Chapter 826 Old Friends Reunion
Bei Dao was wearing a windbreaker and had a thin figure. He was chatting with two middle-aged men.
He was a little surprised when he saw Fang Minghua greeting him, but a smile immediately appeared on his face.
"Are you coming to the book festival?" Bei Dao asked.
"Yes, at the invitation of Heinemann Publishing House." Fang Minghua briefly explained his situation.
Bei Dao introduced Fang Minghua to two white people next to him. It turned out that one was Bei Dao's colleague at Durham University and the other was a famous local writer.
After exchanging a few words, the two white men left, leaving Fang Minghua and Bei Dao alone chatting.
"Teacher Bei Dao, when did you come to the UK?" Fang Minghua asked.
“Not long after I met you last time in Los Angeles, it was not interesting to stay in the United States. Durham University happened to send a letter inviting me to be a substitute teacher in their school, so I went to their school as a visiting scholar. The lectures in the Chinese Department mainly focus on modern Chinese poetry," Bei Dao replied.
“Oh, are you okay here?”
"Okay, actually, for people like me, it's the same everywhere. It's been 11 years since I went abroad in 1989," Bei Dao said, with a bit of melancholy on his face.
“Want to return to China?”
“It would be a lie to say you don’t want to.” Bei Dao sighed softly: “In these years when I was abroad, I rarely wrote poems, mostly prose. , writing about the people and things I encountered while wandering overseas.”
Hearing this, Fang Minghua couldn’t help but think of Bei Dao’s popular passage:
We had dreams at that time, about literature. About love, about traveling across the world. Nowadays, when we drink late at night, when the glasses touch each other, it is the sound of broken dreams. ”
In fact, this is not a poem, but a sentence from "A Visitor from Poland" in his collection of essays "The Blue House".
"Then you go back." Fang Minghua said.
"How can it be so easy? Minghua, I guess you probably know my situation. I can't go back, hey." At this point, Bei Dao sighed deeply again.
"Teacher Bei Dao, give up some of your ideas. You are a scholar and poet. There is no need to be so closely entangled with politics." Fang Minghua advised.
Bei Dao fell into silence.
"Okay, let's not talk about this." Bei Dao changed the subject: "Minghua, do you know Li Hongying?"
"Yes, I led a workshop in Luyuan in 1987, Li Hongying is a workshop participant.”
"No wonder she calls you Teacher Fang." Bei Dao smiled: "Last year, our European poets had a gathering in London. She attended, and I didn't know about her relationship with you."
"Li Hongying is here London?" Fang Minghua asked.
Since Li Hongying got married and returned to China to visit Fang Minghua once in 1995, the two have never been in contact again. Fang Minghua only knew that she was working in London with her husband, but it was unclear where she was.
Bei Dao nodded after hearing this.
"It was in London. I was invited to her home."
"Do you have her contact information?" Fang Minghua became interested.
It is also a joy to see old friends in a foreign country.
Bei Dao told Fang Minghua Li Hongying’s contact information, and the two chatted for a while before leaving.
Fang Minghua saw Bei Dao again seven years later, in Xiangjiang.
In October 2001, Bei Dao returned to China to attend the funeral for his father.
In 2002, it announced its withdrawal from Human Rights in China.
In 2007, Bei Dao received a letter of appointment from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. In August, Bei Dao officially moved to Hong Kong to reunite with his family.
Fang Minghua left Edinburgh the next morning, and still took the train to London. He checked into the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. At noon, he went to a restaurant for a simple meal. When he returned to the hotel, he followed the instructions Called the phone number Bei Dao gave.
Soon the call was answered, and a woman's voice came from the other side, with a standard London accent.
"MayIaskwho'scalling"?
"Is it Hongying? I am Fang Minghua." Of course it was in Chinese.
"Teacher Fang? Have you come to the UK?!" Li Hongying on the other end of the phone was surprised and happy, and immediately switched to Chinese.
"Yes, I am in London and have just attended the Edinburgh Book Festival." Fang Minghua briefly stated the purpose of his visit: "I met Bei Dao at the book festival and he said you live in London. .”
"Yes, I am in London now. You are welcome to be my guest."
"Okay, tell me the address."
Li Hongying told him how to get there, and Fang Minghao changed his clothes and got off. hotel, and then take the subway.
Li Hongying is not in the city, but lives in a place called Moreton on the outskirts of London. This is already considered a countryside, but Fang Minghua arrived here within five minutes of walking from the subway station.
This street is called Hazel Street. It is very quiet with two rows of willow trees. He saw a bright blue two-story building in the distance, which was particularly eye-catching.
Fang Minghao discovered that the British like to paint their houses in light pink. This small blue building felt a bit out of place. No wonder Li Hongying said on the phone that when she entered Hazel Street, she saw a blue house.
There is a garden in front of the house. Before Fang Minghua knocked on the door, the door opened and Li Hongying came out with a happy face.
"Teacher Fang, please come in quickly." Fang Minghua followed in. It was a typical British living room, with fabric sofa, coffee table with thin metal legs, and simple velvet sofa, which felt very comfortable.
It seems that Li Hongying is living well in London.
"Teacher Fang, do you want coffee or tea?" Li Hongying greeted.
"Whatever."
"Well, let's have afternoon tea."
Li Hongying walked into the kitchen and soon brought two cups of black tea and There was a plate of canapés and English muffins.
"Thank you" the two chatted while drinking.
"Professor Zhao went to school?" Fang Minghua asked.
Li Hongying’s husband is Zhao Yiheng. He followed Li Hongying to Xijing in 1996. Fang Minghua met him once and he was a professor at the University of London in the UK.
After hearing Fang Minghua’s words, Li Hongying’s face, which was originally very happy, turned gloomy.
“We are divorced.”
“I’m sorry.”
"It's nothing, that's all in the past."
Of course, Fang Minghua couldn't ask the other party the reason for the divorce, so he quickly led the topic to literature.
"Hong Ying, at the Edinburgh Book Festival, I also saw that your novel "The Hungry Daughter" entered the list of WATFRSTONS, the largest book chain in the UK."
"Yes "
When it comes to literature, Li Hongying's mood improved significantly: "Thank you for cultivating me during my lectures at Lu Academy."
"It's hard to say, it's your own efforts." Fang Minghua was very humble: "Among the students in the workshop, you are very smart and diligent."
"But you are not as good as Yu Hua. This guy is the best in China The literary world is booming, winning the Mao Dun Award, the Chinese Literature Award, and the Grinzana Carver Literary Award in Italy. His English translation of "Alive" is also very popular in the UK," Li Hongying said with a smile.
"Don't compare with that guy, he was born to write novels." Fang Minghua said: "Do you have any contact with him?"
"Mainly contact Chen Hong, and occasionally write letters "Li Hongying replied: "Now that Chen Hong has become a housewife, I admire her for taking care of her family wholeheartedly."
"Can you do it?" Fang Minghua asked.
"No, I can't do it."
Is this one of the reasons why the two divorced?
Fang Minghua didn’t ask.
The two chatted about the classmates in the workshop. There were more than 20 people in the class, and not many of them were actually engaged in literary writing.
Liao Runbo was still in his hometown in Guizhou Province and became a leading figure in the literary world of Guizhou Province. However, Qian Yuliang and He Liwei both left the literary world and entered the system to become officials.
Think about it, that was already 13 years ago.
“Time flies so fast,” Li Hongying sighed.
Indeed.
At that time, everyone was in their twenties and in their prime.
We are all middle-aged now, and Fang Minghua is already forty.
No confusion at forty.
In the afternoon, Li Hongying stayed with Fang Minghua for dinner again, and then Fang Minghua left and returned to the hotel.
On the subway back to the city center, Fang Minghua looked at the flickering lights outside and fell into deep thought.
When I came to London this time, I didn’t expect to see some old friends.
James Kou, Bei Dao, Li Hongying.
It’s not just for literature, I just want to meet and catch up on old times.
He suddenly felt.
Literature is really nothing to talk about.
In the new millennium, literature is getting further and further away and becoming fainter.
Forget it, don’t think about this anymore.
Fang Minghua originally planned to buy a plane ticket to leave London for the United States the next day, but he received a call from Li Li saying that she was coming to London to attend an academic conference, so he decided to wait for Li Li to come to London before the two of them returned to the United States. .
(End of this chapter)