Chapter 441 440 Youth Pain Literature
This year (1988), on April 5, the state issued a notice stating that the price subsidies for four non-staple food items, including pork, fresh eggs, street vegetables, and sugar, would be changed from covert subsidies to explicit subsidies.
Prices rose accordingly.
Fang Minghua didn't know much else, but he knew that the price of pork on Tanshi Street in Xijing soared from 1.81 kilogram at the beginning of the year to 2.7 yuan, an increase of 50%!
As a result, department stores and shops of all sizes in Xijing were besieged. People in front of the counters waved their hands and rushed to buy everything they bought: if they grabbed it, they would make money, even those faulty refrigerators and electric fans that were missing parts. It has become a hot commodity.
Fang Minghua's mother, Zhang Fenglan, bought 50 packets of washing powder, 50 pounds of salt, and two large barrels of soy sauce and vinegar in one go. She couldn't get it herself, so she called Song Tangtang and asked her to help take her home in a car.
Now listening to Wang Zi, Fang Minghua is not surprised that Liu Fugen and his wife returned to their hometown.
"This is my rent for last year." The girl took out a few more banknotes.
Fang Minghua looked at it but didn't accept it.
"You take care of the yard, and I will waive the rent. You can also use the two rooms in the west wing." Fang Minghua said, taking out the key and handing it to the girl: "But I have a prerequisite."
"I know, take care of the house and plant beautiful flowers!" the girl said with a smile.
Fang Minghua also laughed.
"Uncle Fang, do you think my flowers are pretty?" Wang Zi said again.
"Yeah, it's beautiful." Fang Minghua looked at the flowers all over the courtyard and felt very happy.
It's a pity that I only come here occasionally and can't stay here permanently.
When I go back to Xijing, I will build a similar courtyard house and plant flowers there, which I think will be very effective.
The girl invited Fang Minghua to sit in the room and drink some water, and Fang Minghua agreed.
He walked in and looked around. The room was still very clean and the layout was similar to last year, except that there were more books on the desk than last time.
Zhang Jie's "Heavy Wings", Wang Anyi's "69th Junior High School Students" and "Old Man of the Yellow River", Tie Nian's "Rose Gate" and Fang Minghua's own "Crossing the Guandong", "Minghua Short Stories" and "The Legend of Wukong" .
There is also a stack of Yanhe magazines.
It seems that the girl did listen to her words.
Before leaving last year, Fang Minghua asked her to read more novels by female writers such as Zhang Jie, Wang Anyi, and Tie Nian.
It turns out that the three sexology books "The Interpretation of Dreams", "The Psychology of Love", "The Sorrows of Young Dora" and the "****" have disappeared.
"Have you read all these?" Fang Minghua asked while looking.
"Yeah." The girl nodded.
"Not bad." Fang Minghua praised.
"Uncle Fang, I have read so many books and I am a little confused."
"What doubts are there? Just tell me." Fang Minghua turned around and looked at her.
"I found that these writers have rich experience, especially Wang Anyi. In the novels he wrote, such as this one, "Junior High School Students of the 1969th Class", the protagonist is a little girl named Wenwen's life experience and experience: from Writing from the 1950s to the end of the 1970s, I felt that I was writing about what the author had experienced.”
"Yes, her novel is semi-autobiographical."
"But I can't write it." Wang Zi looked troubled. ‘And the novels you wrote, including those published in Yanhe, are avant-garde ones. I can’t understand some of them. "
My experience and knowledge are not enough.
But Fang Minghua didn't say anything about the girl, but asked: "Have you written anything this year? Let me see.
Wang Zi looked a little shy after hearing this: "I have written some things, but they are not good. Don't laugh at me."
"What are you laughing at? If it's inconvenient, I won't watch it."
"It's convenient. You can sit down first and drink some water."
Wang Zi poured a glass of water for Fang Minghua, then took out a very delicate diary from the pillow and handed it to Fang Minghua.
Fang Minghua looked very serious.
The heroine in the story is a girl who "comes from a broken family, eats chocolate desperately, and is obsessed with rainy days", and the boy she loves, Sai Ning, also has an unhappy childhood like her. These two people live together, and neither can live without the other. They see each other as they see themselves.
It is very similar to Wang Zi's later novel "La La La", except that the writing style is now more childish and the story is much simpler.
But there is already sex, suicide, drugs, and alcohol between the lines.
Oh my god.
Not even 20 years old yet.
"Let me ask you, have you experienced these things?" Fang Minghua's tone was a bit serious, and Fang Minghua asked, pointing to one of the passages.
"No, no." Wang Zi shook his head hurriedly: "Some of these are what I have read in other books, and some are my imagination. I haven't had a boyfriend yet."
"Don't touch these things, they won't do you any good at all. Don't experience these messy things just for the sake of so-called writing."
"Yeah, I know, so how do I write it?"
Fang Minghua pondered for a moment and asked, "Do you watch "Sprouting"?"
"Look, I used to really like watching it, but now I think it's a bit childish." Wang Zi replied.
"The novels published in "Sprouting" generally belong to youth literature, but the content in them is relatively simple." Fang Minghua said.
"Actually, the novel you wrote also belongs to the category of youth literature, but it mainly writes about confusion and hurt. It can be called youth pain literature."
"Youth Pain Literature? What a nice name!" Wang Zi laughed: "You have captured the key points of this novel I wrote!"
"But what you wrote is too dark, too violent, and too erotic. How can this be the youth of boys and girls? The adult world is not as dark as you." Fang Minghua explained patiently.
"I am violent and dark? Look at what the author named Yu Hua wrote." Wang Zi was about to argue but was interrupted by Fang Minghua.
"Don't learn from him. You can't learn it. People without a strong heart can easily get lost in the words they write."
"You said Yu Hua can't?"
"No, I know him."
Wang Zi said and said nothing more.
"You revise it carefully according to what I said, and then you can submit it to "Mengya". " Fang Minghua expressed his opinion.
"Okay, I'll listen to you." Wang Zi said.
"Well, I'll take a look at other rooms, and then I'll go back." Fang Minghua stood up after speaking.
"Uncle Fang, I'll treat you to lunch." The girl greeted enthusiastically.
"It's more than an hour before noon, what are we going to eat?" Fang Minghua said with a smile: "When you get the manuscript fee, you can treat me to dinner if I come to Yanjing."
"It's a deal!"
"Okay."
Fang Minghua agreed, turned around and was about to go, but suddenly remembered something, turned back and looked at the girl: "Wang Zi, how do you feel about working in the hotel? Do you need me to say hello to your General Manager Yu?"
"No, thank you."
"Okay, live alone, be careful." Fang Minghua said and turned away.
Fang Minghua opened other rooms and looked around, and saw that there was no big problem. After saying goodbye to Wang Zi, he left Liuya Hutong.
On the bus back to the General Political Department compound, Fang Minghua thought of what he said to Wang Zi in the morning.
Wang Zi, the Mianmian of later generations, really can't be compared with Yu Hua.
In fact, all the post-70s writers, including Wang Zi, can't be compared with Yu Hua, Chi Zijian, Ge Fei, Su Tong, Bi Feiyu, Mai Jia and other post-60s writers.
Of course, Fang Minghua hopes to be better than the post-80s writers Han Han, Guo Jingming, Yan Ge, Di An, Jiang Fangzhou and others.
When the future generations mention the post-70s writers, especially the female writers, they are called "writing with the body", which is also destroying themselves.
Of course, everything depends on Wang Zi and others.
Having said what should be said, Fang Minghua no longer thinks about it.
Fang Minghua was about to take the afternoon train back to Xijing. At noon, when he was having lunch at his grandfather's house in the General Political Department compound, he received a call from Song Tangtang.
The English translation of "Chuang Guandong" and "Braving the journey to the Northeas" was shortlisted for this year's National Book Critics Circle Award in the United States, and he was invited to New York, the United States, to attend the award ceremony at the end of June.