Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 424 Travel to Hong Kong

The annual Xunweizhai Cultural Salon has come to an end, but the attention it brings continues.

Compared with salons in previous years, this year's salon was of higher standard, larger in scale, and had a wider coverage, with more materials and angles available for discussion, becoming one of the focuses of discussion in the domestic literary circles in April 1985.

After finishing the work of the salon, Lin Chaoyang and his wife also had some free time. The employment letter from New Kunlun Pictures had been mailed, and Tao Yushu could now go to the government department to apply for the procedures to go to Hong Kong.

But now the couple has encountered a problem. Xiao Dongdong is not even three years old yet, and he must go with them. Tao Yushu is confident that she can take care of him while pregnant. After all, everyone has gone through this in the past few years.

But Lin Chaoyang was worried. The couple's trip to Hong Kong would not take too long, but after all, they were unfamiliar with the place, so he still wanted to be safe.

"Or take Yu Mo with you."

"She still has to go to work."

"Isn't there any difference in her class? She can get by better than her big brother!"

If Tao Yumo heard what Lin Chaoyang said, she would definitely fight with him. It's not that he was slandering her, but because the truth was too hurtful.

Tao Yushu was a little hesitant, for she was afraid that this matter would delay her sister's work. But Lin Chaoyang was right. Judging from Tao Yumo's performance over the past year since graduation, she did not look like a career-oriented person at all.

"This is not easy to handle. It's fine if she helps us take care of the child at home, but how can we justify it if she takes care of the child after she goes to Hong Kong?"

Lin Chaoyang was also scratching his head.

After all, she is my sister-in-law. Dehua and the like are just jokes. It is impossible for me to really treat her as a confinement nanny.

"How about you talk to her first?"

Tao Yushu nodded hesitantly.

After the couple finished talking, Tao Yushu came to the living room. Xiao Dongdong had been coaxed to sleep at this moment, and Tao Yumo was playing games in front of the TV. She would be upset and frustrated if the little character on the screen died, but would cheer if he passed the level.

He is obviously in his twenties, but he behaves like a child.

Tao Yushu looked at her sister's carefree expression and couldn't help but smile. She sat on the sofa and watched Tao Yumo play for a long time.

"Sister, why are you walking without making any noise?"

Tao Yumo's character died again. She shook the handle angrily and was about to continue playing when she suddenly found someone next to her. She was startled and complained unhappily.

"You were too absorbed in playing the game."

Tao Yumo also knew her own problem when playing games, so she didn't dwell on it any more. She asked again, "Why are you sitting here if you're not sleeping?"

"Nothing. Your brother-in-law and I are going to Hong Kong, and we plan to bring Dongdong with us."

"Oh." Tao Yumo felt a little disappointed when he heard that. "This little guy is always annoying. I feel reluctant to let him go."

"Then you will go with them?" Tao Yushu asked jokingly.

Tao Yumo's eyes lit up immediately when he heard this, "Can I go?"

Tao Yushu was surprised by his sister's reaction. Can you at least show your embarrassment?

Seeing that she didn't say anything, Tao Yumo asked again: "Sister, are you really going to let me go?"

"No." Tao Yushu replied dryly.

Tao Yumo was not willing to give in, "You just said it!"

"You really want to go to Hong Kong? Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I'm not afraid of causing trouble for you. This time you took the initiative to ask for it, not me!"

Tao Yushu rolled his eyes at her and said, "You went to Hong Kong just for the game, right?"

Tao Yumo said shyly: "No, I just can't bear to leave Xiao Dongzi!"

"Come on. You are so generous. You don't even want to work anymore? Can you bear to leave your family behind?"

"I can just apply for a leave of absence from work. You know my mother treats me like a thorn in her side."

"That's because I'm worried about you."

"It's no use for her to worry. I am the master of my own life. Sister, I know you want me to help you take care of Xiao Dongzi, right?

No problem, leave Xiao Dongzi to me, I promise to take good care of him and make him plump and white."

Tao Yushu shook off her coquettish hand and said, "He's fat enough. What if you don't want to work at all in the future?"

"There will always be a way out when you reach the mountain. Besides, I am on unpaid leave." Tao Yumo said very frankly.

Tao Yushu shook her head. She really couldn’t understand why the two sisters had such different personalities since they were both born by the same father and raised by the same mother.
"Sister~" Seeing her shaking her head, Tao Yumo thought that she didn't want him to go to Hong Kong, so he quickly shook his sister's arm again.

"Stop shaking! Stop shaking!"

Tao Yumo stopped at this point, and Tao Yushu looked at her in silence. After a long while, he said, "Why are you not making any progress at all?"

Tao Yumo said confidently: "I am not making progress, isn't it because I am babysitting your child? Not only do you not thank me, but you also look down on me!"

Although Tao Yushu sometimes did not show mercy when it came to tricking his sister, and although he knew that Tao Yumo was bluffing, Tao Yushu still couldn't help feeling a little guilty.

"Okay, then you come with us to Xiangjiang."

"That's great!" Tao Yumo jumped up and hugged her sister, rocking her left and right.

Tao Yushu was shaken by her a few times and felt a little dizzy and retched. Tao Yumo was so scared that she immediately helped her sister sit down.

"Sister, drink some water."

After Tao Yushu finished drinking the water, he felt a little better. He glared at his sister with his almond-shaped eyes. Knowing that he was in the wrong, Tao Yumo smiled dryly.

"Sister, drink more!"

When they returned to the room, Tao Yushu told Lin Chaoyang about the situation. He laughed and said, "This girl is really playful. What about her parents..."

"Let me go and talk to her. Yumo is old enough now. There's nothing wrong with going to Hong Kong to see the world."

Lin Chaoyang nodded, "Okay." In the next few days, Lin Chaoyang and his wife first went to handle the necessary procedures for leaving the country, and then told Tao's father and mother about Tao Yumo going to Hong Kong with them.

Although Tao's mother always disliked her little daughter, she was naturally reluctant to let her go so far away all of a sudden.

Tao Yumo, however, acted heartless and even wanted to fly to Hong Kong as soon as possible to see the outside world.

In a blink of an eye, it was already early April. All the procedures before going to Hong Kong were prepared and the luggage was packed, but there was still one important thing to do at home.

The courtyard in Xiaoliubukou Hutong is an east-west courtyard. When Lin Chaoyang bought it, the east courtyard had already been dilapidated, but the west courtyard was in good condition, so the family just simply cleaned up the west courtyard and moved in.

Lin Erchun had been urging Lin Chaoyang to clean up the East Courtyard. Before that, Lin Chaoyang took into consideration that Xiao Dongdong was still young and was afraid that the large-scale construction at home would scare him, so the work did not start until the beginning of last spring.

After more than half a year of reconstruction last year, the courtyards and houses in the East Court have been restored to their original state, still retaining the style of the ancient carved beams and painted buildings and vermilion lacquered green tiles.

The back house on the south side was converted into a boiler room, and the hot water and heating for the entire courtyard were supplied from here.

In the main courtyard, there are two pomegranate trees standing on the east and west sides of the yard. In front of the pomegranate tree is a square fish tank made of stone, which will be used to raise goldfish in the future, adding a bit of interest to life.

If the style of the West Courtyard is a combination of Chinese and Western styles, then the renovated East Courtyard is a proper traditional courtyard style.

Entering the house, the hardware and decoration have been further upgraded. The living facilities are more modern than those in the west courtyard. The most important thing is that there is a bathroom in the house.

When living in a courtyard house, sewage disposal is undoubtedly the biggest problem.

As early as the Ming Dynasty, the drainage design in Yanjing City was relatively complete, and the homes of dignitaries even had their own independent sewers. Lin Chaoyang's courtyard was also built by a wealthy family, so there was naturally a sewer. It was just abandoned for many years and had long been blocked.

During the reconstruction of the East Courtyard, it took a lot of effort to clear the underground sewer that had been blocked for a long time.

This kind of project would have disturbed the neighbors, who would have certainly been unwilling to do it, but Lin Chaoyang asked someone to help unclog the sewers for them as well.

He spent a few hundred dollars more on this, but he earned a good reputation among his neighbors. From now on, his neighbors no longer had to carry domestic sewage to the street to dump water.

After the construction of the East Courtyard, the living facilities were much better than those of the West Courtyard. Before leaving, Lin Chaoyang arranged to move all his belongings to the East Courtyard, including his collections.

When they returned from Hong Kong a few months later, they lived in the East Courtyard.

"Dad, Mom, you can stay here for the time being. After the East Courtyard is repaired, the conditions will be no worse than those in the Overseas Chinese Apartments.

The key is that living in the city makes it convenient for both of you to go out."

"That's fine. It saves me from running away in the future." Lin Erchun agreed readily.

Lin Chaoyang added: "I plan to use the west courtyard as a guesthouse in the future, so that friends can stay there when they come."

After the renovation, the east and west courtyards each have their own gates, and there is a hanging flower gate connecting them in the middle wall. However, an additional door has been added that can be closed at any time to fully ensure privacy and prevent the two courtyards from disturbing each other.

If it were in the past, Lin Erchun would definitely say that it would be a shame not to rent out so many houses.

But today, Lin Erchun said nothing.

After the Xunweizhai Cultural Salon had been held for several years, he could clearly feel that the writers who came to participate in the event had become more and more respectful towards Lin Chaoyang.

Lin Erchun has been a production team leader for half his life. Although he is not a high-ranking official, he understands what dignity and fame are.

Only now did he realize that his son's dinner invitations over the years were not in vain. Without anyone noticing, he had built up such a high reputation among people. He really had the demeanor of the heroes he had heard of in "The Three Heroes and Five Gallants".

After arranging matters at home, Lin Chaoyang called Li Tuo again and gave him a key to the west courtyard.

"I'm going out with Yushu for the time being, so the West Courtyard is vacant. If any writer or editor friends come to Yanjing, you can take them to live in the West Courtyard as a temporary place to stay."

Li Tuo already knew that Lin Chaoyang was going to Hong Kong, but he didn't expect that Lin Chaoyang would give him a surprise before leaving.

Lin Chaoyang is planning to become a living LF by clearing out his own yard to provide accommodation for his writer and editor friends who come to Yenching University?

Li Tuo killed this thought as soon as it came out. If it was a month ago, he might have thought so, but after seeing Lin Chaoyang's cunning in the cultural salon, he is no longer the naive Li Tuo.

Invite people's hearts.

These four words immediately flashed through Li Tuo's mind. When he looked at Lin Chaoyang again, he couldn't help feeling a sense of strangeness. Was this still the honest, simple and kind-hearted Lin Chaoyang he knew?

"Chaoyang, do you really want to make the name of 'Folk Literature Association ZX' real?"

Lin Chaoyang laughed and said, "What a mess! The yard at home is originally large. Before, the east yard was not cleaned up, so there was only the west yard, which was not too empty.

As soon as we left, the east and west courtyards were empty. A house is not afraid of being occupied, but it is afraid of being empty. Let some people live in it to add to the atmosphere. "

Lin Chaoyang's explanation made sense, but Li Tuo looked at him with suspicion. He no longer dared to believe what Lin Chaoyang said.

Lin Chaoyang was too lazy to explain to him, "Forget it, return the key."

Li Tuo immediately put the key in his arms and said, "I've already given it to you, why would I want to take it back?"

He said with a smile: "Your yard is big enough. I have been eyeing it for a long time. Now we have a place for gatherings in the future."

Lin Chaoyang warned: "You can send someone here, but don't make a mess."

Li Tuo was immediately displeased, "Who do you think we are? We are cultured people!"

“People of culture have the most devious minds!”

After exchanging a few insults, Li Tuo said with emotion: "In the future, editors and writers who come to Beijing to collect manuscripts and revise manuscripts will be blessed to live in a courtyard house at the foot of the imperial city. Writer Lin has done a great deed!"

"Go!" Lin Chaoyang cursed with a smile.

After settling his family affairs, Lin Chaoyang could finally set off for Hong Kong.

Early in the morning of April 4, a black Santana stopped at the entrance of Xiaoliubukou Hutong and Li Hanxiang got out of the car.

The shooting progress of "Fire Dragon" after the beginning of the year was faster than expected. It was just wrapped up in early April. Li Hanxiang has been waiting for Lin Chaoyang to return to Hong Kong these two days.

"Chaoyang, let's go!" Li Hanxiang shouted to Lin Chaoyang who had just walked out of the yard.

"coming!"

(End of this chapter)