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

Chapter 326 "The Acacia Tree in the Minefield" - Surpassing its Master

It wasn't just Liu Yimin; some of the other leaders were doing the same. After all, they were getting old, so they tried to distract themselves by chatting quietly while watching the play.

"Comrade Yimin, you've been on the front lines for several months. From an outsider's perspective, have you noticed any problems?" the old commander asked with a smile.

"I stayed on the front lines for about three months. As for the problems..." Liu Yimin repeated, giving himself some time to think.

Faced with this unexpected question, and considering the old commander's status in the military, Liu Yimin quickly organized his thoughts for a response:

"There are definitely problems. Problems exist in everything. Our soldiers are very brave, but I have also seen the power of defense technology in war, which can effectively reduce casualties among soldiers."

"Please explain carefully, it's okay if you make mistakes!"

Liu Yimin discussed several issues on which there was a general consensus within the military, and then returned the discussion to defense science and technology.

"Our soldiers are not proficient in operating some advanced weapons, which means they often fail to reach their full potential. Currently, there is still a gap between our country's defense technology and equipment and those of foreign countries. This gap is due to historical reasons, and we still need to catch up."

There are several issues behind the equipment that I think deserve attention.

"what?"

"I think the first thing is the operational concept. I saw their military experts on American television talking about the informatization of the military and joint operations between various branches of the armed forces. In the future, the speed of armored vehicles and military aircraft will be faster and faster, and the coordination between various branches of the armed forces will be very important. Communication must be smooth and synchronized, otherwise, if the military aircraft is here and the armored vehicle is there, it will not be effective if the coordination is not good."

Of course, I don't know much about the military, and as for which military doctrine is superior or inferior, that would require professional research by the troops.

The second issue is the compensation of technical personnel. Since the reform and opening up, the economy has developed rapidly, and prices have risen. I think we need to improve the compensation of military research personnel so they have no worries about their livelihoods. Our soldiers are admirable, and so are our military science and technology personnel. In the past, they ate meager meals while researching atomic bombs and satellites. Now, with reform and opening up, people are saying that those who work on missiles are not as well off as those who sell tea eggs. Their compensation must also be improved.”

The old commander nodded and said, "Yes, our researchers are very admirable. They spend more than ten years in the Gobi Desert, hiding their identities, braving the wind and snow, and eating meager meals. I have been in charge of national defense science and technology work for a long time, so I know their hardships. Especially during natural disasters, their difficult survival has never delayed their scientific research work."

They are all heroes of our country, unsung heroes! It's been almost 20 years since the first atomic bomb was detonated in 64, and their stories have been buried for almost 20 years. I think it's time for people to learn about their stories.

Just as Liu Yimin was about to reply, Wei Wei nudged him with his elbow: "Commander, Yimin, it's time to receive the award!"

The host read aloud on stage: "The first prize winner of the 1982 General Political Department's Outstanding Script Award is 'Triumphant Return at Midnight.' This is an excellent work that has been widely recognized by comrades both inside and outside the military. The novel of the same name, which was adapted into the play, innovated the writing method of military-themed works, praised the fearless spirit of the soldiers, and inspired the patriotic enthusiasm of the whole country."

Please welcome Comrade Liu Yimin, the playwright of the play "Triumph at Midnight," to the stage to accept the award!

Liu Yimin walked onto the stage, and to the accompaniment of rousing military music, leaders from the General Political Department personally presented him with an award certificate.

Liu Yimin gave a brief speech, expressing his commitment to making further contributions to the cultural and artistic development of the military.

The four people in the audience—Zhu's father and mother, Li Yuru, and Wan Fang—were extremely excited. Zhu's mother's only regret was that the award ceremony was not held at her workplace.

Such a glorious moment, hey! I look around and there's nowhere to brag.

Next, the awards were presented to the other winning teams. The Air Force Political Department's performance of "Triumph at Midnight" won first prize, while the Zhan You Drama Troupe came in second.

This ranking made Wei Wei a little depressed. They were the first to get the script and the first to rehearse, but it turned out that the Air Force Political Department got the credit for it.

Wei, the head of the drama troupe, was sitting in the audience, his face ashen. The leaders of the Yanjing Military Region glanced at him every now and then, their expressions displeased.

"I should have charged the Air Force Political Department more for the script!" Commander Wei muttered, forcing himself to speak.

After the performance, the old leader stood up, looked at Liu Yimin, and said, "Comrade Yimin, you work in the Chinese Department of Yenching University, right?"

"Correct!"

"Great! Let's cultivate more outstanding talents for our country. Maybe someday I'll come to Yenching University and listen to your lectures!"

Wei Wei interjected, "Sir, Yimin is currently living in the Overseas Chinese Apartment, which is next to the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense!"

"Oh? We're neighbors?" The old leader became interested and patted Liu Yimin's arm. "That makes visiting each other much more convenient!"

Zhu's parents and the others were about to leave, but seeing Liu Yimin talking to someone, they could only watch from a distance, curious about who he was talking to. However, due to the lighting and the fact that he was wearing a military cap, they couldn't see very clearly.

After seeing off the group of leaders, Liu Yimin waved to them.

Zhu's mother walked over and asked in a low voice, "Yimin, what was that just now?"

Liu Yimin uttered three words softly, and the group quickly searched for his departing figure, but it was already gone.

"Comrade Liu Yimin, it's been a long time. I heard you went to the United States to spread revolutionary ideas. I wonder if the American people, who are living in dire straits, have grasped the essence of the revolution!"

Feng Xiaogang leaned over and greeted Zhu's parents, Li Yuru, and others in a friendly manner.

Liu Yimin glanced at this clown with a speechless expression. He really wasn't used to the glib talk of these young people from Yanjing.

"Little Feng, the organization has decided to send you to be the Party representative, to lead the American people to overthrow the three mountains weighing them down!"

Feng Xiaogang grinned, showing his big teeth: "These are apples given out during our performance. They're delicious, please try some. Uncles, aunts, and sisters, you must be thirsty after watching the show for so long!"

The older generation in Yanjing disapproved of these glib-tongued young people, but since they couldn't refuse someone who was smiling, they accepted the apples and said thank you.

Liu Yimin exchanged a few pleasantries with Feng Xiaogang, and when the others in the cultural troupe called out to him, he quickly said goodbye and ran off.

After Feng Xiaogang left, Zhu's mother frowned and asked, "Yimin, who is this?"

"You forgot, the ungrateful wretch he just played was also the one in the movie 'Triumph at Midnight'."

Several people nodded, and Li Yuru commented, "This young man doesn't seem like a soldier, nor does he seem like a good person!"

"Haha, Master's wife, let's go back!"

As I left the Zhan You Drama Troupe, I ran into Wei Wei, who had just returned from seeing off his superior. We chatted for a few more minutes before I finally left the Yanjing Military Region compound.

Compared to Feng Xiaogang, everyone was more concerned about what the old leader had talked about with Liu Yimin. On the way back, Liu Yimin mentioned some trivial matters to them.

Once home, Liu Yimin pondered what his old commander had truly meant. Especially that sentence, "Their story has been buried for almost 20 years; I think it's time for people to learn about it!"

Could it be that they want me to write a novel about the two bombs?
If I were to actually write it, I'd probably have to contact a lot of researchers to find information, and just thinking about it makes me a little excited.

At the Overseas Chinese Apartment, Liu Yimin is setting exam questions for the students. Setting questions is the first step. All the students' exam papers are printed using old-fashioned mimeograph equipment. The teachers are responsible for setting the questions, cutting the stencils, and finally going to the mimeograph room to print them one by one.

Mimeographing was a troublesome task. On the table were a stylus, a steel plate, and stencils borrowed from the mimeograph room. The stencils were placed on the steel plate, and then the stylus was used to carefully carve the stencil; it was easy to make a mistake if one was not careful.

Fortunately, Liu Yimin only teaches second-year students, so he only needs to make one set of test papers. If there were more grades, he would have to make several sets.

When we went to the printing room, the teacher's hands were covered in ink, and the students would accidentally get their hands covered in it too.

Just as Liu Yimin finished setting the last question and was preparing to carve the printing plate, Cui Daoyi called.

"Senior brother, what's the matter?" Liu Yimin asked.

"Yimin, are you busy today? I wanted to deliver the reader letters from 'The Acacia Tree in the Minefield' and 'The Green Book' to you. You wouldn't believe it, the reader letters for 'The Acacia Tree in the Minefield' are pouring in like snowflakes, many of them from the front lines and the army. The editorial department is overflowing, absolutely overflowing!"

Cui Daoyi's tone was smug, without a trace of distress.

"How many copies of the magazine have been sold?" Liu Yimin asked curiously.

"1.2 million copies sold! It's even more popular than 'Triumph at Midnight'! Hahaha!"

"Senior brother, go to the Beijing People's Art Theatre and find Zhu Lin. Ask her to give you the key, or wait until noon when she comes to the courtyard house to deliver it."

"Oh, that's a good idea. How could I have forgotten about that? You go ahead and get busy!" Cui Daoyi said cheerfully.

Liu Yimin chuckled: "Senior brother, you didn't forget, you just wanted to tell me the good news, didn't you!"

"You know me so well! I have to tell you about this great news!"

After hanging up the phone, Liu Yimin focused on carving the template. It took him an hour to finish carving the entire paper, his first time doing so.

Halfway through carving, Liu Yimin regretted it. The question contained so many complex Chinese characters, making his carving process rigid and passive.

When he noticed a few characters were engraved incorrectly during the proofreading process, he didn't re-engrave them but instead made additional markings to correct them.

I grabbed the wax paper, stencil, and stylus and ran to the Chinese Literature Department's mimeograph room.

"Yimin, have you finished the question?" Wang Yao held out her ink-covered hand to Liu Yimin. Seeing that Liu Yimin didn't reach out, Wang Yao laughed and said, "It was only a matter of time before it got covered in ink!"

"Professor Wang, you even came to print the exam papers yourself!"

"Nonsense, if I don't come myself, you can print it for me!" Wang Yao said.

"I have so many graduate students under me, might as well use them. Let them print them. I don't have any graduate students myself. If I did, I definitely wouldn't print them myself!"

As for asking undergraduates to help him print them, what's the difference between that and leaking exam questions?
Wang Yao shook her head: "My two graduate students both came from our school. It would be bad if the exam questions were leaked. Okay, you wait here. Professor Sun inside is almost done printing."

"Perfect timing, I'll go in and learn from them!"

Liu Yimin went in and stood next to Professor Sun to learn mimeographing.

Sun Yushi said, "Place the wax paper on the mimeograph machine, stretch it flat and straight, with a blank roll underneath. Cover it and roll it with this ink roller machine."

Let me tell you a few tips. If you want your printed papers to look good, remember these two steps: first, stretch them flat and straight; second, roll them with force!

Those who do research always need to summarize everything into a theory.

"Okay, Professor Sun, I've got it."

After Sun Yushi finished printing, Liu Yimin tried it out with his help. After printing a few sheets, Sun Yushi looked at Liu Yimin's paper and said, "Not bad, you got the hang of it quickly. The questions are quite clever in their approach, but they're not easy for students to answer!"

There are no standard answers; the main focus is on testing critical thinking skills!

Sun Yushi nodded and left the mimeograph room. After the Chinese Department expanded its enrollment, the number of students increased from 138 in 77 to 160.

After 170 swings of the printing roller, the exam papers were finally printed. Once the ink had dried, the incorrectly printed papers were torn up, the intact ones were placed in file folders, sealed, and put in the examination cabinet of the Chinese Department's Academic Affairs Office.

After locking the door, Yan Jiayan said to Liu Yimin, "The exam for foreign literature is the day after tomorrow. It will be the first time you set the questions and grade the papers. Don't be too strict or too lenient when grading. Find the right balance."

"Don't worry, Professor Yan, I will handle this carefully."

Yan Jiayan nodded, then said to Liu Yimin with a sigh, "The University of Tokyo has sent a letter to the Chinese Department, hoping that we can send teachers there for an exchange and to teach for a year to enrich their teaching staff."

That's a good thing, but after what happened to you, I'm always worried that other teachers might succumb to temptation and end up staying at the University of Tokyo.

Upon hearing this, Liu Yimin immediately made his escape: "Professor Yan, I don't understand Japanese."

Yan Jiayan shouted a few times at Liu Yimin's back, took a sip of cold tea and muttered, "If you're not going, then you're not going. You're running away pretty fast!"

Then he sat down behind his desk, looking at the list of Chinese literature department teachers, constantly agonizing over the selection of teachers.

Liu Yimin felt a chill run down his spine; his few "unique" Japanese phrases were certainly not up to the task of teaching.

After leaving Yan Jiayan's office, I didn't leave. Instead, I sat in the Chinese Department's shared office for half a day.

Not coming to the office every day is also not a good thing. Liu Yimin doesn't want to go, but that doesn't mean other teachers don't want to go, especially the younger ones. Going abroad to the University of Tokyo comes with a stipend, which can earn them extra money to supplement their household income. In addition, having experience studying abroad will make it easier to get promoted to associate professor in the future.

Lately, Zhu's mother has been quite influential at work. When "The Green Book" was first published in China, many people in the workplace had reservations about the book and even about Liu Yimin.

Later, after Zhu's mother found an opportunity to argue with a colleague who was usually gossipy and domineering, the workplace became much quieter.

Wherever his sharp gaze swept, silence fell.

Everyone knows that it's okay to talk about Dr. Fang behind her back, but you can't talk about Dr. Fang's son-in-law.

After returning from the United States, Liu Yimin was widely publicized, and people at his workplace treated Zhu's mother even better.

However, adhering to the principle of "I will not offend others unless they offend me," Zhu's mother did not distance herself from the people in her workplace.

Now that the company has reached a crucial moment in selecting model workers, Zhu's mother has become the most popular candidate.

(End of this chapter)