Training the Heavens

Chapter 87 People's Literature Award

"Gao Jialin has a new work?" Many young readers paid for it without hesitation when they saw the three words "Gao Jialin" on the cover of "Mengya".

But when they opened it, they found that "Spring Breeze in Meilong Town" was different from what they thought. It was not a work reflecting the lives of teenagers, but a story about food.

"What?" Many readers were a little disappointed, but the beginning of the four companies joining forces to cook a victory banquet quickly attracted them. They all grew up watching movies such as "Tunnel Warfare", "Landmine Warfare", and "Railway Guerrillas". The victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression is indeed worth celebrating.

As they watched, they couldn't help but start drooling. The exquisite dishes at the victory banquet, especially the last one "Dragon, Phoenix and Four Joys" were eye-opening for them. It seemed as if they could smell the fragrance of these dishes through the book.

When Li Lang, a descendant of the Li family, walked into the reopened Meilong Town, he constantly criticized Fang Zhenjin's cooking skills, which made them sigh repeatedly, "How could such a good dish be gone?" I also thought that if I make money in the future and go to Shanghai, I will also go to Meilong Town Restaurant to try it.

I was wondering, how could this old man be so amazing? He's actually a descendant of Li Yishao. He should still remember how to make these dishes, right? Now it's time for Old Man Li to teach Fang Zhenjin his cooking skills, right?

But what about the other two families? Could it be that Li Lang also knew the cooking skills of the Mei and Long families?

Soon, the readers' doubts were revealed. The victory banquet required the descendants of four families to gather together to recreate it, while the descendants of the other two families were in Hong Kong and Taiwan respectively.

Oh, this is a difficult situation. How can we get all these people back?

This is what most readers think, but some people, like Niu Xinliang, slap their thighs. They see Gao Jialin's intention in writing this way. This is not about food, this is clearly about family and country!
As the story progresses, Fang Zhenjin and Li Lang arrive in Hong Kong. The prosperity of Hong Kong opens Fang Zhenjin's eyes, and the readers also gain a new understanding. So this is what Hong Kong is like? The various expressions of those elderly people in Hong Kong who miss their hometown will make them cry.

Many readers who work or study in other places said after seeing these elderly people, "What I miss most these years is the taste of my hometown and the dishes my mother used to cook for me."

They couldn't help but swallow their saliva again. Mutton soup with steamed buns, hot dry noodles, sticky bean curd, zheergen, clay pot soup, rice noodle rolls - all the local snacks their mothers made for them in their childhood immediately came to mind. Some of them couldn't help but shed tears as they saw them. They missed home too! They also wanted to eat the meals their mothers made.

Meihua, a descendant of the Mei family, also came to Hong Kong. Fang Zhenjin used pan-fried buns and pork ribs rice cakes to evoke her childhood memories. When she was a child, her father often made these Shanghai snacks for her, so although she was born in Taiwan, she has always retained Shanghai's eating habits.

She has never been to her hometown, but everything about it is deeply engraved in her soul through these delicacies and her parents' nagging. She also regards Shanghai as the hometown of her soul.

If this is true for young people like her, what about those older people who have come from the mainland? Gao Jialin, through the mouth of Meihua, tells the story of two elderly people who met and fell in love on the mainland and were pushed to Taiwan by the tide of the times. They raised children here and always missed their hometown.

This yearning, so deep in their bones, compelled them to write these words on the gate: "A little girl who grew up on Yandaixie Street in Shichahai, Beijing, married a young man from the Dabie Mountains. They have been together for sixty years, sharing joy and tears, and raising many children. True love is revealed through the hardships of great times. My hometown, after decades away, I will always miss you."

In just a few lines, the tide of time washes over us, allowing the reader to sense the two men's deep longing for their homeland. One man, having personally experienced these great times, couldn't help but remove his glasses and wipe them. These words pierced his eyes: "Blood is connected, these are our blood-related compatriots! Regardless of their stance, they are still our compatriots."

The following story also made him nod repeatedly. He could certainly understand what it meant that the descendants of four families from both sides of the Taiwan Strait jointly rebuilt Meilon Town. If the motherland could be unified, it would surely stand at the top of the world again.

"Borrowing foreign cooking methods to make Chinese food? This paragraph is well written! Why did we carry out reform and opening up? Isn't it to introduce foreign technologies to accelerate domestic development? Even a food writer understands this principle, so why don't so many people understand it?"

After reading the entire story, he closed his eyes and pondered for a moment, then picked up the phone and called, "I just saw a very good work published in the latest issue of 'Mengya' magazine. It's called 'Spring Breeze in Meilong Town'. I recommend you to read it too."

The person who received the call immediately found the magazine to read. Not only did he read it himself, but he also asked the people at work to read it with him. After reading it, they understood why the old man called to mention this work specifically.

"You guys should get started right now and write a few recommendation articles and submit them to the newspaper. I'll contact the newspaper and ask them to make space for publication as soon as possible. Such excellent work deserves to be seen by more people."

"Also, call the People's Literature Award organizing committee and ask if they've finalized the first round of nominees. If not, please recommend this work as well. A work with both ideological and literary qualities like this deserves to be shortlisted."

Within a few days, these articles appeared in major newspapers, and many readers were immediately attracted by their recommendations. They thought, "This story seems really good, right? I'll look for it too."

Soon, the 300,000 copies of this issue of "Mengya" were sold out, and calls for restocking came from all over the country. The editor-in-chief of "Mengya" was very happy and immediately asked the printing factory to print more copies.

The publishing house could no longer sit still. They had originally planned to wait until the impact of this issue of the magazine had fermented before launching the physical book, but they didn't expect that in just a few days, the influence of "Spring Breeze in Meilong Town" would be so great.

"Hurry up and invite Jialin over to discuss this. If he doesn't object, we should hurry up and get the new book out. Given the current trend, I'm afraid the first print run will be two hundred thousand copies."

"How can 200,000 copies be enough? I feel like even 300,000 might not be enough."

Gao Jialin rushed to the publishing house and finalized the publication in a few words. He received the first installment of royalties. Before he left, he received another piece of good news.

The editor-in-chief came over personally, "Jialin, I just received a call from Beijing informing you that your novel 'Spring Breeze in Plum Dragon Town' has received praise from many leaders and has been successfully shortlisted for the People's Literature Award."

People’s Literature Award? Now he’s really going to become a great writer.

(End of this chapter)