Back to 80: My Literary Life

Lu Yaoxing hurried home, walked into his study, made a cup of strong tea, lit a cigarette, and immediately started revising the novel.

What Fang Minghua said made sense. He was indeed a little hasty and always wanted to prove something. He might as well tell a story seriously.

Magical realism is of course good, and it should still be used where it should be used, but it cannot be abused.

During the whole day, apart from picking up and dropping off the children, I simply made a bowl of soybean noodles at noon. I didn’t have to worry about dinner in the evening, as my wife came back to cook it.

At eleven o'clock in the evening, her daughter had gone to bed. Lu Yao was still writing hard in the study. His wife Linda was also preparing to take a rest. She felt strange when she saw her husband, who was preparing to wash up, got into the study and did not come out. So he put on his coat and opened the door. , immediately choked by the strong smell of smoke and kept coughing.

The room was filled with smoke. The husband was holding a cigarette in one hand and writing something on the manuscript paper with a pen in the other hand.

"Lu Yao, you don't want your life!"

Seeing his wife's angry look, Lu Yao hurriedly said: "Don't worry, I will definitely follow the doctor's orders, go to bed on time at 12 o'clock, and never stay up late, okay?"

After hearing her husband's words, Linda's expression softened: "But don't smoke so fiercely."

"Smoking does not damage the liver." Lu Yao defended, and then said excitedly to Linda: "Linda, let me tell you good news. Minghua has decided to publish my novel, and it is in the editor-in-chief column!"

"Look at you. Even when I was writing "The Ordinary World", I wasn't as excited as you."

Linda was annoyed, but she was also very happy. She knew that her husband was anxious about writing during this time.

"The editor-in-chief's recommendation is the flagship column of Yanhe. If your novel is listed, it means that your writing is indeed good." Linda added.

But Lu Yao shook his head, sighed and said:

"After Minghua took charge of the editorial department of "Yanhe" in the past few years, the magazine has undergone tremendous changes, and the works published on it are basically high-quality works.

"Especially the editor-in-chief's recommendation column, every article has set off the literary world, or is excellent in writing, or leads the literary world trend. As you said, being in this column is definitely a first-class work in today's era, but I know that the article I wrote is not even close. ”

"This is Minghua watching the friendship between us. I understand this very well." Lu Yao said lightly.

Linda stood aside, not knowing how to comfort her husband.

"But, I can revise it! Keep revising it until I am satisfied with it! I don't believe that my article, Lu Yao, can't be recommended by the editor based on my real ability!"

"You can definitely get there, but you have to take care of yourself." Linda comforted her softly.

"I know, I suffered a loss once, and I can't lose it again. At twelve o'clock, I go to bed on time!"

Just as Lu Yao was working hard to revise his latest work, dozens of miles away in Bailuyuan, another heavyweight writer in the literary world of Qin Province finally completed the first draft of his work.

Chen Zhongshi.

The year before last, he had vowed to write a book that could be used as a pillow after his death, and now he has initially achieved his goal.

The first draft of "White Deer Plain" was completed.

He lit an old cigarette, rubbed his sore wrists, turned around and left the room to the yard.

The winter night in the Guanzhong Plain is clear and cold, and everything is silent.

His mood was as calm as the night sky. Instead of joy, he felt relieved.

"Tomorrow I can finally go to the city to buy some rice, noodles and meat for the Chinese New Year." Chen Zhongshi smoked a cigarette and muttered to himself, with a happy smile on his wrinkled face.

After the 23rd lunar month of the twelfth lunar month, the employees in the unit were distracted and unmotivated from work, and each was busy preparing for the new year at home.

The same goes for Fang Minghua. Although the Chinese New Year is basically spent at his parents' house, and he doesn't need to buy big or small bags at home, his parents are getting older now, so he has to share in the New Year shopping.

Today is Sunday. It is snowing heavily outside. After lunch at her parents' house, her daughter-in-law Song Tangtang took her son back to her parents' house to reunite with her daughter. Fang Minghua drove out to buy various New Year goods according to his mother's instructions.

Mother Zhang Fenglan was afraid that her son would not worry about missing something, so she made a list for him. In addition to the weight, the unit price was also clearly written down.

She knew that her son had a problem. When he went to the farmer's market to buy things, he never bargained. The vendors paid what they said. As a result, the things he bought were much more expensive than others. This made Zhang Fenglan very angry.

If it hadn't been for the strong wind and heavy snow outside today, I would have gone out and bought it myself.

Despite his mother's numerous warnings, Fang Minghua drove his Mazda and first sent his wife and baby to his father-in-law's house, and then drove to Tanshi Street.

This is the largest non-staple food market in Xijing and even the entire northwest, offering everything from tobacco, wine, meat, eggs, vegetables, rice and noodles. Fang Minghua likes to come here the most, just go around and get it all.

Although it was windy and snowy today, there were so many people inside that it was impossible for a car to get in. Fang Minghua found a place to park his car on the side of the street, and then entered the market carrying a snakeskin bag.

These days, there’s nothing particular about it.

This snakeskin bag was used by my grandpa to store fertilizers, and now it is most suitable for storing vegetables.

He followed the crowd and walked forward. There were various vendors on both sides of the street, and the sounds of selling were very lively.

Fang Minghua didn't understand either. He couldn't tell which store had better meat and fresher vegetables, but it didn't matter. If there were more people at the stall, he would buy from that store for sure.

Just like this, I bought everything according to the list made by my mother. After a while, a snakeskin bag was bulging.

After tying the mouth of the woven bag, Fang Minghua simply put it on his shoulders and walked back, when he suddenly found a familiar figure bargaining with a vendor near a butcher shop.

"Two pieces of butt meat per pound."

"It's too expensive. I bought more or less."

"How much does it cost?"

"10 pounds."

"That's one dollar and ninety-five cents."

"Isn't one dollar good for nine?"

"Okay! It's the Chinese New Year, so let's try to get away with it. Okay!"

"I want this piece, don't be too fat," the middle-aged man said, pointing to a piece of meat.

Fang Minghua recognized it, and it turned out to be Chen Zhongshi, whom he hadn't seen for a long time.

"Teacher Chen! Zhongshi!"

Fang Minghua called out. When Chen Zhongshi heard this, he turned his head and saw that it was Fang Minghua, with a smile on his face.

"Why, are you here to buy new year's goods too?"

"Yes, the Chinese New Year is coming soon."

"Me too. Today I went to the city specifically to buy meat and some rice. My baby loves this." Chen Zhongshi said.

"You still live in your hometown?"

"Yes, always."

"How did you get here?"

"It's snowing today and I can't ride a bike. I came here by shuttle bus."

Seeing that Chen Zhongshi was also carrying a snakeskin bag, Fang Minghua asked, "Have you finished shopping? It's inconvenient to squeeze into the bus with a bag on your back, so I'll take you to the bus station."

Chen Zhongshi knew that Fang Minghua had a car, so he smiled and declined: "I won't bother you anymore, you still have your own business."

"I don't have anything to do. I can drive very fast, it's just a matter of pressing the accelerator."

In this case, Chen Zhongshi was not polite. After buying things, he walked towards the street entrance carrying a snakeskin bag like Fang Minghua.