The literary era since 1979

Since the publication of the latest issue of "People's Literature", sales have been rising steadily and have exceeded one million copies nationwide.

After reading the first part of "The Ordinary World", readers are particularly looking forward to the second part. No, they are quite looking forward to it!
Letters floated into the mailbox of Renwen Publishing House like snowflakes, basically urging them to write the second part of "Ordinary World" as soon as possible. It was not because there was no paper in the village toilet, but because after reading the first part, they really wanted to read the second part, and after reading the second part, they wanted to read the third part. They were all waiting there!

Fangyan was not immune. As the editor-in-chief of "Ordinary World", he also received many letters from readers asking for updates.

"I'm urged to watch the second part again."

Gong Xing held a stack of letters in his left hand and a letter in his right hand, "This is from Lu Yao."

"A letter from Lu Yao!" Fang Yan was startled and opened it immediately.

"What did he write in the letter?" Gong Xing was very curious. "Is it about the creation of the second part of "Ordinary World"?"

Fang Yan nodded. The content of the letter was mainly to thank him for his hard work on "Ordinary World". In order not to let down his hard work and the expectations of the readers, Lu Yao had been discharged from the hospital and began to prepare for the creation of the second part. He had to strike while the iron was hot instead of resting on his laurels.

"Didn't you say that Lu Yao was exhausted? How come he's recovered so quickly?"

Gong Xing couldn't help being surprised.

"How is that possible? He is just holding on."

Fangyan handed over the letter.

Gong Xing looked carefully and saw a touching passage:
"Thank you, Yanzi. Before, I was recuperating in the hospital. Every day was like a year. I was worried about the failure of "Ordinary World" every day. I was afraid that my years of hard work would go to waste. But now it is completely different. The moment of joy every day is to listen to my own work on the radio on the table for half an hour. For me, it is like injecting myself with a shot of cardiac stimulant every day. Whenever I feel a little tired, or simply can't stand the physical and mental torture, the radio will sternly remind and warn me."

"Millions of listeners are waiting to hear how you will do the following article!"

"So, when I faced the radio again and again, I was finally solemnly awakened to my sense of responsibility and continued to move forward."

As he continued reading, he said, "Should we say he is persistent, or does he not take good care of his body? Why don't you write him a letter and give him some good advice? Don't be in a hurry. Wait until you are well again before doing anything else."

"He is a hard worker who works very hard when creating."

Fang Yan said: "But when faced with difficulties, he is very stubborn. Once he makes up his mind, no matter how many horses he uses, he cannot change his mind."

"No matter what, we have to persuade them." Gong Xing said.

"you're right."

Fang Yan nodded, and while preparing to write a letter to Lu Yao, he also wrote to Lin Da, Mo Shen, Chen Zhongshi and others, asking them to form a group to persuade them.

Just when it was Jia Pingwa's turn, bursts of telephone ringing were heard in the hall not far away.

Gong Xing shouted from outside the courtyard: "It was Sister Xiaofang who called!"

Fangyan replied: "What's the matter?"

Gong Xing said that Wan Jiabao asked him to go to the National Theatre of China in the afternoon to discuss the script of "The World's Number One Restaurant" with Yu Shizhi and others.

………………

People's Art Theatre is located on Wangfujing Street.

Fangyan showed up at the theater on time as agreed with Wan Jiabao, walked through the back door skillfully, and came to Yi Shizhi's office.

As soon as he opened the door, what came into Fangyan's sight was not only the very familiar Wan Jiabao and Yu Shizhi, but also a person sitting opposite them, wearing a Zhongshan suit, looking very straight and meticulous, with a casual smile passing across his face.

Upon closer inspection, we can see that this is a famous director in the drama world, Xia Chun, and "Teahouse" is his work.

Along with Jiao Juyin, Ouyang Shanzun and Mei Qian, he is known as one of the four famous directors of the People's Art Theatre!
After being introduced by Yu Shizhi, Fang Yan and Xia Chun greeted each other.

"I heard that you've been making a big splash in the literary world recently?"

After he sat down, Wan Jiabao couldn't help but make a joke.

Facing the gazes of Wan Jiabao, Xia Chun and others, Fang Yan smiled faintly: "Hehe, it's just a small fight."

Yu Shizhi said with a smile: "This "Ordinary World" has caused such a big sensation, how can it be just a small thing?"

Fangyan also showed a proud smile. Reviving "The Ordinary World" not only saved Lu Yao's writing career, but also restored the reputation of the long-silent Shaanxi literary world and won the hearts of Shaanxi writers. Of course, he also once again established himself as a "guiding light in the literary world."

Because there is such a powerful "Commander Fang", any work that he takes a fancy to will become famous.

"The main credit goes to this radio drama, which adds a lot of color to the novel."

Wan Jiabao gave a brief comment.

Xia Chun agreed very much: "I have listened to every episode of the radio drama of "Ordinary World" and I enjoy it very much. On the contrary, I bought a copy of "People's Literature" as soon as I saw the novel, but I don't know why I can't finish reading it. It's not as interesting as the radio drama."

"You're not the only one who feels this way."

Fang Yan recounted the twists and turns encountered in "Ordinary World" with some reservations.

"Indeed, in addition to the articles praising, analyzing and studying "The Ordinary World" in the newspapers these days, there are also many people who are not optimistic about "The Ordinary World." Xia Chun was referring to the literary criticism circle, who were indifferent or even indifferent to the popularity of "The Ordinary World."

"This has to do with the current environment and trend of the literary world."

Fang Yan said: "Others are doing avant-garde and magical realism, but Lu Yao still uses this old-fashioned realism to write. In fact, many people only see the surface of the phenomenon. Various isms are just a departure from life. Realism, which is close to society, is what the people want to read the most. Therefore, "Ordinary World" is written to the hearts of the people, not to their hearts."

Wan Jiabao lamented: "In my opinion, our realism has never been on the broad literary path."

"It's the same with our plays and dramas now."

Yu Shizhi was quite helpless. The avant-garde ideas in the literary world had flowed from literature to drama. Nowadays, all major theaters and drama troupes across the country were producing innovative plays. Experimental plays were all the rage. The audience and literary and art theory circles also preferred this new trend and began to distance themselves from traditional realistic drama. This was one of the reasons why the new plays staged by many theaters, including the People's Art Theater, were neither well received nor popular.

"Then wouldn't 'The World's No. 1 Restaurant' be going against the tide?"

Fangyan raised his eyebrows and called it a coincidence. Wan Jiabao teased, "Why, you don't have confidence in your work?"

"how could be!"

There was confidence in his dialect tone. If he could make "Ordinary World" a hit, he would definitely not let "The World's Number One Restaurant" fail.

What's more, it might not be possible for me to do it alone, but with the help of big guys like Wan Jiabao, Yu Shizhi and Xia Chun, it would be difficult not to succeed!

"You, please use all your flattery skills on this script."

Wan Jiabao shook his head and laughed, Yu Shizhi, Xia Chun and the others also smiled at each other.

Laughter echoed throughout the room. After a while, Yu Shizhi stopped laughing and said, "If you ask me, there is nothing wrong with realism. Although realism is not the only way to create literature and art, it is a broad road, just like Mr. Lao She's Teahouse and Cao Gong's Thunderstorm. I think your work The World's No. 1 Restaurant follows the path of Cao Gong and Mr. Lao She."

Xia Chun said: "Yes, no matter what the doctrine is, the most important thing for a play is whether it is good or not."

Fangyan looked left and right and asked: "What do you think of my play?"

"When we judge whether a play is good or not, an important criterion is whether it is dramatic or not, or in layman's terms, 'whether it is dramatic or not.'" Xia Chun said, "'The World's No. 1 Restaurant' is very dramatic, and the dramatic tension in each scene is quite good..."

Wan Jiabao said: "The only flaw is that the ending is a bit too sloppy. It's like writing an article, which requires a 'phoenix head, a pig belly, and a leopard tail'. It has to end beautifully. Your ending is not explosive enough."

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

The dialect was visible and it was completely expected. I deliberately wrote a poor ending for "The World's Number One Restaurant". It was just like writing a manuscript for a leader, where I would always leave flaws intentionally, such as typos and poor sentence order. If the leader couldn't find any fault with it, wouldn't my level not be revealed?
"I think so too. The ending of The World's No. 1 Restaurant must be changed, otherwise it will be difficult to support the entire show."

Yu Shizhi frowned, looking a little serious.

Fangyan pretended to think, then said: "Is it possible to redesign a new ending around a couplet?"

Yu Shizhi, Xia Chun and others turned their eyes to him: "What couplet?"

According to Fangyan, the whole play ends with a couplet, the first line of which is "What a dangerous building, who is the host and who is the guest", and the second line of which is "Only three old houses, sometimes suitable for the bright moon and sometimes suitable for the wind".

"'What a dangerous building', it just hits the nail on the head for the ending of Fujude, 'the best building in the world'!"

Yu Shizhi savored it carefully, and his eyes suddenly lit up, "This couplet is well written, could it be you who wrote it?"

Fangyan waved his hand and said, "This first couplet was written by Emperor Kangxi for a restaurant. As for the second couplet, it was Ji Xiaolan who wrote it right."

Wan Jiabao seemed to see through it and said, "I'm afraid this couplet can't be thought of in a short time. Have you thought of this idea a long time ago?"

"I have thought of it, but I haven't figured out how to present this couplet on stage."

The eyes follow the nose, and the nose follows the heart. "So there is nothing we can do but give up."

Master Yu said: "Don't worry, how can you just give up on such a good couplet?"

Wan Jiabao nodded and said, "Let's study it carefully and see how to use this couplet at the end."

After some discussion among everyone, Xia Chun finally came up with a solution, which was to put the couplet on the stage at the end of "The World's Number One Restaurant", draw the curtain, and "lock" the couplet outside the curtain. Even after the actors took their bows, the couplet would remain outside the curtain. This way, the audience would always be looking at the couplet when leaving the theater, achieving the effect of making the audience look back every few steps.

"This is a good idea. A good show is not only about applause and laughter, but also about the audience's individual thoughts."

Wan Jiabao smiled and said: "From the No. 1 building in the world to a dangerous building, Fujude is not only a fictional stage scene, but also a stage of time, allowing the audience to think about yesterday, today and tomorrow from a higher perspective and a larger dimension..."

Xia Chun said: "But this ending still has a slight flaw, that is, this couplet is missing a horizontal scroll."

As they were talking, Wan Jiabao, Yu Shizhi and the others all stared at Fangyan with a half-smile on their face.

Fangyan cleared his throat and said, "Why not write the banner as, 'All good things must come to an end'?"

"All good things must come to an end..."

Yu Shizhi repeated this a few times and patted the table. "What a great couplet, 'All good things must come to an end'. It refers to both the inside and outside of the play. Once this couplet is out, the play 'The World's No. 1 Restaurant' is considered over, and the audience must leave. It just fits the saying 'All good things must come to an end'."

Wan Jiabao, Xia Chun and others also readily agreed. When it is prosperous, it is the best building in the world, and when it is declining, it is just a dangerous building. This is really a good show!
…………

After finalizing the revision plan for the script of "The World's Number One Restaurant", everyone went to Quanjude for an on-site visit and inspection.

The manager of Quanjude and others accompanied the whole process, and even opened the back kitchen to watch the chefs carry out a series of baking processes such as hanging the oven and slicing.

Then, while waiting for the whole duck feast to be served in the box, Wan Jiabao looked at Fang Yan and said in a low voice:

"In a while, the third China-US Writers Conference will be held. The last one was held in China. This time we are sending a writers delegation to visit the United States. The leader of the delegation is Comrade Feng Mu. He personally named you and asked you to attend the conference as a member of the delegation."

This move was unexpected for Fangyan, but also reasonable.

After all, he was quite famous in the United States. He was a best-selling author, an Oscar-winning screenwriter, a Pulitzer Prize winner for History and Literature, a Mobil Pegasus Award winner, and so on. He was well-known in the literary, publishing, historical, Hollywood and other social circles.

Wan Jiabao said, "You didn't attend the first two China-U.S. Writers Conferences. They will definitely bring you this time no matter what."

Fangyan also thought it made sense and agreed without hesitation. Then after returning home, he told Gong Xing everything about the Sino-US Writers Conference.

"That's a good thing."

Gong Xing smiled and said that at the celebration party for "Police Stories", Zou Wenhuai, Ho Kuanchang, and Jackie Chan kept asking about the filming of "Die Hard". They wished that the film could be shot and released as soon as possible, so that Golden Harvest and Jackie Chan could enter Hollywood and recreate the legend of Bruce Lee.

“This is indeed an opportunity.”

Fangyan remembered that Golden Harvest happened to have a branch in Los Angeles.

Gong Xing asked: "Did you pass through Hong Kong on your trip to the United States?"

"I flew nonstop when I went there, so I might pass by on my way back."

Fangyan took out a brown paper bag from the drawer and said, "I will tell Qingxia about the results of the investigation when the time comes." (End of this chapter)