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

Chapter 303 Professor Liu's lectures were met with enthusiastic applause.
At the end of September, an autumn rain arrived as expected. On the streets of Yanjing, withered yellow leaves covered the ground, and pedestrians on the roadside rode their bicycles with their heads down, hurrying along.

The red brick walls on both sides of the street are painted with lime slogans that read "Reform and Opening Up," and the slogans "Good people and good horses go to the Third Front, prepare for war and famine for the people" can be faintly seen at the bottom.

Liu Yimin sped along the street on his motorcycle, the tires kicking up rainwater and withered leaves, letting them splash and dance in the rain before falling back down.
No one realized that this era, characterized by material scarcity yet spiritual abundance, was slowly slipping away beneath our feet and through our fingertips.

The train of time is moving faster and faster, so fast that these slogans will be quickly forgotten. Until one day, when they are remembered again, people will smile.

"These slogans represent the struggles of generations of our nation, and are memories etched into our very being!"

Liu Yimin stood on the podium, speaking eloquently to the second-year students. This was Liu Yimin's first class since becoming an associate professor, and the classroom was packed with people.

Liu Yimin, a sophomore, didn't know any of the students. When they were freshmen, Liu Yimin was already a senior.

These newbies don't have many chances to see Liu Yimin!
"I saw this on my way here, and I'm sharing it with you all. Slogans are time-sensitive, and so is literature. I think the timeliness of literature can be divided into the timeliness of its content and the timeliness of its life!"
I believe everyone has some understanding of what "content reflecting its era" means. For example, the content of "scar literature" and "reform literature" exemplifies this. People cannot escape their own time, just as they cannot fly by pulling on their own hair.

What does it mean for literature to be relevant to its era? Let me give you an example. It's 1982 now. Why are works of "scar literature" from around 1978 rarely mentioned now? Or rather, why are they mentioned less often than before? Back then, they were incredibly popular. What about now?

This is the temporal nature of literary life; these works only have life within their timeframe. Some, however, are not immediately apparent, but later people realize their value and haile them as masterpieces.

Looking at the students listening attentively below, Liu Yimin joked, "Everyone has written novels, but if your novels haven't been published, it's probably not because they're bad, but because you haven't seen their merits!"

Upon hearing this, the students burst into laughter.

"Professor Liu, why do some books always have vitality?"

"That's because it's not only relevant to its time, but also universal. Its artistic and literary value, as well as the ideas it promotes, are valuable in any era. For example, filial piety—we Chinese have always valued filial piety, and this value has been widely appreciated in every era!"

During previous trial lecture competitions, Liu Yimin didn't feel tired after giving a whole lesson. But when he actually started giving a lecture, he felt his mouth was dry after just one short lesson.

In terms of reputation, the students of Yenching University's Class of 1981 were far less famous than those of the Classes of 77-79, and none of them produced writers like Liu Zhenyun, Chen Jiangong, and Yan Zhen.

But that doesn't mean they haven't achieved anything; they have achieved success in other areas as well.

Gold 77, Silver 78, and the students after that were far from the style of their senior brothers and sisters!
However, this does indeed confirm the saying from the Chinese Department of Yenching University: "The Chinese Department does not train writers!"
For example, Xie Ning, one of the students below, served as a university-level leader at Yenching University. There are also quite a few other professors or scholars.

However, they have one advantage over the students of '77 and '78: their foundation upon entering the university was stronger than that of the students of '77 and '78.

"Professor Liu, I've heard you talk about French avant-garde literature before. I'd like to ask if the emergence of French avant-garde literature was also due to the times?" Student Zhang Li stood up and asked.

"of course!"

"Could you tell us about it?"

"French avant-garde literature existed before World War II. This is because the development of French society and industrialization in the late 19th and early 20th centuries brought about tremendous changes to people's lives. People's lifestyles broke away from tradition and began to fragment."

Literature also began to break away from tradition, with some writers starting to challenge traditional writing methods; of course, this is just one example.

France has always been the cradle of revolution; the Paris Commune and World War I left society traumatized, and people felt lost and anxious about reason and the future.

Liu Yimin speaks very slowly, precisely because he is afraid that these students will not understand and he can interrupt them at any time.

After Liu Yimin finished speaking, someone asked: "Professor Liu, since the emergence of avant-garde literature is due to the modernization of social development and life, the impact on people's thinking, and their confusion and anxiety about the future, do you think our country will see avant-garde literature in the future?"

After all, reform and opening up have brought tremendous changes to everyone's lives!

"If you want a definite answer, I think it is."

Liu Yimin turned around and wrote a line on the blackboard: "A generation striving forward, a generation lost and confused."

"At the time of reform and opening up, we were the group that received external information the fastest, but at the same time we were the most confused group."

We desperately want to change the country, but often we think too much and can only do so much. This leads us to become caught between our lofty goals and our insignificant realities—a state of confusion, and even wavering!

"Then how can we avoid feeling lost?"

"Do every little thing well, don't aim too high, and firmly believe in the country, the nation, and the culture!"

As the class bell rang, two or three hundred students from the 81 Chinese Literature Department clapped simultaneously, stood up in unison, and loudly said, "Goodbye, Professor Liu!"

"See you next week!" Liu Yimin said with a smile.

Someone muttered, "Professor Liu's lectures are so good, he should be given more classes. One class a week is really unfair to Professor Liu!"

Liu Yimin immediately stopped and said to the student who had spoken, "You can say this in class, but don't let others hear it. As a new professor, I'm bound to attract attention. Meeting with everyone once a week is enough for me!"

As he walked out of the classroom, the students behind him praised, "Professor Liu is truly unfazed by both praise and criticism!"

"Yes, it's hard to imagine that the refined Professor Liu could capture a lieutenant on the battlefield. I heard that he had several men with him at the time, and Professor Liu sent them to their deaths with a single shot each!"

"I've heard about it too. Apparently, it was two shots in one go, and they were strung together like blood gourds!"

"Yimin, you're finally back! Oh, we've missed you so much these past few days!" Cui Daoyi and Li Shu said excitedly as they sat in Liu Yimin's study.

Liu Yimin chuckled: "Senior brother, tell me first, are you thinking about me or the manuscript?" "Both, but mainly about you. Knowing you went to the front lines, especially after reading your article 'The Moon on the Battlefield,' I was on tenterhooks, unable to eat or sleep properly!" Cui Daoyi said with a smile.

"Oh? Senior brother seems to have gained weight?"

Cui Daoyi said awkwardly, "It's all Li Shu's fault. 'Triumph at Midnight' sold so well that he was so happy that he dragged me out to a restaurant. That's why I've gained weight!"

"Was it me who pulled you? You're the one shamelessly trying to extort money from me!" Li Shu said indignantly.

"I believe you, Senior Brother Cui is capable of doing it!"

"Hahaha!"

Li Shu took a piece of paper out of his bag and handed it to Liu Yimin: "Take a look, this is the sales figure for 'Triumph at Midnight'!"

Cui Daoyi and Li Shu looked at Liu Yimin with smiles, expecting him to be surprised by the sales figures.

After reading it, Liu Yimin curled his lip and said, "Only three and a half million copies!"

"Talent?" Li Shu's heart trembled several times when he heard Liu Yimin's words. He asked Liu Yimin to explain to him what "talent" meant!
“Yimin, aren’t you satisfied yet? The printing press machines are practically smoking!” Cui Daoyi said.

"Three and a half million copies, from several publishers, that averages out to only a few hundred thousand copies sold per publisher!"

Li Shu felt his throat was a little dry. After taking a big gulp of tea, he said, "Our People's Literature Publishing House alone has already printed two million copies. All those books before haven't even sold two million copies to date!"

"Printing so many?"

"Haha, don't worry about not selling them all, we're still printing them right now, the machines never stop!" Li Shu added, "This is the first time I've realized that so many people in China read books!"

Cui Daoyi said, "We received a lot of letters for our reportage work, 'The Moon on the Battlefield.' This time, the letters were different from usual; they were written by many soldiers' families, and some by young soldiers' partners."

Because Liu Yimin wrote about the deeds of the third squad leader Xu Hougen in "The Moon on the Front Line," and how he asked his wife to remarry before leaving, this deeply moved many military families, letting them know the hardships of frontline soldiers and their love for their families.

"Many of them said they broke up with their boyfriends because they went to the battlefield, and now they regret it and have written apology letters. Yimin, did a lot of soldiers really receive breakup letters?" Cui Daoyi asked.

"Yes, quite a few. After all, soldiers risk their lives in the front lines, how many people are waiting! Some may have family reasons, some may have personal reasons."

Liu Yimin said helplessly that many soldiers had shown him the breakup letters.

Before leaving, Cui Daoyi asked Liu Yimin if he had any new manuscripts. Cui Daoyi was very nervous because this reportage had been published in "People's Literature and Art," and according to convention, the next one would be published in "Harvest."

But as is customary, after reportage comes the novel, and he was really unwilling to not get it!
The sales figures of "Triumph at Midnight" always make Cui Daoyi regretful!

"Yes, but..."

“Yimin, we’re brothers, there’s no ‘but’! Give it to People’s Literature and Art, you haven’t published a novel in People’s Literature and Art for a long time!”

Li Shu also said a few words in support, and it seems that the two of them have already formed a defensive alliance.

"If you don't agree, we won't leave. Anyway, Comrade Zhu Lin isn't here today, so we'll just sleep at your place. We haven't slept at the Overseas Chinese Apartment yet!"

Cui Daoyi said shamelessly.

Li Shu, standing next to him, felt a little embarrassed, but seeing Cui Daoyi's threatening gaze, he quickly nodded.

"Then don't leave. I'm bored by myself. Let's have a meal!" Liu Yimin said with a smile, and started looking in the refrigerator to see if there were any ingredients.

After finishing their meal, Cui Daoyi and Li Shu still acted as if they wouldn't leave until they agreed.

Li Shu scrubbed the pots and pans and cleaned the kitchen, while Cui Daoyi mopped the floor until it was spotless.

"Senior brother, it's only you! Who else is it?"

Cui Daoyi grasped Liu Yimin's hand and said, "Didn't you always say that we are like brothers, fellow disciples?"

After seeing them off, Liu Yimin returned to his study.

Hmm, this place is really well cleaned!

In early October, the military officially issued a notice deciding to raise the standard of pension for martyrs. The standard for soldiers was raised from 500 yuan to 1,500 yuan. In addition, the local government will bear all the travel expenses for the families of martyrs.

The subsidy standards for disabled veterans have also been improved to some extent.

In addition, local governments should, in accordance with the latest directives, provide preferential treatment to the families of martyrs and disabled veterans in terms of living conditions and work.

The soldiers in the various units at the front were greatly comforted after receiving the notification.

Although people don't fight over five hundred yuan versus fifteen hundred yuan, the increase in the standard of compensation has alleviated some of their worries.

(End of this chapter)