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

Chapter 186 Am I a Two-Faced Person?
Outside the guesthouse, Liu Yimin gave the remaining movie tickets to Old Wang, telling him to take his family to see the movie. Old Wang had settled down in Chengdu, and he said he had a lovely daughter.

Liu Yimin then offered the items from the jeep to Lao Wang, but Lao Wang refused. Liu Yimin smiled and said, "Comrade Lao Wang, you've been traveling with us for over a month, you must be tired. Besides, we can't take all this back with us, so consider it a gift from Zhuoma!"

Old Xu tried to persuade him a few times, and Old Wang finally agreed, but he left all the fresh fruit for them.

Back in their room, Liu Yimin and Lao Xu began organizing their materials. For Liu Yimin, this trip had been incredibly fruitful. He continuously revised and improved his script, and he felt he could submit the first part soon after returning to Yanjing.

Then it will be revised into a novel. Two novels and two scripts, and there's going to be a profit to be made.

Xu Chi stayed in his room, writing down various topics on his manuscript, listing possible points, and then crossing them off one by one until only the first topic remained. After thinking about it, he felt it wasn't quite right, so he wrote down another topic.

He muttered to himself, "Yimin wrote two plays, so I should write two reports too!"

The next morning, sunlight streamed into the room through the window, and Liu Yimin invited Lao Xu to have breakfast together. Inside the breakfast shop, the two ate steamed buns and porridge.

After dinner, Liu Yimin suggested buying some newspapers and magazines. Old Xu smiled and said, "You want to see what people are saying about 'Romance on Lushan Mountain' and 'The Kite Runner,' right?"

"Comrade Lao Xu, you're practically my confidant! I have to see this, I have to take a good look and hear what other people are saying about me!" Liu Yimin and Xu Chi walked side by side toward the nearest bookstore.

Xu Chi joked, "I thought you were going to say I'm a tapeworm in your stomach!"

"Old Xu, are you trying to indirectly insult me?"

"Hahaha!" Old Xu stroked his beard and laughed loudly.

They bought all the latest newspapers and magazines, filling a whole bag. Passing a barbershop, they smiled at each other, then went inside together without a word.

During their long stay in Aba, neither of them had a haircut, and they didn't even shave while on the grasslands. Their hair was quite long, though still short compared to that of Tibetans.

The barber, seeing the two men's hair, joked, "Where have you been? You two, aren't you hot?" He then touched his own bald head and chuckled.

"I was a Tibetan for a while!" Liu Yimin said with a smile.

The barber thought the two were making things up, so he ignored them and started cutting their hair as requested. While cutting, he joked with the others around him, his fluent Sichuan accent occasionally punctuating his speech with incomprehensible words.

"Comrades, we're here for a haircut!" Several women walked in hand in hand, and upon seeing the barber, they began to whisper among themselves.

"Comrade, do you know how to do the hairstyle like Zhou Yun's?" a female comrade asked cautiously.

The barber shook the white cape in his hand, scattering stubble of hair onto the ground, and said casually, "Zhou Jun's style? Zhou Jun has many hairstyles, which one do you want?"

After chattering and discussing for a while, the group said, "Let's make the style like when Zhou Yun was holding Geng Hua!" Seeing that the craftsman still didn't understand, they gestured on their bodies and said, "Just like this style!"

Are you hot?

"hot!"

"Long scroll or short scroll?"

"A long scroll!"

"Is the tail curled or the whole thing curled?"

“I think Zhou Yun’s hair has curled ends!” The woman gestured again, pointing out the curled ends of her pigtails, and then laughed as she mimicked Zhou Yun’s pose from the movie “Romance on Lushan Mountain.”

"Is it that both tails are curled or only one tail is curled?"

"Of course there are two, Master, do you even know how to do it?" Her voice had a slightly coquettish tone.

"will not!"

The girls' expectant and shy eyes and faces immediately fell, and they said angrily, "You don't know how? You don't know how to ask so many questions? You can't even do this? What kind of hairdresser are you!"

The voice immediately rose eight times, and the barber said, "What are you yelling about? How do I know I can't do it if I don't ask? Your yelling is giving me a headache!"

"You're such a fool, let's go!" the girls cursed and turned to leave.

Liu Yimin and Xu Chi exchanged a glance, both noticing the suppressed laughter on each other's faces. However, with scissors hanging over their heads, neither dared to make a move.

After the girls left, the barber who had been talking earlier and the others laughed heartily, as if teasing the girls was the happiest thing that had happened to them that day.

"Zhou Yun's hairstyle isn't too difficult, is it?" Liu Yimin asked, trying to start a conversation.

"It's not difficult, but Zhou Jun's hair looks much better. Besides, we're all paying the same amount, so it's more comfortable to get a haircut and a style. It's too much trouble!" the barber replied.

As they walked out of the barbershop, Liu Yimin and Xu Chi exchanged glances. Xu Chi's hair was almost completely shaved, while Liu Yimin's hair was neither too long nor too short, giving him a youthful look.

As he left, Xu Chi gestured towards the barbershop with his lip and said, "That's why we need reform. Eating from the same pot means there's no vitality!"

Liu Yimin smiled and said to the reform slogan next to him, "Isn't this reform in progress? But reform also comes with pain!"

"There is no such thing as a smooth reform; it has always been so, and pain is inevitable!"

“It’s inevitable, but a speck of dust in the era can become a mountain on an individual’s head!” Liu Yimin said.

Xu Chi looked at Liu Yimin and pondered for a long time before saying, "Yes, yes, I've become detached from the masses. I've only been thinking about the big picture, and I need to make a self-criticism about that."

After Xu Chi finished speaking, he added, "What is pain, and what impact does it have on society? We still need to study it in detail."

Liu Yimin didn't continue speaking; he couldn't tell Xu Chi what was about to happen.

Inside the guesthouse, a waitress wearing Zhou Yun's beautiful clothes was showing them off to her colleagues. When she saw Liu Yimin, she ran over shyly, and the people around her started teasing her, asking Liu Yimin if the clothes looked similar.

Liu Yimin looked them over and said, "You probably stole the crew's clothes!"

His words made the waiters giggle, craning their necks as they laughed. Liu Yimin had recognized the tailor's skill, and his job was about to get very busy.

"When I get off work, I'll go find Blind Liu to make me a new outfit. I still have several yards of cloth coupons that I haven't used yet."

"Blind Liu?" Xu Chi asked curiously. How could a blind man be a tailor?
"Haha, Writer Xu, he's not really blind, he just has small eyes, so everyone calls him Blind Liu!"

The bursts of laughter attracted the manager again. He said a few words loudly, and the laughter subsided like a tide, with everyone going back to their own business.

Xu Chi patted Liu Yimin on the back and said, "You're popular wherever you go, just like I was when I was young!"

"Hey, Comrade Xu, are you praising me or yourself?"

"To be honest, I was quite the dashing young man back in the day," Old Xu started to boast, but seeing that Liu Yimin didn't respond, he followed Liu Yimin to his room and began to brag. He described in great detail the details, including reader letters containing love letters, making it sound very authentic.

Liu Yimin calmly took out the newspapers and magazines. Seeing that Xu Chi still wanted to brag, Liu Yimin said, "Old Xu, stop bragging. You're at the age where you get up at night more often than you drink water!"

Xu Chi blushed and muttered, "What are you talking about? I only get it once now!"

Liu Yimin glanced at him twice, and Xu Chi immediately said guiltily, "At most, no more than twice!"

"It could also be three times."

Liu Yimin didn't argue with him about how many times he had to do it, and instead picked up various newspapers to read. He bought mostly state media and some well-known newspapers, and found several articles about "Romance on Lushan Mountain".

The discussion surrounding "Romance on Lushan Mountain" is unprecedented, with both criticism and praise existing almost simultaneously.

"A hymn to the bourgeois lifestyle—whom does art ultimately serve?"

"A dress-up game with forty-three outfits—a huge waste."

Newspapers were filled with similar criticisms, accusing the film "Romance on Lushan Mountain" of glorifying a bourgeois lifestyle and being a form of brainwashing. Other criticisms included its explicit content, including scenes of women in swimsuits exposing their thighs, and even more offensive depictions of kissing in public.

You can see the anger in these people between the lines; they wish they could throw the newspaper directly at director Huang Zumo's face—is this something a socialist film should be made?

Not only did you film it, but you also dared to let all of China see it?

It's utterly disgusting!
Some people are even secretly criticizing Liu Yimin, saying that the screenwriter is to blame for the film's poor quality. He writes about the suffering of ordinary people like in "Wolf Smoke Over Beiping," while simultaneously yearning for a petit-bourgeois lifestyle.

The words of a two-faced person are about to be spoken!

Xu Chi, always eager for drama, kept finding critical articles to read and sharing his thoughts with Liu Yimin afterward.

However, there were also articles praising it. Some people specifically praised "Romance on Lushan Mountain," while others viewed it from the perspective of the entire film industry.

"Pioneering a New Era for Film – 'Romance on Lushan Mountain' Brings a Breeze of Artistic Innovation"

Yu Jiajia from China Youth Daily wrote several commentaries praising "Romance on Lushan Mountain" as both a love story about mountains and rivers and a love story about family and country!

The United Front Work Department published a commentary in the newspaper stating that the United Front work cannot be separated from the film industry's publicity efforts, using popular films to promote our new era's policies for overseas Chinese to overseas Chinese.

“All sorts of monsters and demons have come out!” Xu Chi commented again, then went to read the book review of “The Kite Runner”.

"Aren't you angry?"

"Why should I get angry? The audience will vote with their feet!" Liu Yimin said calmly, his words brimming with confidence.

Xu Chi couldn't help but give a thumbs up: "Yes, the long lines at the movie theater entrance have proven what the will of the people is."

Most of the reviews of "The Kite Runner" are positive, while the criticisms are mostly the same as Ma Shitu's, who believe that the details are insufficient, the beginning lacks a comprehensive description of Tibetan society, the descriptions are relatively simple, and there is not much explanation of the environment and customs.

"Without a doubt, this is a successful novel, and this criticism is nothing!" Xu Chi said.

"However, you're absolutely right, that's definitely something that needs improvement. Theory is no substitute for practice; you can't write in such detail just by looking at the materials. But our trip to Tibet has successfully filled in the gaps in the details."

Xu Chi laughed and said, "Looks like I'll be looking forward to your new work again!"

"It might take a long time!" Liu Yimin said.

"Don't worry, this old man can live a long life!"

After exchanging glances, Xu Chi and Liu Yimin laughed heartily. Xu Chi completely treated Liu Yimin as a close friend despite their age difference, and he no longer acted like a senior when speaking to him.

That evening, Ma Shitu and his group were going to treat Liu Yimin to dinner, and they specifically told them to go early, as there were other activities planned after dinner.

Old Wang drove his Jeep down the street, glancing at Liu Yimin in the back every now and then, as if he wanted to say something. After this happened a few times, Liu Yimin couldn't help but ask, "Comrade Old Wang, is there something you want to say?"

Xu Chi also said, "Old Wang, just say what you have to say!"

Old Wang let out a sigh of relief and couldn't help but say, "I saw Zhuoma yesterday!"

"Hmm?" Liu Yimin and Xu Chi both made a sound at the same time, looking at Lao Wang.

"Yesterday, after leaving the guesthouse, I ran into them at a bookstore on the street!" Seeing that the two were in a hurry, he quickened his pace: "She wanted to buy books, but Zhuoma didn't have any money with her, so she wanted to sell Aji's saddle to get some!"

"What book?"

“Writer Xu, you said you would have Zhuoma bring Comrade Liu Yimin’s book with you when you go back!” Old Wang said to Old Xu.

Old Xu nodded quickly, admitting that he had indeed said that.

"I gave Zhuoma some money and bought her several books and magazines before she happily waved goodbye and left!"

How is she feeling?

"Still the same!"

Old Xu criticized, "Old Wang, why didn't you bring Comrade Zhuoma back? She's still sick and should only go back after she's fully recovered."

"It's alright, it's nothing serious."

"Hey, Lao Wang, how could you say that? You're too heartless." Lao Xu only got halfway through his "hard-hearted" statement before realizing he shouldn't criticize Lao Wang, and stopped talking.

Old Wang said in a muffled voice, "Hard-hearted? I think we're all pretty hard-hearted."

Liu Yimin's heart clenched. He took out some money from his pocket to help Zhuoma pay back Old Wang, but Old Wang sighed and said:

“Writer Liu, Zhuoma will definitely send it to me. Although she didn’t say so, given her personality, she will definitely send it back. I know her personality, so I didn’t say anything about not having to return it.”

If you give me another one, I'll have double!

Thus, Liu Yimin did not insist any further and leaned against the carriage, watching the setting sun.

Imagine the end of the cobblestone path, the sun setting, and a Tibetan girl riding two horses galloping towards her grassland, her red robe shimmering in the reddish-yellow sunset.
Old Wang looked at Liu Yimin and said, "Don't worry, Writer Liu, I gave her a map. She'll definitely be able to get back by following the map, and she'll send us a telegram when she gets home."

“The master of the grassland doesn’t need a map; wherever she goes, there’s her scent and the fragrance of pasture!” Liu Yimin said with a smile.

(End of this chapter)