Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 238: “Female University Students Are Not Retained”

Someone stood in the bell pavilion, preparing to recite a poem, while others sat around and listened quietly.

"I will recite to you a poem I wrote to Van Gogh, entitled "Love to Death":
On the painting plate at dawn, dip the first ray of light
Every color is the yearning of the heart
The stars under the night sky guide us, and the flame of passion never dies
I fight the darkness with splendor and ignite extraordinary dreams
......"

The students who stood and recited poetry had full voices and were filled with passion.

When he finished reciting, the people around him burst into warm applause, and Lin Chaoyang also clapped out of respect.

It was fine when he was reciting just now, but now facing the applause from the crowd, the student's face turned red and he bowed to everyone sincerely, obviously feeling flattered by such recognition.

He stood up, looked at Lin Chaoyang, and said, "I wrote this poem mainly because I was influenced by "The Death of Van Gogh" and "Longing for Life."

Everyone present knew Lin Chaoyang, and after hearing what he said, everyone's eyes involuntarily turned to Lin Chaoyang, and the applause became even louder.

Lin Chaoyang smiled at everyone, and after the applause stopped, he chatted with Cha Haisheng for a few words.

A few months ago, Cha Haisheng's poem "The Sun of Al" was published in "Yenching Literature", which seemed to ignite his creative passion at once. He wrote many more poems, but none of them were published.

However, these poems were quite popular among students, making him a well-known campus poet at Yan University.

The student who was reading just now mentioned the book "Lust for Life: A Biography of Van Gogh", which Cha Haisheng has also been reading recently.

In the past six months, thanks to the popularity of "The Death of Van Gogh", Van Gogh has become a well-known Western artist to many Chinese readers. Readers who have read the novel are all moved by the character's love and passion for art.

Because of this, "Lust for Life: The Biography of Van Gogh" published by Yenching Publishing House has been enthusiastically sought after by many readers after its release.

As a biographical work, Yenching Publishing House took a certain risk in deciding to print 50,000 copies for the first time.

But the enthusiastic pursuit of readers and the quick feedback from the market proved that the publisher's decision was actually conservative.

The first print run of "Lust for Life: The Biography of Vincent Van Gogh" was 50,000 copies, which were sold out in less than half a month after being released. The publisher urgently printed another 100,000 copies and sent them to various places, but they were still in short supply.

In just one month, the total number of copies of the novel printed has reached 25. Excluding some inventory that is still being digested, the sales volume is definitely 20 copies a month.

The hot sales of "Lust for Life: The Biography of Vincent van Gogh" are naturally inseparable from the promotion of the novel "The Death of Vincent van Gogh", which also indirectly proves the appeal and influence of this novel among the readers.

There were eight or nine people in the bell pavilion, all of whom were members of the May Fourth Literary Society. However, there were not many from the Class of 1977 left, and the students from the Classes of 1978, 1979, and 1980 were the main force.

The students of Grade 81 have just started school these few days and have not had time to participate in club activities.

There were five classes of undergraduates on one campus, and this only happened during the early 1980s, except for five-year college programs.

Looking at the students' reactions to him, Lin Chaoyang seemed to be able to feel the passage of time.

Among the student groups at Yanda University, the ones he interacted with the most were the Class of 1977. Now this group of students were about to graduate, and many of them were busy with their own affairs. The figures who were originally active in various campus activities have become fewer and fewer, and have been replaced by these younger students in front of him.

Also because of the lack of contact, these students no longer seemed to look at him with a friendly and level gaze as the students of the classes of 1977 and 1978 did. Instead, their eyes gradually turned upwards and became an admiring gaze.

This of course has a lot to do with his growing fame.

After get off work in the evening, Lin Chaoyang just returned home and saw Zhang Dening sitting on the sofa and chatting with Tao Yushu.

After saying hello, Lin Chaoyang asked Zhang Dening why he came?
"What else can I do? I'm going to see how your manuscript is going. It's been so long since the writing meeting. Isn't it time to start writing?"

"It's no use for you to urge me. You can't publish my novel."

Hearing this, Zhang Dening immediately became unhappy, "We've already eaten, drank, and played, you don't want to default on your debt, do you?"

"What do you mean by refusing to pay? You invited me to the writers' conference, and there is no rule that says I have to hand in my manuscripts to you after I attend it!"

Zhang Dening looked anxious, "Why are you like this?"

Tao Yushu smiled and explained, "Don't listen to his nonsense. He has just started writing a novel, but it is planned to be a long novel, so it cannot be published in your magazine."

Due to the limited space of the magazine, "Yenching Literature and Art" has always focused on publishing short stories. It is difficult to publish novellas, let alone novels.

Zhang Dening's anxiety eased a little after listening to Tao Yushu's explanation, but she still couldn't bear to part with this work, muttering, "You knew we could only publish short and medium-length stories, but you insisted on writing a long novel. I think you did it on purpose."

Lin Chaoyang didn't take her mumblings seriously about not being able to get the manuscript. Instead, he felt a little distressed when he saw her stuffing her mouth full during dinner.

"You have to tell your company next time that your visit to our house is considered a business trip anyway, so the meals have to be reimbursed."

Zhang Dening felt much happier after listening to Lin Chaoyang's words, "Reimbursement? You wish! I'll eat it!"

Lin Chaoyang shook his head. "No wonder you can't get any manuscripts. With your appetite, which writer's family would welcome you?"

His words were heartbreaking. You can say anything about an editor, but saying that she can't put together a manuscript is definitely the biggest insult to her.

That night, Zhang Dening was so angry that he ate two more bowls of rice!

In a blink of an eye, it has been two weeks since the start of school. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the weather has been getting cooler, especially in the morning and evening. Lin Chaoyang feels it particularly obvious when he rides his bicycle to work.

While at work that day, Lin Chaoyang took some time to write a letter to his parents.

The autumn harvest is approaching, and if Lin Chaoyang hadn't written to urge them to work, the old couple would have been busy until winter, and the courtyard house in Mianhua Hutong would have been empty for several months.

After finishing the letter, Lin Chaoyang, who was slacking off, heard Du Rong and others discussing the upcoming meeting in the hall.

At the end of this month, the Chinese Library Association will co-organize a library business seminar with the U.S. Agency for International Exchange. The meeting will be held at the Yanda Library.

"I heard that we are also going to establish a book and information exchange relationship with the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in the United States!"

Yanda used to have book and information exchange relations with dozens of universities at home and abroad, but due to political reasons in recent years, exchanges with foreign universities have almost stagnated. The establishment of an exchange relationship with Stanford University can, to some extent, be said to be the beginning of Yanda's reintegration into the international community.

"It would be great if the museum gave me the opportunity to be sent abroad on a public mission, so I could go abroad and have a look." Du Rong imagined.

Hu Wenqiong burst into laughter. "Oh! You are so bold. You want to be sent out on public assignment? It will take a hundred years for a library like ours to get a job. Besides, even if we really want to be sent out on public assignment, it won't be your turn."

"Is it not okay for me to think about it?" "You can think about it, but you can't let your mind wander."

"Sister Hu~"

Du Rong complained, and Hu Wenqiong stopped laughing.

Lin Chaoyang listened to the conversation between the two and smiled slightly.

As various news and information from abroad were introduced into China during the reform and opening up, many people began to yearn for foreign countries, especially developed countries.

This yearning cannot be regarded as worshipping foreign things, but is human nature. Who doesn't yearn for a better life? In the final analysis, it is because the gap between China's material level and that of developed countries is too large.

In the evening, while having dinner, Tao Yushu talked about buying a color TV.

"The color TVs from the TV factory rolled off the production line some time ago."

Tao Yushu had been thinking about buying a color TV since last year, and he finally waited for the domestically produced color TV produced by the Yanjing Television Factory to be launched on the market.

The Yanjing Television Factory was established in the 1970s, and the Peony brand televisions it produced became best-sellers across the country within a few years.

However, all the televisions produced before were black and white. It was not until last year that the television factory introduced foreign color TV production lines and was finally able to produce color televisions.

Last month, the domestically produced color TVs produced by Yanjing Television Factory were put on the market and the products were in short supply.

"Then I'll go check it out this weekend!"

"I will go with you."

In the planned economy era, televisions were industrial products that were subject to unified purchase and sale. Like other industrial commodities, they could only be purchased with a television ticket, and were in very short supply.

However, Lin Chaoyang had remittance vouchers and foreign exchange vouchers, which were hard currencies in those days and much more popular than TV tickets. The couple did not go to the department store, but went directly to the Yanjing TV Factory.

The situation was similar to that at the washing machine factory. The factory was filled with large trucks, and the televisions that had just come off the production line were loaded directly onto the trucks and taken away.

Lin Chaoyang spent two overseas remittance coupons plus 1040 yuan to buy the color TV. That afternoon, the couple carried the 14-inch Peony brand color TV back to the Overseas Chinese Apartment.

This color TV produced by Yanjing Television Factory uses technology from Japan's Panasonic. It has a gray plastic shell with partial metal brushing. Combined with a screen size that is one size larger than the average 9-inch black-and-white TV, it looks very high-end.

Tao Yumo heard two days ago that her sister's family was going to buy a color TV, and she has been staying here for the past two days. When the color TV arrived home, she was extremely excited. She walked around the color TV and even touched it from time to time.

"Stop groping around and help your brother-in-law install the antenna." Tao Yushu ordered.

"Order!"

Tao Yumo responded and busied himself helping Lin Chaoyang install the antenna.

"Brother-in-law, I got it! I got it, brother-in-law!"

As Tao Yumo's excited shouts were heard, the snow on the TV screen disappeared and was replaced by colorful images.

For viewers who are used to watching black and white screens, the shock of color screens is self-evident.

Tao Yumo stared at the program on the screen intently. Even though it was just a boring science program, it was more interesting to her than any entertainment activity.

"Why do I feel like this TV was bought for her?"

Tao Yushu looked at his sister's focused state and couldn't help but say something.

"Kids are always curious about what they see on TV." Lin Chaoyang said with a smile.

That night, the TV in Lin Chaoyang's living room was turned on until 9:30. Only when all the programs were finished and the screen was covered with snow did Tao Yumo reluctantly turn off the TV.

The next morning when she was having breakfast, Tao Yumo was scolded by her sister for this matter. Under normal circumstances, she would have definitely talked back, but today she was surprisingly well-behaved.

When I came back home in the evening, he was back to his old ways and watched TV endlessly.

Tao Yushu couldn't help but scold her again, but seeing that she still had that "positive attitude but refused to change" attitude, Tao Yushu was too lazy to scold her anymore.

After three or four days, even Lin Chaoyang couldn't help but ask Tao Yumo out of curiosity.

"There are only a few programs on TV, are they that good?"

From the perspective of Lin Chaoyang, a person from later generations, today's TV programs are boring and unremarkable. It is difficult for him to understand Tao Yumo's enthusiasm.

"It's great, just like watching a movie." Tao Yumo replied.

Lin Chaoyang looked at his own color TV. Although it was in color, the fidelity was hard to describe and his eyes felt tired just looking at it.

"Be careful or you might become shortsighted!"

"Brother-in-law, you are just trying to scare me. The screen is this big. I think the 9-inch one in our house doesn't have myopia."

When he returned home at night, Tao Yushu sighed and began to regret buying this color TV.

"Why didn't I notice before that this girl loves watching TV so much?"

"I guess my parents are in charge of it. Yumo told me that watching our TV is almost like watching a movie, it's exciting!"

Going to the cinema to watch a movie is one of the few opportunities for audiences of this era to see color images. Tao Yushu agreed with his sister's statement, "That's not the way you think. Don't you want your eyes?"

"She's a grown-up, not a child. What can you do about it?"

The couple looked at each other in silence, feeling a sense of melancholy that "it's too late to keep a girl when she grows up".

(End of this chapter)