1978: Female educated youth, don’t want an illiterate husband

Chapter 223 Grand Prizes are Given, Cheng Xuemin Wins Many Awards (Please Order the Whole Book)
After calling Xie Jin in Shanghai, Cheng Xuemin went to the library again and met Chen Shumin.

We talked about the manuscript collection situation for the second issue of Today magazine. Chen Shumin has not started finalizing the manuscript yet and is waiting for Cheng Xuemin.

This put pressure on Cheng Xuemin again, and he had to write the second manuscript of "My Years in the Corps" as soon as possible.

When I went home for lunch at noon, I saw my sister helping to wash the little one's diaper.

It’s good to have a sister!

Unfortunately, she can't help here for more than a few days. She and her cousin have to go back to take the college entrance examination in the middle or late this month.

Come back again!
We also have to wait until they all get admitted to Yanjing University and report for school at the end of August.

Of course, this requires sending them to Yanda first.

After his sister went back, he didn't know who should help with washing diapers.

Anyway, Cheng Xuemin felt a headache when he thought about having to wash this thing for the little guy in the future.

"How did you buy all these?"

When Cheng Xuemin finished his lunch and went out for a stroll, his bicycle was already hung with all kinds of things!

When all of them were piled on Feng Jiayou's bed, the woman couldn't help but be surprised when she saw that they were basically imported goods.

"I bought it for you and your son!"

Cheng Xuemin said as if offering a treasure: "This is the milk powder I bought for you and your son. Didn't you say that you don't have enough milk?"

"From now on, you must drink it three times a day, and your son must drink it with it too!"

"This is the bottle for milk powder. Does this nipple look like the nipple he sucks on?"

Although Feng Jiayou had produced milk, it was not enough for her to drink. Cheng Xuemin couldn't understand why the granary was so full that it looked like two big Hami melons.

But the milk is not enough, how strange!
I didn’t drink secretly!
I really didn’t drink secretly!

Cheng Xuemin could have sworn with both hands that he really did not steal from his son's granary.

Then, he took out a baby bottle and joked with Feng Jiayou.

"No formality!"

In return the woman rolled her eyes and cursed at him.

Cheng Xuemin smiled bitterly, then continued to take out the things he bought and continued:

"This is French bread, this is chocolate, and there's refined sugar!"

"And these apples and bananas, my wife, you need to eat more every day!"

Since there is not enough milk, you have to make up for it!

In addition to buying these milk powder and fruits, Cheng Xuemin also bought some fresh mutton and beef at the Overseas Chinese Store.

But I didn’t dare buy more!

It is now June and the weather is starting to get hotter. If you buy too much fresh lamb and beef, they will not last long.

Think so!

I have to buy some decent home appliances!
It’s summer now, so we must prepare an air-conditioning device. Unfortunately, I just checked at the Overseas Chinese Store and it wasn’t sold!

Even the overseas Chinese stores don’t have air conditioners for sale, which means that in this day and age, air conditioners are definitely not available in China.

Same goes for the refrigerator, no!

At the Overseas Chinese Store, Cheng Xuemin also took a fancy to an electric fan, which required more than one hundred foreign exchange coupons. He did not have that many on hand at the moment, so he could only wait until he went to the Foreign Language Bureau and got back the 6,000 yuan in foreign exchange royalties before buying the fan!
And if they were to buy one, it certainly wouldn’t be the one in their house!
If we buy one for every room, we would have at least four or five, right?

"I'm asking you, where do you buy these imported things from?"

"Overseas Chinese store?"

"But where do you get so many foreign exchange certificates?"

Feng Jiayou must know that these imported items were all bought from Overseas Chinese Stores, but Overseas Chinese Stores only accept foreign exchange coupons and only accept foreigners and guests.

But her husband Cheng Xuemin had a pile of imported goods in front of her that were only sold in overseas Chinese stores!

How to buy it?

Their family doesn’t have a penny of foreign exchange coupons, so where do these imported things come from?

"Foreign exchange coupons...Foreign exchange coupons...I exchanged some from someone else!"

Knowing that he would be questioned by Feng Jiayou after buying these things home, Cheng Xuemin had already thought of an excuse!

It's impossible to sell out my father-in-law!

By selling his father-in-law, he is also selling himself!
Cheng Xuemin was about to receive six thousand yuan in foreign exchange coupons as royalties, but he could not try to set up his slush fund business again at this time. Just when he was about to succeed, something unexpected happened.

"Ask someone else to replace it?!"

Feng Jiayou was suspicious. While happily picking up the imported goodies on the bed, he asked again, "Who did you exchange it with? How much did you exchange? How much did you use? How much is left?"

"I just went to school this morning and happened to meet a few international students. I exchanged 200 foreign exchange coupons with them!"

"After spending all this, there's only... this much left!"

Cheng Xuemin searched his pockets, secretly kept a foreign exchange certificate with a face value of 100 yuan that had not been touched, and took out the remaining small pieces and placed them in front of Feng Jiayou.

"Exchanged for two hundred yuan?! Where did you get so much money?!"

Feng Jiayou counted these scattered foreign exchange coupons and asked suspiciously.

"I didn't spend much of the 600 yuan you gave me when I went south to visit relatives and friends. I just happened to exchange it for these 200 yuan of foreign exchange coupons!"

Cheng Xuemin is now telling lies without thinking for the sake of his foreign exchange treasury business!
If this truth ever comes to light, he will definitely be skinned alive.

He will never change despite repeated admonitions and will never be forgiven.

"Twelve dollars and fifty-three cents, and I spent more than one hundred and eighty foreign exchange coupons. Are these things so expensive?"

The Feng family's young money-grubber has made his mistake again. He counted the foreign exchange coupons that were only a dozen yuan left and found that he had spent more than 180 yuan. Don't feel too bad.

“Expensive things have their own advantages!”

"And even if we have money, we can't buy these. We need foreign exchange coupons, which are specially provided for those foreign devils!"

Cheng Xuemin fiddled with the four cans of milk powder he had bought. These four cans alone cost him one hundred foreign currencies.

The other miscellaneous items also cost him nearly a hundred yuan in foreign exchange coupons. The things were indeed a bit expensive, but high-end imported goods like milk powder could only be bought in overseas Chinese stores, so there was a reason for the high price.

But this is also relative!

For a woman like Feng Jiayou, drinking a can of milk powder that costs as much as twenty-five foreign exchange coupons is indeed too extravagant and petty bourgeois!

Especially when I heard that, if the mother and son drank this can of milk powder together, it would only last about four or five days!

Feng Jiayou was so scared that he cried out that he couldn’t afford to drink!
But for Cheng Xuemin, twenty-five yuan a can of imported milk powder is actually quite cheap!
In order for Feng Jiayou and her son to get enough nutrition, they have to drink it every day, not even for a meal.

As my father, he can still afford to supply this little foreign exchange money for milk powder!

Don’t say anything else!

Even if the mother and son drink a can every four days, that's only eight cans a month, which is only two hundred foreign exchange coupons.

For Cheng Xuemin, who already has 6,000 foreign exchange coupons, it is no big deal to sprinkle some water on him, he can afford it!
"That's not OK!"

"Don't buy any more after you finish these cans!"

Feng Jiayou still felt bad about the money, so she shook her head and said, "If my milk is still not enough, I...I can just eat pig's trotters stewed with soybeans every day. I heard that this can help me produce more milk!"

"Okay, okay, let's talk about this after we finish these four cans!"

Cheng Xuemin nodded repeatedly. What he wanted was whether the milk supply was sufficient? He wanted to wean the boy off breast milk and let him drink formula directly, okay?

This kid has been monopolizing the big granary all day long. Feng Jiayou loves her son so much that she really doesn't want to let Cheng Xuemin have a sip of her milk!
That's it!

Shouldn't we wean this kid off quickly and free up the big granary?

Target!

He was weaned when he was one month old, just as his mother had just finished her confinement.

The days passed one by one. After secretly receiving 6,000 yuan in foreign exchange coupons as royalties from his father-in-law's Foreign Language Bureau, Cheng Xuemin basically stayed at home.

He didn't even go to Yan University, as there were no formal courses arranged for him.

Plus the three months of visiting the south to pay condolences, this semester is basically over!
There was only a month or so left, so I just took a long vacation and stayed home, saying that I was preparing for the exam, but actually I was helping my sisters with their final sprint.

By the way, Cheng Xuemin should also calm down and finish his manuscript!
There are indeed a lot of manuscripts on hand, and I have to prioritize them.

Cheng Xuemin has already started writing The Wreath under the Mountain, which is from the General Political Department. He has already written tens of thousands of words.

Cheng Xuemin has almost finished two volumes of the comic book of Romance of the Three Kingdoms published by Renwen Press.

Cheng Xuemin has also started to prepare to write "My Years in the Corps", which Chen Shumin was too embarrassed to urge him to finish.

Before going south to express condolences, I had to put "The Splitting of the Great Qin Empire", which I promised to give to People's Literature, on hold until after the college entrance examination.

As for other magazines, such as My Mother-in-Law's "Today" and Li Qingquan's "Yenching Literature", we had previously asked Cheng Xuemin to contribute articles, but they had missed several issues, so we decided to just miss two issues and then take our time.

During the time when Cheng Xuemin was away, Feng Jiayou also received several letters requesting articles from "Harvest" and "Shanghai Literature and Art" in Shanghai.

Apparently, people in Shanghai didn't know that Cheng Xuemin had gone south to offer condolences.

Feng Jiayou did not reply to the letter either, thinking that her husband had just returned from the northwest after filming "The Shepherd", so it would be almost the same if he came back later.

But who knew that I would be gone for three months!

In addition to the letter of invitation, both of them recently sent a letter of introduction!

Won the award!
Cheng Xuemin's "Female College Students' Dormitory" published in "Shanghai Literature and Art" and "Traitor" published in "Harvest" both won awards!
The letter of introduction from Shanghai was sent to ask Cheng Xuemin to take the letter to the selection office of Renwenshe Society to register in advance to participate in the award ceremony on the 15th of this month.

Looking at the letter of introduction that was sent to him, Cheng Xuemin was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. He actually won all the awards!

If this is added to the other articles...

It must be said that this award ceremony was specially held for Cheng Xuemin! ?
Immediately, Cheng Xuemin took the time to write back to Shanghai and explained the situation!
There may be no manuscripts in the near future, and the earliest may be in the second half of the year. At the same time, we invite them to come to Yenching to attend the award ceremony together.

I also received a letter from Lu Yao, the editor-in-chief of "Yanhe Literature" in my hometown. It was not a letter inviting me to write an article, but also a letter of introduction!

They said that Cheng Xuemin published "Loess Plateau" in their place, and they sent it to the first national outstanding short story selection this year, and it was selected for the Excellence Award!
Write a letter to inform Cheng Xuemin that he has won the award. The letter of introduction is sent to Cheng Xuemin. Take the letter of introduction to report to the selection office of Renwen Society and remember to attend the award ceremony.

Of course, these are just greetings.

After all, Cheng Xuemin is a pioneer of reform and opening up who was appointed by the higher authorities to write the inscription. The winning works this time are definitely not limited to their "Loess Plateau".

Lu Yao also mentioned that their other editor Jia Aoping also won an award for his manuscript published in "Shanghai Literature and Art" last year!
At that time, he and Lao Hu will accompany Lao Jia to receive the award and visit him by the way!

Are Lu Yao, Jia Aoping, Lao Hu and others coming to Yanjing to receive the award?
After learning the news, Cheng Xuemin wrote back to them immediately, saying that he had received the letter of introduction and expressing his warm welcome and anticipation for their arrival.

only!
Cheng Xuemin felt that Lao Lu and the others might not receive his letter.

Because they wrote to Cheng Xuemin at the beginning of last month, Feng Jiayou received the letter on May 10th.

By the time Cheng Xuemin comes back and writes the letter, it would take at least June 10th before it reaches Chang'an in northern Shaanxi.

But this time the award ceremony is scheduled for June 15th, so they may have already set off in advance and set off for Yanjing!

But it doesn’t matter whether it can be received or not. Cheng Xuemin has already sent out his letter. Can he rob it back?
When they come over, just explain it to them in person!

If you calculate it this way!
All three of the manuscripts Cheng Xuemin published won awards!

They are "Female College Students' Dormitory" from Shanghai Literature and Art, "Traitor" from Harvest, and "Loess Plateau" from Yanhe Literature.

The ones in Yanjing are not counted yet!

"The Horse Shepherd" published in "Yenching Literature" and "The Record of Director Qiao's Taking Office" published in People's Literature, these two articles are definitely winners!
There is also "The Grain of Grass" published in "Yenching Literature". I don't know if it won an award. It was also published in December 1978.

As for other works published in "Harvest", such as "Chen Huansheng's Journey into the City" and "New Year's Greetings" in "October" by my mother-in-law, although they are both short stories and have received considerable response, they were published in January this year, so they were counted as 1979!
If we want to evaluate it, we will have to wait until this time next year to get the results.

There are also several novellas published this year, but they cannot be included in the selection because this year's selection is for outstanding short stories.

Even if there is a selection for outstanding novellas, Cheng Xuemin will not be able to catch up with this year's selection, because several of his novellas were published after January this year.

If you want to comment, you have to wait until next year!
Moreover, the national selection of outstanding novellas will indeed begin next year, and Cheng Xuemin will win many awards by then!
I stayed at home for three or four days, helping my second sister-in-law and others with their sprint review while writing the manuscript!
The General Political Department's celebration party for the southern visiting delegation also arrived as scheduled!

As the number one contributor to this visit to the south to comfort people, Cheng Xuemin will definitely go to participate.

Not only do you have to participate, you may also be arranged to perform in cultural performances!
The only thing he could come up with is probably the song he wrote the lyrics for and composed the music for, which has now spread all over the country.

Even my sister-in-law Feng Jiamo sings almost every day!
As the day went by, Cheng Xuemin had to go on stage and sing this song again.

……

Asking for a monthly ticket!
(End of this chapter)