Chapter 557: Trip to Hong Kong
Cheng Zaochun gave the task of introducing Liang Fengyi's works to China to Lin Weimin. For this purpose, he had to make a special trip to Hong Kong to meet with the leaders of the New H Society and Liang Fengyi.
Two days later, he set off for Hong Kong.
Coming to Hong Kong again after several years, Lin Weimin had no intention of wandering around. He first met comrades from the New H Society at the liaison office, and then met Liang Fengyi through his introduction.
Liang Fengyi's life is very legendary. She is the only daughter in the family since childhood. She comes from a wealthy family and has excellent grades after going to school.
Unfortunately, her family fell into poverty when she was in middle school, but she still persisted in studying for a master's degree. Like most young women, she got married early. Her first husband was Ho Man-fai, a Hong Kong scholar.
After marriage, Liang Fengyi went to the UK to continue her studies, and He Wenhui accompanied her.
In 1975, the couple returned to Hong Kong to work. Liang Fengyi was hired by the newly established ATV as a screenwriter and producer. She did an outstanding job at ATV and became the backbone of ATV at that time.
But after just two years, Liang Fengyi became bored with the job at hand.
In 1977, she decided to go into business. By chance, she heard a friend complain about not being able to find a good maid, which made her notice the huge demand in the market.
This year, she founded the Bili Filipino Maid Company, which was the first time in history that Filipino maids were introduced to Hong Kong families. This gamble won her her first huge business success.
It was also in this year that she was appreciated by financial tycoon and founder of Sun Hung Kai Securities, Fung King Hey, and was hired to be the head of the public relations and advertising department of Sun Hung Kai. She then joined the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and became a well-known figure in Hong Kong's financial community.
In addition to focusing on her career, Liang Fengyi also has a great interest in writing. She obtained her doctorate from the Graduate School of the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1985 and completed her 360,000-word doctoral thesis "The Communication Function of Late Qing Popular Novels in New Thoughts" in two years.
In the mid-1980s, Liang Fengyi first tried writing a column for a newspaper, which received a warm response from readers.
In 1987, the global stock market crash occurred, and Hong Kong, as one of the world's major financial centers, was not spared. Amid the power struggle, Liang Fengyi chose to resign from the stock exchange and shifted her career to industry.
With her help, her second husband Huang Yihong invested in several factories and was able to move north to Pengcheng to set up a factory, allowing her husband's career to develop smoothly.
As for herself, she has put all her energy into writing since 1988, and published many novels in just two years. She used Hong Kong's business, finance and politics as the background, describing the collusion between officials and businessmen, intrigues and swordplay. Her plots are fresh and interesting, and her works were named financial novels by the Hong Kong literary world, setting a precedent for this genre.
Liang Fengyi's home is in Repulse Bay, which is one of the areas where luxury homes are concentrated in Hong Kong and also one of Hong Kong's tourist destinations. Numerous villas and mansions are scattered on the slopes of the bay, offering unparalleled views.
"Mr. Lin, I have long heard of your great reputation. Welcome to my home."
The couple greeted them at the gate of the courtyard. Liang Fengyi and her husband Huang Yihong specially came to the gate of the mansion to greet them, which fully demonstrated their importance to Lin Weimin.
After entering the house and exchanging a few pleasantries, Lin Weimin talked to Liang Fengyi about the purpose of his visit.
Liang Fengyi has not been focusing on writing for a long time, but her output is extremely high. In just a few years, she has created more than one million words.
"I am very satisfied that the novel can be introduced to the mainland."
When talking about the issue of introducing and publishing novels, Liang Fengyi spoke very frankly.
She was very clear about the status of Guowen Society in the domestic literary world. With the help of New H Society, and the person who came to discuss cooperation was a well-known figure like Lin Weimin, Liang Fengyi felt the full attention from the domestic side, and the communication was full of sincerity.
After chatting for more than two hours at Liang Fengyi's home, Lin Weimin was about to leave after lunch, but Liang Fengyi's husband Huang Yihong took out a copy of "The Ming Dynasty 1566" and asked him to sign it.
After joking a few words and signing his name, Lin Weimin said goodbye and left, taking away a complete set of Liang Fengyi's published books, which she had prepared in advance.
If people want to introduce her novels, they naturally have to study and screen them before they can finally determine the books to be introduced.
The day after leaving Liang Fengyi's house, Lin Weimin contacted Liu Yichang, who asked him to meet in Taikoo City.
Seven years have passed since we parted in Beijing in 1983.
Seven years had passed and Liu Yichang was already over 60 years old. Although they had not met in these years, they kept in touch through correspondence and phone calls. Lin Weimin recommended many mainland writers to Liu Yichang, and the works of these writers were able to meet readers in Hong Kong through "Hong Kong Literature".
It not only expanded the influence of mainland literature and these writers in Hong Kong, but also allowed these writers to earn considerable royalties.
The two felt particularly cordial when they met again. After chatting for a while, Liu Yichang invited Lin Weimin to go to the "Hong Kong Literature" magazine office on Morrison Hill Road in Wan Chai.
As soon as the two arrived at the editorial office, Liu Yichang asked someone to bring a camera.
He pulled Lin Weimin to the door. Lin Weimin was confused. "What is this for?"
Liu Yichang explained to him that this was a tradition of Hong Kong Literature since its inception. Whenever a writer visited, no matter if he was famous or not, he had to take a photo at the entrance of the editorial department as a sign of respect and also as a form of commemoration.
"Weimin, is it okay to publish this photo in our next issue?" Liu Yichang asked Lin Weimin for his opinion.
The photos of the writers will be published in the next issue of "Hong Kong Literature" magazine, which is also a tradition.
Lin Weimin joked, "You can publish it, but you must pay for it."
After a few jokes, Liu Yichang invited Lin Weimin for coffee again, but this time he not only invited him, but also all the members of the editorial department.
"It's a rare occasion for Weimin to visit us today. Let's go to the cafe opposite for a cup of coffee this afternoon!"
After Liu Yichang announced this decision, everyone in the editorial department cheered. What everyone cared about was not drinking coffee, but being able to slack off with a clear conscience.
Liu Yichang likes to drink coffee, but not too much. He prefers to chat over coffee.
He came to Hong Kong in the 1940s, and more than 40 years have passed. When he talks about things, apart from literature, the topics he talks about most are the local customs and culture of the country.
He entered the Shanghai literary scene in the early 1930s and edited a number of literary supplements before settling in Hong Kong. His longing for his hometown was deeply engraved in his bones.
"After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, I also founded the Huaizheng Culture Society in Shanghai. We published a lot of works by Shi Zhecun and Yao Xueying!
"After the war, Shanghai was devastated and we had no place to work. We used our two garden houses as offices. Xue Ying and others lived there."
Liu Yichang sighed and reminisced about the past, while Lin Weimin listened with great interest.
After talking about the past, the two talked about the development of their respective publications in recent years.
"Hong Kong Literature" was founded in 1985. Originally, the city of Hong Kong had no literature. It was the arrival of a group of literati like Liu Yichang who moved south that gave this city a bit of literary atmosphere.
However, literature is still a niche in the city of Hong Kong, so the development of "Hong Kong Literature" has not been very good in recent years.
Since the beginning of this year, some newspapers have begun to implement reforms, the space of supplements has been drastically reduced, and many newspapers have cancelled their fiction columns.
Novels, especially medium-length and long novels, suddenly lacked a lot of publishing space, and other types of literary works were not much better. When Liu Yichang talked about this topic, his words were full of heaviness.
In Hong Kong, a highly commercialized city, the publication and publication of serious literature is becoming increasingly difficult and will inevitably become more marginalized in the future.
Lin Weimin said with emotion: "This marginalization may be closer to the literary norm in modern society, and it provides a social reference for the survival of more general literature. As the saying goes, people who like to write will continue to write, and people who like to read will continue to read. Those who remain are often good ones."
Feeling the optimism and open-mindedness in Lin Weimin's words, Liu Yichang also laughed, "You are obsessed with appearances, you are obsessed with appearances, your ideological realm is still high!"
At the end of the conversation, Liu Yichang talked to Lin Weimin about the purpose of his visit to Hong Kong. He said with a pleading look in his eyes: "Weimin, if there is a suitable opportunity, can your publishing house introduce some of our works appropriately?"
Lin Weimin thought of what Liu Yichang had just said and naturally understood that he wanted to open up a new publication channel for Hong Kong writers.
Lin Weimin hesitated for a moment and said, "I can't promise you this right away because I can't make the decision. But you know the purpose of my visit this time, which is to introduce Ms. Liang Fengyi's works. Since Ms. Liang's works can be introduced, I think other people's works should also be possible. After I go back, I will discuss this issue with the agency and try to give you an early reply."
Liu Yichang said sincerely: "Thank you for your help in serving the people!"
Lin Weimin waved his hand and said with a smile: "In the past, I always recommended our mainland writers to you. This time it's your turn to recommend one to me."
Liu Yichang also smiled and said, "Okay, I will definitely recommend more to you in the future!"
After chatting until the evening, Liu Yichang invited Lin Weimin to dinner and then sent him back to the hotel.
In the evening, Lin Weimin took a shower and was about to rest, but he received a call from the front desk saying that someone was looking for him.
Lin Weimin was curious. He didn't know many people in Hong Kong, and even fewer were familiar with them. Who would come to see him?
Lin Weimin came to the lobby downstairs with curiosity and saw a familiar face.
"Brother Yaoming?"
Lin Weimin was surprised. He didn't expect that the person who came to see him would be Pan Yaoming.
Pan Yaoming was the general manager of Joint Publishing Company in Hong Kong. In 1985, Lin Weimin, Shi Tiesheng and others visited Hong Kong at the invitation of Pan Yaoming.
"Weimin, long time no see!" Pan Yaoming walked up to Lin Weimin and greeted him warmly.
After a few pleasantries, Lin Weimin asked, "How did you know I was in Hong Kong?"
Pan Yaoming smiled and said, "I heard it from Comrade Liu."
That's not surprising, Comrade Liu is from the New H Society.
"What do you want to talk to me about?"
Pan Yaoming nodded, "It's true that there is something going on!"
I've updated two posts today and I got a stiff neck.
(End of this chapter)
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