A widower's entertainment

Chapter 274 [Realistic Discussion of Love] (Subscription Request)
Beijing, Lu Xun Academy of Literature.

Many students in the college's research and creation class did not participate in the "Lush" work seminar, but this did not affect their discussion of Lin Youcheng's work.

Just like now, Cheng Hong looked at Xie Shuhua and asked, "Shuhua, do you think Yu Zecheng loves Zuo Lan?"

"what?"

Xie Shuhua was slightly stunned, put down the book "The Hidden" that he was reading over and over again, and asked: "Why do you ask that?"

Cheng Hong thought for a moment and said, "I was just thinking that in "The Hidden", Yu Zecheng has three women in his life. One is his first love Zuo Lan, one is his wife Cui Ping whom he will never forget in his life, and the last one is Wan Qiu who will continue to hide with him and may accompany him for the rest of his life."

"In Lin Youcheng's writing, it is obvious at the end that Yu Zecheng is standing next to Wanqiu and thinking about Cuiping. Only Zuo Lan, the first woman he fell in love with, doesn't seem to be that important to him."

"Isn't it said that first love is the most unforgettable? Isn't it said that first love is the pain and beauty of many people's lives? But why did Yu Zecheng forget his first love alone? Moreover, they were in love so passionately, and their relationship had even reached the stage of discussing marriage. If it weren't for the war, they might have been married and had children long ago."

Xie Shuhua didn't expect Cheng Hong to ask this question. After thinking about it carefully, he said, "I think it's possible that Zuo Lan sacrificed herself to protect him. Zuo Lan's sacrifice dealt a great blow to Yu Zecheng mentally, but because of the revolution, he endured the grief and continued to complete his mission. He could only bury the reality of Zuo Lan's sacrifice deep in his heart."

Cheng Hong raised her question again, saying, "But why didn't he remember the first woman he fell in love with, the woman who sacrificed her life to protect him?"

"This……"

Xie Shuhua didn't know why and was thinking about the reason. At the same time, she didn't know if this question was important?
Cheng Hong looked at Xie Shuhua and suddenly said, "You said there is no possibility. Yu Zecheng still doesn't love Zuo Lan enough. I think only if he doesn't love her enough would he forget her so easily. I think only if you love her deeply would you still miss her after so many years, and shed a sad tear when you think of her in the dead of night."

Xie Shuhua frowned slightly. For some reason, she felt that what Cheng Hong said made sense, but at the same time, she felt that something was wrong.

But she also considered whether Yu Zecheng’s love for Zuo Lan was not as deep as she imagined. In fact, he had loved her before. If he loved her deeply, why did he let it go so lightly in the end?

Just as Xie Shuhua was thinking, Cheng Hong gave the reason for his guess.

"Shuhua, you should know what happened between Yu Zecheng and Zuo Lan in the beginning."

Xie Shuhua nodded.

At the beginning of the novel, it is written that Yu Zecheng joined the Kuomintang in 1937 when he attended the Qingpu special training class in Shanghai, and is now a monitoring officer of the Second Station of the Telecommunications Department at the Chongqing Headquarters.

He looks honest, is kind, and is an official, so he is considered a promising young man. His section chief is called Lu Zongfang, who is actually a Communist.

Of course, Yu Zecheng didn't know the true identity of his section chief Lu Zongfang at that time, and all he thought about every day was to wait until everything was over so that he could live an ordinary married life with his girlfriend Zuo Lan.

His girlfriend Zuo Lan is a teacher. She is pretty and delicate in appearance. She is stunning at first sight. She is also very cultured and knowledgeable. She is a beautiful and independent girl.

Cheng Hong looked at Xie Shuhua and said, "At that time, the two of them were a perfect match, talented and beautiful, and they were in love with each other. All they needed was a ceremony to be together openly."

Xie Shuhua nodded, that was indeed the case.

She clearly remembered that as the war against Japan was about to end and the island nation was about to surrender, Yu Zecheng felt that the moment of victory was coming. He proposed to Zuo Lan and came to the school to find her that day. He also brought a scarf that his friend brought back from Moscow as a gift to Zuo Lan.

Zuo Lan was very happy and asked him if he had decided on the wedding date. Yu Zecheng said he wanted to choose the day of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War.

It is obvious that Yu Zecheng is very much looking forward to the future outcome and is very optimistic.

However, Zuo Lan felt that there were still many things to come after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, and she believed that there would definitely be some entanglement between the two parties.

At that time, Zuo Lan had already expressed strong dissatisfaction with the Kuomintang, but Yu Zecheng had not yet doubted Zuo Lan's identity. He thought that his girlfriend was just an intellectual with some ideas.

He was full of love and admiration for her, he liked such beautiful and knowledgeable women. Obviously, love blinded his eyes, he never saw clearly that they were not from the same camp, until one day when Yu Zecheng was on a mission, he discovered Zuo Lan's true identity.

Cheng Hong took the People's Literature magazine in front of Xie Shuhua and turned to a plot in The Hidden. She said as she turned the pages: "You know, Yu Zecheng later found out that Zuo Lan was a communist, and Lü Zongfang sacrificed himself to save him. He followed Lü Zongfang's instructions and went to see Zuo Lan. At that time, he didn't know it was Zuo Lan, nor did he know that Lü Zongfang wanted Zuo Lan to incite him to defect. Because the most important person to carry out the task of defection is Zuo Lan. There is no doubt that from the fact that Yu Zecheng had previously erased Zuo Lan's information and from the relationship between them, Zuo Lan is the best candidate to carry out this mission."

"Yu Zecheng knew at that time that Lu Zongfang asked him to come here not to deliver gifts, but to meet someone. In fact, Yu Zecheng refused very much. He knew that Lu Zongfang was a member of the Communist Party. He didn't want to see anyone from their side at that time, and he was even very excited to leave. At this time, he saw his lover Zuo Lan, whom he had been thinking about day and night. He was very surprised and shocked at the same time."

“But their dialogue was not good.”

“Originally, Yu Zecheng thought it was a coincidence and Zuo Lan just happened to come here to see him, but the fact is that the person Lu Zongfang asked him to meet was Zuo Lan, and Zuo Lan’s mission was to persuade Yu Zecheng to defect.

Before, Yu Zecheng couldn't believe that Zuo Lan was really a communist, but Zuo Lan said that it was Lu Zongfang who asked her to come here to wait for him before he died, and Zuo Lan also said that she hoped Yu Zecheng would go to Yan'an with her. This surprised Yu Zecheng very much, and he suddenly felt that his love with Zuo Lan was not pure. "

Xie Shuhua listened to Cheng Hong's words and nodded.

She also knew that Yu Zecheng at that time could not accept this reality. In his eyes, Zuo Lan wanted him to betray her, but Zuo Lan told him that this was not betrayal, but that she hoped they could truly be together, have the same life goals and the same beliefs.

Yu Zecheng found it hard to accept this reality. He couldn't accept that the person who advised him was Zuo Lan.

In fact, Yu Zecheng is a man without faith. For him, justice is too far away. If he has any faith, it is conscience. He thinks that as long as the Anti-Japanese War is won, everything will be over. However, Zuo Lan knows that there are still internal conflicts and a long way to go.

"Look, here—" Cheng Hong pointed to the scene in "The Hidden Man" and said, "Yu Zecheng was a little dazed when facing Zuo Lan's strong persuasion. He asked Zuo Lan very sadly: 'Do you really love me, or is it a honey trap for us?'"

"After hearing this, Zuo Lan was very sad. With red eyes, she said to Yu Zecheng: 'If you think our previous feelings were real, then don't say such things.'"

"Shuhua, I think maybe his feelings towards Zuo Lan have changed. He thinks that their relationship is more of a honey trap. In fact, Zuo Lan truly loves Yu Zecheng, so she really hopes that Yu Zecheng can stand on the same side with her. It is obvious that Zuo Lan's mission of subversion failed, and Yu Zecheng is also very heavy in his heart. But Zuo Lan knows that this is not a honey trap. She is sincere to Yu Zecheng. If it weren't for this, she wouldn't be sad. If it weren't for this, she wouldn't sacrifice her life to protect Yu Zecheng."

"In fact, I think Zuo Lan made a mistake. That is, she cannot be the one who persuades Yu Zecheng to defect. Although her success rate will increase, it will make Yu Zecheng doubt their relationship."

"Of course, in that situation, Yu Zecheng would only listen to Zuo Lan, so this was a very difficult decision for Zuo Lan."

"That's why I feel that Yu Zecheng didn't love Zuo Lan enough later on. The excitement of the two meeting again was just the impulse of reuniting after a long separation. But if you think about it carefully, he had long doubted Zuo Lan's sincerity. That's why later on Yu Zecheng stood beside Mu Wanqiu and was thinking about Cui Ping, but Zuo Lan, who sacrificed for him, had no place in his heart. Because that "honey trap" has always been a pain in Yu Zecheng's heart, and it is also a past event he doesn't want to recall."

"For Yu Zecheng, love is pure, sacred, and purposeless. No matter how much Zuo Lan loves him, it is obvious that her love has a purpose. This is something Yu Zecheng cannot accept, and it is also the reason why he forgets Zuo Lan."

Hearing this, Xie Shuhua shook his head and said, "I think you are wrong. I don't think it's because of the 'honey trap' that Yu Zecheng is hurting, but because Zuo Lan sacrificed herself to save Yu Zecheng. This is the past that he doesn't want to recall."

When Cheng Hong heard this, she was slightly startled, thought about it for a while, and nodded.

"You have a point."

Xie Shuhua went on to say: "I think Zuo Lan was not mentioned in the finale because she was a comrade who had already sacrificed, and people always have to look forward. Since Zuo Lan is gone, and Lin Youcheng and Cuiping have started a new life, then they naturally need to look forward. Yu Zecheng naturally needs to love Cuiping wholeheartedly, and love the living first rather than the dead."

"To the living first, not the dead?"

When Cheng Hong heard this, she was quite touched, and she seemed to understand what Xie Shuhua meant.

First, we should protect the living and not the dead. That is to say, the living are the most important. When the rights of the living and the dead are really damaged, we must first ensure that the rights of the living are not damaged. Because he is still alive, there is hope that he can stay in this world and enjoy a better future.

"Shuhua, what you said makes sense. I think it's wrong."

"Look to the living first, not the dead. People should always look forward. They are still alive, so they should have a better future."

Cheng Hong now truly understands why Lin Youcheng did not let Yu Zecheng mention Zuo Lan in the ending, because Zuo Lan had died, but Cuiping was still alive.

"In fact, I think that Yu Zecheng had three women in his life. Whether it was Cuiping or Wanqiu, he married them and had weddings with them. Only Zuo Lan was the only woman he didn't marry in his life, and she was also the one he forgot about in the end. I think maybe it was just not meant to be."

"It's fate but not destiny?"

Xie Shuhua nodded and said, "Yes, it was just their destiny. At that time, Zuo Lan had already accepted that Yu Zecheng and Cui Ping were together. Even if it was fake, Zuo Lan didn't know until she died. This might also be their destiny."

Yu Hua saw Xie Shuhua and Cheng Hong were still discussing, so he walked over and asked, "What are you discussing?"

"Discuss the love story in Insidious."

Yu Hua couldn't help but laugh when he heard Cheng Hong's words, and said, "Did you come up with anything during the discussion?"

"We discussed the ending and why Yu Zecheng didn't think of Zuo Lan but only thought of Cui Ping."

Yu Hua didn't expect that they would discuss this issue. This train of thought was really strange. Anyway, he couldn't understand it. He said, "Yu Zecheng fell in love with Zuo Lan at that time, but Zuo Lan was dead. He also started a new love, so naturally he was thinking about the person he really loved."

"And I think that this was written by Lin Youcheng. I think you should ask the author Lin Youcheng. After all, only the author Lin Youcheng can give the answer to why Yu Zecheng didn't want Zuo Lan in the end but only wanted Cuiping."

"We think Lin Youcheng wrote this way because he wanted to pay tribute to the living first rather than the dead."

When Yu Hua heard what Xie Shuhua said, he nodded and said, "That makes sense."

Xie Shuhua suddenly remembered that Lin Youcheng wrote that Yu Zecheng fell in love with Cuiping after Zuo Lan’s sacrifice, and he was still thinking about Cuiping in the end. This means that Lin Youcheng also knew the principle of visiting the living before the dead.

Why hasn't Lin Youcheng started a new love yet?
After all, his lover has been gone for almost six years.

This strange thought popped up in Xie Shuhua's mind.

Even if Lin Youcheng starts a new love, there won't be any problem. He should just look at the living person!
Cheng Hong saw that Xie Shuhua seemed to be absorbed in thinking about something, so she couldn't help asking, "What's wrong? What are you thinking about?"

Xie Shuhua smiled and said, "Nothing, I just thought that if a lover has been dead for a long time, it should be possible to start a new love again."

"Didn't I just tell you? Of course you can!"

Yu Hua nodded and said directly: "That's right. This is not the feudal era. We still have to be loyal to the deceased for the rest of our lives."

(End of this chapter)