Preface to Li Xingfu's novel "Dashiyuan Street"

The novel "Dashiyuan Street"

Preface

After writing the last word of "Dashiyuan Street", I breathed a long sigh of relief. Although the writing went smoothly, I always felt that I was not completely satisfied. In any case, I fulfilled a promise I made to myself and showed the stories of Dashiyuan Street and the people there who are struggling for life that I have been dreaming about. To my readers, while I am telling the complicated story of the ups and downs of three generations on this old street, I also hope that they will have a good idea and a good ending.

Frankly speaking, since I conceived this work, I have asked myself more than once, would anyone be interested in the ordinary characters and their fates in this novel? Nowadays, people's attention is focused on the so-called "stars" and "rich people". This is true when you look at the current screens and online novels. Many people like to watch common themes such as fantasy, gun battles, palace battles, power, and ambiguity. What they appreciate and pursue is a life of spending a lot of money and getting rich overnight without any effort. They always like to look down on the "poor" with contempt and ridicule. In this way, writing Isn’t the Great Scholar’s ??Court out of date?

Despite this, my creative impulse and passion have not disappeared. I was born and raised in Dashuyuan, and it has been twenty-nine years since I got married. What I saw, heard, encountered, and felt are the fate and experiences of these ordinary people. They are engraved in my mind and blended into my blood. I often talk to them in small hotels, listen to their bragging, and see them quarrel. Although their words are rough, they are not malicious, and their fight against fate has never stopped. For decades, some residents have made a living by repairing shoes, some can charge up their phones with just two steamed buns at work, some have become addicted to drugs because they want to "get out of poverty", and some have swollen their faces to look fat in order to marry a wife. The fates of the "little people" are presented to me like a movie. My emotions have many similarities with theirs. As a novelist, if I don't write something for them, my soul will not be at peace, as if I owe them something. , I hope that through the novel, I can arouse readers to be kind to others and the world, and to warm themselves and others’ hearts, thus placing my hope.

Of course, the real era is a great era after all, an era that inspires people to forge ahead and have the courage to fight. The rolling waves will always roll them together. They should not and are not willing to suffer their fate. , Cheng Cheng and Ding Dawei in the novel have placed their hopes on them, as well as my hopes.

The above is the reason for this book. I don’t dare to expect that all readers will like it. I even have to face the reality that those “stars” and “tycoons” who spend a lot of money can always attract people’s attention. I have nothing to say except regret, but what is certain is that in our society, if everything is taken over by "stars" and "tycoons", fantasy, ambiguity, gun battles, palace battles, and power, disaster will happen. has arrived. Caring about the people at the bottom means caring about the future of the country. I have no regrets.

Finally, I would like to tell the neighbors on Dashiyuan Street that the characters and storylines in the novel are purely fictitious and should not be taken for granted. My original intention is not to let everyone guess that I am writing about someone or a certain family, but the development and changes here over the past few decades, as well as the records of ordinary people's lives and thoughts on their destiny, are all my blessings and hopes for you.

Here, I am particularly grateful to the Jiangxi Culture and Art Fund Management Center. It can be said that without their funding, this novel would not exist. On the occasion of the publication of this book, I would like to express my deep respect to them. and thanks!

The novel "Dashiyuan Street" will be published by Tianjin Baihua Literature and Art Publishing House at the end of September, so stay tuned.