Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 36: Seeing is better than hearing a hundred times

I submitted my work to Shanghai Literature and Art in early October, and now more than two months have passed. Even if we take into account the time for round-trip mailing, the efficiency is still very worrying.

Lin Chaoyang used to think that Yenching Literature and Art was inefficient, but now it seems that the editors of Yenching Literature and Art are very diligent.

Fortunately, although the editors of Shanghai Literature and Art were not very efficient, their vision was still good. The manuscript he submitted was accepted as he wished, and the editorial department even stated in the letter that the manuscript fee bill would be mailed out in a few days.

The second novel is about to be published, which makes Lin Chaoyang happy again.

Time has passed to the end of December, and recently there seems to be an unusual atmosphere in Yanjing City.

Early in the morning on December 12, when Lin Chaoyang just arrived at work, he saw Hu Wenqiong sitting at his workstation reading a newspaper attentively with a serious expression.

Normally, she would be wiping the table at this time.

Lin Chaoyang was wiping the table when a newspaper fell on it. He looked up and saw Hu Wenqiong looking at him excitedly.

"Sister Hu, what's going on?"

"Good thing! What a great thing!"

Hu Wenqiong smiled and showed the newspaper in her hand to Lin Chaoyang.

"Look, the old man's important speech was published in the People's Daily. The storm is over and the sky is clearing up!"

Lin Chaoyang took the newspaper, which contained the communique of the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee and the important speech of the old man. He said with a smile: "Everyone has been discussing this matter for the past two days, and this time they finally listened to it."

Hu Wenqiong nodded heavily, pursed her lips, and her eyes were red, "I listened! I listened!"

Hu Wenqiong's loss of composure was the norm on that day. Not only her, but Lin Chaoyang could feel that on the morning of December 1978, 12, the entire Yan University was surging with strong emotions.

During dinner, even my father-in-law poured me a glass of wine, which was a rare treat.

After struggling in the quagmire for a decade, China, this stumbling giant, has finally shaken off the mud and started to move towards spring.

If it were four months ago, Lin Chaoyang would probably jump for joy when he saw today's People's Daily.

It’s different now. The ambitions and ambitions we had back then have long since been replaced by gigolos.

New Year’s Day is coming soon, and the most important thing is to figure out how to coax my wife.

Although it is not popular to celebrate foreign festivals like Christmas nowadays, New Year's Day still has to be celebrated.

"The Shepherd" and the Creative Talk earned him two payments totaling 103 yuan in royalties. Now that his piggy bank was full again, he planned to buy a gift for Tao Yushu.

In addition to meeting his daily expenses, the biggest function of the small treasury is to harmonize the family atmosphere.

But there was a problem. Lin Chaoyang's salary was all handed over to the government, and Tao Yushu only left him ten yuan for pocket money every month, and this also had to include his lunch money at school every day.

From September to now, he has received three salaries. Adding the sixteen yuan that Tao Yushu originally left when he took away his piggy bank, and his lunch money at school, the value of this gift cannot be more than twenty-five yuan, otherwise he cannot explain where the money came from.

After thinking about it, Lin Chaoyang found Hu Wenqiong at noon that day.

"Sister Hu, I heard from you before that your brother-in-law works at Xinhua Bookstore, right?"

"Yeah. What's up? You want to buy a book?"

Hu Wenqiong asked Lin Chaoyang before he could speak. Lin Chaoyang said, "Can you get a copy of the "Foreign Literature Classics Series"? It would be best if you could get a set."

"This book is not easy to get."

Hu Wenqiong hesitated and did not dare to make any promises.

The "Foreign Literature Classics Series" has been planned for publication since a long time ago. It was restarted in 78 and jointly published by the People's Literature Publishing House and Shanghai Translation Publishing House. The works included are all world-renowned classics, which have been sought after by countless readers as soon as they were published.

Because the cover is all beige grid, readers affectionately call it the "grid book".

"If you want one or two, it's not a big deal. If you want more..."

Lin Chaoyang asked, "It doesn't matter if it's not a new book. Ask your brother-in-law to ask for me. If anyone wants to sell the book after reading it, I'll give him 2 cents for each copy."

The "Foreign Literature Classics Series" is in great demand in the market now, and it is difficult to get a copy. Even though Hu Wenqiong's husband works at the Xinhua Bookstore, he cannot guarantee that he can get a set.

But if Lin Chaoyang is willing to pay more, then this will be easy. Which bookstore doesn't have some losses? He can use the extra money to treat his colleagues to a meal, and that will be enough, right?
Lin Chaoyang handled the matter very well, so Hu Wenqiong did not feel embarrassed and readily agreed: "Okay, I'll take care of it, big sister."

At noon after Christmas, Lin Chaoyang met Chen Jiangong and Wang Xiaoping while eating in the cafeteria.

After the two sides greeted each other, Lin Chaoyang heard Chen Jiangong and Wang Xiaoping discussing the incident of the first issue of "Today" that had caused a sensation in the Yenching university community a few days ago. This incident has been a hot news in Yanyuan in recent days.

Wang Xiaoping is an avid poetry lover, and when he mentions Today, his face is full of praise and admiration.

"Your article 'The Horse Herder' is really popular now!" Chen Jiangong sighed to Lin Chaoyang in a low voice. "I guess it's because of the popularity of 'Scars'."

"The novel itself is good enough. Don't be so modest. At least everyone in our Chinese department who has read it says it's good."

When the two chatted, Wang Xiaoping joined in, speaking in a careless tone. Lin Chaoyang said helplessly: "Xiaoping, please keep your voice down."

Wang Xiaoping then remembered what Lin Chaoyang had told him before and gave an apologetic smile.

Since they were chatting so unscrupulously in front of him, Lin Chaoyang felt a little worried. He thought he wouldn't be able to hide the alias "Xu Lingjun" for long.

After dinner, Chen Jiangong took out two movie tickets and handed them to Lin Chaoyang. After the May Fourth Literary Society was established, it often held activities, and watching internal films was one of the benefits for members.

It was said that this was an internal screening of Xiao Xitian Chinese Film Archive, so Lin Chaoyang accepted the movie ticket without hesitation.

He worked as a consultant for "Unnamed Lake" purely for free, and watching some internal reference movies was his reward.

When he returned home in the evening, Lin Chaoyang took out the movie tickets and Tao Yushu was also very interested.

She is at Yanshi University, and the department occasionally organizes the viewing of internal reference films. Students always flock to it and cherish such opportunities very much.

"Where did you get it?" Tao Yushu asked about the origin of the movie ticket.

"I usually save seats for a few students from the May Fourth Literary Society. We are quite familiar with each other. They gave it to me."

Lin Chaoyang's lies are exactly the same as his wife's.

"That's great. You have quite a wide network of contacts." Tao Yushu joked.

Hearing that the two were going to Xiaoxitian to watch an internal reference film, sister-in-law Tao Yumo's eyes turned red with envy, and she seemed to be hesitant to speak when looking at Tao Yushu.

The couple could see the girl's little thoughts, but they were of one mind: the little girl was afraid of power and not virtue, so they couldn't let her take advantage of them all the time.

The next afternoon, the two went to Xiaoxitianer to watch a movie.

Because it was an event organized by the May Fourth Literary Society, many of the audience members of this afternoon's movie were members of the society, including several familiar faces such as Chen Jiangong, Wang Xiaoping, Cha Jianying, and Liu Zhenyun.

In the past, everyone only knew that Lin Chaoyang was the son-in-law of Professor Tao from the History Department, but had never seen Professor Tao's daughter. However, everyone had heard Zhang Yaozhong mention that Lin Chaoyang's wife was very beautiful.

When they saw it today, everyone's eyes lit up.

Seeing is worth hearing a hundred times!
Tao Yushu has a bright and elegant appearance, which is in line with the Chinese people's perception of the image of a beautiful woman. She is tall and stands out in the crowd.

"That's Professor Tao's daughter?"

"She's really beautiful, and has a unique temperament."

Wang Xiaoping was discussing with several female classmates around her. She was beautiful and was considered good-looking among the girls in Yanda University, but she felt a little inferior when compared with Tao Yushu.

Several boys nearby were also whispering, and their topic could be summed up in one sentence: Chaoyang is a really good guy!

The movie screened today is "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", a co-production between France and Italy.

As students of the Chinese Department, the names of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and Victor Hugo were so well known to the students present that today's movie-watching activity unconsciously took on a sacred pilgrimage flavor.

The movie was shot and produced in 1956, but today, more than years later, it can still be considered a masterpiece.

After the screening, everyone was still reluctant to leave, and even Tao Yushu said he wanted to reread the novel "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" again.

Two days later, on the morning of the last New Year's Day holiday, Hu Wenqiong put a bag on the table as soon as she arrived at work.

"Chaoyang, take a look!"

Lin Chaoyang was immediately delighted. He opened the bag and saw a stack of "grid books".

"Puppet", "Selected Poems", "The Rose Garden", "Modern Heroes", "Hunter's Notes", "Anna Karenina", "The Crusader Knight"...

Lin Chaoyang counted them and found that there were 16 books, some of which were published in the s and s. They looked to be about or th grade new. This surprised him very much. After going through such a buzzing era, they were still in such good condition. It was really rare.

Lin Chaoyang expressed his gratitude to Hu Wenqiong and gave her the money he had promised her in advance.

These books cost Lin Chaoyang a total of 26 yuan, which was a little over the budget, but not a big problem.

When Lin Chaoyang got off work in the evening, he walked in Yanyuan carrying a bag of books. Recently, there are more windbreakers like Du Qiu in the school, and Mayumi's hats have also become popular. The cultural phenomenon triggered by "The Chase" is becoming concrete and is constantly expanding.

Lin Chaoyang didn't care about these. He only thought about Tao Yushu's surprised and happy expression when he saw these books later, and a happy smile appeared on his face.

(End of this chapter)