Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 129 I'm going to show off

"I didn't say Anjie is your mother." Lin Chaoyang argued.

Tao Yushu narrowed his eyes and smiled, "Dehua is right too, right?"

"Yeah. Not only Dehua, but Anxin also has some of her color."

"You're really good at writing about one character as several others. But you know what, this way of writing is quite interesting."

Although "Parents' Love" describes the ups and downs and hardships that Jiang Defu and An Jie experienced over the past few decades, its tone is actually light-hearted and cheerful.

Especially when describing the two characters of Anjie and Dehua, the novel is filled with a sense of humor and happiness between the lines, which always makes people feel happy when reading it.

When Tao Yushu said that Tao's mother would be angry, it was just a joke.

Although Angie in the novel has character flaws such as being willful and capricious, she also has many advantages. It should be said that her advantages and the brilliance of her humanity far outweigh her shortcomings.

If my mother read the novel, she would be happy.

While the couple was chatting about novels, Zhang Guiqin had already taken Tao's father and mother to visit every household in the team, under the pretext of taking a look at the customs and practices of our rural area.

As soon as they got home, someone chased them with a child in his arms.

"Professor Tao, I heard that you are a famous professor in Yanjing. Our child is only one month old and has not been named yet. Could you please give him a name?"

I don’t know if the news of naming Damingzi’s child last night spread out. In just one night, people from the neighboring brigade came with their children to ask Tao’s father to give them a name.

The man was very polite. Not only was he holding a child, he was also giving her two pounds of pork.

It was difficult for Tao's father to refuse, so he spent some time and thought about giving the child a name. After the adults in the family thanked him, the father left happily.

"Dad, I think if you keep going like this, you can earn back the money for the round-trip train tickets."

Tao Yushu teased his father while carrying some pork, and Lin Erchun said, "My dear, country folk have never seen the world. I am sorry to cause you trouble."

Father Tao smiled and said, "It's not a big deal. They are very polite. They asked me to name the child. They are treating me like a teacher. I should be very timid."

It is not difficult to understand the team members' thoughts. First, Mr. Tao is indeed a top intellectual who has not appeared in Xiaoyangtun for many years. Everyone has a bit of academic admiration.

Secondly, letting him name the child will make it glorious when he tells others about it later. Especially since Tao's father always quotes classics when naming his children, it makes people feel impressive just by listening to it. How face-saving!
Tao Yushu held up the pork and said with a smile, "We can add another dish today!"

Everyone laughed.

The fact was just as Tao Yushu said. Within just one day, more and more people came to Tao's father to give them names.

When Lin Chaoyang asked, he found out that they were all from various brigades of the commune.

Mr. Tao never imagined that a trip back to his hometown in Northeast China with his son-in-law would lead to the opening of a new business.

However, he was not impatient about this matter. Adhering to the spirit of not letting every parent make a wasted trip, he seriously named each newborn, striving to make the names not only nice to hear and easy to remember, but also with good meanings. His attitude was much more dedicated than those naming masters of later generations.

In just two days, Mr. Tao has received eight gifts, which also means that eight newborn babies have names.

Lin Chaoyang had never realized before that the birth rate in their area was so high. You have to know that these children were less than two months old.

If this happened in Northeast China in the future, it would probably be the number of births in this area in a year.

On the twenty-ninth day, Lin Erchun was going to the market. Today was the last big market before the New Year, and also the last chance to prepare New Year goods.

He harnessed the donkey cart early in the morning. Lin Chaoyang and a few others were also sitting on the cart. They went to the market and joined in the fun.

The market is an indispensable and important shopping channel for rural people in this era. Even in the past few years when the crackdown on speculation was at its worst, the markets in many rural areas were also prosperous.

The ticket ration in rural areas is already less than that in cities. If there is no market as a channel to supplement it, it will seriously affect the daily life of farmers.

At that time, industrial products were not allowed to be sold at the market, clothing required cloth coupons, and the sale of food and snacks was not allowed, because these were all centrally purchased and sold and rationed.

As long as the rest of the products are not resold, selling one's own products or the output of the production team is allowed.

The most common things sold at the market are agricultural and sideline products such as vegetables grown in people's private plots and poultry raised by the family. The most popular ones are cabbage, radish, eggs, duck eggs and the like.

The production team also had special people to buy and sell cattle, horses, donkeys and mules. Some members also brought newly born piglets, chickens, ducks, geese and pigeons to sell. Others included hand-woven kang mats, backpack baskets, winnowing baskets, brooms, cooking brooms and other agricultural woven products.

As the Chinese New Year is approaching, there are more vendors selling New Year pictures, couplets, persimmon cakes and candied haws in the market.

Lin Chaoyang bought Tao Yushu a string of candied haws with hawthorns. They ate while walking around. The two of them lagged behind Lin Erchun. Lin Erchun gave whatever he bought to Lin Chaoyang to carry.

Tao's father and mother walked further behind, strolling around the market with great interest.

When Tao Yushu wanted to buy couplets, Lin Erchun hurriedly stopped him and told him to just go back to the team and ask Cheng Xiucai to write two pairs for him.

Tao Yushu said, "Why not let my dad write two for you? His calligraphy is pretty good too."

Lin Erchun smiled and said, "That would be great!"

After visiting the market, Lin Erchun took Tao's father to the home of "Cheng Xiucai" in the team in the afternoon.

The Lin family had no pen, ink, paper, or inkstone, so they had no tools to write couplets, but Mr. Cheng had them.

Cheng Xiucai is not a scholar, his grandfather is a scholar, and he has been practicing calligraphy with his grandfather since he was a child.

Every year at the end of the year, every household in the team has to write couplets, and he can make a small profit from it.

Cheng Xiucai thought that Lin Erchun came to ask him to write couplets. At the moment he had two groups of "customers". After sending these two groups of customers away, he was about to start writing, but Lin Erchun threw it away.

"Lao Tao, come here!"

After two days of getting to know each other, Lin Erchun and Tao's father started to address each other more familiarly.

Cheng Xiucai pulled Lin Erchun and asked, "How do you calculate the money?"

Lin Erchun secretly slipped him two cents, and Cheng Xiucai decisively chose to shut up. He had the writing fee and he didn't even have to write. What a great thing!

But before Cheng Xiucai could be happy for a while, a new customer discovered that Tao's father's level seemed to be much higher than Cheng Xiucai's.

The most important thing is that he is a great professor at Yenching University, and the couplets he wrote are masterpieces of calligraphy.

Someone shamelessly ran to Tao's father to ask for calligraphy. Without Lin Erchun's help, Cheng Xiucai stepped forward to "lead the way for the king".

"Go away, he's a famous professor at Yanjing. His calligraphy can be sold for money. Do you think you can fool him with these trifles?"

The client was very dissatisfied with Cheng Xiucai's retort, "Your calligraphy is not worth a few melons and a few dates. He is a great professor, so the price must be different."

Cheng Xiucai said unconvincedly: "Come on, come on, bid the twenty yuan and I'll ask Professor Tao to write a couplet for you."

"Aren't you afraid of getting your tongue bitten by the wind? Why are you still paying twenty dollars?"

"You still don't admit that you want to take advantage? Just wait patiently!"

Seeing that the other side was scared, Cheng Xiucai looked very proud.

While the two were arguing, Tao's father had already finished writing the couplet. Cheng Xiucai praised him, "Professor Tao's handwriting is really good. Is it a copy of Liu Gongquan's calligraphy?"

Father Tao smiled and said, "Yes. Your calligraphy skills are quite good. It's obvious that you have practiced for decades."

After receiving the compliment from Tao's father, Cheng Xiucai became even more proud. The professor from Yan University recognized his calligraphy level, and he would have something to brag about in the future.

When they got home, Lin Erchun recounted what happened at Cheng Xiucai's house, and everyone laughed.

Lin Chaoyang whispered to Tao Yushu, "Why do I feel like your dad is more popular than me when I go back to my hometown?"

Tao Yushu couldn't help but smile, "Haven't people praised you enough these days?" "That's different. They look up to your dad, but to me they say 'you're lucky'."

"Ha ha!"

Tao Yushu was amused by him and laughed out loud.

Lin Chaoyang's feeling was not wrong, because Tao's father's identity as a professor at Yenching University was too far away from everyone, so when they suddenly saw him, everyone looked up to him.

Lin Chaoyang was someone the team members had watched grow up. He suddenly became a great writer, but because they were so close to him, it was difficult for everyone to look up to him.

However, this situation improved significantly on the second day of the Lunar New Year, because the commune leaders actually led the county leaders to Lin Erchun's home.

It is said that the county leaders heard that Lin Chaoyang, the nationally renowned writer, had returned to his hometown and came to visit him specially.

After hearing the news, the people of Xiaoyangtun finally understood the value of the writer Lin Chaoyang.

After seeing off the county leaders, Tao Yushu asked, "This County Magistrate Zhou is quite polite, but he just didn't say what he came for."

"No one comes to visit you for no reason. He is a county leader. It is impossible that he really comes to wish us a happy new year, right?" Lin Chaoyang said easily.

"So you're saying he has something to ask for?" Tao Yushu asked.

Lin Chaoyang shook his head. "Who knows? Officials like them wouldn't tell you the first time they meet. They beat around the bush. I guess they just want me to write about my hometown."

Tao Yushu nodded slightly. Apart from this purpose, she couldn't think of any other reason for a county leader to come to a writer's home to wish him a happy new year.

"If he really asks you to help write something, will you write it?"

"If there is a suitable subject, there is no reason not to write about it. After all, it is my hometown. But if it is forced, there is no need."

While the couple was chatting, they saw Ms. Zhang Guiqin dressed neatly and walked out.

"Mom, where are you going?" Lin Chaoyang asked.

Zhang Guiqin replied: "I'm going to visit some friends."

When Lin Chaoyang heard this sentence, it was automatically replaced by "I'm going to show off."

The couple looked at each other and smiled.

In the afternoon, Er Maitai came to find Lin Chaoyang and asked him, "Chaoyang, are you leaving tomorrow?"

"Ah."

In the past few days since returning to Xiaoyangtun, Lin Chaoyang and his father-in-law's family have become the focus of attention in Xiaoyangtun and even the surrounding brigades.

In the past, everyone in the team knew that Lin Chaoyang’s father-in-law was a professor at Yan University and also a famous writer, but in the end, seeing is believing, and no matter what Zhang Guiqin said, people were not quite convinced.

Lin Chaoyang hasn't been home for more than a year, and his father-in-law and his family have never shown up. Some people who like to gossip can't help but rack their brains to make up a story based on these circumstances.

Now, the professor's father-in-law has come, Lin Chaoyang has returned home, all the rumors have disappeared, and Lin Chaoyang has become a great writer who is known to people as having extraordinary talent since childhood.

What did I say? This kid has been smart since he was young, and he looks like a good candidate to be a writer!
In the past few days, Lin Chaoyang has become the focus of attention of the team, and Er Maitai has been promoting him behind the scenes.

"Chaoyang, the radio said that the country is going to reform and open up. Do you think farming still has a future?"

Lin Chaoyang said speechlessly: "When has farming ever had a future?"

"So what do you say about me going to work?"

"work to earn a living?"

Rural youth of this era have three major ways to change their destiny: employment, military service, and study.

He has no chance of getting any job at all with Ermai Tai. The state-owned factories around his hometown haven't recruited workers for many years, so if there is a chance to recruit, it will not be Ermai Tai's turn.

There is no need to talk about joining the army. Er Maitai has a little cross-eye, so the army doesn't want him at all.

He only has primary school education and has never had any contact with books in his life.

"Where do you want to work?" Lin Chaoyang asked.

Er Maitai was a little embarrassed, "If I go to Yanjing, can you help me find a job?"

Lin Chaoyang shook his head. "We grew up together. If you want to go to Yanjing and need a place to stay, I can help you think of a way. But if you want to help you find a job, that is beyond my ability."

He said unwillingly, "Even if it's a temporary job, it's fine."

"If you're a temporary worker, you only make 20 yuan a month. In Yanjing, food, clothing, housing and transportation all cost money. Can you save money?
And you may be sent back home at any time, is there any point in going to Yanjing?"

Hearing this, Er Maitai said disappointedly: "What can I do? I have to make money to marry a wife!"

"You only think about getting married, why don't you think about your elder brother?"

"What happened to my eldest brother? He has hope for the rest of his life." Er Maitai said heartlessly.

The nicknames of rural people in Northeast China are also very particular. If someone has a nickname with the word "Er", there must be a "Da" in front of it.

Er Maitai had an older brother named Da Maitai, who was luckier than Er Maitai and joined the army at the age of 18.

Last year, when we fought in the south, Da Maitai also went to the front line and won a third-class merit, but lost a hand.

When the news reached Xiaoyangtun, the Ermaitai family was upset, but they had a simple thought in their mind: since Damaitai was injured for the country, the army would definitely take care of him for the rest of his life.

However, they don't know that there will be disarmament in the next few years. The country will certainly take care of it, and there will be no problem arranging a job for them when they return home.

But with Da Maitai's physique, he can probably only work in marginal positions, such as security.

In a few years, you will face the fate of unemployment. Even if you don't lose your job, you will probably live in poverty.

In an environment where you are like a frog in boiling water, life will only get harder and harder.

If the two brothers don't have a proper livelihood and just live in a muddle, they will probably have to go out to work in the future. It would be better for them to take advantage of the many opportunities now and go to the south to try their luck.

"If you want to work, go to Guangdong. There are more opportunities there." Lin Chaoyang said with a sigh.

Er Maitai knew that Guangdong had the first batch of special economic zones opened in the country, but when he heard the name of this unfamiliar place thousands of miles away, he just felt at a loss.

"What can I do in Guangdong?"

"I'll do whatever I can. I'll definitely work for others first. When I save up some money, I can start my own business."

Whether it was working or doing business, these things had nothing to do with Ermaitai's experiences in the first twenty years of his life. He asked with some lack of confidence: "Can I do it?"

He dared to go to Yanjing because Lin Chaoyang was there. He knew Guangdong, but he was unfamiliar with the place and felt timid at the thought.

"Nothing is impossible. Don't you want to make money to marry a wife? The atmosphere there is much more open than in the mainland, and there are many opportunities to make money, but the prerequisite is that you are bold and smart. If you want to venture out, I suggest you give it a try."

Er Maitai hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you."

Lin Chaoyang took out two big unity notes from his pocket and said, "The train tickets for the trip there are my sponsorship for you. Whether you can make it out depends on yourself."

Er Maitai held the money in his hand and nodded vigorously again.

His eyes showed uneasiness about the unknown, forced determination, and longing for the future.

(End of this chapter)