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

Chapter 195: Record of Over 100 Performances

Along Chang'an Avenue, Zhu Lin looked at the pedestrians on the roadside. At first, he was afraid that others would see him, but after he got used to it, he smiled and scanned the pedestrians while talking to Shen Yun behind him about Hong Kong.

Shen Yun sat in the back, craning her neck forward to see Zhu Lin, and asked with wide, curious eyes, "Sister Zhu Lin, is Hong Kong fragrant, that's why it's called Hong Kong!"

Zhu Lin almost burst out laughing and quickly said it wasn't that, but when Shen Yun pressed her again about why it was called Hong Kong, Zhu Lin had no idea.

So he tilted his head to look at Liu Yimin and asked, "Does Teacher Liu know?"

After exchanging a glance with Shen Yun, Liu Yimin raised his head to look straight ahead and began to explain with a smile, recounting several legends about the origin of the name Xiangjiang. The first legend is that Dongguan was rich in spices, and the transshipment of goods needed to pass through the wharf of what is now Xiangjiang, hence the name Xiangjiang (meaning "fragrant river").

The second explanation is that there was a stream in the area with sweet water that sailors traveling between the north and south liked to drink. This stream was called the Xiangjiang River, so the place was named after the river.

“Our teacher talked about Mr. Wen Yiduo’s poems. The British are really wicked!” Shen Yun said.

Mr. Wen Yiduo's series of poems is "The Song of the Seven Sons," but it has not yet been set to music and sung as a song.

When they arrived at Liubukou Hutong, Shen Yun nervously tugged at Liu Yimin's sleeve and said pitifully, "Brother Yimin, you have to keep my homework a secret. Please don't become like Pu Zhigao!"

"My name isn't Pu Zhigao!"

"Sister Zhu Lin. Brother Yi Min."

Upon arriving at Xia Yan's courtyard, Liu Yimin put Shen Yun back inside. Shen Yun stood nervously to the side, watching Liu Yimin's every move. However, in the end, she was certain that her Yimin brother could withstand her test and was a steadfast "old revolutionary."

Xia Yan jokingly said that Shen Yun had caused trouble for Liu Yimin: "She's been thinking about sending you the cat lately, so I let her go today since I had nothing else to do. Is this Zhou Yun next to you?"

"Old Xia has sharp eyes. It's Zhou Yun. He just came back from Hong Kong today and happened to run into Xiao Yun, so we brought Xiao Yun back together."

Zhu Lin, who was standing next to Xia Yan, stepped forward to greet her, her posture a little nervous.

Xia Yan pointed at the two of them and suddenly smiled: "You two?"

Zhu Lin looked at Liu Yimin nervously without saying a word. Liu Yimin nodded, confirming Xia Yan's implication.

Xia Yan laughed happily in the courtyard: "Not bad, you should treat Comrade Zhou Yun better, she's such a good girl." He then looked Zhu Lin up and down and said to Liu Yimin: "I'm not just bragging, but you should learn more from me when it comes to relationships!"

After staying for a while, just as Liu Yimin was about to leave, Xia Yan asked, "Have you read the preface I wrote? If you think there's anything wrong with it, remember to tell me."

Preface? Liu Yimin was a little confused at first, but he quickly realized: "I've read it. It's very well written. It goes from point to line, and from line to surface. The theme and extension are both very good."

Shen Yun's face had already fallen, but upon hearing Liu Yimin's words, he nervously turned his head, patted his chest, and breathed a sigh of relief.

When Liu Yimin pushed the cart to the alley entrance and stopped, Zhu Lin asked in surprise, "Teacher Liu, why are you stopping here?"

"Waiting for someone!"

"Waiting for someone?"

"You'll find out soon."

After a while, the wooden door of the courtyard quietly opened, and Shen Yun's head peeked out from the crack in the door. When she saw Liu Yimin and Zhu Lin under the streetlight, she hurriedly ran over and handed the preface from her bag to Liu Yimin.

"When did you two learn the code?" Zhu Lin asked, patting Shen Yun's head.

"When Brother Yimin left, he gently patted my back three times. I've read Journey to the West, so I know what that means!" After saying this, Shen Yun secretly ran back.

After the wooden door of the courtyard was gently closed, Liu Yimin looked at Zhu Lin and said, "Let's go, Comrade Zhou Yun, I'll take you home!"

"Teacher Liu, you're making fun of me too!" Zhu Lin jumped onto the back seat of the car, feeling the firmness beneath him, and thought about when he could make another cushion to use as a seat cushion in the back. Without Shen Yun's chatter, Zhu Lin felt much more at ease.

Looking at the long-unseen city of Yanjing from the back seat, this was the first time he had been away from Yanjing for so long since he was sent to the countryside. Suddenly, he thought of the young men and women he had seen in Hong Kong, and his hands slowly changed from clutching Liu Yimin's clothes to one hand around his waist.

"Didn't Linlin say she was coming back today? It's already eleven o'clock at night, why isn't she home yet?" Zhu's mother looked at the double-bell horseshoe watch on the table, the hands of which had reached eleven o'clock.

"Yes, I should have gone to pick her up," said Mr. Zhu.

"She only said she'd be back today, but she didn't say which train she'd be on, what time she'd arrive, or which station she'd be at. How am I supposed to pick her up?" Zhu's mother complained in a low voice.

Zhu's father ran to the window and looked out, but still didn't see anyone.

Upon seeing Zhu's mother's face again, he ran to the sofa, picked up a newspaper as a shield, and pretended to read it.

Zhu's mother irritably ripped the newspaper away: "What are you pretending for? You get all excited about reading the newspaper every day. Let me tell you, no newspapers are allowed to be kept if they criticize Linlin's movies. Only the ones that praise her are allowed."

“I threw those away a long time ago, no, I didn’t even buy the critical newspapers!”

Mrs. Zhu snorted in satisfaction, but seeing Mr. Zhu about to pick up the newspaper again, she glared at him fiercely before he put the newspaper down again: "How about this, I'll go to the Beijing People's Art Theatre to look for it!"

"Right, right, how could I forget? Let's go to her workplace and ask." Zhu's mother hurriedly got up.

As I walked down the dark, narrow staircase, I saw Zhu Lin walking towards the entrance of the stairwell, and I could vaguely hear the sound of a bicycle riding away outside.

"Mom and Dad, what are you doing out so late?" Zhu Lin asked in surprise, glancing at the street behind him.

"Linlin, why are you back so late? Your mother and I were just about to go to the Beijing People's Art Theatre to look for you!" Mr. Zhu said hurriedly.

"Oh, don't worry, the bus was a little late, but we're back safe and sound. Let's go, Mom!"

Zhu Lin led the two elderly people back home. As Zhu's mother was about to go to the kitchen to heat up the food, Zhu Lin hurriedly said, "Mom, I've already eaten, you don't need to cook anymore."

"You've already eaten. Where did you eat?" Zhu's mother asked, puzzled.

"I ate it on the train."

Zhu's mother didn't suspect anything, but she still heated up the food and asked her to eat some more. Zhu Lin only ate a few bites before saying that she was sleepy and wanted to go to bed.

"You're sleepy as soon as you get back? I was about to ask you that!" Zhu's mother said, holding Zhu Lin's hand.

“You must be tired after such a long train ride. We were in hard seats, and our legs are almost swollen.” Zhu Lin lifted the hem of her skirt to show her mother.

Mr. and Mrs. Zhu lovingly boiled water for their daughter to soak her feet. When they brought the water to the bedroom, Mrs. Zhu saw that her daughter was already lying down asleep.

Mr. and Mrs. Zhu returned to their room and lay down on the bed. Feeling sorry for their daughter's hardships, they chatted for a long time before finally preparing to sleep. After a while, Mrs. Zhu kicked the blanket, saying, "You're wrapped up like a bunker under the covers! You might as well just die of heat!" Mr. Zhu closed his eyes and began to snore.

"They're so enthusiastic about helping students with their homework, but when it's their turn, they just pretend to be dead!"

The next day, Zhu's parents woke up and prepared to cook something nice for Zhu Lin, and also to ask him about the latest happenings in Hong Kong. As soon as they entered the living room, they saw a note left on the table.

"Mom and Dad, something's come up at work. I have a meeting this morning to summarize my trip to Hong Kong. I'll be back tonight. — Your daughter, Zhu Lin."

Looking at the note on the table, Zhu's father said helplessly, "Going to work is like fighting a war."

Zhu's mother also sighed and went to the kitchen to start cooking: "Linlin isn't here, but luckily we still have some yam and goji berries. We'll have yam and goji berry porridge for breakfast."

Mr. Zhu said with his head hanging low, "Fine, you don't need to put the yam and goji berries in my bowl. I'm drinking porridge, not goji berries."

"That won't do, we have to blow up this bunker!"

Inside the courtyard house, Liu Yimin and Zhu Lin were busy in the kitchen. Zhu Lin had arrived early in the morning. The Beijing People's Art Theatre had given all the returning actors four days off so they could get some rest.

"Four days off, so short? Dean Shanzun is too stingy." Liu Yimin muttered as he cracked eggs.

"That's quite a lot already. The Beijing People's Art Theatre has had far fewer performances in so long, and Director Shan Zun is eager to revive all the original programs. We even received calls from here while we were in Hong Kong, with audience members asking when we would be back to perform!" Zhu Lin said proudly.

The audience's anticipation for their return is the greatest affirmation for an actor.

Sitting under the ginkgo tree, the two ate scrambled eggs with tomatoes and stir-fried peppers. Zhu Lin excitedly talked about what happened in Hong Kong, telling Liu Yimin everything that he had mentioned in his letters and everything that he hadn't mentioned before.

Liu Yimin looked up at the ginkgo tree and planned to build a stone table under it so that he could eat and entertain guests under the tree in the future.

The kitten was perched on a tree branch, gazing into the distance at Liubukou Hutong. Liu Yimin had left it some food last night, but this morning it had already been eaten. However, the kitten remained on the tree, unwilling to come down.

However, the branch is very short; you can reach it by standing up and stretching your arm.

"The calico cat is so cute." Zhu Lin got up and handed over a piece of broken steamed bun. After a few tentative attempts, the cat finally stuck out its tongue and cautiously finished eating it, then licked Zhu Lin's palm.

Unfortunately, they still refused to come down.

“From then on, it was called Sanhua,” Liu Yimin said with a smile.

After dinner, Zhu Lin excitedly took out several pieces of clothing from the bag she had brought yesterday, smiling as she said, "Some of these are things I bought for my parents; I'll take them home tonight. These two skirts are mine, Teacher Liu. You don't know, there are so many beautiful skirts in Hong Kong. I also bought a pair of pants like these, and I bought one for you too. There's also a shirt and some pants."

Liu Yimin saw that the room was almost entirely filled with clothes. Zhu Lin was holding jeans, but not wide-leg; they were slim-fit. If they were wide-leg jeans, Liu Yimin really wouldn't be able to wear them out.

However, nowadays, wearing jeans on the street can easily be seen as a sign of being idle and not doing proper work.

The shirt and trousers, on the other hand, are quite ordinary and suitable for wearing now.

"How did you exchange your money?" Liu Yimin asked curiously, since RMB cannot be used in Hong Kong.

"It was exchanged through my employer."

"You've spent all your salary, haven't you?"

Zhu Lin smiled and said, "There are still more than ten yuan left to exchange."

"Tsk, I won't dare let you manage the money in the future," Liu Yimin joked.

Zhu Lin continued rummaging through the clothes: "You manage the money, you manage the money."

After tidying up his clothes, he took out a dozen or so yuan from his pocket and said, "Here you go, Teacher Liu, you keep the money!"

Liu Yimin smiled and pushed the money back. Zhu Lin told Liu Yimin to go in and try on clothes, while she went to another room and changed into other clothes.

After Liu Yimin finished changing, he sat in the yard waiting for her to come out. She had changed into two dresses and a pair of jeans. The jeans were very flattering, but Zhu Lin put them on and pressed her down, feeling that she couldn't wear them out.

One of the two skirts reached just above the calf, and after being displayed, it was thrown to the bottom of a box.

As we were talking, the door rang again.

“Yimin, you didn’t expect this, did you? It’s the three of us? Did you miss us while we were gone? I was thinking of you constantly while I was in Hong Kong,” Lan Tianye said first from outside the door.

Ouyang Shanzun, Lan Tianye, and Su Min stood outside the door, smiling as they looked at Liu Yimin.

"Please come in, gentlemen!" Liu Yimin led them in.

Upon seeing Zhu Lin, the three of them paused for a moment. Ouyang Shanzun said casually, "Looks like we came a bit too hastily today!"

Zhu Lin blushed and hurriedly explained. The three of them smiled and sat down in the chairs Zhu Lin had brought.

Lan Tianye spoke again, staring at Liu Yimin and clicking his tongue: "Yimin, I originally thought our relationship had reached the point where we could talk about anything."

Su Min quickly waved his hand and said, "Stop acting all melodramatic, Lao Lan. I'm not trying to criticize you, but can't you just say the good things first? If you won't say it, I will."

“Yimin, you don’t know yet, but I have some great news to tell you since I came back from Hong Kong.”

Zhu Lin, who was standing next to her, pouted. She had wanted to speak, but she was too late.

"Both 'Mr. Donkey' and 'Wang Zhaojun' have surpassed one hundred performances! One hundred performances! What a huge success this is! Isn't this great news?!"

Liu Yimin sat up straight. All four of them hoped to see a happy expression on his face, but they saw no reaction.

Lan Tianye added, "It's not easy for our play to be performed a hundred times! To put it another way, it's about the same as selling more than a hundred copies of 'Romance on Lushan Mountain'."

Liu Yimin suddenly realized and said happily, "The success of the play depends on everyone and the actors. It's not just my achievement."

Ouyang Shanzun slapped his thigh and said, "Without a good script, even the best actors are useless. You don't know, in Hong Kong..." He paused, glanced at Zhu Lin, and then said excitedly:

"You may already know this, but I still have to say that the two plays, 'Mr. Donkey' and 'The Flames of War in Beiping,' were also packed with people in Hong Kong, and every show sold out immediately."

We were so afraid of embarrassing ourselves going, but we ended up making a huge fool of ourselves! You didn't go, but if you had, you would have been even more excited than us!

(End of this chapter)