Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 662: Modern Version of "Officialdom Unmasked"

Today is Saturday, July 7, and it is a Sunday break.

Since March 3 this year, the country has implemented an average working week of 5 hours, also known as the "big and small weeks", and people have gradually become accustomed to the practice of having two days off one week and one day off the next week.

During the two-day break during the "Big Week", office workers can do housework at home on one day and go out for a walk on the other day.

There seem to be more pedestrians on the streets than usual, going shopping, watching movies, and taking children to the zoo.

Wang Qiyuan is a prosecutor in a district procuratorate in Yanjing. Every year on this day, he likes to take off his wide-brimmed hat, put on casual clothes, and ride his Phoenix bicycle to the nearby Xinhua Bookstore for a stroll.

As a middle-aged man, he is no longer as enthusiastic about reading and buying books as he was in college, but he has kept the habit of visiting Xinhua Bookstore.

Perhaps he prefers the atmosphere of a bookstore.

Today he rode his bike to the door of the bookstore and was quickly attracted by a poster.

"We are launching the masterpiece of the famous writer Minghua: In the Name of the People, the first official novel in China! A modern version of Officialdom Unmasked"

Seeing this line of words, Wang Qiyuan subconsciously adjusted his glasses on his nose, a little surprised.

He had certainly read Officialdom Unmasked, a long officialdom novel written by the late Qing Dynasty writer Li Boyuan. It is one of the "Four Great Condemning Novels of the Late Qing Dynasty" along with Strange Events Witnessed in Twenty Years, The Travels of Lao Can, and Flowers of Sin.

Does anyone dare to write this now?

Here is the synopsis of the novel, with some very passionate words:

In this dangerous and dangerous Handong Province,
Can you guess who is behind this?

Is it Chief Prosecutor Ji Changming who has many concerns?

Is it the senior political and legal official Gao Yuliang?

Is it the strict and strict Secretary Li Dakang?
Is it the upright Secretary Sha Ruijin?
Or the enthusiastic Director Qi Tongwei?

Who is the final boss behind the scenes?

Please come to the bookstore and buy this book!
Fresh and interesting.
Wang Qiyuan parked his bicycle on the side of the road and entered the bookstore. There was a large crowd of people gathered in the best-selling book section on the first floor, all attracted by the posters at the store entrance.

It is a new work by the famous writer Minghua, and it is also a bureaucracy novel that has never been written by anyone else. These two points are enough to attract people's attention.

In the eyes of ordinary people, the officialdom has always been considered very mysterious. Even at the grassroots level, the people in uniform coming in and out of the county party committee compound make people feel inexplicably a sense of respect and fear. Now that a writer has written an explosive story about it, of course I have to take a look.

Wang Qiyuan also squeezed in and took a book. It was very thick and heavy in his hand. Of course, the price was not cheap either, at 12.8 yuan.

As a prosecutor, he certainly doesn't have much sense of mystery about the system. What he is interested in is whether this book is really as good as advertised?

More importantly, is it the real officialdom rather than the one imagined by the writers?

Holding the book, Wang Qiyuan walked around the bookstore for a long time and didn't see any other books he liked, so he went to the counter to pay and walked out the door. At this time, people had already started lining up in the bookstore, all to buy this novel.

Wang Qiyuan pushed his bicycle, took another look at the poster posted at the door of the bookstore, then rode away on his bicycle.

The poster is well done and quite eye-catching
What he didn't know was that the main bookstores in Shanghai, Huacheng, Nanjing, Xijing and other major cities across the country were all displaying the same posters!
As a heavyweight novel to be published by Shengshi Books in the second half of the year, the company has spared no effort in promoting it.

It wasn't long before reviews of the novel began appearing in newspapers and magazines.

Literary critic Lei Da published a review in Guangming Daily, in which he said:

"The story of this work is closely linked in terms of artistic treatment, the plot is tortuous and surprising, and the scenes are shocking. I didn't expect Minghua's political novel to be so powerful, and the characters in the book are full of emotions. Whether it is the positive character Hou Pingliang or the negative character Qi Tongwei, they are first of all human beings, living people, and then use the yardstick of law and morality to judge good or bad people, not vice versa."

Wang Meng (Vice Chairman of the China Writers Association): In the Name of the People does not shy away from life, especially political life, and it powerfully reveals people’s hearts, human nature, and social ecology. Li Yulei (Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Literary Gazette)

"Outside the car window, the harsh winter has stripped the vast land of its colorful colors, revealing its plain nature, just like a mother after removing her makeup. The north wind is fierce, carrying the dead grass and leaves on the field, hitting the road from time to time. However, doesn't the cold and desolate place also breed the hope of spring?"

The last paragraph of the novel "In the Name of People" shows some of the problems faced in the past and present, and expresses hope for the future. However, after reading this novel, I can't help but reflect and wonder, what is the real way to be an official, and what are we pursuing as officials?
In Yanjing City, in the district procuratorate’s staff building, Wang Qiyuan and his wife Liu Huili were sitting on the sofa in the living room, reading books respectively.

I work in the procuratorate and my wife works in the court next door. We are busy during the day and only get home at night to chat and enjoy the leisure time together.

Despite this, the TV cannot be turned on. My daughter will be entering high school soon. Although it is summer vacation, she has enrolled in a preparatory class and has homework in the evening, so the two of us basically read books and newspapers at home and chat in a low voice.

Wang Qiyuan was reading a review in the newspaper. He said to his wife who was sitting next to him, "Hey, have you read the recently popular book In the Name of the People?"

His wife looked up at him and said, "Didn't you buy a copy some time ago? I read it and it's boring and fake."

"why?"

"From the beginning to the end of this book, whether it is the police, the discipline inspection commission, or the court, there are few good people. It seems that China's judicial justice, especially the anti-corruption work, depends entirely on your procuratorate. It's really true."

After listening to his wife's complaints, Wang Qiyuan couldn't help laughing.

"It's a novel. The author Minghua is a writer. It's good enough that he can write to this extent. There is no need to be too serious. Some common sense errors in the play are understandable. Some things in it are also worth thinking about for us real legal professionals."

"for example?"

"Look at the equity dispute of Dafeng Factory in the novel. What kind of legal issues are involved and how to judge it are all things we can think about."

"That's true." Liu Huili nodded.

"Now that we have established a market economy, there are more and more civil disputes involving economic issues. This is a brand new topic for our courts."

"So, I think that the attention this novel has brought, interpreting the issues in the novel from a professional perspective, passing on common sense and enlightening the rule of law to people around you, is the attitude that a legal professional should have when reading a novel, rather than just watching for fun like ordinary people."

"That's great, Lao Wang. You can read a novel with professionalism." The wife teased.

Wang Qiyuan chuckled twice and said nothing more.

Fang Minghua naturally didn't know about the conversation between the couple within the system. With the release of the new book, he also became busy.

The first thing is to sign and sell books.

It has now become an important promotional measure for famous writers to release new books. This time, according to the arrangement of Shengshi Book Company, I went to three cities: Yanjing, Shencheng and Huacheng. The last stop was Xijing. After being busy for almost twenty days, I can finally go home and rest.

Today is the weekend. The two children have already had their summer vacation and Song Tangtang is not working, so the whole family decided to drive to Fengyukou to play for a day.

Fengyukou is located at the northern foot of the Qinling Mountains, where there are Gaoguan Waterfall and Jiulongtan. The Feng River flows through here and out of the Qinling Mountains. It is a good place to escape the summer heat. Of course, Fang Minghua did not forget to carry his fishing rod.

Following in his father's footsteps, he also fell in love with this sport.

In the morning, the whole family packed up and prepared to leave, including the little Bean Sprout German Shepherd, leaving the little nanny and the little Bean Sprout tabby cat to look after the house.

Fang Minghua started the car and the whole family got in. At this time, the phone in the living room suddenly rang. Song Tangtang, who was sitting in the passenger seat, went back to the living room to answer the call. He came back after a long time. The two children in the car couldn't wait any longer.

"Mom, whose phone call is this? It's so long!" The daughter who was sitting in the back seat hugging the little bean sprout dog head couldn't help but complain.

"It's your aunt calling." Song Tangtang looked at Fang Minghua with joy on her face.

"Minghua, Lili just called and said that your novel Skywalker has been nominated for this year's Italian Strega Prize!"

(End of this chapter)