My 1978 Hotel

Li Feng arrived at the county committee compound early in the morning, where several teachers were already there.

Which teachers are coming?

Li Feng asked Yang Ming, who was in charge of receiving them, as Yang Ming was an old acquaintance.

"They've arrived, and quite a few renowned figures are here."

Yang Ming said with a smile, "Teacher Cheng Dengke wrote about Feng Lei and Sister-in-law Du."

"And there's Professor Lu Yanzhou."

"Besides these two teachers, there are also several young writers."

Yang Ming was quite excited to meet so many writers this time, especially several great writers he admired.

Tell me more about it.

In fact, Li Feng didn't know much about these people. He knew Lu Yanzhou, who seemed to have written the Legend of Tianyun Mountain and adapted it into a TV series or movie, so he was somewhat familiar with him.

Listening to the introduction, Li Feng roughly understood that there weren't many well-known writers in Anhui Province these days. That Mr. Lu Yanzhou, while he had some fame by publishing articles in magazines, hadn't yet written the Legend of Tianyun Mountain.

Based on this calculation, Li Feng roughly understood the status of his novel "Xu Mao and His Daughters": the full-length novel had been published and received a good response, and there were also several other works such as "Scar Literature" that led the trend of scar literature.

If that's the case, Li Feng should be the most famous writer in Anhui Province right now. This makes things much easier for him; I just need to treat everyone with a normal attitude. "It's a pity there's no Mao Dun Literature Prize yet, otherwise Xu Mao and his daughters would definitely win it, and that guy's position would be even more secure."

Fortunately, his several articles on scars made him famous. Although the teachers who came had some reputation, they were still not as good as him. As long as Li Feng didn't go too far, everyone would definitely give him face.

"Let's go to the cafeteria."

Seeing Director Chen greeting several teachers in the cafeteria, Li Feng quickly walked over and shook hands with each of them. "I'm so sorry, I didn't go to greet you all when you came. I'm so sorry."

"Teacher Li, you're too kind."

After exchanging pleasantries, they sat down to eat and chat. It must be said that these people were quite talented. Lu Yanzhou even mentioned that he was currently creating a work, and Li Feng offered some advice. For some young writers, Li Feng also gave some creative directions.

Scar literature is still mainstream, and Li Feng is considered an authority in this field. "Scar literature is a good creative direction now, but at this stage, we don't need to focus all our attention on it. We need to broaden our thinking and directions..."

"I've said too much, I've said too much."

Seeing that it was getting late, Li Feng quickly got up. He needed to talk about his views on this topic at the seminar later, and he couldn't reveal all his secrets. The seminar started at 9:30 and lasted until 11:30. Several teachers had read the article yesterday, but only a part of it.

Fortunately, this seminar mainly focused on the "Scar Literature" series, and Xu Mao and his daughter will likely hold another seminar. Everyone is quite enthusiastic about "Scar Literature," especially considering the recent major events that occurred just two years ago.

Young writers, in particular, have experienced this period and have a deeper understanding of the experience of going to the countryside. However, at present, people are still mainly making accusations. Li Feng also mentioned some of these points, but later he mentioned some thoughts on reflecting on literature.

This was supported by several writers, including Lu Yanzhou. The seminar, which was originally scheduled to end at 11:30, lasted until almost 1:30 before finally concluding. Wow, everyone was so enthusiastic! Li Feng wrote down his mailing address to exchange; in those days, communication between writers was still mainly through correspondence.

"This seminar was a great success."

Secretary Chen was very pleased; so many well-known writers had come to the county this time, and they had a very pleasant conversation. "Teacher Li," he said, "do you think the next seminar should be held in our county again?"

"Secretary Chen, I'm afraid I can't make this decision."

Xu Mao and his daughters—this isn't a short story; when the symposium is held, it won't just be limited to one region or province; the entire magazine might have to get involved. Li Feng explained the situation, and Secretary Chen seemed rather regretful.

"Oh, that's such a shame."

"Secretary Chen, how about this, next year I'll see if we can invite some writers to come here for exchanges."

Li Feng said with a smile, "I'm afraid we'll have to trouble Secretary Chen then."

"Teacher Li, no trouble at all, no trouble at all. The county guesthouse will take care of the hospitality." Secretary Chen was quite pleased. Don't underestimate the writers' exchange; it's a political achievement. Li Feng chatted with Secretary Chen for a while, and it was almost four o'clock in the afternoon when he saw the teachers off to the train station.

Secretary Chen sent Xiao Zhang to drive Li Feng back to the courtyard, but unexpectedly they ran into Zhang Susu's sister-in-law and her brother at the alley entrance.

What are these two doing here?

Li Feng muttered to himself, "This Zhang Jiangshi was just kicked out yesterday, she really has no shame." "Comrade Zhang, stop."

"Yes, Teacher Li."

Xiao Zhang quickly parked the car, opened the door, and Li Feng got out of the car and looked at Zhang Jiangshi and Zhang Daming.

"lead."

When Zhang Daming saw Li Feng get out of the canvas car, his legs went weak. He really shouldn't have listened to that woman. Li Feng is such a high-ranking official; you know, he's someone you can't afford to offend.

"Didn't I tell you, if you come any closer, I won't be polite?"

Li Feng ignored Zhang Daming and looked at Zhang Jiangshi. He had just warned this woman yesterday, and now she was here again. It seemed that he had been too polite.

"Boss, boss, don't misunderstand, we're not here to cause trouble."

Zhang Jiangshi hurriedly said that this guy seemed to have changed since yesterday, and was somewhat humble.

Li Feng knew this woman's character well, so he said bluntly, "I hope there won't be a next time."

"Teacher Li, should I contact the police station?"

"No need, Comrade Zhang, you've worked hard."

Li Feng said with a smile, "Please thank Secretary Chen for me. We've been very grateful to the comrades from the County Revolutionary Committee and the Cultural Station these past few days. I have a small gift here; please take it back with you later."

"Teacher Li, you're too kind."

"Just a little thought."

There were autographed books and some towels, some of which were given to Lu Luyan and Zhou, and quite a few were left over. We gave some to the ten or so comrades who were in charge of hosting, and our driver, Comrade Zhang, also received a set.

"Thank you for your hard work, Comrade Zhang."

"Teacher Li, please don't be so polite with me. This is what I should do."

Comrade Zhang was a little embarrassed. "Well, Teacher Li, I'll head back now."

"Okay, take it slow."

As Li Feng saw Xiao Zhang off, he glanced at Zhang Daming and his wife, who were standing timidly and forcing smiles on their faces, then turned and went inside without paying them any attention.

"lead."

"Don't call me boss, I'm not a boss. Besides, you're not welcome here, get as far away as you can."

Li Feng really didn't like the couple. What were they thinking? Maybe they were scared when they saw him riding in a car, or maybe they wanted to curry favor with him. He didn't know what they were thinking.

“Boss, if you don’t consider our feelings, please consider Susu’s feelings too…”

"I'll say it again, get out of here now, or wait for the police to come."

Li Feng scoffed. This Zhang Jiangshi was a real scoundrel, and Zhang Daming was no better.

"lead……."

With a bang, the door slammed shut. Li Feng calmed himself and walked into the courtyard. "Where is everyone? Are you the only one home?"

"out."

Hua Ziyan sighed. "I'll stay and watch the house."

"Good."

Just then, Wu Tong and Qin Yue's scolding voices came from the doorway. Li Feng thought to himself that Zhang Daming and his wife were really shameless, still here.

"Mr. Li, tell me, this couple really has no shame."

Wu Tong and Qin Yue couldn't help but complain as soon as they came in.

"You haven't left yet?"

"We just chased them away."

Wu Tong was speechless. "They were just trying to get us to talk to you, saying they're Su Su's older brother and sister-in-law, that blood is thicker than water. How shameless of them! They almost stole Su Su's job, and now they're pretending to be family."

"Tell me, how can there be such a shameless person?"

"Haha," Li Feng chuckled. "There are all kinds of people in the world, you don't need to be so angry."

"I ran into some trouble when I went out; I got into an argument with someone," Wu Tong said, a little embarrassed. "And then Su Su's brother and sister-in-law ran into me, and I couldn't hold back."

"What's wrong?" "The department store saleswoman," Qin Yue said, sounding quite angry. "Her attitude was really terrible."

"Don't you all know this?"

"We knew it would be this bad, but we didn't expect it to be this bad."

Qin Yue muttered. "I just took it out to look at it, and since I didn't think it was anything special, I didn't buy it. You were so sarcastic, it's infuriating."

"Ah."

Hua Ziyao was furious. "This is the first time I've ever seen someone so infuriating."

"What's the big deal?"

Hua Ziyan muttered. "You didn't see it. I saw something in a corner of the state-run restaurant yesterday: no beating customers without cause."

"Really? I thought it was just a rumor, is it true?"

“Yes, it’s around the corner. You wouldn’t notice it if you weren’t looking carefully,” Hua Ziyan said. “I was stunned when I saw it.”

"I suppose this is a characteristic of our times."

"That's so infuriating."

Wu Tong laughed and said, "I've never encountered anything like this before."

Of course! You, a young lady, whatever you buy in the future, people will treat you like royalty.

"Oh, Mr. Li, you're back so soon. Is the seminar over?"

"It's already over. These days, it's not like later generations where seminars can last three or five days. Where would we get so much money for that kind of hospitality?" Li Feng said with a laugh. "Besides, this seminar even required paying with food coupons."

"Oh, it's not reimbursed?"

"We will reimburse part of the travel expenses."

Li Feng said with a smile, "This is already quite good. Secretary Chen provided some support; otherwise, we would probably have had to pay for the seminar ourselves."

"Do you think everyone can stay longer?"

"After the drive, everyone went home."

Li Feng said with a smile, "But this seminar was quite successful."

"It wasn't a wasted trip."

"This looks interesting. Take us with you next time!"

"OK, no problem."

Li Feng said with a smile, "But next time it will probably be in the provincial capital. Otherwise, I'll go to the magazine office. It's a bit far and will take up a lot of time."

"no problem."

"Then it's settled."

He'll have a good excuse to take people out for a stroll then. He doesn't really care about the ticket price; he has plenty of money now, especially with the recent surge in sales at his furniture factory.

"We were so busy chatting that we haven't even made dinner yet."

Of the Zheng Yi group, only Li Feng knew how to cook dinner, but the others helped out.

"Sigh, I should have sent Dong Qing, Wu Yu, and Cheng Cheng over."

Although these three were not good at cooking, they were passable at starting a fire, washing vegetables, and picking vegetables.

"I wonder if those two lads, Dong Qing and Wu Yu, have caused any trouble." Li Feng somewhat regretted not bringing them along. But there was no other way; the furniture factory couldn't do without them. At least for the time being, apart from the Gao brothers, Gao Jiu and Gao Cheng, only the two of them could operate the large chainsaw.

As for Chengcheng, well, I've been leaving all the accounting to her lately, and she's indispensable at the steel mill. Just as we finished dinner, there was a knock on the door.

Who could it be?

"Could it be Sister Su Su and her husband?"

"That can't be right."

"I gonna go see."

Li Muchen got up to open the door, and when he opened it, he saw...

"Su Su?"

"Bro?"

Zhang Susu was covered in sweat. She rushed over as soon as she got off work. Her brother and sister-in-law went to the pig farm in the afternoon. Fortunately, they didn't cause any trouble this time. But when they told her about what had happened at the courtyard a few times, it really startled her.

She rushed over as soon as she got off work, but to her surprise, it was a young man who opened the door for her.

"Who?"

Li Muchen replied to the courtyard, "It's Susu who's here."

"Susu, come in quickly."

Zhang Susu followed Li Muchen into the courtyard. "Brother."

"have you eaten?"

Li Feng noticed that Zhang Susu's hair was a bit messy and she was covered in sweat. "You rushed over as soon as you got off work?"

"Ah."

"Young man, help Susu with those bowls and chopsticks."

"Go wash up and eat first, then we can talk about it after you finish eating."

Li Feng roughly understood what was going on; Zhang Susu's brother and sister-in-law were truly despicable.

"Ah."

After washing her face, Zhang Susu took the bowl and chopsticks handed to her by the deliveryman. "Thank you, deliveryman."

"You're welcome."

After dinner, Zhang Susu was about to clear the dishes when Li Feng waved her hand with a smile. "Don't bother, sit down. Did your brother and sister-in-law go over?"

"Yeah, brother, I'm sorry to have caused you trouble."

Zhang Susu looked apologetic. "I've already told them that if they come again, I'll cut ties with them."

"You didn't promise anything, did you?"

Seeing this, Li Feng realized that the girl must have said something.

“Don’t worry about me. You know I’m a writer. I just held a seminar at the county committee compound today, and Director Chen of the Revolutionary Committee accompanied me the whole time. If your brother and sister-in-law bother me again, I’ll send them to the police station for a couple of days to calm down,” Li Feng said. “You, don’t be soft-hearted and let them take advantage of you again.”

"No, brother, I know."

Zhang Susu had actually promised to give her brother and sister-in-law five yuan a month as a way of repaying their living expenses, but she didn't mention it at the moment, afraid of upsetting Li Feng.

"It would be better if it weren't there."

"You're too kind-hearted, girl."

Li Feng said with a smile, "Here's what we'll do. I'll talk to Officer Wu later. If your brother and sister-in-law come looking for you again, just tell Officer Wu to go and teach your brother and sister-in-law a lesson."

"Brother, it hasn't gotten to that point yet."

Zhang Susu said with a smile, "If they still cause trouble, I'll ask Officer Wu to teach them a lesson."

"That's how it should be."

Wu Tong brought over a teacup. "Susu, you're sleeping with us tonight. We can talk about your work lately."

"Okay, I'll sleep with your sister and you all."

Seeing Zhang Susu speak with increasing confidence, Li Feng realized how important a stable job is for people these days. (End of Chapter)