Literary Master 1983

Chapter 207 Eighty Cents

Wang Anyi, a female writer from Shanghai, said: "I didn't expect Yu Qie had this side when he was a child. I always thought he was born out of nowhere, but in fact, he also traveled a long way to get here."

Qu Tianing felt that Wang Anyi's words were like a mockery of Yu Qie for coming from a small county town, so he immediately said bluntly: "I'm afraid the Japanese don't think that Yu Qie suddenly appeared. His novels have all been sent to Japan."

These words are explicitly and implicitly mocking Wang Anyi's ignorance.

Wang Anyi was a little unhappy: "So have you read many of Yu Qie's works?"

“I didn’t miss any!”

"Comrade, you are awesome!" Wang Anyi was speechless and could only give a thumbs up.

The formal meeting was held on the third day during the day, and Yu Hua, the sloppy puppy, also reported at that time. According to the time in Japan, whether Yu Qie would be nominated for the Akutagawa Ryunosuke Award would be announced on that day.

For many people who don’t pay attention to Japanese literary awards, they don’t know what Yu Qie is thinking.

There were so many writers coming from the south this time that many people didn’t know about the Akutagawa Prize.

As the time for the nomination announcement approached, Yu Qie felt particularly bored and went out to relax. He walked around the West Lake without notifying anyone, thinking that when he got almost to the point where he was, he would turn around and come back.

Unexpectedly, there were so many people out for a walk, and everyone wanted to say hello to Yu Qie. Qu Tianing and Wang Anyi were talking in a sarcastic tone in the afternoon, but in the evening they were as friendly as if they were wearing the same skirt.

Qu Tiening even introduced Wang Anyi: "This is the writer Wang Anyi from Shanghai. Her mother is the writer Ru Zhijuan. Last August, Wang Anyi went to the United States for four months to study. After returning, she went into seclusion again... She really doesn't know some of your experiences."

Yu Qie asked the two female writers: "How did you get along so quickly?"

Qu Tiening said: "We lived next door to each other, and we became good friends after talking about the difficulties of being a female writer."

He met Duanduan again. The girl was running happily around the West Lake. Li Xiaolin couldn't catch up with her and kept shouting at her from behind.

"Duanduan! Run slower!"

"Duanduan!"

Of course Duanduan wouldn't listen. Children are at their most energetic and love to play. There is a raised railing where they are, which was originally designed to prevent tourists from falling down, but now it has become Duanduan's playground. She lay on the railing and looked down. Suddenly, she closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. She didn't know what she was thinking, but she actually fell headfirst into the air.

Li Xiaolin was stunned for about half a second, then shouted miserably:
"Duanduan, my Duanduan!"

Yu Qi was startled by the shout!

He took two steps at a time, flew over the railing, jumped into the lake, picked up Duan Duan, and lifted her up on his shoulders. Everyone lifted Duan Duan up together, and then pulled Yu Qie up.

"Pooh!"

"Bah!"

Duanduan choked on the water a few times, but nothing happened. But she knew she had caused a big disaster, so she cried and apologized to Li Xiaolin: "Mom, I won't dare to do it again, can you forgive me?"

Li Xiaolin was almost mad: "I won't forgive you! You are not obedient at all... Duanduan, not only are you a bad student, but you also don't know how to be obedient. None of us can handle it. What if Yu Qie is not here? What will you do!"

As a result, Duanduan burst into tears and ran away again. Li Xiaolin was confused and didn't know whether to chase her... Fortunately, Yu Qie caught Duanduan.

"Duanduan, it's me."

As soon as Duanduan saw Yu Qie, she felt very aggrieved and hugged him and cried loudly. Yu Qi immediately knew how Alai got along with this child, as they both had well-developed tear glands.

Afterwards, Yu Qie took off his clothes, wrung the water out of his shirt, and took Duanduan for a walk. Li Xiaolin and others followed him at a distance.

Duanduan suddenly looked up and said, "You are much better than my mother." Yu Qie said, "The deeper the love, the more severe the criticism. Do you know this saying?"

Duanduan nodded, but still said: "You are better than my mother. She blames me without any reason! In fact, I was lying there watching because I wanted to be infected with bacteria. This way, when I get better, I won't die from this in the future."

"I didn't get infected because I wanted to leave her. I got infected because I wanted to be with my mother."

What a cute little girl.

Yu Qie touched Duanduan's pigtails. Now that Li Xiaolin knew the truth, he was so guilty that he couldn't sleep.

After walking for a while, Yu Qie looked back. His clothes were almost dry at this time, so he picked up Duanduan, and Duanduan fell asleep quickly. When the child was quiet, he was still very quiet and cute, with a rosy face and long eyelashes. If you look closely, you can see fine white hairs.

No wonder Ba Lao likes Duanduan so much!
Ba Lao actually had a legitimate granddaughter, but in his essays, there was much more information about his granddaughter Duanduan.

Now, Duanduan trusts Yu Qie so much that she can even fall asleep in his arms. Li Xiaolin is embarrassed and helpless. Yu Qie tells her why Duanduan went into the water. She regrets it so much that her eyes are filled with guilt towards her daughter.

After returning, Alai sang the folk song praising King Gesar again, "You are the auspicious sun! You are the eternal light of the snowy land!"

After Alai finished singing, he came to congratulate Yu Qie on "getting nominated for Japan's Akutagawa Prize."

Ah? Aren’t the results out yet?

Alai said: "I am an ignorant person, and I have not had time to hear the news of the prosperous city. I can only congratulate you in advance. Remember what I said before, everything you want will come back to you."

Alai spoke this series of words in a rhythmic manner, just like singing.

"Alai, Alai! You are indeed a poet! You are a bard." Yu Qie laughed.

Alai accepted Yu Qie's "good reputation" for him.

The next morning, there was a knock on Yu Qie's door. It turned out to be Duanduan and Li Xiaolin.

The little girl came to Yu Qie and Alai with her hands clenched tightly... She spread out her hands and saw a few small coins, a total of 80 cents.

She came to donate money.

"This is all the money I have. I'll use it to treat the children in Aba."

Alai was deeply moved: "You shouldn't donate it to me, you should donate it to a specialized organization."

Duanduan said innocently: "It's too difficult, I don't know how to do it, can you help me?"

These words finally opened the emotional valve for Ale. He was a very emotional person. He immediately gave up the first day's meeting in Hangzhou and spent the whole day looking for a government-led charitable foundation (which had already existed in the 1980s).

There is a Children and Teenagers Foundation and a Disabled Persons Welfare Foundation which was established not long ago in Hangzhou. Ale went to all the institutions in these two places just to donate the 80 cents. Li Xiaolin also followed him throughout the process. The record of this meeting of "Harvest" magazine was handed over to another editor.

The three of them were not doing their jobs, and the Hangzhou meeting turned into a sugar pill meeting for the three of them.

Finally, after being introduced by others, they actually changed to three trivalent polio pills. Although these pills were provided free of charge by the government, the actual cost was as high as two or three cents per pill.

They might even "earn" a dime from the foundation.

The three sugar pills gave them a lot of energy. Duanduan was very happy and waved his little arms: "The doctor said that if a child takes three sugar pills once every month, they will not get sick!"

(End of this chapter)