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

Chapter 252 Optimistic Li Lanyong
Liu Yimin never expected that when he saw Li Lanyong again, he would hardly recognize him.

The young man who used to squat on the embankment and laugh at him no longer had a smile on his face.

While in the courtyard, Liu Yimin received a call from Liu Zhenyun, who said that someone was looking for him at the school gate and that the two knew each other and were from the same brigade.

"He's a soldier, but he looks strange. He's standing at the gate, insisting on waiting for you before entering the school!" Liu Zhenyun said in a low voice.

Liu Zhenyun had hoped to use his past military service to exchange a few words with the other party, but the other party simply nodded at him without saying a word.

Liu Yimin knew it was Li Lanyong as soon as he heard it, and he rode his bicycle frantically towards Yanda University. When he arrived at the south gate of Yanda University, panting heavily, Li Lanyong was still standing at the gate.

"Lan Yong!" Liu Yimin called out from behind.

Li Lanyong's body trembled slightly, and he slowly turned around, his eyes squinting because of the glaring sun.

When Li Lanyong saw Liu Yimin, he forced his eyes open against the sunlight, opened his mouth a few times but made no sound, then grinned at Liu Yimin, revealing a few teeth.

This was the first time Liu Yimin had ever seen such a shy smile on him.

As Liu Yimin approached, he could clearly see the face under the brim of the hat. A scar on his face was as hideous as a centipede, and his lips were chapped, making him look like a middle-aged man on the verge of dehydration.

"What's wrong? Yimin, don't you recognize me? I've been traveling by train for days, and I'm a little hungry!"

"Come on, come on, come on, let's go eat!" Liu Yimin waved to Liu Zhenyun beside him to express his gratitude.

When his hand grasped Li Lanyong's left arm, he only found the empty sleeve.

When Liu Yimin reached up again, he discovered that Li Lanyong's entire left arm was gone. He then noticed that Li Lanyong's backpack was also tied awkwardly, because of the problem with his left arm, there was a rope on his back that had been tied horizontally.

Liu Yimin, his eyes red, put his arm around his shoulder and said, "What's wrong with you?!"

"Hey, if you want to be a hero, you always have to pay a price. My right hand is still there, it won't affect my eating. Don't worry, you don't need to feed me!" Li Lanyong joked in a hoarse voice, the joke somewhat stiff.

Liu Yimin led him into the Long March Hotel. Instead of joking with the waiters as usual, he ordered a few dishes.

"Yimin, I want to drink!" Li Lanyong said bitterly.

"Let's eat something to fill our stomachs first, then we'll find a place to drink later!"

"it is good!"

Li Lanyong wolfed down his food. Liu Yimin had many questions he wanted to ask, but he didn't. He decided to take Li Lanyong to the courtyard house later and then chat with him slowly.

"It's delicious, even better than the Dongfanghong Restaurant in our county!" After finishing his meal, Li Lanyong looked at Liu Yimin and laughed, "What? I'm not upset, why are you upset?"

Liu Yimin took Li Lanyong back to the courtyard house. On the way, they deliberately passed by Tiananmen Square. Li Lanyong stood in front of Tiananmen Square, looked at it for a long time, and then got back on the bicycle.

"We shouted to defend the country, defend the people, and defend the capital. Today, we finally know what the capital and Tiananmen Square look like!" Li Lanyong said with a smile, looking back at the Monument to the People's Heroes from behind on his bicycle, wiping away tears.

Li Lanyong led Li Lanyong into the courtyard house and looked him over. "Not bad, Yimin. You're doing quite well in the capital."

"If you want to stay in Yanjing, you can stay here. Now that buying and selling is a bit more free, you can do whatever you want."

If Li Lanyong wanted to stay in Yanjing, Liu Yimin could help him find a job. Although it would be a bit difficult, Liu Yimin believed that as long as he wanted to, he could definitely find one.

Li Lanyong didn't say anything and prepared to untie the backpack strap, but it was really troublesome with one hand. Liu Yimin was afraid that he would hurt Li Lanyong's pride by reaching out, so he pretended to look elsewhere and did not help.

"Don't just stand there, help me! I'm not that dramatic!"

Liu Yimin then took action, laughing as he untied him. He went out and bought several pounds of beef and mutton, set up a hot pot, and packed several dishes in lunchboxes before returning to the courtyard.

In the courtyard, two bottles of Wuliangye liquor were placed on the stone table.

Li Lanyong sighed, "When we went up there, the division commander treated us to Wuliangye liquor!"

"You rascal, why did you go to the front lines without telling us or even writing a letter!" Liu Yimin said.

“I wrote them, but I didn’t give them to you. They’re all in my backpack!” Li Lanyong opened his backpack with his right hand, revealing stacks of letters, some for him and some for his family.

After each writing session, he would quietly put it in his bag. If he were to die a martyr, this would be his last will and testament.

In addition, there was an exquisite wooden box containing a second-class merit medal and a disability certificate, and an envelope containing a sum of money.

Li Lanyong joked, "I was so close to getting five hundred yuan!"

At that time, the standard for compensation for soldiers who died in battle was 500 yuan for ordinary soldiers, and then increased to 700 yuan for officers at the division level.

“Being alive is the most important thing!”

"Ok!"

As the two drank, the conversation gradually opened up. Li Lanyong told Liu Yimin about his situation. He was an artilleryman, and in theory, he didn't need to go directly to the front; he only needed a coordinate.

Later, a reconnaissance platoon was formed at the front. Li Lanyong followed the reconnaissance soldiers of the front infantry regiment to conduct reconnaissance. He was responsible for contacting the artillery command and providing the artillery command with precise coordinates.

During a reconnaissance mission, the reconnaissance platoon suffered heavy casualties due to a delayed retreat and was pursued by the enemy. During the retreat, Li Lanyong was hit by a mortar shell and passed out. He was carried back, and when he woke up, he had lost his arm.

"I'm someone who works with large-caliber howitzers, and this small-caliber shell from a mortar has damaged me like this. Now that I think about it, I feel so damn wronged. It should have been a large shell!"

After withdrawing from the front lines in 79, a relatively stable period followed, with no major battles taking place.

But that doesn't mean there were no casualties; sporadic firefights continued.

This year, the Battle of Fakashan took place.

Li Lanyong seemed to be afraid of upsetting Liu Yimin, so he kept joking around. But when talking about the battlefield, he couldn't help but sigh: "Our 43rd Army from Luocheng was the first to go to the front line. Many people sacrificed their lives. Compared to them, I am very lucky."

After recovering from his illness in the hospital, Li Lanyong left the army with his military medals, not knowing where he was going. He was worried that his father wouldn't be able to accept it if he went home, so he thought of Liu Yimin.

The more he drank, the more he drank. In the end, Li Lanyong hugged Liu Yimin with one arm and cried. After he cried until he was exhausted, Liu Yimin made up a bed for him in the guest room and let him sleep.

Zhu Lin arrived at the courtyard in the evening and, seeing the mess, wondered what had happened.

After finding out, she quietly helped tidy up.

After several days of train travel, or perhaps because he was relaxed, Li Lanyong slept until 4 p.m. the next day.

I opened my eyes and saw a beautiful calico cat perched on the cabinet, with the electric fan whirring beside it.

After pondering for a while, he realized that he had arrived in Yanjing and that this was Yimin's courtyard.

Suddenly, Sanhua jumped up. Li Lanyong subconsciously made a defensive move. After seeing the cat walk away, Li Lanyong smiled self-deprecatingly, dressed neatly, and walked out of the room.

Seeing that the study door was open, I went in. Liu Yimin was reading a letter written by Li Lanyong. Based on the dates in the letter, I could roughly piece together his experiences during this period.

Seeing that he was awake, Liu Yimin laughed and said, "The ones I opened were all for me, so it doesn't count as peeking!"

"You can open them and take a look all you want!" Li Lanyong said, sitting down next to Liu Yimin and picking up his draft.

"Perfect timing! Let me see what you've been writing lately! I didn't used to read much, but sometimes I get bored in the army, and I'm also looking to advance, so I've been reading more. I've read all your novels. I've spent all my allowance on magazines and your books, so you'll have to reimburse me."

"Absolutely reimbursable!" Liu Yimin said with a smile.

There were indeed several books by Liu Yimin in the bag, including "Wolf Smoke Over Beiping" which was stained with blood.

"The title 'Leaving Ru County' is good. Let me see if you wrote about me. If it's not good, it has to be deleted!" Li Lanyong said excitedly.

"You've only written a little bit, aren't you hungry?"

"What you're saying makes a lot of sense. Do you have anything ready? I'll just grab a couple of bites!"

"I'll go cook!"

Liu Yimin prepared the meal, leaving one portion in the kitchen, covered with a gauze cover.

Li Lanyong asked, puzzled, "Why did you make so many?"

"More people will be here soon!"

"Who?"

Liu Yimin counted on his fingers and said, "According to seniority, you should call her sister-in-law!"

Li Lanyong lost his appetite and sat in the yard waiting for his "sister-in-law" to come over!

When Zhu Lin knocked on the door of the courtyard house, Li Lanyong was dumbfounded. He gave Liu Yimin a few glances to confirm, but Liu Yimin smiled without saying a word.

Zhu Lin extended his hand generously and said, "Lan Yong, right? I'm Zhu Lin!"

"Hello!" Li Lanyong wiped his hands before extending them.

After Zhu Lin entered the courtyard, Li Lanyong punched Liu Yimin on the shoulder from behind, made a knowing look that only the two of them understood, and gave him a thumbs up.

Liu Yimin understood what this meant. He remembered that when they were kids, Li Lanyong would make this same expression and gesture when they competed to see who could pee the farthest.

"Eat up, Comrade Lan Yong. Teacher Liu's cooking skills have improved a lot now. You've just come back from the front lines, so you need to replenish your nutrition!"

It took a long time for the three of them to get to know each other. However, as Li Lanyong was biting into his steamed bun, he wondered how Yimin could have bought a yard and found such a good-looking partner without making a sound.

Zhu Lin was curious about the front lines but was too embarrassed to ask directly, while Li Lanyong spoke frankly and openly.

When it was almost time, Zhu Lin took out two tickets from his pocket for the play "Wolf Smoke Over Beiping".

"Comrade Zhu Lin is a stage actor!" Li Lanyong said in surprise, "No wonder she's so beautiful."

"Lan Yong, if you want to see any play, just tell me or Teacher Liu. Teacher Liu writes scripts for the People's Art Theatre, so he can get tickets for any play!" Zhu Lin said with a smile.

The three of them arrived at the Beijing People's Art Theatre. Li Lanyong looked at the bustling street and the crowds of people coming to see the play, and felt that it was all a bit unreal.

This wasn't Li Lanyong's first time watching a play; the military's cultural troupe sometimes performed as well. But seeing a play by the Beijing People's Art Theatre, he felt that this was the real play.

However, watching a real play doesn't excite me as much as it did when I was in the army.

The performance of "Wolf Smoke Over Beiping" has now exceeded 120 shows, and this number continues to grow.

After reading about Wen San'er's life, Li Lanyong said, "If Wen San'er could endure such hardship, I can too!"

A few days later, early in the morning, someone knocked on the door of the courtyard house. It was Liu Zi, who did odd jobs going from street to street. He said that someone didn't want a piece of furniture and asked Liu Yimin to come over and see if he wanted it.

Liu Zi looked at Li Lanyong with surprise, but didn't ask any questions.

When they arrived, there were two old chairs and a square table in the yard. Liu Yimin went over to look at them and asked Liu Zi how much they were for!
"This piece of junk isn't worth much, just a token is fine!" Liu Zi said.

The other person came out and said, "If you want it, take all thirty yuan. If you don't, I'll chop it up as firewood!"

“How could you do this? This piece of junk is worth at most ten dollars!” Liu Zi said.

"What a piece of junk, twenty-five!"

Liu Yimin pretended to hesitate for a moment, and finally settled on a price of twenty. Liu Yimin asked Liu Zi to ride a tricycle to help him transport it back, and gave him one yuan and fifty cents, including the transportation fee and the intermediary fee.

Liu Yimin observed the chair and the eight-immortal table. Although he didn't understand them very well, the sense of time and the atmosphere they exuded made him feel that they were not simple. He also looked at the style of the furniture, which seemed to be from the late Ming Dynasty.

Back in the courtyard house, I took out a book about furniture from the study, compared it with the original, and felt that it looked more and more similar. This wood is not simple either.

Li Lanyong and Liu Zi talked about something, but when it was time for Li Lanyong to leave, the two were as close as brothers.

Li Lanyong helped set up the stools without asking Liu Yimin what he bought them for.

"Yimin, what do you think about doing odd jobs with Liu Zi?" Li Lanyong suddenly asked.

"You want to go out and do odd jobs?"

"I can't just keep eating here. Besides, people who don't work tend to harbor resentment, and I don't want to become useless!"

Li Lanyong planned to do odd jobs with Liu Zi. He heard that he would be paid for each day's work and would rent a place on his own. He felt it was not appropriate to live here all the time, since Zhu Lin often came to visit.

Liu Yimin thought for a moment and said seriously to Li Lanyong, "Logically speaking, people in other companies don't earn as much as they do, but it's tiring, and many people look down on them. Of course, I think there are advantages to their line of work. For example, if I were to buy an antique chair, I could probably double my earnings in the future."

The prerequisite is to learn the relevant knowledge, which I don't understand very well, but nowadays even if you buy fake furniture, you can still use it yourself.

Even if you don't buy antique items, you can gradually learn how to do business.

Liu Yimin also suggested a few options to Li Lanyong, including introducing him to temporary jobs at Yenching University and Beijing People's Art Theatre.

He had already inquired over the past few days; the only place he could get at Yenching University was the security department. The security department owed Liu Yimin a favor because of the speech incident, so while they couldn't offer him a permanent position, they could hire someone temporarily.

The same applies to the Beijing People's Art Theatre; one could work in the logistics department.

Li Lanyong's physical condition is clearly not suitable for doing odd jobs. With only one hand, he can't do many physically demanding tasks. And now, if he walks too fast, he might even fall.

(End of this chapter)