On the afternoon of 11 January, when the New Year of the Tiger was approaching, Bi Feiyu, vice chairman of the China Writers Association and chairman of the Jiangsu Provincial Writers Association, and Wang Xingguo, secretary of the party leading group of the Provincial Writers Association, first secretary of the Secretariat, and vice chairman, walked into the home of the famous writer Huang Beijia.
△ From the left, Bi Feiyu, Huang Beijia, and Wang Xingguo
2022 is Huang Beijia's fiftieth thought in literary creation, which is a "major event" worth remembering in the Jiangsu literary circle, and it is also an important reason for Bi Feiyu and Wang Xingguo to pay tribute to this time.
Speaking of which, all three of them have a deep relationship with Taizhou. Bi Feiyu is a native of Xinghua, Taizhou, born in Huang Beijia in Rugao, who spent his childhood and girlhood in Taixing with his parents, while Wang Xingguo, a native of Taixing, was a student of Huang Beijia's mother. The three people who knew the roots of the three people talked about the literary past, and the more they talked about it, the happier they were, from the "Yellow Grandmother" meme, to the mutual clicking in the creation, to the glorious tradition of the Jiangsu Writers Association, the whole chat has been switching between "hahahaha" and "chatting can't stop", and the reporters and staff present also listened satisfactorily.
As soon as he sat down, Wang Xingguo played the role of "holding the praises" and tangled over whether to call Huang Beijia "Sister Huang" or "Grandma Huang," "I was originally calling Sister Huang, but I heard you (Bi Feiyu) call her Grandma Huang."
"I call her Grandma Huang for a reason." Bi Feiyu, who was a few years younger than Huang Beijia, took up the stubble and explained that in terms of the generations of living writers, Ma Zhitu was the "Generation of the Southwest United University", Wang Meng was the "Generation of the Republic", and then the generation of Huang Beijia. From the perspective of literary generations, Huang Beijia is "grandmother's generation."" We jokingly called her Grandma Huang in private, and I said that our generation grew up drinking Huang Beijia's milk, and later this sentence spread in the Chinese literary world. Bi Feiyu said.
△ Huang Beijia
Since the publication of the short story "Supplementary Examination" in Chaoxia in 1972, Huang Beijia's 50 years of unremitting writing exploration have left a splendid landscape for Chinese literature: in the complex adult world, Huang Beijia pursues the road of redemption of spirit and soul, and has produced important works such as "Night carnival", "New Gone with the Wind", "Marriage Process", "Eyes As Transparent", "Parker Revolver", "Family", "All" Her children's literature works are loved by countless readers with their unique text tone and emotional temperature, and according to the publishing house, the copyright output alone has reached more than 60.
Bi Feiyu asked Huang Beijia, what have you been writing lately? "A new book, "Call a Teacher, is coming out soon." Huang Beijia said that the book was written by her own teacher, based on the experience she had in Taixing.
Huang Beijia came from a family of teachers, her father was the principal of Taixing Normal School, and her mother was a teacher of Taixing Middle School, and the family lived in the dormitory of the staff of Taixing Middle School at that time. An old ancestral hall, there are three rows of houses in it, and all the teachers live in it. In the middle of each row of houses is a large aisle, with a main room on each side, a room set behind the main room, and a small house on each side, 6 rooms in each row, at least three or four families. Huang Beijia said that in such a public space, everyone's life is transparent, so it is particularly impressive, and each family has a variety of fun things.
In the past two years, Huang Beijia has maintained the speed of creating one book per year. Last year was "Pacific, Atlantic", the previous year was "Dai Er Niu Running", and further "Wild Bee Flying" and "Child Eyes". Bi Feiyu knows this very well, "You have almost 400 days a long story. "
Huang Beijia said that she did write fast, but now she is consciously slowing down. "Now I can't write, I only write two hours a day, I have to enjoy the process, otherwise I will finish it all at once, and I can't push a few long stories a year, which is too 'excessive'." Bi Feiyu understood Huang Beijia's statement of "enjoying writing." When he is in good shape, he will deliberately slow down the typing speed, "just take one finger and hit the keyboard, just to prolong this time". Huang Beijia deeply agrees with this point: "When you write particularly freely down the river, when you can write thousands of words a day, you must be vigilant, because what you write is definitely not good." "
Bi Feiyu has read four of Huang Beijia's children's novels: "I want to be a good child", "Today I am a flag raiser", "Wild Bees Flying", and "Pacific, Atlantic". He praised "Pacific, Atlantic" for its good writing, and said that the work switches back and forth between two time and space, and the structure is very complicated. "You should read Children's Eyes." When she heard the praise, Huang Beijia was calm and restrained, but she couldn't help but mention her beloved work.
Bi Feiyu has also seen Huang Beijia's works of adult literature. "Your first short story made a great impression on me, which was to write a bunch of stories about people inside the elevator." Bi Feiyu believes that that novel is still a good novel. Huang Beijia recalls that at that time, she liked Sartre's existentialism and was inspired to write this story.
Wang Xingguo asked Huang Beijia when she transformed into children's literature. Huang Beijia said that it was 1996, when her daughter was facing a small ascension, and she accumulated a lot of materials, so she wrote the children's literature classic "I want to be a good child".
To be honest, I feel guilty about my daughter. I was in my forties at the time, I was in the most critical time of creation, my husband was working in Hong Kong, if I wanted to devote myself to creation, I would not have time to take care of her, whether from life or education, in fact, I did not fulfill my responsibilities. What's so bad about life? Our daily dinner was either egg fried rice, or we bought two meat buns at the bun shop at the door and sent them off, I never bothered to cook, did not cook for her well, did not ask her for a tutor, and the matter of further education made me feel very nervous. Later, I sent her abroad early, and that's why I wanted to make room for myself. Hearing this, everyone was very surprised, and they did not expect that Huang Beijia, who was always kind and easy-going in everyone's eyes, had such a resolute side in creation.
Bi Feiyu was not surprised, he and Huang Beijia had had in-depth exchanges about this. He couldn't help but sigh, "My son didn't suffer much because my wife basically spent her whole life there." Chinese women are really not easy, if you want to work, you must give up your family; if you want a home, you basically can't take care of the work. "
△ On the entrance wall hangs a metal portrait of Dickens
In 1998, Bi Feiyu, who was still a hairy guy, was transferred to work in "Rain Flower" magazine, and it felt like he had arrived in heaven, and the whole person suddenly had an erection. At that time, Jiangsu writers were at a peak, and Zhao Benfu, Zhou Meisen, Zhu Sujin, Ye Zhaoyan, Su Tong, Fan Xiaotian and others were all there. Every time there is a meeting, the middle circle is the leader of the Writers Association, the cadres of the organs, and the writers each take a chair and sit against the wall, and a bunch of "big guys" are all against the wall. Huang Beijia, who is also the director of the creative studio, is the "leader" of the writers, and one of the things that Impresses Bi Feiyu most is that Huang Beijia, who has never criticized people, has lost her temper the only time she has been called by someone to fight for a certain interest. Huang Beijia unceremoniously refused and criticized the other party, saying that "you have made a very bad start." We Jiangsu writers are like this, sorry, even if the heart is eager, we must put ourselves in a maximum restraint, do not allow personal selfishness to swell. Bi Feiyu said. The advantage of this is to develop inward, try to write the work well, and do not strive for it from the outside. Huang Beijia said.
Writers often go out on buses together to collect wind and investigate, and get along very well. Huang Beijia recalled that when she was Gao Xiaosheng's deputy in the 1980s, there was a year-end summary meeting held at her home, and she went to the market to buy some fried peanuts, and Gao Xiaosheng said, "Your fried peanuts are delicious, I will take them home," a particularly natural and lifelike atmosphere." This healthy body, this healthy culture, is amazing, and it is all left by your generation. Bi Feiyu said with emotion.
Sitting in Huang Beijia's living room, Bi Feiyu recalled many "firsts" about Huang Beijia. He first met Huang Beijia at a literary conference held by Yuhua magazine in the 1990s. A hot pot that Bi Feiyu hosted at the underground hot pot city on Hunan Road in Nanjing has also been "warm" to Huang Beijia for more than 20 years. What impressed Huang Beijia the most was that she was invited by Bi Feiyu to give a lecture at the Nanjing Special Education Normal School where he had worked. Then Bi Feiyu said to the students, when Teacher Huang finished speaking, they applauded together...
Decades have passed, And In The past few decades, Huang Beijia in Bi Feiyu's mind has always been an elegant and decent goddess, "always wearing the best clothes and bringing the best bag", and later adapted, every time he went out to a meeting, he was particularly concerned about Huang Beijia's "equipment". By the way, you've made it bad for me. Once I thought the perfume was good, you took the perfume out of the bag and sprayed it on me. He also pulled my clothes apart and sprayed me in the chest. Speaking of this, Huang Beijia couldn't help but laugh: "Yes, go back and see what your wife said." "What is my first concern at every meeting, do you remember?" Bi Feiyu "tested" the tacit understanding between the two sides." brooch. Huang Beijia said that she had a very beautiful brooch that her friend Tobi Feiyu had brought to her from Paris. You have an estimated dozen brooches. Bi Feiyu, who has excellent memory and observation, said.
At the end of the visit, Wang Xingguo thanked on behalf of the Provincial Writers Association, "I salute you for maintaining your creative vitality for fifty years, and inspiring a large number of child creators in Jiangsu, and are a role model for young writers." Hearing this, Huang Beijia smiled, "The role model can't be talked about, but it can be seen by young people that there is such an 'old' person who still keeps writing." "