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

"The heroic spirit stained with blood, a tribute to our most beloved people!"

Seeing the familiar handwriting and the strong, powerful signature, Mrs. Feng was utterly shocked. Worried that her troublesome son might accidentally wet the golden inscription, she quickly reached out to snatch it away.

But he quickly realized that it was his own hands that were wet, so he quickly wiped them clean on his body before carefully taking the inscription paper and examining it carefully.

"Mom! Look carefully, it's still that person's handwritten inscription for your son-in-law!" Seeing that her mother was indeed more nervous than herself, treating the inscription paper like a family heirloom, Feng Jiayou whispered in her ear, "She said she brought it back from the People's Publishing House this morning. It's for Xuemin's book 'Wreath Under the Mountain' to be published as a standalone book. This is the cover with that person's handwritten inscription."

"So soon it's going to be published as a standalone book?" Upon hearing this, Madam Feng suddenly realized that they were going to publish a standalone book for "The Appointment of Factory Director Qiao" before, and she had given it a title that read "Pioneer of Reform and Opening Up". This time, she has given it a title again!

It is evident that her son-in-law, Cheng Xuemin, has been lying low at Yan Film Studio during this period, without making much of a splash or attracting much attention.

However, the publication of "Wreath at the Foot of the Mountain" once again brought back the memories of the first half of the year. His son-in-law's heroic deeds on the front lines, risking his life and surviving countless near-death experiences, made everyone pay attention to his son-in-law again, and he even wrote an inscription to acknowledge and value Xuemin.

So this is the second time he has written an inscription!

"Yes! Xuemin also said that tomorrow's People's Daily will publish it on the front page, calling on everyone to read it!"

"Mom, just imagine how many copies we'd need to print for this nationwide reading campaign?!"

"Anyway, Xuemin said that the first edition published by the People's Publishing House alone was a full one million copies, and the PLA Literature and Art Publishing House is also printing more and more copies!"

"I heard that People's Literature Publishing House will also start reprinting and publishing this article soon!"

At this point, Feng Jiayou's face lit up with pride. This was her husband's novel, and the first edition sold a million copies. She wondered if any of the great masters and elders in the literary world could compete with it.

"It's not just People's Literature Publishing House that's reprinting it!" After hearing this, Feng's mother also came to her senses and exclaimed, "Just wait! Tonight's news broadcast reported on it. If tomorrow's People's Daily has it on the front page again, it won't be as simple as just publishing a separate book and People's Literature Publishing House reprinting it!"

"At that time, in order to respond to the call and facilitate reading for all, local newspapers and periodicals across the country will inevitably respond actively and reprint the 'Wreath Under the High Mountain' by Xuemin!"

When Feng Jiayou heard her mother say this, her eyes lit up. Don't be too surprised, because if what her mother said is true, and the whole country is scrambling to reprint it, then there will be a lot of royalties!

Although you can't get the maximum reprint fee for reprinting, you still get a reprint fee of two to three yuan.

The reprint fee may not be high, but the volume of reprinted articles can be huge!
She immediately turned around and rushed back to the backyard to report this wonderful news to her man.

Cheng Xuemin could not deny this, because it was indeed the case.

According to Cheng Xuemin's memories from his previous life, he learned that after the publication of "Wreath at the Foot of the Mountain," it quickly sparked a reading craze and became a focal point in the social and cultural life at the time.

After the People's Daily personally called for nationwide reading, newspapers and periodicals in Beijing and other provinces and cities rushed to reprint it, and the Central People's Broadcasting Station broadcast it serially. A total of 104 newspapers serialized the full text, a scale of dissemination that was extremely rare in literary works at the time.

The People's Publishing House's single-volume edition of "Wreath at the Foot of the Mountain" had a print run of 3.58 million copies, creating a publishing miracle and truly leading to the phenomenon of "paper becoming expensive in Luoyang".

Therefore, Cheng Xuemin didn't care much about the reprint fees that his wife, Feng Jiayou, was most concerned about.

Anyway, if they pay for the reprint, I'll accept it. If they don't, it's not considered copyright infringement, since there's no hard and fast rule these days that you have to pay for reprinting.

Whether or not they give it to someone depends entirely on their mood.

However, Cheng Xuemin felt that this wave of reprinting was initiated by the higher authorities through public calls and notices on the evening news, television broadcasts, and the People's Daily, so no newspaper or magazine would be willing to skimp on such a small amount of reprinting fees.

"Xuemin, shall I buy another TV tomorrow and put it in this backyard?"

Feng Jiayou was secretly pleased as she counted the 1,200 yuan in royalties her husband had just handed over. This was the royalties for the single-volume edition given by the People's Publishing House today. Cheng Xuemin had already withdrawn it when he returned to Yanying Film Studio, and now he had obediently handed it over to his wife.

Now he has indeed won over his wife's heart, but not as strongly as before. This makes Cheng Xuemin even more determined to set up a slush fund to hide his private money. Unfortunately, this sum of more than 1,200 yuan cannot be hidden.

"I noticed that my sister and brother-in-law don't really like watching TV in the front yard, so I thought we should just buy one in the backyard too!" Feng Jiayou explained softly when she saw her husband's puzzled expression.

The eldest sister-in-law, Cheng Wenxiu, was still quite reserved. Apart from helping to take care of the squirrels in the front yard and doing housework, she and her husband were rarely seen sitting in the front yard for long.

The astute younger sister-in-law, Feng Jiayou, noticed this and, since her family was financially able to, decided to help her aunt's family improve their living conditions.

"Buy a TV?" Cheng Xuemin asked with a pleased expression, then hugged him tightly and said, "I think it's a good idea. That way, Jiamo won't have to fight with Liwen and Liqun for a TV!"

Since my sister-in-law, Feng Jiamo, and my maternal grandparents also live in the backyard, buying a TV for the backyard isn't really a special purchase for my older sister, and she probably won't object too much.

"Wow, Xuemin, your novels are so popular and successful in China too?"

At dinner time, my aunt, who had been out all day, finally returned. Upon hearing the joyous news being discussed throughout the house, my aunt, Gu Qiuna, was genuinely shocked.

What's even more shocking is the domestic book market. The novel written by my nephew-in-law easily sells millions of copies in its first edition. What terrifying sales figures will it eventually achieve?
"Of course! Auntie, let me tell you, my brother-in-law's novel sold over a million copies in its first edition!"

"Moreover, with the nationwide reading movement, magazines and newspapers all over the country will spring up like mushrooms after rain, vying to reprint my brother-in-law's novel!"

Before Cheng Xuemin and Feng Jiayou could even reply to their aunt Gu Qiuna, Feng Jiamo, the sister-in-law standing nearby, had already begun to speak up for her brother-in-law, Cheng Xuemin.

"Yes, yes, yes, your brother-in-law is really something, is that alright now?!"

Aunt Gu Qiuna realized that the person who respected her nephew-in-law the most in the family was not his wife Feng Jiayou, but his sister-in-law Feng Jiamo.

This made Aunt Gu Qiuna start to worry.

So privately, she couldn't help but remind her sister, Feng's mother, "Sister, isn't Jiamo's admiration for her brother-in-law a bit excessive?!"

"Qiu Na, you noticed it too?" Upon hearing that even her younger sister, who had just returned from abroad, had noticed, Mrs. Feng said with concern, "What are we going to do? The family has such an outstanding brother-in-law, and she's so infatuated with him. I'm worried that if she uses him as her standard for choosing a partner, what kind of person will she find? How will she ever get married in the future?!"

The eldest son-in-law is too outstanding and sharp, but the two sisters have been chasing each other since they were young and neither of them is willing to admit defeat.

If Jiayou has found such an outstanding man, what kind of man should Jiamo find if she is competitive and insists on surpassing her sister?

She was certain she wouldn't be able to get married, because Mrs. Feng believed there was no young man in the world more outstanding than her eldest son-in-law. Mrs. Feng had expressed this concern more than once.

"Let Jiamo come abroad to study with me! Being separated from home for a while, and once she's seen the world, her mind might not be on this anymore!"

Gu Qiuna came up with a good suggestion. She had originally planned to help out her family, and now that her little niece was in this situation, the best solution was to take her out and separate them for a while.

"Actually, Lao Feng and I think so too. You mentioned before that you could take Jiayou and Jiamo to study abroad. I think we should let Jiamo go!" Feng's mother nodded. This is the best solution now.

"Okay, then I'll have a good talk with Jiayou and Jiamo later to see if the sisters want to study abroad and broaden their horizons!" Gu Qiuna nodded, and that was the decision for the time being.

After everyone finished dinner, Aunt Gu Qiuna wanted to visit the Overseas Chinese Apartment and stay there. She spent the night with Feng Jiayou and they chatted for a long time.

"Auntie is planning to take Jiamo abroad to study. Is it that sudden?" The next morning, on the way to Yanying Film Studio, Cheng Xuemin, his older brother Feng Jiazhao who was driving, and his sister-in-law were all surprised and puzzled when Feng Jiayou mentioned it.

"Yes! My aunt originally planned to take a few of us with her when she came back this time to study abroad!"

“However, Xuemin and I have a baby now, and given Xuemin’s current situation, it’s impossible for him to study abroad. My older brother and sister-in-law, my second brother and sister-in-law, and my aunt should have mentioned it to you, right?” Feng Jiayou nodded to Cheng Xuemin, explained, and then asked her older brother and sister-in-law a question.

"Your aunt did ask us, but your brother and I are getting on in years, and it's not convenient for us to travel now. Let's leave the opportunity to study abroad to you!" The sister-in-law nodded, then happily touched her belly. She was already heavily pregnant; what was the point of talking about studying abroad?

The same goes for the second brother. Although his sister-in-law, Sun Juan, was also admitted to Yenching University this year, she is also quite old. Li Wen and Li Qin are also quite old, so they are not comfortable sending them abroad to study.

Therefore, the opportunity to study abroad that my aunt brought back must have gone to the two sisters, Feng You and Feng Mo.

However, given the situation of the younger sister, Feng Jiayou, it is clearly impossible for her to study abroad. Even if she and her husband wanted to go, the country would not allow them to.

So, the chance is almost certainly going to the youngest member of the Feng family.

"Studying abroad?"

"Then I'll go back to the school and ask about the exchange student situation; otherwise, it's probably difficult to get through other channels right now!"

"Moreover, given our family's circumstances, and with Dad having just entered the lake area, sending his daughter abroad to study might not have a good impact on him!"

"However, going through the school exchange program is an option!"

Actually, when his aunt first came back, she mentioned studying abroad to Cheng Xuemin. At the time, Cheng Xuemin didn't take it seriously at all, because nowadays anyone can go abroad to study, but Cheng Xuemin definitely can't.

Because he is a role model erected by the cultural authorities, and now he has received a second inscription, how could they possibly allow him to study abroad?

However, after hearing from his brother-in-law that his aunt had mentioned the same thing to the couple, Cheng Xuemin began to pay more attention.

Although my aunt felt indebted to the family and wanted to make up for it, she wholeheartedly devoted herself to being good to the family.

But now, given his and his father-in-law's current status, what the family needs is stability, not something too volatile.

My aunt, who had been away for over twenty years, suddenly returned at this time, which already caught the attention of my father-in-law's workplace.

If another daughter were to go abroad to study, although there shouldn't be any problems during the review process, it would more or less have an impact on the father-in-law.

So, Cheng Xuemin also began to pay attention to policies related to studying abroad.

Although the door to studying abroad has been opened up a little, the review process is still very strict. The most convenient way is actually through the annual exchange student quotas of each university.

Exchange students are students who exchange ideas with renowned top universities abroad. This is why Yenching University has consistently had a large number of international students over the years.

Most of the foreign students at Yenching University were exchange students.

Similarly, we also have a considerable number of exchange students who go abroad to study and exchange at other countries' prestigious universities.

Therefore, if the family insists on sending the younger sister-in-law, Feng Jiamo, abroad to study, it would be better to go through the exchange student program at Yenching University.

"Xuemin, go to the school and ask Jiamo!" Feng Jiayou said earnestly when she heard her husband say this.

“Okay!” Cheng Xuemin nodded. With his influence, getting an exchange student spot from the school shouldn’t be too difficult.

However, Cheng Xuemin still said, "Jiamo is definitely going to study abroad. Not only Jiamo, but if we have the opportunity, we can also go out and broaden our horizons!"

"However, I think it's better to finish my undergraduate studies in China first, and then go abroad for further studies later!"

Cheng Xuemin approves of studying abroad, but he doesn't really approve of going now.

Because with her sister-in-law's level, even if she went abroad as an exchange student, she might not be able to get into a top university there, and might even have to take the college entrance exam again.

After all, the difference in education level will make it impossible for the sister-in-law to keep up with the teaching progress of other universities. She will find it very difficult and stressful, and attending classes will be like listening to gibberish on an airplane.

Therefore, it would be better to let the sister-in-law complete her undergraduate studies at Yenching University, solidify her foundation, and then it wouldn't be too late for her to study abroad.

However, this matter is not up to Cheng Xuemin's will. If he doesn't want his sister-in-law to study abroad, she won't go!

When her sister-in-law heard that her aunt wanted to take her to study in the United States, she was overjoyed and jumped three levels, shouting with delight:
"Studying abroad?"

"Auntie, are you going to study in the United States?"

"Great! I want to go to college in America with you, Auntie!"

……

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