Literary Master 1983

Chapter 96 Goodbye Ma Shi Tu

Rongcheng Railway Station. Yu Qie picked up Zhang Li here, and then took a taxi to Ma Shi Tu's home.

This train station has some connection with Yu Qie.

When the People's Republic of China was first established, it was normal for scholars to hold official positions, and there was no large-scale professional bureaucracy. Ma Shi Tu was the director of the Construction Bureau of Sichuan Province at the time, and it was he who approved the site selection of the Chengdu Railway Station.

Another literary giant from Sichuan Province, Li Jieren, who is now serving as deputy mayor of Chengdu, also participated in the site selection work.

Like Ma Shi Tu, Li Jieren also seems to have a "golden left cheek". He is the chairman of a machine repair shop, a paper mill, a university professor, a translator, a novelist... and also has the insignificant position of deputy mayor.

Therefore, Yu Qie inherited the glorious tradition of the previous generation of writers, and he currently has many identities. This time he took Zhang Li to Ma Shi Tu's house to discuss the matter of becoming a disciple.

Previously at a Latin American literature discussion meeting, Zhao Deming declared that "everyone in the circle knows that you are Ma Shi Tu's disciple", but Yu Qie himself didn't know. Now he wants to find Ma Shi Tu to ask for clarification.

Yu Qie has already called Ma Shi Tu's workplace and said, "I will visit Mr. Ma's home on xx afternoon."

Now Ma Shi Tu and his family have prepared the hot dishes and are waiting for Yu Qie and Zhang Li.

Zhang Li naturally knew what Yu Qie meant by taking him to Ma Shi Tu's house, and was particularly happy: "You didn't take me to your teacher's house just because I came all the way from the capital to find you..."

Yu Qie smiled and said, "You have come from such a far place to find me, how can I not be you? How are you going to live your life from now on?"

Zhang Li said, "Xue Baochai was confused and got together with Jia Baoyu, thinking that Jia Baoyu could love her...but Jia Baoyu became a monk and ruined Xue Baochai. Yuqie, I have to ask you clearly, are you willing to like me?"

Zhang Li looked nervous. After not seeing her for a few months, to be honest, she was getting more and more beautiful. Her every frown and smile was already close to looking like Xue Baochai in the drama.

But Yu Qie's admiration for her was not because of a certain role in a novel. "Zhang Li, I have also read A Dream of Red Mansions. I know that Xue Baochai liked Jia Baoyu at first because of the saying 'a perfect match made in heaven', which is quite similar to us - we have a natural fate..."

Zhang Li got anxious when she heard this, and before Yu Qie could finish, she retorted, "You can't make random comparisons! Baochai looked down on Jia Baoyu at first, but later she fell in love with him. I don't treat you like this!"

"Zhang Li, what else do you think of?"

"Baochai still thinks Jia Baoyu is not ambitious, so she asks him to read books about official career and economics... Yuqie, you are too ambitious and don't value your life at all."

At this point, she couldn't help but pout and shed tears. Then she felt embarrassed: "This is all because you were so focused on fighting the enemy that you forgot there was someone waiting for you. I saw the newspaper and realized how wonderful and dangerous you are!"

Yu Qie hugged Zhang Li, and she wiped her tears and leaned on Yu Qie obediently, her whole face red. Yu Qie said, "What conclusion did you draw from this?"

Zhang Li looked up at Yu Qie and suddenly fell into confusion: "I don't know what the conclusion is. I only know that after hearing that you were almost shot, I lost my appetite and had to come to see you... We are in closed training in "Dream of Red Mansions" and no one is allowed to contact the outside world, so it took me a long time to see your news in the newspaper..."

"Then I immediately applied for leave... Oh, I have two good friends, one is Deng Jie, she is from Sichuan Province; the other is Chen Xiaoxu, she is from the Northeast, but she is very gentle and naughty!"

Zhang Li was beaming with joy when she talked about these girls: "They all said that I was most similar to Xue Baochai! Many of the actors we invited to our crew were ordinary people who had never acted before, so the director not only trained us, but also observed which of our personalities matched which of the characters in the book. I often communicated with them...Brother Yu, the only thing I did to come to you was my own decision, and I hardly thought about it!"

Her words were so powerful that the driver in front couldn't help but give her a thumbs up: "You are a good girl from our Sichuan Province!"

What the driver said was also what Yu Qie was thinking. Zhang Li came to see her at the risk of losing her future. Although the crew was surprised and delighted to find out that she was looking for the writer "Yu Qie" later, and invited Yu Qie to visit the crew in the future, Zhang Li did not know that she would get such a response. She came with a reckless mind.

Zhang Li's role as Xue Baochai is not set in stone yet. There is an actress named Zhu Biyun who is also a contender. She has acting experience, also has a round face, and looks no worse than Zhang Li.

Historically, Zhu Biyun went abroad to study, which made Zhang Li the natural choice for the role of "Xue Baochai".

However, Yu Qie's arrival changed history. After reading Yu Qi's novel "Da Saba", Zhu Biyun thought about it and decided not to study abroad anymore.

Oh, what happened.

Yu Qie scratched her nose: "I don't know whether I am a good thing or a bad thing for you."

Of course Zhang Li didn't know what he meant by that, and instead tried to comfort Yu Qie: "Don't lose it, don't forget it, and live forever... You don't have Jia Baoyu's magical jade, and I don't have a pair of golden locks for you, but I do have a red string."

She pointed to the white skin on her wrist, where there was nothing there.

Where is the red rope?
Then she said, "Yu Qie, you are my red string."

I walked across a garden and came to an ordinary residential building. I climbed up a few floors and knocked on the door. "Knock," "Knock," "Knock!"
The door opened, and Ma Shi Tu's daughter Ma Wanmei saw Yu Qie: "Teacher Yu Qie, you are here!"

"I can't do that. Just call me Yu Qie."

Ma Wanmei insisted on calling it that.

Then he saw Zhang Li behind him: "This is yours..."

"My partner!"

Zhang Li knew what Yu Qie meant, but she was still delighted when she heard the two words. She mentioned the oranges she bought: "We picked these specially. They are from Ma's hometown. I just learned that the oranges there are particularly big and sweet, and they are very popular!"

Who knew that Ma Wanmei would burst out laughing, and then called out to Ma Shi Tu: "Dad, I knew you two were from the same hometown, and you eat the same food."

Ma Wanmei took out a bag of oranges and couldn't help laughing: "These were originally prepared for you. They are also oranges from Wanxian."

Zhang Li was stunned. She was still very young and didn't know how to deal with it. Yu Qie didn't care and just swapped the two bags of oranges. "These are not only Wanxian oranges, but also the Wanxian oranges that Mr. Ma gave me."

“——I also want to tell others that this was given to me by Yu Qie!” Ma Shi Tu stood up from the sofa and walked to Yu Qie.

He first praised Zhang Li for her beauty and said she was a good match for him.

Then he put his hand on Yu Qie's shoulder, with a smile in his eyes: "What you have done during this period is great! Great! My friend invited me to play bridge, but I was not interested. I had to see you."

"Have you seen the review in the Literary Gazette? It was written by Yang Yu, who said that you have the chance to become a literary giant. I think he was right."

(End of this chapter)