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

Chapter 271: Cheers Resound at the Premiere of "The Button"
Inside the Overseas Chinese Apartment, Liu Yimin got out of bed, the carpet radiating warmth. Feeling the heat, he stretched and looked out the window, where the biting northwest wind contrasted sharply with the interior.

After making a simple meal in the kitchen, Liu Yimin went into his study. The aroma of tea filled the room, and another simple and unpretentious day began.

On the table were twenty copies of the "Homeland Trilogy". Liu Yimin took out his notebook, wrote a message for each person on the title page, signed his name, and then stamped it with a red seal.

Not many sample copies of the "Homeland Trilogy" were prepared at the time; Liu Yimin recently bought more from the Commercial Press.

This is the second batch printed after the first batch sold out.

Just a few days ago, the second batch of the "Homeland Trilogy" was finally printed.

After signing the papers, Liu Yimin packed all the sample books together, planning to deliver them to the women's volleyball team when he arrived at the Beijing People's Art Theatre that afternoon.

Sitting in his study in the morning, Liu Yimin first conceived a reportage about the women's volleyball team, which he named "Chinese Girls".

He sketched out a plan on paper, intending to start with the cafeteria and celebration on the Yenching University campus, first writing about the background of the women's volleyball team's victory in the article, beginning with a high-spirited and exciting mood.

Next, I'll slowly unfold some stories I learned after communicating with the women's volleyball team on the training field.

While it's easy to come up with an overall framework, it's quite difficult to convey the content to the reader perfectly, accurately, and passionately.

Liu Yimin repeatedly flipped through the records he had made at the Shichahai Sports School.
After finishing his morning meal and having lunch, Liu Yimin loaded a box of sample books onto his bicycle and tied it tightly to the back seat with a rope.

He shook it vigorously, found nothing wrong, and then rode his bicycle toward Shichahai Sports School.

On the road, because the load was too heavy, the northwest wind caused Liu Yimin to sway a few times every now and then as he rode.

When Liu Yimin arrived at Shichahai Sports School, the women's volleyball team was training under the guidance of Yuan Weimin. Liu Yimin did not disturb them, but instead told Yuan Weimin that he had placed the sample book in a corner of the training field and left.

"See you tonight, Yimin!" Yuan Weimin said with a smile.

Tonight is the premiere of "The Button," and all the women's volleyball players are going, including Yuan Weimin.

Liu Yimin rode his bicycle directly to the Beijing People's Art Theatre, where a banner had already been put up at the entrance.

Welcome to the Chinese women's volleyball team to watch the play.

The spirit of the women's volleyball team: revitalizing China.

[Use the fighting spirit of the women's volleyball team to achieve reform and opening up]

There was a man-made poster of the play "The Button" on the door, along with some slogans about reform and opening up, all of which were headlines I had seen in newspapers.

For example, slogans such as "Young people should be pioneers of reform and forge their own path with a single button!"

Because it was a play produced during the Reform and Opening Up period, and because of the overwhelming media coverage following the publication of the novel "Buttons" at the time.

On the opening day, all tickets except those given away by Zhu Lin were sold out.

With news spreading that the women's volleyball team would also be coming to watch, ticket prices were inflated by more than ten times.

In the past, some people were tempted by the low-price, high-return opportunity, but this time, the audience wanted to see the women's volleyball team, so tickets were always in high demand but short supply.

Liang Sanhulu, who works at the entrance of the Beijing People's Art Theatre, bought several tickets on the first day of sales, hoping to make a profit. However, when he heard that the women's volleyball team was coming, he decided not to make any money and gave all the tickets to his family so that they could all watch the play and the women's volleyball team together.

He was selling candied hawthorns at the door. Once the play started and he sold out of candied hawthorns, he threw the haystacks holding the gourds out and went straight inside to watch.

"Give me two candied hawthorns!" Liu Yimin said with a smile.

"Writer Liu, come here, it's free! I told you last time I'd send you some candied hawthorns in winter!"

"No, take it. It's not easy for anyone." Liu Yimin stuffed the money into Liang Sanhulu's wallet, picked out two candied hawthorns, and went inside.

Zhu Lin and Lan Tianye were giving the actors a final pep talk in the rehearsal room, explaining some important points.

However, these are all veteran actors who have been through many battles. Lan Tian has big ambitions, but Zhu Lin is afraid that something might go wrong.

After the speech, the actors sat in the rehearsal room to rest. After having lunch in the cafeteria, they began to put on makeup and prepare for their performance on stage.

Liu Yimin handed the candied hawthorn to Zhu Lin and said with a smile, "Look how nervous Director Zhu Lin is. Don't be nervous, you have to trust the actors from the Beijing People's Art Theatre."

Zhu Lin took a bite of the candied hawthorn, chewed a few times, and then said, "Teacher Liu, I believe in actors, but I'm a little..."

Zhu Lin didn't say the next few words: "I don't believe in myself."

Liu Yimin said with a smile, "We all believe in you!"

"Yes, Director Zhu Lin, we all believe in you!" Pu Cunxi said with a smile.

Next, several actors also expressed their support.

From the beginning until now, Zhu Lin has been leading them in filming for several months. At first, everyone thought it wouldn't work, but now everyone thinks it's going well.

At least, this play was well-made and is very suitable for a new director like Zhu Lin.

Zhu Lin smiled and thanked everyone. Lan Tianye patted Zhu Lin on the shoulder, signaling everyone to get ready to eat.

"Come on, Director Zhu, you don't need to act tonight, eat more meat!" Liu Yimin said with a smile.

"Teacher Liu, you should eat more too. You've been living alone in the Overseas Chinese Apartment lately, so you probably haven't had many proper meals. It would be great if the apartment were closer to the Beijing People's Art Theatre, so you could try my cooking!"

Zhu Lin and Liu Yimin sat in a corner, with the people around them deliberately keeping a distance from them.

"Look, I haven't lost any weight!"

After dinner, the actors started getting their makeup done backstage, and Liu Yimin stayed there for a while, chatting with the actors.

When it was almost time, Liu Yimin went outside the Beijing People's Art Theatre and waited for Mr. and Mrs. Zhu.

The two participated in Zhu Lin's first scene. Although the road was dark and others wouldn't notice their clothes, they were dressed exceptionally formally.

"Uncle and Aunt, anyone who didn't know better would think you were attending some kind of meeting!" Liu Yimin said with a smile.

"For us, this is the highest level of meeting!"

After a while, Wan Fang and Li Yuru arrived and sat down with Zhu's parents.

After almost everyone had entered the theater, the women's volleyball team members appeared at the entrance of the Beijing People's Art Theatre. After greeting Liu Yimin, Liu Yimin led everyone into the theater.

This was done to prevent too many people from gathering at the entrance, which could cause overcrowding.

The women's volleyball team members excitedly walked from the door to the front row, discussing the theater in hushed tones.

The lights were dim, and by the time the audience realized what was happening, a group of people were already sitting in the front row.

Someone tried to shout something, but was stopped by staff from the Beijing People's Art Theatre.

"Everyone, please be quiet. The performance is about to begin. In a little while, the women's volleyball team will come on stage to greet everyone." "Bravo!" The applause and cheers from the entire theater almost shook the roof off.

"Hey, this ticket was worth it!"

As the opening bell rang, the bustling theater gradually quieted down.

Everyone watched the play intently; a small but beautiful play slowly unfolded before the audience.

Because these events happened in the last two years, people naturally feel a sense of closeness and identification with them.

As these scenes unfolded, many people began to sigh at the changes of the past two years.

The rain scene in Act II of "The Button" completely ignited the audience.

We didn't steal or rob; we just sold buttons, one household at a time. There are ten people in my family, and I have to sell so many buttons to earn just one steamed bun!

You guys keep complaining, but what exactly did we do wrong?!

Li Yuru whispered to Zhu's mother, "Look how well little Zhu arranged them!"

"Linlin has been so nervous lately, afraid of making a mistake. But it's mainly because Yimin's script is so good. If there wasn't a suitable script, Linlin wouldn't have been able to perform well even with just studying!" said Zhu's mother.

"Both children are doing well!" Li Yuru said, thinking to herself, "This little Zhu's mother is a wise woman after all!"

Lang Ping said to Cao Huiying, an older woman standing next to her, "These individual vendors have made things much more convenient for us. There are many pancake vendors near the sports school, and they're delicious."

"All you ever do is eat! The cafeteria food isn't even as good as pancakes!" Cao Huiying said.

"Big sister, you don't know, it tastes like two different things, it's so delicious! I'm getting mouthwatering just thinking about it."

Everyone has truly felt that the emergence of self-employed individuals has brought a lot of convenience to their lives, and self-employed individuals like Liang Sanhulu are among the beneficiaries.

The climax of the entire play, and applause erupted at this moment!
The play "The Button" was rehearsed for only about 100 minutes, and after it ended, the theater erupted in applause once again.

Led by Zhu Lin and Lan Tianye, the actors stood on the stage and bowed to the audience to take their bows, which were met with another round of applause.

After the curtain call, Zhu Lin, acting as the announcer, said emotionally: "1981 is about to pass and we will usher in a brand new 1982. In November 1981, the women's volleyball team brought us the good news of victory."

Their fighting spirit and the glory of their victory shone brightly across the entire land of China.

Next, please invite the women's volleyball team members to come to the stage to learn from the spirit of the women's volleyball team and revitalize our generation's Chinese nation!

All the lights in the theater were turned on, and the audience in the back rows held up a banner that read "Chinese Women's Volleyball Team" and shouted the names of the volleyball team members.

Standing on the stage, Yuan Weimin said, "The Premier once asked us when the three major ball sports would be able to turn things around. This year, the women's volleyball team has made a start, and next year there is the World Championships and the Olympics. Comrades, victory is just the beginning. We must win even more victories in the future..."

Yuan Weimin and the women's volleyball team waved goodbye to everyone. The audience left reluctantly. Just as Liu Yimin was about to lead them out after they had all left, cheers rang out again outside the theater.

The audience gathered at the entrance and cheered for the women's volleyball team again.

Liu Yimin saw the women's volleyball team and Yuan Weimin off through the side door, and said with a smile, "Coach Yuan, ladies of the women's volleyball team, we look forward to hearing the news of your victory in the World Championships."

After seeing them off, Liu Yimin returned to the Beijing People's Art Theatre. He then went backstage with Zhu Lin and Lan Tianye to meet the actors.

The staff from the Beijing People's Art Theatre told the audience outside that the women's volleyball team members had left, and the crowd began to slowly disperse.

Liu Yimin and Zhu Lin walked out of the backstage area. When Zhu Lin saw that no one was around, she excitedly turned around and hugged Liu Yimin: "Teacher Liu, did you see that? Everyone likes it! Everyone likes it!"

"I saw it, I saw it!" Liu Yimin rubbed her back and said repeatedly.

Zhu Lin was so excited that she was incoherent. Suddenly, she heard footsteps beside her, and she quickly pulled away from Liu Yimin's embrace.

"Uh, Director Zhu, I didn't see anything," Pu Cunxi said, then hurriedly turned around and walked backstage.

As Liu Yimin and Zhu Lin left the Beijing People's Art Theatre, they discussed the audience's performance.

Mr. and Mrs. Zhu followed the two from a distance without disturbing them.

As they parted downstairs, Zhu Lin gently pecked Liu Yimin's cheek before humming a tune and returning to the family compound.

Mr. Zhu covered his eyes, and Mrs. Zhu kicked him: "Why are you covering your eyes? You did the same thing back then. The two children are of legal age now, as long as they don't go too far!"

"Shh, Zhenzhen, keep your voice down, it's uncivilized!" Zhu's father glanced around suspiciously.

"Refined?" Zhu's mother snorted twice: "When we get back, I'll show you what it means to be uncivilized. Linlin has taken the first step in her career, so we should celebrate!"

The following day, news of the women's volleyball team watching a drama performance made the newspaper, accompanied by photos of Yuan Weimin with the volleyball players, as well as several group photos with the cast.

Those who were there yesterday kept showing off to others, while those who couldn't go were naturally very disappointed.

However, even if we can't watch it together, watching it afterward is still a good experience. Watching the play that the women's volleyball team members watched has become something that many people want to accomplish.

In the days that followed, tickets for the play "The Button" remained extremely difficult to obtain.

New Year's Day 1982 arrived as scheduled, and at the same time, the standalone edition of "The Button" was officially released to readers.

To demonstrate its importance to the book, People's Literature Publishing House printed an initial batch of 400,000 copies.

Li Shu gave Liu Yimin 960 yuan as basic royalties plus print run royalties, indicating that short stories were indeed limited in their earning potential.

The novel "Triumph at Midnight" earned me a basic royalty of one thousand yuan.

Now, Liu Yimin has another two thousand yuan in savings. The French publisher took his book back to France, and he doesn't know if the translation is finished yet; it will be a while before he receives the royalties.

When Li Xiaolin wrote to Liu Yimin, he asked Liu Yimin to pay attention to the upcoming release, and mentioned several concerns he had, suggesting that Liu Yimin take some precautions in advance.

On New Year's Day, the Beijing People's Art Theatre was also closed. Early in the morning, Zhu Lin took Liu Yimin to go ice skating at Shichahai. This year, due to the cold weather, Shichahai had already formed a thick layer of ice.

Liu Yimin felt the steaming warmth of the heating system, then patted Zhu Lin's cotton-padded coat; it was ice-cold.

I really didn't want to go out, but Zhu Lin dragged me out anyway.

Zhu Lin took Liu Yimin to a shop near Shichahai that was known as the "King of Ice Blades" to sharpen their ice blades.

Zhu Lin's ice skates were already dull, so she bought Liu Yimin a pair of ice skates.

The ice rink was already crowded with people, mostly boys wearing blue cotton-padded jackets or military overcoats and girls wearing red headscarves.

"Chu Hong, you're here too?"

"Comrade Liu Yimin, it's been a long time! Linlin is really good at ice skating, let her teach you!" Chu Hong said with a smile as she skated over to them, her cheeks and nose already red from the cold.

(End of this chapter)