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

Chapter 44 The Cultural Center's Reluctance to Leave (Please Read On)

After Zou Huofan finished sending the telegram, Bei Dao, Mang Ke, and Shi Zhi happily walked out of the Poetry Journal editorial office. Bei Dao and Mang Ke came because they had recently had a sudden urge to start a magazine, and authors like Liu Yimin were the ones they wanted to recruit.

Of course, this wasn't said to Zou Huofan and his group, otherwise they would be seen as trying to undermine their company. However, their magazine, *Today*, was doomed from the moment it was founded—like a grasshopper in autumn, it was quickly shut down!

Bei Dao excitedly grabbed Shi Zhi and warmly invited, "Comrade Shi Zhi, your 'Mad Dog' is very well written. Let's find a place to chat!"

Shi Zhi glanced at Bei Dao and said indifferently, "No, I'm used to being alone. Loneliness is the norm in life!"

“What’s the point of being alone? Wouldn’t it be more enjoyable for us all to sit together, chat, and talk about our literary ideals and the future of poetry?” Mang Ke also said.

With his hands in his pockets, he gazed wistfully at the buildings and pedestrians before him: "Being alone doesn't necessarily mean being unhappy. Everyone is inherently lonely, and sometimes, lonely people are happier!"

"Then why did you come to the Poetry Journal and want to meet Comrade Liu Yimin? Don't you like being alone?" Bei Dao teased with a smile, not angry.

"You don't understand, that's another state of loneliness!"

After saying that, Shizhi left the two without looking back, leaving only Beidao and Mangke. The two looked at each other with a bitter smile. If anyone else had said that, they would have jumped up and down long ago!
Inside the cultural center, Liu Yimin talked until his throat was dry, while the people next to him nodded in agreement. Then they asked a question that drove Liu Yimin to the brink of collapse.

Liu Yimin is now like a parent teaching a child. Luckily he is young, otherwise he would have to breathe oxygen to teach them. Even so, his blood pressure is still soaring.

No wonder they failed the exam twice; it would be abnormal if they passed with that kind of foundation. If any of them get into university one day, Liu Yimin will have to seriously consider whether they impersonated others.
In the 80s and 90s, there were many cases of people being impersonated when they went to university. They studied hard and took the college entrance examination with great effort, only to find that someone else went to university in their place!

Now, the members of the cultural center's creative team no longer discuss writing, or even play chess. How can playing chess compare to watching Liu Yimin's lectures?
"We've learned this theorem several times. Given two sides of a triangle, how do we find the third side? Can we use it?" Liu Yimin's lips parted slightly as he looked at the group expectantly, hoping someone could answer it.

The Pythagorean theorem!

Old Li took a sip of tea, spat the tea leaves into the teacup with a "pfft," crossed his legs, and said leisurely, with a hint of smugness in his expression, as if to say that I understood what he was saying right there beside me.

"Ah, right, I remember now, it's the Pythagorean theorem!" The group nodded quickly, as if they had been granted a reprieve.

Curator Zhang glared at the smug Old Li, telling him not to disturb Liu Yimin's lecture. He secretly worried for Yang Yushan, the Revolutionary Committee Director; it seemed he'd have to find a way to remind him.

Don't let Yang Tingting waste any more energy on her studies!
Liu Yimin pouted at Lao Li and secretly gave him a thumbs up. Then he looked at the group and sighed, saying, "These are all very basic theorems. Your foundation is weak, so you need to practice more. Look at your report cards. Many of you have similar scores in other subjects, but only math can really differentiate you."

In this year's college entrance examination, students who scored 50 points in mathematics were considered to be at an above-average level, and many scored 20 or 30 points.

Therefore, Liu Yimin focused all his review efforts on mathematics, hoping to help them improve. After Liu Yimin left, they would be placed in the senior high school graduating class and study with the current year's second-year students.

Old Zhang went out for a while and thoughtfully bought a lot of red bean ice cream for everyone to cool off. He patted Liu Yimin on the shoulder and said in a low voice, "The master leads you to the door, but the practice is up to you. Don't get angry!"

Liu Yimin nodded. After being a brigade teacher for several years, his occupational hazard always kicked in. He felt much better after he came to terms with it.

In the afternoon, Liu Yimin received a telegram. After reading its contents, he expressionlessly folded it and stuffed it into his pocket. The title of the telegram was longer than its contents.

Bei Dao and Mang Ke were so afraid their pen names wouldn't gain recognition that they had to include their pen names after their real names. Their combined names outlived the magazine they founded. When Zou Huofan asked them when they had chosen their pen names, they both replied in unison, "We just came up with them last night!"

Zou Huofan: "."

Walking down the street, I suddenly stopped, overjoyed. Yanjing is great! I have to get to Yanjing right away; once I'm there, no one will bother me!

Back at the cultural center, Liu Yimin told Lao Zhang what had happened. Lao Zhang was stunned for a few seconds after hearing this, his heart filled with reluctance. He knew that Liu Yimin would definitely have to leave when school started, but he really didn't want him to leave early.

“Yimin, when you come back from your holiday, you must come to the cultural center first. This is your home. You have to come here as soon as you get off the train,” Old Zhang said seriously.

"Okay, I'll definitely come to see you as soon as I have a holiday!"

In Liu Yimin's mind, Lao Zhang was a really good person. The two yuan subsidy he received every day was higher than the subsidy he would receive for revising manuscripts at a magazine.

Two yuan a day, that's sixty yuan a month. Back then, we really went to great lengths to keep him.

When the people at the cultural center found out, they all expressed their reluctance to part with Liu Yimin. Old Sun even joked with Old Li that if Liu Yimin hadn't come to the cultural center, how could he have been cured of his weird, sarcastic, and complaining habits?

"Old Sun, where's your granddaughter? Have Yi Hong deliver her to Yi Min!" Old Li said, raising his eyebrows and putting his hands behind his back.

"Old Li, I'll fight you to the death!" Old Sun said through gritted teeth.

The two of them bickered with each other, which lessened the sad atmosphere of parting.

When Liu Yimin returned home, Old Zhang insisted on taking him home on his bicycle. He first went to the supply and marketing cooperative and bought a lot of scarce goods. He ranked first in the exam, and Yang Yushan of the Revolutionary Committee gave him a lot of scarce coupons. The cotton cloth bought with the cloth coupons was enough to make two sets of clothes for Liu's family, one for summer and one for winter, with some left over.

There were also plenty of coupons for other daily necessities. They even thoughtfully prepared national grain coupons for Liu Yimin to use when he went to Yanjing.

“Yimin, I don’t think there’s a rush to go to Yanjing. You can stay home for a few more days and spend time with your family. No one will bother you in Maiji Brigade.”

"Haha, Lao Zhang, that's exactly what I was thinking. I'll arrive in Yanjing on October 1st, stay at the magazine office for a few days, and then report to school on the 5th."

The two rode all the way to the intersection leading out of the city. Amid the roar of passing coal trucks, Liu Yimin stopped his bicycle: "Old Zhang, we're already out of the city. Don't bother seeing me off. I'm just going home!"

"Even after a thousand miles of travel, we must part ways. Alright, I'll head back here! Don't forget our cultural center when you get to Yanjing. I'll be looking for news about you in the magazines from time to time. If I find that your literary skills have declined, I'll write you a letter to urge you on."

Old Zhang spoke like an elder at this moment. He originally wanted to say that he had written a letter to scold you, but he felt that it was inappropriate for someone of his level to say such a thing.

Dear readers, please vote for me with your monthly tickets and keep reading! Thank you!

(End of this chapter)