1987 My Era

Chapter 6, "Alive"

The novel "Wasteland" is Lao Jia's representative work. How should I put it? The work is well-known, influential, and popular in the market. It has won many awards abroad, and he is somewhat tempted.

But he denied it later.

Because the content of this book is so explosive, many people bought it as a pornographic book.

You have to know that he is only 17 years old now. What would others think if he wrote such an experienced book?
Well, he doesn't really care about these.
Whether in domestic history or foreign literary circles, there have been countless geniuses throughout history, and there has never been a shortage of geniuses.

So, can't he be a genius?
If the 26-year-old Wang Bo could write such an eternal classic as "Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng", theoretically he could do it too. No one can define the title of "genius".

But he was mainly concerned about Chen Zijin.

If he became famous for writing "Wasted City", then the girl and his past would definitely be dug out by those omnipresent reporters.

Now I have no power and influence, and I can't suppress this explosive news at all.

If a reporter asks: Mr. Li, have you ever slept with Chen Zijin?
So how should he answer?

Have you been there?

No.

none of your business!

No matter which of these three answers he chooses?
Regardless of whether he answers or not?
Will inevitably cause a second injury to Chen Zijin.

In order to attract attention, those unscrupulous media might attribute all the action descriptions in the book to Chen Zijin, believing that he gained practical experience and inspiration from this girl.

In an era when reputation was still very important, Chen Zijin had finally escaped from the whirlpool of public opinion in Shangwan Village. He had already harmed her once when he was young and ignorant.

After being reborn, I can't hurt her again.

After giving up on "Wasted City", his attention later shifted to "Life is a Sea" and "To Live".

Both novels are good, he likes them both and has read them at least five times in his previous life.

Especially the book "To Live" placed on the bedside table. He can remember all the details and contents of the book clearly even if he has read it ten times.

Both are my favorites, it's hard to choose.

It was a matter of who would be unlucky if chosen, and he felt a little bit reluctant because, after all, he had loved these two writers before.

He even started to dig into whether his ancestors had any conflicts with people with the surname Yu or Mai?

But the result is obvious. His ancestors were all farmers. They finally produced an official, Comrade Li Jianguo, but before they could even enjoy the official position, he became an old farmer again.

Damn, with this family background, I can't defeat them in my entire life, so where does the conflict come from?

After much deliberation and weighing the pros and cons for a long time, Li Heng finally made a difficult decision to write "To Live".

It is said that art comes from life, but is also higher than life. No matter how outrageous it is, the content of the work may not be completely linked to one's own growth trajectory, but it must be close to it, right?

Seven years of civil service career have made him a person with relatively rigorous thinking. He allows himself to have loopholes, but not too many.

Otherwise, no one is a fool, and if there are too many flaws in oneself, they will be discovered by someone with ulterior motives one day.

Even if the other party finds a loophole, they won't be able to do anything about it, but it's still troublesome, isn't it?

He is a trouble-maker.

In his previous life, he had read a report that the author Yu Hua wrote "To Live" because he heard an American folk song "Old Black Slave".

The old black slave in the song experienced a lifetime of hardship and suffering, and all his family members passed away before him, but he still treated the world kindly without a single complaint.

What a coincidence, Comrade Li Jianguo has a tape of this song in his collection.

Even though the tape was pirated, he had listened to it many times, which was the best excuse.

Furthermore, the whole book "To Live" tells the tragic life of Xu Fugui. This prototype is almost extinct in later generations, but it is not difficult to find in this era.

The second uncle of this family is a more suitable subject for writing about.

In the old days, the second master was originally the son of a landlord. He did such immoral things as playing cards, gambling, and taking concubines.

But after experiencing the baptism of war and humanitarian flood, he ended up with his family broken up and his wife and children separated. Now he has become a well-known five-guarantee household.

Even so, he still lived tenaciously, drinking a little wine or fishing in the river every day. Li Heng learned the fishing technique from him when he was young.

The song "Old Black Slave" plus the second uncle, wow! The writing elements are complete, it's amazing.

Just ask Yu Hua, are you panicking?

Just as Li Heng lit a kerosene lamp and wrote furiously, Yu Hua, who was far away in Beijing attending a literature workshop at Lu Xun Academy of Literature, suddenly felt dizzy and fell to the ground, almost fainting.

The floor is hard and it hurts when you fall.

Holding his buttocks and groaning, Yu Hua got up and looked up at the dark night sky. He suddenly felt a little flustered, as if something extremely important was getting away from him. The next morning, Yu Hua, who had not slept well the previous night, passed by a roadside stall and on a whim, he asked a blind man to tell his fortune.

As a result, the blind man told him: You have met an unlucky star, and your Huagai luck has been taken away.

Yu Hua was shocked and asked hurriedly if there was any solution.

The blind man waved his fingers and asked for money!

Yu Hua reached into his pocket, turned around and ran away secretly.

……

Although Li Heng is lazy and likes to take time off on weekdays, once he makes up his mind to do something, he will immediately become a different person with strong motivation.

He unscrewed the cap of the ink bottle, dipped the pen tip into it, and gently squeezed the belly of the pen with his thumb and index finger, and it was instantly filled with ink.

I found a new notebook, spread it out, and prepared to start writing when I discovered that the people across the street were still beating drums and gongs to perform a ritual. It was so noisy that I couldn't concentrate no matter how many times I tried.

Fortunately, the learning environment in rural areas has always been poor, and he has been accustomed to it since he was a child, so he was not so anxious as to want to curse.

He put down his pen, took a few deep breaths, then slowly closed his eyes and began to prepare for writing.

It is said that sharpening the knife does not delay the chopping of wood. Ten minutes later, Li Heng opened his eyes again. This time he completely blocked out the noise outside and immersed himself in his own world.

That night, he wrote 5000 words by hand, from 6:12 to after :, and his wrist was a little sore.

If Li Yan's sudden arrival had not interrupted his writing train of thought, he would not have realized that it was already late at night and would still be able to write.

Li Heng turned his head in frustration, "Sister, why are you here at this time?"

Li Yan brought a big bowl of臊子面 to him and said happily: "Brother, eat quickly, I brought it back secretly and no one saw it.

Look, this is mutton dumplings, and this is beef dumplings, they are so delicious, I just ate three bowls."

Hearing the word "secretly", Li Heng didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It turned out that this elder sister knew about the conflict between the Chen and Li families.

Then why are you rushing over to watch the fun?
But no matter what he thought, he would not blame her. In his eyes, as long as his elder sister was happy, everything was up to her.

Li Heng said, "I'm still full. Big sister, please give the noodles to my second sister. She eats more than me and gets hungry easily at night."

When Li Yan mentioned her second sister, she suddenly felt aggrieved. "I just gave her some food, but she refused to eat it and even called me spineless."

Li Heng was stunned and remained silent.

This is really the second sister's style, she would rather starve to death than eat the food of her enemies. In this regard, he was deeply influenced by this sister.

Li Yan urged again: "Brother, eat quickly, the noodles will become mushy and not tasty."

"okay."

Li Heng said yes, but he moved the noodles aside and said to his elder sister:

"I'm writing an essay and will soon finish it. I'll eat after I finish it. It's getting late. Big sister, you should go back to bed first."

My eldest sister had a low level of education and was demoted three classes in a row when she was in the second grade. Then, due to the ridicule of her peers, she felt inferior and stopped going to school.

So, she couldn't understand what Li Heng was writing at all. She just felt that the whole page was filled with neat penmanship, which was amazing.

Both of her parents are educated people, but she herself can't even read a single word and is almost illiterate. Li Yan is very envious of and respects people for studying.

After hearing what his brother said, he immediately obediently left the room, tiptoeing around for fear of disturbing his reading and writing.

After being interrupted by his elder sister, Li Heng felt a little tight in his chest and suddenly lost his writing mood.

Lying on the old desk, I looked through the window at the Chen family opposite. People eating noodles were coming and going, shouting and yelling, and it was very lively.

The familiar scene outside couldn't help but bring back many memories. Once upon a time, he was a frequent visitor to the Chen family. Every time he went there, Chen Zijin and Chen Zitong would stick to him and call him brother.

But now...

When we met again, Chen Zitong's face was full of strangeness. Everything had changed.

Just as he was lost in his childhood memories, his wandering eyes accidentally fell on the corner of the window on the second floor opposite.

His eyes focused and met Chen Zitong's gaze.

I don’t know when she appeared, but it was obvious that the other party saw the臊子面 on the table.

After staring at each other for three seconds, Chen Zitong, with no expression on his face, reached out and pulled hard, and the curtains closed quickly with a whoosh.

Well, people really don’t like me, and I can’t explain this bowl of noodles.

(End of this chapter)