My era, 1979!

Chapter 81 The Day After Tomorrow!?

Do you want the stamps?

The sales clerk held up two eight-cent stamps with Tiananmen Square on them, the edges still bearing fresh embossing marks. "These are newly arrived, and they look better than the ones with the worker-peasant-soldier design."

"want!"

Domestic postcards required an 8-cent stamp. In 1979, the postage for domestic ordinary letters and postcards was standardized at 8 cents.

This standard continued into the 90s, requiring the stamp to be affixed to the upper right corner of the postcard.

If the mail is sent abroad, a higher denomination stamp will be required according to international postage standards.

For shipments to neighboring Asian countries, a 40-cent affix is ​​usually added, while for shipments to European and American countries, a 70-cent affix is ​​added.

After affixing the stamps, hand them to the post office counter or drop them into the mailbox, and the staff will stamp them with the postmark of the day.

Xu Chengjun applied some glue and carefully stuck it to the upper right corner of the postcard.

"I don't know whether to send the postcards back first or go back first."

He shook his head and called out to the sales clerk again.

"Sister, give me a regular envelope for submitting my article."

These days, envelopes are divided into regular envelopes and airmail envelopes.

He planned to submit four poems—"Foxtail Grass on the Hillside," "Daily Slices," "Look," and "Imagination"—to the poetry journal all at once.

After its relaunch in 1976, Poetry Journal became the core platform for the poetry world.

Not only is the publication speed fast, but the coverage is also wide. People like Xu Chengjun, who have published works before, can get a response in as little as half a month.

Moreover, Poetry Journal is a monthly publication, which means it could be published as early as August.

During the "Misty Poetry" movement in the late 1970s, the early poems of Bei Dao, Gu Cheng, and others entered the public eye through the Poetry Journal, sparking widespread discussion.

If all goes well, it is foreseeable that Xu Chengjun will experience a surge in literary publications throughout August and September.

As for "Thirty Newcomers", this is a reprint of a collection.

One new poem, "Time," is enough.

How wonderful it would be to get the royalties again!
If you want to expand your influence, Poetry Journal is a better choice.

Before coming here, Liu Zuci also said that he would try to submit his new poems to poetry journals.

Liu Zuci: ?

Xu Chengjun wrote his detailed address and name at the bottom of the manuscript and stuffed a 10-cent stamp inside.

What's it for? To make it easier to reject manuscripts.

They won't send you a return mail if you don't have a stamp.

Xu Chengjun chose registered mail, which cost 8 cents more than regular mail.

We don't need those 8 points anymore.

Men have money!

The green mailbox at the post office entrance had faded paint, and the metal seal on the mail slot was worn shiny.

Xu Chengjun stuffed the postcards in one by one, the sound of the postcards and envelopes scraping against the metal sheet was like whispering to someone far away.

Speaking of,
In those days, postcards also served as a form of "lightweight communication".

In 1979, after recovering from the trauma, Ba Jingang resumed his creative work and settled in Shanghai.

He corresponded with Cao Yu and Shen Congwen. Since long-distance telephones were not yet widespread at the time, postcards became a "time-saving and money-saving" option.

In a letter to a friend, he wrote: "I'm feeling a bit better these days, so I'm sending you a postcard of the autumn scenery in Shanghai as a way of sending my greetings."

On his way to the educated youth building, Xu Chengjun stopped by to buy some gifts to bring to Hefei, Xujiatun, and his home.

Buy a fine horse in the East Market and a saddle in the West Market.

I bought several cartons of Shanghai brand cigarettes for Mr. Su, Mr. Zhou, Mr. Liu Zuci, my father, Teacher Xu, and Zhao Gang at a state-run store.

Barely enough for one person.

Ten packs per pack, priced at 4.8 yuan, plus an industrial coupon.

It's really not cheap.

But these people deserve it!
Fortunately, he didn't spend much of the money he brought on this trip, and the royalties from "The Fitting Mirror" arrived, with subsequent royalties continuing to support Xu Chengjun's extravagant spending.

The sunlight on Nanjing East Road made the plane tree leaves shine. Xu Chengjun, carrying a canvas bag, weaved through the crowds in the department store; the bag was already half-filled with White Rabbit milk candy and four boxes of Butterfly brand face cream.

Everyone can have a share of White Rabbit milk candy, and the face cream can be given to Mother, Sister, Zhai Ying, and Xinghua.

Finally, I bought Takahashi pancakes and spiced beans, another half bag's worth.

Both of these were popular gifts for people returning to their hometowns in Shanghai during that era.

The money is almost gone. Xu Chengjun clicked his tongue and said, "Well, now even the tea I brought for Old Master Wang has to be downgraded. I'll have to rely on sweet talk to make the old man happy from now on."

This was just something I thought about in my heart, a little rant, but in the end I still bought the best tea I could afford for Wang Zengqi.

If Wang Zengqi gave a good gift, his return gift couldn't be too bad either!
But we have to be careful with the money. We need to save it for train tickets. We can't just climb onto the train and ride back. That would be like a sequel to "Railway Guerrillas."

Do you really think this is India?

That evening, Xu Chengjun returned to the Federation of Literary and Art Circles' guesthouse.

It's really this
Going back to Fudan University again is really exhausting.

Traveling is so difficult! Traveling is really difficult!

The first thing I do when I go to school is: buy a car!
As soon as he arrived at the guesthouse entrance, he saw someone waving at him.

Li Xiaolin.

"Chengjun, I've been waiting for you, my great writer! It's really not easy to send you a sample copy."

Upon meeting, Li Xiaolin immediately put on a teasing expression.

"No way, Xiaolin. The Fudan University thing has been a mess these past few days. I'm heading home to bring some things for my family."

Xu Chengjun spoke sincerely.

We'll have to rely on this older sister in the future; if she publishes anything domestically, *Harvest* magazine will be a flagship publication.

"You're leaving already? How's it going at Fudan University?"

"Thanks to you, things went relatively smoothly." Xu Chengjun straightened his back and quickly praised me.

"I will be starting my first year of graduate studies in the Chinese Department at Fudan University."

"My good fortune all depends on yourself; getting into university is something else entirely."

"What good fortune do I have? It's all thanks to yourself," Li Xiaolin was about to say a few words of praise when she suddenly stopped, her eyes widening. "Wait, what? What are you studying when you start school?"

She wondered if there was something wrong with her ears and rubbed them hard: "Say it again? First year of graduate school?"

Li Xiaolin originally wanted to get closer to Xu Chengjun and even thought about giving advice on things to note in college as someone who had been through it all. But what the hell did you say?
Kenichi?

You can't! At the very least, you shouldn't!
Why are my ears so hard?

I'm only in my early 30s, not some damn 80s!
Xu Chengjun nodded and added, "It means skipping undergraduate studies and going directly to graduate school."

"Goodness!" Li Xiaolin patted Xu Chengjun's shoulder.

"So you came here on 'Dongfanghong' (the Dongfanghong rocket), huh? I struggled so hard to get into university back then, and you just skipped your undergraduate degree?"

She looked Xu Chengjun up and down as if he were a rare object: "So, just a few days ago I was thinking of giving you advice on choosing courses in college, and now I have to call you Graduate Student Xu?"

A few days ago you seemed like a monster, but now you're really not pretending anymore, huh?
"Don't call me a graduate student, just call me a PhD. What if I become a PhD before the semester starts?"

"Hmm, is that possible?"

Dude, there aren't even any doctoral programs like this in the whole country yet, what are you doing here?

You got tricked and went astray, didn't you?

"Sis, you opened a doctoral program for me, right?"

"Thank you, sister! This is an honor no one else deserves!"

Xu Chengjun has no other faults; he'll take any opportunity given the chance, and he calls her "sister" more fluently than anyone else.

"Get lost!" Li Xiaolin laughed and punched him lightly. "Here's the sample copy."

"This issue of Harvest will be published a few days earlier than scheduled, but I won't tell you the specific reasons."

"When?"

"the day after tomorrow!"

"the day after tomorrow.?"

(End of this chapter)