Lao He came to Xi'an again to compose the manuscript, about the summer of the 80s, I rushed to Xi'an from the ancient town of Baqiao, where the cultural center is located, and entertained Lao He for a meal at the Xi'an restaurant, a century-old restaurant that had entertained Zhou Enlai in the "Double Twelve Incident". At that time, there was no public expense for dinner. I have just started to earn manuscript fees (1000 words and 10 yuan), and I have the high mood of Chen Hansheng entering the city, and it is the first time we have eaten together after seven or eight years of parting from the streets of Xiaozhai. I asked for the gourd chicken, the housekeeping dish of Xi'an Restaurant, and Lao He said it was delicious. In the past few meetings and gatherings over the years, Lao He will suddenly tilt his head and ask me: "The chicken you invited me to eat in Xi'an that year is really good, what kind of chicken is it called?"

He composed the manuscript for the newly founded journal Contemporary. I am still afraid of the "Contemporary" that jumped out of this high gatehouse and attracted the attention of the literary world, and I dare not send the manuscript easily. It wasn't until I wrote the first part of the novella, "Early Summer", which I switched from a short story to a novella, that I dared to send it to Lao He. This novella was one of the most difficult of my writing career, and it took more than three years and four revisions and rewrites before it was published in Contemporaneity in 1984. In a short article, I recalled this crucial process: "In this process, what is admirable is the tremendous patience and indescribable enthusiasm shown by the editors of Contemporary, especially his old friend He Qizhi. The significance of his and their work is not only to organize a manuscript for Contemporary, but to help an author complete a leap in the process of studying, get a crucial artistic experience of his own, and save the artistic life of an amateur author who has been struggling to explore. I say this sincerely, but even more so truthfully. The publication of Early Summer, which took four revisions and rewrites over a period of three years, was not only an inspiration, but also a fundamental benefit in training my ability to navigate a larger scale, more characters, and multiple threads, and complete the transition from a simpler short story structure to a novella structure. Since then, I have written several novellas, big and small, regardless of the gains and losses, and in terms of the control of their respective structures, I feel much more comfortable and the writing process is much smoother. It is in this sense of my own writing that I have great respect for Lao He, a mentor and friend.

After "Early Summer", I was keen on exploring the various structural forms of novellas, and Lao He asked me during a meeting if I was considering writing a long form. I replied bluntly, no. It's telling the truth. From his sudden question, I immediately remembered the scene when I met for the first time on the streets of Xiaozhai more than ten years ago, and I felt a sense of negative pressure in my heart. He said lightly, when you plan to write a long sentence, just remember to give it to me.

At a later meeting, he asked about the writing of novels. I think it would be unconscionable to keep it a secret from him, though it is a difficult thing to do in my disposition. I told him that he had an idea, but it was just an idea, and he was thinking about it, and he was still far from the actual operation. At that time, I was indeed making preliminary preparations for the "Bai" book, consulting county chronicles, party history, literature and historical materials, doing social surveys in the suburbs of Xi'an, studying books on the history of Guanzhong, and at the same time contemplating and conceiving the "Bai" book. I immediately told him two things: don't tell anyone, don't ask. I knew that this novel of mine would not be completed in a "short assault", and the initial plan was to actually write it in three years. I hope to do this great work quietly for the next three years, and not to write in the midst of people's discussions, even the concerns of good friends, let alone the editors. Too much talking, overly concerned inquiries and progress reminders will cause psychological disorder and stress to me, and affect the mood of writing. According to my temperament, I am timid and public, just like a peasant woman steaming steamed buns, and I must not open the lid of the pot until it is fully cooked.

However, there is still pressure. I have already revealed it to Lao He, and besides, it is in the ideation stage, I feel very unsteady, if I can't write it in the end, if I finally lay a "soft egg", how can I face the long-awaited old friend! I even had such a question, according to the state of my writing at that time, although the short and medium stories have been published in several books, but none of them have produced a sensational effect, I clearly know my weight and position, and why should Lao He stare at my novels that are still in the imagination? Doesn't a veteran professional editor like him know the embarrassing situation of being easily rejected in the face of the inevitable requests of authors other than famous authors? Because the book "Bai" I conceived did not mention any specific thing to him, and I myself was still in a great state of unconfidence and uncertainty. To this day, I still don't understand, what is the basis for Lao He's request?

In the following years, it proved that Lao He kept the promise as forbidden. Every time an editor of the People's Literature Publishing House comes to Xi'an to assemble a manuscript, he must bring Lao He's greetings, and when he enters the door to shake hands, he first declares, Lao He asked me to come and see you, just to say hello, there is no intention of urging, Lao He repeatedly told me not to urge Chen Zhongzhong. I often hold their hands and can't say a word. It was not until the early spring of 1991 that Lao He led a group of people to Xi'an to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the founding of the People's Literature Publishing House in the form of shards, and to gather with new and old writers and friends in Xi'an. At this time, two-thirds of the manuscript of the book "Bai" had been completed, and it was planned to be completed by the end of the year. When we met, Lao He still abided by the law, and said lightly, I don't mean to urge, you write according to your plan, just say hello to me after writing, and I'll let people pick up the manuscript. I still kept my mouth shut, and I didn't have a plan to finish the manuscript by the end of the year, so I just promised to report when I finished writing.

In the summer of this year, two major publishing houses invited me to write novels, one was Lao Zhang of the Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House, who had published a novella collection "Early Summer" for me under difficult circumstances. The other is Lao Zhu of the Writer's Publishing House, she came to Xi'an to compose the manuscript, and I heard that I was writing a novel, and I also thanked Lao He on the grounds that I had an appointment with Lao He and needed to keep friends first. I stuck to the agreement with Lao He, which originated from my first acquaintance on the streets of Xiaozhai seventeen or eighteen years ago, and the proposal to write a novel, which really frightened me, has only now been implemented, although it has taken a little longer, but it is in line with my reality.

It wasn't until the end of 1991 that I wrote the entire manuscript, and it wasn't until one night in the early spring of 1992, after the Spring Festival, that I could determine the time when the manuscript of "Bai" was re-read and retouched, and I finally decided to write a letter to Lao He to report the news that "White Deer Plain" was completely out of manuscript.