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

Chapter 209 Coke More Expensive Than Meat
On National Day, the conference room of the Writers Association was full of people, and Liu Yimin was invited to sit in the second row.

Today is the inauguration ceremony of the Mao Dun Literature Prize, and a large number of people from the Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the Writers Association have come. Zhang Guangnian, as the current head of the Writers Association, can only sit on the side, while Xia Yan and a few others sit in the middle.

The meeting was chaired by Chen Huangmei, the vice chairman of the Writers Association, and Zhang Guangnian expressed his gratitude to Mr. Mao Dun for his generous donation to establish the literary prize.

"Comrade Shen Yanbing joined the revolution in his youth, using his pen as a weapon to advocate for the nation and the country. His literary works have inspired generations of people in our country and made significant contributions to the development of our nation's literature and literary circles."

Now, he will donate all of his royalties—25 yuan—to the literary world to establish a literary prize for long novels, which will play an extremely important role in the future prosperity of our country's literary cause.

After discussion within the Writers' Association, we decided to name the literary prize the Mao Dun Literature Prize, in recognition of Comrade Shen Yanbing's contributions to literature, and to use the name "Mao Dun" to help the world understand Chinese literature.

The following speeches were all full of praise. Finally, it was Mr. Mao Dun's turn to speak: "Thank you for your recognition, comrades. I sincerely wish our socialist literature cause a prosperous and flourishing future. I once again extend my highest respect to you."

I believe that the future of literature will only get better and better. Because in the past few years, I have seen many outstanding young talents; they are the hope of our nation's literary cause. I hope everyone will cherish them, help them grow, and allow them to become the backbone of our country's literary world.

When Mr. Mao Dun was speaking, he looked at Liu Yimin. Whether it was a misperception or not, Liu Yimin saw Mr. Mao Dun nodding at him as he spoke.

Ba Jin, who was far away in Shanghai, also sent a congratulatory telegram, which was read aloud by Cao Yu on the spot.

After the meeting ended, the crowd gradually dispersed. Cao Yu and others stood together chatting. Mr. Mao Dun, having finally achieved his wish, was in higher spirits than ever before.

Xia Yan teased him, saying that he was in high spirits when something good happened, just like that young man who started the revolution back then.

Mao Dun smiled and said, "You all have to keep an eye on this literary prize for me from now on, so that no crooked monk can misread the scriptures."

Cao Yu said, "Let's watch together!"

After saying goodbye to several people, Liu Yimin walked out of the conference room, only to be caught red-handed by Zou Huofan.

Liu Yimin put his arm around Zou Huofan's shoulder and said, "Comrade Zou, you finally get two days off, aren't you going to rest?"

Currently, there are only 7 days of holidays in China throughout the year, with the National Day holiday accounting for two of them.

"Yimin, of course I'm taking a break. Two days is perfect for the beautiful autumn scenery of Yanjing. Who wouldn't want to go out and explore? Today isn't the establishment of the literary prize; I'm here to attend the meeting."

"Oh, you're here too! I didn't see you earlier!"

“You sit in the front row and I sit in the middle, how will you see me! The guesthouse’s boiler is starting up, how about taking a hot bath before you leave tonight?” Zou Huofan said happily.

"Okay, let's go. It's been a while since we had a drink together!" Liu Yimin replied.

Zou Huofan glanced at the small conference room of the Writers' Association: "Will Comrade Cao Yu need to see you later?"

"What business is it of mine!"

"That's hard to say!" Zou Huofan said with a smile.

The two exchanged a few jokes and then headed towards the guesthouse. Old Ma helped out, while the new worker, Zhou Xing, was making coal briquettes.

The work that used to be done by Lao Ma is now his turn.

The two men were covered in coal. Old Ma gave instructions as he worked, and if he wasn't satisfied with something, he would start yelling at them.

Liu Yimin walked up behind Lao Ma and patted him on the shoulder: "Master Ma, when did you get this temper?"

Zhou Xing said aggrievedly, "Comrade Liu Yimin, you've finally arrived! Look at what I did, wasn't it pretty good?"

Zou Huofan glanced at it a few times and said, "This is not bad, Lao Ma, it's about the same as yours!"

"What do you mean 'about the same'? It's nowhere near as good as mine. I bet it won't even catch fire, and it'll just make your office windows crack from the smoke."

Old Ma looked at Liu Yimin: "Hey, what brings you here?"

"What are you saying? Of course I came to see you!" Liu Yimin said.

Old Ma sized him up: "You came empty-handed?"

"No way! What do you want to eat tonight? I'll go buy it with Comrade Zou!"

"That's more like it. Let's go together. Master Ma has so much money he doesn't know what to do with it. He's afraid he'll die before he runs out of money. You know, he's been poor his whole life, and now that he's finally rich, if he can't spend it all, wouldn't I be losing out?"

For dinner, they had the same old dishes, but Old Ma added a roast chicken. Liu Yimin noticed that Old Ma was getting old, so he didn't buy any more alcohol. The three of them ate until they were half full, then went to the bathhouse to soak and chat. After soaking for a while, they started eating again.

The three of them didn't leave until they finished eating!

During the two-day National Day holiday, on October 2nd, Liu Yimin did not go sightseeing in Yanjing with Zhu Lin, but instead went on a tour of the city with several international students from the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.

Zhu Lin is currently running around at the Beijing People's Art Theatre following three teachers around, and has no time to properly enjoy her vacation.

Today should be spent learning from Su Min. Su Min places great importance on study plans, and he and Ouyang Shanzun have developed a strict study plan together.

This caused Ouyang Shanzun and Lan Tianye to feel a headache whenever they saw Su Min, because neither of them wanted to follow the plan.

This led to Su Min's dissatisfaction, and he kept emphasizing the importance of systematic learning to Zhu Lin. Zhu Lin couldn't afford to offend any of them, but she knew that all three teachers wanted to teach her their true skills.

No matter who teaches her, she listens very attentively.

Each of the three had their own strengths, and teaching Zhu Lin was like the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan teaching Guo Jing.

In one day, Liu Yimin led the foreign language students from Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press on a tour of several places in Yenching, and even took them to the Forbidden City.

The Forbidden City has more palaces open to the public than when Liu Yimin first arrived, and there are more tourists inside.

Li Congren and Ke Lifu were both holding cameras and taking pictures.

"The ancient architecture of China is so beautiful; every shape has its own unique meaning."

In an effort to generate revenue, the Palace Museum has placed a Hongqi sedan outside the palace, and many people are queuing up to get in and take photos, paying 2 cents per photo.

However, the vehicles can be driven away at any time without affecting the Palace Museum's normal vehicle use.

After touring the Forbidden City, Liu Yimin led them outside to see the Arrow Tower.

Looking at them, Liu Yimin said, "Since you're out having fun, you should buy more things, okay? You've come all this way, don't go back empty-handed!"

Liu Yimin, like a tour guide who tricks tourists into shopping, generates foreign exchange for the country through unconventional means.

Li Congren and his companions already had a lot of things hanging on their bicycles.

In front of the arrow tower, several international students pulled Liu Yimin to take photos: "Liu, the luckiest thing about coming to China is meeting you!"

The sound gave Liu Yimin goosebumps.

Li Congren said, "Liu is a kind and wise Chinese man. Thanks to him, we have gained a better understanding of China!"

"I am just a representative of a kind and wise China," Liu Yimin said modestly.

Today's university students in China are the elite of the elite, and the international students who come to China to study are also the elite of their respective countries, and they all achieve considerable success after returning home. Unlike in later years, when most international students came to China to obtain a degree or scholarships.

Studying abroad has become a way for students in some countries to get rich!

After visiting the arrow tower, just as they were about to leave, Li Congren pulled Liu Yimin to look to the side where a dozen people were setting up stoves: "Liu, what are they doing?"

"Just go ask them and you'll find out!"

Liu Yimin walked over and saw that it was a stall selling large bowls of tea. Now that the sun was setting, the tea stalls were basically not doing any business.

Liu Yimin shouted at the young man who was looking down at ants, "Hey, five bowls of tea for each of you!"

The young man looked up at Liu Yimin, his eyes blank for a long time before clearing up: "Go find them for tea, can't you see I'm busy?"

Liu Yimin chuckled: "What are you busy with?"

"Busy," the young man rolled his eyes at him, "Why should I tell you?"

A capable-looking young woman approached and said in a loud voice, "Comrades, would you like to come in? Have some tea? Come on in!"

Liu Yimin said, "Five bowls for each person!"

The girl looked at Liu Yimin: "Five bowls? Can you finish five bowls? Comrade, we have large portions here!"

Liu Yimin looked at the bowls: "Oh right, then everyone else will have five bowls except for me!"

Li Congren and the others had already sat down, and all they could see was Liu Yimin whispering to the people at the tea stall.

Seeing that the girl seemed about to say something, Liu Yimin smiled and said, "This is a foreigner. Foreigners' stomachs are different from ours. Comrade, what you're selling now isn't just tea, it's earning us foreign exchange!"

"Understood, comrade, I'll go boil some water right away!" Before leaving, the girl kicked the young man squatting on the ground: "Chen Qi, I really don't know what you'll be counting when there are no more ants in a few days!"

"Comrade, how much is your tea?"

"Two cents a bowl!"

"So cheap?" Liu Yimin asked.

"Comrade, you're joking. This is Gao Mo'er!" the girl said.

“We can sell it to our own people for two cents, but to these foreigners, we’ll make at least ten times that!” Liu Yimin said in a low voice. “Are we offering him tea? We’re offering him culture!”

Chen Qi, standing nearby, dropped the wooden stick he was holding with a thud to the ground: "Comrade, great minds think alike!"

The girl rolled her eyes at Chen Qi, feeling that both of them were acting a little strange. When she went to make tea, she specifically asked for less slag, just in case they couldn't afford it!
"Sister Yingzi, there wasn't much to begin with, it's still a small amount!"

"Less!"

"If they're not satisfied, I'm not responsible!"

"I'll take responsibility!"

Chen Qi stood up and glanced at the foreigners: "If you ask me, even ten times the price is too cheap. It should be at least a hundred times. We old Beijingers have a history of one or two hundred years. We can't let these foreigners take advantage of us for nothing!"

"Liu, I can understand Chinese!" Li Congren appeared behind him without anyone noticing.

Chen Qi glanced at Liu Yimin awkwardly: "Comrade, why didn't you say so earlier? These foreign devils you brought aren't pure either!"

He then put his arm around Li Congren's shoulder and said, "Buddy, how about I give you two cents for taking the picture?"

At the tea stall, Liu Yimin drank a bowl of tea leaves and spat out a few tea stalks. The other international students each had a bowl of tea in front of them.

Chen Qi talked to them about the culture of Yanjing, and by the end, several of them really couldn't drink anymore. But when they heard it was about culture, they forced themselves to drink it all.

After everyone paid their bills and I got on my bicycle, I felt my stomach sinking down.

Upon arriving in Haidian, Kelifu went to relax in the bushes and returned happily saying, "Let's go, we have nothing to do tonight, let's take a bath at the public bathhouse!"

Mulatu, who was standing nearby, exclaimed, "Didn't Li Congren say he was going to invite us?"

Li Congren kicked Mulatu's bicycle: "Mulatu, you talk too much."

A group of people arrived at the Haidian State-run Bathhouse, laughing and joking. The weather wasn't too cold, and there weren't many people in the bathhouse, which provided them with a good bathing experience.

The bath ticket cost 26 cents, which was considered the basic cost. Liu Yimin also arranged a full-service massage including cupping and scraping, which cost at least one yuan per person.

This was Li Congren's first time getting cupping and scraping, and when he paid, he shouted that he would come again next time.

While Liu Yimin was getting his back scrubbed, he vaguely heard two bathhouse attendants discussing whether they could scrub the mud from black to white.

When they left, they saw that Mula Tuhei was still as dark as ever, and the bathhouse attendant was a little frustrated!

Back at Yenching University, Liu Yimin handed the food he had brought back to Liu Zhenyun and the other two. Li Congren gave Liu Yimin a few bottles of Coke, which Liu Yimin also shared with them.

"What is this? Soy sauce?" Liu Zhenyun asked, puzzled.

"It looks like vinegar!" Chen Dazhi smelled it without opening it. "This definitely won't taste as good as the old vinegar from back home!"

Li Xueqin quickly handed the Coke to Liu Yimin: "We're not like Dazhi, who likes to drink vinegar for no reason!"

Liu Yimin opened a bottle and took a few gulps: "What kind of vinegar is this? It's soda."

"Soda? Why is it black?" Liu Zhenyun asked.

Li Xueqin thought for a long time: "It's probably the soda that black people drink, so it's black. I don't know if it tastes good or not."

Seeing that Liu Yimin had already taken a few sips, I quickly opened it and tried it too. A strange feeling rushed to my head, but it was quite sweet. After smacking my lips, I also tasted a medicinal flavor.

After a long pause, Liu Zhenyun said, "These capitalist students are just trying to corrupt us with good food!"

"Yimin, how much is this?" Li Xueqin asked.

"This was a gift from an international student; it would cost four cents at the Friendship Store!"

"Four cents? How much does a pound of meat cost? This stuff is almost as much as meat!" Liu Zhenyun held the cola up to the light and examined it closely.

Chen Dazhi said, "It's actually more expensive than meat. You need foreign exchange certificates to buy it at the Friendship Store, so we can't buy it even if we want to."

In 79, Coca-Cola returned to China and later introduced production lines. However, it was stopped by the leadership not long after it started selling to Chinese people because selling Coca-Cola would cost a huge amount of foreign exchange and it could only be sold to foreigners.

There was also a reason for resisting the bourgeois lifestyle. After further research, it was found that selling Coca-Cola would not only not waste foreign exchange, but could also help earn foreign exchange by exporting raw materials. Coca-Cola was sold in China again.

"We got a great deal; it's like they treated us to a pound of meat!"

(End of this chapter)