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

Chapter 291 Taking the Time to Get Married

The courtyard house was kept spotless, inside and out. Even the vegetables in the garden couldn't be allowed to grow as they pleased. The green beans had to be lined up in a row.

Aside from touring Yanjing, Liu Fuqing and Yang Xiuyun devoted all their attention to the courtyard. Their elder brother Liu Yiguo, sister-in-law Gu Ping, and Li Lanyong assisted them.

"Lan Yong, how is Yi Min doing at Yenching University?" While working, Liu Fuqing and Yang Xiuyun would always ask Li Lan Yong this question, wanting him to tell them about Liu Yi Min's situation at Yenching University.

Li Lanyong naturally spoke frankly and without reservation, recounting all of Liu Yimin's deeds at Yenching University. The group was overjoyed.

"Lan Yong, we're unfamiliar with Beijing. What will we do about the wedding procession?" Liu Fuqing said with a sigh.

"Uncle Fuqing, you don't need to worry about it. Yimin's roommates are already looking for people. They'll all be students from Yanda University, and they'll all be top students from their respective regions," Li Lanyong said with a smile.

Liu Zhenyun and his group proved to be reliable this time. As soon as the news came out, many people in the Chinese Department wanted to help Liu Yimin with his wedding. In the end, finding people turned into a selection process.

They selected over a dozen Yenching University students who were good-looking, had new bicycles, and good grades; those who weren't selected naturally felt regretful.

As they were talking, Liu Yimin and Cui Daoyi walked in together. Upon seeing Liu's parents, Cui Daoyi greeted them warmly.

Choi Do-il helped find cooks and such.

"Comrade Cui, thank you so much! You've been a great help!" Yang Xiuyun said quickly.

"Oh, Auntie, thank you so much. I'm Yimin's senior brother, so we're practically brothers. It's only right that we help each other. Besides, it's not just me; many other people are helping too!" Cui Daoyi said politely.

Seeing that the two were covered in sweat, Liu Yiguo quickly took out some chilled soda from the refrigerator to quench their thirst.

"Comrade Cui, I, as your elder brother, can't be of much help in Yanjing. If there's any work I can do to assist you, please let me know!" Liu Yiguo said with a smile.

Cui Daoyi chuckled and said, "Haha, it's alright. We'll be there to help wherever needed!"

In the evening, Cao Yu, Li Yuru, and Wan Fang came to the courtyard house to see how Liu Yimin had decorated it.

"Teacher, teacher's wife, senior sister!" Liu Yimin greeted them with a smile.

Liu Fuqing and Yang Xiuyun also quickly came out of the house and said, "Mr. Wan, Comrade Li!"

In the 1970s and 80s, rural areas of Rucheng maintained the practice of addressing teachers and doctors as "Mr." as a sign of respect for intellectuals.

As the older generation passes away, this terminology gradually fades into obscurity.

“Brother Fuqing, Sister-in-law Xiuyun, no need to address me as ‘Mr.’, just call me Wan Jiabao!” Cao Yu said with a smile.

Liu Fuqing quickly waved his hand and said, "That would be impolite, that won't do, that won't do!"

"Hey, I'm older than you, you can call me 'older brother' if you want!"

Liu Fuqing then agreed, smiling and calling out, "Old brother!"

Cao Yu was more than ten years older than Liu Fuqing, so there was nothing wrong with them addressing each other that way. However, judging from their appearances, Liu Fuqing was the older one.

Rural people age quickly because they are exposed to the wind and sun!
On their second day in Yanjing, Liu Fuqing and Yang Xiuyun visited Cao Yu's home. Cao Yu probably pondered for a long time how to address Liu Yimin's parents.

With her older brother by her side, it was only natural for Yang Xiuyun to call Li Yuru "older sister-in-law".

Yang Xiuyun looked at Wan Fang, who quickly said, "You can just call me Xiao Fang!"

The two families strolled around the courtyard, checking if there was anything else that needed improvement in the arrangement. After looking it over, Cao Yu smiled and said to Liu Fuqing, "Brother Fuqing, you've raised a fine son!"

"Yes, Yimin has made things much easier for me since he got into university. Before, we worried about his job all night long. Now, both of our children are doing well. I have two wonderful kids!"

Liu Fuqing stood up proudly, his body, which had begun to hunch over from years of hard work.

Yang Xiuyun added, "My eldest and second sons are both good, and they've found two wonderful daughters-in-law. From now on, we two old folks will enjoy endless blessings. Everyone in our brigade is truly envious!"

That evening, the two families ate dinner in the courtyard house. At the dinner table, Li Yuru helped explain the precautions and checked for any oversights.

I only felt relieved after patiently going through it once and finding nothing missing.

"Yimin, I heard you're planning to buy a motorcycle?" Cao Yu asked with a smile.

Liu Yimin asked in confusion, "How did you know?"

"Haha, don't worry about how I know, all imports require foreign exchange certificates, you?" Cao Yu asked.

“I have remittance certificates. I’ve already made arrangements with the motorcycle dealers at Wangfujing Department Store. I’ll pick up the motorcycle tomorrow.”

Cao Yu asked, "Do you have enough money?"

"Don't worry, teacher, there's enough money!"

Li Yuru pulled Liu Yimin aside and said, "You bought a refrigerator and a color TV. If it's not enough, tell your teacher's wife in advance."

After dinner, Cao Yu and Liu Fuqing had a few drinks, but only a small amount. Seeing that everything was almost settled, they left the courtyard house with smiles.

After seeing off Cao Yu, his teacher's wife, and Wan Fang, Liu Fuqing stood at the entrance of the courtyard and exclaimed, "Yimin, your teacher and his wife are truly wonderful people!"

Liu Yimin said with a smile, "Dad, Mom, my teacher and his wife have always been very good to me, so don't worry!"

Liu Fuqing and Yang Xiuyun were somewhat relieved about Liu Yimin's future life and work in Yanjing.

Liu Yimin asked Liu Fuqing and Yang Xiuyun if they wanted to stay in Yanjing. The old couple said they were more comfortable in their hometown. When they walked into the alley, they could hardly understand the Yanjing dialect.

"What 'Qianmen Tower' and 'hip bone elbow'? Don't you understand? Your mother and I are more comfortable staying at home, farming, feeding the cattle—that's the life of us farmers. You work hard in Yanjing; Tiananmen Square is just ahead. You should always listen to the elders' teachings!" Liu Fuqing said earnestly.

"Okay, I remember it!"

After seeing the elderly couple off to rest, Liu Yimin smiled and said to his elder brother, "Brother, I'll send a telegram to Uncle Dashan tomorrow and ask him to help us harvest our few acres of wheat. After the wedding, we'll take our parents, sister-in-law, and Linlin's parents to Beidaihe for a couple of days!"

Beidaihe?

"Yes, Beidaihe!"

"Can we go to that place? The newspapers and movies say that only leaders can go there!" Liu Yiguo was slightly excited. This was Beidaihe!
“Now we can, that’s the seaside. Our parents have never seen the sea in their lives, let’s go there for a stroll!” Liu Yimin said.

Liu Yiguo hesitated for a moment before saying, "Okay! I don't know if I'll have a chance to see the sea again in the future. Since we're here, let's go and see it. It'll be hard on you!"

"Brother, what are you talking about!"

The following day, Liu Yimin went to Wangfujing to pick up his motorcycle. This motorcycle dealership had both domestically produced and imported models.

The domestically produced motorcycles were the Shanghai-made Xingfu 250 and the Shandong-made Qingqi.

The Happiness 250 has a small engine displacement, but it's quite noisy. Starting from the Overseas Chinese Apartment, the engine had barely begun when the students at Yenching University probably heard it and knew Professor Liu was coming to class. The Qingqi and Happiness are like brothers; they're similar, with the Qingqi not only being noisy but also emitting black smoke.

Imported cars are divided into Eastern European and small-sized models. Eastern European cars are bulky and have poor handling.

So he chose a small car, which has 50cc and 100cc engine options. Liu Yimin chose the Suzuki 100cc model because the 50cc model looked too flimsy and would be uncomfortable for passengers in the back.

The Suzuki 100cc is different; it has a long seat, making it comfortable for those sitting behind.

"Comrade, what do you think of this?" The comrade from the motorcycle dealership patted the back seat of the Suzuki and asked smugly.

"I'll sit on it and give it a try!"

Liu Yimin got on the motorcycle and tried it out. The motorcycle's handling was indeed quite good; otherwise, it wouldn't have been able to quickly dominate the domestic motorcycle market.

"How about it?"

"Okay, this one will do!" Liu Yimin got off the motorcycle, took an envelope out of his bag, and handed it to the salesperson.

The sales clerk took the envelope, took out a stack of brand-new ten-yuan notes, moistened his fingers with saliva, and quickly began counting them.

After counting, he smiled and said, "Not a penny more, not a penny less, a total of three thousand two hundred dollars! Including the remittance certificates, comrade, come with me over here to get the receipt!"

After paying the money and receiving the receipt, Liu Yimin rode his motorcycle towards the Dongcheng Public Security Bureau to get a license plate.

This Suzuki A100 has a festive red body, adorned with Suzuki and "100" logos. The motorcycle is long and powerful, with a large engine displacement, so fuel consumption is naturally high, likely exceeding three liters per 100 kilometers.

At the police station, you not only need to register your vehicle, but also complete the fuel purchase procedures. To refuel, you need fuel coupons, which are rationed.

The motorcycles don't leave Yanjing, so the rationed gasoline is definitely enough.

When they arrived at the police station, the officer in charge of registering the motorcycle stared at the brand-new motorcycle, then looked at the sidecar motorcycles in the station with a look of envy.

After checking Liu Yimin's invoice and confirming that he was not driving an unlicensed taxi, they began processing his paperwork.

"Wow, this is a nice car! To be able to buy one, young man, you're quite something! Here's the license plate, and here's the receipt for the fuel. Keep these safe, don't lose them, it's such a hassle to get them replaced!"

The police officer screwed on the license plate and put the other documents into the file. Liu Yimin paid the registration fee and other taxes before riding his motorcycle back to the courtyard house.

Aunt Liang knew that Liu Yimin was getting married, so she came over to ask him if he wanted her to help him get some tables and chairs.

He patted his brand-new motorcycle and said enviously, "This skinny motorcycle is expensive. My wife's nephew has recently made a lot of money through speculation and he rides his beat-up 250 motorcycle over every day to show off!"

It's clear that Aunt Liang is very dissatisfied with her nephew making a fortune through speculation, and her dissatisfaction is tinged with bitterness.

"Aunt Liang, if we need anything, we'll definitely have to trouble you!"

"Sure, sure! Your parents are nice people. When we chatted, it felt like we were back in our hometown in Shandong Province. If you need anything for your wedding, just come to me. I'll give you a shout-out!"

Aunt Liang quietly touched the motorcycle seat a few times, then left with a smile.

The accents of Shandong and Henan provinces are similar, and those in neighboring areas are almost identical. Because of this, Aunt Liang and Liu Yimin's parents could chat enthusiastically whenever they met.

On the 19th, the crew was filming in the military region, shooting a scene from "Triumph at Midnight" where Tong Chuan is locked in solitary confinement for injuring someone in the army.

Just as they were finishing up, Zhu Lin found Wang Yan and Li Jun and asked them for three days off with a smile.

"Are you taking leave?" Wang Yan was quite surprised.

"Director Wang, yes, I need to take leave. I want to get married tomorrow!" Zhu Lin said happily, her eyes full of smiles.

"Marry, to whom?"

Li Jun didn't react in time, and Wang Yan kicked him irritably: "Who else could it be? It must be Yi Min! No wonder Yi Min hasn't come lately. By the way, you're getting married tomorrow?"

"Correct!"

"Oh dear, Comrade Zhu Lin, why didn't you tell us earlier that you were getting married tomorrow? You only asked for leave today. Is there enough time to prepare?" Wang Yan said helplessly.

"It's not that I'm worried about delaying the production schedule; besides, everything is prepared at home, I just need to be there."

Zhu Lin did not continue speaking.

Wang Yan, Li Jun, and Liu Yimin from the production crew haven't told them yet.

“Then our crew will also take a day off tomorrow!” Wang Yan said to Li Jun.

Li Jun nodded in agreement: "If you two get married, we have to go tomorrow too!"

"Directors, welcome! The reason Mr. Liu didn't tell you beforehand was to avoid delaying filming!"

After finishing their work, Wang Yan and Li Jun gathered everyone together and said they would take a day off tomorrow.

Upon hearing this, the actors immediately cheered with joy. Since filming began on the 10th, they haven't had a single day off.

Those who were not scheduled to perform were training with the troops of the Yanjing Military Region.

Everyone just knows they need to rest, but they don't know why.

That evening, news began to circulate secretly: the screenwriter Liu Yimin and the lead actress Zhu Lin were getting married the very next day.

Upon hearing this news, everyone gathered together and discussed it animatedly. There had been rumors that Liu Yimin and Zhu Lin were a couple, but no one expected that they had actually reached the point of getting married.

Those with a more active mindset asked if they wanted to attend Liu Yimin and Zhu Lin's wedding tomorrow.

Some people think they should go, while others think they don't need to go since they weren't invited.

Chen Peisi nudged Feng Xiaogang, who was lying on the bed pretending to be asleep, and asked in a low voice, "Old Feng, Comrade Liu Yimin is getting married, are you going?"

Seeing that he couldn't pretend to be asleep anymore, Feng Xiaogang turned over and sat up.

"No way! They didn't invite us, why should we go? If they wanted us to go, they would have sent us invitations long ago! Go to hell? I'm from the same compound, I'm not going!" Feng Xiaogang said, grinning.

Zhang Fengyi, who was standing next to him, thought that made sense. The key was that he had just graduated and didn't have much money.

Zhu Shimao said, "Since you're not going, then I won't go either!"

The three of them looked at Chen Peisi, who chuckled and said, "If none of you are going, I won't go either!"

"That's right, even dogs wouldn't go!"

(End of this chapter)