Chapter 923 Literature of a Village (Finale)
Fang Minghua was a little surprised.
In the 1990s, when Fang Minghua was at the peak of his creation, there were rumors that he might win the Nobel Prize for Literature, and some international organizations even gave odds, but those were just rumors.
After the millennium, the length of Fang Minghua's creations decreased significantly, and these rumors disappeared.
He doesn't care about this.
This award is very evil.
Despite the overwhelming applause these days, who knows that in a few years, the trend will change and I will probably be trolled to death on the Internet.
Unexpectedly, it has already been given this year!
Seeing Fang Minghua's disbelief, Chen Zhongshi took out a piece of letterhead from his briefcase: "This is an official letter from the Swedish Academy."
Fang Minghua took it and looked at it. It was written in three languages: Swedish, English and Chinese. The language was concise and concise. Congratulations to Mr. Fang Minghua for winning the 2008 Nobel Prize for Literature, and respectfully invite you to attend the award ceremony in Stockholm on December 10.
There is also a line of small words that is the reason for the award: "He used his pen to record an era, whether it is serious or popular writing."
"So, is it true? Minghua, do you think we should be three big whites?!" Jia Pingwa said with a smile.
"Yes!" Fang Minghua also had a smile on his face.
Everyone immediately started to set up the table and chairs in the living room, and put the cooked food and dishes they had brought on the table. Fang Minghua took out a bottle of Maotai wine from the room, and the four of them and the driver started eating and drinking together.
Chen Zhongshi was the first to raise his glass: "Our Qin Province literary circle has achieved great results this year. First, Ping Wa's "Qin Opera" won the Mao Dun Literature Award, and then Minghua won the Nobel Prize for Literature. As the chairman of the Writers' Association, my face also shines. Let’s all have a drink!”
"Do it!"
Several people's cups touched together.
The news that Fang Minghua won the Nobel Prize for Literature was quickly reported by the official media and spread all over the country and abroad. His phone calls were almost flooded with congratulations from his friends and colleagues. He had to return to Xijing City from Xiangyugou Village to prevent people from coming to the village to disturb the villagers.
Winter soon arrived, and Song Tangtang found that Fang Minghua was leisurely at home all day, and seemed to have no plans to travel far.
"Minghua, you have to apply for a visa quickly, otherwise it will delay your trip to Sweden to attend the Nobel Prize for Literature award ceremony." Song Tangtang had to remind him.
"Who said I was going?" Fang Minghua said leisurely while drinking tea.
"Why?" Song Tangtang was very surprised.
"Because I'm afraid of being scolded in the future."
"Ah?!"
"Oh, I said it wrong, I meant I will definitely catch a cold in the future."
More than ten years have passed in a flash, and now it is the autumn of 2021, and Fang Minghua is in San Francisco, USA.
At this time, the domestic epidemic is still severe, and entering and exiting the country is a very troublesome matter. This time Fang Minghua overcame many difficulties and rushed to San Francisco to take Li Li back to China.
The Feroli Manor was very lively at this time. Li Li and her friends from San Francisco, Demi, Zhang Qing, Reda Wen, and Phillips, who was once the president of Xijing Investment, all came to see her off.
After graduating with a doctorate in 1988, she came to the United States to teach at San Francisco State University. 33 years later, she finally retired and prepared to return to China.
Daughter Li Xin did not return to China with her mother.
She has lived in the United States since she was a child and has become accustomed to everything here. After receiving a bachelor's degree in literature from Princeton University, he published a series of novels and became a slightly famous writer in the United States.
However, her identity at this time is the president of Ashleypress Publishing House. That is, last year, she took over the position of her mother's best friend, the original old president Demi.
Ashleypress is very different in the American publishing industry. Although it is not as famous as Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster, it is a holy place for literature lovers. It has always been famous for selling serious novels, and a large number of them are pure literature from mainland China. books.
Demi also retired and was chatting with Li Li.
"Demi, when the epidemic is over, you must come to China to play." Li Li said.
"I will definitely go. Lili, we started school together in Oxford. It has been 37 years and we have been together almost all the time. Now that you are leaving suddenly, I really can't bear to leave you." Demi said.
Hearing her best friend's words, Li Li comforted her and comforted her: "We have an ancient Chinese poem: There are close friends in the sea, and we are neighbors as far apart as the world. No matter where I go, I will remember you."
"Me too"
The two women were chatting, and Fang Minghua was also chatting with Phillips.
"Minghua, are you ready to transfer all your assets back to China?" Phillips asked.
Since 2015, Fang Minghua has begun to gradually transfer his assets in the United States, first selling DreamWorks and DreamWorks Animation to NBC Universal for US$6.5 billion.
At the same time, it gradually sold off Xijing Investment’s investments in the U.S. stock market, bonds, and gold. That is, the year before last, it moved the Xijing Investment headquarters to Xiangjiang.
Now hearing what Phillips said, Fang Minghua smiled and said: "That's not right. I still hold shares in Amazon and Nvidia and these two estates."
Fang Minghua also disposed of the manor and ranch in Miami, and now only the two manors in Los Angeles and San Francisco remain, but they were both transferred to Li Xin's name.
In terms of stocks, Amazon and Nvidia each hold 5%, and all other shares, including Microsoft and Apple, have been sold off. On the 2020 Forbes rich list last year, Fang Minghua’s wealth was as high as 205.8 billion U.S. dollars, far surpassing Amazon, which ranked second. CEO Jeff Bezos is left behind.
Most of these assets were transferred back to mainland China, Xiangjiang and Singapore, where there are branches of Xijing Investment.
"Why don't you, Phillips, come with me to Xiangjiang? You continue to be the president of Xijing Investment, and I can rest assured that you can handle things! I will give you an annual salary of US$50 million!" Fang Minghua said.
Phillips shook his head, took a sip of coffee and then said: "Boss, it has been 25 years since I served as your full-time financial advisor in 1996. If I first accepted your invitation to be your personal financial advisor in 1988, It’s been 33 years since I became a financial advisor. I’m tired and old and don’t want to travel around anymore.”
"After you leave, I will also prepare to sell my house in San Francisco, return to my hometown of Chicago, and buy a house in the suburbs, where I will enjoy my remaining years."
Fang Minghua didn't say anything after hearing this.
Yes, they are all old.
The face of Phillips in front of him was covered with wrinkles.
And isn’t it true that I also have gray hair on my temples?
At this time, I suddenly heard that Li Li and her daughter's voices were raised a lot, as if they were arguing about something.
"Mom, I told you a long time ago that I will not get married!"
"Why don't you get married? Are you worried about conflicts with your career? Look at your brother Fang Le and your sister-in-law Zhao Min who were childhood sweethearts. Now they have a happy family, a successful career, and help each other. How wonderful!" Li Li also raised her voice.
really.
Fang Le and Zhao Hongjun's daughter finally got married.
As the saying goes, "A man chases a woman across a mountain and a woman chases a man across the sea." Fang Le couldn't withstand Zhao Min's pursuit. Although Zhao Min was not particularly beautiful, he was well-educated and caring. They entered into a relationship when they were about to graduate from college, and after another eight years, they finally got married together.
After Zhao Min graduated from the University of San Francisco Business School, she did not continue studying, but chose to work. She first worked at DreamWorks Film Company, then at Ashleypress Publishing House as the head of the operations department, and later worked in the financial department of Morgan Stanley on Wall Street. While working, I fell in love with Fang Le to increase our feelings for each other.
Five years later, Fang Le received a doctorate in microelectronics from Stanford University. He led several like-minded classmates back to China to start their own businesses. He used the funds from Xijing Investment to found Lehua Technology in Shanghai and served as the company's CEO, specializing in integrated circuits and semiconductor microelectronics. Design, production and sales of related products.
Zhao Min also returned to China and served as the company's COO.
After ten years of development, Lehua Technology has become a large-scale enterprise integrating chip design and production in China. It has obtained thousands of patents, large and small, and has corporate assets of up to 500 billion yuan.
As the chief operating officer, Zhao Min played an important role. Fang Minghua also felt that his daughter-in-law was very capable, so he appointed her as the president of Xijing Investment to replace Phillips, who was about to retire.
Last year, his son and daughter-in-law gave him another grandson.
In short, he is very satisfied with Fang Le's marriage.
Li Xin seemed unconvinced and said to Li Li: "Mom, you only talk about my brother, why don't you talk about my sister? Look at my sister, what's the point of her marriage? Didn't they get divorced in the end?!"
"You" Li Li opened her mouth, not knowing what to say.
Compared with Fang Le's happy marriage, Fang Rui's marriage was very painful.
She is beautiful, proud, talented, and has a proud family background. As soon as she joined Yandian, she became the target of boys' pursuit.
Soon I fell in love with a tall and handsome boy and got married after graduation. This man has certain acting skills, but he was a scumbag. He cheated on her soon after marriage, and what’s even more frightening is that he even committed domestic violence!
Once when Fang Minghua saw his daughter return to Xijing with a bruised nose and swollen face, he was angry!
He immediately rushed to Yanjing and found someone to give that man a serious beating. For the first time in the domestic entertainment industry, he made a public statement that he would expel this man from the entertainment industry!
If anyone who is short-sighted wants to make a movie or appear on a variety show with this man, Xijing Investment, Shengshi Group and related companies will never cooperate with him!
This man made a fool of himself online and threatened to go to court to sue Fang Minghua for making personal threats, but nothing happened.
In the end, the man had no choice but to go abroad to the United States. He didn't expect that it would be difficult to get involved in the film and television industry here. What made him even more frightened was that Fang Minghua's shadow lingered like a nightmare.
In the end, he died of an inexplicable shooting on the street.
This marriage left a shadow on Fang Rui, so she didn't look for her again after the divorce and remained single.
Now when he heard Li Xin talking about Fang Rui, Fang Minghua couldn't help but sigh.
There are some things that even if you have money you can't do anything about them.
The father is also responsible for his daughter's unfortunate marriage.
Of course Li Li understood his mood. When she saw him like this, she quickly said to her daughter: "What are you talking about? Your sister will definitely find her own happiness again in the future!"
Li Xin said "cut" and said nothing more.
"Okay, Lili, stop arguing. Let him let his daughter grow up." Fang Minghua advised.
Indeed, if the younger daughter doesn’t want to get married, she shouldn’t get married.
Just don't do anything LGBT.
"It's almost time, it's time to leave." Fang Minghua looked at his watch and said, and then asked: "Have everything been safely shipped back to China?"
"Sir, it has been checked out a long time ago." The butler replied respectfully.
Fang Minghua did not bring back any items from his estate and left them all with Li Xin, except for donating them to the Confucius Institute at San Francisco State University. Ten paintings and calligraphy from the Republic of China.
Just this year, the Confucius Institute was forced to close. Fang Minghua immediately asked for the calligraphy and paintings he had donated to the institute,
Everyone said goodbye to Fang Minghua and Li Li, and Li Xin drove her parents to the airport.
Before leaving, Li Li looked at her daughter reluctantly.
"Xinxin, you must take care of yourself when you are alone in the United States."
"Mom, I know, I'm 24 years old this year and I'm no longer a child!" Li Xin's tone was slightly impatient.
Li Li sighed slightly and said nothing more.
Hey, my daughter is like this because she is used to it.
At this time, Fang Minghua took over and said: "Xinxin, your mother is right! Also, when the epidemic is over, you should come back to see your mother often!"
"Okay dad, she is my biological mother, of course I miss you." Li Xin said quickly, and after speaking, she hugged Li Li's neck affectionately.
She still listened to her father's words.
Soon, the two dragged the trolley suitcase into the security check channel and boarded the plane.
Not long after, the plane roared into the sky and disappeared into the clouds.
This time, the end of their voyage was not Yanjing or Shanghai, but Macau.
Li Li retired from the University of San Francisco and returned to China. She immediately received invitations from several universities in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan to hire her as a professor, including her alma mater, Yenching University, where she was a graduate student.
However, she declined and chose the University of Macau to continue her research in comparative literature.
She does not want to return to the country.
In fact, he planned to go to the Chinese University of Hong Kong, but what happened in Hong Kong in the past two years made Fang Minghua feel very uncomfortable. Finally, he discussed with Li Li and chose the University of Macau.
After more than 20 hours of long-distance flight, the plane stopped at Macau International Airport. After passing a series of security checks, Fang Minghua and Li Li dragged their suitcases to the departure hall and saw a young woman waving to them.
"Dad, Aunt Li!"
It turned out to be Zhao Min, the wife of Fang Le, the president of Xijing Investment.
Seeing his daughter-in-law arriving, Fang Minghua showed a smile on his face: "Minmin, just send someone to pick her up at the airport. I even rushed from Xiangjiang to Macau."
"That's not okay, dad. Of course I have to take good care of Aunt Li when she comes back. My mother-in-law called me specifically to give her advice." The mother-in-law Zhao Min mentioned was naturally Song Tangtang, who had retired from the position of president of Shengshi Group a few years ago. Although he came down, he still serves as the chairman of the board of directors of Shengshi Group and is the helmsman of Shengshi Group.
"Where are your parents? How are your health?" Fang Minghua asked with concern as he walked.
"Everything is fine. My mother took care of Mengmeng at home all day, and my father also returned to China."
Fang Minghua said oh and said nothing more.
Mengmeng is his own grandson and Wang Xia's grandson. Basically, Wang Xia takes care of him.
Zhao Hongjun completely resigned from all positions in the Shengshi Group and spent the whole day running around the world. However, the epidemic started to become serious last year, so he quickly returned to China.
The three of them walked out of the terminal hall and got into a Mercedes-Benz. The driver drove them directly to Guia Mountain.
Guia Mountain is located in Wangde Parish, which is a famous wealthy area in Macau. Many wealthy people have purchased villas here.
Li Li's villa is located halfway up the mountain. The manor covers an area of 3,000 square meters. Although it is not as large as the manors in San Francisco and Los Angeles, it is quite good in a place like Macau, where land is precious.
The manor ponds, gardens, tennis courts, swimming pools and houses have both Lingnan flavor and European architectural style.
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After making arrangements for Li Li, Zhao Min returned to Xiangjiang. The villa was fully equipped with housekeepers, drivers, maids, security guards, etc.
If anything happens to Aunt Li, she will arrange for someone to come over immediately. Anyway, Xiangjiang is not far from Macau.
Fang Minghua stayed in Macau for more than a week and returned to Xijing.
After returning to Xijing, he was quarantined in a hotel for half a month. After everything was fine, he returned to his home in Qujiang and basically stayed at home. Nowadays, epidemics break out in the country from time to time. It is not safe to go anywhere, even where he usually stays. Song Tangtang from Shanghai also returned to Xijing to reduce all unnecessary business activities.
The children are working hard outside, and if there is no problem with their own health, that is the greatest support for the children.
But today the couple drove out to watch their daughter's latest play.
The performance took place at the Guohe Theater on Gaoxin Er Road. The couple entered with complimentary tickets. The space inside the theater was not very large and it was a popular small theater format. However, the audience was basically full, and most of them were young people.
Soon, the performance began, it was "Youth".
"Youth" is a novel written by Fang Minghua forty years ago. It mainly tells about the cultural troupe in the 1970s and 1980s. After the work came out, it became very popular. It was adapted into a movie by the famous director Xie Jin and was also adapted by the General Political Repertory Theater. The play was staged, and Fang Minghua was invited to Yanjing to watch it.
Now, Fang Rui has re-adapted it and put it on the stage.
Watching the actors on the stage wearing the 65-style military uniforms and performing on the stage, and the heroine dancing "Ode to Yimeng", Fang Minghua couldn't help but think of those years ago on the field path in southern Xinjiang under the moonlight, wearing the same 65-style military uniforms. Song Tangtang in military uniform dancing alone.
And that song that has been sung for decades:
Red plum blossoms bloom on red rocks
Thousands of miles of frost underfoot
What to be afraid of in the severe cold of Sanjiu
A heart of love opens to the sun and opens to the sun
He couldn't help but turn his head and look at his wife beside him.
Forty years have passed, and youth has passed away.
The girl in the past was no longer young, and she also had some gray hair on her temples.
Song Tangtang was watching the performance seriously. She seemed to notice her husband's gaze, turned her head and smiled slightly: "Look carefully."
"Yeah."
Fang Minghua turned his attention to the stage again, when a pair of warm hands gently held him.
After the performance, Fang Rui took the actors on stage to take a collective curtain call, and the theater burst into warm applause.
Fang Minghua thought that today's young people would not be interested in this period of history, but he did not expect that the audience responded enthusiastically.
After the performance, Fang Minghua and his wife did not disturb their daughter, but drove home.
The car drives on the street.
It's early September now, and the weather is still relatively hot. Fang Minghua is sitting in the back seat, looking out the car window. The sun shines on the buildings on both sides of the street, making it particularly dazzling.
Walking near Bianjia Village, there was still a lot of traffic here. He looked at the scenery outside and suddenly shouted: "Tangtang, stop the car."
"What's wrong?"
Song Tangtang asked, but still slowed down and found a parking space on the side of the road to stop.
"I'm going to sit in the bookstore."
Fang Minghua pointed to a bookstore not far ahead. There was a circle with the word "Demolish" written in a large circle on the wall.
It's the Xuecheng Bookstore.
"Then I'll go home first and leave the car with you." Song Tangtang replied.
"What about you? How to go back?"
"Take the subway."
Fang Minghua didn't say anything, took the car key from Song Tangtang, and walked to the bookstore.
When I walked to the door of the bookstore, I heard a song playing on the speaker inside, with a hoarse man's voice:
You once told me that you will always love me
I understand this thing of love but it will always be what it is
Girl, don’t cry, we are still together
Today's joy will be tomorrow's eternal memory
Luo Dayou "Love Song 1980"
People like to listen to "Love Song 1990", but Lei Xuecheng seems to like playing this song "Love Song 1980" very much.
There were quite a few readers inside, and some were checking in. A girl in a skirt, carrying a backpack, stood by the bookshelf, stretched out her scissor hands, and smiled sweetly at the camera.
Lei Xuecheng was sitting at the table in the coffee area, drinking tea, looking at the girl taking the photo, without saying anything, with a smile on his face.
He saw Fang Minghua coming in again and said, "Why are you free to come here today?"
"I just finished watching a play and I came by here to have a seat." Fang Minghua smiled and sat across from him.
Lei Xuecheng picked up a teacup and poured him a cup of tea.
"How is business?" Fang Minghua took a sip and asked casually.
"It's okay, but I'm going to close the bookstore."
"Is it because this place is going to be demolished?" Fang Minghua looked through the window glass and saw a big word "demolished" written on the wall across the street, and continued:
"You can change places. Xuecheng Bookstore can be said to be the oldest private bookstore in Xijing City. It is a check-in spot for famous Internet celebrities. It is a pity to close it."
"There's no way. My daughter doesn't like this store and doesn't want to run it. As for me, I've been here for thirty years. Now I'm old and tired, so I just want to walk around. I want one after the epidemic is over. If you go to LS and then go to Xinjiang, if you don’t leave, you won’t be able to leave in a few years.”
Hey.
Fang Minghua sighed slightly in his heart, he had one less place to go.
Lei Xuecheng seemed unwilling to talk about this matter anymore, so he changed the subject: "Minghua, have you watched Jia Zhangke's latest movie "Swimming to the Blue Sea"?"
Fang Minghua nodded.
He rarely goes to the cinema now, but he went to see this movie made by Jia Zhangke.
This is a documentary specially shown in major theaters of independent theaters in China.
Just in 2015, Fang Minghua's Xijing Investment bought the independent theater chain of Shengshi Film and Television for 4 billion yuan, becoming one of the eight famous theater chains in China, specializing in screening some niche non-commercial films.
Of course it's a loss.
But Fang Minghua didn't care.
Chinese Literature Award Organizing Committee, Rongshuxia Online Literature Company, Xijing Art Museum, and several companies and organizations under Fang Minghua’s personal name, which one is not losing money?
There is another reason. Jia Zhangke’s documentary is to tell their stories.
Just the year before last, dozens of writers came to a small village in Fenyang, Shanxi Province, to talk about country and city, literature and reality. The film takes this as a prelude and tells the past events in China since 1949 in 18 chapters like a symphony.
The three writers Jia Pingwa, Yu Hua, and Liang Hong became the most important narrators of the film. Together with the daughter of the late writer Ma Feng, they re-examined individuals and families in the changing society, forming a film that spans 70 years. The history of Chinese spirituality.
It is said that the original name of this movie was "Literature of a Village". Later, after Jia Zhangke heard Yu Hua tell a story, he changed the name to "Swim Until the Sea Turns Blue", which seemed more poetic.
However, Fang Minghua still likes the original name.
"Literature of a Village".
Behind the portraits of writers of an era is a spiritual history, and all of this starts from the countryside.
The chat between the two continued.
"I heard that Jia Zhangke originally invited you to be the protagonist of the movie?" Lei Xuecheng asked again.
"Yes, Jia Zhangke approached me and hoped that I could play the leading role in the film, but I refused and recommended Yu Hua."
"I think it's better for you to go. Your eloquence is first-rate." Lei Xuecheng said.
"What can I talk about?" Fang Minghua said with a smile: "I wrote a book twenty years ago called "Twenty Years of My Literature". I have said everything that needs to be said, and it would be repetitive to say it again. As for the past ten years, what can we say about literature? ”
Lei Xuecheng fell into silence.
Fang Minghua finished his tea, sat for a while and then left, driving around Xijing City aimlessly.
Unknowingly, the car drove to Jianguo Road, and the "Yanhe" magazine was still here.
Fang Minghua hasn't been here for a long time.
As the car passed by the entrance of the magazine, he saw a familiar figure, an old security guard in uniform sitting at the gate.
It's Zhang Baofu.
So he parked the car across the street, got out of the car, crossed the road, and shouted toward the door: "Baofu!"
Zhang Baofu also saw Fang Minghua, with a smile on his face.
"Brother Minghua, are you here to do something?"
"No, just hang around." Fang Minghua walked to the gate. Zhang Baofu quickly moved a chair out of the guard room and handed him a cigarette. Fang Minghua declined with a smile.
The two of them just sat at the door of the guard room.
"Baofu, you are the chief of the security department of the magazine, and you actually came to see the gate?" Fang Minghua asked curiously.
"I gave up my position three years ago and let young people do it. As for me, I have nothing to do, so I continue to look at the gate." Zhang Baofu said with a smile: "To be honest, I quite like this job. Besides, I will retire after work today.”
"Retirement?"
"Brother Minghua, I just finished the formalities this morning. I remember you are one year older than me. Are you retired too?" Zhang Baofu asked again.
"Yes, the procedures were completed last year."
"Time flies so fast. I remember when we first met you, we were still young." Zhang Baofu said with emotion.
Yes
Fang Minghua looked around, and his thoughts seemed to go back to that day many years ago.
Cicadas were chirping on the plane trees outside the gate, and there was a bicycle repair stall on the opposite street. There were also occasional vendors pushing bicycles and wearing straw hats selling popsicles.
I was sitting at the gate talking and laughing with a simple and honest young man, and stopped a boy from the Western Polytechnic University who rushed in with a poem manuscript to see the editor-in-chief.
However, that was more than forty years ago.
(Complete the book.)
(End of chapter)