After chatting with Spielberg about the script for a day, Yu Dong returned to the hotel and fell asleep directly.
Originally, their itinerary also included Los Angeles and surrounding cities, but now Yu Dong has changed his mind. In the next few days, they will not go anywhere and will stay in New York.
Firstly, there may not be enough time. There is little point in going through each of the following cities. It is better to set the background of the novel directly in New York, which he is more familiar with. Secondly, he also saw that the students
I still prefer to play in the crew.
Being on the set is not only fun, but you can also gain experience and learn a lot.
In addition, the crews of "Phone Booth" and "Men in Black" are here, so the crew of "Fatal Identity" should also go.
Most of the filming of "Fatal Identity" was in the suburbs, which is not too far away. It can be reached by car in more than an hour.
So in the next few days, Yu Dong took his students to the set of "Fatal Identity" again.
After they got familiar with the crew, they were allowed to choose which crew to study with, while he and Cheng Yanqiu relaxed and played in New York.
In the last two days, they went to Alice Munro's residence.
It was a small town in Ontario, Canada, with beautiful lakes and charming scenery. This time there were only five people, Yu Dong and his wife, Bi Feiyu, Yu Hua and Ruan Xiaohu, while the students stayed in New York to continue their studies.
Monroe and her husband Freling were delighted with their arrival.
The town is not lively, and having guests visiting is a joyful thing in itself.
They had lived on a more remote farm before, but it was too deserted, so they moved to the town.
Monroe has been to China.
When talking about China, the first thing Alice Munro thinks of is the Great Wall.
"The Great Wall left a deep impression on me. I remember that the winding road leading up to the Great Wall had layers of slopes..."
The houses in the small town are very spacious. The house where Monroe and his family live has three floors in total. It can be seen that the first floor is used for receiving guests.
It's very spacious, not much furniture, but carefully decorated.
In the middle, Monroe asked Yu Dong if they should light the fireplace, because in her impression, China was hot and could not adapt to the cold in Canada.
The reason she had such an impression was because it was June or July when she went there.
In 1981, not long after China opened up, Monroe and six other Canadian writers went to China at the invitation of the Chinese Writers Association. It was summer at that time, and they went to Yanjing, Yangcheng, Xiangjiang and other places.
Generally speaking, Munro's impression of China was not very good, mainly because her interactions with some Chinese writers who accompanied her at the time disappointed her.
"They don't seem to be interested in the way we write. They are very cautious." Munro sat on a chair and smiled. "I was quite surprised when I saw your works later. Like "Alive" and "Going West"
Can such works be published in China now?"
Bi Feiyu smiled and replied: "Actually, "Alive" and "Xiangxi" are quite conservative in that respect."
Of course Monroe understood what he meant.
This surprised her.
"This is completely different from what I thought."
Cheng Yanqiu smiled and said, "Mrs. Freling, it's not just literature that is different from what you think. Many things in China are different now from when you went there. China is facing rapid development. For example, in our home
, Yu Dong will share the housework with me, and there are more and more families like this."
The reason why she mentioned doing housework was because Monroe said that when she was in China, several women complained to her that Chinese men were unwilling to share housework.
Yu Dong followed up and said, "If you have the chance, maybe you can go to China again."
"Of course, if I have the chance, I also hope to go again to see what changes have happened. When I went to China that year, it happened to be my fiftieth birthday. Both Yangcheng and Xiangjiang held birthday parties for me. It was a great time
A wonderful experience. Maybe I can go there again when I turn seventy."
Monroe glanced at her husband: "After turning fifty, every time I celebrate my birthday, I always feel a little down and out."
Frelin flattered his wife: "Don't say that, Alice, in fact, you look more and more attractive."
Several men lowered their heads and smiled, and all secretly gave Frelin a thumbs up. The old man responded quickly.
After talking about China, they also talked about some literary things.
What surprised Alice Munro was that Yu Dong and Bi Feiyu knew her very well, not just in an ordinary way, just like the critics here in North America knew her well.
Whether it is her early or recent works, Yu Dong and others analyzed them with a worldly understanding.
And compared to Bi Feiyu, Yu Dong understood it more thoroughly.
She was quite surprised and said, "If I hadn't read your works, I would have thought you were critics. Did you go out of your way to understand this meeting... It seems impossible, the time is too short. I am now
I already believe that China’s literary world has undergone great changes, and it can be seen from you that you are very knowledgeable about literature outside of China.”
Regarding Munro's doubts, Yu Dong and Bi Feiyu looked at each other and smiled. They both graduated from the Chinese Department. Analyzing the works of writers is something they often do, so there is nothing strange about it.
…
Yu Dong and the others spent the night in Ontario, returned to New York the next day, and then stayed in New York for a day before returning to China.
Although the trip to North America was pleasant, everyone's hearts finally settled down after returning to school. No matter how good the outside world is, hometown is the most peaceful place.
On the second day after arriving at school, Yu Dong and Bi Feiyu went to Wu Changxin to report their work and heard some news.
Wu Changxin first asked the two about their trip abroad. After understanding it, he nodded and handed Bi Feiyu a cigarette, "Thank you for your hard work this time, but during your absence, what happened in the country
There are some things that you probably don’t know yet.”
Bi Feiyu took the cigarette and lit it, then curiously asked, "What's going on?"
"It's not a big deal, but we can see some signs of it. After Mo Yan's "Big Breasts and Wide Butts" came out, it received a lot of criticism. Some critics and old writers came forward and said some bad things. Of course, there were also some who helped.
There are good things to say, but there are more criticisms.”
Bi Feiyu and Yu Dong looked at each other, and they were not too surprised.
When they knew that "Big Breasts and Wide Buttocks" was going to be published, they knew that such a situation would happen. If nothing happened, they would be surprised.
"We have also thought about this, and I think Mo Yan himself should be prepared. At that time, the publisher asked him to change the title of the book to prevent criticism. He insisted on not changing it, so it is reasonable for him to receive some criticism and criticism.
As it should be." Bi Feiyu said with a smile, not taking it seriously.
Yu Dong also smiled. He had known that Mo Yan would suffer a lot because of "Big Breasts and Wide Butts".
Wu Changxin shook his head, "If it was just his matter, there would be no need for me to be so concerned, and I would even go out of my way to tell you."
Hearing Wu Changxin's words, Yu Dong was stunned for a moment. Didn't Old Wu know that he and others had a good relationship with Mo Yan, so he said it specifically? Is there anything else?
Seeing the confused expressions on their faces, Wu Changxin added: "This matter will probably involve you."
"Is it involving us?" Bi Feiyu narrowed his eyes, "Isn't it? Just because we are close to Mo Yan? You can't say that this book was written by us together."
Wu Changxin glanced at Bi Feiyu, then flicked the cigarette ashes, "In fact, in the eyes of some people, you guys are in the same circle. If they want to cause trouble for Mo Yan, they may also cause trouble for you."
"We are..." Bi Feiyu was about to retort, but stopped mid-sentence. Not to mention, there were indeed rumors that they were the Jinyi Gang.
At that time, they only regarded the "Jinyi Gang" rumor as a joke and didn't take it to heart. Now it seems that they don't take it to heart, but some people do.
Yu Dong looked at Wu Changxin and asked, "Has someone pointed the finger at us now?"
Wu Changxin nodded, "There are signs of this. Two days ago, I saw someone published an article in Jiangcheng Evening News, criticizing "Alive", and the words were directed at you. This is
Yu Hua has been involved since the beginning. Maybe it won’t be long before the fire will burn on you too. You should pay more attention to this matter. I heard that the National Short Story Award will be reopened, and the Writers’ Congress will also be held.
It will take another year or two to do it.”
Yu Dong nodded. It seems that the short story award is already a secret known to everyone. Even Wu Changxin has got the news. As for the author conference, it is said that it will be held this year, but there has never been any details about it.
news.
Wang Meng called them before, but there has been no news for more than a year.
But no matter what, it makes sense for Wu Changxin to ask them to pay attention.
The literary circle is not much cleaner than other circles, and some dirty things often happen. As for excluding dissidents, it is really childish.
Although Yu Dong and the others never thought about drawing circles, others would draw circles for them.
Now the National Short Story Award is going to be re-established, and the Writers' Congress is going to be held. Someone wants to cause trouble for them, and it's probably because of these two things.
Bi Feiyu also understood the reason. He sighed slightly, "This kind of thing can't be prevented. We can only find ways to deal with it. I just hope they don't go too far. After all, we have never caused any trouble."
Wu Changxin suddenly laughed and said: "It may not mean that he has never caused trouble. When "Going to the West" came out before, some critics suffered a lot from Yu Dong and others. This time Liu Baiyu and others stood up and blew the horn,
It’s impossible for these people not to come out and fish in troubled waters.”
"Forget about this." Bi Feiyu patted his head and looked at Yu Dong: "I was hurt by you this time. Remember to treat me to dinner later."
"Eating is a trivial matter." Yu Dong smiled: "Actually, criticism from some people is not a big deal. These people are idle and they really need to find something to do. It's just..."
"Just what?" Bi Feiyu asked.
Yu Dong sighed, "It's just that I have been very busy in the past two years and have a lot of things to do. I really don't want to spend my time on internal consumption."
This is Yu Dong's true thoughts.
He is not afraid of fighting. He lacks neither fighting skills nor fighting experience, nor lacks fighting passion.
The key issue is that he has been really busy in the past two years.
His current focus is mainly on foreign countries, and he wants to seize all the plans he can as soon as possible, make money as soon as possible, and lay the foundation for his future literary and artistic territory.
At this time, he has to spend time and energy on internal consumption, which is really not what he wants.
He would certainly like to avoid it if possible.
But he also knows that this kind of thing is inevitable.
Since it cannot be avoided, the battle must be resolved as soon as possible.
He thought for a while and said, "Let's not worry about it for the next few days. I'll ask Jiang Jie to take care of this matter. As for us, we just focused on the school. We took the students there this time and gained a lot.
It’s not bad, especially Qin Yi, who is professional in acting, has guest appearances in three movies. Although it is not an important role, he has shown his face, and Deep Space will definitely do publicity later.”
"In addition, we must also cooperate with the deep space community to organize this deep space short film competition. As long as this competition is completed, it will definitely be very beneficial to the recruitment work."
Seeing that Yu Dong still cared about the school under such circumstances, Wu Changxin was very moved: "Yu Dong, these things are really thanks to your help. Of course, it is also thanks to Feiyu that the drama department can reach this point and be decent."
You guys. Sometimes I also think about how lucky we at Jinyi are to be able to meet outstanding people like you."
Bi Feiyu smiled and took out a cigarette from his pocket and handed one to Wu Changxin, "Principal, you are too humble. Our school can develop today mainly because of your leadership as a locomotive."
Wu Changxin took the cigarette and lit it, "You are so flattering."
…
After coming out of the principal's office, he turned a corner and walked to the playground. Several students passed by and greeted Yu Dong and others with a smile.
"Hello, Teacher Yu, Hello, Teacher Bi."
The two nodded and responded with a smile: "Hello, classmates."
When the students passed by, Yu Dong looked at the lively scene on the playground and said to Bi Feiyu: "Old Bi, don't tell Yu Hua about this yet."
"Why?" Bi Feiyu looked at Yu Dong in confusion, "So far, this matter has the most to do with him. Isn't it inappropriate not to tell him?"
Yu Dong shook his head, "He is young and has a bad temper. I'm afraid he will roll up his sleeves and scold others when he hears the news. We are not ready to fight now, and he will suffer a loss if he goes up to fight."
"How dare you say that he is young. But you are right. This guy can be impulsive sometimes. You should wait until there is a new situation before talking to him."
Yu Dong nodded and continued to focus on the playground. He liked to see the lively scenes of students together.
When they were in Canada before, they all thought the scenery there was nice, but when it came to living there for a long time, no one thought it was good. They still like to be lively.
In a place like a small Canadian town, it's okay to stay for a few days, but if they stay for a long time without any noise in their ears, they really can't stand it.
Bi Feiyu saw him staring at the playground and pulled him forward quickly: "Let's go back to the dormitory."
Being pulled by him, Yu Dong asked doubtfully, "What are you doing?"
Chapter completed!