Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 636 Two Associations
As evening fell and darkness descended, lights came on in every home.

In the bright house, Jiang Tiantian finished washing the dishes, dried her hands, and walked out of the kitchen.

She walked into the living room and saw Jiang Lili curled up on the sofa, engrossed in reading a newspaper. She couldn't help but ask, "What are you reading?"

Jiang Lili didn't even look up. "Xiao Fan's novel has been published in the United States."

Jiang Tiantian's eyes lit up, and she looked around first, "Where's Xiao Fan?"

Jiang Lili chuckled, then looked up and said, "He was writing a novel in his room. He'd been writing all afternoon, and after dinner he went back upstairs to write. I went to find him, and that's when he gave me this."

He waved the newspaper in his hand as he spoke.

Jiang Tiantian sat down next to her, put her arms around her shoulders, and glanced at the newspaper. She only glanced at it before seeing the article. "What did it say?"

Jiang Lili, beaming with pride, laughed and said, "What else can I say? Of course, I'll praise it to the skies. Anyway, according to this report, sales and reputation are excellent, with total sales exceeding 30 units, and demand still exceeds supply."

The book has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from readers, with almost unanimous praise. The cultivation system, in particular, has sparked a cultivation trend across society.

Jiang Tiantian turned to look at her, a strange glint in her eyes, "Cultivation trend?"

She understands fashion trends and behavioral trends, but cultivating those trends? What is that?
If it had been a year or two later, she would have understood what the qigong craze was all about, but now, the qigong craze that swept through the 80s and continued into the first half of the 90s hadn't even begun.

Jiang Lili held up the newspaper, pointed to a section, and said with a giggle, "Look here, someone in New York has already applied to the state government to register the Magicians' Association, and more than a hundred people signed up to join on the first day."

Meanwhile, someone applied to register a Fighter's Association, directly challenging the Mage's Association. The leaders of the two associations even made a bet to see who could cultivate to a high level and produce the first extraordinary individual.

Jiang Tiantian tilted her head and leaned on her sister's shoulder, letting out a groan, "Are they just bored and have nothing better to do than start an organization like this?"

Chen Fan walked out of the stairwell with a cup in his hand and chuckled softly, “The United States has a very strong occult tradition, and those who study the occult are mostly from wealthy and powerful families. Ordinary people don’t have the means to search for information or go on adventures.”

I suspect these two associations were created by people who study the occult.

Seeing Chen Fan walk over and sit down, Jiang Tiantian asked curiously, "So what is their purpose?"

Chen Fan placed the cup on the coffee table and shrugged. "It's nothing more than searching for the power of battle qi and magic."

Jiang Tiantian was very puzzled, "But isn't this fake?"

Chen Fan laughed and said, "Never underestimate how bored those rich and idle people can be. For a little hobby, setting up two organizations is nothing."

Jiang Lili handed the newspaper to her sister, then went over to take Chen Fan's cup. She returned a moment later and said, "Don't drink tea tonight, have some honey water instead."

Chen Fan looked up at her, his eyes full of smiles, "Okay."

Jiang Lili sat down next to her sister and asked curiously, "What is mysticism?"

Chen Fan picked up his cup, took a sip, and explained, "To sum it up in one sentence, all knowledge disciplines that transcend natural forces, including special abilities, mysterious phenomena, magic, and other supernatural phenomena, are part of mysticism."

Chinese magic, spells, supernatural martial arts, and feng shui are all considered part of the mysticism in the eyes of Westerners.

He pointed to the newspaper in Jiang Tiantian's hand, "In the eyes of mystical researchers, the fighting spirit and magic power I wrote about in my book are all real. It just so happens that I also wrote detailed cultivation steps in the book, so it is normal for them to choose to believe and form an association."

In the West, besides "kung fu" which is known to everyone because of Bruce Lee, there is another word that is also very popular, especially in the upper-class elite society. It is not only widely known, but also studied seriously, and that is "feng shui".

In the 80s, a book called "Feng Shui Guide" published in Boston became a bestseller for many years, and its followers were mostly from the elite class.

Many financial elites even spend a lot of money to take feng shui courses and use feng shui theories to trade stocks.

If even financial elites are so "superstitious," then real estate agents and architects are bound to be too.

A real estate agent who doesn't understand feng shui will find it difficult to do business with wealthy people. In many places, when constructing municipal projects, feng shui masters are hired at high prices to help with site selection.

The reason why Feng Shui is so popular is that, in addition to its mystical concepts, it has been elevated to a philosophy in the eyes of the Western elite. When philosophy is combined with practicality, it becomes "theology".

Of course, many experts and scholars also believe that Feng Shui is an ancient "environmental science" discipline.

Besides the popular interest in feng shui among the general public, many universities have also established feng shui courses, treating it as a professional subject for research and teaching.

(Feng Shui Principles Course)
It was precisely because of the strong occult background and the often mysterious behavior of foreigners that Chen Fan was not surprised by these two associations.

"Isn't it just a magicians' association and a gladiators' association? If you're so capable, why don't you create a real magician and a gladiator?"

After hearing Chen Fan's explanation, both sisters looked completely bewildered.

Isn't it said that foreign countries are very advanced, especially the United States, which is a superpower that can rival the Soviet Union and one of the two poles of the world today? Is it really that outrageous?
After chatting for a while, Chen Fan pointed to the newspaper and said to Jiang Tiantian, "Tiantian, keep the newspaper and take it to Mr. Ba tomorrow."

He dared not keep this newspaper privately. Every foreign-related newspaper like this has a number, and borrowing is recorded. Even if it is damaged, it must be returned intact, otherwise the person who borrowed it will be in big trouble.

He didn't want to cause trouble for Buffett.

Jiang Tiantian had just finished reading the report, so she folded the newspaper, nodded, and said, "Okay."

He then asked, "So you're writing the second part now?"

Chen Fan clicked his tongue, smiled and sighed, "Today, Ba Jin called me over and said that I've abandoned serious literature and only care about making money, instead of writing new works. So I'm planning to write a serious novel first to appease him."

Coping is secondary; his main goal is to try and win the next Lu Xun Literary Prize.

Because there was no important and authoritative literary award before, and given that literature would experience explosive growth in the next decade, Chen Fan suggested that the literary award be held every two years when he proposed its establishment.

The awarding schedule is the same as the Lu Xun Literary Prize in reality. Initially, it was awarded every two years, but in 2014, it was changed to be awarded every four years.

The reasons given were "higher requirements for the quality of the works" and "more comprehensive judging rules".

To put it bluntly, it's because serious literature is declining and there aren't enough good works to select, so they have to extend the selection period in the hope that more and better works will emerge.

Of course, there is no such problem now. Just the works from the previous 30 years... well, let's subtract 10 years, but even if we only consider the works accumulated from the first 20 years, and remove the works of a few big names who voluntarily withdrew from the awards, the number of works is still quite considerable, so there is no fear of not having enough to choose from.

He missed the first award because of a scheduling conflict; he hadn't finished his novel before this year. However, he wants to try for the second award. Since there's no fixed number of nominees, usually between 3 and 5 works, and that number can increase if there are many outstanding submissions, he's not worried about taking someone else's spot.

Writing it now is just the right time to appease Mr. Buffett.

Upon hearing that Chen Fan was writing a new book, and that it was serious literature, the two sisters' eyes lit up.

Jiang Tiantian, in particular, loves literary works, especially serious literature with thought, depth, and cultivation. She especially likes Chen Fan's works such as "The Ferryman," "Reed Marsh," "Old Stories," and "The Sea," but her best-selling works, "Love in the Cloud Lake" and "Shanghai Spy Shadow," are slightly less popular.

It's not that she dislikes it, it's just that it's slightly inferior in comparison. She likes all of Chen Fan's works.

Including the book that caused a sensation across the ocean, "The Legend of the Dragon Knight".

So as soon as Chen Fan finished speaking, she couldn't help but ask, "What kind of story is it?"

Chen Fan smiled and said, "It's set against the backdrop of an ordinary worker in a machinery factory. Through his personal growth and family changes, it reflects certain issues in the development of society and the factory..."

If we were to find a similar story, perhaps "The World" would be closer, but it is still quite different from the story he created.

Starting with "Shanghai Spy Shadow," he broke free from the constraints of "borrowing" from a particular novel and instead drew on a wide range of sources, using the "eight-legged essay" style to fill his works.

Serious literature actually has very obvious formulaic characteristics. It basically focuses on a certain person or family in a certain region, and uses them as a starting point to gradually unfold a social picture.

The images depict social changes, emotional conflicts, and even cultural or living conditions.

And there is a very important point, which is that it must have a "homely atmosphere".

In other words, you have to bring the characters and the social background to life so that the reader feels that it is a real story that actually happened, and that every character in the book is alive and well, or even still is.

If these conditions are met, then it is basically a qualified serious literary work.

As for what constitutes excellence, that depends on the author's writing style and the judges' personal preferences.

Unfortunately, some judges prefer to delve into details, so works that explore human nature are naturally more favored. Other judges prefer to focus on major social events, so works that depict social change have a better chance of success.

Chen Fan wasn't worried about the judges' preferences. It wasn't that he wanted to use connections, but rather that he planned to include those things in his writing.

Writing it this way would be a bit too much, but that's okay. Anyway, there won't be a second award until 80, so we can take our time writing it.

If anyone says he doesn't value serious literature, he'll throw the manuscript out and see what they say then!
After listening to Chen Fan's introduction, a strange look flashed in Jiang Lili's eyes. "You're based in a machinery factory?"

Chen Fan shrugged. "There's no other way. Of all the factories, I'm most familiar with the machine factory. When I was designing cars, I spent many days there and often chatted with the workers to understand their lives. Only in this way can the articles I write be plausible."

Like her younger sister, Jiang Tiantian's eyes were also full of regret at this moment, "If only you had gone to the cotton mill back then."

Chen Fan looked at them speechlessly. Sure enough, they were biased towards their own people. Once this book was published, Yunhu Machinery Factory would definitely become a hit. Naturally, they wanted to set the background in the cotton mill.

But that's impossible.

He stood up, stretched, and walked over to ruffle Lili's hair. "Go wash up and go to bed early."

Jiang Lili blushed deeply.

When no one is around, she can be completely uninhibited, but now that her sister is here, such close contact definitely makes her a little embarrassed.

Jiang Tiantian, on the other hand, didn't seem to care much, at least not on the surface.

She ruffled her sister's hair and chuckled, "Your hair is so soft, no wonder Xiao Fan touches it."

Jiang Lili couldn't help but feel embarrassed and angry, "Sister..."

Jiang Tiantian pulled her up, "Alright, alright, let's go upstairs too."

……

Silent all night.

The next morning, Jiang Lili went out with her sister, bought breakfast at the work-study breakfast stall near the school gate, and then carried it back.

Chen Fan waited in the room as usual, first teaching her a set of complex martial arts moves, then wolfing down the already cold breakfast, taking a shower together, and preparing to go out.

Jiang Lili ran her fingers through her still slightly damp hair, then took his hand and led him downstairs. "Where are we going today?"

Chen Fan turned to look at her and said, "You've only been in Shanghai for a short time, and you're already speaking with a Shanghai accent."

Jiang Lili chuckled, "Many of the students in my class are locals. Talking to them a lot inevitably makes me pick up an accent."

He paused for a moment, then asked softly, "You don't like it?"

Chen Fan tightened his grip on her hand and smiled, "What's there to dislike? Shanghainese is actually quite interesting. When girls speak it, there's a slightly coquettish tone, which is quite pleasant to hear."

Jiang Lili said with a smile, "Yes, there's a classmate from Northeast China in my class who said that Shanghai women speak in a sweet and coquettish voice. I didn't understand what a 'little woman' was before, but now I've seen it for myself."

Chen Fan said, "This is due to regional differences. When you design clothes, you can also refer to some regional elements. These elements are not only liked by locals, but also by people from other places."

Jiang Lili seemed to understand. "Hmm, I understand. I'll pay more attention to this in the future."

After changing her shoes, Jiang Lili opened the courtyard gate, pushed her bicycle out, and waited for Chen Fan to drive out before closing the gate again.

Then, holding the bicycle, she looked at him and asked, "Where are you going today? When are you coming back?"

Chen Fan looked around and, finding no one, stuck his head out of the window, gently kissed him, and said with a smile, "Go find Lao An, bring him and Sister Ying back for dinner tonight, and prepare plenty of dishes."

After Jiang Lili, blushing, got on her bike, he drove away.

(End of this chapter)