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

Chapter 236 Xu Chiqiu's Preface
In the kitchen, under the dim light, Zhu Lin was eating the food in his bowl with his head down. In the yard, a northwest wind suddenly rose, and the ground made a "scratching" sound.

After a while, Zhu Lin looked up at Liu Yimin again and said in a slightly coquettish tone, "Teacher Liu, just think of it as meeting two ordinary readers and chatting with them about literature! Of course, if you don't think it's okay, I'll talk to my parents and ask them to wait a little longer."

"Readers? Ordinary readers?" Liu Yimin's lips curled up: "What kind of readers are ordinary readers? They are all my family. Without them, where would I be! Look at the clothes I'm wearing, every single one of them is sewn together by countless threads from my readers!"

“That’s true, Mr. Liu is so kind to his readers. I misspoke. Mr. Liu, could you please visit one of the readers’ homes?” Zhu Lin asked with a grin.

Liu Yimin said calmly, "Have you ever seen me go to a reader's house?"

"Oh!" Zhu Lin said with a slightly downcast tone, "Then I'll tell them to wait a little longer."

"What are you waiting for?"

"I'm waiting for you to come to my house!"

"I didn't say I wasn't going!"

Zhu Lin was stunned for a few seconds, her expression changing from dejected to delighted. She put down her chopsticks and tightly grasped Liu Yimin's hand: "Really? Teacher Liu, you're not lying to me, are you!"

"really!"

Zhu Lin excitedly hugged Liu Yimin, and then couldn't help but kiss Liu Yimin's forehead several times, repeatedly saying "thank you" in between.

"Oil, it's all oil!" Liu Yimin said with a look of disgust.

"Teacher Liu, you wanted to know what it tasted like, right? Look, this is the taste!"

After Zhu Lin finished speaking playfully, she stopped eating, hugged Liu Yimin's arm, and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Teacher Liu, don't worry. My parents are very nice people. With me here, nothing will happen. I already said that if my parents give me the cold shoulder, I'll argue with them for you. Just you wait and see how I do it!"

"I trust you to handle things!" Liu Yimin pinched Zhu Lin's cheek, looked down at her, and said, "But? Do we really have to argue?"

"I heard from a friend that this is the standard procedure!" Zhu Lin chuckled, then patted his chest to reassure Liu Yimin, "Don't worry, I still have a place in my family."

"Put your hands on it gently, it hurts my heart!" Liu Yimin said with a smile.

"Ok?"

"You're so tired from work, let me take the picture for you!"

Zhu Lin quickly pulled his chair back to create some distance between them, stretched out his arms, and Sanhua jumped into his arms with a "whoosh," looking at Liu Yimin warily.

“Teacher Liu, let’s come to my house after you receive the literature award. You have to prepare for the award ceremony, socialize with some friends, and prepare your acceptance speech. You’re very busy right now, and it’s not good for you to be distracted. Come to my house, it doesn’t matter if it’s a little earlier or later.”

After a while, I even did some calculations. The awards ceremony was on March 20th, and March 21st was the Spring Equinox, one of the 24 solar terms.

She kept muttering that this was a good day, the beginning of the year, and that meeting her parents would go smoothly.

Seeing her dazed and confused appearance, Liu Yimin said with a wry smile, "Director Zhu, we'll do whatever you say. You can leave whenever you want!"

Before leaving, Zhu Lin asked again, as if afraid that Liu Yimin would change his mind.

After finishing get off work at the Beijing People's Art Theatre, Zhu Lin returned home without telling his parents about the incident. Instead, he planned to surprise them later.

As he passed through the living room, he folded the newspaper again and placed it neatly on the table, making the name "Liu Yimin" clearly visible when he reached the sofa.

The next day, a strange guest arrived in Liu Yimin's courtyard. He had gray hair, a broad face, and was wearing a light blue Zhongshan-style cotton-padded suit.

After knocking on the door, he took off his cap, revealing a concave hairline.

The area from the forehead to the top of the head is completely bald.

Liu Yimin opened the door, looked at the unfamiliar old man, sized him up, and asked with a smile, "Who are you?"

This outfit clearly indicates that he is not an ordinary person; he exudes a strong scholarly air.

"Comrade Liu Yimin?" The other person also looked Liu Yimin up and down and asked in a low voice.

"Who am I? And who are you, senior?"

"Your Mandarin is quite good, unlike mine, which is thick Central Plains Mandarin the moment I open my mouth!" The other person smiled and looked at the screen wall behind Liu Yimin.

"Mr. Yao Xueyin?"

"I don't deserve to be called 'Mr.' Just call me Comrade Yao Xueyin. What? Won't you invite me in for a seat and to admire your courtyard house?" Yao Xueyin leaned forward slightly and said with a friendly smile.

"Please come in, Mr. Yao!" Liu Yimin quickly stepped aside to let Yao Xueyin in.

Yao Xueyin is the same age as Cao Yu, 70 years old this year, so Liu Yimin naturally couldn't call Yao Xueyin "comrade".

"Hey!" Yao Xueyin waved her hand as she walked away. "Why call me Old Yao? Xu Chi and I work at the Writers' Association. You can call him Comrade Old Xu, and you can call me Comrade Old Yao!"

Liu Yimin pondered for a moment, then smiled and said, "I'll call you Mr. Xueyin!"

"You little fellow villager, whatever you want. I heard from Xu Chi that your courtyard is quite beautiful and lively, with plenty of good tea. I've come over today to have a cup of tea with you!"

Liu Yimin originally intended to welcome Yao Xueyin into the main room, but Yao Xueyin went straight to Liu Yimin's study, turned around and asked Liu Yimin, "Young fellow villager, may I come in? Xu Chi has been talking about your study for a long time, saying that he always finds something good there!"

The study door was open; Yao Xueyin could enter with just one step.

"Please come in!" Liu Yimin said. "Please feel free to look around. I'll go make you a cup of tea. What would you like to drink? I only have black tea here!"

"Can't you drink plain water?"

"Of course you can drink it!"

"Let's make a cup of tea!"

"."

Yao Xueyin, the winner of the Mao Dun Literature Prize, arrived in Yanjing yesterday, visited the Writers Association, and came over today after having dinner, taking the address given to her by Xu Chi.

After making tea, Yao Xueyin, with Liu Yimin's permission, picked up the manuscript on the table and began to read it.

After reading a few, he smiled and said, "Old Xu went to Aba with you and even wrote a separate essay about it!"

"I've been with Comrade Lao Xu in Aba for so long, and I've learned a lot from him!"

"Coincidentally, that's what he said too. He said that in Aba, going on field trips with you, although there was a lack of oxygen, it was full of fun and more comfortable than sitting in the office."

Yao Xueyin put down the manuscript and looked at Liu Yimin with appreciation: "Young fellow villager, your writing is quite good!" Then Yao Xueyin took out two thick books from her bag and handed them to Liu Yimin, saying: "These are the first two volumes of 'Li Zicheng'. Consider them a gift for our meeting! The first volume is a first edition from the 1960s, which was paid to me as royalties back then."

I can confidently say that no one in China understands Li Zicheng better than I do!

This statement sounds arrogant, but upon reflection, it makes sense. He has been researching this for over a decade and will continue to do so. Who knows more about it than him?
Liu Yimin accepted the gift and said thank you. Then, in return, he also gave Yao Xueyin his copy of "The Kite Runner".

Yao Xueyin is a very proud person. Of course, he sees it as righteousness, but others see it as arrogance.

Over the course of ten years, he experienced many things, but nothing changed him. In 78, Yao Xueyin even criticized Xu Chi in the Poetry Journal, which greatly displeased Xu Chi at the time.

In 79, the poet Zang Kejia wrote a letter to Zhou Yang to express his grievances, believing that Yao Xueyin was too arrogant, scolded too harshly, and often said things that were not conducive to unity.

However, Liu Yimin greatly admires Yao Xueyin's tireless writing of "Li Zicheng" for thirty years.

Furthermore, alongside pride comes righteousness. Yao Xueyin played a significant role in cross-strait writers' exchanges, constantly advocating for unity across the strait.

A touching story occurred when Yao Xueyin was in Singapore with Sanmao. Sanmao told Yao Xueyin that the mainland was her motherland, but she could not go back. Before parting, she cried and said, "Mr. Yao, please kiss me..."

At their farewell banquet, the two embraced and wept bitterly. A reporter captured this moment, which moved many people.

Yao Xueyin called these the tears of the nation!
Before visiting the other side, one should carefully understand the other side's arrangements, whether it will dishonor one's orthodox identity, and whether it will be detrimental to cross-strait unity, etc.

Yao Xueyin stayed there for about two hours. When she heard that Mao Dun was sick, she got up to go to the hospital to visit him.

Liu Yimin accompanied Yao Xueyin to the hospital. Mao Dun's health had deteriorated further, and he weakly cried out, "Brother Hanying!"

Yao Xueyin's courtesy name is Han Ying.

"Brother Yanbing!" The two men clasped hands tightly. Liu Yimin and Wei Tao were outside the ward. Wei Tao sighed to Liu Yimin. Neither of them spoke.

Wei Tao spoke first: "My father's health is getting worse and worse, Yimin. It seems that he won't be able to attend the awards ceremony!"

"I'll record the whole thing on a tape recorder, and after the awards ceremony, I'll bring the recorder over so Mr. Shen can listen to it in his hospital room!" Liu Yimin thought for a moment and then looked towards the hospital room as he spoke.

"Okay, okay, thank you, Yimin!" Wei Tao said.

Liu Yimin said, "No need to be so polite, saying thank you would be too formal!"

After a while, Mao Dun called Liu Yimin in and asked him with a smile about Liu Yimin's recent literary writing.

Yao Xueyin spoke with a smile about Liu Yimin's essays. Mao Dun sometimes listened to him with his eyes half-closed, but he could always pick up where he left off.

They then discussed literature throughout its history. As he was leaving, Mao Dun chuckled and said, "Yimin, what's wrong? Aren't you going to ask me to write a preface for your 'Homeland Trilogy'?"

Liu Yimin looked at Mao Dun, who slightly raised his hand: "If I can't write anymore, there's still Wei Tao. I'll dictate, and he'll write it down."

"This"

"Come and pick it up in a few days!"

Wei Tao patted Liu Yimin on the shoulder and escorted him and Yao Xueyin out of the ward.

After leaving the hospital, Yao Xueyin said to Liu Yimin, "Comrade Yanbing is a mentor, a friend, and even a guide for me."

I wrote a novel about the War of Resistance against Japan in 38, but it was rejected by another editorial department. They said my writing was too rustic and no one would read it.

Later, it was published in "Literary Front," edited by Comrade Mao Dun in Hong Kong. Comrade Yan Bing enthusiastically encouraged me, and the novel was indeed well-received by readers.

In the 1970s, I was feeling lonely. Comrade Yan Bing, whom I hadn't seen for twenty years, wrote to me and we talked about the second volume of "Li Zicheng." Over the years, we exchanged more than eighty letters, and he gave me a lot of help.

Yao Xueyin left the hospital sadly. In the following days, she rarely attended social events, and would come to the hospital whenever she had time. She wouldn't stay long, just talk for a while and then leave, returning the next day.

Mao Dun and Yao Xueyin

At the Commercial Press, Liu Yimin approached Huang Chunyu and inquired whether it was possible to publish a collection of the "Homeland Trilogy" instead of publishing them separately.

After thinking it over, Huang Chunyu took Liu Yimin to the editor-in-chief's office. Liu Yimin talked to them in detail and finally decided to publish the individual volumes and the collection at the same time.

The three individual volumes, along with a collection of the "Homeland Trilogy," allow readers to choose whether to purchase the individual volumes or the collection.

The preface to the collection will be written by Mr. Mao Dun.

Liu Yimin gave Huang Chunyu the prefaces to "Red River Valley" and "Mountains High and Rivers Long," some of which were written by Cao Yu, Xia Yan, and Xu Chi.

When Xu Chi sent the preface, he also jokingly added in the accompanying letter that if space allowed, he would even like to attach his reportage as a preface to the two novels.

His reportage work has been selected by People's Literature Publishing House, which plans to publish it as a standalone book. The standalone book will not only include "The Galloping Young Writer - Everywhere is His Home", but also several other reportage works.

At the end of his letter, Xu Chi invited Liu Yimin to write a preface.

Looking at the words at the end of the letter, Liu Yimin murmured, "Unconsciously, it's time for me to write a preface for someone else."

Liu Yimin thought about it for a long time but didn't know where to start, as he had absolutely no experience in writing prefaces.

Xu Chi decided to put it aside and think about it some more. He told himself that there was no rush to publish it; the preface just needed to be sent to People's Literature Publishing House within half a month.

Liu Yimin came to the Beijing People's Art Theatre to check on the rehearsals. It was almost April, and everyone at the theatre was working together as one.

Afterwards, he went to Cao Yu's office and asked Cao Yu for advice on how to write a preface.

Cao Yu stared at Liu Yimin for a few moments, then suddenly laughed and said, "Well, it's only been a short time and you're already writing a preface for someone else. I've forgotten when I first wrote a preface for someone else, but it was much later than yours."

Prefaces are quite simple to write; they are nothing more than words of praise, expressing your understanding of the author's literary ideas and the specific content of the publication, and helping readers understand the author and his works.

Let me tell you a few formulaic essay formats: the first is to discuss the author and the length of your relationship with them; the second is to focus on the writing style; and the third is to discuss the writing itself. These three approaches can be used together or discussed separately.

Seeing Liu Yimin deep in thought, Cao Yu asked after a while, "Yimin, what are you thinking about?"

"I'm wondering, what method did you use to write the preface for me?"

Cao Yu looked up and laughed, then snorted with a dark face: "The preface I wrote for you is different from those written by others. I carefully considered every word I used."

"Teacher, how many people have you said this to?" Liu Yimin asked with a grin.

"You, hurry up and go to the rehearsal hall to supervise the rehearsal. Also, how's your acceptance speech coming along?" Cao Yu pointed at Liu Yimin and scolded him with a smile!
(End of this chapter)