Literary Master 1978

Today, three guests came to my house. Needless to say, Zhang Dening and Zhou Yanru were both editors of Lin Chaoyang when he published his works in "Yenjing Literature and Art".

Wang Zengqi and Lin Chaoyang did not have much contact, but they had met twice. Once in the editorial department of "People's Literature", and once at a symposium held by "Yenjing Literature" (then called "Yenjing Literature and Art") for "Little Shoes".

It was just after ten o'clock, and Lin Chaoyang's dishes were already prepared. If several dishes were put into the pot now, they would be ready in less than half an hour.

Seeing that it was still early, he put down his work and sat down to chat with the guests.

Zhang Dening hadn't received Lin Chaoyang's manuscript for almost a year. She said to Lin Chaoyang: "Old Wang's novels have been very popular recently."

In October just past, Wang Zengqi's short story "Taking the Precepts" was published in the tenth issue of "Yenjing Literature".

As the first issue of the journal after the name change of "Yenjing Literature", this issue of "Yenjing Literature" is full of famous writers, and the quality of the manuscripts can be said to be quite high.

It was under such circumstances that Wang Zengqi's "Shoujie" emerged as a dark horse, and it had a huge impact on the reader group within just half a month after the publication of the journal.

This novel was written by Wang Zengqi in May this year. At that time, Wang Zengqi showed it to his friends in the Peking Opera Troupe. Everyone thought that the novel was well written, but it was afraid that it would not be easy to publish, so Wang Zengqi did not actively submit it.

It was not until July that the Yanjing Municipal Bureau of Culture held a symposium for various units. People from the Peking Opera Troupe talked about Wang Zengqi's "Shoujie", which aroused the interest of Li Qingquan who also attended the meeting.

Wang Zengqi had worked at "Yenjing Literature and Art" in his early years, and he had some contact with him in the past two years. Li Qingquan, the person in charge of the journal, was interested in his novel, so Wang Zengqi naturally had no reason not to give the manuscript to Li Qingquan for review.

After reading the novel, Li Qingquan decided to publish it, and it was published in the first issue after the name change of the magazine, which shows the importance he attached to this novel.

No one expected that "Shoujie" would be so popular with readers once it was published. Recently, Wang Zengqi has received unprecedented attention from the Yanjing literary circle, and the heat of this attention is still fermenting.

At the age of 60, Wang Zengqi never thought that he would have a chance to become famous.

"De Ning is joking. Whether the novel is popular or not is up to the readers." Wang Zengqi said politely.

Lin Chaoyang mocked Zhang Dening: "Look at the pattern of Comrade Wang, and then look at you. You can't hold two taels of sesame oil in your dog's stomach."

Zhang Dening glared at him fiercely and was about to retort. Zhou Yanru didn't want to listen to the quarrel between the two and asked: "Has Chaoyang written any novel recently?"

"I have an idea, but I just started."

"It's been almost a year since you finished writing "Lai Zi's Summer"? Are you out of inspiration?" Zhang Dening teased.

Tao Yushu explained for Lin Chaoyang: "He wrote two movie scripts this year, and he also took some time to read and study, so he has no time to write new things."

"Two movie scripts? You want to change your career to become a screenwriter?" Zhang Dening asked in surprise. She looked at Tao Yushu and asked: "I know that Xie Jin wants to adapt "The Shepherd". Which production company is the other one written for?"

Tao Yushu smiled and said: "It's not for the production company, but for the co-production company. Li Hanxiang, a director from Hong Kong, wants to return to the mainland to make a movie, and the co-production company is responsible for matchmaking. Li Hanxiang saw Chaoyang's "The World's No. 1 Restaurant" at the People's Art Theater and insisted that he be the screenwriter."

Tao Yushu's face was full of uncontrollable pride when she stated the situation, and anyone could hear the boasting in her tone.

Listening to her words, several people present couldn't hide their surprise on their faces. Writing novels for Hong Kong directors?

It is very common to adapt novels into movies these days, and there are many cases where writers also serve as screenwriters. Every year, a large number of movies produced by major domestic studios are adapted from recently published novels. Xie Jin's previous adaptation of "The Shepherd" is an example.

But it is the first time that everyone has heard of writing a script for a Hong Kong director.

"I seem to have some impression of this Li Hanxiang." Zhang Dening frowned and said hesitantly.

Zhou Yanru said: "It seems that he is a famous director in Hong Kong. His works have won foreign awards. There was also news about him in "Popular Movies" a few years ago."

"Yes, his movies have won many awards internationally." Tao Yushu affirmed.

Today, the fifth generation of Chinese film directors has not yet emerged, and there are very few film awards they have won internationally. Only a few directors such as Xie Jin and Xie Fei have such honors. Because of such honors, these directors have a status and influence far beyond ordinary directors in China.

In terms of international fame alone, Li Hanxiang is not inferior to several famous directors in China, and even surpasses them.

Because his works have really gone abroad. In addition to Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau, they also have a wide influence in Southeast Asia.

Listening to the two people's words, Zhang Dening was amazed and said: "So Chaoyang is really amazing. He has cooperated with two famous directors in a row. Is he going to switch to being a screenwriter in the future?"

Lin Chaoyang smiled and said: "It just happened that there was an opportunity for this cooperation, and I can also earn some royalties."

Zhang Dening said faintly: "You really never forget the royalties."

"I make money by writing, and you work for free?"

Lin Chaoyang's question made Zhang Dening speechless, and Wang Zengqi echoed: "Isn't writing for royalties as a writer?"

After these words, Lin Chaoyang seemed to have found a soulmate, and he and Wang Zengqi had a lively discussion about the royalties.

I don’t know when it started, but people with a little status in this society are ashamed to talk about profit. They speak out of turn and think in silence, as if they live in the air.

Lin Chaoyang and Wang Zengqi are obviously not such people. Later generations have studied the letters between Wang Zengqi and his friends and editors, and found that among the 293 letters, 42 letters mentioned royalties, accounting for about one-sixth of all letters.

And Wang Zengqi even mentioned the purpose of writing in the letter bluntly - he said in a letter to his family: For you, you, and Huihui, I have to earn more money.

For the sake of family and for a better life, earning more royalties is actually the purpose of many people starting to write, but due to the current social environment, many people will not say so.

In contrast, Lin Chaoyang and Wang Zengqi have no concerns about this at all, and they take it calmly, which makes them seem free and easy.

Wang Zengqi talked about the fact that Renwenshe would hold a seminar for Lai Zi's Summer in two days. He said he had received an invitation.

After chatting for a while, Tao Yushu's rice had been simmering for a while, and Lin Chaoyang was timing to prepare to cook.

Wang Zengqi rolled up his sleeves and said, "I'll help too."

Lin Chaoyang got up early and went out to buy a lot of vegetables, but the situation was different from later generations. At this time of winter, there were few types of vegetables in the vegetable market in Yanjing, and meat and oil were limited, so how to cook a table of delicious dishes with color, fragrance and taste under limited conditions was actually a test of the chef's skills.

"How to make this tofu?" Wang Zengqi asked.

"I plan to mix it with other ingredients. Now there is no Chinese toon or shallot, so let's mix it with leek and green pepper paste."

Wang Zengqi joked: "This way of eating is a bit crude, it's not as good as mixing preserved eggs with tofu."

"Your way of eating is not better than mine!"

The two people's ways of eating are different, and neither can convince the other. Lin Chaoyang said: "Then just don't mix it, make mapo tofu."

"Mapo tofu must use Pixian bean paste, do you have it at home?"

"Look at what you said, I dare not make mapo tofu without it?"

Lin Chaoyang took out a small jar of bean paste from the cabinet and showed off to Wang Zengqi: "Such a small thing is not easy to make!"

Wang Zengqi smiled knowingly, "With it, the taste is definitely right."

Today's main dish is the four pig's trotters that Lin Chaoyang bought from the grocery store. Because there are many bones and it is difficult to clean, the pig's trotters in the grocery store are not popular among the people. Everyone has so many meat tickets a month, who would waste it on this thing.

However, this is also the reason why pig's trotters are cheap. Normal pork costs 80 cents per pound, but this thing costs only more than 30 cents.

You can also buy some pig's head meat with it. This thing does not require meat coupons and is very popular. It is perfect for making snacks.

When Lin Chaoyang came back from buying vegetables, he had already cleaned the pig's trotters. He roasted the hairs clean over an open fire, blanched them in water to remove the fishy smell, and then marinated them and simmered them over low heat with pepper, aniseed, nutmeg, angelica, cinnamon and other seasonings.

When it was almost time for lunch, the kitchen and the living room were already filled with a strong aroma.

Zhang Dening swallowed his saliva greedily, "It smells so good!"

After working for half an hour, a series of delicious dishes were served on the table.

Wang Zengqi pointed at the potato shredded pancake that had just been served and asked, "Chaoyang, where is this made?"

The potato shredded pancake on the plate was fried to a golden color, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, which made people hungry at first sight. Wang Zengqi had been staring at this dish when Lin Chaoyang was making it just now.

Lin Chaoyang didn't know the origin of potato shredded pancake, anyway, it was something that only appeared after the night market economy became popular in later generations.

"I created it myself."

Braised pig's trotters, cold pork head, mapo tofu, scrambled eggs with green onions, potato shredded pancakes, and mixed cabbage hearts, Lin Chaoyang prepared a total of six dishes.

After the dishes were served, he bowed to Wang Zengqi and the others, "The meat coupons at home are gone this month, so there are only so many meat dishes, please bear with me."

"That's great." Zhang Dening's eyes almost fell into the dishes when he spoke.

Sitting down to eat, everyone moved their chopsticks, and the first thing Zhang Dening picked up was the braised pig's trotters.

After more than three hours of stewing, the flavors of the seasonings and spices were completely integrated into the pig's trotters, and the meat became soft and rotten after a long period of high temperature.

With one bite, the bones and meat were separated, fat but not greasy, the meat was full, and even with skin and tendons, the fragrance made Zhang Dening couldn't help but exclaim.

"Hmm~ Delicious!"

Compared with Zhang Dening's wolfing down, Wang Zengqi's eating method was much more gentle. The first thing he picked up his chopsticks was the most inconspicuous mixed cabbage heart on the table.

In the winter in the north, before the popularization of vegetable greenhouses, cabbage, potatoes, and radishes were the most common vegetables. For three or four months in the whole winter, these vegetables were basically eaten in rotation, and sometimes people could vomit.

But because of this high frequency of consumption, the people have developed various ways to eat these vegetables.

As the name suggests, the cabbage heart is the tenderest part of the cabbage, washed and shredded, and seasoned with salt, sugar, vinegar, MSG, minced garlic, millet pepper and other seasonings.

It is tender, crispy, refreshing and delicious. It is actually a very luxurious dish in the winter when vegetables are scarce in the north.

Because a cabbage in the north may weigh three or four pounds, only a small handful of the center may be used for cold salad, and several cabbage hearts are needed to make a plate of mixed cabbage hearts.

After tasting the cabbage hearts, Wang Zengqi picked up a piece of potato shreds cake.

When Lin Chaoyang was making this dish, he was full of curiosity and carefully observed Lin Chaoyang's technique.

The method of potato shreds cake is to grate potatoes, add chopped green onions and flour, and then add appropriate amount of salt, pepper and MSG to season, and stir into potato shreds paste.

Then heat oil in a pan, take appropriate amount of potato shreds paste, slightly shape it with your hands, put it in the pan and fry it on low heat until both sides are golden brown.

The method looks very similar to many pasta dishes, but the ingredients are different.

Wang Zengqi picked up a small piece of golden fried potato shreds cake and put it in his mouth.

The taste is crispy, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with a salty fragrance full of oil, which immediately opened the taste buds.

"Delicious!"

Wang Zengqi is well-known among writers for his love of eating and his ability to eat. He also loves to cook. Ordinary dishes will never get such high praise from him.

After hearing his evaluation, Zhou Yanru also curiously tasted a bite of potato shredded pancake, and her eyes wrinkled because of the delicious taste.

"This potato shredded pancake is so delicious! Chaoyang, how do you make this?" Zhou Yanru couldn't help asking.

Lin Chaoyang told her the method simply, and Zhou Yanru nodded, "It's simple to make, but it's a pity that it consumes too much oil."

"It's so delicious, what's the big deal about wasting a little oil?"

Wang Zengqi was shaking his head while eating potato shredded pancake.

"Don't just eat potatoes, try other dishes too." Lin Chaoyang said.

Needless to say, these guests would not be polite.

Before, Li Tuo praised Lin Chaoyang's cooking skills as rare in the sky and the ground. Today, it is indeed extraordinary. How can everyone be polite?

Chopsticks were flying on the table, and everyone was eating with great joy, and they didn't even care about talking.