The literary era since 1979

Chapter 47: First Meeting with Mr. Mao
"Look at that dark hole in front, it must be the thieves' lair..."

Fangyan burped and went to a restaurant with Tiening and the others. At that time, a stir-fried dish in a restaurant only cost 2 or cents, and a bowl of white rice was cents. With yuan in pocket, he could be considered a wealthy man.

What’s more, there were six people “carrying stones”, which was the AA system in that era.

There are vegetables and meat, the vegetables taste good, and the meat tastes good. There is no need to worry about technology and hard work. The only flaw is the waiters.

After all, there was a sign on the wall saying “No beating or scolding of customers without reason”.

After parting at the bus station, Fangyan walked leisurely back to the compound in the night, and heard a shout in his ear:
"Iwako, Iwako!"

"This way, this way!"

Su Ya stood stealthily in a corner of the yard.

"What are you doing here, sneaking around?"

The dialect was a big surprise.

"What are you talking about? I'm doing it openly and aboveboard."

Su Ya turned the flashlight on and off, "Let's not talk about this, Yanzi, my poem has been published!"

Fang Yan raised his eyebrows, "Really? Where was it published?"

Su Ya stretched out her right hand from behind her back, holding two brand new sample books, "Poetry Magazine" and "Poetry Exploration", as well as a handwritten letter from Mang Ke. After all, "Today" was just a private magazine with limited conditions and could not send sample books to the authors.

"Oh wow, that's a lot. Congratulations."

Fangyan laughed.

"This is all thanks to you. If it weren't for you, these poems I wrote would never have been published so smoothly."

Su Ya's face was filled with excitement and her gratitude was beyond words.

When I thought about the frequent rejections of the poems I sent out, I felt so devastated. My dream of writing poetry was completely shattered, which made me so discouraged that I hid all the manuscripts.

I never expected that once Fangyan appeared, things would take such a big turn for the better. My dream came true and my confidence was restored!
"So should I call you 'the great poet Su' now?" Fangyan asked jokingly.

"you!"

Su Ya looked around and realized that she didn't bring her bag.

"What are you looking for?" Fangyan asked.

"I'm looking for my rolling pin. Why are you so rude?" Su Ya picked up the flashlight. "Be careful or I'll stab you!"

Fang Yan curled his lips and said, "I helped you so much, not only did you not treat me, you even wanted to beat me up?"

"Of course I'll treat you to a meal!"

Suya grabbed a few hard candies from her pocket.

Fang Yan didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "You don't think you can get rid of me just for a few candies, do you?"

"Who said that!" Su Ya glared, "Let me give you this to try first. When the royalties arrive, I'll definitely take you to a restaurant!"

"Okay, then I'll take it without hesitation."

Fang Yan changed the subject and said, "There's no need to rush to invite guests now. The college entrance examination will be held in two months. Let's wait until the exam is over."

"College Entrance Examination, yes, the College Entrance Examination."

The smile on Su Ya's face froze and she became nervous.

Fangyan waved his hand, "Don't put too much pressure on yourself. It doesn't matter if you don't do well in the exam. With the poems you published in Poetry Magazine and Poetry Exploration, if you work harder, you may be able to transfer from the noodle factory to a publishing house as an editor."

"Oh no?"

Su Ya was surprised.

"Of course not."

The dialect curled his lips, saying, "Today's literary publishing houses are extremely short of editors, especially since many literary journals have just been established."

For example, Shu Ting was just a female worker in a light bulb factory before she started writing poetry.

Literature is popular these days, not only because of the love and pursuit of knowledge, but also because literature, like the college entrance examination, can change one’s destiny through knowledge.

"It's actually possible to do this!"

Su Ya found that publishing the poem gave her an escape route, and the pressure on her was reduced. Thinking that all this was thanks to Fang Yan, she kept thanking him, "Thank you, Yan Zi. How about I treat you to two meals after the college entrance examination?"

"Forget it. Your family is not a landlord. Besides, the landlords don't have any surplus food now. Just combine the two meals into one."

Fangyan remembered that her family had just paid off their foreign debt and was not well off financially.

"No, you've helped me so much, you should treat me!" Su Ya said firmly.

The two of them argued for a few more sentences, and Fangyan couldn't get over her, so he had to give up, "Is everything alright? If it's ok, I'll go back first, I have something else to do tomorrow."

"Where are you going tomorrow?"

"Go to the teacher's house."

"You still have a teacher?"

"The instructor assigned by the institute."

(ps: Su Ya plays an important role in threading the needle)
…………

The next day, early in the morning.

Shen Yanbing's house is located at No. 13 Houyuanensi Hutong, not far from the Fangyan slums. They are all old alleys of Nanluoguxiang. You can ride a bicycle past the bustling crowds.

Soon, we saw a courtyard.

"Dong, dong, dong." Fangyan took some snacks, picked up the iron ring and knocked on the red door.

With a creak, a middle-aged man with an upright posture pushed open the door, looked him up and down, and then smiled:

"You are the 'dialect' that Aunt Ding mentioned, right?"

"Ah."

Fangyan was not bold enough to ask, "Who are you?"

"But I don't deserve to be called 'you'. You are also my father's student. We are of the same generation. My name is Shen Shuang. I will call you Brother Fang. You can call me Brother Shen. How do you feel about that?"

Shen Shuang speaks quite generously.

"Brother Shen, you can just call me that."

In the dialect, you can also call him by his nickname, Yanzi.

After a few pleasantries, Shen Shuang welcomed Fang Yan in and introduced himself as they walked. He had originally worked at the Jinling Military Academy, but considering Shen Yanbing's health condition, he completed the retirement procedures in advance and returned to Beijing to concentrate on taking care of the elderly with his wife.

"How is your health lately, sir?"

The dialect tone is full of concern.

Shen Shuang sighed and said, "I'm still pretty good, but I had a serious illness not long ago. Now I need to rest and recuperate according to the doctor's orders."

The courtyard has two entrances and exits. When Fangyan walks into the street gate, he sees a screen wall. After turning around the screen wall, a small garden comes into view, with grape trellises, vine trellises and flowers in the garden forming an interesting setting.

There is a small swing under the rack and a rattan chair next to it.

Shen Yanbing was lying on it, basking in the sun. When he saw the strange figure next to Shen Shuang, his eyes immediately fell on Fang Yan.

"Coming?"

"Hello, sir!"

Fangyan bowed respectfully.

Shen Yanbing smiled and said jokingly, "I thought you would call me 'teacher' right away."

"I don't dare to ask for my ears, but I just want to do it."

Fangyan smiled awkwardly.

Shen Shuang glanced sideways in surprise, and Shen Yanbing smiled kindly, "No wonder Lao Ding and others who have met you speak highly of you. It can be seen that you have some literary skills."

Then he pointed to the round stone chair and said, "Sit down."

"Yes, sir."

Fangyan felt very excited and sat down.

"The institute arranged for me to be your tutor. Actually, I refused at first. It's not your problem, it's my problem. First, look at my body. I'm old and useless. Second, I had a lot of work before and couldn't spare much time and energy to teach students."

Shen Yanbing straightened up and Shen Shuang immediately supported his back.

Fangyan also came over and held his hand.

Shen Yanbing looked at him with admiration: "It just so happens that you have such a serious illness and have to rest. This period of rest should be enough time for me to guide you in writing. Do you know why the institute arranged for me to be your teacher?"

"Ah."

Without even thinking about dialects, the best writers of novels in today's literary world are only Mao and Ba Gonger.

"You, you."

Shen Yanbing shook his head and laughed, "Short stories have made great progress in recent years, but novels are not yet prosperous enough. I mainly write novels, so I can't just sit back and watch."

He picked up a stack of manuscript paper and said, "Old Ding and the institute strongly recommended you to me. I was quite puzzled. You only wrote two short stories. How could we tell that you have the potential to write a long novel? Until I read this novel of yours."

Fangyan took the manuscript and looked at it. It was covered with dense comments.

For example, at the beginning, "Good! Good! The magical realism technique is used well!"

Another example is the ending: "The details of the story are so natural and clever that readers can get an impression of the characters. I may not feel its weight at first glance, but later it is embedded in my mind and becomes an organic part of the character's image, depicting not only the character's appearance, but also the character's spiritual world..."

This handwritten manuscript with Shen Yanbing's annotations, like Li Yaotang's letter, must be treasured!
"After reading this, I am convinced that you are a promising talent worth cultivating, so I am considering guiding you."

Shen Yanbing said: "It is indeed well written. It is rare to be able to write such a work, especially at your age."

"Thank you sir for the compliment."

"Call me 'teacher' now. Although the duration of my instruction may only be about half a year, you have been the person I have taught the longest. I don't think there will be another opportunity like this in the future."

"Yes, teacher! I will definitely study hard with you!"

Fang Yan thought about it and thought, doesn't that mean he is Shen Yanbing's last disciple, the last disciple? !
"Another point……"

Shen Yanbing said this jokingly.

Similar to Bodhi Patriarch to Sun Wukong——

Don’t talk about repaying the favor. If you get into serious trouble in the future, just don’t tell your teacher about it!
"I can't write a good piece of work. Ask me!"

Fang Yan smiled and said, "But I believe that with your sincere teachings, I can't say that I have made great progress, but at least I have made some progress."

Shen Yanbing rolled his eyes lovingly: "You, use all your flattery skills on writing!"

"is teacher!"

"Come with me to the study. I have something to tell you."

(End of this chapter)