Chapter 80 Start Writing
After everyone arrived, the editor-in-chief handed out Gao Jialin's outline for everyone to read, and then expressed his attitude, "Jialin's story is indeed good. If it can really be written, it will be a great thing for our "Mengya"; but the problems he mentioned do exist, so should we let him write it? What do you think?"
"The rise and fall of a restaurant reflects the feelings of family and country. It would be a shame if such a story was not written!"
"It is also the responsibility of our editorial department to help writers solve problems that arise during the writing process. Since Xiao Gao's story is so good, we should try to help if we can, right?"
"If he really wants to write a novel, we can invite a few foreign experts to come and talk to him. We are not short of resources in this area. Doesn't the Federation of Literary and Art Circles have a foreign exchange department? We can ask them to help us find him, right?"
"Just like Lao Wang said, the premise is that he really wants to write a novel. If he has other ideas and something goes wrong, we will also be implicated!" someone reminded.
The overall environment in recent years is much better than in previous years, but there are still many concerns about foreign relations. It is normal for him to have such concerns.
"You don't have to worry about this. Gao Jialin is a student leader of Pujiang College. He was featured in newspapers some time ago and was praised by leaders. His integrity is still trustworthy!" the editor-in-chief interrupted.
"If that's the case, then I agree to provide some help to Gao Jialin! But before contacting people from abroad, we need to do a good job of training, and it would be best if someone from our editorial department is present when they meet!" The person who questioned cast a cautious vote in favor.
This is mainly because Gao Jialin is too young and people are worried that he may not have firm thoughts. If he were replaced by an old writer who has been famous for a long time, these problems would not exist.
"I am the same. I can offer help, but I can't be too casual and I certainly can't make them feel uncomfortable. I should be more diplomatic in my approach!"
Leaders expressed their opinions one after another, saying that they could not resist the temptation of this good story.
"Okay then. I'll go find the department in the Federation of Literary and Art Circles that's responsible for external relations and ask them to help!" The editor-in-chief was relieved.
After get off work, he first privately visited a familiar leader of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles and showed him Gao Jialin's outline. Seeing that the leader was also very interested in the outline, the editor-in-chief told the leader the purpose of his visit and wanted to ask the leader for help and inform the comrade in charge of external liaison.
This way it will be easier for them. If they go about doing things publicly without any preparation, they might get rejected for some reason. If they try to find a solution at this time, the amount of favors they have wasted will be much greater than it is now.
The leader attached great importance to this work and notified the comrades in the External Liaison Department the next day. The editor-in-chief went over to explain the situation and they quickly agreed to provide help.
Shanghai is one of the first five cities to open to the outside world after the reform and opening up. At the same time, due to historical reasons, there are quite a large number of old Shanghainese scattered outside the country. In recent years, people have been returning to Shanghai from all over the world to trace their roots and invest. It is very easy to find a few guests from Hong Kong and Macau, and it is not too difficult to find guests from Taiwan. Although the two places cannot travel directly now, there are still people who go to third places such as Hong Kong and Japan to look for relatives and friends.
Among these people, there are many literature and art enthusiasts, and some are even writers, poets, and screenwriters themselves. They have dealt with domestic writers before, and now when they heard that a young author wanted their help and provided writing materials, they immediately became interested.
After taking another look at the story outline, they were even more moved. Those who can come to Shanghai at this time have some feelings of patriotism in their hearts. How can they not be moved when seeing such a work?
Soon, Gao Jialin met his first guest, a poet from Taiwan who came to Shanghai to help his father find his long-lost grandmother.
The meeting place was an old Shanghai restaurant, and Niu Xinliang accompanied them. The reason was that Niu Xinliang knew a lot about food and could make their meal more comfortable. But in fact, it was to remind Gao Jialin that if they talked about something they shouldn't, Niu Xinliang would change the subject in time.
Gao Jialin had no objection to this. First, Niu Xinliang was a nice guy and would not interfere with normal conversation. Second, when dealing with people from overseas at this time, especially a young man like him with a bright future, it was a good thing to have multiple people present as witnesses to avoid gossip in the future that would affect his future.
The poet told Gao Jialin about his life on the island over the years, "Uncle Lu across the street is from Sichuan, Uncle Cao next door is from Jiangxi, the tenant Uncle Mantou is from Shandong, Teacher Li and Teacher Tan in the elementary school are both from Jiangsu, my two aunts married people from Shandong and Jiangsu respectively, and my father's best friend Teacher Xu is from Shanghai; this Shenzhou mainland is near and far, far and near, and it always evokes the romantic feelings in my blood."
"I have the impression that these elders miss their hometowns in mainland China through food during the Chinese New Year! Elders from Shandong must make dumplings, and elders from Jiangsu and Zhejiang must prepare a 'Ruyi dish' on the New Year's Eve dinner table. This Ruyi dish must contain soybean sprouts, because it looks like 'Ruyi', which means perfection and everything will go well."
"Now they are all old and want to go back to their hometowns. Unfortunately, it is difficult for most people to come back. Just like what Yu Guangzhong wrote in his poem, 'Homesickness is a shallow strait. I am on this side and the mainland is on the other side.'"
"Many people still recite Yu Lao's poem before they die, with tears in their eyes, 'Bury me on the top of a high mountain, so I can see my hometown; I can't see my hometown, but I can never forget it.'"
Friends in Hong Kong and Macau also told Gao Jialin similar stories. Only then did Niu Xinliang truly understand Gao Jialin’s real intention of using food as an entry point.
"For ordinary people, the most unforgettable homesickness may be the delicious food of their hometown. For them, homesickness is the red bean and fermented rice dumplings cooked by their mothers when they were young; it is the candied haws sold by the elderly at the street corner after school; it is the dandan noodles carried on the shoulders of the vendors, and it is a bowl of hot mutton soup steamed buns. There is indeed nothing that can evoke the homesickness of ordinary people more than delicious food!"
I really didn’t think so. Gao Jialin looked confused. This is how the movie was shot. I just copied it as it is.
But he didn't explain and let Niu Xinliang go to Dihua. Maybe that's what the screenwriter thought in the beginning?
I met many guests from the three places and collected a lot of information from them. The most important of these were the homesickness of the people in the three places, the living habits of young people today, and their views on the mainland.
With these materials, Gao Jialin can finally start writing this work.
(End of this chapter)
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