The literary era since 1979

Chapter 37 You Hidden It So Well
November 4, morning.

Fang Yan and 34 other students gathered in the venue, looking around and watching the teachers from the institute come in one after another.

From time to time, someone would ask, "Has anyone arrived?"

Just as everyone was whispering to each other, Li Qingquan and Xu Gang, who had gone to greet them, walked in with a group of people.

"The leader is Chen Huangmei, right?"

"Mr. Cao, Mr. Ding Ling, Mr. Xiao and the others are here. Wait, wait, why is Mr. Ai not here?"

Seeing them acting like star-chasers, Fang Yan stood at the side of the coffee table and glanced at Tie Ning who was working as a waiter with him.

"Is the water ready?"

"It's all poured, and the temperature is just right."

"Then let's go."

Fangyan carefully picked up the basin filled with teacups.

Tea party, what’s a tea party without tea?

But the literature institute lacked everything, not even a teapot, so someone simply suggested putting the tea leaves in a thermos.

Fangyan persuaded him, saying that the tea leaves were originally of low quality and were put in a thermos to be steeped. Instead of drinking this tea, it would be better to drink more hot water.

So I thought of a compromise. I put tea leaves in an enamel cup and poured one-third of hot water into it to soak the tea leaves.

Wait until the leaders and teachers arrive, then add hot water.

Fangyan tried it twice and the taste was okay and the water temperature was just right.

The plan was immediately adopted by Li Qingquan, who specifically asked him and Tiening to serve tea and water. Then, leaders of the Writers Association such as Chen Huangmei, Sha Ting, Feng Mu, and literary giants took their seats directly.

Two people came over, a man and a woman working together, one holding a washbasin and the other placing enamel cups in front of the old comrades one by one.

"This young comrade is Tie Ning."

While they were serving tea, Li Qingquan introduced Chen Huangmei, Ding Ling, Wan Jiabao and others present, "This female writer from northern Hebei is a very good seedling with a promising future."

You are really good at judging people!
Fang Yan was daydreaming when he suddenly heard the kind voice of an old lady: "I know this man, Cao Gong, he is Fang Yan."

"Hello, Mr. Cao, and Mr. Ding Ling."

Fangyan bent down. The silver-haired old lady in front of him was the founder and first director of the institute, Ding Ling.

The man next to me, wearing glasses, a suit and tie, and being meticulous, is Wan Jiabao (Cao Yu), who wrote masterpieces such as "Thunderstorm".

"Oh, Xiao Fang, you are so young."

Wan Jiabao looked him up and down.

"When Mr. Ba saw Xiao Fang for the first time, he expressed the same emotion as Mr. Cao." Li Qingquan stared at him with great satisfaction.

Ba Lao?!

Tie Ning's heart was filled with waves and he glanced at Fang Yan out of the corner of his eye.

After serving tea to everyone, my heart was already in turmoil.

These literary predecessors have a special attitude towards dialects, and their eyes reveal a bit of appreciation and care.

If I didn’t know his background, I would have thought he was a second-generation intellectual!
"We should withdraw."

After Fangyan’s reminder, Tiening finally woke up from his dream.

The two returned to their seats, and when the venue became quiet, the tea party officially began and Xu Gang stood up to preside over it.

The first item is to mourn Comrade Li Ji.

It was he who fought for the resumption of the Literature Institute's operation, and it was he who appointed Xu Gang, Gu Jianzhi and others to form the preparatory group, and the instruction he made was "to organize classes while preparing, starting with a short-term training course in novel writing."

It was such a happy day today, and he should have been present.

Unfortunately, as fate would have it, Li Ji mistakenly drank the medicinal wine his son was using to treat arthritis and died of a sudden heart attack. He did not have the chance to see the restored training institute and the 34 students it enrolled.

The moment of silence ended and everyone in the audience sat down.

Next, it was Chen Huangmei's turn to speak briefly.

"On behalf of the Writers Association, I would like to express my warm congratulations to the opening ceremony of the Literature Institute after a lapse of 22 years."

"It was not easy for the Institute of Literature to resume operations, and it was even harder for the comrades in the institute. I sincerely hope that it will get better and better!"

"I just saw a banner that said, 'It is our duty to restore the glory of literature.' Which student wrote this?"

As soon as the words were spoken, everyone turned their eyes to Fangyan.

"It is you."

The leaders and teachers sitting in the front row smiled softly.

"Comrade Xiao Fang wrote well, but it would be better to add a few more to revive the literary world and contribute to the cause of literature and art. These are the missions of your generation of writers. Don't let down the good intentions of Comrade Li Ji, the majority of colleagues, and the comrades in the institute."

These four sentences were concise and to the point and won applause from the crowd.

Feng Mu and others also continued his speaking style, without any dragging, leaving the time and stage to Li Qingquan. "From the moment the Literature Institute was founded, the goal of the school has remained unchanged, which is what Ms. Ding Ling proposed, 'Students will improve their political and professional level through systematic study and research, grasp the direction of contemporary literature and art, and create as much as possible during their study period.'"

"So, this is also what we ask of the 34 students here. We hope that you will write at least one short or medium-length novel during your time at the institute and publish it in a literary journal."

“If you are capable, try to write a novel!”

This is such a coincidence!

Fangyan raised his eyebrows. He hadn't submitted "Secret Calculation" yet.

Does this count as completing the semester goal ahead of schedule?

The tea party was brief, and for the time being it was just a meeting between teachers and students.

"Yanzi, come here for a moment."

Wang Meng waved his hand and called Fangyan over.

Mo Shen, Gu Hua and others cast envious glances at him, and saw him walk in front of seniors such as Wan Jiabao, Ding Ling, and Feng Mu.

"I heard from Mr. Li that these banners and couplets were your idea?" Feng Mu looked at him with admiration.

"Yeah." Fang Yan nodded.

"Good! Very well written!"

Feng Mu, Ding Ling and others praised it highly.

"That's all thanks to everyone. Although the idea was mine, the content was thought up by everyone. It's the collective wisdom!"

Fangyan shook his head modestly.

Wan Jiabao nodded with satisfaction: "It's strange to say, it was Ai Gong who wanted to see you first, but unexpectedly, by some strange coincidence, we got the upper hand and saw you first."

"Actually, if we really have to talk about who came first, Mr. Ba was earlier than you and Mr. Ding, so he should be considered the first." Li Qingquan said with a smile.

"Is that right?"

Wan Jiabao looked left and right.

Ding Ling affirmed: "I met Lao Ba at the National Short Story Award ceremony held not long ago, and he even specially asked Xiao Fang to write an article for Harvest."

Then he looked at Fangyan and asked, "How is your writing going?"

"The first draft has been written and is being revised and polished."

Fangyan answered truthfully.

Wang Meng revealed: "He was very creative and got inspiration from anti-spy movies to write a spy-themed story."

"Spy war?"

Wan Jiabao, Ding Ling and others heard this word for the first time. After listening to the dialect explanation, they immediately understood it. After all, the cultural front and the covert front had cooperated a lot in the past, and they all had the same attitude:
"Write!"

“Not only write, but write well!”

"Please rest assured, teachers, I will definitely write it well!"

Fangyan promised solemnly.

Li Qingquan seemed to have guessed his little trick, "Xiao Fang, you wrote this work before entering school, so it doesn't count. During this period, you should try to write two more novels."

2 articles? You are the leader, you have to obey!
Fangyan smiled helplessly.

With the care of Li Qingquan and Wang Meng, and the social skills he gained from his previous life, Fang Xiaojiang thrives among the literary bigwigs and is almost the darling of the group.

After chatting for a while, the leaders and lecturers left, and the teachers from the institute followed them to see them off. The 34 students stayed in the venue.

"Yanzi, you hid it really well!"

Mo Shen let out a loud cry, and his voice echoed in the room.

"what?"

Fangyan peeled the peanuts and put them into his mouth.

"You actually know Mr. Li, Mr. Ding, and Teacher Wang?" Mo Shen and the other three roommates stared at him.

"Mr. Li and Mr. Wang are the two editors-in-chief of Yenching Literature and Art. They are both my old leaders. As for Mr. Ding..."

Fangyan gave a brief explanation.

"What about Ba Gong?"

Tie Ning suddenly intervened.

Mo Shen said, "Yes, I just heard vaguely that your new work will be published in Harvest!"

As soon as "Harvest" came out, the eyes of other students were instantly focused on Fangyan. This is currently China's top pure literature journal and is known as the "holy land of contemporary literary masters."

Good dialect!

We haven't even started yet and you've already run off!

(End of this chapter)