Literary Master 1978

Listening to Han Suyin's question, Lin Chaoyang was about to say a few words of humility when Mr. Fei Yimin, the president of "Ta Kung Pao" laughed and said: "Mr. Lin is now a leading figure in the younger generation of mainland literature! Ms. Han, this You are so ignorant!"

The first half of Fei Yimin's sentence not only praised Lin Chaoyang, but also pointed out his fame. The second half of his sentence was ridiculing, and at the same time, he also came to Han Suyin's rescue.

Therefore, after hearing this, Han Suyin cast a grateful glance at Fei Yimin and said to him: "Then you have to give me a good introduction."

Just as Fei Yimin was about to speak, Lin Chaoyang quickly waved his hand and said, "President Fei Miaozan, I just wrote a few novels, and I was lucky enough to gain recognition from some peers and readers."

Ye Junjian on the side laughed loudly and said: "Chaoyang, being humble is a good thing, but being too modest is pride."

After saying this, he said to Han Suyin: "President Fei is right. This is the most powerful and famous new generation writer in our country."

Fei Yimin added: "Mr. Lin's "The Death of Van Gogh" was also published in Xiangjiang and was well received."

Everyone suddenly praised Lin Chaoyang, which made him feel flattered and Han Suyin was surprised.

She has very little contact with China now. This time she happened to be back in Xiangjiang for vacation, and she happened to attend today's banquet. She didn't expect that the son-in-law of a classmate from Yan University whom she met by chance at the banquet was actually such an outstanding young writer.

"Excuse my stupidity!" Han Suyin apologized to Lin Chaoyang, and Lin Chaoyang responded politely.

She heard people praise Lin Chaoyang so highly that she was inevitably curious and asked about some of Lin Chaoyang's creations.

Under such circumstances, Lin Chaoyang naturally couldn't boast, so Xiao Jun, the team leader, took the initiative to step forward and grandly introduce his creative resume to everyone.

After Xiao Jun introduced Lin Chaoyang’s creative resume, he emphasized:

"Since Comrade Chaoyang entered the literary world, he has won several national literary awards, and his creations have always been at the forefront of the literary world.

If you really think about it, we people are all ‘unearthed cultural relics’, and in the future, China’s literary world will still have to look at young people like them! "

Among the guests from Hong Kong present today, those who know something about Lin Chaoyang are those from Xinhua News Agency and Ta Kung Pao. Except for a few others who have heard or watched "The Death of Van Gogh", the rest He didn't know much about Lin Chaoyang.

Lin Chaoyang spoke calmly and was gentle, but as a young man, he originally had little presence at the banquet, but now he was praised by several old comrades, making everyone present look at him with admiration.

Several young and middle-aged writers in the delegation couldn't help but feel a bit envious in their hearts when they saw Lin Chaoyang suddenly becoming the focus of the banquet.

Speaking of which, everyone is a junior in the group, but Lin Chaoyang is the only one who is so valued by the seniors. Who can not envy him?

With the support of Xiao Jun and others, Lin Chaoyang's attention at the banquet increased a lot, and Fei Yimin even specially dragged him to have a drink with everyone.

When drinking alone, it is inevitable to exchange a few words.

When it was his turn to clink glasses with Jin Yong, Lin Chaoyang said politely, "My family and I are all fans of your books. Unfortunately, your works are not imported into the country. All we read are pirated copies, and we have to apologize to you."

Jin Yong squinted his eyes and smiled: "Mr. Lin is serious. It is an honor for me to be liked by you and your family. The situation in the mainland is quite special, and there is nothing we can do about it. How about this, I will give you a set later. How about the book?”

"You are too kind..."

Lin Chaoyang declined a few words, but seeing that Jin Yong was so kind and unable to refuse, he agreed to accept his gift.

During the visit, the delegation must be disciplined. Gifts cannot be accepted randomly, but there is no problem in donating books. As long as they are not books with politically sensitive issues, members of the delegation can accept them.

This was only known by WS staff after Lin Chaoyang arrived at the Xinqiao Hotel.

“You may not know that our Ming Pao newspaper also published a review of your book ‘The Death of Van Gogh’,” Jin Yong said.

Hearing this, Lin Chaoyang was slightly surprised.

"Ming Pao" is not the first-class newspaper in Hong Kong, but it is the most popular newspaper among the elites. Otherwise, Jin Yong would not have become one of the media tycoons in Hong Kong by relying on this business.

Lin Chaoyang did not expect that "The Death of Van Gogh" would receive such treatment after it was published in Xiangjiang.

After listening to Jin Yong's words, he thanked him again.

The banquet ended in a friendly and harmonious atmosphere. When the delegation boarded the bus, the guests going to Xiangjiang waved goodbye.

Xiao Jun smiled and said to Lin Chaoyang: "While eating, I heard Hu Ju and Fei Yimin talking about your novel "The Death of Van Gogh". It seems that your novel is indeed very popular in Xiangjiang!"

Lin Chaoyang suddenly understood. No wonder Xiao Jun would stand up and introduce himself ceremoniously. It turned out that he felt that he was somewhat famous in Xiangjiang, so he pulled him out to show his appearance.

"My novel was only published by a university press and didn't sell much."

After chatting for a while, the bus returned to the hotel and everyone returned to their rooms.

The next morning, the delegation was invited to visit Xiangjiang Zhuangshi Group. They were received by Zhuang Chongwen, chairman of Zhuangshi Group.

As soon as Zhuang Zhongwen saw Xiao Jun, he asked about Xiao Hong in a very gossipy manner. The members of the delegation suddenly looked strange. They did not expect that he, a businessman, would also care about the writer's gossip.

Zhuang Chongwen caught a glimpse of everyone's expressions and laughed loudly: "Don't look at me now as a businessman full of copper odor. Back then, I was also a literary young man. Mr. Lu Xun even rode on my skateboard back then!"

Zhuang Zhongwen looked proud when he talked about the past. Everyone was surprised to hear him talk about Mr. Lu Xun, and Zhuang Zhongwen explained it again.

It turned out that Zhuang Zhongwen had studied at Jimei Navigation Fisheries School founded by Mr. Tan Kah Kee in his early years. Mr. Lu Xun was teaching at Xiamen University at that time and had given them lectures at the school.

Everyone felt a little close to Zhuang Zhongwen after listening to his relationship with Mr. Lu Xun.

After visiting Zhuangshi Group, Zhuang Zhongwen arranged a banquet for the delegation.

During the period, Lin Chaoyang went to the bathroom. Zhuang Zhongwen was standing next to him. The old comrade stood for a while without any movement. Lin Chaoyang was afraid that he would be embarrassed. After finishing, he quickly shook the thing and went to wash his hands.

When he bent down, the jade peace buckle on his neck slipped to his armpit, so Lin Chaoyang took it out first and swung it on his chest.

Lin Chaoyang bought this peace locket at a trust store for more than 50 yuan. It was a product from the late Qing Dynasty. At that time, jade was popular among the nobles and jade products were all the rage.

Lin Chaoyang bought it because the texture of the peace locket was as clear as water and its charm was charming.

It was more like a toy than a guarantee of safety.

He washed his hands and dried them. He was about to put the peace locket back on his chest. Zhuang Zhongwen, who had just come out of the water, smiled and greeted him. He glanced at the peace locket in his hand and a strange color flashed in his eyes.

"Mr. Lin's peace locket is a good thing. What's its origin?"

Lin Chaoyang shook his head, "It doesn't have any origin, but the quality is better."

Zhuang Zhongwen smiled and nodded, "The quality is indeed good, as clear as water, clear and generous. It's a pity that it has no origin. If it was something worn by a prince or princess, it would be worth at least hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong dollars here."

The past ten years have been a period of economic boom in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Collecting is popular in prosperous times. In the context of economic prosperity, many celebrities have a preference for collecting antiques, artworks and precious jewelry. Jade is one of the favorite collections of some wealthy people in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

There was a period of time in later generations when domestic jade was hyped up to sky-high prices, which was also driven by Hong Kong and Taiwan.

In Hong Kong today, the income of ordinary working class people is generally between three to five thousand Hong Kong dollars. Hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong dollars is a huge sum, not to mention for Lin Chaoyang from the mainland.

Zhuang Zhongwen said this but saw that Lin Chaoyang's expression was normal, without any change.

He smiled and said, "I'm sorry, we businessmen always like to use money to measure value."

Lin Chaoyang smiled and said, "You're joking. Who doesn't like money? It's a pity that my peace locket has no origin, otherwise I can make a fortune."

He said that the peace locket has no origin but was just a humble remark. It does have a history, and it's not small. This jade peace locket was given by Emperor Daoguang to his eldest daughter, Princess Duanmin Gulun.

But Lin Chaoyang didn't plan to cash it. He came out for an interview. He couldn't explain why he suddenly had such a large sum of money.

Seeing Lin Chaoyang's relaxed face and humorous tone, although he said he wanted to make a fortune, his eyes were clear and there was no desire at all. Zhuang Zhongwen couldn't help but look at him differently.

"Mr. Lin likes jadeite?"

"It's not that I like it, I just have a little hobby of collecting. I collect some antiques, calligraphy and paintings."

Listening to Lin Chaoyang's words, Zhuang Zhongwen came to talk about sex and pulled him to talk about his collection experience.

Lin Chaoyang noticed that when he was chatting with Zhuang Zhongwen, the eyes of the WS staff accompanying him would linger on him from time to time.

The two chatted for a while, and Zhuang Zhongwen said: "Mr. Lin is much better at antiques than I am."

Zhuang Zhongwen also has a hobby of collecting antiques, but a busy man like him can't collect things by himself, and his eyesight is limited, and the money he spends on collecting is much more expensive than ordinary people.

Lin Chaoyang said politely, and Zhuang Zhongwen invited him again, "If you have time this time, you can come to my house and appreciate my collections."

"Thank you Mr. Zhuang for your kindness, but it's a pity that our itinerary is relatively fixed this time."

Zhuang Zhongwen smiled and said, "I understand, I understand. We will have the opportunity to communicate with each other again in the future."

It was almost three o'clock in the afternoon when the banquet ended. There were no other exchange activities today. Seeing that it was still early, several young people in the delegation suggested to Xiao Jun, the head of the delegation, to go out for a walk.

Xiao Jun discussed with the WS staff for a while and agreed to everyone's proposal, but they could only go shopping together.

Lin Chaoyang had no interest in participating in group activities, but he thought that he would definitely bring some gifts back to his family this time, so he took this opportunity to go shopping.

The last day of their trip was free time, and if they rushed to buy things on that day, they would inevitably be in a hurry.

Before leaving the hotel, Lin Chaoyang told Xiao Jun that he wanted to go to the Bank of China to withdraw some money, so Xiao Jun sent Jin Ying and Li Guowen to accompany him.

Lin Chaoyang's foreign exchange was in his account at the Bank of China. He went to the bank and took out all 6,600 Hong Kong dollars. Anyway, these foreign exchange were not used normally, so he might as well take this opportunity to spend it well and bring more things back to his family.

Since 1969, the banknotes issued by the Hong Kong government have stopped circulating. The current currency issuance in Hong Kong is issued by HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank, with the largest denomination of 1,000 yuan.

The money Lin Chaoyang took out was all 100 yuan in denominations, stacked together in a small stack, not thick, but still surprised Jin Ying.

"Chaoyang, where did you get so many Hong Kong dollars?"

After she finished speaking, she realized that she had asked a stupid question, "By the way, your novel has been published in Xiangjiang. Is this the royalties?"

"Yes. I kept more than 6,000 yuan at that time, and it happened to come in handy this time."

"You want to spend all this money?" Jin Ying was surprised again.

"It's rare to go out and bring something back to your family, otherwise the money will be useless."

Lin Chaoyang's understatement made Jin Ying and Li Guowen envious.

"That's great. With so many Hong Kong dollars, you should be able to buy a lot of things, right?"

"It depends on what you buy. If you use this money to buy gold, it may not be as big as your finger." Lin Chaoyang said jokingly.

Jin Ying couldn't help but burst into laughter when she heard this, "You are still rich, so you came to Xiangjiang to buy gold!"

"Comrade Jin Ying, don't you know this? Gold in Xiangjiang is cheaper than in the mainland." Lin Chaoyang said.

Jin Ying was surprised, "Is it cheaper than ours?"

She thought that prices in Xiangjiang were high, so everything was expensive. She didn't expect that the price of gold here was actually lower than in China.

Seeing the two of them talking about gold with great interest, Li Guowen couldn't help but say, "Do you really want to buy gold?"

Jin Ying and Lin Chaoyang looked at each other and laughed. Although gold is good, its practicality is too low. You must bring something useful back.

The three of them went to join the large group and wandered outside until dinner time, but no one bought anything.

There is no other reason than that things are too expensive.

A bowl of noodles costs HKD 10.8, and the subsidy for everyone's visit is only HKD 80, which is not enough even if you want to buy some decent gifts.

Several people in the delegation went out of their way to exchange some Hong Kong dollars before coming. Everyone was earning tens to hundreds of Hong Kong dollars, and even after shopping for a long time, they couldn't bring themselves to buy anything.

After strolling around the Harbor City in Tsim Sha Tsui, everyone had lost the excitement they had when they first arrived, and felt depressed due to the price of goods in a capitalist society.

Walking outside the mall, Lin Chaoyang pointed to the huge poster hanging outdoors.

"This trip is not in vain, you can see Miss Xiangjiang!"

Everyone looked up and saw on the facade of Harbor City, a girl with a face full of collagen, fashionable clothes, bright makeup, a hairpin on one finger, and a charming expression.

That was Maggie Cheung, the first runner-up of Miss Hong Kong and the most photogenic girl selected from the Miss Xiangjiang beauty pageant that just concluded.

Her poster attracted the attention of many Xiangjiang citizens and members of the delegation.

Capitalism is different!