Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 246 Who is not a college student?
Watching Banjiemei riding away on his bicycle, Lin Chaoyang also rode his bicycle east, turned two corners, and arrived at Mianhua Hutong.

After entering the yard, he first put away the things he had just collected. Then he skillfully lit the earthen boiler in the main room. When the fire in the furnace became strong, he went out and took the bus to the railway station. The old couple Lin Erchun would take the train to Yanjing at noon today.

After waiting for more than an hour in front of the train station, Lin Chaoyang met Lin Erchun and his wife, who were carrying large and small bags.

"Why are you taking so many things? We don't lack anything here."

"If you don't take it, it will go bad if you leave it at home over the winter. You are so talkative when you just want to take something."

Lin Erchun spoke in an impatient tone. He had not planned to come to Yanjing in the first place, but Lin Chaoyang kept urging him with letter after letter.

"Look at your attitude. I asked you to come to Yanjing to enjoy life, not to suffer. Don't think about the things in the field."

In December 1978, one night during the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, 12 farmers from Xiaogang Production Team in Fengyang County, Anhui Province gathered in a thatched hut and wrote a note.

The document read: We will distribute the land to each household, and each household head will sign and seal it. If we can do it in the future, each household will guarantee to pay the public grain for the whole year and will no longer ask the state for money or grain. If we fail, we cadres will be willing to go to jail or be beheaded, and all members will guarantee to raise our children until they are 18 years old.

Then, with the courage of sacrificing their lives, they pressed 17 red fingerprints and 3 seals on the document, representing the 20 households in the team.

In 1978, this move was undoubtedly a huge step that went against the world, but it was also a brave and even great feat.

The following year, the threshing ground in Xiaogang Village was golden. According to measurement, the total grain output of the team reached 66 tons that year, which was equivalent to the total grain output of the team from 1966 to 1970, fully demonstrating the superiority of dividing land into households.

Soon, Xiaogang Village's unpopular move reached the ears of the provincial leader, was highly recognized, and was widely disseminated by official media.

However, the road to China's rural reform was not smooth. Despite the successful case of Xiaogang Village, there has been no consensus in the country in the past two years on whether to distribute land to each household.

Both the official and private sectors are extremely cautious about this decision, which may affect China's future reform and development trends.

Until the second half of this year, the wind that had been accumulating for two years seemed to suddenly become stronger. Discussions on "dividing land to households", "contracting output to households" and "household contract responsibility system" were rampant in various media. The response from the public was also extremely enthusiastic. Many local officials also publicly voiced their support for the reform in official media.

All this indicates that this rural reform, which will determine China's future and destiny, seems to be bearing fruit.

In recent years, the news about land division has been spreading like wildfire, and Xiaoyangtun, which is located in a remote area, has been blown away by this news. The members have no intention of working at all, and they spend every day discussing the issue of land division.

Lin Erchun had been the production team leader for nearly twenty years, so naturally he did not want such changes to happen. But what could he do in such a national event?

People's hearts are broken and it's hard to lead the team.

Having been the captain for nearly twenty years, Lin Erchun felt this deep sense of powerlessness for the first time.

He finally finished this year's autumn harvest, and didn't know what the situation would be like next spring. Lin Chaoyang urged him to return to Yanjing at this time. Naturally, Lin Erchun was worried about Xiaoyangtun and was upset.

Listening to Lin Chaoyang's words, he said angrily: "Don't think you have made it now! Without the production team and the collective, could you have grown up to be the great writer you are now?"

Lin Chaoyang was scolded by him and looked at Zhang Guiqin helplessly, "What's wrong?"

"Don't pay attention to him. Those who know him would think he is a production team leader, while those who don't would think he is a government official."

In the past few months, Lin Erchun has been as restless as a donkey, and Zhang Guiqin has been angry with him many times. Now that she has her son's support in Yanjing, she is not afraid anymore.

After a long while of noisy ride on the bus, Lin Erchun noticed the scenery outside the window and asked, "Chaoyang, isn't this the way to your home?"

"Let's go directly to Mianhua Hutong. Everything is ready there. I've even lit the stove for you."

After getting off the bus and walking a few hundred meters, the three of them arrived in front of a small courtyard.

"Oh, it's really changed!" Before entering the yard, Zhang Guiqin exclaimed at the newly renovated gate.

Once she entered the yard, her eyes were full of joy and she kept praising.

"What's so good about it? Isn't it just the yard of a former landlord?" Lin Erchun muttered.

The old man was in a bad mood and was dissatisfied with everything he saw.

Once we entered the main house, we found it clean and bright. The coal in the furnace of the earthen boiler was burning fiercely, and the warm air was mixed with a faint smell of coal smoke.

"It's so warm in this room!"

Only a minute or two after entering the room, Zhang Guiqin turned around and felt a little hot before she could take a closer look.

"There's a radiator in the house, and the doors and windows are new. It's much warmer than home. If you stay in the house for a while, even wearing a sweater will make you feel too hot."

Zhang Guiqin touched the radiator curiously and felt the warmth on her hands. She said happily, "This thing is really good. With this thing, I won't be afraid of the cold in winter anymore."

As the mother and son were talking, they heard a clanging sound coming from the boiler. It turned out that Lin Erchun had lifted the boiler cover.

"What are you doing?" Lin Chaoyang asked.

Lin Erchun glanced inside the furnace and cursed, "What a waste! You just burn the coal like that!"

Lin Chaoyang was completely speechless. With Comrade Erchun's current temper, even the dogs in the alley that passed by would be kicked twice.

"This is to heat your house. The coals are outside, you can burn them however you like."

"This cabinet is really nice. You can tell it's made of good materials."

Zhang Guiqin patted the pair of treasure cabinets that Lin Chaoyang had taken back from Long Shuncheng, on which there were several pieces of porcelain.

"Mom, mom!" Lin Chaoyang hurriedly stopped her, "These are all antiques I collected, be gentle!"

Zhang Guiqin looked at the Duobao Pavilion in front of her and asked, "Is this cabinet an antique?"

"All of them. The same goes for the bottles and jars up here."

"These too?" Zhang Guiqin looked surprised. "What's the use of this thing?"

"It's for collection, it will appreciate in value in the future."

Lin Erchun squinted his eyes and said, "I have a little money to burn you! You look like an antique to me!"

Lin Chaoyang ignored him and pulled Zhang Guiqin aside to explain to her the origins of these antiques.

After listening to Lin Chaoyang, she looked at those things with a bit of fear, fearing that they might be accidentally bumped. She complained, "Why did you stuff these things into the house for no reason? I have to be careful of them every time I walk by. I can't even walk in peace."

"The house is so big that you can't touch it by walking normally."

After leading the old couple to familiarize themselves with the yard, Lin Chaoyang looked at his watch. It was almost time for Tao Yushu to finish school.

Just as he was thinking, he heard the roar of a motorcycle engine outside the yard. After a while, Tao Yushu entered the yard. When he saw Lin Erchun and his wife, he smiled and apologized to them that he had classes this morning.

"It's okay, it's okay. Classes are important. University classes are so busy, we can't miss them!" Lin Erchun said with a smile.

Lin Chaoyang looked at the cheap smile on his old father's face and realized deeply that discrimination based on academic qualifications was a really abominable and detestable habit.

Are college students amazing?

Who is not a college student? In two months, I will also be a certified college graduate.

After chatting for a while, Lin Chaoyang made plans to go out for dinner.

"Why spend that money outside? We can just do something ourselves. We have all the necessary equipment at home," said Zhang Guiqin.

The things that Lin Chaoyang and his wife prepared for the courtyard were indeed very complete, with no shortage of rice, flour, grain and oil, but there were not many vegetables, so Zhang Guiqin took Tao Yushu to buy vegetables.

As soon as she left the courtyard, she saw a motorcycle at the gate. Zhang Guiqin asked, "Whose motorcycle is parked here?"

Tao Yushu looked a little embarrassed, "Mom, Chaoyang bought this for me."

Zhang Guiqin looked surprised and wanted to ask how much it cost, but then she thought that if she asked, her daughter-in-law might think too much, so she smiled and said, "Okay, this motorcycle is really beautiful."

"Yushu, is the vegetable market far from here? How about you ride this and take me there?"

Tao Yushu was feeling anxious, but after hearing Zhang Guiqin's words, she felt relieved and happily replied, "Okay!"

The two of them went out for more than half an hour before returning. Zhang Guiqin said tremblingly: "This motorcycle is good in every way, but it's too painful to ride in winter."

After lunch, Lin Erchun and his wife walked around the yard again. Zhang Guiqin said, "The place is too big. How can we live in such a big yard with just the two of us?"

"It's okay. Mom, there are two guest rooms in the west wing. Yushu's cousin comes to stay sometimes. There is also a room for the two of us in the east wing. If you feel it's empty, we can stay here for a few days."

After hearing what Lin Chaoyang said, Lin Erchun scolded Zhang Guiqin, "You have such a big house to live in, why are you still being so pretentious?"

Tao Yushu also noticed that Lin Erchun was in an abnormal mood, and quietly asked Lin Chaoyang what was going on. Lin Chaoyang explained the reason to her.

"It will be fine after this period. As long as he keeps listening to the land division, he will not be stupid."

Tao Yushu nodded in understanding.

Chatting after dinner, Tao Yushu talked about what happened at school today.

Originally, when Lin Erchun and his wife came, she wanted to ask for leave to go to the train station, but the teacher from the department came to talk to her about graduation assignments, so she couldn't get away.

For today's college students, getting a job after graduation is like opening a blind box. Except for a very small number of people who take the postgraduate entrance examination or stay in school, most people only know that they will be assigned to work back in their hometown.

Tao Yushu had the honor of being called by her teacher to discuss job assignment mainly because of her excellent academic performance in her four years of college.

For four years, Tao Yushu has been ranked first in the Chinese Department of Yenching Normal University almost every semester, and is the favorite of many professors and lecturers in the department.

The teachers were very sorry that Tao Yushu had not prepared for the postgraduate entrance examination before.

What a promising scholar, yet he doesn't continue his studies.

As graduation is approaching, the teachers are hoping that Tao Yushu can stay in school. With Tao Yushu's diligence and eagerness to learn, he will definitely become the backbone of the Chinese Department of Yanshi University in a few years and will be a rare talent in the school.

"Teacher Wang said that the school hopes that I can stay on campus. He said that if I am willing to stay on campus, he can help me solve the housing problem next year."

Lin Chaoyang thought about it and thought that he should have met Teacher Wang mentioned by Tao Yushu and had a drink with him.

"We don't need to worry about the housing issue. If you like to stay in school to work, then we can stay." Lin Chaoyang said.

Tao Yushu was confused. "I haven't made up my mind yet. The environment of our school is really good. I've been here for four years and I'm a little used to it. But De Ning said before that she wanted me to go to her unit..."

"Oh, by the way, I almost forgot about this. Does their unit have any say in the allocation?"

Tao Yushu and his class were the first batch of college students after the resumption of the college entrance examination. Both the country and the school attached great importance to them.

After enrollment, they received paid study, unit allowances, and scholarships. Now that they are about to graduate, these college students have become popular, and central ministries, government agencies at all levels, and large state-owned factories have all welcomed them with open arms.

Before graduation, the Education Committee will work with various state departments to develop an allocation plan based on the employment needs of state-owned enterprises, government agencies, and public institutions. The plan is then distributed to various colleges and universities, and the colleges and universities recommend suitable candidates based on the allocation plan.

Among them, the Education Commission and the schools, as the head and the tail, have the heaviest say, while the other units basically have no say.

"Yenching Literature" is a publication under the Yenching Municipal Bureau of Culture. It is not difficult to recruit one or two college students, but it is not easy to specifically ask for students from Yenching Normal University.

"It shouldn't be a problem. Our department's main assignment directions are party and government agencies at all levels, news and literature institutions, and education positions. Going to Yenching Literature also complies with regulations."

Hearing her say this, Lin Chaoyang asked: "Have you made up your mind?"

"My decision is useless. I need the school's consent," said Tao Yushu.

Lin Chaoyang nodded.

While the two of them were talking, Lin Erchun and Zhang Guiqin listened quietly.

The old couple also heard that their daughter-in-law was about to graduate. The school wanted her to stay on campus, and the magazine wanted her to be an editor. This college student was very popular, and all companies were vying for her.

"Yushu, you just said that your school can also enter government agencies?" Lin Erchun asked.

"Of course. If nothing unexpected happens, half of our class will go to work in government agencies. I heard that the government is vying to recruit people from the school."

"Then it's better to go to the government office!" said Lin Erchun.

Zhang Guiqin immediately said, "The child can go wherever he wants. Do you think everyone is like you, obsessed with officials?"

"Why am I obsessed with power? There's nothing wrong with Yushu joining the government. Being a state official is respectable!"

"Yushu, don't listen to his nonsense. It's good to be a teacher. There are winter and summer vacations!"

The old couple started arguing, neither of them giving in.

Lin Chaoyang and his wife looked at each other, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

(End of this chapter)