Literary Master 1918: Starting with New Youth

The night passed, and Monday arrived in the blink of an eye.

As the evening bell rang, the Yenching University campus returned to tranquility.

A rickshaw stopped at the school gate. Wu Zizhen got off, paid the fare, and then walked into the school with his cane. His attire clearly indicated that he was an old-fashioned scholar, except that he was missing a long braid, which attracted the attention of the students on their way home. They thought that another old-fashioned professor had arrived.

The gatekeeper, seeing a stranger, reached out to stop him.

"Dude, what are you doing going in there?"

"Me? I am the editor-in-chief of the Beijing Daily and the uncle of Professor Liang Shouming of your esteemed school. I have something to discuss with my nephew."

Wu Zizhen took out his business card and handed it to the gatekeeper, who was about the same age as him, but it was pushed back.

"Hey buddy, just register here."

"well!"

The gatekeeper pulled Wu Zizhen to the gatehouse, registered her, and then let her through.

When Wu Zizhen first came to the newly built Red Building, although he was an old Confucian scholar who advocated reform and modernization, he was still shocked by the architecture of the new school and the spirit of the students of Yenching University.

He remembered that when Yenching University was still called the Imperial University of Peking, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a school and government office.

The students were either disgruntled officials or sons of high-ranking officials and landlords, who used the school as a stepping stone to illicit careers.

At that time, almost all students had servants. Every time class started, the sound of "Please start class, sir" would be heard from each room, and then the servants would bring paper, ink, brushes, inkstones, tea, and tobacco to the classroom.

After class, the servant came again and called, "Please return to your quarters, sir." The students dusted themselves off and left, while the servant packed up his belongings and followed behind.

Physical education classes were even more lively, with shouts of "Sir, turn left!" and "Sir, turn right!" echoing across the playground from time to time, which was quite comical.

As a result, the academic atmosphere was appalling. People were walking their birds in cages, smoking opium, and visiting brothels... the list goes on and on. Not only were the students like this, but the lecturers were too.

It's a shame that it was called the "Royal Academy." How could such a corrupt Qing Dynasty not perish?

"well....."

Wu Zizhen sighed and strode into the building.

Now that the homeland is gone, the new government is no better.

It seems that only Yenching University in the vast city of Yenching can be seen to have such an upward spirit.

We have to thank Cai Yuanpei for his great reform of the academic atmosphere at Yenching University.

However, his political stance made his attitude towards Cai Yuanpei, Chen Zhongfu, and others complex, or rather, he both loved and hated them...

Although he advocated for vernacular Chinese, his aim was social reform, not to revolutionize traditional literature.

The current state of Yenching University can be said to be a product of the new literature, but he disagrees with its anti-traditional slogans...

Not only him, but also his partner Liang Ji.

The national character is gone!

......

My thoughts were racing the whole way.

Wu Zizhen climbed four floors, panting heavily, clutching her aching back to try and find her way.

Liang Shouming's philosophy faculty office was located on the northwest side of the fourth floor...

The corridor was dimly lit. Wu Zizhen groped her way through the darkness and arrived at the door of the philosophy faculty office. She heard soft laughter coming from inside, from both men and women, and the scent of perfume wafted from the doorway.

He was completely confused.

This is a place of learning; how can such dissolute behavior be allowed? We must find out who it is!

So he raised his hand and gently knocked on the door.

Boom, boom——

"Please come in."

The voice coming from inside the door was gentle, with a lingering smile.

Wu Zizhen pushed open the door and entered. The office was not large, with several tables set up.

At a desk near the back sat two women, one young and one mature; the younger one was wearing a modern student uniform, while the older one was wearing a fitted cheongsam, and both had smiles on their faces.

The person between the two had a fair complexion, a broad forehead, wore black-rimmed glasses, and was dressed in a sharp suit, looking very stylish.

Seeing this, Wu Zizhen immediately thought that in the entire Yenching University, it seemed that only Hu Shih had such good luck with women...

Upon seeing Wu Zizhen burst in, the three who had been chatting and laughing stopped smiling and turned to look at him.

Upon seeing an unfamiliar face, Hu Shi asked in a low voice:

"May I ask who you are, sir?"

"I am Wu Zizhen, chief editor of the Beijing Daily. I have long admired you."

Wu Zizhen, recalling Liang Shouming's earlier hint that Hu Shi was the "Yanjing Guest," was very excited despite his resistance to the new literature and stepped forward to tightly grasp Hu Shi's hand.

Hu Shi had no idea what the old gentleman in front of him was thinking, but since the *Beijing Dialect Daily* was connected to his colleague Liang Shouming, there was no awkwardness between them.

"It's an honor to meet you. I am Hu Shih... Sir, are you here to see Brother Shouming?"

"Um...I guess so!"

"Alright, Shouming will probably be back soon. I'll continue chatting with my two friends about modern literature. Please don't mind, sir."

Hu Shi poured Wu Zizhen a cup of tea, then sat back down and continued chatting with the two ladies, completely oblivious to his surroundings.

"Mr. Hu, I believe that vernacular poetry must be meaningful."

"Yes, that's what I think too. It's about being close to real life and reflecting genuine emotions."

"The two ladies' insights are truly wonderful; they perfectly align with my own thoughts!"

The three of them chatted enthusiastically.

Wu Zizhen, holding a cup, was getting restless and wanted to step forward to "expose" Hu Shi's pretense, keenly noticing the key words—

Life, reality, emotions.

A strange chain of evidence surged into his mind—

Only with such a philosophy could one discuss elegance with modern women while delving into the lives of rickshaw pullers, resulting in the earthy and profound writing style of "The Story of Xiangzi"!

Wow!

Wu Zizhen praised herself inwardly, becoming even more certain that her earlier guess was correct. Unable to contain herself any longer, she leaned closer to the three of them and got down to business:

"Mr. Shih-chih, it's quite a coincidence that your discussion is so close to real life. The novel 'Camel Xiangzi' published in our *Beijing Dialect Daily* is exactly the kind of masterpiece you described, so close to real life!"

Hu Shi frowned slightly, somewhat speechless.

Ever since his argument with Li Shouchang, he didn't want to hear any more news from Xiangzi. He never expected that someone would come to his door to provoke him today. Did they think he was young and easy to bully?

The older woman, unaware of his change in mood, suddenly brightened up:

"Writing a biography of Xiangzi, the rickshaw puller? I just happened to read it, and it was truly heartbreaking."

"Yes, the driver's reaction after his hopes of saving money to buy a rickshaw were dashed time and time again is described very vividly."

The female student echoed in a low voice.

Hu Shi's expression grew increasingly grim. He wondered why the topic had veered off course and if it was possible to avoid mentioning Xiangzi in front of him.

In Wu Zizhen's eyes, it was a fear of having her identity exposed, which would be overheard and cause her to become too famous.

He perked up and probed again:

"I find the writing style, the ideas, and the breadth of vision to be extremely consistent with Mr. Hu Shih's principles. I've heard that Mr. Hu Shih wrote a vernacular poem about rickshaw pullers, which suggests that he has deeply experienced the hardships of such labor. Could it be that...?"

He deliberately left his sentence unfinished.

Since the chief editor of the *Beijing Daily*, which could publish Xiangzi's biography, had said this, how could the two ladies not understand the implication? They immediately realized what was going on:

"Mr. Hu, could it be that you published 'The Story of Xiangzi' under a pseudonym?"

"Definitely! If it wasn't Professor Hu, who else could have written those words!"

The two became more and more confident as they talked, convinced that Hu Shi was indeed a visitor from Yenching, and then they became even more excited.

Hu Shih’s face showed his confusion. He stood up in disbelief, certain that the old man had come to make fun of him!

What are you doing?!

He quickly held up three fingers:

"Gentlemen, this is a huge misunderstanding. I, Hu Shih, swear to God, I have read the biography of Xiangzi, but it is absolutely not my work!"

"What do you mean by 'going deep into the ranks of rickshaw pullers'? Absolutely not! I've always been engrossed in my studies, discussing new literature with friends; I've never experienced the life of a rickshaw puller!"

The three, whose logic was already self-consistent, couldn't listen to these words at all. Instead, they showed strange smiles, indicating that everyone understood.

You're a low-key person who doesn't like fame, probably because you're afraid the story will be too dramatic and end up in the police department's sights.

However, it is good to have this kind of sorrow in one's heart.

Hu Shih was truly furious upon seeing this:

"Sir, you've known countless people since you started your newspaper; you must know that differences in writing style are like chasms. If you were to pin this Xiangzi story on me out of thin air, I simply couldn't bear it!"

"There's no need for you to say more. Changing your writing style is probably a piece of cake for you."

"Sir, you can't slander someone's innocence out of thin air! I've never written a biography of Xiangzi, and you can't just make assumptions..."

As Hu Shih spoke angrily, the door was suddenly pushed open.

Liang Shouming burst in, his forehead covered in sweat. Upon seeing the people inside, he instantly understood what had happened.

They went too far...

He pulled Wu Zizhen close, stopping her from saying anything more, and then quickly apologized to Hu Shi:

"Brother Shizhi, it's a misunderstanding, a complete misunderstanding."

"The old man is getting on in years and tends to overthink things. Please don't take it to heart. I apologize on his behalf!"

"I'm so sorry, I'll go out and teach him a lesson right away!"

After saying that, he dragged the still-unresponsive Wu Zizhen away from the office in a few steps, leaving the three of them staring at each other in bewilderment.

Conversations could be faintly heard echoing in the corridor:

"Uncle Wu, what are you doing here? Didn't we agree to meet at Dongxing Restaurant later?"

"Didn't you say that 'Yanjing Guest' was Hu Shi? I figured I'd see him sooner or later anyway, so I might as well see him now."

"Sigh! I'm only half right! I can't explain it to you old men!"