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

Chapter 590 Deliver a bouquet of flowers to the martyrs in Babacho on my behalf

Liu Yimin was also considering what Chen Yingzhen said, and would submit a report after the cultural exchange activity ended.

Liu Yimin also figured out the attitude of the ministry and the Federation of Literary and Art Circles, or rather, the attitude of the higher authorities. No one expected that a single exchange would have the desired effect, and more importantly, it opened the door to communication.

Once the door to communication is opened, it's hard to close it; we should strengthen connections through communication at all levels.

Chen Yingzhen and Liu Yimin chatted until 1 a.m. before going back to sleep. After he left, Liu Yimin lay down on the bed, exhausted.

Before leaving, Chen Yingzhen asked Liu Yimin to help him find a suitable courtyard house. He particularly liked the courtyard houses in Yanjing and planned to use them as his permanent residence when he traveled to the mainland in the future.

Liu Yimin readily agreed, promising to notify him as soon as a suitable match was found. However, Liu Yimin was unsure whether Chen Yingzhen's identity would allow for the successful completion of the purchase procedures.

In the days that followed, the novel "God's Visa" passed from one writer to another on the island. During the day, the writer would travel to Beijing with Liu Yimin and the others, and at night, he would return to his room to read the manuscript.

On May 7, their trip to Yanjing came to an end, and Liu Yimin took them to Beidaihe for two days of rest.

During his time in Beidaihe, Li Ao even had a swimming competition with Liu Yimin. Li Ao was quite good at swimming, and when Liu Yimin asked him about it, Li Ao said that he had learned it from his teacher years ago.

“I had a teacher in high school named Yan Qiao. He was Yan Fu’s grandson. We had a very good relationship and once conspired to escape together. We planned to leave the island. In addition to transportation such as ships and airplanes, we also needed to learn to swim. That’s when I learned to swim. Unfortunately, Yan Qiao was later arrested and passed away in 74.”

Yan Fu was the one who translated "On the Origin of Species" and introduced the concept of "survival of the fittest" to China. Yan Qiao was his eldest grandson.

After being arrested on the island, they were sent to Green Island, a small island where a prison was built, initially specifically to hold "political prisoners!"

Every day, they had to participate in the "New Life" movement to pledge allegiance to the D country. Those who violated this rule were either shot or imprisoned.

Yan Qiao passed away in 74 and was later posthumously recognized as a martyr.

Liu Yimin said regretfully, "The White Terror... I wonder how many people were arrested!"

"Yes, I know a major spy named Gu Zhengwen. He was deeply involved in the White Terror at the time and committed a series of bloody crimes. He invited me to write a preface for his experiences, and I agreed. I want to print out the crimes committed by Gu Zhengwen so that he can personally reconstruct this history and let future generations know about this evil." Li Ao said in an extremely disgusted tone.

Li Ao knew the cruelty involved, but when he saw Gu Zhengwen write it down, he still felt a chill run down his spine, as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

Liu Yimin patted Li Ao on the shoulder: "Old Li, I need your help!"

"With a relationship like ours, there's no need for me to beg! What's the matter?" Li Ao said casually.

"Go back and help me look after General Wu Shi, General Chen Baocang, Zhu Feng, Nie Xi, and thousands of other martyrs," Liu Yimin said solemnly.

Li Ao nodded and said, "Okay, I'll definitely go and see for you. I actually admire them a lot. I'm always criticizing and acting like I'm not afraid of anyone. But after reading Gu Zhengwen's memoir, I thought about what courage that is."

The island's terrain is too unique, separated by a long strait; if something happens, there's nowhere to run. I was thinking, if I ended up in a Kuomintang prison, how long could I keep up the act?

“Not long, not long at all!” Liu Yimin said.

Li Ao nodded and said, "Not long, not long!"

Li Ao roughly recounted the events recorded in his memoirs to Liu Yimin: everyone arrested was subjected to severe torture, and martyr Wu Shi lost sight in one eye.

“Spies are hateful, but traitors are even more hateful!” Liu Yimin said through gritted teeth.

"This time, the underground party members on the island were all captured."

"I believe that some comrades will definitely come back alive."

After the veterans were allowed to return to their hometowns, a small number of comrades went through many hardships and dangers to return to the mainland. After the White Terror, they fled to the deep mountains and forests, living almost like savages.

After swimming a lap, the two returned to shore, while the rest of the group sat on the beach to rest. The beach at Beidaihe in May was very cool, and the group needed towels to keep warm.

Chi Pang-yuan said, "Back when my father worked for the Fengtian clique, he brought me to Beidaihe. Now, Beidaihe is completely different and even more beautiful than before. In the past, apart from the villas, the rest of the area was wilderness."

"Zhang Xueliang came here too, didn't he?" Li Ao asked.

Liu Yimin said, "I've been here several times."

"Everyone criticizes Zhang Xueliang, but he did at least two things right in his life. The first was changing the flag and the banner, transforming from a local king to a warlord, which is not something everyone can do. Although Nanjing was not very good, at least he maintained national unity at a critical moment."

The other matter was the Xi'an Incident. While many other things were handled poorly, these two were done well.

Li Ao believed that Zhang Xueliang could be called a national hero for these two things alone, but unfortunately his abilities in other aspects were lacking. The fact that the Northeast Army fled back to the interior without firing a single shot was truly shameful.

“Back then, the Fengtian clique couldn’t win without the support of the central government,” Qi Bangyuan said.

“Even if we can’t win, we should fight to the death. If the Japanese invaders suffer heavy losses in the Northeast, it won’t just slow down their invasion, it will at least significantly dampen their arrogance,” Liu Yimin said. Chen Yingzhen said, “Although he changed his allegiance, he can’t change his warlord nature. For warlords, preserving strength is the top priority. Even if the Northeast is lost, as long as troops cross the Shanhaiguan Pass, they can still eat. Besides, Bald Wang is really useless. At this critical moment for the nation, he still thinks about pacifying the country before resisting foreign aggression. He not only wants to eliminate the Red Army, but also wants to eliminate the warlords.”

Even if they had succeeded, wouldn't the Central Army have suffered losses? Could the Central Army have resisted the Japanese? Later battles proved that the miscellaneous troops fought no worse than the Central Army.

After talking on the beach for half an hour, the group returned to their nearby hotel.

The next stop is Shanghai, and then Shenzhen.

In Shanghai, they met Sanmao.

Sanmao was not on the island. An accident occurred on the way there. Her flight was delayed due to heavy rain. After arriving in Shanghai, she did not go to Beijing but stayed at her godfather Zhang Leping's house.

Zhang Leping has been so happy lately that he can't stop smiling, introducing his "god-daughter" to everyone he meets.

"Ms. Sanmao, thankfully it was all alright." Liu Yimin said, holding Sanmao's hand.

Sanmao joked, "Yes, if the plane crashes in the sky, no one will see me anymore."

"Why are you in Europe again? I thought I'd see you when you went to Latin America a while ago."

"I'm taking care of some things in Europe, and then I plan to go back to the island and live a peaceful life for a while," Sanmao said frankly.

Li Ao shook hands and said, "Sanmao, welcome back to the island. We can have a good chat in the future."

The delegation on the island all knew that Li Ao and Sanmao had made peace, so this scene was not surprising.

They spent two days in Shanghai, visiting Fudan University and seeing the city's development achievements.

There are many professors in the Chinese Department of Fudan University who study traditional literature, especially Professor Chen Zizhan, whom I met before. He teaches pre-Qin literature better than the professors at Yenching University.

At Fudan University, everyone attended a vivid lesson on traditional culture.

Chi Pang-yuan even invited Chen Tzu-chan to give lectures at their university if he had the opportunity: "Mr. Chen, we need people like you. You also have students on the island, and I believe that your lectures would be packed."

"Professor Qi, I'm getting old, and I'm afraid I won't live to see that day of exchange. If my health allows, I really would like to go and see it, and I really want to talk to the people on the island," Chen Zizhan said regretfully.

“There will definitely be an opportunity,” Qi Bangyuan said confidently.

Chen Zizhan shook his head without saying anything. He would be ninety years old next year, and he knew his own body best.

Chen Zizhan said to Liu Yimin, "Yimin, I am only one year younger than Mr. Zhu. Mr. Zhu passed away last year. When I learned of this, I was so sad that I could not stand up. I wonder how Mr. Zhu's wife, Ms. Xi Jinwu, is doing?"

“That’s good. Ms. Qi Bangyuan is Professor Zhu’s student. I went to see her when I was in Yenching.”

Qi Bangyuan said, "The teacher's wife misses the teacher, but her spirits are still good."

"That's good, that's good. I'll go to Yanjing to take a look when I have time."

In the evening in Shanghai, Liu Yimin also met with several teachers who had previously studied at the Institute of Literature and encouraged them to work hard at Fudan University.

After returning from their training at the Institute of Literature, they received recognition from the Chinese Department of Fudan University and are currently among the most popular young teachers in the department, both in teaching and literary research.

Li Xiaolin from Harvest magazine approached the delegation on the island to commission articles, hoping they would write essays about their experiences on the mainland, which would then be published in Harvest.

Seeing that Li Ao and the others agreed, Li Xiaolin then turned his attention to Liu Yimin: "Yimin, it's been a long time since you submitted a manuscript. I heard you have a pretty good one?"

"Haha, there is such a piece, but Senior Sister Xiaolin, I can't give it to you. I'm preparing to give it to People's Literature and Art. I've also saved one for you. I'll send it over after I finish writing it!" Liu Yimin said mysteriously.

Li Xiaolin became interested: "What manuscript? Is it even better than 'God's Visa'?"

"Senior sister, I haven't written it yet, so how can I say if it's good or bad? But the material selection is definitely not a problem," Liu Yimin said.

Li Xiaolin pondered for a moment and then said, "Then I'll wait for your next manuscript. Once it's finished, send it to us as soon as possible."

Everyone was curious, but no one asked. Qi Bangyuan said, "When 'God's Visa' is published on the island, it will definitely cause a stir again. Yimin, in fact, all your books should be published on the island."

“I would like to, but the publisher told me that some parts need to be deleted or revised, and I am unwilling to do so,” Liu Yimin said.

Chi Pang-yuan said, "Actually, there's nothing wrong with deleting some parts. Preserving the overall content is also an educational experience for the readers on the island."

(End of this chapter)