A relationship I had with Peng Jianming
Author: Liu Bo
N years ago, I was just a stunned young man, curious about everything. Shortly after I joined the work force, it was the time when literature was popular. Once, I went to the Xinhua Bookstore in Yueyang to wander around, went to the shelves and casually flipped through, and occasionally saw a short story collection called "That Mountain, That Man, That Dog", signed peng Jianming. At that time, I didn't know literature at all, nor did I know the current situation of Yueyang's literary circles at all, let alone get to know Peng Jianming, a young writer who was known as one of the "Seven Little Tigers" of the Literary Xiang Army and became famous. I saw the collection that was not very thick, and I couldn't put it down at once when I read it, and I was fascinated by the beautiful words in the book, and there was a feeling that people couldn't pull it out. At that time, my monthly salary was only a few dozen yuan, and as soon as I bit my teeth, I bought the collection, probably because I liked the beautiful text inside. Carrying a small set of small pieces from Yueyang to sit in the middle bus for almost two hours, I folded back to my factory single dormitory building.
It's enchanting. In addition to going to work, I will use all my time after work, even to go to the toilet, and within a few days, I will finish the book. I also remembered some wonderful fragments, especially the amazing sentences such as "A yellow arrow shoots into the green dream". Since then, I have fallen in love with literature, especially the works of Peng Jianming. Whatever his work can find, I will not let go of it. I can read the characters and stories written in his works, some of which are very close to my life, and some of which are even copies of my life. In this way, I did not understand and broke into the world of literature. Despite the hardships and tiredness of being a worker, I did not give up the pursuit of literary dreams. Peng's work became the second lesson of my amateur life.
After joining the work in 1989, the leaders at all levels in the factory attach great importance to good people and good deeds, intending to publicize it through radio, television, and newspapers, and the workshop leaders knew that I liked to write things, so they encouraged me to write such manuscripts. In the face of my own hard work turning into fragrant lead characters, I felt the charm from literature, felt the influence of Peng Jianming's works on me, and thought that without him, maybe I would not have embarked on the road of literature.
Years later, when poetry and prose appeared in provincial literary publications, I finally plucked up enough courage to ring the doorbell of Peng Jianming's residence. In his study with "Gossip from Jane", what illuminates the topic between us is the bright moon in the hometown of Haohao. A thick and dark beard could not hide his frank and natural artistic image. His low stature doomed him to the steadiness of his creation. The people who nurture his roots and protect his face are the fathers and fellow villagers who gave birth to him and raised his homeland and the sunrise and sunset, as well as the noisy city that expands his creative horizons! During the conversation, his piercing eyes, ready to capture inspiration, were as eye-catching as his beautiful hair, which was very reminiscent of the goshawk that wanted to swoop high in the air, and the rare sensitivity. Some people say that Peng Jianming is relying on mountains to eat mountains and rely on water to draft water. Indeed, almost all of his writings can be seen in the deep back of the Pingjiang River, or the subliminal shape of the aquatic plants and trees of Dongting Lake. The "roots" of his creation are not in his hometown, but in his hometown, which gives him spirituality, self-confidence and courage. We had a great conversation, which lasted for more than an hour, and the hour hand reached lunchtime. His wife greeted me with a smile, and also used the thick Pingjiang dialect to ask me about the situation in the factory, my work and even my personal marriage. I was a little confused for a while, so I had to be vague and panicked. After that, Mr. and Mrs. Peng invited me to a restaurant not far from where they lived, and I was full of gratitude, a great writer was as free and cheerful as the brother next door!
At that time, I was working in the government department, and I was responsible for some minor responsibilities in the factory literary association. That visit was to invite some city editors and writers to the factory to tutor amateur authors to create, of course, the first recommended Peng Jianming. At first, I was still a little restrained, who knew that soon after I sat down, his ease made my nervous mood immediately eased, is this the Peng Da writer I was eager to meet? Before leaving he said, "I'll go, I'll go... Take the shuttle bus to go! "I said, the factory is dozens of miles away from the city, or we will send a car to pick you up!" No, no, you can take the shuttle bus all the way to the view, maybe there will be some unexpected gains. ”
At that time, I only wanted to invite Peng Jianming to meet with the literary lovers of our factory, but as soon as the factory staff heard that Peng Jianming was coming to the factory, the conference room on the first floor of the Cultural Palace suddenly came with two or three hundred people, and the corridors and corridors were also crowded.
I remember that he said at this meeting that he was still a mountain man, a mountain man who put down his hoe and picked up a pen, and although he entered the city, he still cherished his hometown, Pingshang Village, Anding Town, Pingjiang County. He said that he wanted to write works that ordinary people like to see, "If you don't want to see it, don't you write, isn't that equivalent to wasting paper in vain?" He also said that he should write about what he is familiar with, and that writing out unfamiliar things will be a bowl of white water—dull. His hometown became the base and source of living water for his creations. At that meeting, I did not see the vast sea and sky where he only spoke a few words, nor did I see him calling him a master, a genre, or a style, but the simplicity and diligence of the mountain people he gave people. Talking about creation, full of dry goods, his words are very peaceful, but they give everyone a deep inspiration. In his view, writing is completely a product of personalization, and it is impossible to follow the trend and blindly follow.
Since then, I have been transferred to work in grass-roots units, where daily chores are complicated, and I have never contacted Peng Jianming again when asked about literature. About 2000, when I heard the news that Peng Jianming had been transferred to the Provincial Writers Association as a full-time vice chairman, I was excited, but I was very sorry that he was transferred away, and my literary path was completely and completely broken! I heard about his residence in Changsha, the Star City, but in the end I did not have the courage to visit this famous writer whom I had respected since I was a young man, only because I had snubbed literature for many years and ignored this enlightenment teacher on my literary road.
More than 30 years have passed, and Mr. Peng Jianming's autographed novel "Daze", as well as the recent non-fiction work "The Warmth of the Cold Door" that he entrusted to bring me, as well as many of his monographs, are placed in a prominent position on my bookshelf. It is a pity that I can only keep his rich works, together with his simple, honest, and frank image, deeply and for a long time in my heart, and I am not willing to harass a literary master and desecrate a literary supreme beauty as a Ye Gonghaolong-style enthusiast.
About the Author
Liu Bo, senior political engineer, member of Hunan Writers Association, member of Sinopec Writers Association, vice chairman of Yueyang Enterprise (Affairs) Industry Literary Association, secretary general of Sinopec Changling Refining and Chemical Company and chairman of the Association, has more than 600,000 words of literary works in newspapers, magazines and online platforms.
Image: Network