1979: Literary Master, Starting from the Return of Educated Youth

Chapter 30: Lao Xu, are you digging for nugget gold?

"Let's leave it to you young people to decide. Didn't the higher-ups say that we should promote democracy?"

Li Ji closed his eyes and waved his hands, rejecting Wang Chaoyin.

Wang Chaoyin still insisted.

"You have been through a lot and have a wealth of work experience. Without your guidance, we would be lost."

Wang Chaoyin said earnestly.

Li Ji could not resist his request and gave some guidance after thinking about it.

"There's no need for guidance. If I designate a direction and you judge it accordingly, the style of the works will inevitably become the same in the end."

"I only recommend three authors and their works, namely Comrade Liu Xinwu's "Class Teacher" and one short story."

"Goldbach's Conjecture, written by Comrade Xu Chi, is of great significance in establishing the image of scientific researchers in the minds of the general public and occupies a reportage quota."

"There's another one..."

When Li Ji said this, he looked at Wang Chaoyin and smiled knowingly.

"Xu Yuexin, The Wreath at the Foot of the Mountain."

Wang Chaoyin spoke before Li Ji and expressed his idea on his behalf.

“Well, this one is essential.”

Li Ji tapped the table with his fingers, emphasizing.

"Oh, by the way, I have a suggestion. Leave one flexible quota for each of novellas, short stories, and reportage, and save it for the excellent works to be published in the rest of the year."

Wang Chaoyin asked Li Ji for instructions.

Li Ji considered Wang Chaoyin's opinion for a while, and then gave his instructions: "Okay, this is a safer approach."

After the manuscript was reviewed and everything that needed to be discussed was settled, Wang Chaoyin said goodbye to Li Ji and went to the Finance Department to handle the remittance procedures for Xu Yuexin's royalties.

Wang Chaoyin returned to the editorial office after finishing his work. Before he could even warm up his chair, he heard the warehouse manager yelling outside the door: "Which editor is the author of Spring Breeze?"

"He has too many letters from readers. Come with me to deal with them."

"Got it, I'll be there in a minute."

Wang Chaoyin waved to the warehouse manager, took a short rest, went downstairs to the warehouse, and asked the warehouse manager to open the door for him to see.

"Look, Team Leader Wang, these are all letters written to him by Chunfeng's readers."

After the door opened, the warehouse manager pointed to the large sacks piled in the corner and said helplessly, "I'm not in a hurry to rush you, I've never seen so many letters, and they take up too much space."

Wang Chaoyin was amazed when he saw the three large sacks stuffed bulging with stuff.

How many letters from readers must be stuffed into this sack!

Wang Chaoyin has been in the industry for 20 years and has never seen such a popular scene.

"High Mountains" is so popular among readers!

"We will mail these letters to Comrade Chunfeng. Please help me carry them to the post office."

After recovering from the shock, Wang Chaoyin said to the warehouse manager, then strode into the depths of the warehouse and picked up a package with difficulty.

……

A few days later, in the morning, in the faculty building of Qinghua University.

Xu Yuexin held a copy of that day's People's Daily and read it with great interest.

The interview he once gave was finally published in the newspaper today.

His conversations with Wang Chaoyin, Wang Meng and Li Renchen were printed in neat lead type and arranged in the literature section of the newspaper.

After putting down the newspaper, Xu Yuexin began to memorize his lessons in preparation for the college entrance examination.

The 1979 college entrance examination was scheduled for early July and was the third examination since its resumption.

Xu Yuexin is reviewing the philosophy principles section in the political textbook, which accounts for the highest proportion in the current college entrance examination political section and is prone to large questions.

The universality and particularity of contradictions and their relationship; practice is the only criterion for testing truth...

Xu Yuexin read it twice and then memorized it once, engraving the knowledge into his mind bit by bit with great concentration.

It was not until noon that Xu Yuexin put down his book, went downstairs for a walk, and checked if there were any letters sent to him.

Downstairs of the faculty and staff building, temporary buildings were rising from the ground, and people were coming in and out of the doors of the buildings from time to time.

The more sophisticated ones are made of bricks and stones, while the rest are just made of wood frames covered with a layer of opaque plastic film.

With a large number of educated youth returning to the city and the increase in the number of children, many families’ houses became too small to accommodate them.

Most of the faculty and staff houses in the building only have one bedroom and one living room. If a couple has three or four children and elderly people, the living space is bound to be tight.

The family was small and the land was narrow, so there was not enough space for them to move around. So some people took the lead in building temporary buildings outside for their children to live in, and this has become a common practice today.

Many of the girls and boys among them knew Xu Yuexin and they greeted each other when they met.

When Xu Yuexin walked to the edge of the wall, a chubby young man came out of a small brick house built against the wall. When he saw him, he immediately ran up to him excitedly: "Old Xu, you're back too!"

"Lao Wang, when did you come back? Why didn't you say anything?"

Xu Yuexin stepped forward and patted the fat young man's shoulder excitedly.

The fat young man is named Wang Youle, and he is Xu Yuexin’s childhood friend. They were in the same class in high school.

Wang Youle and Xu Yuexin were sent to the countryside to work at the same time, but they were located in the south and north, Xu Yuexin was in the northeast and he was in Hunan. "I just came back last night and was planning to look for you."

Wang Youle smiled and said, "How is it? My temporary building is pretty good, right? It has brick walls and tile roofs, and it doesn't leak wind or rain."

"My family knew I was coming back, so they set it up in advance. I just moved the quilt in."

Wang Youle's father, Wang Qin, is an engineering researcher at Tsinghua University. His house is quite spacious, but it cannot accommodate the large population.

So when their family learned that Wang Youle was coming back, they built a small house under the wall in advance.

"The house is quite nice, facing south and getting plenty of sunlight."

"You can get some more sun in there, take in some vitamins, and maybe you can grow taller."

Xu Yuexin looked at his childhood friend's house for a while and gave his affirmative opinion.

Wang Youle lived up to the name his parents gave him, with a cheerful and optimistic personality. The other children of faculty and staff living in the temporary building had more or less complaints, many of which had reached Xu Yuexin's ears, but he was the only one who was cheerful.

"Thanks to your good words, I will grow taller and look less fat."

"By the way, Lao Xu, are you going to work? You'll definitely be late at this hour, right?"

Wang Youle asked as the two of them walked outside the wall together.

"I used to work in a coal mine, but now I've quit and am staying at home."

Xu Yuexin shook his head and saw three large sacks piled under the mailbox.

"That's awesome, bro. People are struggling to find a job, but you quit."

Wang Youle admired his courage and gave him a thumbs up. He then looked left and right, and after making sure no one was approaching, he lowered his voice and asked, "Are you digging for nuggets of gold in the well and want to make a fortune so you quit your job?"

Before returning to the city, Wang Youle discussed work with his parents, and Wang Qin explained to him the job options that the family could provide.

Laboratory handyman, campus sanitation worker, logistics porter...

Anyway, they were all positions that made Wang Youle's scalp tingle. For this reason, he had been fantasizing recently that it would be great if he could make a fortune and not have to go to work.

Upon hearing that his friend had resigned and stayed at home, Wang Youle immediately projected his own imagination onto him, thinking that he was living the life he had always dreamed of.

"What are you thinking about? Be careful someone hears and reports me."

Xu Yuexin didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "I was writing a novel at home."

"Writing a novel? That's even more awesome."

Wang Youle exclaimed, "There is a person in our educated youth camp who wrote 5000 words and published them in the newspaper two years ago. The higher-ups directly transferred him back to the city. We are so envious of him."

By this time, Xu Yuexin and Wang Youle had walked up to the sack and saw the postal label on the sack, which showed that it was a letter from a reader forwarded by People's Literature, and the recipient was himself.

Readers of this era are so passionate.

There were three large sacks of letters from readers, the number of which must have been counted in the thousands.

Xu Yuexin sighed and tore off all the mailing lists and put them in his pocket.

I opened the mailbox again and saw two more letters from myself.

One is from People's Literature, and the other is from You Peiling.

"Lao Wang, if you are not busy, help me carry a sack."

Xu Yuexin collected the letter and took the lead in carrying the two large sacks on his shoulders.

"to make."

Wang Youle also picked up a sack and immediately grinned, "What's in it? It's so heavy."

With his physique, even though he was considered strong among ordinary people, he couldn't bear the weight of the sack.

"If you can't carry it, forget it. Just leave it here for me. I'll come down and run another round later."

Seeing this, Xu Yuexin made arrangements.

"No, I can handle it. I didn't work when I heard we were going back to the city a while ago, so I'm not used to it today."

Wang Youle didn't want to embarrass himself in front of his childhood friend, so he gritted his teeth and insisted.

The two men carried three large sacks of readers' letters and walked towards the faculty building. Xu Yuexin was in front, walking faster and faster with a steady pace.

Wang Youle was watching from behind with his eyes wide open.

I was already panting while carrying one bag, but this guy was still walking briskly with two bags.

What did you eat growing up?

After delivering the readers' letters to his home, Xu Yuexin took out two bottles of Beibingyang soda, as well as snacks such as fried dough twists and fruit candies to treat the breathless Wang Youle.

Wang Youle picked up a bottle of soda, bit open the cap, and started drinking it up in gulps until the bottle was empty.

Seeing that he was drinking with great satisfaction, Xu Yuexin opened the cupboard and got him two more bottles.

Wang Youle took one of the bottles.

"It's really delicious. You won't find this kind of stuff in the countryside."

Wang Youle bit open the bottle cap, fanned himself with his hands and said with emotion, "By the way, our class is going to have a reunion, and the date is set for the day after tomorrow."

"Shall we go together then?"

(End of this chapter)