Entertainment Era: My Good Sister Is All Over the World

Another young writer was supposed to attend the writers' conference, but his workplace wouldn't release him, so he had to give up the opportunity.

Chen Cun became the biggest beneficiary, as he officially joined this small-scale writers' gathering.

Although Yu Bingkun, the editor of Shanghai Literature, protested once, he still allowed it to happen.

After all, the two magazines have a close relationship, and their editors even switch from time to time.

Editor Peng took everyone to the Writers' Association's canteen for breakfast, and then took them out for a walk.

I took the bus to several tourist attractions from later times, and they were all packed with people.

Huang Wenbin even saw several foreign tourists with cameras hanging around their necks, taking pictures here and there.

In this era, foreigners are incredibly curious about China and want to film everything, which has indeed helped us preserve a lot of evidence of this era.

Besides bicycles, the most common vehicles on the streets are pedicabs, which are called "yellow fish carts" here.

You can even see newlyweds pulling a red sofa on a tricycle, their faces beaming with joy.

Looking at these scenes, Huang Wenbin felt that this era indeed had a kind of inexplicable vitality, like a thriving heart, gradually sending out its beating sound to the world.

"Hey, hey, can I take a picture of you?"

As they sat on the Bund, watching the sailboats coming and going on the Huangpu River, a few words of broken Chinese came from beside them.

Huang Wenbin turned his head and saw a blonde, blue-eyed foreign woman who looked to be around sixty years old. She was tall, wearing a beige trench coat, holding a Leica camera, and had a kind smile on her face.

Upon seeing that they were foreigners, the two female writers became interested and began to sized each other up from time to time.

"I'm a photographer, and I want to capture the local customs and culture. I feel that you all have many stories to tell, so I wanted to take your picture."

The foreign woman's Chinese wasn't very good, so she unconsciously switched to English as she spoke.

"Who among you speaks English?" Editor Peng turned to look at the authors. "I don't know a thing, at most I can only nod and shake my head."

Huang Wenbin laughed and corrected, "Shaking your head means NO, nodding means YES."

"You know what I mean, then you go and talk to this foreign woman," Editor Peng joked with a smile.

Chen Cun was a little annoyed, and patted his chest: "It's just English, I can do that too."

As he spoke, he stepped forward and began to chatter away with the foreign female photographer.

The foreign female photographer was completely bewildered, but Chen Cun quickly made her laugh.

Chen Cun spoke and gestured, making it seem like he was acting in a silent film.

"I know a little English," Huang Wenbin said, and had no choice but to go up and talk to the foreign female photographer.

Before he transmigrated, he had passed the CET-6 (College English Test Band 6), although he had forgotten most of it after starting work. Fortunately, there was an English teacher at school who always liked him, and the two would occasionally study English together behind closed doors.

Thanks to this English teacher, his spoken English has always been passable, at least he has no problem with daily conversations.

After a conversation, Huang Wenbin learned her identity and purpose.

Her name was Eve Arnold, born in 1912. She was a Russian-American, a professional photographer who traveled to many countries and took many realistic photographs.

He was also Marilyn Monroe's best friend and most trusted photographer, and the only one who captured Monroe's intellectual beauty beyond her "vase" persona.

Her photography style relies entirely on natural light and positioning, without any retouching, and she is considered one of the world's best portrait photographers.

She has a famous saying: It's not that I'm too outstanding, it's that everyone else is just too damn ordinary!

So Huang Wenbin turned to Peng and the others and said, "This is a foreign photographer who wants to take some pictures of China's customs and culture. He saw that the men are handsome and the women are beautiful, so he wanted to take a group photo of us."

After saying that, he looked at Editor Peng and asked, "This should be fine, right?"

"That's great!" Chen Cun nodded first, and even ran his fingers through his messy hair. "If I had known this was going to happen, I would have washed my hair before I left. Now I can only show about 50% of my handsomeness."

The two female writers were more than willing; they had originally planned to take a group photo at a photo studio after the writers' conference.

Zhang Xianliang didn't care; he'd seen it all.

Lu Yao was a little reserved. He was the only one dressed simply among everyone, but he didn't feel inferior. He just quietly straightened his clothes.

"Sure," Editor Peng laughed, jokingly saying, "I've never even had my picture taken before, but a foreigner has set a precedent for me."

Huang Wenbin relayed everyone's message, and the female photographer excitedly said, "Thank you so much! Please stand here with your backs to the river."

Under the arrangement of the foreign female photographer, the two female writers stood at the front, and the men stood behind them. After several adjustments, it was finally over.

After the foreign female photographer set them up, she walked around and chose the right angles and lighting, then took several pictures of them.

She then took individual photos of each of them, and finally, somewhat selfishly, took a group photo with Huang Wenbin.

"Do foreign women like his type too?!" Chen Cun thought in despair, constantly pulling at his hair. "Can't they see that I'm the real handsome young man?!"

Zhang Xianliang said with a smile, "The proper handsome young man is like Wang Xingang and Tang Guoqiang. You are more like Chen Xiaoer in 'Look at This Family'. You both have a good face that only comes along once every few thousand years."

"This is the only thing that's appeared in thousands of years?" Chen Cun, who had also seen the movie, said irritably, "I can't compare! I'm at most a once-in-a-century phenomenon."

After the photoshoot, the foreign female photographer asked for Huang Wenbin's contact address so she could send him the negatives and sample photos.

Huang Wenbin simply left the address of the "Harvest" magazine, and then asked Editor Peng to forward it to them later.

After saying goodbye to the foreign female photographer, the group went to the Shanghai Cinema to watch a foreign film, "The Great Whip Hero".

At first, Huang Wenbin was a little confused. How come he had never heard of this movie before?

When the screen lit up, he couldn't help but laugh. Wasn't this Zorro? The version voiced by Tong Zirong was a classic.

After watching the movie, it was almost time, so Editor Peng quickly led the group to the Shanghai Women's Goods Store and said to Chen Cun, "Didn't you want to shop here? Let's go."

Both female writers were a little shy and didn't dare to go in.

Chen Cun walked in as if no one else was there, picked and chose, and finally actually bought two pieces, saying he would give them to his mother to wear.

After lunch, the group returned to the editorial office of "Harvest" and waited for Li Xiaolin to take them to see Ba ​​Jin.

About half an hour later, Li Xiaolin arrived and said directly to them, "Let's go."

Ba Jin lived at No. 113 Wukang Road in Shanghai, a detached garden villa. He had lived there ever since he moved there in 1955, and it had always been a literary mecca for many people, both at home and abroad. Anyone from the literary and artistic circles who came to Shanghai would make a pilgrimage here.

Huang Wenbin had already met Ba Jin in Yanjing, so he was very calm.

The others were very nervous. The two female writers held hands and their bodies were trembling. Lu Yao's palms were even sweating.

Zhang Xianliang has a strong heart; although he was excited, his body didn't show any physical reaction.

At this moment, Chen Cun stopped acting silly and obediently followed along.

Once they entered the first floor, Li Xiaolin asked them to wait in the living room while she went upstairs to inform her father.

Countless people want to see Ba ​​Jin every day, but Ba Jin is old and doesn't have the energy to meet everyone.

They can only set aside a few hours each day, arrange them one by one, and then meet with them in order. Each meeting will not exceed one hour, and the shortest may be only ten minutes or so.

For example, right now, Ba Jin is upstairs discussing some matters with several literary and artistic representatives from Japan.

It seems that the Japanese PEN Center had been trying to invite Ba Jin to visit Japan again, and Yoko Matsuoka (not the actress with the same name), who was in charge of this matter, had been planning it since 1978.

But before the matter could be resolved, she fell ill with cancer and was told that her days were numbered. Her family and friends, as well as representatives from the China Writers Association, came to see her.

Now that things had come to this, Ba Jin naturally could no longer refuse. They were currently in the initial stages of discussing the trip to Japan.

More than half an hour later, the discussion ended.

The group came downstairs chatting and laughing. The Japanese staff repeatedly asked Ba Jin to stay, but Ba Jin insisted on seeing them to the door.

This was Ba Jin's consistent practice: no matter who came, he would see them off to the door; this was his way of treating guests.

After seeing everyone off, Li Xiaolin pointed to Huang Wenbin, Editor Peng, and others, and whispered to Ba Jin, "Dad, these are some of the young writers at this writers' conference."

"Hehe, I've seen you before." Ba Jin spotted Huang Wenbin at a glance: "I insisted on adding you to the list for this writers' conference."

Huang Wenbin quickly replied, "Thank you very much for your kindness, Professor Ba. I am deeply grateful."

Ba Jin chuckled and said, "Your novels and screenplays are very vibrant and innovative, representing another possibility for literature. Of course, they should be well protected!"

Then he said to the others, "I've read all your works, but only in the last couple of days, so please don't mind."

"No, no," the others quickly waved their hands.

"Alright, let's go upstairs to the study to talk." Ba Jin returned upstairs with the help of his daughter, Li Xiaolin.

Chen Cun muttered with some confusion, "Old Ba's health is not good, why doesn't he just live downstairs? Going up and down the stairs now is not good for his health."

Hearing this, Ba Jin turned to look at him and said, "People shouldn't think too much about convenience. Convenience makes people lazy, and laziness makes them more susceptible to illness. If I live upstairs, I'll still think about going downstairs and moving around. If I live downstairs, I'll be too comfortable and won't want to move around at all."

Chen Cun's face flushed red, and he quickly explained, "Um, Mr. Ba, I didn't mean that."

"It's alright, don't be nervous." Ba Jin laughed, took a couple of steps, then suddenly stopped and asked Li Xiaolin, "Who is he?"

Li Xiaolin replied, "The original writer couldn't come because his workplace wouldn't release him. This one is a young writer recommended by *Shanghai Literature*, named Chen Cun, who is 25 years old this year."

"Oh, he's young and promising!" Ba Jin nodded and said to Chen Cun, "Send me a copy of your new work sometime, I'd like to take a good look at it."

Chen Cun's eyes immediately reddened, and he nodded hurriedly: "Mr. Ba, don't worry, I will definitely write well and write a work that will satisfy you."

Once upstairs, Li Xiaolin helped Ba Jin to the sofa.

She turned around and said softly to Huang Wenbin and the others, "There are more writers from Taiwan and publishers from abroad coming later, so you only have half an hour. Don't waste time. If you have anything to say or ask, just say it. Take your time, one at a time."

Taiwanese writer?

Is it possible to come to the mainland at this time?

Huang Wenbin was suspicious.

They can actually come, but they all come via the United States.

The group nodded, about to speak, when suddenly they didn't know what to ask.

Huang Wenbin had nothing to ask. He knew the future better than anyone else in front of him, so he was not confused.

Lu Yao opened his mouth as if to say something, but swallowed the words back down.

Finally, Zhang Xianliang spoke first: "Mr. Ba, it's like this, I was just exonerated this year, and my reputation and right to write have been restored. But I'm worried, will this situation happen again?"

Ba Jin did not answer directly, but remained silent for half a minute before slowly saying, "I know what you're worried about, and many people are worried about the same thing right now. Nine out of ten people who come to me ask me this question."

"To be honest, I'm not sure if they will come. But I think we all have a responsibility to prevent them from coming again. In the past few years, I've led delegations to visit many European and American countries. They feel that there are various problems and shortcomings in our country, and they are not optimistic about us. They think our future is bleak."

"But I don't think so. The world doesn't become a better place because of God or because of blessings, but because of our own efforts. This is the responsibility of each and every one of us."

"Writers have a responsibility to future generations and to the times. They shouldn't be afraid, and there's nothing to be afraid of. Now that we've reformed and opened up, there's even less need to be afraid. My advice is to write boldly, speak boldly, and don't be afraid of making mistakes. If anyone tries to cause trouble again, we old folks can still hold you up for a while."

"I've read your work; it's very creative. Hurry up and write more novels."

Zhang Xianliang was greatly encouraged and nodded, saying, "Thank you for your explanation and encouragement, Mr. Ba. I will."

With Zhang Xianliang leading the way, Zhang Kangkang couldn't help but ask about a challenge he had encountered on his writing journey.

After listening carefully to her difficulties, Ba Jin patiently explained his creative journey to her, and cited examples of great writers from the Republic of China era who had encountered similar problems, how they solved them, and how they made progress.

This passage is logically clear and well-organized. It's hard to imagine that the person opposite me is a 75-year-old man; he seems more like a sharp-minded young person.

Then Lu Yao and Lu Xing'er raised their own questions.

When it was Chen Cun's turn, whether he was out of his mind or had a fit of madness, he actually asked a gossipy question: "Hey, Mr. Ba, I want to ask, is it true that Xu Zhimo had something going on with that person?"

Ba Jin paused for a moment, then asked, "Who are you referring to, 'the one you're talking about'?"