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

"Did you see that?!"

"Zhu Lin can't sit still anymore, she's going to find Cheng Xuemin!"

"This is going to be good! This is going to be good! Zhu Lin, the female lead of Tai Chi, has gone to confront us with a vengeance!"

"Is this really a good thing to do? Zhu Lin is still one of our own from Yan Film Studio, so why does he just replace the female lead like that?"

"If you're going to replace it, then replace it. Why should we look outside instead of looking within our own Yanying Film Studio?"

"Yes! We have to report this to the factory. We can't let this door open, otherwise the male lead won't be one of our own. Now we're even replacing the female lead. Does this Tai Chi still belong to our Yan Film Studio?"

"That's right, that's right! Why is it that Tai Chi is our own project at Yan Film Studio, and the director is our own director? Why should an outsider come in and interfere, and be able to use whomever he wants and replace whomever he wants!"

"If he keeps doing this, the entire Yanying Film Studio will become his, and he'll be surnamed Cheng, right?"

Upon hearing the news, Zhu Lin couldn't continue with her makeup and rushed out to see what had happened. Tianxian's mother, Liu Xiaoli, Huang Qiuyan, and Ge Chunyan also went downstairs to follow her.

This sparked a heated discussion among all the female students in the dormitory building, who were eagerly waiting to see what would happen.

Some people began to seize the opportunity to launch personal attacks against Cheng Xuemin, an outsider, with constant gossip and rumors.

After all!
The subsidies and other benefits of Cheng Xuemin and his Tai Chi crew were so enviable to the veteran employees of Yan Film Studio, but they just couldn't get involved. So, being very exclusive, they had long been very dissatisfied with Cheng Xuemin of the Tai Chi crew.

Behind the backs of the Tai Chi production team, who knows how many sarcastic remarks and cold jeers they've made!

Everyone is waiting to see the Tai Chi crew make a fool of themselves, so if there's any slight disturbance, those waiting to watch the drama unfold shouldn't get too excited.

"Tch, what makes them think they're so special? Well, look at this, this is exactly what they're good at!"

"What is this? Just based on a newspaper..."

"This is the front page headline of the People's Daily... a notice calling on all units across the country, the Party, and the army to organize the reading of 'Wreaths at the Foot of the Mountain'?"

"A wreath at the foot of the mountain! I've seen this one, it's really well written, what's up?"

"What? This is written by Cheng Xuemin? No way, this...this is the novel that everyone is encouraged to read! This...my God, no wonder he can act like he owns the place in our factory!"

They were all indignant at first, wondering why an outsider could act so arrogantly and domineeringly in their Yanying Film Factory. But after a copy of the People's Daily circulated in the women's dormitory, they instantly erupted in uproar.

The old factory director's office phone was also in an uproar. He was originally in the living quarters and hadn't come to work this early, but when he heard the gatekeeper calling, his office phone had been ringing non-stop since early morning. Thinking something serious had happened, the old factory director rushed to his office.

He was still wondering to himself, nothing had happened at the factory, so why was he receiving so many phone calls? Could something serious have happened outside?
When he arrived at the office, he received a phone call that the old factory director never expected.

It turned out to be a long-distance call from the Jiangxi Provincial Newspaper, looking for Comrade Cheng Xuemin from their factory. The old factory director was puzzled. Why would the Jiangxi Provincial Newspaper want to see Cheng Xuemin?
The question is that if you want to reprint an article he wrote, you need Cheng Xuemin's authorization.

This made the old factory director grumble and complain, thinking to himself, "If you want to reprint it, just reprint it. What's with the need for authorization from Xuemin himself?"

And I spent the whole morning on the phone about this, it's really enough!

Startled, he broke out in a cold sweat early in the morning. The old factory director had a lot of complaints in his heart, but he could only politely inform Cheng Xuemin that he had not yet come to work and that they should call back after nine o'clock.

When he hung up the phone, the old factory director was still indignant and very unhappy. He had been on the phone all morning just because of a reprinting issue. It was really scary!
But soon, the old factory director realized that he had wronged the Jiangxi Provincial Newspaper.

Just as he hung up the phone, another call came in abruptly. The old factory manager chuckled and picked it up, saying into the phone, "Didn't I tell you? Comrade Cheng Xuemin hasn't come to work yet. I told you to come after nine o'clock..."

Before the old factory director could finish speaking, the other party introduced themselves, which immediately surprised him. He asked in bewilderment, "Ah? You're from the Qiongzhou Daily in Qiongzhou? You also got authorization from Cheng Xuemin to reprint articles!?"

And so, the old factory director received one call, and before he could even close the receiver, another call came in seamlessly. He had no idea how many more were waiting to seamlessly connect, leaving the old factory director completely baffled.

He quickly called for someone to find today's newspaper, wondering what had happened.
Holy crap, it was this?

Good lad! He was on the evening news last night, and I never expected him to be on the front page of the People's Daily this morning!

This is a personal instruction from above, calling on all units across the country to organize reading for the whole nation. No wonder local newspapers are calling like crazy, demanding to reprint and publish it!
But how did these local newspapers find out his Yan Film Studio's landline number? And how did they even manage to call him there!
When someone placed a copy of the People's Daily in front of the old factory director, he suddenly realized what had happened after seeing the headline on the front page!

No wonder!

Actually, when I watched the news yesterday, the old factory director was shocked by this news report, marveling that Cheng Xuemin had really made a splash again.

To be honest, his novel "Wreath at the Foot of the Mountain" is indeed very, very well written. In fact, the old factory director has already decided to approach that kid and ask for the film adaptation rights.

I was planning to congratulate him today and mention the filming of "Garland at the Foot of the Mountain," but I didn't expect his office phone to be ringing off the hook this morning!

Finally, when Cheng Xuemin arrived, he quickly called out to the window, telling Cheng Xuemin to come up and answer the phone. He thought to himself that the person in charge had finally arrived, and the old factory director no longer needed to waste his breath trying to get the call to come in.

"Old factory director, this is... I'm here to answer?" Cheng Xuemin and Feng Jiayou went straight upstairs. Before they even reached the old factory director's office, they heard the phone in his room ringing continuously, but the old factory director didn't answer it.

Upon entering the office, Cheng Xuemin saw the old factory director sitting at his desk drinking tea, completely ignoring the constantly ringing landline phone. He asked in bewilderment.

"They've been calling you since early this morning! If you hadn't come soon..." The old factory director was about to complain when he saw Cheng Xuemin come in, but when he saw the woman who came in with him, his eyes lit up. He thought to himself, "This is Cheng Xuemin again. Where did he find her?"
I have to say, Cheng Xuemin has a really good eye for talent!

"Looking for me?! Who is it?" Cheng Xuemin was equally puzzled. Why was someone looking for him so early in the morning? Then, seeing the old factory director fall silent, he explained, "Oh, right, old factory director, this is my wife, Feng Jiayou. She didn't have class today, so she came along to visit!"

"Hello, old factory director. I've been wanting to come and see you for a long time. Xuemin has told me a lot when he got home that without your full support and help, he wouldn't have been able to put up this show!" Feng Jiayou was also the type to flatter him. It was her first time visiting her husband's workplace, and he was the old factory director, so of course she had to be polite and flattering.

"Oh my, it's Xuemin's wife! I thought to myself that you had found another promising talent from somewhere!"

"Feng Jiayou, right?"

"Hello, Comrade Jiayou! I always said that the female protagonist in Xuemin's novel 'Romance on Lushan Mountain' must have a real-life prototype, and now it seems that's indeed the case!"

"Seriously, if Xuemin hadn't told me, I would have really thought he'd dug up a celestial being from somewhere!"

Upon hearing this, the old factory director was astonished to learn that it was Cheng Xuemin's wife. He couldn't help but exclaim in admiration. "Old factory director, you're so eloquent! You're not some celestial being at all! I'm just an ordinary person!" Feng Jiayou was flattered to the skies, especially by the old factory director of Yanying Factory. How could she not be delighted?

She was fantasizing that this was only because her aunt and Xuemin didn't allow her to wear makeup, and she had just tidied herself up a bit and put on the most fashionable clothes her aunt had brought, yet her man's workplace was so amazed.

If she had followed her original plan and dressed up carefully before coming out, wouldn't she have truly ascended to heaven and become a celestial being?!
Am I really that pretty?
Anyway, Feng Jiayou herself didn't really think so. She could only say that maybe ninety percent of the time, people were exaggerating and flattering her because of her man!

Doesn't your man have that much face?
She might have been a little short of the mark before, but today, with the newspaper in her hand and the widespread encouragement it received, who wouldn't flatter her man in this moment of opportunity?!
"Hello, hello, really? What a coincidence! I support you, definitely, definitely! Okay, okay, that's fine, thank you, thank you!"

Cheng Xuemin ignored the two of them and quickly picked up the ringing telephone on the table. What he heard after answering it really surprised him.

It turned out that the editor-in-chief of the Yulin Daily, from his hometown of Yulin, called to discuss reprinting his "Wreath at the Foot of the Mountain," which was both unexpected and delightful for Cheng Xuemin.

Cheng Xuemin would definitely wholeheartedly agree and support reprinting his article "Wreaths Under the High Mountains" in the local newspaper.

Cheng Xuemin had actually met and known the editor-in-chief before. They exchanged pleasantries on the phone, and the editor-in-chief invited him to visit more often, to which Cheng Xuemin naturally nodded politely.

After all, it's his hometown, and these are all connections he has; Cheng Xuemin will go back sooner or later. Besides, after October, when the Tai Chi crew goes out to film on location, he plans to take the opportunity to go home.

After all, during the summer vacation, they had promised the village a flour mill, an oil press, a maltose syrup machine, and a flower-making machine, and they were waiting for Cheng Xuemin to make a trip to procure all the necessary equipment for the village to start a factory.

Therefore, Cheng Xuemin was determined to maintain and preserve this connection with his hometown.

To Cheng Xuemin's surprise, as soon as he hung up, another call came in. He answered it and found out it was from the Beijing Evening News!

Similarly, if someone wants to repost Cheng Xuemin's "Wreath Under the Mountain," Cheng Xuemin will definitely give them his full support.

Then came one phone call after another. Cheng Xuemin finally understood why the old factory director had sounded so resentful when he came in, saying it was already early in the morning.

It turns out there were constant phone calls, with people rushing in one after another!
When Cheng Xuemin casually asked how they got his contact information for Yan Film Studio, he was met with a question.

They were told that they first called the PLA Literature and Art Publishing House, the organization that launched the initial call, and the people there transferred the call to them, which is how they found out!

Cheng Xuemin then realized that things couldn't continue like this.

Because he knew that once the higher authorities called for nationwide reading, newspapers and magazines of all sizes across the country responded to the call and competed to reprint "The Garland Under the Mountain," with more than a hundred of them doing so.

If he were to call each of them individually, Cheng Xuemin wouldn't have to do anything but answer the phone in his office.

Immediately, he picked up the phone and called Dong Ling of the PLA Literature and Art Department, asking her not to forward it, but to authorize it directly over the phone so that others could reprint it!
Unfortunately, the line was constantly busy, and I couldn't get through. It was clear that her connection was being overwhelmed by long-distance calls from all over the country, just like here.

Forced into a corner, Cheng Xuemin simply unplugged the telephone line, which brought much peace and quiet.

"Xuemin, disconnecting the phone line isn't a good idea either. What if there are any new instructions from above, and we can't get in touch with you?"

Seeing Cheng Xuemin unplug the telephone line, the old factory director shook his head with a wry smile, disapproving, and said...

"Old factory director, let's have some peace and quiet for an hour or two before we talk!" Cheng Xuemin knew that there would inevitably be hundreds more calls waiting in line, all for the same thing. What else could they do if they didn't unplug the phone line?
We can't just keep answering calls one after another, can we?

"That's fine too!" The old factory director nodded in agreement and said readily, "Alright, alright, it's rare to give your crew a few days off, Xuemin, you can take your wife and go out for a stroll! I'll handle the calls for you here!"

"That's so embarrassing!" Cheng Xuemin smiled sheepishly.

"What's there to be embarrassed about? At worst, I'll just reply that you're not here and ask him to call back another day!" the old factory manager said casually.

“That works!” Cheng Xuemin nodded and said, “I’ll call the PLA Literature and Art Department later and let them decide for themselves. Anyway, I’ll definitely agree to reprint it!”

"Or, I can go there on my way this morning and talk to them in person!"

"That would be even better!"

After talking with the old factory director for a while, Cheng Xuemin took Feng Jiayou out of the office and went downstairs to return to his own office.

"Jiayou, you've come!"

However, they ran into Zhu Lin and Liu Xiaoli on the stairs at the entrance. Zhu Lin greeted Feng Jiayou with a surprised and excited expression.

"Hello Sister Lin, I don't have class today, Xuemin brought me here to show you around!"

When Feng Jiayou saw Zhu Lin, an acquaintance, she greeted him happily.

"Oh? Is that her? She really looks like an angel! What is she wearing? It looks so good!"

"Wait, what's going on? They know each other? They're not here to steal Zhu Lin's lead role?!"

"Something's not right, something's not right. It seems like she's Cheng Xuemin's wife/lover? She...she's Cheng Xuemin's lover, not here to steal the female lead?"

"My God?! Cheng Xuemin actually has a lover and is already married?"

"You don't know, he's been married for a long time, okay? But I really didn't expect his wife to be so beautiful!"

"I don't know! Nobody told me Cheng Xuemin was already married!"

"Cheng Xuemin is married? Then... what's going on with Zhu Lin? Didn't she know he already has a partner? Why was she so reluctant to leave the role and treat him like her man?"

"Huh? It really is true. Judging from this situation, Zhu Lin must already know that the other person is married and has a partner, yet she still acted like that!"

……

Originally, I was just following along, waiting to see what would happen, but when I saw that very fashionable, beautiful, and young woman actually hanging out with Zhu Lin, I was instantly dumbfounded and confused. They were supposed to replace Zhu Lin as the female lead, so why did the whole thing suddenly change?! (End of Chapter)