Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 672 Chapter 671 We live in a huge gap

The meeting place was completely silent.

The award presenter took a beautiful letter and gently opened it. A hint of surprise flashed across her face, but she quickly read out loud in Italian:

"This year's Strega Prize winner is "Skywalker". Please welcome the author Minghua!"

"Clap, clap, clap" There was warm applause in the venue.

"Brother-in-law, your novel won an award!" Li Li next to him said excitedly, unable to contain her excitement.

Although Fang Minghua didn't understand Italian, he could still recognize the Chinese pinyin of "Minghua" at the end.

Did you win an award?
I'm a little excited.

However, this was not the first time his novel won a foreign award, so he was not very excited. He adjusted his tie, stood up, shook hands with James who extended his right hand behind him, accepted his congratulations, and then strode towards the podium.

Of course he is not the only one, there is also Li Li.

Fang Minghua did not speak Italian and did not want to use English so she prepared to give her acceptance speech in Chinese, so naturally she needed an interpreter.

He took the medal and certificate handed over by the female award presenter, and before doing so he leaned over like a gentleman and symbolically kissed the back of her fingers.

As the Romans do, so do the Romans.

Amid the sound of cameras clicking, Fang Minghua spoke into the microphone in Chinese:
"Here I would like to first thank the members of the Strega Prize Jury for their hard work. I would also like to thank my family in China for their help. I would especially like to thank the beautiful lady next to me, Li Li, a professor at San Francisco State University. Without her wonderful translation, this book would not have been able to meet the vast number of Italian readers."

"Ten years ago, I wrote a science fiction novel called "Rural Teachers", which was also about basic education in rural areas of our country. It is no secret that our country has made great progress, but the development is very unbalanced and we live in a huge gap."

"Children in big cities like Yanjing and Shanghai are now sitting in bright and clean classrooms, and have begun to use computers and know about the Internet, but children in remote areas in the west are longing for a brand new pencil case and a nice pen."

"They all have dreams, although they are different. The teachers are the ones who support their dreams. Whether it is the teacher who teaches them computers or the teacher who writes the simplest Arabic numerals on the blackboard with a small piece of chalk in a simple classroom, they are all great, but I think the latter is greater, which is the original intention of writing this book."

"thank you all!"

There was thunderous applause from the audience.

This year's Strega Literature Prize award ceremony has ended, and guests and literature lovers have gradually dispersed, waiting for next year's gathering.

The next morning, Fang Minghua and Li Li also left Benevento, but they did not immediately rush to Rome to start their journey home, but went to Venice.

Venice is in the northeast of Italy. To get there from Bedanevento you have to cross the entire Apennine Peninsula. The fastest journey is to take a plane to Naples, which is 80 kilometers away from Bedanevento.

But Li Li wanted to take the train.

"Brother-in-law, there's nothing urgent going there anyway, so let's take the train. I like traveling by train the most in the United States."

Fang Minghua agreed and went to enjoy the scenery of the Asian Peninsula.

The train passes through the Apennine Mountains. Outside the window are towering mountains, deep canyons, and lush trees, which are refreshing to see.

The two of them bought premium soft sleeper tickets, two people in one room, it was very quiet.

Fang Minghua sat on the bed and read a book, which was "Too Late" written by British writer James.

Before leaving Benevento, Johnson specially gave Fang Minghua an English version of "It's Too Late".

When Fang Minghua left China, he did not bring any of his own novels with him, but Li Li did bring one, which turned out to be "The Bridges of Madison County", which Fang Minghua had written a long time ago.

As a return gift, Fang Minghua gave Li Li the book that had turned yellow after reading it.

Fang Minghua was reading the novel seriously, while Li Li, who was sitting on the bed opposite, was looking at the scenery outside the window and humming a song softly.

Seeing Fang Minghua like this, Li Li said, "Okay, brother-in-law, don't watch it anymore. Wait until you return to China and watch it slowly. Now, talk to me." "What are you talking about?"

Fang Minghua raised his head and looked at the other person.

"I thought what you said in your acceptance speech was really great, that we live with a huge gap."

"Ok?"

"I live in San Francisco, where there is Silicon Valley, which has the most advanced high-tech companies in the United States. However, the Tenderloin district in the same city is full of drunkards, drug addicts and homeless people," said Li Li.

Fang Minghua smiled. "Actually, it's the same in every country. It's just that our country is developing too fast. It will be even faster in the future, like a train whizzing by. It won't take us long to catch up with the 400-year history of the Western world."

"But not all people and all regions can board this fast-moving train. Some will be abandoned halfway, and some will be forgotten. This is the reality."

"Then how do we make up for this gap?" Li Li asked.

I don’t know.” Fang Minghua smiled and said, “I’m afraid no one knows.”

Li Li pondered for a moment, and suddenly said, "I remember you've read Socrates' Republic, right?"

"Yes what's the matter?"

"Socrates, in The Republic, describes a country that seems to eliminate this gap."

"That's utopia, it can't be achieved."

"Yeah, it's impossible to achieve." Li Li said, holding her cheeks with her hands and looking at the scenery outside.

Fang Minghua shook his head and went back to reading the book in his hand.

The two took a train to Venice Railway Station and then took a local gondola to the city. It was an indescribable enjoyment to stand on the boat and admire the scenery of the Venice buildings. The buildings on both sides of the waterway are all very exquisite Gothic and Renaissance buildings.

Finally, the two stayed at a hotel called Hotel Danieli, which is located in the heart of Venice and overlooks the Venetian Lagoon.

The hotel is full of traces of the nobility of the last century. The doors, windows and corridors are carved with exquisite patterns. The rich retro features and the color matching full of Italian aesthetics make the whole hotel seem to have traveled through time and space.

When you come to Venice, in addition to seeing the beautiful scenery of Venice, of course, it is more important to participate in the Venice Film Festival.

The Cannes Film Festival focuses on the balance between business and art, while the Berlin Film Festival vacillates between politics and art. The Venice Film Festival pays more attention to art as well as experimentation and innovation, making it particularly niche.

But this is also the favorite of Li Li and Fang Minghua.

What do you want to see here? A commercial movie?
I might as well just go to Hollywood.

The Venice Film Festival is not held in the city, but on an 18-kilometer-long sandbar called Lido Island southeast of Venice. It takes a 15-minute public vaporetto ride from Venice to reach it.

Moreover, there are only a handful of screening halls to undertake the screening task of the entire film festival.

Each theater has its own unique style. The one that caught Fang Minghua's eye the most was the bright red Sala Giardino. Its large area of ​​bright red contrasted sharply with the azure sky, and at the same time, it was different from the solemn and elegant white movie palace, making it look particularly lively and attractive.

Fang Minghua and Li Li set out from the hotel every morning and take the ferry to the island.

It is much more fashionable than the tradition of downtown Venice, where canals are considered roads in the historic city center and you can’t ride a bike along the alleys and paths, but here you can happily ride away.

The two of them each rode a bicycle and started from San Nicolò, the westernmost end of the Lido, along the tree-lined wide road and the seaside to the Malamocco Bridge, admiring the Liberty and Art Deco villas and luxury hotels, and of course they could also go to the cinema to watch a movie.

While the two were visiting Venice, Song Tangtang had already arrived in Shanghai.

(End of this chapter)