Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 766: The County Government Reception
Fang Minghua and Zhang Xi walked together and talked as they walked.

The two of them are the oldest among this group of young people, so they can talk to each other.

Seeing Zuo Wenlu leaning towards him, he asked, "What's wrong, Xiao Zuo?"

"I always feel that it's a bit unreliable?" Zuo Wenlu said in a low voice.

Fang Minghua smiled.

“Xiao Zuo, are you from a big city?”

"Well, my home is in Shenyang."

"Oh, no wonder." Fang Minghua nodded: "But in a big city like Shenyang, there must be similar places, right? For example, Yanfen Street in Tiexi District is similar to this."

"I've never been to the place you're talking about." Zuo Wenlu replied.

It seems that she is a girl from a well-off family and is well protected.

"It's good to come here and take a look around. It will help you to understand the role of Hu Meimei more deeply. In fact, there is probably a place like this in every county in the country, more or less."

Fang Minghua looked at the small buildings around him and saw a girl on the second floor who was wearing heavy makeup and dressed fashionably, winking at him.

Of course he pretended not to see it.

Jia Zhangke took everyone on a tour around Fenyang County. The county was very small and it took less than an hour to finish the tour. Then everyone returned to the guesthouse, and the filming of "Xiao Wu" began.

There were no banners or carpets, and it was nothing like choosing an auspicious day to burn incense and worship before filming began as shown in movies and TV dramas. Instead, a simple mobilization meeting was held in Jia Zhangke's room.

Fang Minghua, the producer and representative of the production company, spoke first.

"First of all, I'm an outsider." Fang Minghua said straightforwardly: "I'm just a producer in name only. All matters of the crew are under Zhang Ke's control. If you have any problems that cannot be solved, just come to me."

"We are mainly short of a car now." Xiao Li, who is in charge of the production, said, "It's hard to rent a car in Fenyang. We rented a van, but it's not enough. We need another one, otherwise we will have to make two trips every time we go out to pick up people and equipment."

"My police car is quite spacious," Hao Hongjian said immediately, "but I can only use it for one or two days, otherwise my boss will give me trouble."

"Just use my car. It's enough to squeeze in. I don't need a car anyway because I don't have anything to do all day." Fang Minghua said with a smile.

"Okay, Teacher Minghua, I'll use yours temporarily and I'll return it to you when I rent another car." Jia Zhangke said unceremoniously.

Then Jia Zhangke began to arrange today's filming. Fang Minghua listened for a while and then left quietly. Anyway, she had nothing to do now, so she might as well go out for a walk.

I'm going to stay in Fenyang for a while, so of course I can't stay in the guesthouse all day.

Fang Minghua had just returned to her room and hadn't left when she heard someone knocking on the door. She opened the door and saw a strange middle-aged man.

Seeing Fang Minghua, the man smiled and said in Mandarin with a strong Fenyang accent: "Are you Comrade Fang Minghua, Vice Chairman of the Qin Province Writers Association?"

"I am, are you?"

"Hello, Chairman Fang." The other party extended his right hand and said enthusiastically, "I am Zhang Jianguo, director of the government office."

"Hello, Director Zhang." Fang Minghua invited him in. The two sat on the sofa. Zhang Jianguo said, "Chairman Fang, on behalf of County Secretary Zhou and County Magistrate Li, I welcome you to Fenyang."

Fang Minghua came to Fenyang this time privately and did not notify any local official agency, but he had long been accustomed to this situation. Wherever he went, he was received by local leaders, especially in smaller places and economically backward areas.

He then expressed his gratitude and briefly explained the purpose of his visit to Fenyang. "Chairman Fang, this is what happened. Our County Magistrate Li specifically asked me to ask if you have anything to do at noon. Secretary Zhou and County Magistrate Li both want to meet you and welcome you." Zhang Jianguo said.

"You are too polite. There are so many things going on in the county. Secretary Zhou and County Magistrate Li are both very busy people. There are more important work to do. There is no need to waste their time." Fang Minghua declined politely.

"Chairman Fang, receiving you is an important task! Our Secretary Zhou said that you are a great writer. If you come to Fenyang and we fail to provide a good reception, people will laugh at us if it gets out."

In that case, Fang Minghua agreed.

When it was almost time for lunch, Zhang Jianguo came again and asked Fang Minghua to get into a black Santana in the yard and drive straight to Jiudu Hotel.

In a private room on the second floor, Fang Minghua met the top two leaders of the county, as well as a female cadre in her thirties.

After introducing each other, I learned that this female cadre was named Zhao Xuemei, and she was the chairman of the county Federation of Literary and Art Circles and concurrently served as deputy director of the county propaganda department.

"Chairman Fang, you are the vice chairman of the Writers Association, so Secretary Zhou and I specially asked Chairman Zhao to accompany you." The speaker was County Magistrate Li, a man in his early fifties, with a sturdy appearance and speaking Fenyang dialect.

After that, he turned to Zhao Xuemei who was sitting next to him and said, "Chairman Zhao, you must accompany Chairman Fang well today."

"Secretary Zhou, County Magistrate Li, we will ensure that the task is completed!" Zhou Xuemei looked to be less than 40 years old, quite pretty, with short hair, and looked very smart.

Sure enough, just as the cold dishes were served and the county's top two leaders made their opening remarks, Zhao Xuemei picked up her wine glass, stood up, and said to Fang Minghua with a smile, "Chairman Fang, welcome to Fenyang and welcome to guide the work of our Federation of Literary and Art Circles. I'll toast you three glasses first."

Oh my god, I start with three cups!

At the dinner table, female comrades usually drink when they stand up to propose a toast.

Of course Fang Minghua was not drinking alone. After he finished three cups, Zhao Xuemei clinked glasses with him three more times, and in a blink of an eye, six cups of wine were finished.

Fortunately, Fang Minghua could drink quite well. There were only five of them present, so he didn't drink much. They drank Fenjiu from Xinghua Village, which was mellow in the mouth, so he could still handle it.

During the meal, they talked about making movies again. Fang Minghua naturally praised Jia Zhangke, saying that although he was young, he had already shown amazing talent as a director and would definitely become an excellent director in the future.

The leaders were very happy to hear this. County Magistrate Li was so drunk that his face turned red. "Making a movie is a good thing. In our area, the county party committee and county government strongly support it! Chairman Fang, if the crew has any difficulties, please let me know!"

"It's like this, the crew rented a van, but it wasn't enough, so they wanted to rent another one. However, they couldn't find one after searching the entire county, which affected the filming work a little." Fang Minghua took the opportunity to say.

"Fenyang is a small place, and there are not many places to rent a car." County Magistrate Li pondered for a moment and looked at Zhang Jianguo who was sitting below him: "Director Zhang, which unit in the county has a van? Let the crew use it."

"County Magistrate Li, it's easy to borrow a small car from the unit, but a van..." Zhang Jianguo looked embarrassed.

"Jianguo, think of a solution." Secretary Zhou said.

Zhang Jianguo is indeed worthy of being an office director who specializes in serving the leaders. After a moment of hesitation, he came up with a solution: "Secretary Zhou, County Magistrate Li, I remember that Mr. Wang from Shengli Coal Mine in Dongzhuang Township bought a van some time ago. He said that he would use it for cooking and buying groceries for the coal miners. You can borrow it for use."

"Call him later and ask him to drive the van over so the crew can borrow it for a while. Making a movie is more important than buying groceries!" County Magistrate Li interrupted.

"Okay, I'll call now." After saying that, Zhang Jianguo left the box and came back a few minutes later.

"Okay, Boss Wang said that after lunch, he would drive the car to the county guesthouse."

"Thank you so much." Fang Minghua said with a smile.

(End of this chapter)