Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 684 Song Tangtang is absent-minded

Jia Pingwa stopped talking for a moment.

In fact, it is not only Fang Minghua who says this, many people in the literary world say this.

Jia Pingwa, you are so awesome that you offended all the writers in the world with just one novel.

After a while, Jia Pingwa said self-deprecatingly: "You are right, I admit my weakness and dare not write about the elites anymore. Can I write about the common people?"

Everyone knows that Jia Pingwa is writing another novel, "White Night"

The story unfolds with the life of a little man named Yelang, describing the living conditions of the little citizens in the changing cities in the 90s. There are little officials fighting for power, brothers and sisters fighting for survival, and outsiders struggling for city life. In the life of the city depicted, almost all people suffer from different degrees of chronic diseases.
Fang Minghua feels that Jia Pingwa seems to have completely abandoned his earlier rural themes and turned his attention to the city where he lives.

Jia Pingwa said to Fang Minghua again: "The Convenience Store you wrote is very interesting. I thought you would continue to write novels like In the Name of People or The Piano in a Factory that deeply reflect reality and are full of a sense of crisis, but you suddenly changed your style and wrote a very heartwarming novel."

"Life is hard. If you keep reading articles full of bitterness and hatred all day long, wouldn't you be tired?" Fang Minghua said with a smile.

"You can read Wang Zengqi's "Dinner Flower Collection", which describes the mortal thinking that grows out of the mediocre and dull life. There are no ups and downs, no shocking things, and the words reveal the casualness and truth. It's like an old man from the neighbor's house, sitting in front of the door to bask in the sun, chatting with you, talking about the past, and reading about his leisure time. I think this is good."

After hearing this, Jia Pingwa shook his head again.

He was not used to this style of writing.

"Hey, stop talking, Minghua, the fish is hooked!" Bai Miao next to him reminded.

Fang Minghua took a closer look and found that the float on the water surface began to move up and down. He took good aim and pulled it up suddenly, and a half-foot crucian carp was pulled to the surface alive and kicking.

"Haha. Opened!" Fang Minghua happily took the fish off the hook, threw it into the plastic bucket next to him, and then threw the hook back into the water.

"Hey, which of the novels shortlisted this time do you think will win the prize?" Bai Miao asked again.

"I'm not the final judge, how should I know?" Jia Pingwa said without turning his head, staring at the water.

"You've all seen me, right? Guess."

Jia Pingwa pondered for a moment and said, "I think Wang Huo's "War and People" is good and will probably win an award."

He paused and said, "I heard that the evaluation of the 4th Mao Dun Literature Prize has already started. This book has been recommended by the publishing house and there is a strong chance that it will win the prize."

Jia Pingwa's judgment was correct on this point. "War and People" won the fourth Mao Dun Literature Prize together with Chen Zhongshi's "White Deer Plain" and two other books.

but
"Minghua, what do you think?" Bai Miao asked Fang Minghua again.

"I am more optimistic about Yu Hua's To Live," Fang Minghua said frankly: "I think To Live is the best novel Yu Hua has written so far. In this work, he has completely gotten rid of the shadows of others, whether it is Kawabata Yasunari or Kafka, and finally has something that is completely his own."

"And there is your shadow. So many young writers call you teacher." Bai Miao said with a smile.

"Me? I don't dare to call you a teacher. I'm just a porter." Fang Minghua said.

"Mover? Carrying what?"

Fang Minghua smiled and said nothing.

This kind of casual chat with a bit of argument ended up with nothing, so everyone started to concentrate on fishing again. This time Fang Minghua came back with a full load, catching a total of three crucian carp and two silver carp, which was considered quite good.

Um.
I'll go home and make fish soup for my wife and two kids in the evening!
The Chinese New Year comes early this year, with January 30th being New Year’s Eve. In the evening, we naturally eat New Year’s Eve dinner and watch the Spring Festival Gala.

The 1995 Spring Festival Gala was quite good, and was called the era of the gods fighting each other. From the level of actors to the quality of the program, it was impeccable.

Classic sketches include "Packaging Like This" by Zhao Lirong and Gong Hanlin, "Uncle Niu's Promotion" by Zhao Benshan, Fan Wei and Gao Xiumin, and "If You Have Something to Say, Please Speak Up" by Guo Donglin. Among crosstalk works, "The Worst Mr." by Niu Qun and Feng Gong is also a rare classic.

The songs were extremely popular, including Na Ying's "Flowers in the Mist", Andy Lau's "Forget Love Water", Yang Yuying's "Tell You Gently", Meng Tingwei's "There is a Cloud Made of Rain in the Wind", Gao Linsheng's "I'm the One Who Cares About You", Lao Lang's "My Deskmate", Chen Hong and Sun Hao's "Chinese Folk Song", Xie Dong's "Smiling Face", etc.
These songs are still sung in later generations.

This was also the only Spring Festival Gala that Fang Minghua watched to the end.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the whole family still puts on new clothes and goes shopping. Now Xijing also has its own foreign fast food restaurant - KFC, which is located at the intersection of Ximutou South Street. Taking the children to eat at KFC has become one of the children’s New Year wishes.

However, there were so many people queuing that Fang Minghua and his family waited for more than an hour before it was their turn.

It’s so cold, it’s really painful.

However, when Fang Minghua saw the happy smiles of the two children, the resentment in his heart disappeared.

It’s the New Year, isn’t the point to have fun?
As long as the two kids are happy, that's enough.

After eating KFC, I took my two children to climb the city wall. Every year, there are folk performances on the city wall, such as farming, lion dancing, and stilt walking. The children love to watch these.

Fang Minghua was having fun with the two children, and Song Tangtang, who was following behind, seemed a little absent-minded.

"What's wrong? Do you have a cold and feel unwell?" Fang Minghua asked with concern.

"No, it's okay."

Seeing Fang Minghua's gaze, Song Tangtang said, "I'm worried about the TV series tonight."

It turns out that the TV series "In the Name of People" invested and produced by Shengshi Film and Television will premiere on CCTV tonight!

According to the contract: one or two episodes will be broadcast after 8 o'clock on the evening of the first day of the Lunar New Year, and two episodes will be broadcast every Saturday thereafter.

Seeing his wife like this, Fang Minghua smiled and said, "What are you worried about? Hasn't the first broadcast rights been sold to CCTV? We've already broken even, what else are you thinking about?"

Just before New Year's Day, Song Tangtang negotiated on behalf of Shengshi Film and Television and relevant leaders of CCTV, and finally sold it to CCTV at 40 yuan per episode, totaling 1800 million yuan.

But this is just to recover the cost. Shengshi Film and Television’s total investment in this drama is as high as 1750 million yuan!

After hearing what her husband said, Song Tangtang took his arm and muttered, "What's the point of just breaking even? I was counting on this drama to help Shengshi Film and Television make a comeback. If the ratings are too low, how can I negotiate with several TV stations in Yanjing and Guangdong Province? They are eyeing the premiere."

It turned out that CCTV, with its deep pockets, had purchased the first broadcast rights for this TV series, and soon after, four TV stations in Yanjing, Guangdong, and Jiangsu were also preparing to purchase the broadcast rights for this TV series. Shengshi Film and Television had already contacted these four TV stations before the New Year, and as for the specific price, everyone tacitly agreed and waited for the first broadcast effect.

"Don't worry, it won't be too low." Fang Minghua comforted.

"Although this drama cannot reach the ratings of "Desire", I hope it can be similar to "The Yenching Native in New York," Song Tangtang added.

Oh my God
I didn't expect you to have such high expectations!

Fang Minghua was a little surprised.

The ratings of "Desire" reached 98%, which created a ratings myth that was unprecedented and unparalleled. Although "A Native of Beijing in New York" could not compare with it, its ratings were also as high as 69%!

Does “In the Name of People” also have to meet such high standards?

(End of this chapter)