Exciting 1979!

Chapter 16 My son Wei Ming has the qualities of a literary giant! (Please read on!)
Hengzhou District, Ping'an County, Hengheli Commune, Gouzitun Brigade.

It has been nearly half a month since Wei Jiefang returned to the village. After the initial amazement and longing, the villagers have lost interest in the super luxurious Quanjude Restaurant and the stories of spending a hundred yuan on a meal.

Well, he diluted the story a little bit, so that it would seem that Wei Ping'an is doing well, and that they have a deep brotherly relationship.

At this moment, Old Wei was holding a small whip and driving a donkey cart. The cart was loaded with pig feed bought on credit from the workshop of the brigade in the neighboring village. It was a public-to-public business and he was just running errands.

Who made him so good at taking care of these animals? All of these are counted as work points.

"Hey, Uncle Wei~" Wei Jiefang quickly got off the car when he saw his fellow villagers, ready to chat about what he had seen and heard in the capital.

Uncle Wei responded quickly, "Hey, I still have edamame cooking in the pot."

After saying that, he turned and went into the yard, blocking Wei Jiefang outside the door. "You've heard it eight hundred times and you're still repeating it!"

Wei Jiefang, who had no choice but to continue on his way, returned to the brigade headquarters, and the accountant, Lao Jia, called out, "Wei Jiefang, there's a letter for you."

"Who wrote this? Was it my son who is a professor's assistant at Peking University?"

Accountant Jia pushed up his glasses and said, "Yes, yes, yes. Take the letter and leave."

Wei Jiefang was not in a hurry to open the letter on the spot. He thought it would be bad if Lao Jia wanted to read it, or if Wei Ming wrote about his experience of standing guard at Peking University in the letter.

I guess it’s nothing serious. Maybe the hot sauce I sent to my son was received.

Wei Jiefang returned home and did not expect to see a guest in the yard. However, he was not in a good mood when he saw the person.

The other party took out a cigarette box enthusiastically: "Hey, big brother is back! Have a cigarette~"

This man's name is Qi Kexiu. He came here to the countryside more than ten years ago and married a wife named Fan Chunhua. He settled down in Gouzi Village and became a substitute teacher in the village primary school.

Fan Chunhua is the daughter of Uncle Wei Jiefang and his cousin.

Although the two families are related, Wei Jiefang does not like Qi Kexiu because Qi Kexiu relies on his identity as a Yanjing native and is very pretentious.

As we all know, there is no room for two pretentious people in a village.

When Wei Jiefang told the stories he told after returning to the village, others were shocked and extremely envious, which gave them enough emotional value.

Only Qi Kexiu would exhale a puff of smoke and say calmly: Quanjude is an antique from the last century. Didn’t your brother treat you to Lao Mo? What? You don’t even know Lao Mo?
Then he would shake off the ash from his cigarette, twitch the corners of his mouth slightly, and say no more.

Then all the villagers' admiring eyes shifted to Qi Kexiu.

Wei Jiefang was so angry!
No matter how much he hated it, cigarettes were innocent. Wei Jiefang took the cigarette, and his wife Xu Shufen, who was making a fire, immediately picked up a wooden stick with a spark and lit it for Wei Jiefang.

Wei Jiefang looked at Qi Kexiu with great pleasure. Do you have such a gentle and beautiful wife?
Although Fan Chunhua is his cousin and is closer in blood relationship to him than Wei Ping'an, she is a she-devil.

Qi Kexiu was indeed hurt when he saw this, but since he had to ask for help, he could only endure the dog food attack alone.

"Brother, when are you going to the county town? Give me a ride."

"What are you doing?"

"Go buy some books. You know I'm a very studious person." Qi Kexiu said with a smug look on his face.

Wei Jiefang snorted, "You are such a learner, you usually read comic books or novels, none of which are serious books. You have led our Xiao Ming astray!"

Thinking of Wei Ming's serious academic imbalance, Wei Jiefang was very angry. His son always scored 100 in both subjects when he was young.

Qi Kexiu stood up and said, "Brother, it's not very kind of you to say that. Without so many extracurricular books to read, how could Xiao Ming write such a good composition? Is there any credit for me?"

"What's the point of writing a good composition?"

"Why is it useless? Maybe Xiao Ming can become a writer in the future." Qi Kexiu laughed, but the smile looked insincere.

Xu Shufen then revealed the truth and replied in a gentle yet firm tone: "If that day really comes, I will have to thank his uncle. He didn't even get into college, but he was able to teach a writer."

In 77, 30-year-old Qi Kexiu also took the college entrance examination, but he and Wei Ming both failed.

However, he didn't care about Xu Shufen's ridicule at all, and even praised her: "Hey, sister-in-law, your millet porridge is really authentic. I can smell the fragrance from such a distance, and I feel hungry immediately. What are you cooking for lunch?"

"What else can I have? Sichuan and Chongqing style, fried chili peppers with hot sauce."

Qi Kexiu: “Uh…”

He touched his back and found that he couldn't eat spicy food and his hemorrhoids had not healed yet.

As the two were talking, Wei Jiefang had already opened the envelope. He first saw the photos, felt proud, then put them in his pocket and went out to tell others about the prosperity of Yanjing City so that he would have physical evidence.

Then there are two slips, eh? These are, these are two remittance slips! ?
A remittance slip for twenty dollars?!
Could it be that the bastard mailed back the money I gave him?

That’s not right, why are there two of them?

Finally he saw the letter, and then he fell silent.

"Brother, can you tell me something? When are we going to the county town?" Qi Kexiu turned to look at Wei Jiefang.

"I'll go in the afternoon."

"Haha, what a coincidence!" Qi Kexiu was happy to save the bus fare, "What time is it? I'll go to the brigade to wait for you." "Xiuzi, don't leave yet. My eyesight is not very good." Wei Jiefang stopped Qi Kexiu, "What does this list say? I can't see it clearly."

"What order?"

"Xiao Ming sent it to me. Please read it to me."

Qi Kexiu took it and looked at it: "The remittance slip for the manuscript fee of "Children's Literature"..."

His heart suddenly pounded, and then he heard Wei Jiefang running into the room with a loud roar: "Shufener! Our son has become a writer! A writer, hahahaha!"

"What's the matter?" Xu Shufen wiped her hands.

Then Wei Jiefang told her exactly what was in the letter, and what he had in his hand was the remittance slip that could actually be used to withdraw money.

"This is my son's first royalty payment, twenty yuan in total, and he wrote it in one night. Twenty yuan in one night, how much do you think he would make in one month! Isn't that amazing?"

"Oh, it's true!" Xu Shufen's eyes turned red with excitement, and the more she thought about it, the happier she became.

My son left his hometown alone. I have been worried about his future in Yanjing these days. Now I finally see some hope.

Seeing Qi Kexiu still in a daze, Wei Jiefang took the copy of the manuscript fee receipt from his hand and said, "Xiao Ming said he wanted to keep it. This is the most meaningful first time. No matter how much manuscript fee you get in the future, it won't be as good as this, right?"

“Ha, yes, it’s only twenty…” Qi Kexiu wanted to resist. Why are you acting so pretentiously in front of me for twenty dollars?
Wei Jiefang didn't give him a chance and interrupted him directly: "Xiuzi, Xiao Ming really has to thank you as his uncle. Please stay and have something to eat."

Xu Shufen also said: "Yes, I made some non-spicy dishes today, his uncle should eat together."

"No, no, Chunhua is ready, let's go, no need to see me off."

How could Qi Kexiu fall into the trap? If he stayed, he would definitely be hurt by Wei Jiefang's pressure!
Wei Jiefang expressed regret as he looked at Qi Kexiu's back. In the afternoon, he had to deliver vermicelli to the county supply and marketing cooperative for the brigade, so he would go to Qi Kexiu's house as soon as possible.

My cousin Fan Chunhua said, "He went to town to take the bus early in the morning. Brother, what did you say to Xiuzi? He kept smoking after he came back, leaving cigarette butts all over the floor. When he left, his voice was hoarse."

Hearing Fan Chunhua say this, Wei Jiefang was in a good mood: "I didn't say anything, Chunhua, I have something to tell you."

"What's the matter?"

“Your nephew, my son, may become a great writer!”

"what?"

~
Because he had to go to the city, Wei Jiefang only had time to tell Fan Chunhua the good news, and he would announce it to all the villagers one by one when he came back.

After entering the city and delivering the vermicelli, he immediately ran to the post office and successfully withdrew the money. He also specifically requested, "I want it in pieces."

The 20 bills seemed thick in my hand, like a huge sum of money.

Afterwards, he sent a letter to Wei Ming, encouraging him to keep up the good work and strive to reach the top of the literary world. He also used his fellow villager Sun Li from Ping'an County to inspire him.

Finally, Lao Wei went to the county’s No. 1 Middle School to visit his daughter again.

My daughter Wei Hong is 13 years old this year. She has just entered the first year of high school and comes home once every weekend.

It is not uncommon to see high school students at the age of 13 in this era. She started elementary school at the age of 6, a five-year program.

I started junior high school at the age of 11, which is a two-year program.

Nowadays, high school is still a two-year system, which means that you can go to college at the age of 15.

"Dad, has something happened at home?" Wei Hong was a little panicked, her face was pale, but it was not because of fear, because she had naturally fair skin.

I will be going home in two days. What good can come from my dad coming here at this time?

"Something really happened," Wei Jiefang laughed, "That's great!"

"Dad, calm down. I'm scared."

"Sorry, Dad got a little carried away, Sao Rui Sao Rui." Then he handed Wei Ming's letter to his daughter and let her read it herself.

Wei Hong's first reaction after reading it was also disbelief. Writing novels to earn royalties? Is this still my silly brother?
Then Wei Jiefang showed her the copy of the manuscript fee receipt.

This time, Wei Hong was completely impressed by her elder brother's talent.

"I told you, my brother has been outstanding and different since he was young. You can tell at a glance that he is not an ordinary person!" Wei Hong also showed her joy. The 13-year-old girl was flattered.

Then she suggested: "To celebrate the successful publication of the novel, let's split the royalties between the two of us!"

"What are you thinking? We're splitting it evenly. I can only give you five dollars at most."

"Thank you, Dad, and my brother who lives far away!" Wei Hong's bottom line is actually three yuan.

Three dollars is enough for her to buy a lot of tutoring books!
It happened that the Chinese teacher asked us to write an essay on this day, and the title was "My XXX"

This was exactly what Wei Hong wanted, so she immediately wrote in the title: "My brother is a writer!"

……

Before Wei Ming received his father's letter, he received a letter from afar.
(End of this chapter)