Writer 1978: I Need to Give the Literary World a Lesson

Chapter 181 Zhu Lin's "Don't"

The sky over the grassland had completely darkened. After saying goodbye to Suozerang, Liu Yimin was a little disoriented, but fortunately, the voices in the distance guided him. Liu Yimin patted "Aji" and said, "Run by following your master's scent!"

Aji snorted and ran off on all fours, splashing mud everywhere. The grass was wet from the rain, and Aji almost slipped several times while running.

When they saw Zhuoma again, this "master of the grassland" was already fighting with wolves, and for some reason, her horse had run far away.

She held a torch in her left hand and a knife in her right. Several wolves surrounded her, but because they were afraid of the fire, they hesitated to approach and instead kept probing her.

The torch struck the wolf, which retreated in panic, but the other wolves immediately surrounded it.

Behind her lay a herdsman and a dead yak.

Aji snorted again, and Zhuoma knew it was Liu Yimin without turning around. She called out, "Have you seen Uncle Suozhelang?"

"I saw him. He was injured, but his condition is relatively stable!"

"Hey, writer from the capital, help me fight off some wolves! If you're too scared to fight, just throw me the gun!" Zhuoma's tone lightened considerably when she heard that Liu Yimin had found Suozelang, and she even joked with Liu Yimin.

Having gained some experience from firing a few shots, Liu Yimin raised his gun and fired at a wolf in the distance. After emptying the magazine, the wolf howled in pain and limped away.

"Impressive, a writer from the capital. Wolf's legs are so thin, yet he still managed to hit it." Zhuoma whistled, and her horse immediately ran over.

Liu Yimin went over to help the injured herdsman up, but his horse stumbled and threw him off. They then encountered wolves, but he had a knife, so his situation was less serious than Suozelang's.

After helping the herdsman onto his horse, Liu Yimin asked, "Zhuoma, why did you dismount and fight the wolves?"

“I can’t let the wolves hurt my horse!” Droma said dismissively.

Liu Yimin couldn't help but sneer, "The grasslands are in deep trouble, having such a stupid master like you!"

"Hey, isn't there a writer as amazing as you!" Zhuoma wiped the blood from her face and said boldly, "This is wolf blood, not mine. This wolf is acting like a madman today. Why did you shoot at the wolf in the distance?"

"I was just afraid of hitting you, wasn't I?"

"I thought you knew that wolf was the wolf king and that's why you were targeting it!"

Only then did Liu Yimin realize that all eight of his bullets had hit the Wolf King.

Where is Uncle Sozerang?

"It's right where we were!" Liu Yimin turned around and saw only darkness behind him, with no landmarks. He was lost again. Zhuoma patted the horse's rump and laughed, "Come on, I'll show you what it means to be the master of the grasslands."

After receiving basic first aid, the injured herdsman was able to manage on horseback. The two women followed Zhuoma to Sozerang. Upon seeing Sozerang, Zhuoma called out to him a few times, but he did not respond.

Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that Sozerang had fainted on the horse's back. The horse was grazing with its head down, and blood was still flowing from its rump.

"Uncle Sozerang!" Zhuoma cried out in disbelief.

Liu Yimin touched his nose and breath: "He must have gone into shock from excessive blood loss. We need to find a doctor right away."

“There are no doctors here, none!” Zhuoma cried.

Immediately afterwards, the team leader and his men heard the gunshots and rushed back. The other herdsman was in a better situation; he had only found a temporary shelter from the rain and was herding a yak when they were found.

Old Wang asked, "Captain, how far is the doctor from us?"

"It would take several hours to walk on horseback!"

Liu Yimin said, "Mild blood loss is manageable, but severe blood loss requires a transfusion. Ordinary doctors are no help; we need to get to the county hospital immediately. But in this situation, we don't know if the person can survive even if we send them on horseback!"

"Let's go back first!" the captain said through gritted teeth.

Old Wang put Suozhelang on his horse, holding him in one arm and holding the reins with the other, and headed towards the mud house. When he got back, he put Suozhelang on the bed. Suozhelang's face was even paler and his breathing was weak.

Inside the house, everyone was at a loss, unsure of what to do. One person lay down, and the other herder's condition wasn't good either; not receiving treatment was definitely not an option.

It was pitch black outside, and the wind was howling through the mud houses. The kerosene lamps inside flickered on and off, making everyone feel uneasy.

Driver Lao Wang looked at Liu Yimin, who glanced around at everyone, stamped his foot, and said, "Re-bandage it, disinfect it, and then we'll ride the wounded to the county hospital together."

He paused for a moment, then said, "There's no other way but to ride a horse."

If riding a horse on the road reopens the wound, it will be very troublesome, but there is no other choice.

Zhuoma said, "Uncle Sozerang will be alright. I'll take him to the county town."

After discussing it, Lao Wang first had someone feed the horse, and then selected a few herdsmen to accompany him to the county hospital.

Watching the group disappear into the night, the captain said to Liu Yimin, "Don't worry, the snow mountain will protect Comrade Sozerang."

After sitting down, Liu Yimin thought about what had happened on the grassland. Without the surge of adrenaline, his heart began to pound wildly, and a sense of exhaustion and fear filled him.

The next day, when Xu Chi woke up and heard about what had happened the night before, he couldn't help but feel a sense of lingering fear.

"You're doing great, old man. You'll wake up to calm and peaceful things again after a good night's sleep!" Liu Yimin joked.

"Yesterday's weather aggravated my altitude sickness. I still feel a bit groggy when I woke up this morning," Xu Chi said helplessly.

At noon, several herdsmen and Lao Wang returned and told Liu Yimin: "Comrade Sozerang is being rescued. The local comrades said that they can't send any more new comrades to us for the time being. They will send people to assist us when we return to Ma'erkang."

They rushed back before Sozerang woke up, leaving one herdsman to take care of the other injured person, while Sozerang was cared for by his family and local comrades.

Is Comrade Sozerang's condition serious?

"It's hard to say, may the old man bless me! The wound reopened on the way back, and it got infected again because of the rain, but thankfully it was in time..." Old Wang sighed and said.

For the next few days, the captain kept wondering why the wolves had suddenly gone mad and all of them had come out at once.

Xu Chi kept asking Liu Yimin about the details of last night and wrote them down in his notebook. Looking at the boundless grassland, he sighed, "This seemingly calm grassland hides countless dangers."

The captain said with a smile, "Writer Liu is really amazing. He took down two wolf kings."

"I was just lucky; I didn't know it was the wolf king before I attacked it," Liu Yimin said.

Xu Chi became interested and quickly asked, "Tell me in detail how you fought the wolf king? Did you kill it with one shot?"

"What about the two shots?"

"Where's Sanqiang?"

"Oops, you hit my leg. That's not bad, tell me again!"

Liu Yimin, hands on his hips, said, "Hey Comrade Xu, why do you keep asking me? You should hurry up and think about the topic you're here to write about!"

"Maybe I've already found it!" Xu Chi said, looking at the captain in the distance. "Captain!"

Xu Chi smiled mysteriously, and instead of continuing to speak, he started talking about Liu Yimin's past.

Liu Yimin, riding his "Aji," said, "The story is long, about a child without a mother. I'll give you a brief one."

"No, you should pick the longer one!"

"Then sit down and talk. Riding a horse for a long time makes my thighs chafed and sore!"

The two sat on the grass and talked. Soon other herders came over to listen and asked what rural Henan was like.

After listening for a while, he murmured, "They're all the same!"

In France, Cao Yu stood in the lecture hall, giving a report to the French audience. His voice echoed throughout the hall, and the people below listened attentively while also engaging in lively discussion.

Cao Yu, a playwright respected by the French, is explaining to them what modern Chinese drama is.

"There are two kinds of people here who have different views on China. One kind is the self-righteous romantics. You miss the old China, the long robes, the seals, the landscape paintings, and so on. You think this is the romance of cultured people. The other kind is the prejudiced ones. You have prejudices against China. When you see all the bad things, you think this is the realism."

"If there's any excessive praise, you think it's a departure from reality. Both of you types are incapable of understanding true modern Chinese drama."

After Cao Yu finished his report, people kept asking questions, and Cao Yu answered them simply and humorously.

Cao Yu's face lit up with a smile when the next question came out.

"Dear Mr. Cao, I heard that you are the teacher of Mr. Liu, the writer who came to France last year?"

Cao Yu laughed and said, "Yes, you're right, Liu Yimin is my student!"

How would you evaluate this student?

Cao Yu gave a thumbs up and said, "This is one of my favorite students. You only know him as a writer, a novelist. You don't know that he also writes plays, and he has written many excellent scripts that are very popular with audiences in our country."

As I expected, he is currently conducting research on the plateau of our country, preparing for his next play.

Among those seated below were playwrights and writers. Some of the playwrights were unfamiliar, but many writers had a vague recollection of the name Liu Yimin, and some even had a strong impression of him.

So you really like this student of yours?

Cao Yu continued with a smile, "I like him very much, and of course he works very hard. He is a hardworking, ambitious, upright, and patriotic young man."

"He is a hawkish writer!"

Cao Yu stared at the reporter for a long time: "If I'm not mistaken, you should be from the World News, right? You're not the writer who's asking Yimin a 'friendly' question, are you?"

Cao Yu's 'friendly' sarcasm made the reporter from Le Monde chuckle awkwardly twice, and he continued, "Yes, I asked Liu Yimin a question. Actually, we have a very good relationship, and I've even given Liu gifts."

Cao Yu gave a meaningful "Oh," and then said firmly, "If patriotism makes someone a hawkish writer, then I, Cao Yu, am a big hawk!"

"As I just mentioned, some people always mistake prejudice against China for reality, believing that only writers who write about the bad aspects of China are realists and faithfully record history. I hope you will change these prejudices."

I heard that Yi Min's book sells very well in France. When I went to the bookstore, the staff specifically recommended it, saying I should read it. The cover says, "A strong Chinese old man uses his own body to shield his motherland from the wind and sand," which is very well written. The patriotism, dedication, and environmental protection spirit in it are needed by all mankind.

In fact, there are many people like us, both old and young, who represent China in our time.

After arriving in France, Cao Yu visited several bookstores and asked a friend to find many newspapers from the previous year to read through, so as to learn more about what happened at the time and the French newspapers' evaluation of Liu Yimin.

Upon seeing the sales figures, Cao Yu chuckled, "Yimin has struck it rich!"

I can't help but wonder how well "Green Book" will sell after it's published in the United States.

Cao Yu had already found a magazine and submitted it to The Paris Review through an acquaintance. Although The Paris Review is named after "Paris," it is actually an American magazine.

Several young American writers came to France to follow in Hemingway's footsteps and founded such a magazine. After the 70s, they moved back to the United States from Paris.

The magazine was moved back, but the name wasn't changed.

Cao Yu calculated the days and figured he should be able to get a reply by the time he arrived in the United States.

Back at the hotel, Cao Yu worried about Liu Yimin's field trip, wondering if he might encounter any danger. He himself had encountered many problems during his previous field trips.

While Cao Yu was worried, Zhu Lin, who was performing in Hong Kong, returned to her accommodation with a furrowed brow after her performance. The other actors in the same room asked her what was wrong, but Zhu Lin shook her head and pretended that nothing had happened.

"Hey, Comrade Zhu Lin, you've been keeping this from me. Are you missing Comrade Liu Yimin? I haven't seen any letters from you lately. What's wrong? Did you have a fight?"

"Ah! No, what's wrong? I wasn't thinking about it!" Zhu Lin said blankly.

"You're from the Secret Service, aren't you? I've already pointed it out, but you still won't admit it. I knew all along, there was no need to hide it!"

Zhu Lin blushed and walked to the other person's side, quickly saying, "Sister Wei, please keep your voice down, don't let others hear!"

"What did you hear?"

"This has a bad influence!"

"Oh dear, what do you mean by 'affecting'? These past few days, I've been walking the streets of Hong Kong, and look at all the couples, it's so embarrassing, I don't even dare to look." After saying that, Sister Wei looked out the window at the street, where couples walked by, holding hands affectionately, and sometimes even kissing.

"Oh dear, Hong Kong is Hong Kong, and besides, I'm an actress, while Comrade Liu Yimin is a screenwriter. By the way, Sister Wei, how did you know?"

Sister Wei crossed her arms and said irritably, "How would I know? Who in our theater doesn't know? Do you two think that apart from the director and Dean Cao, no one else knows?"

Zhu Lin exclaimed "Ah!" and remained stunned for a long time. So embarrassed was she that she covered her face and collapsed onto the bed, realizing how incredibly stupid she had been to deliberately keep her distance from him before.

After a while, Zhu Lin tidied his hair, seemed to have figured it out, and stopped being coy, saying frankly, "Teacher Liu went to Sichuan Province for field research. In his last letter, he said he was going to Aba. It's not very convenient to send letters there, as he's traveling around and doesn't know where to send them."

"Oh, I see. Comrade Zhu, Teacher Liu, tsk, I don't understand things like yours young people."

After they finished talking, Zhu Lin sat down at the table and started writing a letter to Liu Yimin. Although she couldn't receive it, she could write it and send it to the guesthouse in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, so that Liu Yimin could see it when he returned to Chengdu.

Zhu Lin glanced out the window and saw two people passionately kissing downstairs. After stealing a few peeks, she quickly drew the curtains.

After writing a long letter, he stopped writing at the last blank space.

After a long time, she wrote the word "Do not" alone, hummed a couple of times, and secretly wondered if Liu Yimin would understand what she meant.

"Sister Wei, I'm going out to mail a letter. Do you want to come with me?" Zhu Lin put the letter into an envelope, stood up, and asked Sister Wei with a smile.

"Let's go, let's go out for a stroll. There are so many skyscrapers in Hong Kong, and we haven't even seen them all yet. But we need to find a few guys to go with us, otherwise it's not safe!"

(End of this chapter)