The literary era since 1979

Chapter 32 A wonderful beginning

"An Zaitian, who has been working in the covert front for many years, always thinks of the distant afternoon when his father and he passed by each other here every time he passes by Simalu. He never expected that it would be a farewell forever."

Fangyan wrote the beginning of his first edition on paper.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that this is an imitation of the beginning of One Hundred Years of Solitude: "Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía would remember the afternoon when his father showed him ice."

But no one will know now.

"One Hundred Years of Solitude" has not yet been translated and published in China!

That’s why Fang Yan felt confident and bold enough to write the beginning of “The Counterfeiter” like this. After all, this beginning is so classic.

Many Chinese writers have imitated this, such as the beginning of "White Deer Plain", "Bai Jiaxuan later took pride in having married seven women in his life."

In comparison, the beginning of "The Counterfeiter" is too rough.

Fangyan turned his pen and prepared to make some changes.

Next, the following text is mainly realistic, supplemented by fiction, and uses techniques such as inner monologue and montage switching.

At the end, let’s have a little sublimation.

For example, "On the day when his father said goodbye to him and the first day when An Zai Tian joined the secret front, he began to understand that there is no such thing as a peaceful life, it's just that someone is carrying the burden for us."

Isn’t this the literary quality?
"Hey, Marquez can't ask me for copyright fees."

He wrote in dialect while laughing, and his writing was as if inspired by God.

He wrote until late at night, and only put down his pen when Yang Xia urged him to go to bed for the third time.

"Wow."

Hearing the sound of a door opening hurriedly in the yard, Su Ya rubbed her sore eyes, closed the "Self-study Series of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry", and looked out through the glass.

Fangyan was seen carrying a washbasin, walking towards the sink, brushing his teeth, washing his face and feet quickly, and couldn't help but smile:
"I've never seen him wash his feet so diligently."

"After this trip to the countryside, he has changed a lot."

"..."

Su Ya held her face with her hands and watched him turn around and go back into the house. Then she withdrew her gaze, exhaled softly, and opened the small drawer of the table.

Inside, there were pages of poems he had written.

"He's so motivated, I can't fall behind!"

…………

The next day, noon.

Suya hung up all the washed clothes and went back to the house. When she went out again, she had an extra shoulder bag with her.

When I arrived at Fang's house, I walked into Fang Yan's bedroom with confidence.

"Hey, rare guest, why are you here?"

The dialect was a big surprise.

"Isn't this an appointment?"

Su Ya opened her satchel and took out a stack of manuscript paper held by an iron clip. "These are the poems I wrote. Please take a look."

"You can read it, but let's make it clear in advance that everyone has their own specialties. Novels, poetry, and prose, every editor has their own strengths and weaknesses."

"how about you?"

“I know a little bit of everything.”

Fang Yan said: "I know a little bit about novels and a little bit about poetry, but I probably can't give any useful advice."

"It's okay. Just take a look. It can't be published anyway."

Su Ya said generously.

"Can't publish? Have you submitted the manuscript before?"

When Fangyan heard this, he didn't rush to look.

"Well, but no journal is willing to publish it, and I don't know what the problem is. Maybe I wrote it too badly." A trace of disappointment flashed in Su Ya's eyes.

No wonder I never heard her mention her poems in her previous life!

Fangyan suddenly realized that the author's writing was too poor and he was afraid of making a fool of himself in public. This aroused his interest and he began to read the book.

At first glance, it turned out to be a misty poem.

I kept flipping through the pages and felt something was not right. It was unexpectedly good, at least more like a real poem than shit, piss and fart poems.

Some are even as good as those published in Yenching Literature and Art.

This is strange! Could it be that I really don’t understand poetry?

"Do you know why your poems were rejected?" Fang Yan couldn't help but doubt his own level of appreciation.

"I don't know, so I asked you to help me."

Su Ya said depressedly, "Do you know what the problem is?"

"If the rejection letter doesn't make it clear, or there is no rejection letter, I can't guess." Fang Yan shook his head. "Which magazine do you plan to submit these poems to this time?"

""today"."

"I haven't heard of it. Which publisher is it from?"

"The magazine founded by Mang Ke and Bei Dao specializes in publishing obscure poetry. My favorites are Gu Cheng's "A Generation", "Far and Near", and Shu Ting's "To the Oak Tree." Su Ya sighed: "If even "Today" can't publish my poems, maybe I really don't have the talent for this." "I see."

Fangyan smacked his lips and said, "These poems cannot be copied."

Watching him flipping through the manuscript, Su Ya looked around and her eyes fell on his desk. "Are you writing something new?"

"Well, my third novel."

"Can you lend it to me to have a look?"

"Look, you look at mine, and I look at yours."

After these words were spoken, the two of them sat on the kang together.

The whole bedroom was very quiet, with only the sound of turning pages being heard.

"Your opening is so unique and strange. This is the first time I've seen a novel start like this."

Su Ya frowned.

Fang Yan laughed and said, "This uses the technique of magical realism, breaking the conventional narrative of time and space..."

Magical Realism?

Although Su Ya didn't understand, she was greatly shocked.

She continued reading, becoming more and more fascinated, until she finished reading the last line, then she looked up at him, "What's next?"

"There's nothing more below. I haven't finished writing yet."

"You wrote this so well, it's even better than those detective novels I've read."

"This is called 'spy warfare'. The anti-espionage novels you read are actually a branch of spy warfare." Fangyan explained seriously.

Su Ya understood the concept of spy novels, her eyes widened: "How did you come up with these!"

"And thanks to you and my sister for the inspiration."

Fangyan's mouth corners slightly raised.

"I?"

Su Ya pointed at herself.

Fangyan said that the movie "The Fog City" which would be screened at the noodle factory tonight reminded him, and all of a sudden, the inspiration came to him.

"No wonder you were so excited when you heard "The Fog City", so that's how it is." Su Ya stared at him straightly, "Sure enough, you are born to be a writer."

"Actually, you don't need to be discouraged. I think your poems are well written." Fangyan praised sincerely.

"You don't have to comfort me."

Su Ya changed the subject: "Let's talk about your novel. Who did you submit it to this time?"

The dialect says: "Harvest."

When Su Ya heard the word "Harvest", she was surprised: "You are so motivated. You just wanted to shoot a movie a few days ago, and now you are submitting to "Harvest"!"

Fang Yan smiled and said, "Didn't I tell you that I really love to make progress."

Su Ya was full of fighting spirit: "Then I can't fall behind. Tell me quickly, where do you think my poetry can be improved?"

The two of them started discussing and chatted for the entire afternoon.

Until Fang Hong shouted from outside the house: "Yanzi, Xiaoya, it's getting late, eat early, we have to go to the movies tonight!"

"I almost forgot. I'm going back first."

Su Ya stood up and organized the manuscript of the poem.

Watching her leave the room, Fang Yan refocused his attention on "The Secret Calculation".

For him, helping out was purely out of friendship between childhood friends and as a reward for inspiring his own ideas.

After dinner, the sunset glow in the sky had not yet faded.

All members of the Su and Fang families took action. Fang Yan, Su Ya, Fang Hong and Fang Yan, as the young group, were the first to set out, taking benches and chairs to grab advantageous positions for watching the movie.

Yang Xia and Zhao Hongmei were in the second group. They would take care of all their housework before setting out to join them.

The loud commotion in the yard immediately attracted Liu Jianjun.

"Why are you going?"

"Let's go to the factory and watch a movie."

Suya carried the bench on her shoulders.

"Why didn't you invite me to watch the movie? That's not a good enough brotherhood." Liu Jianjun curled his lips.

"You are busy reviewing, I am sorry to bother you, Uncle Liu and Aunt Liu attach great importance to your studies, please don't slack off."

Fang Hong didn't say that Liu Dongfang didn't want him to go.

"Yes, Jianjun, you should review well."

Fang Yan held a bench in one hand and held Fang Yan's hand with the other.

"Let's go, Jianjun!"

One by one they passed by Liu Jianjun, especially Fang Yan who directly ignored him, which made him very angry.

Don't be angry! I'm not angry! Learning makes me happy!
(End of this chapter)