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

Chapter 226 The Royalties Have Arrived
Liu Yimin from the Beijing People's Art Theatre sat down in the rehearsal room. The version of "Mountains High and Rivers Long" had been finalized, and the actors for "Red River Valley" had been found. Zhu Lin played the female lead, Xue'er Dawa, in "Red River Valley." She was originally a Han girl who was sacrificed by the Han people.

The story begins with Gesang, a Tibetan youth, rescuing her on the banks of the Yarlung Tsangpo River.
On stage, Zhu Lin wore Tibetan clothing and headdress, looking just like a real Tibetan girl.

Lan Tianye pointed at Zhu Lin and said to Liu Yimin, "Look at us, the disciples of these three old guys, aren't we more than good enough for you?"

Liu Yimin quietly echoed his words, which made the three of them even more smug. Looking at this apprentice they had personally trained, they were extremely satisfied.

Because it was the beginning of rehearsals, everyone was figuring things out as they went along, so they had to stop and redo the movements from time to time.

When it was almost time, the team disbanded and went home. Zhu Lin, Ouyang Shanzun, Lan Tianye, and Su Min began to summarize their experiences and discuss rehearsal plans.

After a lively discussion lasting half an hour, Liu Yimin and Zhu Lin pushed their bicycles out of the courtyard of the Beijing People's Art Theatre.

As if by magic, he handed the candied hawthorn to Zhu Lin: "Eat up, Liang Sanhulu's family recipe for candied hawthorn is really delicious. The sugar coating is sweet but not greasy, it's extremely tasty."

"Teacher Liu, have one!" Zhu Lin held the candied hawthorn to Liu Yimin's mouth. There were hardly any people on the road now. After Liu Yimin took a bite, Zhu Lin ate the second one.

One for Liu Yimin, one for Zhu Lin, one for Liu Yimin, one for Zhu Lin.
The two quickly finished their meal and rode their bicycles home hand in hand. On the way, Zhu Lin asked for her opinion on what gift to give as a wedding present for her older brother, Liu Yiguo.

Liu Yimin said with a smile, "No need to send anything!"

"No way. It's my older brother's wedding, after all. If I don't send a gift, wouldn't people think I'm being inconsiderate? I'm not going to fall into your trap. If you don't want to, I'll think about it myself."

After a while, Zhu Lin said again, "How about I go with you to my older brother's wedding?"

With a hiss and a creak, Liu Yimin suddenly squeezed the bicycle brake shut, and a strange noise came from the friction between the wheel and the brake pads.

Liu Yimin stared at Zhu Lin for a moment, then got back on his bicycle and said, "You should stay in Yanjing. We'll meet again sometime."

"What?" Zhu Lin raised an eyebrow and teased, "Could it be that Teacher Liu has an arranged marriage back in his hometown?"

"Haha, you've been reading too many novels!" Liu Yimin teased.

That's what the book says!

Liu Yimin said, "When my brother gets married, my sister-in-law is the main character. If you come home with me, everyone will stare at you, and my sister-in-law will become the supporting character!"

Zhu Lin chuckled and didn't mention the matter again. When they got downstairs, Liu Yimin raised his eyebrows and heard a "smack" sound in his ear. Satisfied, he rode his bicycle towards Yanda University.

Upstairs, by the window, Mr. and Mrs. Zhu were watching downstairs. They saw two intimate figures, and they felt both happy and sad.

As 1981 approached, Zhu's father and mother became slightly anxious.

Zhu Lin opened the door and saw his parents sitting on the sofa. Zhu Lin's face was full of smiles: "Mom and Dad, you don't need to wait for me anymore, I'm fine!"

"How can you say nothing's wrong?" Zhu's mother snorted, unsure whether she should be angry or happy.

Mr. Zhu asked, "Linlin? You came back alone?"

"Yeah, does anyone else come back with me? I'm the only one working at the Beijing People's Art Theatre here."

Zhu's mother wanted to ask more, but Zhu's father stopped her. When they returned to the house, Zhu's mother pinched Zhu's father's thigh and asked why he hadn't let her speak earlier.

"Forget it, if Linlin doesn't say anything, let's pretend we don't know. Let's see. If she still doesn't say anything, then we'll bring it up!" Father Zhu said calmly, his voice very low.

"Then we'll listen to you. You've spoiled our daughter so much. She kept such a big thing from us!" Zhu's mother complained.

After complaining, she crawled into Zhu's father's bed and asked him to guess who it was.

“I’ve seen it several times. It’s quite far downstairs, and even less so upstairs. You know, the streetlights at the entrance are barely better than a blind person’s eyes.”

After saying that, she prepared to sleep, turned her head, and nudged the covers, saying, "Change the covers, change the covers."

"Humph!"

At Yenching University, there were more than a dozen courses, and the exams were completed in just half a month. Except for one course where his score was not ideal, Liu Yimin's scores in the other courses were all good.

His elder brother, Liu Yiguo, sent several letters, asking when he would be coming home so he could pick him up.

Liu Yimin smiled as he looked at the letter, muttering to himself, "Big brother's in a hurry to become a groom, huh!"

After finishing the exam, Liu Yimin went to the courtyard house, packed all his things, and prepared to go home when the official holiday started.

Sanhua usually gets fed by Zhu Lin. When she saw Liu Yimin, whom she hadn't seen for so long, she immediately got up from the roof, stretched her front paws forward, arched her spine, and raised her tail to the sky, doing an extremely long stretch.

Then she turned her head and glanced at Liu Yimin: "Meow~"

If they don't come soon, Sanhua will almost become a stray cat.

The ginkgo tree in the yard was already bare, but some leaves from somewhere had been blown into the yard by the wind and were now covering the ground.

Liu Yimin grabbed a handful of fallen leaves and went to the kitchen to start a fire in the coal stove. Then he began to clean the yard.

Before the cleaning was finished, Zhu Lin walked in and said to Liu Yimin, "Teacher Liu, let me help you!"

"No need, I can do it myself!"

"Let me do it, the two of us can get it done faster. The postman just delivered some mail, something about the oil field. You have friends in the oil field?"

Zhu Lin quickly swept up the fallen leaves: "I used to think that since you don't live in the yard, I didn't bother to clean for you!"

As Liu Yimin opened the letter, he said, "This letter is from the previous homeowner. I transferred the final payment to him, so this should be a reply confirming receipt of the money."

Following the format written by Liu Yimin, a confirmation letter of receipt of the final payment was written on the paper, and it was stamped with a seal and fingerprint. After Liu Yimin finished reading it, he handed it to Zhu Lin for a glance, then stuffed it into the tin box and threw it to the bottom of the box.

There are so many rats, we can't afford to get bitten by them. Thinking of the rats, Liu Yimin couldn't help but threaten Sanhua, who was watching the commotion, "If you don't catch the rats, I'll send you away!"

It slapped a fallen leaf forward with its left front paw, as if showing off its power.

Zhu Lin said, "This cat can't catch mice, but it's very intelligent and good-looking. Are you really willing to give it away?"

"I'm disciplining the cat, don't interrupt!" Liu Yimin muttered. Zhu Lin smiled and didn't say anything more.

Today is Sunday, and Zhu Lin has nothing to do, so she took Liu Yimin to the department store to buy a wedding gift for Liu Yimin's older brother, Liu Yiguo.

The two wandered around the Wangfujing Department Store for a long time, unable to decide what to buy. These days, it's common to give thermos flasks as wedding gifts, but unfortunately, Liu Yimin couldn't bring two thermos flasks home; they would easily break.

I wanted to buy my sister-in-law an outfit, but neither of them knew their sizes. Liu Yimin had already bought her a radio and other things.

Zhu Lin could only wander around like a headless fly, a troubled look on his face from time to time.

After a long while, Zhu Lin had a sudden inspiration and said to Liu Yimin, "How about this, I'll give my elder brother a teacup; they'll definitely need it when they're running around at the mining bureau. As for my sister-in-law, I'll give her a scarf, and also a set of pillowcases, sheets, and duvet covers. What do you think?"

“That’s good, let’s go, I’ll go buy it!” Liu Yimin said.

"That won't do, it has to be my money!"

"How much money do you have?" Liu Yimin asked with a smile. Zhu Lin had lost all his savings during his trip to Hong Kong. He had received his salary in the past few months since returning, but his daily expenses were also high. Zhu Lin certainly didn't have much savings.

Zhu Lin chuckled and patted his satchel: "You underestimated me, didn't you, Teacher Liu? I have to criticize you for that. It's wrong to underestimate people. I definitely can't afford watches and such, but I can still afford these things. However, as for cloth coupons, I really don't have any left, so I'll have to use your remittance certificates!"

Zhu Lin picked out a festive three-piece bedding set and a pink scarf, and tried it on around her neck: "Isn't it pretty? When my sister-in-law wears this to marry my brother, won't she look beautiful?"

"It looks great!" Liu Yimin picked out another off-white scarf and gave it to Zhu Lin.

Zhu Lin happily wrapped the scarf around her neck and showed it off to the sales clerk. The sales clerk looked at Liu Yimin and Zhu Lin and said with a smile, "This girl is really pretty. I feel like I've seen her somewhere before."

When I first came in, I thought you two were getting married, but it turns out you were just picking out wedding gifts for someone else. Are you two getting married soon too?

The saleswoman, wearing a blue cotton-padded jacket, was cracking sunflower seeds and looked quite gossipy.

Zhu Lin lowered her head, her face flushed, and remained silent, glancing at Liu Yimin while fiddling with her scarf.

Liu Yimin adjusted her scarf and said mysteriously to the sales clerk, "Comrade, you have good taste. You'll be getting married soon!"

Zhu Lin was secretly pleased, but she slapped Liu Yimin.

"I understand, the young lady is shy. I was like that when I got married, I dressed like Zhou Yun in the movie. Now, several years after my wedding, my waist has gotten much thicker."

Zhu Lin glanced around a few times and lost all interest in continuing to explore.

You resemble Zhou Yun, but who do I resemble?

As they walked out of the department store, Zhu Lin nudged Liu Yimin's arm: "What? Put on clothes like mine, Teacher Liu, what are you so happy about?"

"It's nothing, it's nothing!" Liu Yimin smiled, pursing his lips.

The next day, Liu Yimin got up and had just stepped out of the main room when he saw a dead rat lying on the threshold, with Sanhua casually licking its paws beside it.

Oh my! This is a protest!

Liu Yimin smiled at Sanhua, and Sanhua snatched the mouse away in a flash.

In the morning, Sanhua gave Liu Yimin a surprise, and then the postman also gave Liu Yimin a surprise, delivering an overseas remittance slip.

Liu Yimin saw that the money was sent by The Paris Review. He glanced at the amount and quickly signed his name.

"Good job, young man. You even have relatives abroad? Remember to write to them often, exchange more foreign exchange rather than more personal relationships, and encourage them to send more money to contribute to our country's foreign exchange reserves." The postman said with a smile before hurrying off to deliver mail to the next destination.

Liu Yimin looked at the numbers on the letter; it totaled 1,200 US dollars, which was more than 2,000 yuan.

Earning over two thousand yuan for a short story is already quite good. In China, the same word count would only earn three or four hundred yuan based on a standard royalty rate of ten yuan.

I happily tossed the remittance slip around. I'd been wanting to receive US dollars for so long, and finally got my first one! It wasn't easy!

Liu Yimin happily ran into the courtyard and saw Sanhua stretching on the stone table. Liu Yimin picked her up and spun her around a few times, then exclaimed, "Not bad, Sanhua!"

After putting it down, Sanhua fled in panic, running to a corner and looking at Liu Yimin with eyes full of terror.

"You little brat, what can I possibly do to you!"

Liu Yimin put the remittance slip into his bag and ran to the Beijing People's Art Theatre, ready to tell Cao Yu the good news.

Ever since Cao Yu submitted his manuscript to The Paris Review, he had been eagerly anticipating when the payment would arrive.

I thought the remittance was coming soon, but who knew it would take almost half a year!
When they arrived at the Beijing People's Art Theatre, Cao Yu hadn't come to work yet. Liu Yimin walked into the rehearsal room, but there were no actors there. Zhu Lin was in front of them fiddling with something.

Liu Yimin strode over, picked up Zhu Lin, and spun her around in the air like a flower: "Good news, good news!"

Zhu Lin broke free, straightened his clothes, looked around, and breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "Teacher Liu, what's the good news?"

"The US sent money! I finally earned US dollars!" Liu Yimin tried to hug Zhu Lin, but Zhu Lin dodged him.

Sigh, the cotton is so soft in the middle of winter!
As more and more people arrived, the two of them started chatting casually. Lan Tianye arrived and, seeing Liu Yimin, said sarcastically, "Hey, did the sun rise in the west today? Yimin, what brings you here? Let me check the time, it's not afternoon, is it? Is my watch wrong? Come, let me see yours."

Su Min followed him in and heard Lan Tianye say, "You, how old are you? Can't you act like a teacher in front of your students? Yimin, why are you here so early today?"

"I need to speak with Teacher Wan about something, so I came here to wait since the office wasn't open!"

"You're about to have a holiday, right? When are you going home? Are you staying at the Beijing People's Art Theatre for a while longer?"

"I can't go now, my older brother is getting married, I have to get back early!"

Ouyang Shanzun exclaimed, "Oh dear!" He continued, "Then we must hurry home. Lao Wan has already arrived. It's perfect time for you to go now."

"Thank you, Dean Shanzun!" Liu Yimin waved his hand, went to Cao Yu's office, knocked on the door, and said happily, "Professor, The Paris Review has wired the money, and also sent a letter and a sample copy! I've brought them over for you to see!"

Cao Yu hadn't even taken off his coat when he arrived at the office, and he didn't bother to. He quickly walked over, saying repeatedly, "Great, great, you're finally here. It's been almost half a year, and I was almost ready to ask around for information."

P.S.: Sorry for the two chapters today. I was too engrossed in the novel. "The Eunuch" is so well-written!
(End of this chapter)