The literary era since 1979

"Arrogance laughs at thousands of waves,

Hotter than the sun,
The courage is like iron, the bones are like steel,
A broad mind and a long-term vision..."

Huang Zhan looked at the lyrics on the paper and was so excited that he couldn't help but read them out loud: "I swear to work hard and become a good man!"

Jin Yong praised it highly, "Great lyrics, great lyrics. Only lyrics like this are worthy of the style of the great master Huang Feihong."

Huang Zhanshen agrees, "Especially the latter part, 'Be a good man, be self-reliant every day, be a passionate man, be hotter than the sun, let the sea and sky gather energy for me, to open up the world, to pursue my ideals', it is full of heroic spirit and passion, and it is a perfect match with "General's Order"!"

Fang Yan joked, "I think this song is good enough to report to Director Xu, right?"

"If even a work like this is rejected by Old Monster Xu, then I'd better find someone else. I can't do this job!"

Huang Zhan raised his hand.

"Hahaha."

In an instant, the three of them burst into laughter, and the room was filled with a happy atmosphere.

Huang took a sip of tea and hummed and recited it again, "It's so enjoyable. Just reading it out loud makes me feel so enjoyable."

Then he sighed, "I originally thought that I would never meet an opponent in my life, but I didn't expect that today I would meet a soulmate!"

"Since that's the case, let's have tea instead of wine." Fangyan raised the teacup.

"Dry!"

Seeing the two clinking glasses, Jin Yong did not want to be left out, so he drank the tea in one gulp and said, "I'm afraid only you, the author of "The Grandmaster Huang Feihong", can write lyrics like this with such heroic spirit and soaring into the sky."

"Don't dare, don't dare."

In the face of all kinds of flattery, Fangyan did not hesitate to praise Jin Yong.

"Flying Snow and Shooting White Deer", "Laughing Book of Heroes and Relying on Green Mandarin Duck", it is not an easy task to write martial arts novels from the Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty.

"Although both of you two have incorporated history into your martial arts novels, they are completely different in conception, technique, narrative, and connotation." Huang Zhan watched the two of them bragging about each other's business and interrupted, "But in terms of character creation, they are extremely similar, both of them are endowed with good and evil."

"Mr. Lu Xun once analyzed this point."

Fang Yan said: "He said that in Chinese novels before, bad guys were bad guys, good guys were good guys, and they were clearly written in black and white. But this kind of dualism does not apply to human nature. Black can sometimes be white, and good can sometimes become evil."

"Yes, human nature is not that simple."

Jin Yong agreed very much. He said that his proudest work in his life was "The Deer and the Cauldron", in which he created a character like Wei Xiaobao who was both good and evil.

Fangyan asked a question that he wanted to ask in his previous life: Why did he stop writing after "The Deer and the Cauldron"?

"The reason is simple, because there were guns in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China."

Jin Yong said that guns are the end of martial arts.

Originally in the novel, martial arts masters were no match for the army. If muskets were added, a martial arts master who had practiced for thirty years would be no match for a young boy who had played with a gun for two years. Just like in "The Deer and the Cauldron", no matter how deep-minded and skilled in martial arts Feng Jizhong was, he was still killed by Shuang'er with a single shot.

"Snapped!"

Huang Zhan clapped his hands, "Just like what was said in "Huang Feihong", 'No matter how good our kung fu is, we can't beat the foreign guns.'"

Jin Yong said, "Yes, no matter if it's Huang Feihong or Huo Yuanjia, no matter how powerful they are, when they are really faced with foreign guns and cannons, they actually have no room to fight back." He poured tea for Fang Yan, "It is clearly written in the third part of "Huang Feihong" that no matter how well the Boxers practiced their martial arts, no matter how invulnerable they were, in front of firearms and modern weapons, all their martial arts would be a joke."

"So that's it."

The dialect is very clear. "Martial arts novels sell the dream of martial arts, but if faced with powerful ships and cannons, such dreams will be shattered."

Jin Yong nodded and said, "No matter how powerful the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms is, it can't stop artillery. But after reading your "Huang Feihong", I realized that martial arts novels can be written in this way!" Huang Zhan shook his head and laughed, "This is understandable. After all, Huo Yuanjia in the north and Huang Feihong in the south are real people. Readers have a certain understanding of their past, so the expectations of the story are reduced a lot."

After a pause, he continued, "When you write fictional characters, you must use real people as a prelude. You let the protagonist punch Huo Yuanjia and kick Huang Feihong, but these descendants and disciples with high kung fu skills are still around, and they will definitely seek revenge."

"In that case..."

Fangyan raised his eyebrows. Neither the Republic of China nor modern times were easy times to gain traffic.

"you do not say!"

Huang Zhan said: "If you hadn't written Huang Feihong as such a god, those Hongmen disciples would definitely come to your house and demand an explanation."

Fangyan was happy, "Fortunately I live in the mainland. Even if they want to find me, they probably won't have the chance."

Jin Yong waved his hand, "Not really, not really. The disciples of Hongmen can't thank you enough. Your novel not only promotes the name of Huang Feihong, the master of his generation, but also fills the gap in martial arts novels in the late Qing Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty."

Fangyan was very surprised, so he invited Jin Yong and Huang Zhan to write a preface for the next edition of "Huang Feihong".

"That's no problem!"

Huang Zhan readily agreed, and Jin Yong did not refuse. After all, writing a preface to an already famous novel was tantamount to taking advantage of the dialect in disguise.

Gurgle, gurgle, the water in the purple clay teapot is boiling, and wisps of hot steam are wafting out of the mouth of the teapot.

After chatting about literature for a while, Jin Yong smiled and said, "If there is a chance, I wonder if I could ask you to write a novel for Ming Pao."

Fangyan didn't refuse, but didn't agree right away either. Instead, he joked, "I'm very expensive."

Huang Zhan suddenly said, "It's impossible to ask Brother Cha to increase the royalties. Even Brother Ni and I, who are old friends, can't do that."

"He even called me and scolded me for this matter."

Jin Yong disagreed. “I immediately wrote a letter listing 10 reasons why I would not raise my royalties.”

Fangyan listened patiently. The general idea was that although Ming Pao seemed to make money, it actually had to spend money everywhere and had to calculate carefully every day. It was ok for others not to understand, but you, Huang Zhan, have been a good friend for so many years, why don’t you understand?
If Huang Zhan increased his royalties, Ni Xun would certainly ask for a raise too, and everyone else would have to follow suit, and Ming Pao's expenses would increase again.

Of course, it was also because there was a relatively fixed rate of payment for articles in the inner circle of newspapers at that time. Once Ming Pao raised its price too much, it would be regarded by other peers as malicious price-raising and manuscript snatching. Even if Jin Yong was in charge, his peers would unite and severely punish Ming Pao.

"Because of this, I have never asked for a raise in my royalties until now."

Huang Zhan curled his lips, "Although he didn't raise my royalties, he often gave me gifts. He would rather buy me a gift worth 1 yuan than increase my royalties by 100 Hong Kong dollars. He is a first-rate friend and a ninth-rate boss."

Jin Yong smiled without saying anything, raised his teacup and gestured "Have some tea".

Huang Zhan just picked up the cup, then put it down again, "I almost forgot to ask, who are you going to let sing this song "A Man Should Be Self-reliant"?"

Fang Yan asked, "Does Mr. Huang have any candidates to recommend?"

"If I had to choose, I would definitely choose Lin Zixiang. He is a well-known singer with strong singing skills and can definitely sing this song an octave higher."

Huang Zhan said it before realizing that he might not know Lin Zixiang.

Unexpectedly, Fangyan actually knew about it because the movie "To the Wrath of the Sea" starring George Lam and Andy Lau was shown in mainland China.

The producer is Bluebird Company, founded by Xia Meng, which is also the distributor of A Bite of China.

"Xia Meng..."

Jin Yong was in a trance for a moment, this was his former dream lover. (End of this chapter)