My era, 1979!

Chapter 53: Editor's Notes Marking the Times
The woman shoved the newspaper into Xu Chengjun's arms, her ponytail swaying angrily: "You yourself think it's just so-so? What about all the time we spent copying it over and over in the dorm until our fingers ached?"

The young girl was still not satisfied. Pointing to the line "Two shadows are planted under the moonlight," she said like an angry little lion: "Yesterday in the department's reading room, we discussed this line for half the night, saying that 'the shadows hide the scars of urban and rural life,' and you said it would be better to 'play the grandson'? What kind of talk is that!"

Xu Chengjun looked at her with a smile, without saying a word.

The little girl glared at him angrily and stopped talking.

The swaying ponytail was quite adorable.

Seeing an opportunity to express his opinion, the man in the shirt quickly said, "Comrade Xu, this isn't modesty, it's a lack of confidence. I know many of you have taken the line 'Roads are made by walking' from the letter as your motto. You casually say it's just 'venting,' which is really hurtful."

The short man squatted down to pick up the newspaper and chimed in, "'The hope that grows out of hardship is the most moving.' How touching! But you're making it sound like you're writing a recipe."

So, you three think I'm not pretentious enough?
Xu Chengjun touched his nose and suddenly laughed: "So I have to brag that I'm a rising star in the literary world? You should have said so earlier. I could have praised myself so much that even my Fudan University admission letter would blush."

This made all three of them laugh.

The young girl's cheeks flushed slightly, but she remained earnest: "We're not asking you to brag, we just think authors should believe in their own words. There's light in your poems, why are you hiding it from yourself?"

"that is!"

The man in the shirt has now switched sides: "'All flowers will bloom in succession,' how many people are inspired by this saying? You have to know how poignant it is that you wrote."

Several students were seen going up to the intensity level.

Xu Chengjun quickly stopped joking and said seriously, "Alright, I admit I was wrong. I was mainly afraid you would be disappointed when you met him in person. I thought the author was a scholar in a long gown, but it turns out he's an educated youth with muddy trousers."

He took out a pen: "This student with glasses, you need an autograph, right? What's your sister's name?"
"My name is Su Wenyuan, and I major in history. My younger sister's name is Su Xiuxiu."

Su Mingyuan quickly handed over the notebook, "I want to sign it for my sister so she can stick it on her desk as motivation."

Xu Chengjun wrote: "To Xiuxiu: Moss flowers are as small as grains of rice, yet they also learn to bloom like peonies."

He glanced at Su Mingyuan and then wrote on the back, “To Mingyuan: History records the truth, and the lamp of the heart illuminates the way forward.”

Su Mingyuan hadn't expected to receive one, and he stammered a thank you.

Looking at these two lines of small print, a hint of excitement flashed in his eyes.

Lin Wei blushed and handed the notebook forward, her voice a little nervous: "Could you...sign one for me too?"

"My name is Lin Wei, and I'm a freshman majoring in Chinese Literature. Maybe I'll be your senior in the future!"

She quickly added, then waved her hand, "Don't take my scolding to heart. I was just angry that you were wasting your own writing!"

Xu Chengjun was staring at her in surprise, and the little girl was so angry she felt like she was going to explode.

This little firecracker isn't easy to tease.

He picked up his pen and wrote: "To Lin Wei: Your literary mind holds the sun and moon, and your pen stirs up wind and thunder."

When she looked up again, Lin Wei's eyes shone as brightly as if starlight had fallen.

Fans are nothing special.

This thing transcends time!
The sudden emergence of a new poet who writes "beautiful poems" has a powerful impact on young, artistic girls.

It's almost comparable to the way top idol Kun Kun, who just participated in the Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, attacked high school girls.

Who was the most popular poet in 79?

Shu Ting.

It was so popular that after Shu Ting's "To the Oak Tree" was published, many young people copied the poem into their notebooks, pasted it on their bedside tables, and even used it as a love letter.

They even received tens of thousands of letters from readers!
Keep in mind that these were tens of thousands of letters sent under the communication conditions of 1979.

The man in the shirt next to him scratched his head and said, "My name is Chen Yang, and I'm a philosophy major. To be honest, I was complaining before because I thought the poem was too gentle, a bit... um... 'soft-toned,' but you're the one who backed down first."

"rest assured."

Xu Chengjun's hand didn't stop signing. "I'm someone who can be persuaded by both soft and hard approaches, and the things I write can be done in both ways."

He looked up, smiled, and asked, "Do you want an autograph?"

"Ah... if it's convenient, would you like one?"

Xu Chengjun picked up his pen and wrote: "To Chen Yang: May our thoughts connect with a thousand years of history, and may our journey reach ten thousand miles of spring."

That makes sense.

When Kun Kun, who had just debuted, signed autographs for young boys who were complaining about him, the boys usually wouldn't really refuse.

It's kind of like saying "it's cliché" but secretly holding the ticket!

As the streetlights in the distance gradually went out, Chen Yang, knowing how to "return a favor," left a copy of the newspaper in his hand for Xu Chengjun.

The group had only taken a few steps when Lin Wei suddenly turned around and shouted, "Good luck with your interview! An author needs to have confidence, just like you wrote in your poem!"

The sound was crisp and clear, carrying far into the night.

When I returned to room 302, the thesis was still lying on the bedside table.

Xu Chengjun yawned and looked at the newspaper.

It had a wide influence across the country in 1979, with a circulation of 150 million copies nationwide.

This number ranks third in the country!
The first is Reference News, and the second is People's Daily.

It's safe to say that Xu Chengjun's name was delivered to every household through these 150 million newspapers.

The front page focuses on major political events and policy interpretations, supplemented by an arts and culture section to showcase literary creation, a theory section to promote the rectification of ideological errors, a science and technology section to focus on scientific research breakthroughs, and a social section to reflect hot issues concerning people's livelihoods, forming a diversified page system covering politics, culture, theory, science and technology, and society.

Xu Chengjun's "Walking Towards the Light" and "A Letter to the Youth" were both reprinted in this section. It is worth mentioning that Wang Meng's "Postscript to 'Long Live Youth'" was also published in this section in January of this year.

Xu Chengjun glanced at the newspaper.

Wow, this editor's note is so characteristic of its time.

Well written!
"At this historic moment when the focus of the Party's work is shifting, this newspaper today reprints the poems 'Walking Towards the Light' and 'A Letter to the Youth' by Xu Chengjun, an educated youth from Anhui, adding a new voice to the ideological liberation in the spring tide of reform. These two pieces from the grassroots level vividly interpret the profound meaning of 'practice is the sole criterion for testing truth' from the unique practical perspective of the educated youth group."

"Walking Towards the Light" uses the imagery of "writing spring with frostbitten fingertips" to elevate individual trauma into a persistent pursuit of light. This transformation from a narrative of suffering to an awakening of life resonates with the current national theme of breaking free from ideological constraints and exploring the path to modernization.

"Letter to the Youth" uses vivid examples from the educated youth settlement in Fengyang to reveal the dialectical philosophy that "old grain in the warehouse can sprout." Through self-study under the kerosene lamp and reflection on the ridges of the fields, the author concretizes the chief architect's instruction to "respect knowledge and respect talent" into a picture of the struggles of grassroots youth. This creative perspective, which integrates personal growth into the process of national modernization, is the most vivid literary footnote to the "Four Modernizations" strategy.

"In 1979, when the wave of educated youth returning to the cities surged, such writings not only continued the historical memory of 'tempering red hearts in the vast countryside,' but also conveyed the strong reform message that 'science and technology are productive forces.' Just as the breakthrough of Wang Xuan's team in the field of laser typesetting shows, China's modernization process requires not only breakthroughs in cutting-edge technology, but also the accumulation of grassroots practice."

"This newspaper is publishing this series of works to provide more diverse practical examples for the liberation of thought. As the discussion on the criteria of truth is being deepened, we look forward to more thoughts and explorations from the front lines of production, so as to jointly create a magnificent picture of 'Chinese-style modernization'."

Hey, do you get paid for reposting?
How many are there these days?

(End of this chapter)