The literary era since 1979

Hong Kong Radio, Television Department.

Li Bihua sat at her workstation, the pen twirling between her fingers, the paper filled with densely written words.

This is already the third edition of the outline of the novel Farewell My Concubine, but I am still not satisfied with it, so I made some revisions.

Just then, the director's assistant came over and called her to the director's office.

Master wants to see me?
Li Bihua just felt it was strange, and when she arrived at the office, she felt even stranger.

I saw the director of the TV series "Farewell My Concubine", Luo Qirui, sitting opposite the director, and the two were talking and laughing.

Luo Qirui smiled and greeted, "Long time no see, Bihua!"

"Hello, Director Luo."

Li Bihua responded, then looked at the station director in confusion, wondering if the station had a new TV drama assignment.

The director did not play dumb, but crossed his hands and asked, "I wonder if you have ever heard of dialect?"

Li Bihua blurted out: "Which dialect was used to write "The Grandmaster Huang Feihong"?"

"Yes, that's him, a great writer renowned both at home and abroad."

The station director told the truth, "Just now, Mr. Fang asked Mr. Xiao from Sanlian Bookstore to contact our station, hoping to obtain the authorization for Farewell My Concubine."

“He’s going to adapt it into a movie script?”

Luo Qirui had heard that Fang Yan was not only good at writing novels, but also had considerable attainments in film scripts, which was no less than that of Ni Shi.

Even Xu Ke of Cinema City is going to shoot the "Huang Feihong" series of movies he wrote.

"No, this time it's a novel!"

The director shook his head.

"what?!"

Li Bihua was shocked and her mind went blank.

"Although the copyright of the script belongs to the station, you two are the creators of the script after all, so I have to ask for your opinions."

The Master looked left and right.

Luo Qirui looked indifferent and let the leader of Hong Kong Radio make the final decision. However, Li Bihua was very excited and slammed the table:
"no!"

"Why not?"

The director frowned and asked her to give him a reason to convince him.

Li Bihua said bluntly that she had long thought about writing the script of "Farewell My Concubine" into a novel, so how could she give it to someone else!
The director said, “Isn’t this too coincidental?”

Li Bihua said seriously, "I wrote the script of Farewell My Concubine, and I also hope to write the novel of Farewell My Concubine myself, instead of handing it over to others."

"But this other person is Fang Sheng!"

The director said in embarrassment: "He is the winner of the National Book Award of the United States, the winner of the Japanese Akutagawa Ryunosuke Award, and a famous writer both at home and abroad..."

"Even if this person speaks in dialect! Director, I hope the station can help me!" Li Bihua stood up suddenly.

"Fang Sheng and his team anticipated this situation, so they came up with another plan."

The director smiled and said, "It means that you two will work together to write Farewell My Concubine."

"Co-write? No, no, I don't have the habit of co-writing novels with others."

Li Bihua refused without hesitation. Even if the book was completed, there was no guarantee that someone would say that she had benefited from the dialect.

The director's face became serious, "Really?"

"Really can not!"

Li Bihua answered firmly that even if her writing was bad and the sales were a complete flop, she would never co-write with Fangyan.

The director handed over a thin piece of paper and said, "This is the rough outline that Fang Shenghua wrote all night. Take it and have a look."

Li Bihua was dismissive at first, thinking that a rough outline written in just one night could never compare to the detailed outline she had painstakingly pondered for more than two months. But after a quick glance, she was immediately attracted by the content, just like a butterfly attracted to a flower, it smelled so good!

Luo Qirui came over, took a closer look, and was shocked.

Judging from the rough outline alone, the structure, concept, depth, and drama are far superior to the TV series "Farewell My Concubine".

Is this the writing style of a famous writer both at home and abroad? It's no exaggeration!
Even he could tell the difference between good and bad, so Li Bihua could naturally tell the difference as well. She was speechless for a moment and fell silent. "In fact, if Fang Sheng hadn't intervened, we would be happy to let you write the novel of Farewell My Concubine."

The director changed the subject and said that the station hoped to get the copyright of "Farewell My Concubine" and make a deal with Fangyan to obtain the authorization for the TV adaptation of "The Grandmaster Huang Feihong". After all, ATV won a huge victory in ratings with "Heroes of the East".

It became popular from Hong Kong to Southeast Asia and even to the mainland.

TVB has long dominated Hong Kong's television ratings with martial arts dramas such as "The Legend of the Condor Heroes".

Hong Kong Radio Station urgently needs a martial arts drama like "Once Upon a Time in China" to stage a comeback!
"Since the station has already made the decision, why bother asking for my opinion?"

Li Bihua's face turned pale and blue.

"Well, asking Mr. Fang to write is one thing, and asking you to cooperate with Mr. Fang is another. The station is also trying its best to gain benefits for you."

The director said earnestly, "I hope you can put the overall situation first and think carefully about this co-writing proposal."

Li Bihua smiled bitterly and said, "If I don't agree, will the station give him the writing of Farewell My Concubine?"

The director did not deny it. "Mr. Fang will be going to the United States the day after tomorrow. You don't have much time to consider. If you agree, we can arrange a time and invite them to come to the station for a face-to-face discussion."

………………

The next day, after repeatedly comparing her own outline with Fangyan's, Li Bihua finally figured it out.

Indeed, only a literary giant like Fang Yan could better adapt the script of "Farewell My Concubine" into a novel.

The two met in the conference room of the television department of Radio Hong Kong, accompanied by the station director, Alex Lo, Gong Xing and others.

"I'm very curious, how did you come up with the idea of ​​writing Cheng Dieyi and Duan Xiaolou into such a relationship?"

"Ahem, to be honest, we actually wrote this based on 'Revenge'."

Seeing that Li Bihua was finding it difficult to speak, Luo Qirui took the initiative to answer.

""revenge"?"

The dialect was very unexpected, and it turned out that "Farewell My Concubine" was a fan fiction.

The fan film is "Revenge", co-starring Di Long and Jiang Dawei. It tells the story of Peking Opera martial artist Guan Yulou who had an accident while singing "Jiepai Pass" on the stage and died on the spot. His younger brother Guan Xiaolou heard the news and rushed back, only to discover that the cause of his brother's death was not as it seemed on the surface, but a carefully planned murder. Afterwards, Guan Xiaolou followed the clues to find the truth, and finally killed his enemy and avenged himself.

It was also this movie that earned Jiang Dawei the "Asia Pacific Best Actor" trophy and made him a favorite in the hearts of Hong Kong movie fans.

Li Bihua was just a junior high school student at the time. Because she was a fan of the CP of Jiang Dawei and Di Long, she also became one of the supporters of "Revenge".

After so many years, I can still recite the lines from the movie, "The dance halls and singing stages, the elegance is always washed away by the rain and wind."

“So the name ‘Duan Xiaolou’ is taken from the name ‘Guan Xiaolou’ in the film.”

Fangyan suddenly realized.

Luo Qirui felt that Gong Xing and others definitely did not understand how crazy a craze Di Long and Jiang Dawei had created in the film industry back then.

It can be said that the "Di Jiang" of the 70s can be called a male beauty legend.

These all made the front-page headlines of gossip newspapers at the time. Compared with Di Jiang, those in later generations are nothing but dwarfs!
These are all left over from "Di Jiang".

The two have collaborated on the big screen more than 40 times, attracting the obsession of countless Hong Kong female movie fans.

For example, Li Bihua is a fan of CP, while Yi Shu, who wrote "The Story of Rose", is a fan of Jiang Dawei alone.

"So this Cheng Dieyi is 'Di Long'?"

Gong Xing opened his mouth.

"No, no, no, this Cheng Dieyi is named after an old friend of mine..."

Luo Qirui was referring to Chen Dieyi, who is known as the "evergreen tree of Hong Kong music scene". Because the two have a close personal relationship, he gave him this name.

Li Bihua asked curiously, "Mr. Fang, can your mainland literary world accept novels about homosexual relationships?"

"You are totally wrong about this."

Fang Yan shook his head and laughed, "Besides, I think the relationship between Cheng Dieyi and Duan Xiaolou is not 'homosexual love' in the eyes of the world, but Cheng Dieyi, a rootless 'Yu Ji', pinned his fate on Duan Xiaolou, the 'King'. It's a pity that Duan Xiaolou is not the 'real King', but Cheng Dieyi, who lives and dies, has become the 'real Yu Ji'. It's true what I said in the rough outline, people can't live without madness!"

Li Bihua was stunned, and after patiently listening to the initial concept of "Farewell My Concubine", she burst into tears.

My mind is now filled with the scene of Di Long and Jiang Dawei saying goodbye to each other.

Seeing this, the director couldn't help but sigh: "Listen, this is a great writer. Both men can write so beautifully and sadly!" (End of this chapter)