1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 637 Comrade Who Relieves Worries

"You actually have one?!"

Li Xiaolin's eyes immediately lit up. He had only asked casually, but he didn't expect Jiang Xian to actually have a manuscript.

"What manuscript?"

"Short story?"

"A novella?"

Li Xiaolin bombarded him with a barrage of questions.

As someone working in the industry, she knew very well how busy Jiang Xian was as the editor-in-chief of People's Literature. In addition, he was away receiving an Oscar and busy with the TV series and movie "Seahorse". Therefore, Li Xiaolin intuitively felt that he could not possibly have any time to write a novel.

Creating a novel is extremely arduous. Unlike short stories or novellas, which can be completed in a few days, a novel requires continuous creation over dozens of days, months, or even years. It requires truly burning a part of one's life into the novel.

"As it stands at the moment."

Jiang Xian took a sip of water, then said cryptically, "We've written less than half of it so far, but it already has about 70,000 words."

"Less than half? Seventy thousand words?"

Li Xiaolin froze for a few seconds, then looked at Jiang Xian with an incredulous gaze and exclaimed in surprise.

"A long novel?!"

According to Jiang Xian, the novel must be at least 14 words long, which, according to the criteria of the Mao Dun Literature Prize, is undoubtedly a full-length novel.

"What are you writing?"

"Can I see it?"

Li Xiaolin eagerly demanded the manuscript from him, saying, "I remember you haven't written a novel in a long time. Was your last one 'The Last Hun'? That's been so many years!"

"That's not true."

Jiang Xian shook his head. "I've also published several novels abroad. I haven't stopped writing novels all these years."

"Oh yes."

Li Xiaolin immediately realized that Jiang Xian had also published "The Hunger Games" and "Drifters" abroad, both of which were very popular novels overseas. He had even heard that "The Hunger Games" won an American science fiction award.

"Can I look at this manuscript now?" Li Xiaolin asked.

"can."

Jiang Xian readily agreed, because "The Miracles of the Namiya General Store" can actually be broken down into multiple stories. Although each story is related to the others, there is no problem reading each story independently. He had just finished two stories, so giving them to Li Xiaolin would not affect the reading experience of the novel.

Li Xiaolin followed Jiang Xian to his home, greeted Zhu Lin, and hugged the little emperor.

"Oh my, so cute! You're getting prettier and prettier!"

That's true. Jiang Xian and Zhu Lin are both good-looking, and Jiang Niannian is the perfect combination of their good looks. She's as delicate as a porcelain doll at such a young age.

"Sister Lin, the manuscript is here."

Jiang Xian handed a manuscript that looked like a Xianghe meat pie to Li Xiaolin.

Li Xiaolin reluctantly put Jiang Niannian down, took a sip of water, and saw the familiar green checkered paper from the People's Literature Publishing House, along with the novel's title written on the first line.

"The Namiya General Store?"

Li Xiaolin found it a bit strange; judging from the title alone, it was impossible to tell what the novel was about.

This is also what distinguishes Jiang Xian from other writers.

Other authors' works seem to be able to be understood from just reading the title of a novel, but Jiang Xian's works are always fresh and original, and you can always find surprises in the content.

The story takes place one night when three children, Xiaohui, Haoxuan, and Dadun, drive away in a stolen Crown car. However, the car is too old, and the battery breaks down halfway through the journey.

The three then went into a run-down general store in the residential area.

Upon reading this, Li Xiaolin was somewhat surprised, because according to the content written earlier in the novel, the story takes place many years in the future.

Li Xiaolin continued reading. After the three children entered the general store, they found a letter written in blue ink:
"This is my first consultation."

"My name is Xiaoxuehua, and I am a girl. Please forgive me for not being able to disclose my real name."

"I am an athlete, and I'm sorry, I can't disclose the sport I play."

"Although it may sound like I'm bragging, I've performed very well and have the opportunity to represent the country at next year's Olympics. So, once I reveal my sport, it's easy to guess who I am. But what I want to ask is also related to my status as an Olympic candidate, so please understand that I'm using a pseudonym to communicate with you."

“I love my boyfriend very much. He understands me best, supports me the most, and helps me the most. He sincerely hopes that I can participate in the Olympics. He said that he is willing to make any sacrifice as long as I can participate in the Olympics.”

"In fact, he has given me countless support, both materially and spiritually. It is because of his selfless dedication that I have been able to work hard to this day and endure those painful training sessions. I have always felt that if I can stand on the Olympic stage one day, that would be the greatest way to repay him."

However, something happened recently that felt like a nightmare to us.

He suddenly fell ill. When I learned the name of his illness, I felt a sense of despair, because he had cancer, and there was almost no chance of a cure.

The doctors at the hospital told me privately that he only had six months to live, but I suspect he already knew it himself.

He told me from his hospital bed that this was a very important time for me, and that I shouldn't worry about him and should focus on training.

In fact, there have been many intensive training camps and overseas competitions recently. I am well aware that if we want to represent the country in the Olympics, this is a crucial period.

However, besides myself as an athlete, there is another person I hope to be by his side.

I wanted to give up training and stay by his side to take care of him. In fact, I even suggested giving up participating in the Olympics, but he looked sad at the time, and even now, thinking back on it, I can't help but shed tears.

He told me not to have such thoughts, that my participation in the Olympics was his biggest dream, and that I shouldn't take away his dream. He assured me that no matter what happened, he wouldn't die before I stood on the Olympic stage, and that I should promise him I would train hard. He hid his illness from those around him.

We plan to get married after the Olympics, but we haven't told either of our families yet.

I feel like each day is an eternity, and I don't know what to do.

Even during practice, he couldn't concentrate, so his results were naturally unsatisfactory. I couldn't help but think that since that was the case, perhaps we should just give up the competition, but when I thought of his sad expression, I couldn't bring myself to do it.

While I was fretting alone, I happened to hear rumors about the general store. I thought that maybe they could really offer me some brilliant ideas, so I wrote this letter with a glimmer of hope.

I've included a return envelope with the letter; please lend me a hand.

In conclusion, through continuous correspondence, the children living in the future suddenly realize that the letter comes from 1979.

As for this "trouble-solving general store," Jiang Xian truly incorporated the story of a very famous individual general store owner into it.

That is, Qiao Bingyi.

Qiao Bingyi was born in 38. After graduating from high school in 1956, he set up a small stall in his hometown to sell candy.

Later, in response to the call for "urban populations to go to the countryside," he went to Anhui to farm. After the reform and opening up in 79, Qiao Bingyi returned to Shanghai. Finding a job became a problem. He had no work points, could not earn money, and had four children to support. Life was very difficult. With no other options, Qiao Bingyi returned to his old trade. He built a shed next to a small tree and opened a grocery store, selling fruits and groceries.

Because there are relatively few individual businesses, people tend to prefer patronizing state-owned stores and have some distrust of individual businesses.

To this end, Boss Qiao came up with many ideas, such as putting up a couplet in the store: "Be pragmatic in business, and make money in a reasonable way."

He is also looking for ways to improve services.

For example, hanging a box of matches at the store entrance for everyone to take for free, ensuring that the packaging of candied fruit sold in small quantities is secure and does not fall apart, and even collecting waste bottles and empty bottles for nearby residents, etc.

Gradually, "Boss Qiao" became more and more famous, and "go to Boss Qiao's place to find things you can't buy" became a common saying among the locals.

Therefore, in 1979, Qiao Bingyi was already a person with a monthly income of more than 300 yuan. He was among the first group of people in Jiading to become wealthy and also among the first group of people in Jiading to receive an individual business license.

In "Miracles of the Namiya General Store," Jiang Xian sewed his story into the book.

In the original "Miracles of the Namiya General Store", the store was actually called Namiya General Store, which was run by the witty and kind old man Namiya Yuji.

"It started when I was arguing with some neighborhood kids. They were deliberately mispronouncing 'Namiya' as 'trouble,' because the billboard said, 'Orders accepted, please contact us privately.' They said, 'Grandpa, in that case, can we ask you to solve our troubles?' I replied, 'Sure, any trouble is fine.' I didn't expect them to actually come to me for advice. Since it was originally just a joke, at first they came to me with all sorts of random things, like not wanting to study or how to get perfect scores on their report cards. But no matter what the problem was, I answered it very seriously. Over time, the topics started to get more serious, like how their parents argued all the time and they felt very distressed."

Later, I asked them to write their questions on letters and drop them into the mail slot on the metal shutter door. I would then put a reply in the milk box by the back door. This way, I could answer even if the recipient didn't sign their name.

After a while, adults also started seeking my advice. Although I felt that an ordinary old man like me couldn't be of much help, I still tried my best to think and answer their questions.

In Jiang Xian's writing, this "Trouble-Solving General Store" also has a story. At first, the general store did not have a name. The owner, Jie You, was enthusiastic and kind-hearted. He would help anyone who had troubles. Over time, his reputation grew. The general store even made it into the newspaper, which reported that the owner was a genius. When the local people encountered problems, they would say to go to Jie You's general store for advice. Many people did not know that the owner's name was Jie You and mistakenly thought that the reporter had written Jie You as Jie You. So when they wrote to the general store, they called it the "Trouble-Solving General Store".

Li Xiaolin quickly finished reading the first story about Little Snowflake. The three children told Little Snowflake that they did not participate in the Olympics that year.

When Little Snowflake wrote again, it was already half a year later in Little Snowflake's world.

She said, "Do you remember me? We exchanged letters a few times at the end of last year. Time flies, half a year has passed in the blink of an eye. I wonder how you are doing?"

I have two things to report to you.

The first thing, as you probably already know, is that we have officially decided to boycott the Olympics. Although we had prepared ourselves to some extent beforehand, hearing this news was still a blow. Even though I was never able to participate in the Games anyway, I felt very sad thinking about my friends who had the opportunity to participate.

The second thing is about my boyfriend.

He fought hard against his illness, but on February 15th of this year, he stopped breathing in the hospital. I happened to be free that day, so I rushed to the hospital, held his hand tightly, and accompanied him on his next journey.

Until the very last moment, he dreamed of being able to participate in the Olympics; it's not hard to imagine that this was his hope for survival.

So, after seeing him off, I threw myself back into training. Although there wasn't much time left before the selection, I gave it my all and risked my last chance. I thought that was the best way to honor him.

As for the result, as I mentioned earlier, I was not selected because I was not capable enough, but I have done my best and have no regrets.

"Sir, thanks to you, I had this idea."

Xiaoxuehua frankly admitted that she had concealed the truth from herself when she first wrote the letter.

"At that time, I hit a bottleneck."

No matter how anxious I was, I couldn't achieve the desired results. Every day I painfully felt the limits of my abilities, felt exhausted by the competition with my rivals, and couldn't bear the pressure of wanting to go to the Olympics. I wanted to escape.

So, when she found out her boyfriend was sick, Xiaoxue thought that if that was the case, then she could justifiably escape the painful life of competition. Her boyfriend was suffering from an incurable disease and was tormented by it, so of course she should focus on taking care of him. No one should criticize her decision, and she could use this reason to convince herself.

"You saw through my cunning at a glance."

In her letter, Xiaoxuehua wrote with deep admiration, "After exchanging several letters, you clearly told me in your letter, 'If you love him, you should stay with him until the end.' When I saw this sentence, I was greatly shocked, as if I had been hit hard with a hammer, because my thoughts were not so pure, but rather more cunning, uglier, and more despicable."

The more Li Xiaolin looked at it, the more amazing it seemed.

So that's the truth.

By chance, the three children "discovered" Xiaoxuehua's inner hesitation.

In her letter, Xiaoxuehua said that she had come to terms with her own feelings because of Comrade Jieyou's letter, and she listened to her boyfriend's encouragement and continued to devote herself to training, instead of spending all her time with him.

My boyfriend stopped breathing on that day.

Xiao Xuehua said, "The serene expression on his face is more valuable than a gold medal."

The first story ends here in a touching and interesting way, and Li Xiaolin goes through the whole plot.

"Great, really great!"

With foreshadowing and plot twists, the entire story leaves the reader wanting more.

(End of this chapter)