked carefully and found that he had white hair on his temples.

In fact, Bai Miao is only 35 years old this year, only two years older than Fang Minghua.

"Being editor-in-chief is not a job for humans." Bai Miao sighed again.

"Bai Miao, what you said is so hurtful. You are insulting me, you, and even Chairman Chen." Fang Minghua scolded with a smile.

Bai Miao was unable to serve as the president and editor-in-chief of Yanhe due to health reasons. As a last resort, a new president was assigned, and the position of editor-in-chief was temporarily taken over by Chen Zhongshi.

History has returned to its original track.

Bai Miao laughed and said, "I am telling the truth. I went to the hospital for a checkup some time ago and the doctor said I have severe neurasthenia and anxiety disorder."

"Anxiety disorder? So serious?" Fang Minghua was shocked when he heard it.

"Do you think I'm pretending to resign due to illness? How can I not be anxious when I see the magazine's sales declining day by day? At the beginning of every month, I can't sleep all night long because I can't receive good manuscripts and I can't make the editor-in-chief's recommendation for the next issue. I'm so anxious." Bai Miao sighed deeply.

"It's not your fault. All the major serious literary magazines, whether it's Contemporary or People's Literature, are having a hard time. The golden age of pure literature is over," Fang Minghua comforted.

“So, while the sales of Yanhe are still decent, I quickly resigned and came to the Writers Association to write some articles and study jade, as a way to retire.

At the Fourth Congress of the Provincial Writers Association, Bai Miao was elected as vice chairman of the Writers Association. In addition to being an editor and writing articles, he also has a great hobby, which is studying jade and he is also very interested in jade culture.

After hearing what Bai Miao said, Fang Minghua smiled and said, "Bai Miao, you are only two years older than me and in your prime, and you actually want to take care of yourself in old age? How about this, the second World Chinese Literature Award is about to start preparations, how about you come and help me?"

"Okay, this is my strong point. More importantly, it's not as stressful as running a magazine!" Bai Miao agreed immediately.

"Then let's put it this way."

According to Fang Minghua's plan, the Preparatory Office for the Second World Chinese Literature Award was established around the Spring Festival, and submissions were solicited from literature lovers all over the world from April to July, collecting all literary works that met the selection criteria from 4 to 7.

Then the reading class and the jury members will review and discuss the manuscripts one by one, and the awards will be presented at the end of this year or the beginning of next year.

It was not difficult for Bai Miao to set up a preparatory office and hire members of the reading class and the jury.

The temporary seconded personnel are naturally seconded from the Writers Association and Yanhe Magazine. As he is now the vice chairman of the Writers Association and has served as the president and editor-in-chief of the magazine, it is very easy for him to find a few capable people to come and help.

Having served as the president and editor-in-chief of the magazine for nearly five years, I have a certain status in the literary world and have established good relationships with many domestic writers, literary critics and even fellow editors. Now it is not too difficult to invite suitable candidates to participate in the selection of the award.

The first World Chinese Literature Award caused a great sensation in the literary circles at home and abroad, and was conducive to the smooth implementation of the second literature award.

More importantly, the reading classes and jury members are given generous work subsidies, which makes many people happy to be invited.

Bai Miao actively participated in this activity and took the initiative to take on this task, which Fang Minghua was very happy about.

In fact, according to his idea, it is best to just pay the money himself. If he lets someone else do it, he must of course find someone who is both capable and trustworthy.

Bai Miao is the best candidate. As the two were chatting, the doorbell rang again. Fang Minghua went to open the door and found Lu Yao standing at the door with a black briefcase tucked under his armpit.

The faux leather that used to peel off a bit in the early years has now been replaced with real leather.

"Brother Lu, come in." Fang Minghua greeted him warmly.

"Haha, come and take a look if you have nothing to do." Lu Yao walked into the courtyard with a smile, and saw Bai Miao sitting in a rattan chair and drinking tea leisurely.

"Hey, Bai Miao, why are you drinking tea here with Minghua? I was wondering why you resigned when you were doing a good job as the editor-in-chief?"

"If I hadn't resigned, how would I have the time to drink tea here?" Bai Miao said with a smile, and then asked in return:

"Lu Yao, from what you said, it seems that I have to be the editor-in-chief of Yanhe? Then let me ask you, the organization asked you to be the chairman of the provincial writers' association, why don't you do it?"

"Then ask Minghua why he doesn't take the position either?" Lu Yao asked back.

"Why did you two get involved in the argument?" Fang Minghua said, "Brother Lu, wait a moment. I'll ask Xiaoqin to get you a chair."

Without Fang Minghua shouting, the babysitter had already brought a rattan chair from the tea room. Fang Minghua then took a porcelain cup and poured a cup of tea for Lu Yao, and the three of them started chatting.

"Lu Yao, do you have something to do with Minghua?" Bai Miao asked casually.

"It's nothing serious, just chatting for a while." Lu Yao said as he took out a magazine from his briefcase.

"Zhongshan published a literary review written by Minghua, titled "On the Aesthetic Style of New Realist Novels". Have you read it?"

"I have read it, why didn't you read it? I even complained to Minghua, why didn't you publish such a good article in Yanhe? But he said that the editor-in-chief of Zhongshan, Zhao Benfu, was so kind and he had no choice." Bai Miao said.

"That's right." Fang Minghua interrupted.

"Hey, hey, I didn't come here today to listen to you two arguing." Lu Yao said, "This article has benefited me a lot."

"Lu Yao, is it because of the long novel "Collapse" you are writing?" Bai Miao realized something.

Now many people in the Writers Association know that Lu Yao has almost closed his door to visitors in the past two years, just like when he wrote "Ordinary World" ten years ago, and has been concentrating on his creation.

"In today's society, serious literary creation is no longer popular, especially realistic novels, and they are not easy to write. If you don't write well, people will say that you are doing the traditional realistic works that are "high-end, great and complete", or that are entertaining or vulgar. So I think Minghua's article is very well written, and it is very instructive for writing realistic novels well at this stage." Lu Yao said.

"Brother Lu, stop praising me. How is your article "Collapse" going?" Fang Minghua asked with concern.

"The first draft is basically done, but I'm very dissatisfied with it and it needs major surgery," Lu Yao explained.

This is how Lu Yao and Chen Zhongshi write, and it’s not surprising to anyone.

"Hey, Minghua, do you think this new realism can become popular?" Bai Miao asked a question.

"Of course it can work. Look, avant-garde literature has obviously receded. Except for Canxue who is still persisting, new writers like Yu Hua, Su Tong, and Ge Fei have begun to change their writing styles. In fact, only Liu Zhenyun, Liu Heng, and Chi Li are writing new realist novels. This type of novel is inherently limited and is destined not to be very popular."

"Then what to write? Either write about history, like the China Times, Su Tong, Yu Hua and others, or write about the present, which is neo-realism."

"It's really a wheel of fortune, it will be my turn next year." Thinking of the emergence of various schools of thought and the ups and downs in the literary world over the past decade, Lu Yao couldn't help but sigh.

(End of this chapter)