Chapter 79 Abuse of public power for personal gain

Why is this story so good? The reason is simple. The original movie was a tribute film, released in 1999, and the actors were from both sides of the Taiwan Strait. The actor who played Fang Zhenjin was the veteran Taiwanese actor Jin Shijie. Twenty years after the release of this movie, we still often see him in movies and TV series.

Mei Hua, a descendant of the Mei family, is played by Jacklyn Wu, while Jordan Chan plays Wu Shaolong, a descendant of the Long family. Lang Xiong, who performed the most classic cooking scene in Chinese-language films in Ang Lee's "Eat Drink Man Woman", plays Li Lang, a descendant of Li Yishao.

This film earned tens of millions at the box office at the time. You have to know that the annual box office champion at that time was only more than 30 million. It was really not easy for a tribute film to get such a box office.

What was 1999? Hong Kong had already returned to China, and Macau was about to return to China. It was of great significance to make a movie about the joint efforts of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong to revive the Meilong Town Restaurant.

Gao Jialin moved this story to the present day, and there is almost no incongruity. The only thing that needs attention is how to deal with the process of finding the descendants of these families. After all, it is still difficult to get out now.

He did not completely copy the original plot. The quality of this movie is good, but it cannot be called excellent. The cooking scenes are not as impressive as "Eat Drink Man Woman" and "Golden House", and the plot is not very smooth.

So Gao Jialin made some changes. In the movie, Li Lang, the old man who instructed Fang Zhenjin, was not from Macau. Gao Jialin felt that it would be better and more meaningful to change it to four people coming from four different places.

The situations of the descendants of the three families are different, and Gao Jialin also needs to make modifications according to the current situation. Otherwise, if the work is copied from the 1990s, readers who are familiar with the situation will definitely feel uncomfortable.

"I will tell the editor-in-chief the framework of this story tomorrow, and I guarantee with my head that he will agree! You should start writing as soon as possible. As soon as you finish, I will convince the editor-in-chief to reserve the best layout for you!" Niu Xinliang no longer cared about the delicious food in front of him, his mind was full of this story.

"You said yes before you even finished listening to the outline?" Gao Jialin looked at Niu Xinliang with a smile.

"Need I say more about what's next? It must be that the descendants of the four families will revive Meilong Town and re-host the Victory Banquet! Hey, the Victory Banquet is a good name. Driving out the Japanese is a victory, and the reunification of the motherland is also a victory!"

Thinking of this, Niu Xinliang became even happier. Last year, it was decided to take back Hong Kong, and this year a work reflecting the reunification of the motherland will be released. As long as the quality is a little better, there will definitely be a chance to win a big prize.

"Mengya" has not yet published a work that won the Mao Dun Literature Prize. Perhaps this is an opportunity.

"Write, write quickly!" Niu Xinliang urged impatiently. If Gao Jialin didn't have to go to school, he would have wanted to tie Gao Jialin up and take him back to No. 675 Julu Road, lock him up in the manuscript revision dormitory, and release him when he finished writing.

Gao Jialin leaned back and spread his hands, "I can't write."

Phew, Niu Xinliang almost spat out a mouthful of blood. You gave me such a wonderful outline, I can't wait to see the finished article now, but you told me that I can't write it? This is not the way to tease people, right?

"What did you say you can't write?" Niu Xinliang's eyes were red.

"I can't write it now. I'm a student from the mountains of northern Shaanxi. How can I know what Hong Kong, Macau and Formosa are like? I've only been eating delicious food with you for a year. How can I write about the essence of a victory banquet?" Gao Jialin asked back with confidence.

"This" Niu Xinliang was stuck, it seemed to be true.

"But just because I can't write now doesn't mean I can't write in the future. If you want me to write it quickly, you have to take me out to eat more delicious food, tell me more about the art of cooking and tasting food, and include anecdotes and stories about the food industry. Once I have accumulated enough, I can write about the Victory Banquet!"

"I can't go to Hong Kong, Macau, and Formosa, but there are many people from these places in Shanghai now, right? Please invite a few of them to come over, and we can sit together for a meal and chat. You can also find me some local newspapers, magazines, and books. I will study them carefully, and I think I can write about the lives of those descendants in a realistic way, right?"

It would be a pity not to use such a good opportunity for personal gain. Under the pretext of preparing for writing, Gao Jialin can not only eat and drink all over Shanghai, but also get in touch with people from these places. If he encounters the right opportunity, he can also earn foreign exchange through them! What's the point of just making money in China? Going abroad to earn foreign exchange is called ability! Gao Jialin was not satisfied with killing three birds with one stone, he wanted to get four or five.

Niu Xinliang looked embarrassed. "Eating is no problem. As long as you have time, I will accompany you. Even if we finish eating in Shanghai, we can still go to Suzhou or Nanjing. We will leave on Saturday and come back on Sunday. As for reading foreign books and contacting foreign people, this is not something I can decide."

Gao Jialin took out a stack of papers from his bag and said, "I have already written the outline. You can show it to the editor-in-chief. If he is not satisfied, you can just pretend that I have not said anything today. If he likes it, then we can talk about other things."

"That's fine. I'll just hand it in and let the editor-in-chief have a headache! I have no say in this matter anyway." Thinking of this, Niu Xinliang felt relieved. I'm just an ordinary editor. All I have to do is hand it in. The boss still has to decide what to do.

After that, the two of them could finally have a good meal, but Niu Xinliang's mind was still full of the story Gao Jialin told him. While eating, he told Gao Jialin the history of the Meilongzhen Restaurant and various anecdotes about the Shanghai food scene in the Republic of China, hoping that these would help with the novel.

The next day, as soon as the editor-in-chief came in, Niu Xinliang went to him with the outline. The editor-in-chief, like him, slammed the table excitedly when he saw that the three descendants came from Hong Kong, Macau, and Formosa respectively, and said, "Great, this story is simply too good!"

After reading it, he picked up the phone on the table and said, "I'll call Jialin and ask him to start writing immediately. If necessary, we can help him ask for leave from school!"

"Editor-in-chief, I can't write it." Niu Xinliang poured a basin of cold water over him.

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"Why can't you write?" The editor-in-chief was completely disappointed.

"Without enough accumulation, I can write an outline, but I can't fill in the details."

Niu Xinliang embellished Gao Jialin's words yesterday and relayed them to the editor-in-chief, who fell silent. He definitely wanted this novel, but the topic Gao Jialin posed did make him feel embarrassed.

The editorial department had helped writers contact units to arrange for them to take up positions and introduced relevant people to help them understand the situation, but those were local matters and would at most involve other provinces. Now it even involves overseas, which is difficult to deal with.

He couldn't bear to give up on him, but he couldn't make up his mind to agree to him. After thinking it over again and again, the editor-in-chief said, "Xiao Niu, go inform the other leaders, and we'll have a meeting to study this carefully."

(End of this chapter)