Three guests came to the house today. Needless to say, Zhang Dening and Zhou Yanru were both editors of Lin Chaoyang when he published his works in "Yanjing Literature and Art".
Wang Zengqi and Lin Chaoyang did not have much contact, but they had a two-way relationship. One was in the editorial department of "People's Literature", and the other was a symposium on "Little Shoes" held by "Yenjing Literature" (then called "Yenjing Literature and Art")
At the meeting.
It's only early ten o'clock now, and Lin Chaoyang's dishes are already prepared. If you put the dishes in now, they will be ready in less than half an hour.
Seeing that it was still early, he put down what he was doing and sat down to chat with a few guests.
Zhang Dening had not received a manuscript from Lin Chaoyang for almost a year. She said to Lin Chaoyang: "Lao Wang's novels have become very popular recently."
In the past October, Wang Zengqi's short story "Being Ordained" was published in the tenth issue of "Yanjing Literature".
As the first issue of "Yenjing Literature" after its name was changed, this issue of "Yenjing Literature" gathers famous writers, and the quality of the manuscripts can be said to be quite high.
It was under such circumstances that Wang Zengqi's "Ordained" suddenly emerged and had a huge impact on the readership within just half a month after its publication.
This novel was written by Wang Zengqi in May this year. At that time, Wang Zengqi showed it to friends from the Peking Opera Troupe. Everyone thought that the novel was well written, but it might not be easy to publish, so Wang Zengqi was not too active in contributing.
It wasn't until July that the Yanjing Municipal Cultural Bureau held a symposium for various units. People from the Peking Opera Troupe talked about Wang Zengqi's "Order", which aroused the interest of Li Qingquan, who was also attending the meeting.
Wang Zengqi had worked in "Yanjing Literature and Art" in his early years, and had some contacts in the past two years. Li Qingquan, the person in charge of the publication, was interested in his novels, so Wang Zengqi naturally had no reason not to give the manuscript to Li Qingquan for review.
After Li Qingquan read the novel, he decided to publish it, and it was published in the first issue after the publication changed its name. This shows that he attaches great importance to this novel.
No one thought that "Ordained" would be so popular among readers once it was published. In recent times, Wang Zengqi has received unprecedented attention from the Yanjing literary circle, and this attention is still growing.
In her sixtieth year, Wang Zengqi never imagined that she would still have a chance to become popular.
"De Ning is joking. Whether the novel is popular or not is entirely up to the readers." Wang Zengqi said politely.
Lin Chaoyang said sarcastically to Zhang Dening: "Look at Comrade Lao Wang's situation, and then look at you. A dog's belly cannot hold two taels of sesame oil."
Zhang Dening glared at him fiercely and was about to retort, but Zhou Yanru didn't want to listen to the two of them arguing and asked, "Has Chaoyang written any novels recently?"
"I have an idea, but it's just the beginning."
"It's been almost a year since you finished writing "Laizi's Summer," right? Are you out of inspiration?" Zhang Dening teased.
Tao Yushu explained for Lin Chaoyang: "He wrote two movie scripts this year and took some time to read and study, so he never had time to write new things."
"Two movie scripts? Do you want to change your career to become a screenwriter?" Zhang Dening asked in surprise. She looked at Tao Yushu and asked: "I know that Xie Jin is going to adapt "The Wrangler". Which studio is the other one for?
?”
Tao Yushu said with a smile: "We don't write scripts for the studio, but for the co-production company. Li Hanxiang, the director of Xiangjiang, wants to go back to the mainland to make a movie, and the co-production company is responsible for making connections. Li Hanxiang saw Chaoyang's "The First Floor in the World" at Renyi and insisted on it.
Let him be the screenwriter."
There was uncontrollable pride on Tao Yushu's face when she stated the situation, and anyone could hear the showoff in her tone.
Listening to her words, several people present could not hide their surprise. Writing a novel for the director of Xiangjiang?
It is very common these days for novels to be adapted into movies, and there are many cases where writers also serve as screenwriters. Every year, a large number of movies produced by major domestic studios are adapted from recently published novels. Xie Jin's previous adaptation of "The Wrangler" is an example.
But this is the first time everyone has heard of writing a script for director Xiangjiang.
"I seem to have some impression of this Li Hanxiang." Zhang Dening said hesitantly, frowning.
Zhou Yanru said: "He seems to be a famous director from Hong Kong. His works have won foreign awards. He was even published in "Popular Films" a few years ago."
"Yes, his films have won many awards internationally." Tao Yushu affirmed.
Today, the fifth generation of Chinese film directors has not yet emerged, and has won very few international film awards. Only a few directors such as Xie Jin and Xie Fei have received this honor. Because of this honor,
This gives these directors a status and influence that far exceeds that of ordinary directors in China.
In terms of international reputation alone, Li Hanxiang is not inferior to several famous domestic directors, or even better.
Because his works have really gone abroad, in addition to areas such as Xiangjiang, Wandao, and Haojiang, they also have extensive influence in Southeast Asia.
Listening to the words of the two people, Zhang Dening said in shock: "So Chaoyang is really awesome. He has worked with two famous directors in a row. Will he change his career to become a screenwriter in the future?"
Lin Chaoyang smiled and said: "I just happen to have this opportunity to cooperate, and I can also earn some royalties."
Zhang Dening said quietly: "You really never forget the royalties."
"I make money from my creations, and you work for free?"
Lin Chaoyang's rhetorical question left Zhang Dening speechless. Wang Zengqi echoed: "Isn't it just for the royalties that a writer writes?"
As soon as this statement came out, Lin Chaoyang seemed to have found a close friend, and he and Wang Zengqi had a heated exchange about the royalties.
I don’t know when it started. People with some status in this society are ashamed to talk about profit. They talk about their doctrines and keep their thoughts closed, as if they are living in the air.
Lin Chaoyang and Wang Zengqi are obviously not such people. Later generations have studied the letters between Wang Zengqi and his friends and editors, and found that among the 293 letters, 42 letters mentioned royalties, accounting for about six percent of all letters.
one.
Wang Zengqi even bluntly mentioned the purpose of writing the letter in the letter - he said in a letter to his family: For you, for you, for Huihui, I will earn more money.
For the sake of their families and for a better life to earn more royalties, this is actually the purpose for many people to start writing. However, due to the current social environment, many people do not say this.
In contrast, Lin Chaoyang and Wang Zengqi had no worries about this at all. They dealt with it calmly and seemed free and easy.
Wang Zengqi also talked about the fact that the Humanities Society will hold a seminar on "Lai Zi's Summer" in two days. He said that he had also received an invitation.
After chatting for a while, Tao Yushu's rice had been simmering for a while, and Lin Chaoyang took the time to prepare the dishes.
Wang Zengqi rolled up her sleeves and said, "I'm here to help, too."
Lin Chaoyang got up early and went out and bought a lot of vegetables, but the situation was different from that of later generations. In the winter at this time, there were very few types of vegetables in the vegetable market in Yanjing, and the meat and oil were limited, so how could he cook something under limited conditions?
The delicacies on the table that are full of color, aroma and taste actually test the skill of the chef.
"How to make this tofu?" Wang Zengqi asked.
"I plan to mix it with it, but I don't have Chinese toon and green onion right now, so I'll mix it with chive flowers and green pepper paste."
Wang Zengqi joked: "This way of eating is a bit weird, it's better to mix preserved eggs with tofu."
"Your eating method is no better than mine!"
The two of them had different eating styles, one from the south and the other from the north. No one could convince the other. Lin Chaoyang said: "Then let's just stop mixing it and make Mapo tofu."
"Ma Po Tofu must use Pixian Douban. Do you have it at home?"
"Look at what you said, don't you dare to make Mapo Tofu without me?"
Lin Chaoyang took out a small jar of Doubanjiang from the cabinet and showed off to Wang Zengqi: "Such a thing is not easy to handle!"
Wang Zengqi smiled knowingly, "With it, the taste can't be wrong."
Today's highlight dish is four pig's trotters that Lin Chaoyang bought from a grocery store. Because they have many bones and are difficult to clean, the pig's trotters in the grocery store are not popular with the people. Everyone only orders meat tickets like this for a month. Who would waste it?
on things.
However, it is also because of this reason that the price of pig's trotters is cheap. Normal pork is 80 cents per pound, but this thing is only more than 30 cents.
To go along with it, you can also buy some pork head meat. This thing does not require a meat fee and is very popular. It is perfect as a side dish with wine.
When Lin Chaoyang came back from shopping for vegetables, he had already cleaned up the pig's trotters. He roasted the hairs cleanly over an open fire, blanched them in water to remove the fishy smell, and then marinated them with pepper, aniseed, nutmeg, angelica, cinnamon, etc.
Simmer the condiments over low heat.
By the time it was almost lunch, the kitchen and living room were already filled with a strong aroma.
Zhang Dening swallowed greedily, "It smells so good!"
After working for half an hour, dishes with delicious flavors and flavors were brought to the table.
Wang Zengqi pointed to the potato shredded cake that had just been brought to the table and asked: "Chaoyang, where is this made?"
The potato shredded pancakes on the plate are fried to a golden color, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The sight of them will make you want to eat them. Wang Zengqi had been staring at this dish while Lin Chaoyang was making it just now.
Lin Chaoyang is not sure about the origin of potato shredded cake. Anyway, it was something that only appeared after the night market economy became popular in later generations.
"Homemade."
Lin Chaoyang bought a total of six dishes: pig's trotters, cold pork head, mapo tofu, scrambled eggs with green onions, potato shredded cakes, and mixed cabbage hearts.
After the dishes were all served, he bowed his hands to Wang Zengqi and others, "We have no meat tickets this month, so there are only so many meat dishes. Please be patient."
"That's good." Zhang Dening's eyes almost fell into the food as he spoke.
After sitting down to eat, everyone moved their chopsticks. The first thing Zhang Dening picked up with his chopsticks was pig's trotters.
After more than three hours of simmering, the flavors of the seasonings and spices are completely integrated into the pig's trotters, and the meat becomes soft and rotten after a long period of high temperature.
After one bite, the bones and flesh are separated, the meat is fat but not greasy, the meat is full, even the leather tendons, so fragrant that Zhang Dening couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
"Hmm~smells!"
Compared with Zhang Dening's gobbling performance, Wang Zengqi's way of eating was much more gentle. The first thing he used his chopsticks was the most inconspicuous mixed cabbage heart on the table.
In the winter in the north, before vegetable greenhouses became popular, cabbage, potatoes, and radishes were the three most common vegetables. These vegetables were basically eaten in rotation for three to four months throughout the winter. Sometimes they could be eaten
People vomited after eating.
But also because of such high frequency of consumption, ordinary people have developed various ways of eating these vegetables.
As the name suggests, cabbage heart is made from the tenderest part of cabbage, washed and shredded, and seasoned with salt, sugar, vinegar, MSG, minced garlic, millet and other seasonings and stirred evenly.
The texture is tender and crisp, refreshing and delicious. This is actually a very luxurious dish in the winter when vegetables are scarce in the north.
Because a piece of Chinese cabbage in the north may weigh three to four kilograms, and only a small handful in the center may be used for salad dressing. It takes several cabbage hearts to make a dish of cabbage salad.
After tasting the cabbage heart, Wang Zengqi sandwiched another piece of potato pancake.
When Lin Chaoyang was making this dish, he was full of curiosity and carefully observed Lin Chaoyang's techniques.
The method of making potato shredded pancakes is to grate potatoes, add minced green onions and flour, add an appropriate amount of salt, pepper and MSG to taste, and stir into potato shredded paste.
Then heat the oil in a pan, take an appropriate amount of shredded potato paste, hold it slightly with your hands to shape it, put it in the pan and fry over slow heat until both sides are golden brown.
The method looks very similar to many pasta dishes, but the ingredients are different.
Wang Zengqi picked up a small piece of golden-fried potato pancake and put it into his mouth.
It has a crispy texture, charred on the outside and tender on the inside, and has a salty aroma full of oil, which immediately opens up your taste buds.
"tasty!"
Wang Zengqi is famous among writers as someone who loves to eat, knows how to eat, and loves to cook. Ordinary dishes will definitely not get such a high evaluation from him.
After hearing his comment, Zhou Yanru also curiously took a bite of the potato shredded cake, and the corners of her eyes became wrinkled because of the delicious taste.
"This potato shredded pancake is so delicious! Chaoyang, how do you make this?" Zhou Yanru couldn't help but ask.
Lin Chaoyang told her the method simply, and Zhou Yanru nodded, "It's quite simple to do, but it's a pity that it consumes too much fuel."
“It’s so delicious, why waste some oil?”
Wang Zengqi was shaking her head while eating potato shredded pancakes.
"Don't just eat potatoes, try other dishes as well." Lin Chaoyang said.
Needless to say, these guests will not be polite.
Previously, Li Tuo praised Lin Chaoyang's craftsmanship as rare in the sky and unparalleled in the earth. Today's taste is indeed extraordinary, how can everyone be polite?
Chopsticks were flying on the dining table, and everyone was so excited about eating that they didn't even bother to talk.
Chapter completed!