My era, 1979!

Chapter 96: But the rice has ripened one hundred and sixty times (Bonus chapter 25 for Alliance Leader Zuo Xian You Yu)

This isn't Qian Ming's fault; he knows Xu Chengjun's skill level better than anyone.

Although your book "The Barn" is not bad, does that mean you can pass the Fudan University interview?
Although you've changed quite a bit lately, how come you can still conjure up knowledge out of thin air?
Xu Chengjun: ?

The sun had just dipped below the western hilltop, and the smoke from the chimneys of Xujiatun had not yet dissipated when a loudspeaker was hung on the old locust tree beside the threshing ground.

"The commune's film screening team is coming tonight to show 'Sweet Career'! Everyone bring your stools, the screening starts as soon as it gets dark!"

In the 70s, China's film distribution adopted a tiered model of "first run in cities + rotation in rural areas": new films were first screened in urban cinemas, and then copies were distributed to regions, counties and communes through local cultural departments and film companies, and finally brought to the brigades by rural projection teams for screening.

Accountant Xu Sanduo's loud voice, crackling with electricity, had barely entered the pigsty at the east end when Er Ya from the west end grabbed her mother's clothes and ran towards the threshing ground.

Beside the stone mill in the threshing ground, two men in blue overalls were unloading donkey carts.

The truck bed contained a rolled-up canvas screen and a metal projector wrapped in military green canvas. The most eye-catching thing was the "putt-putt" diesel generator. As soon as it was set up, a group of children gathered around, craning their necks to watch the machine's rapidly spinning pulley.

"Get away!" Old Wang, the projectionist wearing a baseball cap, waved his hand, and the wrench in his hand made the screen frame clang.

"Set up the scaffold, set up the scaffold. It's windy here, so we need to tie two hemp ropes to the locust tree."

When the smoke from the cooking fires dissipated, the threshing ground was already set up.

Er Ya's mother moved a bamboo recliner to occupy the front row, while Uncle San from next door dragged a long bench and squeezed into the middle, saying he wanted to explain the ins and outs of the play to his grandson. The men squatted on the sidelines smoking, the embers of their pipes flickering in the twilight, while the women chatted and sewed shoe soles, saying that someone's new bride was coming to the movies, probably hoping to take the opportunity to meet her boyfriend.

Xu Chengjun saw Xinghua in the crowd, and Xinghua saw him too, but her eyes were like those of a frightened deer, and she shrank back into the crowd.

Only when Xu Chengjun smiled and waved to her did she clutch the hem of her clothes and slowly walk over, her cloth shoes leaving shallow marks on the dirt.

"Brother Chengjun, you're back." Her voice was low and trembling slightly, not like a young girl's shyness towards her lover, but more like the embarrassment of having her secret thoughts exposed.

"I'm home!"

"We arrived not long ago and just happened to catch a movie screening. We were lucky."

Xu Chengjun moved aside to make room for her.

He bent down and pulled a paper packet out of his canvas bag. "These are Shanghai milk candies I brought for you. They're the leftovers from Sanya and the others. They're really sweet."

Xinghua held the candy wrapper without saying a word.

Xu Chengjun looked at her reddened ears and suddenly smiled, his voice becoming even softer: "I heard from Zhao Gang that your brother sent a piece of Dacron fabric from the army? It'll look great as a jacket, even more fashionable than the floral fabric I brought."

"No way, you look much better in it!"

Mentioning her brother, Xinghua's shoulders relaxed a little, and her eyes lit up with a smile when she looked up: "My brother said the army issued new uniforms, and he saved the fabric to make me a shirt. Brother Chengjun, did you see patterned Dacron fabric in Shanghai?"

"That's right, they have red and green ones, but they're very expensive."

Xu Chengjun glanced into the distance. The projectionist was projecting test footage onto the screen. "But I think you look good in anything. The blue cotton jacket your mother made for you last year, paired with your red hair tie, makes you look even more dashing than the new brides in the movies."

These words made Xinghua chuckle, the red ribbon at the end of her braid jumping in the wind: "Brother Chengjun is always joking with me."

"No kidding."

Xu Chengjun stopped laughing and became serious. "You're like my own sister. Xiaomei always pesters me at home to ask about things in the city, just like you are now."

He paused for a moment, then said, "I remember how you helped me dry the grain and deliver meals. No matter where I am in Shanghai or anywhere else, if you ever have any difficulties, just tell me, and I'll definitely help you."

Some things need to be made clear, so as not to waste the girl's youth and time. Some favors should be offered, and he must help her, whether Xinghua wants to stay in Xujiatun, go to Hefei, or go to Shanghai in the future, he will do his best to help her as if she were his own sister.

As dusk settled, the test light spots on the screen gradually became clearer.

Xinghua loosened her grip on the milk candy, and the candy wrapper made a "rustling" sound. She suddenly looked up, the mist in her eyes dissipating and brightening: "Brother Chengjun, then you have to write to me often in the future, tell me if the movies in Shanghai are good, and tell me if the classrooms at Fudan University are big."

"Definitely." Xu Chengjun stuffed a handful of spiced beans into her hand. "Come on, let's save a spot. I heard the mother-in-law in 'Sweet Career' is really tough. You should learn from her so you won't be bullied after you get married."

"Brother Chengjun!" Xinghua punched him lightly, her face flushed. "If you keep talking nonsense, I won't talk to you anymore!"

"Sweet Career" is a highly representative rural-themed comedy film from the early days of reform and opening up. Directed by Xie Tian and starring Li Xiuming, Li Liansheng, and Ma Lin, it was officially released in mainland China on January 1, 1979. It echoed "Joyful Reunion" released two years later in terms of subject matter and style.

The film, presented as a light comedy, tells the story of Aunt Tian, ​​a farmer in a sugarcane-producing area of ​​southern China, who initially desperately wanted a son but gradually changed her mindset. She supports her daughter's dedication to sugarcane breeding, and the family breaks away from old ideas, advocating a new trend of "boys and girls are equal." Through family warmth and career pursuits, the film conveys the contemporary concept of family planning.

As for Xu Chengjun saying that the mother-in-law in "Sweet Career" is formidable, that's pure nonsense. It was first shown at the Xujiatun Brigade Headquarters, so none of us had seen it, right?
The reason Xinghua avoided seeing him was simply because she was shy after her feelings were exposed, and also because Xinghua's mother wanted to test the waters to prevent Xinghua from coming out.

Sometimes, there's no need to explain things too clearly in rural areas.

Don't think of rural people as bad or stupid; the farmers of this land have their own wisdom.

When he began creating in 1979, Xu Chengjun told himself: "We must rationally view rural Chinese society. There are bad people, but there must also be good people. There is ignorance, but there must also be progress."

We must strictly guard against the three major literary clichés that some writers fall into: rural latrines, luxury cars driven by illiterate people, and women's crotches.

As soon as the screen on the threshing ground went dark, people busied themselves moving stools and getting up, and the chatter from Xujiatun mixed with the chirping of cicadas spread out.

Erzhuzi's wife was pulling at the baby's clothes, wiping her eyes and smiling: "I dreamed about Aunt Tang's eagerness for her son the night before last when she was born."

Xu Laoshi, squatting on a haystack, tapped his pipe: "People in the city say 'Boys and girls are the same' these days."

The girls hummed "Our Life Is Full of Sunshine," their red, scarf-like hems fluttering in the moonlight.

"Brother Chengjun, our lives will get better and better!"

"Definitely."

"I'd like to visit big cities someday if I have the chance."

"I support you, brother!"

After spending one night at the Xujiatun educated youth settlement, Xu Chengjun went to the commune early the next morning with the team's donkey cart to catch a bus back to his hometown.

Qian Ming followed along. His family also lived in Dongfeng County. His father, Qian Chaosheng, and Xu Chengjun's father, Xu Liguo, were teachers at the same school.

Chengjun's father is better off; he's a school principal.
However, some things come even more fiercely, so Xu Chengjun's predecessor rarely mentioned this matter to others.

"We're almost home! Look, Chengjun!"

Xu Chengjun looked up and saw that the gravel road was scorching hot under the midday sun, and the dust kicked up by the bus was mixed with the smell of grass.

The cornfields outside the car window were nearly ripe, with plump ears of corn drooping with red tassels. Farmers were cutting pig feed with sickles amidst the green cornfields, and beads of sweat dripping from the brim of their straw hats fell onto the dry, cracked dirt road.

As the county town approaches, the dirt road gradually widens into a gravel road. The leaves of the newly planted poplar trees along the roadside are curled up by the sun, and the red paint slogans on the tree trunks that read "Contracting the Land to Each Household" have turned a light pink at the edges after being washed by the summer rain.

As the car turned past the blue brick water tower, the county town archway came into view, its wooden pillars peeling paint, and the golden characters "Dongfeng County" gleaming in the sunlight.

Under the archway, vendors carried bamboo baskets, the steam from mung bean cakes mingling with the smell of sweat. Children in blue cloth jackets chased after carts barefoot, while the chimneys of brick kilns in the yellow dust emitted gray-white smoke rings that blended with the drifting clouds on the horizon.

Eighty years of trials and tribulations have only resulted in the rice ripening one hundred and sixty times.

It's not right to call him a "literary youth," but to be honest, Xu Chengjun felt "apprehensive about returning home."

(End of this chapter)