1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 523 "The Playboy" - Three "Ugly" Characters

"Oh dear, this..."

Li Jingfeng was speechless for a moment, and wished he could slap himself twice.

What a mouthful!

If his words cause chaos in Jiang Xian's home, would Jiang Xian forgive him?
"Oh, it's nothing, it's nothing," Li Jingfeng quickly waved his hand.

Zhu Lin sensed something unusual. "Jingfeng, just say what you have to say. You're not being honest enough right now."

"how could be."

Zhu Lin blinked. "Don't beat around the bush or make up stories. Just say what you mean."

"Oh dear."

Li Jingfeng scratched his head. "Comrade Zhu Lin, please don't be angry when I tell you, but I was just guessing about this."

"Didn't Lao Jiang write a novel called 'Ferocious Animals' before? I remember there was a female character in it named Yu Beibei."

“I remember,” Zhu Lin immediately recalled the novel.

I remember it was an afternoon when she was a college student studying at a medical university.

Then Jiang Xian took out the novel and gave it to her.

The two of them sat properly in the dormitory, and she quietly read through it from beginning to end.

"What's wrong?"

"Not long ago, Lao Jiang wrote a new novel. I think there's a female character in this new novel named Lin Bei."

"Lin Bei?"

"Correct."

Li Jingfeng then began to talk about this female character.

There weren't many female characters in "The Troubleshooters". One was Liu Meiping, who fell in love with Yu Guan, who was dating her in place of her boyfriend. Another was Lin Bei, who had the most screen time among the other female characters.

Lin Bei is a friend of Ding Xiaolu, Yu Guan's ex-lover. She is an actress, a girl as flirtatious as a butterfly.

Initially, she was introduced to Yu Guan, Ma Qing, Yang Zhong and others by Ding Xiaolu.

Initially, this character was quite endearing.

A group of people went to Ding Xiaolu's house to eat dumplings. The old lady said that there was no meat filling and that they would have to go and buy some more. Everyone said that it was okay and they would make do with what they had.

The old lady said, "Boys can be tolerated, but girls need to be more appealing."

At this moment, Lin Bei said, "I don't need it, I like to eat stuffed ones."

Such an easy-going girl, without any princess syndrome, is quite popular.

Including the subsequent plot:
The laughter suddenly grew louder, the kitchen door opened, and Lin Bei walked in.

"What brings you here? What are you all talking about that's making you laugh?"

“They’re talking about their company’s customers,” Lin Bei said, leaning against the door. “I don’t want to hear it.”

"But I heard you laughing along."

"I may laugh, but I don't like it. They're really mean. A female customer just wanted to have a chat with them about life, which wasn't wrong at all. But they tricked her into going to the amusement park and deliberately bumped into her with bumper cars, causing her to have a stroke."

"No doubt about it, this wicked idea must have come from Yu Guan," Ding Xiaolu said with a smile, straightening up as he looked at Yu Guan.

"It wasn't me, it was Ma Qing's idea," Yu Guan said with a smile, vigorously patting the kneaded dough until it was smooth.

"You guys are really outrageous, going too far," Lin Bei said, pouting.

"She didn't realize it was intentional."

"That's not good either; it shows a lack of sincerity towards people."

“Our Xiaobei has a strong sense of justice.”

"It's not about a sense of justice or injustice. I just don't like dealing with this kind of person. Who knows when he's being genuine and when he's just making fun of you?"

"What's Lin Bei doing standing here?" Ma Qing asked with a grin, a cigarette dangling from his lips as he entered the kitchen to find a lighter. Ding Xiaolu handed him a match from the gas stove and said with a smile, "I was just talking about you."

"What did you say about me?" Ma Qing lit a cigarette and threw the match back.

“I’m saying you’re bad, that you do bad things,” Lin Bei said bluntly.

Ma Qing took the cigarette out of his mouth, glanced at Yu Guan, and said to Lin Bei, "I didn't dare to offend you, so how did I become 'bad'?"

"You're mean to others, but I'm a woman too, and I don't like listening to you brag about how you torment other women."

“That’s right, we must respect women.” Ding Xiaolu pushed the chopped vegetables into the bowl of minced meat and stirred it vigorously.

“But I’m not always ‘bad’,” Ma Qing said to Lin Bei. “Can I show you something good? Let me think about it.”

"Let's make dumplings!" Ding Xiaolu carried the filling bowl into the main room. "Stop joking around, everyone go wash your hands."

Lin Bei turned and went to the bathroom. Ma Qing, smoking a cigarette, said to Guan, "Look how awkward I am—this girl."

"She's not used to you yet," Yu Guan said with a smile, picking up the basin. "She's a good girl."

"So we're all bad guys after all."

"."

Judging from this part of the plot, Lin Bei is not a bad girl. She is just a little out of place, but she is like a little white flower. She is innocent and has a sense of justice. No one would hate a girl like that.

This also shows that although Jiang Xian didn't explicitly write it, Ma Qing definitely had feelings for Lin Bei.

Later, Lin Bei got to know Bao Kang, a street vendor writer, by planning a literary award ceremony for him.

In front of everyone, Bao Kang said:

"It's so nice to be with you guys."

"I don't care about anything, it's so nice to be alive."

When Lin Bei heard him say that these "playboys," she couldn't help but retort, "They're just scoundrels. If you're a scoundrel, you won't care about anything."

Bao Kang immediately said, "No, no, I think the meaning of 'scoundrel' should be 'having no one to rely on'."

After saying those nice words, he said to Lin Bei, "Oh, I've read all the poems you've written, and I really like them."

Lin Bei said, "You've got it wrong. I'm not a poet. You've been fooled. I was just temporarily arrested and impersonated."

Bao Kang immediately changed his tune, "It's okay, it's not a problem at all, haha. But I didn't notice you were fake at all. You have a great temperament, very much like a poet."

This whole series of maneuvers practically screamed hypocrisy, yet just before getting off the bus, he asked Lin Bei for her contact information, and Lin Bei very enthusiastically gave him hers.

“I only have the troupe’s phone number, and you might not be able to reach me if you call this number. I’m usually not in the troupe when I’m not rehearsing.” Lin Bei said as she wrote down the phone number and handed the pen and notebook back to Bao Kang. “If you can’t reach me by this number, call Xiao Lu. She knows where I am.”

After Bao Kang got out of the car and left, the "playboys" had already seen through his hypocrisy and didn't even bother to greet him. Only Lin Bei waved to him from the back window.

Everyone on the bus was silent, except for Lin Bei, who was lively and talkative:

“I think Baokang people are pretty good. Even though you guys lied to them, they weren’t angry.”

This makes me think that this little white-haired girl is a bit abnormal. Ma Qing, this carefree but sincere rascal, is full of prejudice against her, while Bao Kang, this street writer whose hypocrisy is written all over his face, is someone she thinks is quite nice.

Moreover, she described the award ceremony as a "lie".

Completely disregarding the fact that the people at "3T" were only satisfying Bao Kang's personal desires, they reluctantly held this award ceremony for him.

This character became increasingly unlikeable afterward. When Bao Kang invited her to dinner, she went and asked Ma Qing:

"Who's treating? You?"

Ma Qing said, "I can't afford to invite him, Bao Kang will."

Lin Bei said, "He invited me? Why did he invite me?"

The people from "3T" joked, "If you don't know, we know even less. We're just benefiting from your success."

Lin Bei got anxious and clarified, "Benefiting from my fame? I have nothing to do with him."

"Nobody said you have any relationship with him, so why are you so nervous?"

"Why am I so nervous? Why are you talking so sarcastically, as if something's wrong with me? Actually, I have nothing to do with Bao Kang at all. I don't think he's a good person at all. I think he's ridiculous."

"Don't explain, don't explain."

"Seriously, I'm not talking to you anymore."

The more anxious Lin Bei became, the more the three of them teased her.

Finally, Ma Qing came out and helped her out of the predicament, asking her if she had a performance that night.

Lin Bei said, "Aren't you all going to go and support me?"
The three of them said they wanted to go, and you couldn't stop them.

Lin Bei asked, "Do you expect me to pay you to come and support us? I don't have any money to charge you."

"No need to charge, just pour a glass of wine for each of your three brothers when we eat later."

We agreed to pour the wine.

A little while later, Bao Kang brought over a man named Zhao Yaoshun, saying that this was his teacher.

Just listen to this name; it contains the names of Yao and Shun. This person is also true to his name—a kind-faced, refined middle-aged man who speaks of himself as a senior and mentor, guiding the "troublemakers" through their "anxious and bewildered" lives.

Lin Bei volunteered to pour the wine, but as soon as she got up, she went to pour wine for Zhao Yaoshun first, and only poured wine for him before pouring wine for the others.

The original plan was for the three of them, but they ended up at the back of the line.

From this point on, Jiang Xian's satire of the female character Lin Bei becomes increasingly obvious.

She was walking with Baokang, and Baokang asked her:
"How long have you known Yu Guan and Ma Qing?"

"Not long, not long at all, about the same time it's been since I met you."

"I thought you two were pretty close. What do you think of them?"

"It's pretty good, and quite funny."

At this point, Bao Kang asked, "Didn't you notice that they are actually extremely bored and empty?"

What did Lin Bei say?
“I noticed it a long time ago; I noticed it as soon as I came into contact with them.”

Baokang started babbling:
"Don't be fooled by their constant laughter and carefree attitude. They're not like that at all. I know them too well. They're incredibly frustrated inside, desperately wanting to do something but unable to. They're ambitious but lack the talent, so they just make silly jokes to appear like they know everything. These kinds of people are the most hopeless! Don't get involved with them; you won't learn anything and will only waste your time."

“I didn’t get involved with them. I just went to join in the fun. Don’t I know I should be studying harder and striving for improvement?”

"Don't deny it. I'm not blaming you, but I just think a girl as talented as you needs to be able to control herself. You're beautiful and innocent, and many people will flock around you. It's easy for you to slip down. Really, I'm saying this to you with all my heart. I can't bear to see you end up like some girls: scarred and homeless."

"Would you like to learn how to write novels?"

Lin Bei listened to Bao Kang's teachings and wholeheartedly agreed. She begged Bao Kang to teach her how to write novels, thinking she had met a guiding light.

Actually?

Bao Kang's righteous words were nothing more than a pretense of wanting to seduce her.

But Lin Bei couldn't see it.

Even when the "3T" people told her, "Bao Kang is no good. Haven't you heard that nowadays hooligans aren't called hooligans, they're called writers?"

Lin Bei was still unwilling to listen, her face showing an attitude of "I have my own rhythm," and her mind filled with "We are the new generation of youth, and we should use our own eyes to see the world."

In short, Bao Kang is a good person, while all the people in the "3T" group are bad.

From this point on, this character began to drift further and further away from the people of "3T".

Jiang Xian's portrayal of Lin Bei, upon deeper exploration, reveals her as a microcosm of confused young people amidst cultural upheaval during a period of social transformation.

To put it simply, this woman is ungrateful.

"and after?"

Zhu Lin and Rao Yuemei were both furious. "She's with this Bao Kang?"

“I’ve gone with them,” Li Jingfeng said.

Although Jiang Xian didn't write much, he still gave a hint.

Lin Bei then asked Bao Kang:
Are there any tips for writing?

Baokang replied:
"Willing to sacrifice yourself."

In short, he was so fooled by Baokang that he even gave himself away.

"Ouch."

Zhu Lin and Rao Yuemei were both furious when they heard this.

Lin Bei is such a fool!
But Jiang Xian's writing is so realistic. These days, how many girls are like this? They sneer at those who are truly good to them, but they are infatuated with those who use sweet words to deceive them.

Lin Bei's last appearance in the story was after Zhao Yaoshun broke down.

The character Zhao Yaoshun is worth discussing. He adopts a high-handed attitude from the very beginning, acting as a life mentor and a "model guide".

The first time they met, they started by smoking and then drinking. Yu Guan said he didn't drink, but Teacher Zhao persuaded him, saying, "I couldn't drink before either, but I had to go to social events a lot, so I developed a tolerance for alcohol."

He's the kind of person who likes to persuade prostitutes to reform themselves and urge respectable women to engage in prostitution.

On the surface, everyone respected him because of his age.

However, in private, even his "student" Bao Kang said, "It's nothing special. I can just ask the teacher to answer any question. There are too many teachers in this world."

However, Teacher Zhao clearly considers himself someone important, and he has also included the "3T" people in the scope of the "model guide's" responsibilities.

He treated 3T Company as his base, reporting there regularly for several days in a row. He would sit there for half a day each time he arrived. The people at 3T had nothing to say to him, they just listened to him brag. Even when he ran out of steam, he wouldn't leave, he would just sit there.

Finally, Zhao Yaoshun was kicked out by the utterly impatient "Three Ts" (a group of people known for their strict discipline), and the way he was expelled was during the only time they received any instruction from him:
"Do you know how to politely ask someone to leave if you dislike them?"

"It's best to remain silent to show that you've lost interest in him."

After being driven away, Old Zhao completely broke down, leading to the most clownish and farcical scene involving the characters Zhao Yaoshun, Bao Kang, and Lin Bei:
Zhao Yaoshun wandered aimlessly, lost in thought. He passed a street phone booth but turned back, exchanged a large handful of coins at a small shop selling cigarettes and alcohol on the street, clutched them tightly in his hand, went into the phone booth, and carefully closed the door.

He caught his breath, took off the phone, inserted a coin, put the rest in his pocket, and dialed. The call connected, and he held the receiver to his ear. When he heard someone say, "Hello?" he said sternly, "Fuck your mother, fuck your mother, fuck your mother!"

Bao Kang, his face flushed, grabbed the microphone at home and started yelling:

Fuck your mother!

Lin Bei turned around from the table in surprise:
Who are you insulting?

"You'll lose your uncle, you'll lose your grandmother, you'll lose your entire family's ancestors for eight generations!"

Bao Kang's neck stiffened with anger. He slammed down the phone and paced excitedly back and forth in the room.

"Despicable! You started cursing without saying a word, thinking I wouldn't be able to tell it was you, Ma Qing, you son of a bitch, by swearing at me."

(End of this chapter)