Literary Master 1983

Chapter 217 Xu Chi's Reportage

In Yenching, students spontaneously formed an association to promote "polio". They targeted college students who were preparing to return home, and asked them to take the October issue of the novel on the train back home to promote this rare disease to the passengers.

Even if we cannot raise any donations, it is a meaningful thing to make more people pay attention to this disease.

The parents were also moved by the novel and were willing to donate a few cents or dollars. They regarded donating money as the final step in educating their children. They found the Disabled Persons’ Federation and the Children’s Fund and learned that similar projects were being prepared, but it would take time for approval.

Creating a donation item because of a novel is unprecedented in the past, and it is still unknown what consequences it will cause.

Writer Xu Chi was invited by the Writers Association and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences to record Yu Qie's last month from nomination to his trip to Japan. He originally planned to write a report that was far better than "Goldbach's Conjecture". Yu Qie is undoubtedly much more charismatic than Chen Jingrun! He has friends all over the world, he is handsome, and he is also a popular college student!
But now Xu Chi encountered a problem that gradually emerged:

Yu Qie himself is already very famous, and many people already like him.

In this case, how can the value of his report be demonstrated?
How can a hero surpass his original image?

Difficult, really difficult.

Xu Chi was very enthusiastic about writing a report on "cotangent" because he was a writer himself. When he wrote "Goldbach's Conjecture", people said that "Chen Jingrun" was a controversial person and there was no need to write about him.

It is also said that Xu Chi knew nothing about mathematical theorems, so it was very difficult for him to write a reportage on Chen Jingrun!
However, Xu Chi did a great job.

The Writers Association and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences had high hopes for him this time, and he came to write a report with a mission. Qian Zhongshu, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said: "There is still a mentality in our society that looks down on writers, thinking that they are the ninth class and that their thoughts are unclean! In addition, some writers themselves have developed bad habits, which makes people hate them! "Goldbach's Conjecture" has changed people's bad impression of scientific researchers, and made society begin to sympathize with and respect scientists! However, there has been no "Goldbach's Conjecture" about writers so far!"

The Goldbach Conjecture was originally published in the first issue of People's Literature, which itself contained some propaganda ideas. Xu Chi was ordered to write the article. The appearance of this article was not accidental, and both "Chen Jingrun" and "Xu Chi" were selected through layers of selection.

"We have been waiting for that person to appear!" Qian Zhongshu said to Xu Chi. "Yu Qie and Chen Jingrun are somewhat similar. Chen Jingrun is a mathematician, Yu Qie is a writer, Chen Jingrun had a teacher Hua Luogeng, while Yu Qie had a teacher Ma Shi Tu."

"Moreover, Yu Qie has good qualifications in all aspects. He is also good at communicating with people. He has also been nominated for a major award abroad. Please write an excellent report and write about a young writer with noble character! Let the remaining trend of despising writers in society be reversed!"

Qian Zhongshu was the first person Xu Chi met.

Later, Xu Chi met the British ambassador to China at that time, Colida. Colida often participated in literary and artistic activities held in the mainland and was very interested in these oriental arts. He heard that Yu Qie was going to be reported, and Colida, who was familiar with the system of this country, contacted Xu Chi.

Kelida said: "Among the writers in your country, Yu Che is a truly talented person. Why? Because I, a British, can understand his novels! Sometimes after reading "Letter from the Fiancée", I hate the Vietnamese, and after reading "A Way Out", I hate ourselves, the British!"

"Please make sure you write a good article. When the Beatles fell apart a few years ago, I read the relevant reports and documentaries and had already predicted John Lennon's end - he would either be killed by extreme fans or go to self-destruction."

"I am very interested in Yu Qie. To some extent, I am also one of his loyal readers. He became famous at a young age, and I am interested in what will happen to him."

Xu Chi suddenly felt that his task was daunting. People had different versions of Yu Qie in their minds. His was already a nearly perfect painting, unlike the less famous Chen Jingrun.

The third person who talked to Xu Chi about Yu Qie was Yu Qie himself.

"Mr. Xu, you used to write about saintly characters who were incredibly pure, and you wrote them very well, whether it was Li Siguang, Chen Jingrun, or others... But I may be a little different. For me, literature itself is also a tool to realize my ambitions. I am not as pure as the ones mentioned above."

"But if you have any questions, I will tell you everything."

So, Xu Chi began to follow Yu Qie, and in the following time, he tried his best to participate in Yu Qie's life as a bystander.

Half a month has passed since the release of "Little Shoes", and the novel is now exerting its influence. As the New Year is approaching, some parents and children in Beijing decided to have a special family education - donating money for polio vaccines.

However, as mentioned earlier, because the foundation and other organizations did not have this project, parents soon faced the problem of not being able to donate accurately, because their money would be misappropriated. So they chose to send the money to Yu Qie himself, but this brought trouble to Yu Qie.

In a short period of time, Yu Qie received hundreds of donation letters, and the change mixed in the letters added up to more than a thousand yuan! This thousand yuan was a hot potato. The letter was sent to Yu Qie, which meant it was for Yu Qie, but it also specified the purpose of the money, and Yu Qie himself could not touch it.

But who knows how much money Yu Qie donated? How much money he pocketed?

Recently, all the letters sent to Yu Qie were left by Zhang Shouren at the Beijing Publishing House, and they were opened in front of everyone. The editorial department also urgently set up a supervision group to record every penny.

Zhang Shouren also realized that this was a trouble and did not dare to let Yu Qie open the letter.

Therefore, we must quickly set up an official charity account where all donations will be collected.

Yu Qie told Xu Chi: "It's impossible to raise funds by yourself!"

"We must first get this charity process running. It is said that it takes more than 300 procedures to get a real estate certificate in Pengcheng. Can you imagine how long it will take us?"

Xu Chi felt sorry for Yu Qie: "You want to do something good, why is it so troublesome?"

Yu Qie said, "It's not a problem. There is a reason why individuals are not allowed to raise funds."

In 1980, a shocking nationwide "Taihui" incident occurred in a certain place in the southeast. A rural woman set up the first private money house after the founding of the People's Republic of China. The initial claim was "mutual help" and it was charitable in nature. However, it soon developed into a "Ponzi scheme" and finally caused extremely serious consequences, affecting tens of thousands of families.

Although the direction of "Little Shoes" is good, we can't let everyone's enthusiasm evaporate at will. If everyone who writes a good work in the future asks for donations, the nature of the matter will change.

Xu Chi was quite surprised after hearing what Yu Qi said: "How can you, a writer, know all these things?"

"You forgot that I majored in economics at Yan University. Please write it down in your report." Yu Qi said with a smile.

Professor Gu, who developed the vaccine, is currently also running a vaccine donation project. Gu Fangzuo was elected president of the Union Hospital College this year, and he is also the vice president of the Academy of Medical Sciences, so he has a lot of connections.

But even for such a powerful person like him, it is not easy to promote the establishment of a new charity project, because the Disabled Persons' Federation and the Children and Teenagers' Fund were both newly established and there is no precedent for this.

Professor Gu and Yu Qi both preferred that UNICEF China handle this matter. They went to the UNICEF office in Jianguomen to propose fundraising, but were turned away every time.

It's not necessarily an excuse or a rejection, it's just that there's no precedent, so they're not enthusiastic. And it's almost the New Year, why do we have to do it now?
Professor Gu's method was to apply formally through the unit, and he persuaded Yu Qie to submit it through the Writers Association, which would definitely succeed. But Yu Qie thought this method was too slow and too time-consuming, and his method was beyond the imagination of Xu Chi and Professor Gu.

Yu Qie said: "If we can't do this, then we can ask foreigners to do it. Then we can do it on a special basis."

Both were dumbfounded: What can foreigners do? Do they also care about the vaccine problem of Chinese children?
Yu Qie quickly let them know what to do about this matter. He found Xie Guomin, a wealthy Chinese businessman from Thailand.

Xie Guomin of Charoen Pokphand Group is currently conducting an inspection in Yanjing. He is preparing to put into production a batch of feed production lines and will invest tens of millions of dollars in central and southwestern regions. He is a popular patriotic businessman.

Yu Qie took the initiative to find Xie Guomin and told him about this matter. Xie Guomin agreed immediately.

Then, on the 28th day of the lunar year, Xie Guomin went to Jianguomen and announced that he wanted to donate money. Since Xie Guomin had donated about 200,000 US dollars to the mainland before, he was a major donor. The directors of the foundation received him ceremoniously and had a good chat. Soon after, Xie Guomin suddenly became concerned about polio patients in the mainland and asked to donate 1,000 US dollars to a specific charity account.

As usual, the foundation said: "We don't have such a project, but we guarantee that the money will be used in the right place."

Xie Guomin said: "The $200,000 I donated previously was used for religious and local policies to help people find their relatives. I think that even though my money has been donated, I am entitled to know where it has been used. This is the most basic principle in foreign countries. Otherwise it would be unfair to us donors."

"I only want to do one good deed with this thousand dollars. Even if it's used for another good cause, that's not the purpose of my donation! Don't you agree?"

Xie Guomin went there in the morning and the account was opened in the afternoon.

Then, Yu Qie's first problem was solved. October and Jingcheng Publishing House organized a donation campaign for vaccines. The medical school where Professor Gu worked also had such an event, and the money was remitted to the designated project.

On the 29th day of the lunar year, Professor Gu, Yu Qie, Xie Guomin and Xu Chi had dinner together. They all thanked Xie Guomin for his contribution to Chinese children, but Xie Guomin said, "This one thousand US dollars was donated by Yu Qie."

what?
Xu Chi was surprised, but he didn't say it immediately.

Professor Gu said: "You have put a lot of effort into writing the article, why do you need to donate money yourself?"

Yu Qie shook his head: "Do I have to ask my friends to spend money on my affairs?"

Xie Guomin said: "I will also donate money. In fact, whether you donate money or I donate money, the nature is the same."

"It's different, so let's keep it one thing at a time."

So they immediately toasted to Yu Qie.

Xu Chi had a first impression of Yu Qie. Yu Qie was a bit similar to Ma Shi Tu, hating evil and having a pure heart, but also well versed in social rules, especially those outside the rules.

Yu Qie's behavior of "letting foreigners do things" really surprised him, but he also felt it was reasonable.

On New Year's Eve, Yu Qie was watching the Spring Festival Gala at home alone. Xu Chi and a few friends came to bring dumplings to Yu Qie.

This group of people are not celebrating the New Year at home this year, and they are all from the south. However, in some parts of the north, people eat dumplings on New Year's Eve, so they also followed the local customs.

Xu Chi's brother-in-law was a commander, who told him: "Yu Qie has a very good reputation in the army. He is one of the few male writers respected by the soldiers! Please give him the dumplings. He must be missing his hometown very much at this time!"

Xu Chi thought that made sense. Yu Qie was probably feeling empty, lonely and cold. No one was accompanying him, and he couldn't get a hot meal. His house might as well be old and shabby!
He brought dumplings. It was Xu Chi's first time to Yu Qie's house, and he was immediately shocked by the advanced decoration at that time: floor heating system, ventilation system, separate bathroom, cloakroom, and three rooms specially used for collecting and storing letters. In addition, the garden lawn in the center of the courtyard and the barbecue grill against the wall were also very eye-catching.

Yu Qie also has two study rooms, a game room, and an audio-visual room. These rooms are particularly quiet. It turns out that he has also done sound insulation. According to Yu Qie, the cost of decoration in the past six months has exceeded the purchase price of the house itself.

Yu Qie also invited Xu Chi to play games - he bought a Nintendo FC red and white machine, which had games such as Tetris and Donkey Kong Jr. Xu Chi had never seen these before, but he thought a game called Snake was good. Xu Chi played it with great interest for 20 minutes, and then heard Yu Qie say that this thing sold for 2,000 yuan on the black market. He was so scared that he stood up and said, "Yu Qie, this machine is not fun at all!"

Xu Chi gave Yu Qie some dumplings, Yu Qie grilled steak for Xu Chi on the spot and also gave Xu Chi a bottle of red wine.

Xu Chi went home to eat steak and drink red wine. As he ate, he started to cry. The steak was delicious, and the red wine was great.

He wondered: What kind of writer is this?
Does he really have any similarities with Chen Jingrun?

My brother-in-law asked him, "Is Yu Qie really touched? He lives alone in Yanjing Hutong, he must be freezing. I heard you say he donated $1,000, I'm sure he's very frugal in his daily life."

Xu Chi's tears flowed even harder! How should I write about Yu Qie?

In the following week, Xu Chi saw more details of Yu Qie's life. During the New Year, many stores were closed except for the Friendship Store that catered to foreign guests. Yu Qie went out for a stroll on his Phoenix bicycle, and when he turned a corner, he fell down.

"Damn it, why are the wheels on Phoenix cars so thin? They're not practical at all. They're not as useful as my motorcycle."

So he looked everywhere for snow tires suitable for use in snowy weather. This type of tire has a special tread and is only available at the Friendship Store, which sells imported goods. And it is not sold separately, but the tires and bicycles are sold together.

Yu Qie also bought a Japanese Bridgestone gear-shift bicycle, which featured a lightweight aluminum alloy frame and gear-shifting system, and represented the highest level of craftsmanship in Asia at the time.

The bicycle was bought and ridden back on the spot. Yu Qie rode around the alley with great interest, playing with the big toy he bought.

Xu Chi could tell at a glance that the bicycle was different. He asked how much it cost. Yu Qie said, "You don't want to know."

"How much is it?"

"Two thousand dollars, the same as my motorcycle!"

Two thousand dollars?!
Xu Chi wanted to say: How can you buy a bicycle with thousands of yuan? You are just enjoying life! Do you know how hard it is to make money?

However, Xu Chi also realized that Yu Qie made money easily, and none of the money he earned was earned by exploiting others. It was all created by the labor of his own hands. He was just exceptionally capable of working.

(End of this chapter)