Back to 1978

Chapter 182: Fishing

Xie Hushan thought that it might be because he had stayed in a rural place like Zhongping for too long and could not understand the thoughts of the gangster groups in a big city like Yanjing.

Cheng Yunfei punched a man and he fell down. In Xie Hushan's opinion, if he was Cheng Yunfei's opponent, then the second man would have come up to continue the fight. If there was still one man on his side standing, then the matter would not be over. He would be considered a complete loser only after all of them were lying down.

But as soon as one of the hooligans from Yanjing lay down, the other hooligans nearby stood up to persuade Long Saner and his gang not to bully outsiders. Then Long Saner and his gang really took advantage of the situation, said a few polite words and walked away.

Whether it was Cheng Yunfei who was present or the other gangsters who had just started to mediate, they all felt that this was natural and not shameful.

Isn't this embarrassing? If you do something like this in Zhongping, you will be too ashamed to face anyone in the future.

This is like when Xie Hushan took Han Laoer and Daxixi out to pick a fight, and Daxixi was beaten and fell down. Then he and Han Hongbing picked Daxixi up and said a few harsh words to him. After some persuasion from the bystanders, they retreated back to Zhongping in disgrace.

Not to mention that the other party looked down on me, Chen Daxi's mother would come to scold Xie Hushan and Han Hongbing, asking why they all went out to fight, but my Daxi got beaten? If you want to admit defeat, why did you let my son fight with them?
Most likely, he would have to warn Chen Daxixi in person not to play with Xie Hushan and his group anymore.

What made Xie Hushan feel that these hooligans who called themselves the leaders were even more stupid was that the leader who had just started to mediate the fight patted his chest and promised Cheng Yunfei, Xie Hushan, Song Tiesheng, and Dongzi:
"Hanako, don't worry. Let your three non-local friends have fun in Yanjing these days. Don't be afraid of retaliation. If Long Saner causes trouble again, it won't be directed at you, but at me. I will definitely come forward to deal with him."

Xie Hushan almost couldn't help laughing out loud.

I need your fucking guarantee?
The other party had been beaten so badly. Apart from the violent Cheng Yunfei, the two brothers around him were legitimate police officers. How stupid must he be to come and cause trouble?
Isn't this just a low-class guy trying to pick up cheap fame?

Cheng Yunfei spoke up and sent away those so-called troublemakers. Xie Hushan sold most of the tickets that Chen Min gave him, leaving only four. After dinner, the four of them went to the Cultural Palace to enjoy the fashion show that attracted the citizens of Yanjing to buy tickets at high prices.

It has to be said that although Xie Hushan felt that this fashion show was quite amateurish, crude and makeshift from every angle, it was absolutely shocking to other people of this era, and the scale was almost enough to be convicted of hooliganism.

The lighting was just ordinary lighting, completely unable to perfectly display the beauty of the models and clothes. The stage was just a catwalk made of spliced ​​wooden boards, covered with a red felt carpet. When the models walked on it, their high heels made a muffled empty sound, like noise.

The models’ catwalk…how should I put it? It feels like they are just walking on the catwalk in step.

The models walked around the catwalk, struck two poses, and then hurried backstage to change into their next outfit, because the number of models participating in the show was really limited, with only eight female models and two male models in the entire show.

But even a fashion show of this level has already made the audience below the catwalk exclaim in amazement. The hairstyle and clothes on the models formed a sharp contrast with the audience wearing work clothes below the stage.

The hairstyle and makeup of male and female models have begun to become Westernized, with permed bobs, big waves, heavy eye shadow and red lips on their faces.

As for fashion, there are quite a few, including men's jackets, suits, jeans, women's sweetheart sweaters, bat shirts, leggings, and various fashionable short skirts that just reach above the knee.

Xie Hushan and the other three sat in the best seats in the first row. The height of the catwalk was just about level with their chests. When the female models walked on the runway in their skirts, Xie Hushan could look up slightly and see pair after pair of beautiful legs in stockings or white legs exposed to the air, which was so dazzling that people couldn't help swallowing their saliva.

The audience in the back row kept rushing to the front, wanting to see more clearly. Some shy or inexperienced audience members behaved like Song Tiesheng and Dongzi, maintaining the slightly lowered posture of criminals being caught and interrogated throughout the entire fashion show.

He was afraid that if he looked up he would be caught as a hooligan. In Song Tiesheng's opinion, this was not a fashion show but a hooligan gathering.

However, it was obvious that many of the audience were not there for the first time. Some male audience members whistled non-stop when they saw the beautiful models, while some young female audience members could not help but loudly ask the models where to buy the clothes.

Listening to the whistles all around and the chaotic situation of the ducks holding a meeting, which was no longer as serious and rigid as before when participating in group activities, Xie Hushan couldn't help but sigh that although the hardware changes of reform and opening up are not obvious, they have opened up everyone's minds.

……

Cheng Yunfei himself still lived in a slum, but he had friends everywhere in Yanjing City. Originally, Xie Hushan and the other two were planning to find a guesthouse to stay in, but Cheng Yunfei found a connection in some tourism department for them and booked two rooms for them at the Yanjing Hotel. Of course, he also gave them an internal price for the room.

In the next few days, no one bothered Xie Hushan and the other two outsiders. Song Tiesheng and Dongzi felt bored after wandering around Yanjing City for two days, so they simply slept during the day and went to the underground boxing match in Ditan Park with Cheng Yunfei at night to help. After the match, they had a drink with Cheng Yunfei and others at dawn before coming back to sleep.

This is basically a complete reversal of Xie Hushan's daily routine. These days, Xie Hushan has been busy shuttling between major conference venues to listen to endless reports from all walks of life.

Holding lectures is the most common thing in this era. No matter what industry you are in, even if you are a farmer, you may have attended a lecture in person.

Generally speaking, a report meeting can be given by a group or an individual. Of course, not everyone can give a report. You must have very outstanding achievements or important discoveries, and important insights that are worth reporting.

For example, if an individual wants to hold a special report meeting, he or she must at least be a national model worker or a national March 8th Red Flag Bearer to start with. Even for such a great person, the country or the unit may not agree, and he or she must find some other honors to have a chance.

The reason why it is difficult to give a personal report meeting is mainly because China really has no shortage of model workers.

If it is a personal lecture, it is open to the public and basically anyone can go and listen as long as they are willing to pay for a ticket.

In the early years, personal lectures by some model workers from Dazhai and Daqing in Yanjing or important cities were often booked out by some state-owned enterprises, forcing all workers to attend and learn, and the tickets sold for a lot of money.

And many people do not go there just for the sake of learning. They sit there for several hours. In fact, what they really want is to find a chance to take a photo or shake hands with the model workers after the meeting. It's a bit like chasing stars.

However, Xie Hushan did not attend those individual lectures in Yenching. It was not because he felt sorry for the ticket money, but because he wanted to listen to group lectures more.

This type of report meeting is basically not open to the general public and is held by invitation only. It is usually arranged by relevant state agencies, and those who attend the meeting must be practitioners in the relevant industry. If out-of-town units and enterprises send people from afar to participate, it may be that the organizing state agency will have to cover their food and accommodation.

In fact, it is equivalent to the country spending money to let enterprises from all over the country take training courses, hoping that they can learn from advanced methods, gain some insights, and go back to work hard to run their businesses well.

But it is actually easier to sneak into this kind of press conference that is not open to ordinary individuals, because almost no one who is sent on business trips from other places is willing to listen to lengthy lectures. They are all in the same industry. First of all, they are dissatisfied with the unit giving the report. Secondly, the various foreign units generally regard this kind of business trip as a unit benefit of visiting the capital at public expense. They can't wait to bring their families to visit Yanjing, so how can they have the heart to actually attend the lecture.

Generally, people go to the press conference to sign in, take a look around and leave before the conference officially starts. After the report meeting is over, they borrow the meeting notes from other people in the meeting and copy a copy to hand in.

Therefore, at this kind of press conference, the audience is often relatively gathered when the leader is speaking at the beginning. But once the leader finishes his speech and officially begins his lecture, the audience will immediately start to go to the bathroom and take the opportunity to run away, leaving most of the seats vacant. At this time, you can push the door open and find a place to sit down, and there will definitely be no accidents of seat grabbing or occupying seats.

The contents of the reports held by various industries in Yenching this year were basically related to foreign countries, and rarely mentioned the achievements of their own units.

This is because after the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee last year, outstanding representatives from all walks of life formed exchange and study groups and were sent to Europe and the United States by the state in batches. The speakers at this report meeting were all those who had returned from the visit and exchange. Regardless of the industry, the content of the meeting was actually similar. To sum it up, it can be summed up in four words:

The times have changed.

At the report meeting, Xie Hushan actually saw with his own eyes many white-haired old workers, old farmers, and old scholars suddenly choked up while reading their speeches.

That was the aftereffect of the shock they received when they visited foreign countries.

Before going abroad, I always thought that even if we were not as good as the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom, our farmers and workers were not afraid of hardship and sacrifice. In addition, we had so many people and such a large piece of land, and we worked together in unity. If we were modest, we could be ranked among the top ten in the world, right?
When they really saw the outside world, they realized that their previous humility was far from enough. The gap made these older generation workers feel so big that they felt despair.

Not to mention the old powers like the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain, France, and Japan, West Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, South Africa, Australia... It seems that wherever the country sends them, what they see there is more powerful than at home.

The old farmer, who had been farming all his life and became a model worker, had never imagined that in this world, three or five people could easily sow and harvest hundreds or thousands of acres of land before he went to the United States to see that kind of farm model.

The senior lathe operator who has spent his whole life training his hands and eyes to become a master of precision measuring tools never imagined that in Japan, a fully experienced person could operate a machine tool just by pressing a few buttons according to the instructions.

This intuitive and desperate sense of gap has caused many lifelong steadfast revolutionaries to waver in their hearts. The country actually wants this effect, because many older comrades have always refused to believe the gap between China and foreign countries.

Therefore, after these visiting and exchange groups come back, the country will hold special meetings for them to soothe them, cheer them up, and boost their confidence that China will catch up sooner or later.

At the same time, we should also let those who had the most stubborn ideas make their own reports to tell their peers how big the gap is and whether or not change is necessary.

Therefore, almost everyone who spoke at these reports was loudly conveying one thing to the participants: after returning, we must train young comrades, focus on strengthening learning, and learn from the barbarians in order to defeat them.

The reason why they said "learn from the barbarians in order to defeat them" was that when they made the report, the "Law of the People's Republic of China on Sino-Foreign Joint Ventures" had already been officially implemented, and many foreign companies were already in the early stages of contact, ready to flock to China and establish joint ventures with domestic companies or organizations.

By then, we will no longer be competing with domestic peers, but also with outsiders. In addition to competing, we must not forget to learn their advanced knowledge.

This has also led to two kinds of emotions always prevalent in various reports these days.

One optimism is that foreign companies coming to China to set up joint ventures will bring advanced production technology and tools to China.

One pessimistic view is that once foreign companies flood in, it is likely that domestic counterparts will be cannibalized first, and eventually the country will lose its sovereignty and be humiliated by foreigners at the business level.

Whether optimistic or pessimistic, they all tried hard to tell the participants that China has opened up, an old era has passed, and a new era is about to come. In order not to be eliminated by the times, they must try to change like the times.

Generally speaking, the audience attending the conference will not speak up to refute, perhaps because they feel that they have never been abroad and they lack the confidence to refute. Even if they occasionally have some doubts, they are not very serious.

What really made Xie Hushan feel that the most intense reaction to the reform and opening up was a special report meeting on culture and education that he attended in Zhongguancun, Haidian District, a suburb of Beijing. The report meeting was organized by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Science and Technology Association. The report was given by a group of Chinese Academy of Sciences researchers who had just returned from a visit to the United States this year. The main speaker was Cen Chunxian, a nuclear physicist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Judging from the on-site introduction, it seems that he is the chief scientist of a research institute that developed the first tokamak device in China, as well as the first batch of full researchers and doctoral supervisors approved by the state after the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee last year. He just turned 46 years old, which is considered very young among the group of white-haired old gentlemen in the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Xie Hushan stood to listen to this lecture. The hall was packed. It was the only time in all these days that the hall was full or even overflowing. In addition to the scholars from the research institutes who were invited to attend the meeting, professors and students from universities near Zhongguancun also flocked to attend the class, cramming more than 300 people into the conference room that originally had only more than 70 people.

If it was really scientific research, Xie Hushan would not be interested in listening. Not to mention that he only had primary school education in this life, even if he brought up his college degree from his previous life, he estimated that he would not be able to understand what the scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences were saying about nuclear fusion, as his professional background was not relevant.

However, today's report has nothing to do with the advanced research on those state secret projects, but focuses on American technology transformation and Silicon Valley.

He was familiar with this place. After all, he had received offer letters from several companies in Silicon Valley before he started his own business in his previous life.

However, this lecture was very turbulent. As soon as Professor Cen Chunxian began his lecture, all kinds of questioning voices began to be raised from the audience. The words were so intense that they could even replace questioning with criticism.

In fact, Xie Hushan heard that there was nothing wrong with Cen Chunxian's report. After he finished talking about his experiences in Silicon Valley in the United States, he elaborated on his reflections after the visit. He admitted that he was shocked by the development of Silicon Valley in the United States, but he believed that China's Haidian Zhongguancun could be comparable to Silicon, and could even emulate the United States and build a Silicon Valley that belongs to China.

But this involves a question: whether the National Science and Technology Association, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other scientific research institutions encourage Chinese researchers to start their own businesses and turn their ideas and knowledge into products according to their own ideas.

In this way, researchers can judge whether their inventions are great and whether they can change the world based on the public's demand for their products, rather than based on the evaluation and assessment of scientific research institutions.

This sentence was the real reason why a group of scientific researchers in the audience angrily criticized Cen Chunxian, because it sounded somewhat treasonous and was clearly inciting the country's scientific researchers to take the capitalist road and do business as businessmen.

Xie Hushan could understand Professor Cen's thoughts. He really had no selfish motives and was doing it purely for China.

The report also made it very clear that he felt that the country currently lacked soil for private science and technology, and that existing scientific and technological personnel basically worked for national research institutions, and were simply unable to achieve the technological transformation they wanted. They had genius brains that were no less talented than those in Silicon Valley, but in their units they could only be cogs in the wheel and had no decision-making power.

This has led to a number of scientific and technological workers in many scientific research units wasting the country's wages and their own brains. For example, in the tokamak device research and development work led by him, the project team has many colleagues whose majors have nothing to do with nuclear fusion. After they were transferred in by their superiors, they did work very hard to make up for the knowledge related to nuclear fusion and wanted to make contributions, but in fact the effect was very limited.

Because nuclear fusion was not the research work that these colleagues really wanted to do in the beginning. Some might want to study aerospace, and some might like computers, but when the unit organized the project team, their personal feelings would not be considered. That's why he made suggestions to help these truly smart people break free from their shackles.

Let them do what they want and grow wildly, just like the startups he had seen in Silicon Valley.

Cen Chunxian feels that if such scientific and technological workers are supported to start their own businesses and transform the technologies they have mastered and are good at into products according to their own ideas, even if it is not possible to promote rapid progress in scientific research in the country in the short term, there will definitely be a large number of scientific and technological products that can improve social living standards and even help the development of other industries.

Then the venue exploded.

Some professors or scientists with ugly faces in the audience interrupted Cen Chunxian's speech, and angrily accused Cen Chunxian of being lured and corrupted after his visit to the United States and embarking on the capitalist road. They said that socialist scientific researchers would never want to use knowledge to make money for themselves, but only want to contribute to national development.

Another group of professors immediately stood up to support Cen Chunxian and started a debate with the other side. They believed that Cen Chunxian was just truthfully stating his own experiences and ideas for everyone's reference, while the other side was the one who started to accuse him, which was not the attitude of a scientific researcher at all.

Soon the argument began to deteriorate from the initial issues to mutual attacks and exposing each other's embarrassing stories.

Some people said that they saw a professor flattering his superiors and sending two bundles of hairtail to his superiors one day. Some people said that a scientist received an extra pile of coal briquettes from his unit one day. Some people said that the president of a university hid in his office and secretly read the manuscript...

When the college students who had skipped classes and came here thinking they would hear a wonderful physics class heard Xie Hushan and a group of them, they were dumbfounded.

"Old comrades, professors, let's be quiet for a moment." Several leaders of the Science and Technology Association who organized the report meeting were sweating. One of them held the microphone and said with a bit of a smile:
"The report meeting supports everyone to participate in the discussion, but it is best for us to focus on the theme. Professor Cen is just expressing his views and thoughts. The country also encourages everyone to think more and speak more. It is wise to listen to both sides."

After Cen Chunxian and several professors who went to the United States finished their speeches, a group of students began to raise their hands to ask questions. These students, like Xie Hushan, came to listen for free. However, perhaps the cultural and educational departments did not object to this kind of thing, because even when they were exposing each other's dirty laundry, the professors did not kick the students out.

After the other students finished asking their questions, Xie Hushan raised his hand after taking the meeting minutes.

He would ask questions at almost every lecture he attended. He had nothing to be embarrassed about because he just attended the lectures with the attitude of learning.

"Professor Cen, can I ask you a question?"

Cen Chunxian thought Xie Hushan was also a student at a nearby university, so he nodded and said, "Of course."

"You have always said that Zhongguancun can become the second Silicon Valley. I think it is unlikely because I think there are fundamental differences between the two." Xie Hushan stood up and said to Cen Chunxian.

As soon as they heard the beginning of this sentence, everyone present who had been listening attentively lost interest. There was no point in asking this question. Everyone knew that there were essential differences between the two countries, let alone Silicon Valley and Zhongguancun.

Cen Chunxian asked back: "Do you want to talk about capitalism and socialism?"

"No, I don't want to discuss such a macro issue. I have learned about Silicon Valley from newspapers and books, and I have listened to your report from beginning to end. After listening to it, I think the biggest difference between the two is that the success of Silicon Valley did not rely on the United States to invest heavily in it and tilt its policies towards it. However, the land under our feet, Zhongguancun, which you mentioned as the soil for transforming technology into products, has always received support from the country." Xie Hushan flipped through his notes and said seriously:

"Whether it is the Academy of Sciences, Peking University, Tsinghua University or other scientific research institutions in Zhongguancun, the state has been supplying nutrients and fertilizers since the founding of the People's Republic of China, which has cultivated Zhongguancun into a soil that you feel is suitable for scientific and technological workers to jump out of their original units and start their own businesses."

"That is to say, the federal government has not invested much support in Silicon Valley, so entrepreneurs there need to figure out on their own how to attract investment, develop products, and grow profits."

"But in Zhongguancun, if we allow scientific researchers who have absorbed the country's nourishment to start their own businesses for their so-called dreams and become businessmen, wouldn't that be unfair to those scientists who continue to be willing to contribute to national scientific research, and also unfair to the country?"

"There is another problem. The future imagined in your report is beautiful, but the cruel reality is that there is still a lack of high-level innovation results here."

"You've seen Silicon Valley change the world, desktop computers, laptops, software, email, and so on. Many people here do want to change just like you said, but where do their initial research and development funds come from?"

"I am a wealthy man. Why don't I just buy American computers and American technology? Why should I invest my money in you and wait for you to slowly study it?"

"So, in fact, every entrepreneur still needs to rely on government funding to get through the boring and fruitless initial research and development stage."

"Do you think the logic of what I said is valid?" Xie Hushan raised his head and asked Cen Chunxian.

Cen Chunxian was silent and thought for a moment, then nodded gently: "Yes, there is indeed a situation like what you said."

"Okay, now my question is, if the country continues to develop after the initial research and development stage supported by state funding as I mentioned, what problems or situations may arise?" Xie Hushan asked Cen Chunxian.

This time, Cen Chunxian fell into silence for about two or three minutes, and finally shook his head apologetically: "I'm sorry, classmate, I'm not a prophet, I can't tell you for sure what will happen in the future."

"I think that in the future there will be a group of people who are not good at scientific research and technology but are very smart. After hearing what you said, they will take the opportunity to engage in so-called entrepreneurship. Then they will find ways to take the research results from the country at a low price, and then, as you imagined, they will package themselves as scientific researchers who have achieved success after leaving the system, and show their greatness to the world." Xie Hushan said.

This statement was responded to by a large number of professors who had just questioned Cen Chunxian on the spot. They all nodded in agreement with Xie Hushan's words.

"Classmate, you said it very well. Can I ask which university you are from and what major you are studying?" Cen Chunxian had a wry smile on his face.

This student definitely did not come up with these words on his own; his instructor must have taught him to say them. These words sound non-aggressive, but they are more ferocious than the attacks from his previous colleagues. When other people attack him, they can only use clichés like capitalist corruption, but what this student said is very realistic.

Sitting next to him were the leaders of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the China Association for Science and Technology. They were not worried about anything else but the loss of talent and research results. This classmate was actually actively telling those present who were waiting to find fault and wanted to question where they should focus their fire.

I guess the private technology development that I promoted is no longer a success.

But no matter how hopeless it was, he had to die with a clear conscience. At least he had to find out which enemy's student this young man was, and how he could be so wicked as to block his way with a problem he had not noticed.

"I have never taken the college entrance examination. I am the director of public security of Zhongping Production Brigade in Bingyang County, Xie Hushan." Xie Hushan closed his notebook and said to Cen Chunxian.

The director of public security of the production brigade?

Everyone in the audience, regardless of gender, age or status, fell silent. They looked at the banners hanging in the venue and then at Xie Hushan, confirming that they had not walked into the wrong venue. This was a lecture held by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

A leader of the Science and Technology Association who was sitting on the stage couldn't help laughing out loud when he heard Xie Hushan introduce himself, and whispered to his companion:
“Well… the fact that farmers from the grassroots production brigades can attend the conference, should we attribute this to the fact that the farmers’ scientific research level is high enough, or should we praise the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Association for Science and Technology for doing a good job in popularizing scientific knowledge?

"It's because our security room is short of people." The colleague next to him also laughed and then said:
"Which student can go to the Security Department and invite our Master Jiao over to take Director Xie, who came from the grassroots and went to the wrong venue, out for a drink of water and stop joking with us."

Cen Chunxian stared at Xie Hushan blankly. He had never thought that the other party was not a college student. The question asked by Director Xie just now was not something a farmer would say at all. When he heard the leader beside him wanted to ask the guards to take the person away, he opened his mouth to plead with the other party, and then said to Xie Hushan:
"Student, you can sit down and continue listening. We can discuss the question you just raised privately after the meeting."

Xie Hushan sat down and let out a long sigh.

He has been working non-stop these days, giving many lectures that would make ordinary people sleepy. It was not in vain, because with this identity and his speeches, he caught a lot of big fish. Including Cen Chunxian, he is the ninth one.

(End of this chapter)