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

Chapter 249 Advisor, Advisor, Ignoring and Unconcerned

After everyone left, Yu Jiajia's words reminded Liu Yimin of the film "The Button" from the major film "Ideal Illuminates China," which is also a commemorative film about reform and opening up.

"Buttons" tells the story of Zhang Huamei, the first young woman in my country to obtain an individual business license. To make a living for her family, Zhang Huamei went from street to street selling buttons and was always being chased by people from the Anti-Speculation Office.

Small vendors, represented by Zhang Huamei, waged a "guerrilla war" against the authorities in the streets and alleys, but they were often caught and their goods were confiscated.

The story unfolds with three clashes between Wang Jiawen and Zhang Huamei, staff members of the anti-crime unit.

The first time, Wang Jiawen grabbed Zhang Huamei and confiscated her buttons. In the struggle, one of Wang Jiawen's buttons was torn off by Zhang Huamei.

Back home, Wang Jiawen's mother wanted to sew buttons for him, but they didn't have any. She wanted to buy buttons, but besides small vendors, she had to go to the supply and marketing cooperative ten kilometers away.

Wang Jiawen was clearly a good employee; he would rather be without buttons than steal the two bags of buttons he had confiscated.

This demonstrates his personal character and reveals the real-world conflicts arising from the policy.

Wang Jiawen's mother was on her way to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy buttons to sew clothes for her son when she ran into Zhang Huamei on the street. Zhang Huamei had tried to buy buttons on credit but was refused. Moreover, she recognized that the buttons her son had confiscated were the ones that this young girl had sold.

Because Zhang Huamei was still holding the buttons she had torn off Wang Jiawen's body.

Wang Jiawen's mother bought the buttons from Zhang Huamei and, to express her guilt, paid a high price.

The second encounter occurred when Wang Jiawen met Zhang Huamei on a rainy day. During their struggle, a large bag of buttons fell into the river.

Zhang Huamei completely lost it, because she had borrowed money to buy the buttons and was waiting to sell them to pay back the money.

She didn't know why it was so hard for her to earn some money; she could only exchange a handful of buttons for a single steamed bun.

In the pouring rain, Wang Jiawen saw Zhang Huamei, who had lost her mind, and was speechless.

There's also a scene that hints at Wang Jiawen's change in mindset. In the past, when Wang Jiawen saw that the slogans on the wall were damaged or had fallen off, he would carefully put them back on.

Now, Wang Jiawen sees the fallen slogans but no longer pays attention to them.

The third confrontation occurred when a policy was issued from above to support individual businesses. The previously ruthless law enforcement personnel now became advocates for the new policy, diligently working to persuade the already terrified small vendors.

Finally, Zhang Huamei received her first individual business license.

A single button reflects the policy changes and the transformation of people's thinking since the reform and opening up.

Yu Jiajia is right. As someone who proposed reforming literature, I can't help but write a few novels about it.

Once Jiajia returns from the south and gathers some material, she can start writing.

Moreover, this is also a great opportunity for Zhu Lin.

Making her rehearse a grand play with Ouyang Shanzun and others from the very beginning was actually putting her in a difficult position.

The story of "The Button" is small and exquisite, with a single theme, making it very suitable for a new director like Zhu Lin.

If I can't be the lead director, being an assistant director shouldn't be a problem.

Liu Yimin added this work to his to-do list and began revising the screenplays for "Mountains High and Rivers Long" and "Red River Valley".

After returning to the film studio, Wang Yang and Xu Sangchu held a meeting to discuss the play script and offered some suggestions for revision.

Inside the room, the fan was whirring. Liu Yimin was writing peacefully when suddenly he raised his left hand and slapped it against his left cheek. Then he carefully felt around with his hand and felt nothing except for a small lump that was about to grow.

The mosquitoes in the room were getting more and more numerous, and the mosquito coils weren't very effective anymore. Having no other choice, Liu Yimin moved the fan to a different position, directing the airflow towards his face, and only then did the mosquitoes quiet down considerably.

Liu Yimin kept revising until after 11 p.m. before putting down his pen, covering his mouth, yawning, and going to sleep.

In a classroom at Yenching University, Yan Jiayan was explaining the format of academic papers to students in the Chinese Department, writing out every detail on the blackboard.

"You must both keep up with your classroom learning and your papers; you can't slack off on either!" Yan Jiayan said again, looking at the students below.

Liu Zhenyun frantically memorized the templates left by Professor Yan, afraid of missing anything. The other students were in much the same boat as Liu Zhenyun.

Aside from finding the idea of ​​writing a thesis novel, many people feel lost and unsure of what topic to choose to continue writing.

Li Xueqin asked in a low voice, "Yimin, do you have any topics you've chosen that you'd like to share with us?"

"Not yet. I think our Chinese literature department's papers are similar to literary criticism, but they need to be longer and you have to pay attention to the format and arguments!"

"Arguments are the evidence needed to support your point of view, and this must be sufficient!"

The four people were whispering among themselves. Zhang Manling, who was in front, couldn't help but eavesdrop. She leaned back as if nothing was wrong, secretly taking notes with her pen.

She didn't want to eavesdrop, but she couldn't help it; what they said was just too useful.

"For example, discussions on the literature of the seventeen years, scar literature, reform literature, and foreign literary thought, etc."

Nowadays, many Western literary concepts are beginning to enter China and are being regarded as gospel by some people, who are advocating them while using Western literary theories to guide their own writing practice.

Professor Yan Jiayan did not notice the unusual behavior of the students. After explaining the format of the thesis, he began to talk about the content of the class.

Liu Yimin scribbled on the paper, thinking about his thesis title. He wrote down several names, but he wasn't satisfied with any of them.

Liu Zhenyun and a few others began studying the titles of the papers that Liu Yimin had rejected. Li Xueqin asked in a low voice, "Yimin, you don't want your paper 'The Gains and Losses of Seventeen Years of Literature - A Contemporary Narrative of Literary Thought'?"

"I don't think it's anything new!" Liu Yimin said in a low voice.

"Then I'll study your topic and pay my respects to you!" Li Xueqin asked.
"It's just a topic, I didn't write any content, you can refer to it if you want!" Liu Yimin said indifferently.

Currently, there is no such thing as plagiarism checking as the standard for whether a paper passes or not; it's only whether the teacher is satisfied or not.

Even though plagiarism checks are not difficult for most students, it was only after the Tiananmen Square incident that countless students suffered terribly every graduation season, tormented by plagiarism checks.

I scratched myself until I was bald in front of the computer at one or two in the morning, and then I ran to Comrade Zhai Tianlin's Weibo to vent my frustration.

This comrade's Weibo is quite unique; it gets incredibly lively every graduation season!

After class, as soon as Yan Jiayan stepped out of the classroom, Zhang Manling eagerly turned to Liu Yimin and asked if he had any suitable thesis topics for her to discuss.

"Zhang Manling, you're putting me in a difficult position. All the ones I wrote have already been distributed! Besides, you're the second-best student in the Chinese department, it wouldn't be right for you not to come up with your own ideas!"

"Yimin, don't mention the second son to me. It annoys me. I refuse to believe he'll never surpass you academically!" Zhang Manling said through gritted teeth. Liu Zhenyun grinned and said, "Sister Zhang, I support you!"

Liu Yimin asked Zhang Manling how her novel was progressing, and Zhang Manling told Liu Yimin that her novel was progressing smoothly.

Recently, she took her novel to the Yanjing Literature and Art Publishing House again and sought guidance from Zhou Yanru.

"Editor Zhou is a really good person; you definitely won't go wrong if you seek her guidance!"

Zhang Manling nodded and smiled in agreement: "However, Editor Zhou would prefer to see you. He even asked me about you when I went there."

"What did you say?"

“You’re not usually at school, how would I know? Of course I’ll tell you the truth. I heard from Lao Zhou that you bought a courtyard house behind the Forbidden City, it’s magnificent, just like the house where Heshen used to live, is that right?” Zhang Manling asked.

Liu Yimin coughed a few times, then quickly waved his hand and said, "Zhang Manling, don't slander me. What do you mean I'm like Heshen? I wrote down every single word of this money."

"I meant your yard is nice, you've got the wrong idea. When are you going to take us for a visit?" Zhang Manling asked with a smile.

"I'll take you on a tour when I have time!" Liu Yimin said with a smile.

Liu Zhenyun patted Zhang Manling on the shoulder: "I think it's better not to go. It's not good for everyone's mental and physical balance. Everyone in our dorm knows this, and none of us are going!"

Li Xueqin and Chen Dazhi nodded, indicating that this was indeed the case.

Zhang Manling sighed: "I was just saying. Let's go eat in the cafeteria. I want to ask Yimin some questions."

The five of them found a table in the dining hall and started talking about their papers while eating.

Seeing that the four of them seemed a bit anxious, Liu Yimin said to them, "There's still a year left, what's the rush?"

“Yimin, you’re not worried, but we are!” Chen Jiangong walked over and said wearily.

Several people were still following behind Chen Jiangong. Liu Yimin thought to himself that the vice president of the literary society was always surrounded by people wherever he went. The society was not big, but he was quite prestigious.

Chen Jiangong was in the class of '77. Because the class of '77 enrolled in the spring, they graduated in the winter, which was the spring of '82.

Liu Yimin, from the class of '78, graduated in the summer of '82. Two classes of students graduating in one year was a feat comparable to the graduating classes of the "Old Three Classes" (referring to students who graduated in the late 1960s, 1976, and 1987).

They are already writing their papers, and the deadline for submission is after the summer break.

"There's always a way out!" Liu Yimin said with a smile.

The people behind Chen Jiangong looked at Liu Yimin with excitement. Chen Jiangong took the opportunity to introduce them: "This is Yan Zhen, a junior from the class of '80, and this is Luo Yihe, a junior from the class of '79. They are both from our literary society."

Chen Jiangong gave a special introduction to Yan Zhen, because he would be the next president of the May Fourth Literary Society and would inevitably have to deal with Liu Yimin.

Liu Yimin looked at this dark-skinned, thin boy with a small face and thought, "This is Yan Zhen, the author of 'The Water of Canglang'!"
Many people haven't read the novel "The Water of Canglang," but many have seen the TV series adapted from it.

It depicts the various difficulties a recent college graduate faces upon entering the system, how a passionate young person encounters obstacles at every turn within the system, and how they eventually become worldly and cynical. The story oscillates between intellectual pride and personal desire, ultimately tipping towards desire.

He became the kind of seasoned bureaucrat he used to despise. Of course, through his shrewdness, he also gained power.

It is considered by many to be a must-watch drama for young people entering the system.

When Yan Zhen greeted Liu Yimin, he spoke with a Hunan accent, which Liu Yimin sometimes couldn't understand, but that didn't stop him from smiling and shaking hands to show goodwill.

Luo Yihe, who is standing next to him, is not famous at the moment. He has a good friend named Hai Zi, who is known as the person who understands Hai Zi the most.

After graduating, he worked as an editor at "October" magazine, but died young at the age of 28.

Her long hair was unkempt, and beneath her thick bangs, her eyes looked wise and bright.

Liu Yimin shook hands with them, and the two of them addressed him as "senior brother" on the left and "senior brother" on the right, making him quite embarrassed.

"Yimin, the literary society wants to hire you as an advisor. What do you think?" Chen Jiangong asked.

Liu Yimin said, "Advisor? Isn't that what professors do? I'm not qualified, so forget it!"

The literary society's advisory board consisted of renowned professors such as Zhu Guangqian, Wang Yao, and Wu Zuxiang. How could Liu Yimin, a student, be an advisor?
"This is our idea. Several professors agree. Professor Wu Zuxiang said that even if you don't usually participate in the literary society's activities, it would be good to have you as a guardian beast or mascot!"

Liu Yimin pursed his lips. This didn't sound like something a professor would say, but Liu Yimin thought that Wu Zuxiang really could say such a thing.

"Alright then, I, as the advisor, will follow Professor Wu's lead and act as a mascot."

The consultant is completely indifferent!
Yan Zhen said in Hunan dialect, "Senior brother, with you as our advisor, we feel at ease. We need to give you more advice on the future development of the literary society!"

Chen Jiangong, standing to the side, smiled helplessly. He didn't know if his junior brother was just being polite or if he really meant it. After all, it was a mascot, and he had already made it very clear.

As he walked out of the dining hall, Liu Zhenyun said indignantly, "Senior Brother Liu, you only know Yimin, but you don't know me, Zhenyun!"

Li Xueqin and Chen Dazhi patted him on the shoulder: "Senior Brother Li and Senior Brother Chen are also ignored!"

“Me too!” Zhang Manling said from behind.

Back in the dormitory, the four of them took a basin of water and rinsed off in the washroom. Back in the dormitory, Liu Yimin missed the electric fan in his courtyard house, but he had to put up with his afternoon classes.

Liu Zhenyun pulled Liu Yimin aside and asked him how much it would cost to eat a Western meal.

"Several people?"

"Never mind how many people there are, how much do you think it will cost per person?" Liu Zhenyun asked in a low voice.

“I’ve never eaten it before, I estimate it would cost five or six yuan per person!” Liu Yimin said.

"Didn't you say you'd been to Old Moscow?"

"It's not like I paid for it!"

"Who spent it!"

"Comrade Zhu Lin took it out."

(End of this chapter)