Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 128 Glorious Mission

If you take the high-speed rail in later generations, it will only take five or six hours to get from Yanjing to Heilongjiang, the farthest place in the Northeast.

Unfortunately, this is still the era of green-skinned trains, and long-distance journeys take at least twelve hours. Including the time for transfers, Lin Chaoyang and his companions' trip took a full day and a half, and even sitting in a hard sleeper was exhausting.

After finally getting off the train, Lin Chaoyang saw his father Lin Erchun squatting beside the flower bed at the exit with a hunched back, his face red from the cold wind.

"dad!"

They haven't seen each other for more than a year. It was extremely cold in the winter. Lin Chaoyang felt indescribably moved when he thought of his father waiting for them in the cold wind.

Lin Erchun raised his head and saw Lin Chaoyang, his face immediately broke into a wide smile. Then he saw Mr. and Mrs. Tao standing next to Lin Chaoyang, and his smile became even more enthusiastic, yet a little awkward.

In Lin Erchun's eyes, Tao's father was a great cultural figure in Yenching, so it was normal for him to feel a little uneasy when seeing Tao's father.

"Father-in-law, we finally meet!"

Without waiting for Lin Chaoyang to introduce him, Father Tao stepped forward and shook Lin Erchun's hand enthusiastically.

His action immediately relieved Lin Erchun's nervousness, "Father-in-law, you must have worked hard on this journey and suffered a lot."

After a few pleasantries, Lin Chaoyang and the others learned that Lin Erchun had been waiting at the train station since morning, and it was already past two in the afternoon.

Thinking of how Lin Erchun had waited for several people in the cold wind for several hours, even Tao's mother was moved.

"Hurry up, get in the car and go home. The weather in Northeast China is much colder than in Beijing."

The vehicle Lin Erchun was talking about was a donkey cart, which was parked in the square of the train station.

He took a few people to put their luggage on the car, and arranged for a few more people to get on the car. Just as he was about to drive away, he slapped his head again, "I almost forgot."

"What did you forget?" Lin Chaoyang asked.

"Just wait for me for a moment."

Lin Erchun did not answer Lin Chaoyang's question. He got off the bus and trotted towards the state-owned restaurant next to the train station. After a while, he was seen kicking a fierce young man out of the restaurant.

"I told you to go in and warm up for a while, but now your butt is wet, right?" Lin Erchun chased Er Maitai towards him, cursing.

"You just need to rest in for a while, and I can't stand it after just a while of warmth?" Er Maitai retorted dejectedly.

Er Maitai saw Lin Chaoyang's face full of joy, "Da...Chaoyang, I heard that you have become a great writer!"

Lin Chaoyang introduced Er Maitai to Tao's father and mother, and then the two of them watched Er Maitai constantly asking Lin Chaoyang about his experience of becoming a "great writer" along the way.

"Chaoyang, how did you become a great writer?"

"I heard from my aunt that the horse-releasing story you wrote is very popular!"

"Everyone in the team says being a writer is profitable. You can make hundreds of dollars just by writing a novel."

……

Today, Er Maitai took the initiative to come to Lin Erchun to pick up Lin Chaoyang, in order to get first-hand information so that he could brag to the team members after returning.

When the donkey cart entered the team, it immediately attracted the attention of the naughty kids who were playing outside the team, and then attracted the attention of everyone in the team.

A few days ago, Lin Chaoyang wrote a letter to his family, stating the date of his return.

In the past few days, thanks to Ms. Zhang Guiqin's vigorous publicity, the news that Lin Chaoyang was going to take his college student wife and father-in-law's family back to his hometown was known to everyone in the team.

The winter in Northeast China is long, and there is no farm work at this time. Everyone in the family has nothing to do, so getting together and chatting is fun. The return of the great writer Lin Chaoyang is enough to make the team lively for several days.

Just after they returned home and sat for a while, the yard was surrounded by villagers who came to watch the fun.

Everyone is tired of seeing Tao Yushu, the college student. This time, everyone's main focus is on the professor from Yan University. Xiaoyangtun has never produced such a cultured person in its history.

Tao's father and mother were surrounded by a group of people watching them through the window. They were a little uncomfortable at first, but they gradually got used to it after a while.

It gets dark early in winter. It was already dark outside and the meal was almost ready. Zhang Guiqin came to the door and raised her voice.

"It's time to go home for dinner, so why are you waiting to eat at my place?"

The professor's in-laws have arrived, and Zhang Guiqin's attitude is even more arrogant than usual. I guess even if the commune secretary comes today, she will kick him out.

There is no heavy physical work in the Northeast in winter, and everyone only has two meals a day. There is no need to eat at this time. Zhang Guiqin came to drive people away, but many people still refused to leave, just wanting to watch the fun.

While she was in a stalemate with everyone, someone suddenly shouted outside.

"Aunt, let me in, let me in!"

As they were talking, a burly man squeezed to the door with a baby in his arms.

"Da Mingzi, you bastard, why did you bring the child out in such a cold weather?"

Zhang Guiqin cursed but still let Damingzi into the house.

When Damingzi entered the room, he greeted Lin Chaoyang and the others first, then brought the baby in the cradle to Tao's father.

"Uncle, our child was born only a few days ago and has not yet been given a name. You are a cultured person, please give him a name!"

After learning the purpose of Damingzi's visit, Lin Chaoyang and others were at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

Father Tao looked at the child with embarrassment and said, "It's better for your family to choose a name."

"We are all country folk, and the names we come up with are earthy and ugly, not as nice as the names you cultured people come up with.

Just like your Yushu, who has a nice name, is not only pretty but also smart, so please help her." Damingzi begged.

Mr. Tao was helpless. He didn't expect to receive such a task on his first day in the Northeast.

"What's your last name? Does your child have a generation name?"

"Our family's surname is Li, and our child's generation should be 'Chang'. This one in our family is a boy, who was born just half a month ago." Damingzi introduced.

Father Tao stared at the child for a few seconds, thought for a moment, and said, "For those born in the twelfth month, the Han Dynasty's Customs and Meanings says: 'La means connection, the transition between the old and the new, so a grand sacrifice is held to reward merits', which is the time to worship ancestors. For the Chang generation, then add 'Qi', which means praying. What do you think?"

Although Damingzi didn't understand what Tao's father was saying, he knew it was very impressive. "Li Changqi, Li Changqi..."

He repeated the name several times with a happy grin on his face.

"It sounds nice, really nice! From now on my son will be named Li Changqi!"

After the music was over, he bowed to Mr. Tao and said, "Uncle, thank you so much."

Father Tao waved his hand and said with a smile, "It's just a piece of cake."

"You just said, how did this name come from?" asked Damingzi.

Father Tao repeated what he had just said, and Damingzi memorized it several times. This would be something he could brag about to others in the future.

After he finished speaking, he carried the child out of the door, while the people outside who were watching the fun were talking about it.

"He is a cultured man after all. Look at the name he gave. It sounds different just by reading it." "He is a great professor. The name he gave has a history. See? This is called citing scriptures."

"No wonder Chaoyang can become a great writer. With a father-in-law like him, how could he not learn enough?"

"Erchun is so lucky!"

While everyone was talking, Damingzi came back again. This time the child was gone, but there was a frozen pheasant in his arms.

"I'll give you a taste."

"This is inappropriate..."

Tao's father wanted to refuse, but Damingzi just dropped his things and left, and no one could catch up with him, so Tao's father had no choice but to accept it.

During the day, Lin Erchun went to the train station, and Zhang Guiqin was responsible for cooking at home. She was busy for half a day. Today's dinner at the Lin family was as sumptuous as the New Year's Eve dinner, which made Tao's father and mother fully feel the enthusiasm of their in-laws.

While the family was eating, the crowd outside finally dispersed.

It’s not that people don’t want to watch the fun, but the temperature is too low at night and it’s unbearable to stand outside for a long time.

After dinner, Tao Yushu whispered to Lin Chaoyang.

"Did you notice my mom just now?"

Lin Chaoyang gave her an affirmative look. Before dinner, the team members leaned against the window to watch. Everyone knew Tao Yushu, so their focus was on Tao's father and mother.

What everyone paid attention to about Tao's father was his professorship and his knowledge, but these things could not be seen just by looking at him. Many people looked at Tao's father for a few seconds and then turned their attention to Tao's mother.

Appearance is much more eye-catching than knowledge. Tao's mother is old now, and although she has lost her charm, one can still glimpse the elegance of her youth.

Especially, she and Tao Yushu seem to be carved from the same mold. When people see Tao Yushu, they have a more concrete idea of ​​what Tao's mother looked like when she was young.

Many people couldn't help but sigh that it was no wonder that Tao Yushu looked so good, it turned out that he had a good mother.

The discussion among the crowd was not loud, but it still reached Tao's mother's ears, causing her body to be tense. Every move was stiff, and she had a bit of idol baggage.

After washing the dishes, Tao Yushu began to take out the things he brought back home.

The last time she and Lin Chaoyang left, Lin Erchun and his wife gave them 500 yuan. Tao Yushu wanted to send the money back, but Lin Erchun and his wife refused to take it, so Tao Yushu exchanged the money for something.

But she also knew that for Lin Erchun and his wife, who were used to being frugal, this money definitely could not be used to buy food, so she exchanged it for daily necessities.

She bought two sets of clothes for each of them, one set for spring and autumn, and one set for winter, and also brought a quilt. The rest were some daily necessities, such as a thermos, an enamel basin, and soap...

You need tickets to buy everything these days. Having money alone is not enough. The ticket quota for rural residents is far less than that for urban residents, and tickets from different places are usually not universal, so you can only bring back physical objects. The things that Tao Yushu brought back are all things that Lin Erchun and his wife can use.

"Hey, tell me, you guys, every time you come back you bring so many things, how much does it cost?"

"They are all for home use, you two elders can use them."

Given the frugality of Lin Erchun and his wife, the things Tao Yushu bought for them would be enough for them to use for eight or ten years.

After putting away all the things I had taken out, it was already past seven o'clock.

The Lin family has three rooms, one of which is the kitchen and the other two are for living. All rooms have a heated kang. The heated kang is about two meters long from north to south and nearly four meters wide from east to west. It can accommodate a lot of people, but in order to avoid suspicion, they have to sleep separately at night.

Finally, the three men slept in the outer room and the three women slept in the inner room, so that it would be more convenient even if they had to get up at night.

When it was time to go to bed at night, Tao Yushu had just crawled into bed when Zhang Guiqin approached her holding a copy of the single volume of "Little Shoes".

"Yu Shu, how do you pronounce this word?"

"Mom, this word is pronounced 'xun', which means tame or domesticate. It originally means that the horse is tamed."

"Oh." Zhang Guiqin nodded, "You college students still know more."

Tao Yushu smiled and asked curiously, "Mom, have you been reading Chaoyang's novels?"

"Of course not." Zhang Guiqin's expression was full of pride. "If someone asks me about the book my son wrote and I know nothing about it, wouldn't that make people laugh?"

Tao Yushu smiled and thought that the old lady just wanted to show off in front of the team members.

Zhang Guiqin has never been to school. She did attend a literacy class when she was young. Unfortunately, she has been doing farm work for so many years that she has long forgotten the few new words she learned, let alone reading novels.

"Then I will have to give you some tutoring these days and try to make sure you understand all of Chaoyang's novels." Tao Yushu said.

Zhang Guiqin said happily: "Okay."

Tao's mother felt a little uncomfortable as she watched Tao Yushu and Zhang Guiqin having fun together.

Tao Yushu noticed her mother's expression and said to her, "Mom, read Chaoyang's novel when you have time."

With Zhang Guiqin present, Tao's mother didn't know what to say, so she just said in a muffled voice, "I don't really like reading novels."

Tao Yushu smiled as he watched his mother pretending, but did not expose her.

Her father had already told her in private that her mother had been secretly reading Chaoyang's novels.

Out of some kind of bad taste, Tao Yushu took out "Harvest" which was just released this month.

"Hey, I recently saw a novel that's pretty good. You can take a look at it when you have time."

"I've already told you that I don't like reading novels." Tao's mother said impatiently.

She glared at Tao Yushuo implicitly, feeling that this girl was trying to put on a show for her.

She had clearly told her in-laws in front of them that she didn't like reading novels, and she hadn't even read her son-in-law's novels. Now her daughter asked her to read other novels. If she read them, what would her in-laws think of her?

Tao Yushu did not insist and went to answer Zhang Guiqin's questions.

Silent all night.

After breakfast the next day, Tao Yushu told Lin Chaoyang about Zhang Guiqin reading a novel.

"It's hard for her, too."

It was not difficult for Lin Chaoyang to guess what Ms. Zhang Guiqin was thinking.

Tao Yushu asked again: "Is the character An Jie in your movie "Parents' Love" based on my mother?"

When Tao Yushu knew about "Parental Love", the manuscript of the novel had already been sent to "Harvest". She had never read the novel until it was recently published in "Harvest", then she was able to understand the specific content of the novel.

A few days ago, she was busy writing a review article. The couple wanted to buy a house, and Lin Chaoyang was working hard on writing a novel. She also wanted to make some money to ease the burden on her husband, so she had never found time to read this novel written by Lin Chaoyang under a pseudonym.

These two days on the train back to Northeast China, she finally started reading the novel. She realized at a glance that Andrzej's character in "Parents' Love" was so similar to her mother's.

"You write about my mother like this, aren't you afraid that she'll be angry?"

(End of this chapter)