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

Chapter 38: Report to the Entire County (Please continue reading)
Inside the cultural center, a group of people were still discussing how to comfort Liu Yimin. Meanwhile, at the Revolutionary Committee, laughter and weeping were mixed together. Many students with low scores, holding their report cards, were heartbroken, and some even covered their faces and wept.

"Old Yu, let me introduce you to Liu Yimin, the top liberal arts student in Luocheng. Not only is he the top student, but he is also a writer in Luocheng. His novel was just published in People's Literature. Yimin, this is Yu Shui, the director of our prefectural committee's admissions office."

Director Yu of the Admissions Office smiled and extended his hand: "Comrade Liu Yimin, a fine young man. I came here this time to see with my own eyes what the top liberal arts student in our region looks like! He got 451 points out of 500, which is the highest score in our region since the resumption of the college entrance examination."

What surprised me even more was that you were also the author of *Mr. Donkey*. Many people in our education system have been discussing your novel. Old Yang, you really struck gold!

Yu Shui looked at Yang Yushan with a complicated expression. Last year's results were so poor, but this year he quietly achieved a remarkable feat. If it were just regional first place, that would be fine, since there's a regional first place every year. The key is that it could very well be provincial first place. But what if it's national first place? That's something Yu Shui absolutely dared not even think about.

"What do you mean by 'picking up'? This is the result of our county revolutionary committee's emphasis on education and Comrade Liu Yimin's efforts!"

"You've gotten a good deal, so don't be so smug! Comrade Liu Yimin, congratulations on your university admission! Thank you for responding to the great call of the nation to restore the college entrance examination and cultivate talent. We hope you will closely follow the footsteps of the Party Central Committee and participate in the new Long March. Strive hard and contribute boundless revolutionary spirit to the realization of the Four Modernizations. We are proud and honored to have a young generation like you! Let us forge ahead bravely for our common goal!"

Yu Shui held Liu Yimin's hand tightly and shook it repeatedly, while the county reporters' cameras clicked incessantly. Finally, he took a group photo with Yang Yushan, Lao Zhang, and the others.

After a while, Yang Yushan seemed to remember something, and pulled Liu Yimin aside to ask in a low voice, "Yimin, tell me honestly, which school did you apply to?"

I was so happy just now, but if I don't choose my university major well, it will all be for nothing. It would be a joke if someone who was first in the humanities stream ended up going to a vocational college or a regular university.

Liu Yimin said with a smile, "Yan University, Chinese Literature Department, Literature Major!"

"Good, good, good!" Yang Yushan slapped his palm with his fist, making a loud "slap, slap" sound.

Ru County is finally going to produce a student from Yenching University!
Old Zhang happily said, "Yimin, why didn't you tell me sooner? You were so confident, and I was worried about you for so long."

Every time I asked you, you were so confident. I thought you were just fooling yourself, but it turns out you were really sure of what you were doing!

"With confidence, I will live two hundred years; I will surely ride the waves for three thousand miles!"

When Liu Yimin came to pick up his report card, his classmates were all incredulous upon hearing his score. They couldn't believe that the top scorer in the humanities was the same Liu Yimin from before.

Learning is good, but it's far from reaching that level.

Of the thirty people who passed the admission line, most were from the previous three graduating classes. Liu Yimin's classmates, besides him, only one other person passed the line.

Some people wanted to greet Liu Yimin, but seeing the other leaders around them, they silently left with their hard-to-repair performance reports.

Liu Yimin didn't want to attract attention here, so he made an excuse to call home to share the good news and ran towards the cultural center, with Lao Zhang following closely behind.

Upon arriving at the cultural center, a group of people surrounded us, looking concerned. Some even offered words of comfort, saying that revolutions often face setbacks, but we can always start over.

"Wrong, wrong!" Old Zhang said, his face flushed red.

"What's wrong?"

Old Zhang laughed and said, "Yi Min is the top liberal arts student, you've got it wrong!" "Hiss! Eh, it's right, isn't it!" A group of people made all sorts of noises.

Liu Yimin smiled and said that was right, then picked up the phone and dialed. Knowing that results were due today, Liu Fuqing told Yang Xiuyun to wait for a call at the brigade headquarters while he led the villagers to work.

When Yang Xiuyun heard that Liu Yimin had passed the exam, she was so excited that she couldn't speak, and she could be heard wiping away tears. Liu Yimin didn't tell her the specific score, only that he had passed.

"Yimin, as long as you passed the exam, as long as you passed the exam!" Yang Xiuyun wiped away her tears, and only when she came to her senses did she realize that she had hung up the phone.

She didn't even bother to call back and rushed towards the hillside where the third team was working. Before she even saw Liu Fuqing, she shouted at the top of her lungs that Liu Yimin had passed the exam. Yang Xiuyun's voice could be heard on both banks of the Kuye River.

Liu Yimin then called the mine again, but his older brother was down in the mine and didn't answer the call, so he could only ask someone to wait until he came up and then relay the message to him.

In the afternoon, as darkness fell, Liu Yiguo and his coworkers slowly rose from the mine shaft. As soon as they reached the surface, someone told him the good news. Liu Yiguo picked the coal dust out of his ears and didn't react for a long time.

After realizing what was happening, he pulled out some money from his pocket and shouted that he was going to treat everyone. A cheer erupted from the mine, with people yelling that Liu Yiguo, that miser, had finally decided to spend some money.

"If my brother gets into university, I'll treat everyone!"

When Liu Yimin was on the phone, the staff at the cultural center practically leaned over the phone to listen. After he hung up, they were met with a chorus of congratulations.

In the afternoon, Yang Yushan happily arrived at the cultural center and told Liu Yimin that the county was preparing to take people to Maiji Brigade to report the good news.

"Director Yang, isn't this going a bit too far?"

"I'm not satisfied yet! Get ready, the Revolutionary Committee is going to hold an awards ceremony at the cinema on September 1st, and you'll have to give a report to encourage everyone. Two days should be enough for you!"

Liu Yimin had never given a report, but he had listened to motivational speeches! During his high school years, he had to listen to one every year, one in the first and one in the second semester of his senior year, plus a gratitude education session in between.

He admired the motivational teachers' ability to hype up students who could normally only get into vocational colleges. They could even get them onto the stage and shout, "I want to go to Tsinghua or Peking University! I want to go to Tsinghua or Peking University!"

Shouting on stage wasn't enough; they also had to run around the speech area while shouting!

As Lu Xun said, you'll learn something once you hear it enough.

Next, Liu Yimin put the manuscript of "College Entrance Examination 1977" in the mailbox and began to concentrate on writing his speech.

Forget about whether gazing at the stars is right or wrong, just keep adding to the list! For these malnourished students taking the college entrance exam, this bit of motivational talk will definitely nourish them to the point of exhaustion!

Movie theaters are now commonly used meeting venues, as they have space and loudspeakers. Li Lanyong's father once gave a report in a movie theater.

Seeing that Liu Yimin had agreed, Yang Yushan happily left with his hands behind his back. But as he walked out of the cultural center, he sighed heavily again. His daughter had failed the exam again.

(End of this chapter)