Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 875 gave a surprise.

Even though Zhou Yali was unwilling to leave, after staying in Shanghai for two hours, she was still reluctantly taken away by her parents. Her original plan to stay until March was instantly shattered, and her pouting lips could have been covered in ten pounds of lard.

The worst part was that she wanted to take the two little monkeys with her, but someone refused her firmly. She was so angry that she stomped her feet as she climbed the gangway, scaring the airport staff half to death.

Chen Fan was different; without this third wheel, he was in a great mood and felt completely free.

After returning home, I spent most of the afternoon in the villa, eating and drinking to my heart's content. Then I took a nice bath, put on a cotton-padded jacket, and lay comfortably on the sofa, sipping tea with my legs crossed. I finally felt a long-lost sense of satisfaction.

Jiang Tiantian came downstairs after getting dressed and saw him like this. She couldn't help but laugh and said, "When Yali was around, you seemed to be under pressure. But as soon as she left, you were like Sun Wukong who had broken free of the Five Finger Mountain. You've completely changed."

The two little monkeys sitting obediently to the side looked at each other, then at their owner, wondering if they had just been calling them.

Chen Fan hummed twice and waved to her.

When Jiang Tiantian came over, she immediately pulled her into her arms and hugged her, saying seriously, "It's not that I'm oppressed, it's that I'm uncomfortable. We were doing just fine behind closed doors, but with her coming over, it's inconvenient everywhere. It's good that she left. That's what it means to retreat into your own little world and not care about spring, summer, autumn, or winter."

Jiang Tiantian pursed her lips, helplessly grabbed his hand and pulled it out, saying irritably, "Who cares about winter, summer, or spring? You even misread Lu Xun's poems. If we're outside, people will laugh at you."

Chen Fan blinked. "Isn't it spring and summer, autumn and winter?"

I've been reciting it for decades, and it seems like I've always recited it this way.

He then clicked his tongue and said, "Old Lu is no good. How could he get the order wrong when it's clearly spring, summer, autumn, and winter?"

He paused for a moment, then grinned and said, "Believe it or not, if I said this in public, many people would doubt that they had memorized it wrong and would go back and check the information."

Jiang Tiantian smiled helplessly, kissed him, then stood up and said, "I'm going out to buy groceries and also to let the senior staff at the magazine know that we can come back to work tomorrow."

Chen Fan turned to look at her. "Huh? Going out now? Don't you need to be in such a hurry?"

Jiang Tiantian spread her hands and said, "It's already the tenth of the month. If we don't start work soon, I'm worried that the older comrades might doubt that the magazine can continue operating."

She pointed upstairs and said, "Lili is also organizing her study materials. Don't go up and disturb her. Otherwise, when school starts in a couple of days, she won't be prepared at all and will definitely be criticized by the teacher."

Chen Fan silently raised his hands, "I promise not to bother you until you come back."

Jiang Tiantian smiled, shook her head, picked up her car keys, and went out.

One of them went out on errands, and the other had something to do upstairs. Well, now he was left alone.

Chen Fan turned to look at the two little monkeys beside him. He held the same pose for two minutes, which made the little monkeys a little uneasy. They also stared at him without moving.

After a while, Chen Fan suddenly grinned and said, "I'll take you guys out to play, wanna come?"

The two little monkeys blinked, and immediately climbed up the arms to the shoulders, one on the left and one on the right, and squatted down.

Chen Fan: "...Can you go downstairs first? Let me change my clothes."

The two little monkeys said, "...Why didn't you say so earlier?"

I went upstairs to change my clothes and took the opportunity to check on Jiang Lili. Sure enough, she was sitting at her desk, engrossed in her textbooks.

He didn't disturb them, quietly went downstairs, told the little monkey to stay in his schoolbag, slung his schoolbag over his shoulder, and went out the door.

After Jiang Tiantian drove the car away, he got on his bicycle and went out.

Speaking of the two bicycles at home, they were bought from "Huaiguo Old" when I first came to Shanghai. However, they were not used bicycles, but "defective products" that were exported from the Shanghai Bicycle Factory and then resold domestically. They did not require bicycle tickets and were cheaper than bicycles in department stores.

However, such good things are no longer possible. These kinds of "defective products" from factories are almost all bought up by the "Shanghai University Students' Work-Study Alliance" led by the safety supervisor. The profits inside are really... Chen Fan was drooling just thinking about it.

Even if the profits are shared among many people, Anquan only needs to stir things up a little, and his monthly income will be enormous.

Riding his bicycle, thinking about how much safer things are now, Chen Fan suddenly realized that he was getting married and hadn't gone to collect his wedding gift yet.

Then, by turning the handlebars, I arrived at the Shanghai Writers Association.

Following the confirmation of the resumption of the Spring Festival holiday, the date for the official resumption of work by companies after the holiday has also been clarified.

So even though the Spring Festival is still around, the Writers' Association compound is already bustling with activity.

After giving the old man guarding the gate a pack of cigarettes, Chen Fan leisurely rode his bicycle into the courtyard and soon saw a group of people gathering and lining up in front of the Writers Association office building.

He rolled the car into the shed, locked it with a click, and then, seeing someone nearby, asked, "What are they doing?"

The man turned around, surprised. "Oh, it's Vice Chairman Chen. Why didn't you drive today? You rode a bicycle instead?"

Then, looking in the direction Chen Fan was pointing, she said, "Oh, that's from the novel writing symposium. Leaders of the Writers Association and colleagues from the editorial department of Shanghai Literature are taking a group photo with young writers."

(A group photo of leaders of the Shanghai Writers Association and young writers in 80)

Chen Fan was immediately confused. "A young writer? Why didn't Jiang Tiantian receive a notification?"

Upon hearing this, the man couldn't help but chuckle. "Vice Chairman Chen, are you kidding me? With Comrade Jiang Tiantian's achievements, who really considers her a young writer?"

After a pause, he continued, "If Comrade Jiang Tiantian is considered a young writer, then shouldn't you be considered one too? The so-called young writer in the industry actually refers to a new writer who is not very old, has not achieved much, but has great potential."

"Both you and Jiang Tiantian are very famous in literary circles. If you were to attend this symposium, you would definitely be the teachers giving lectures, not the students sitting below."

After he finished speaking, he suddenly pointed to the people taking pictures and whispered, "Vice Chairman Chen, you are an idol admired by these young writers. Would you like to take a picture with them?"

Chen Fan blinked and suddenly said, "I think I've become an idol too?"

The man paused for a moment, then laughed and said, "I know that line. It's from Lu Xun's letters to Xu Guangping." Chen Fan chuckled and said, "Luckily I remembered correctly, or I would have been laughed at."

He then locked the car and said with a smile, "Forget about taking a photo. I'm here to see Mr. Ba. Isn't he in his office?"

The man didn't say much, and immediately nodded, "At this time, it should be there."

Chen Fan waved his hand, "Then I'm going up now, see you later."

After saying goodbye, they rushed into the Writers' Association office building and ran to the door of Ba Jin's office in a flash. Because they were running so fast, the two little monkeys on each side were so scared that they grabbed the straps of their schoolbags tightly, their eyes wide open and they dared not make a sound.

It wasn't until Chen Fan entered the office and took off his backpack and placed it on the sofa that the little monkey quickly jumped out of the bag and nestled in the corner of the sofa.

Just as Ba Jin took off his glasses, ready to speak, he suddenly saw two little monkeys. His eyes widened in surprise. He put his glasses back on, slowly walked over, looked at them for a while, and then turned to Chen Fan, who had poured him tea. "Hey, is this your New Year's gift to me?"

He was about to pick it up when he said, "I really like this. You've finally given me a surprise."

Chen Fan sat down with his teacup in hand, took out a cigarette, lit it, and exhaled a puff of smoke before slowly saying, "Don't mention it, they're from the same hometown as you, they're all from Sichuan."

Old Ba sat down holding the little monkey, grinning, and said, "I can see it now. This big upturned nose is definitely from a Sichuan golden monkey. Golden monkeys from other places don't have such big nostrils."

Chen Fan chuckled and said, "You seem to know a lot about these things, but they're not gifts. Zhou Yali is going back to the US today, and she was crying and begging to take them with her, but I didn't agree."

Upon hearing this, Ba Jin's expression changed. "It's just two monkeys. You can't even bear to part with that? You're so stingy."

Chen Fan said, “It’s not that I’m stingy, the key is that they are Lili’s precious treasures, even more precious than the three pandas at Lujiawan’s house. If I give them to you, I won’t be able to explain it when I get back.”

Upon hearing this, Ba Jin's eyes widened in surprise. "You have pandas at home?"

Chen Fan laughed so hard his eyes almost disappeared. "In June of 1977, I met a panda performer from Sichuan in Yunhu. The female panda she was performing with had just given birth to two cubs, so I bought them and took them home."

Ba Jin was utterly bewildered, exclaiming, "Why haven't I ever had such good fortune?"

Chen Fan grinned and said, "Even if you were to run into one, you wouldn't be able to raise it. Pandas usually only keep one cub after giving birth. I'm a veterinarian, so I can help the mother panda accept two cubs."

Besides, these three pandas eat hundreds of kilograms of bamboo every day; you couldn't raise them without a strong logistical support base.

Old Ba clicked his tongue regretfully, "There's really nothing we can do about it."

Then he looked at the little monkey in his arms and said, "Oh my, these two little guys are so cute. It's a pity that a gentleman doesn't take what others like, so the three of us are not destined to be together."

Chen Fan's eye twitched. Was he planning to adopt two monkey grandsons?

After playing with the monkey for a while, Old Ba looked tired. He put the monkey aside, took the cigarette Chen Fan offered him, lit it, and asked, "You just said that your uncle's family went back to America?"

Chen Fan nodded. "Yeah, what's wrong?"

Old Ba let out a long breath and said, "It's good that he's gone. These past few days, rumors have been spreading everywhere that your uncle is a capitalist showing off, inviting a lot of Taoist priests back to his hometown to worship his ancestors, and that he's engaging in feudal superstition."

He waved his hand and said, "Although those people are not respectable, this is ultimately not a good thing. It's better to avoid them for now."

Chen Fan snorted twice, flicked off his cigarette ash, and said with a hint of disdain, "If it were anything else, I might be worried, but they're just some clowns who aren't worthy of my uncle's permission."

Seeing the puzzled look on Ba Lao's face, he smiled and explained, "The higher-ups have already made a clear conclusion. First of all, there is freedom of religious belief. My uncle is not a member of the organization. Inviting Taoist priests back to their hometown to worship their ancestors is not excessive, whether it is him or the Taoist priests."

Secondly, regardless of which faction's superiors were involved, they all clearly stated that the basic line should be to focus on economic development. My uncle, after all, was a patriotic Chinese capitalist who had made contributions; without his investment, how could the mainland have built international program-controlled communication lines connecting more than a dozen cities so quickly?

In addition to Yali's investment in the Shenzhen industrial park, their actions can be said to be entirely beneficial to the country.

It was just a trip back to my hometown to pay respects to my ancestors, and it wasn't even a public event; at most, it could be considered a private matter. If we have to nitpick even about such a private matter, how can we talk about openness?
Will other Chinese businessmen dare to come back?

He picked up his teacup, took a sip, hummed twice, and said, "They can't even see the big picture clearly, and they don't even dare to jump out and criticize openly. They only dare to hide in the shadows and point fingers. What are they if not clowns?"
If even these people need to be considered, then my uncle should just quit doing anything and go home to find some peace and quiet.

After he finished speaking, Old Ba took a deep breath, nodded slowly, took another puff of his cigarette, and suddenly laughed, "The older you get in the world, the more timid you become. At your age, you're not as insightful as a young man like you."

Chen Fan shook his head and laughed, "You're not timid, you're just scared by the storm, so it's normal to be hesitant."

He paused for a moment, then his expression turned serious as he said, "Actually, this is also a dilemma that we writers are currently facing in our creative work."

Upon hearing this, Old Ba frowned immediately, stopped smoking and threw the cigarette into the ashtray, looking at him with a serious expression. "What do you mean?"

Chen Fan also threw away his cigarette butt and said softly, "As we all know, windy days are very damaging to artistic creation, enough to leave very deep aftereffects."

He turned to look at Ba Jin and asked, "In the 50s, many critical novels reflecting reality emerged. Does anyone dare to write them now?"

Old Ba frowned, pursed his lips, and remained silent.

Chen Fan continued, "Because of these concerns, many people unconsciously gravitate towards criticizing the Fourth Movement when creating their works, which indirectly promotes the prosperity of 'scar literature'."

At the last literary and art congress, the leaders said that we should emancipate our minds, which actually meant this.

Those of us engaged in literary and artistic work cannot be so short-sighted as to only see those sad things, or rather, only see those things from the past.

Why not broaden our horizons, look to the future, use the past as a mirror, and think more about the direction and path of the future?

Only in this way can we break the current deadlock in literary and artistic creation, freeing literature and art from the shackles of politics, restoring their autonomy and independence, and then drawing nourishment from the soil of the people, moving from a 'return to the essence' to a 'divergent flow,' thus creating 'a new era of literature.'

"'Return to the original essence,' 'Divergent streams,' 'New Era Literature'?"

Old Ba muttered a few words to himself, his eyes growing brighter and brighter. Suddenly, he turned to look at Chen Fan and laughed, "You little rascal, you really gave me a surprise today."

(End of this chapter)