The unparalleled talent of the country started from Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 9, Making a Fuss

"Liang Jinfa, what are you yelling about? Does it have anything to do with you whether my manuscript fee remittance slip is a scam? Get out of here! You're not welcome in my house. How rude!"

Wang Duoyu's face darkened, and he angrily said to Liang Jin, and at the same time, he also yelled at Liu Guihua and other villagers:

"We're all from the same village, so I don't want to say anything harsh. You said I couldn't get into university before, and I didn't bother to argue with you. Now I'm writing novels to earn royalties and support myself, and you're still complaining. What's wrong? You live by the sea? You're so nosy. Do you have to taste the saltiness of the manure trucks when they pass by?"

"This letter was delivered by Brother Sun, a postal courier. How could I be so bored as to let him risk his job to deceive you all? Besides, what good would I gain from deceiving you? All I do all day is suspect this and that, complain about everything and everyone. If you have so much free time, why don't you think of ways to improve your life?"

"Brother Sun, please help me read this letter. Although Liang Jinfa and others may not want to believe it, please tell them why I was able to receive 33 yuan in royalties."

Because according to the notice issued by the National Press and Publication Administration in October last year, the standard for distributing royalties nationwide is three yuan per thousand words, and Wang Duoyu's short story "When Happiness Knocks on the Door" has a total of about 11,300 words, totaling 33.9 yuan.

Upon hearing this, Sun Shouyi excitedly took the letter, reverently unfolded it, and after scanning it, he coughed. "Comrade Wang Duoyu, thank you. After research, your article has been published on the front page of this magazine on May 8, 1978. I'm sending you my royalties. Please check them."

The rest of the content was unimportant. Just this one sentence was enough to excite Sun Shouyi. He also saw the title of the article published by Wang Duoyu, "When Happiness Knocks on the Door." His eyes were blank for several seconds, then he looked at Wang Duoyu and said,
"Duoyu, is that the novel "When Happiness Knocks on the Door" written by you? Is it really written by you?"

The latter had already opened the second letter, which was a reply from "Science China·Mathematics". His article was also accepted, but the fee was only 7.5 yuan because the content of the whole article was very short, just over 2,000 words.

After seeing the number of words on the remittance slip for the manuscript fee, Wang Duoyu couldn't help but silently give a thumbs up to his own cleverness. Fortunately, he didn't just write mathematics papers, otherwise, let alone earning travel expenses, it would be a problem to support himself.

"I've read this novel. The New Evening News, Life News, and Ice City Daily have all reported on it, so I went out of my way to find it and read it. It's a really good article, so well written. What was the opening line called? Let me think about it."

At this time, Sun Shouyi looked thoughtful. Liang Jinfa, Wang Duoshi, Du Xiaoju, Liu Guihua and others all looked at the former. Because they had never heard of this novel, they were very curious. Moreover, Wang Duoyu received a royalty of 33.90 yuan for this novel, so everyone was even more eager.

"Oh, that's what it says. Life is never smooth sailing. Some people look up at the sky, while others fall into the abyss. But even if we are stuck in the gutter, we should still look up at the stars. When happiness knocks on the door, all the efforts are worth it."

After Sun Shouyi finished speaking, Wang Meifeng also saw the second remittance slip for royalties in her ninth brother's hand. Even though there was only seven yuan and fifty cents on it, she exclaimed in surprise, which immediately attracted everyone's attention.

Wang Duoyu curled her lips and said, "Eighth Sister, this is only seven dollars and a half, which is only ten pounds of pork. Ten pounds of meat will only last for five or six days. What's the big deal?"

"Yes, yes, there's nothing to be surprised about. You're a writer now, the first writer from our Dahonggou Village," Wang Meifeng was delighted and didn't bother to argue. Nearby, his third brother, Wang Duozhi, and the others were all beaming. Their younger brother was proving successful, which was a great thing. It was a shame their parents had passed away a few years ago and didn't get to see this moment.

The expressions of Liang Jinfa, Liu Guihua and other villagers became more and more exciting. Jealousy made people unrecognizable. They didn't believe everything they saw and heard, but Sun Shouyi kept cheering for Wang Duoyu crazily, praising the latter until he blushed.

Since Sun Shouyi was a postal courier, Liang Jinfa and other villagers had to accept this fact even if they were unwilling to believe it.

In the distance, Wang Shoucheng, the eldest son of the Wang family, walked slowly into the yard of Wang Duoyu's house, surrounded by his sons.

Wang Shoucheng, the eldest son in the family, is 57 years old this year. His eldest son is almost 40 years old, and his eldest grandson is 15 years old. However, Wang Duoyu's youngest sisters, Wang Meihe, the 11th, and Wang Meili, the 12th, are 18 years old this year.

That is to say, Wang Meili was born in 1960, and Wang Shoucheng was born in 1921. In other words, Wang Duoyu's parents gave birth to their eldest daughter Wang Meili in 1921, and then gave birth to their youngest daughter Wang Meili 39 years later. From this, it is not difficult to imagine that Wang Duoyu's parents were at least 56 or 57 years old when they gave birth to Wang Meili, right?

Having a child at the age of over 50 is simply unbelievable, but in the past, it was normal to get married at the age of 15, 16, 17 or 18. Moreover, they basically faced the loess and had endless farm work to do every day, so their physical fitness was relatively strong.

Because those with poor health were also eliminated. Anyway, in Wang Duoyu's memory, he heard his parents and brothers and sisters say that in fact, their Wang family had not only twelve brothers and sisters, but sixteen, but four of them could not be raised.

The arrival of the eldest brother made Wang Duoyu's house even more lively and crowded, because more than ten people came to his house and directly filled the living room.

"Old Nine, a few days ago I was worried that you'd never recover after your divorce. Now it seems that I, as your eldest brother, was overly concerned and didn't know you well enough. You're already 22 years old this year, and now you're a writer. You have to walk your own path in the future. We brothers and sisters don't understand much about these things, so we can't help you much. However, your marriage is a matter of course."

Hearing the sudden concern from his elder brother Wang Shoucheng, Wang Duoyu quickly interrupted:
"Brother, I can handle my marriage myself, so you don't have to worry about it. You are old now, so just enjoy your retirement. We young people can handle our own affairs."

He was most afraid of the old man's sudden concern. Although the other party was his eldest brother, he was already 57 years old, more than enough to be his father. In terms of age, they were completely people of two different generations. Of course, Wang Duoyu was not happy to be controlled by him.

"By the way, big brother, I owe you money for building this house. I will pay you back later."

(End of this chapter)