The literary era since 1979

The next day, the hotel front desk called the room.

Amid the ringing of the phone, Fang Yan put down the pen he was writing "Farewell My Concubine" and stood up to answer it.

On the phone, the receptionist said in a sweet voice that there was a gentleman named "Guo Chongyuan" in the lobby who wanted to meet.

"Then let him come up."

Fangyan smiled and hung up the phone.

As expected, Guo Chongyuan was entrusted by Jin Yong to have a talk with Ming Pao.

I just didn’t expect that I would be invited to my house today, just after I agreed yesterday.

"Excuse me, Mr. Fang"

Guo Chongyuan stated his purpose directly, "I wonder when it would be convenient for you..."

"It's better to do it now than to wait for a better day."

Fang Yan said that he had made an appointment with Li Bihua in the afternoon and asked her to be a guide to take Gong Xing, Fang Yan and others shopping and sightseeing.

Hearing "Li Bihua", Guo Chongyuan's heart skipped a beat and he said in a roundabout way, "Mr. Fang, I wonder how you plan to travel?"

Fang Yan smiled and said, "Bihua can't drive, so we can only take a taxi."

"Taking a taxi is so troublesome and expensive. If you encounter a bad driver, he may deliberately take a detour or jump the meter to cheat you."

Guo Chongyuan patted his chest and recommended himself. If you don't mind, I am willing to serve you like a dog and a horse!

Fangyan said: "Will you be our driver?"

"That's right! Since you are Mr. Cha's guest, you are also a guest of Ming Pao!"

Guo Chongyuan said firmly: "We can't help being impolite and breaking the rules of hospitality."

Fang Yan cast a scrutinizing look at him, "Okay."

Guo Chongyuan felt secretly delighted and felt so happy that he felt elated.

Fang Yan deliberately teased him, "Ah, it suddenly occurred to me that since Mr. Guo is willing to be the driver and tour guide, there is no need to trouble Bi Hua anymore. When I get to Ming Pao later, I will call and inform Bi Hua..."

Guo Chongyuan blurted out: "No way!"

Fang Yan suppressed his laughter and asked, "Oh, what do you mean, Mr. Guo?"

"It's good that Miss Li came."

Guo Chongyuan said with a blushing face that he hoped to take this opportunity to compensate Li Bihua for the compensation he paid for breaking the vase last time.

Seeing Fangyan teasing him like a cat toy, Gong Xing handed over the briefcase, shook his head and laughed:

"Well, let's get going quickly and don't keep Mr. Jin waiting too long."

"Yes, yes, Mrs. Fang is right!"

Guo Chongyuan climbed down the stairs, fearing that if he continued talking, he would reveal his intention to pursue Li Bihua.

Following Gong Xing's eye hint, Fang Yan said no more. After leaving the hotel, they drove towards the Ming Pao building.

Jin Yong's office was on the top floor of the building. Guo Chongyuan knocked on the door and heard a voice saying "Come in" from inside.

Pushing the door open, Fang Yan saw Jin Yong in a suit and tie, and a man wearing glasses sitting on the sofa next to him.

"I have long heard of your great name, sir. Today I finally get to see you in person."

"Haha, Fang Sheng, I feel the same way. It's such a blessing to meet you."

Jin Yong asked him to call him "Mr. Cha", "Everyone usually calls me that. Of course, some people call me 'Mr. Jin', but I usually ignore them if they call me 'Mr. Jin'." Then, he introduced the person next to him: "He is my close friend, Huang Zhan."

"Nice to meet you."

The two men shook hands and looked at each other.

Huang Zhan squinted his eyes and grinned, looking playful and cynical, but he didn't make people feel that he was uneducated at all.

After all, he is known as one of the "Three Great Poets in the Lyrics World" along with Qiao Yu and Zhuang Nu. He is knowledgeable in lyrics and music, as well as novels, and is a man of many talents.

"I have also heard of Mr. Huang's name."

Fangyan smiled.

"Mr. Fang has heard of me?"

Huang Zhan was very surprised and asked, "But I have never been to the mainland. How did you know about this? Could it be from a gossip magazine?" He said in a dialect, "Mr. Huang wrote the lyrics for 'My Chinese Heart', right?"

Huang Zhan suddenly realized that the song "My Chinese Heart" he wrote for Zhang Mingmin is now widely sung in mainland China because it was performed on the Spring Festival Gala.

Fang Yan smiled and said, "I was also a member of the Spring Festival Gala creation team at that time. It was me who suggested that the song "My Chinese Heart" be included in the Spring Festival Gala program."

"There is still such a thing!"

Huang Zhan and Jin Yong looked at each other and burst into laughter. "If that's the case, then this is truly fate!"

"That's right." Fangyan restrained his smile.

"In that case, we must have a good drink!" Huang Zhan said excitedly.

Jin Yong shook his head: "We agreed that today we would talk about heroes over tea. Look, I have prepared the tea."

Fangyan took a quick glance and saw that all the tea sets were on the table, with steam gradually rising from the mouth of the purple clay teapot used to boil water.

Huang Zhan sighed: "What a pity! If Brother Gu were still alive, we would be drinking wine and talking about heroes now!"

After these words came out, Jin Yong's eyes dimmed, and Fang Yan said with some regret: "It is a pity that I was not able to meet with Gu Da Xia."

Huang Zhan noticed that the atmosphere was not right and quickly shifted the topic back to Fangyan.

"I first saw Mr. Fang's name in a Hong Kong tabloid."

"I never thought that Mr. Fang, at such a young age, has such great talent. He is well versed in novels, literature, poetry, and prose, and has such profound academic attainments. After reading his book Guns, Viruses, and Steel, I was really amazed."

"Not bad, not bad. I also watched Guns, Viruses, and Steel."

Jin Yong nodded repeatedly and praised it as a great book. No wonder it has caused such a huge craze across the United States.

"Thank you very much, thank you very much."

Fangyan waved his hand and said, "It just happened to be the right time. It happened to be when the movie Saving Private Ryan was released."

"Yes, Saving Private Ryan!"

Huang Zhan slapped the table and said, "I am so happy that I forgot to mention that Fang Sheng is also good at writing screenplays for movies and TV shows, just like me. But what makes me most happy is that a person as talented as you is also a writer of lyrics! How wonderful!"

Fangyan was very surprised. He had only heard of songs from Hong Kong and Taiwan flowing into the mainland, but had never heard of songs written by himself also flowing into Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Huang Zhan smiled and said, "This is what Old Monster Xu and Ms. Shi told me."

Fangyan was very surprised, it turned out to be Xu Ke and Shi Nansheng.

Huang Zhan briefly talked about the relationship between the two parties. He first established cooperation with Xu Ke during the filming of "Shanghai Nights" and composed 12 songs for the movie, including the theme song "Evening Breeze". Since then, they have maintained a long-term cooperative relationship.

At this point, he clapped his hands and said, "Look, you've come to me again this time and asked me to compose the music for the movie adapted from your novel."

"'Once Upon a Time in China'?" Fang Yan raised his eyebrows.

"That's it!" Huang Zhan said in a disappointed tone, "I wrote four drafts, but he sent them back every time. He's really hard to please."

Fang Yan smiled and said, "I know Director Xu. He strives for perfection. I think he wants to unleash all your potential."

Huang Zhan curled his lips and said, "No need to inspire me. I really can't inspire me at all."

"Don't worry. He and Ms. Shi are setting up a studio in Chedun, Shanghai. Even if they want to get excited, they won't be able to do so in a short time."

Dialect is spoken in a joking tone.

Huang Zhan smiled bitterly, "It doesn't matter if you die early or late, it's all the same."

Jin Yong said, "Don't say such discouraging words. Isn't the author of The Grandmaster Huang Feihong here? You can ask him for his opinion in front of Mr. Fang."

"Yes!" Huang Zhan looked over and said, "Mr. Fang, I wonder if you have any suggestions on the lyrics and music for the soundtrack of Once Upon a Time in China?"

Fang Yan touched his chin and asked, "Have you ever heard of "The General's Order"?"

Huang Zhan was well versed in music and naturally knew "The General's Order" and hummed the melody with ease.

Fang Yan said, "How about we adapt this ancient song into a new one and add new lyrics?"

Huang Zhan asked, "What about the lyrics?"

"It seems that Mr. Fang has made up his mind."

Jin Yong handed over a pen and paper, and he and his old friend went over to him. He wrote down in a flourish on the first line:

"A man should be self-reliant." (End of this chapter)