Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 99 The Army Needs Talents Like You (Today's Third Update)

The brother-in-law couldn't help but mutter that Lin Chaoyang had just finished thinking about him in the morning, and he came in the evening.

"Aunt, uncle, my dad wants to treat you to dinner this weekend."

Du Feng walked in and said to Mr. and Mrs. Tao.

"What kind of guests are you inviting for no reason?" asked Tao's mother.

"Isn't it the 11th?" Du Feng's reason obviously failed to convince the crowd. He smiled and said, "Actually, the main purpose is to invite my brother-in-law."

"Please invite Chaoyang?" Everyone looked surprised. The eldest brother-in-law Tao Yucheng asked, "What's the reason for this?"

Du Feng showed a bit of complacency on his face, "Because of my brother-in-law's novel, the "Garland under the Mountain"."

Everyone in the Tao family suddenly understood.

It has been a month since "The Garland under the Mountain" was published in "People's Literature". During this period, the Tao family has heard people around them discussing this novel more than once. Not only those readers who like reading books are discussing it, but even those who have no interest in literature are also discussing this novel.

The reason why "The Garland under the Mountain" can have such an impact is not only because the novel itself breaks the barriers of previous military-themed novels, but more importantly, it closely follows current affairs and conforms to public opinion.

The war in the south lasted for more than half a year, and it touched the hearts of countless Chinese people. Although time has passed, the attention to the war is not as hot as it was at the beginning.

But "The Garland under the Mountain" is, after all, the first novel that reflects this war so closely to reality. Ordinary people who care about the war are potential readers of this novel.

Even if some people don't read novels, they can't help but be discussed by people around them. This level of topicality is something that ordinary novels do not have.

Groundbreaking quality, popular topics, and a huge number of potential readers...

All these factors combined have made "The Garland under the Mountain" loved and praised by millions of readers in a short period of time.

This trend has formed a powerful public opinion force within just one month, gathering the already somewhat scattered public opinion, which is also what the authorities want to see.

Lin Chaoyang guessed that his uncle Du Ruolin wanted to treat everyone to a meal, and it seemed that the public opinion generated by the novel had achieved the desired effect for the army.

After delivering the message, Du Feng was about to leave when Lin Chaoyang stopped him.

"You haven't been in a relationship recently?"

"No." Du Feng looked like he was asking for trouble.

Lin Chaoyang felt a little regretful that he could not earn the writing fee.

He added, "Get me two packs of cigarettes."

"What do I think of it? All right, I'll give it to you on Sunday at dinner."

Du Feng thought that Lin Chaoyang was just asking for this and was about to leave after agreeing to it, but Lin Chaoyang said, "We haven't talked about the real business yet."

"Anything else?"

"You have time to help me look for a house."

Du Feng was surprised, "Brother-in-law, you want to rent a house?"

"It's not renting, it's buying. You can see the environment at home, there are many people and the place is small. Xiwen and Xiwu will be grown up in two years, and it's not appropriate to let Yumo squeeze in with them. Besides, your sister and I will definitely have children in the future.

So, having your own house is a must.”

Du Feng nodded, "Your consideration is correct, but why should I use my own money to buy a house instead of looking for a company?"

"I'm a temporary worker, and your sister is still a student. When do you think we can live in a decent house if we rely on the company?"

"That's true, but it's hard to buy a house now!"

"Just ask around first, just in case you find someone suitable!" Lin Chaoyang said.

"That's fine. You're not in a hurry anyway. I'll help you find out when I have time." Du Feng accepted the task, and then teased, "Okay, brother-in-law, you should make money as writers. You've only written a few novels, and you're going to buy a house."

Du Feng's words were full of ridicule and envy. Even though he was the son of a military family, nowadays, no matter what your identity is, the gap between the rich and the poor is actually not that big.

The most important reason why people don’t buy houses at this stage is of course that the property rights are usually not in their own hands. Another major reason is that it is not easy for most people to buy a house with their income.

It is true that houses are cheap now, but everyone's income is not high. In addition to the difference in housing prices and income, the biggest difference from later generations is that the cost of food and clothing is much higher.

Take pork as an example. The current price of pork in general markets and grocery stores in Yanjing is 7 cents per pound, with a fluctuation of no more than 5%.

If you make 50 yuan a month, you can buy about 67 kilograms of pork. You should know that 50 yuan is considered a medium to high income nowadays. Forty years later, it should be at least 8000 yuan a month. If you use this money to buy pork, how much can you sell? When pork is cheap, you may have to multiply it by 10 times.

The advantage nowadays is that the gap between the rich and the poor is small, but there are also disadvantages. The low material living standards have greatly limited the happiness index of the people.

Many families spend most of their annual income on clothing and food. Buying a house, which is a large expense of thousands of dollars, is naturally a huge pressure for ordinary families.

It is true that Du Feng comes from a wealthy family, but he himself does not have much money and was one of those people who lived paycheck to paycheck in the 1970s.

Lin Chaoyang earns a few hundred dollars by writing a novel, which is something he can't help but envy now.

"You can buy it if you want." Lin Chaoyang said with a smile.

"I'm not buying it!"

Who would spend their own money to buy a house these days unless they have no other choice?

This concept may be difficult for people in later generations to understand, but it is a very normal idea nowadays.

The next day was Saturday. During lunch at work, Lin Chaoyang went to the post office outside the south gate of the school to mail the manuscript he had promised to Harvest.

From the beginning of writing to the completion of the manuscript, it took nearly five months.

During this period, "Little Shoes" was published, "The Inevitable Rise and Fall of Scar Literature" was published, and "Wreaths under the Mountain" was published. According to Lin Chaoyang's efficiency, it is a snail's pace.

But compared with today's writers, his efficiency is still good.

Over the past few months, Li Xiaolin only sent a few routine letters urging for updates, but she only urged for updates and didn't even send a few monthly tickets. Where did Lin Chaoyang get the motivation?
But after all, it was something that had already been agreed upon, and Lin Chaoyang finally managed to send the manuscript out before November 1st.

After finishing this manuscript, he was finally able to have some free time.

For four or five months, he wrote every day, writing during work and after get off work, and felt more tired than being a 996 office worker.

Now that I've finished this job, it's time to take a good rest.

On Sunday, the entire Tao family came to the Shijingshan Military Region compound.

After entering the house and greeting everyone, Du Ruolin laughed and said to Mother Tao: "Ruohui, you really found a good son-in-law!"

As soon as these words were spoken, all members of the Tao family looked towards Tao's mother, as if they were enjoying a good show.

Tao's mother's face was stiff, and she forced a smile, "Brother, it's just a novel, it's nothing."

"Hey! How can you say that? You don't know how much encouragement the publication of "The Wreath under the Mountain" gave to our commanders and fighters at the front and in the rear!

Chaoyang's novel is well written. It greatly boosted the morale of our army and allowed the people to see the sacrifices of our soldiers. It won us the hearts of the people, which is the most important thing!"

My uncle Du Ruolin has a generous personality and his voice is a little louder than that of ordinary people.

Tao's mother's politeness was refuted by him, and she couldn't argue any more. She could only smile dryly and deal with it.

Tao Yushu and her sister paid close attention to their mother's expression the whole time and were secretly happy in their hearts.

Tao Yushu was gloating because of his mother's attitude towards her husband, while Tao Yumo was gloating because of the room-changing incident that was initiated by Tao's mother some time ago.

"It seems like you've prepared a lot of things today!"

Father Tao loved his daughter-in-law, and attracted the attention of his uncle Du Ruolin. He smiled and said, "You are lucky to have Chaoyang today. He has made a great contribution to our army. We must reward him well today. I specially invited the chef from the cafeteria to come."

Although Du Ruolin's words were rough, they were not stiff at all. Everyone could hear his joking meaning, but they also understood that today's meal was really prepared specially for Lin Chaoyang.

Tao's father joked, "The chef is cooking a special dish, and he really showed his skills. I have to taste it today."

Du Ruolin chatted and laughed with Tao's father and Lin Chaoyang, while Tao Yushuo ran to the kitchen and grabbed his aunt Qi Hongying.

"Aunt, please take a look at the coat I bought for you."

"Why buy a coat?"

Qi Hongying actually knew very well why Tao Yushu bought her a coat.

During this period, Du Feng often boasted to others at home and outside that "The Garland under the Mountain" was written by his brother-in-law, and that the protagonist of the novel was based on some of his experiences.

Because of this incident, Du Feng almost got beaten by his father's belt.

"The Garland under the Mountain" was indeed based on real people, but after reading the information Du Feng found, Du Ruolin knew better than anyone that he had nothing to do with it.

Besides, if Du Feng is the prototype of the protagonist of the novel, it can only be Zhao Mengsheng.

Doesn't that mean his wife Qi Hongying is Wu Shuang, the mother of Zhao Mengsheng who took advantage of her power to meddle in military affairs in the novel? Doesn't Du Ruolin have no way of educating his children and managing his family properly?
This kid is just trying to satisfy himself, and his whole family has to suffer as a result. Who else should we punish if not him?

From Qi Hongying's perspective, it was like a pot of blame fell from the sky and hit her head, and she was unable to express her pain.

My husband also said that Du Feng had nothing to do with the prototype of the novel, but I still felt uncomfortable.

Tao Yushu knew that Du Feng always talked about the prototype of the novel. This kid only cared about showing off himself and didn't care about the lives of his family at all. He also put Lin Chaoyang in the fire invisibly.

So the day before yesterday afternoon she made a special trip to the department store and bought a coat for Qi Hongying.

Given the Du family's financial situation, they certainly don't need this coat, but this is a minimum attitude, at least to prevent Qi Hongying from blaming her husband for her discomfort.

Tao Yushu wanted Qi Hongying to go to the room to try on clothes, but she smiled and said, "No need. You have always been thoughtful about everything since you were young. It's Du Feng who talks nonsense all day long. It has nothing to do with your Chaoyang family."

"I know, but it will always make people have bad associations..."

Qi Hongying interrupted Tao Yushu and said, "In your heart, do you think your aunt is such an unreasonable person? After all, she did help your uncle. How can I take your things? Just give the clothes to your mother."

Having been a sister-in-law for a lifetime, Qi Hongying knew Du Ruohui's character very well. No matter what the reason was, she would definitely be angry if Tao Yushu bought clothes for her but not for her.

Tao Yushu smiled and said, "Aunt, you really understand my mother too well. However, if you give her something you don't want, she will still be angry."

"If you don't give it to her, she'll be even angrier." Qi Hongying chuckled, with a hint of envy on her face, "I envy your mother. She's lived a life of luxury since she was a child, and your father has taken care of her when she grew up. Although she suffered a lot in the past few years, at least you kids have all grown up."

"You're not bad either..."

Tao Yushu and Qi Hongying chatted in the room for a long time before coming out. A chef was invited to the house today, so there was no need for everyone to be busy. The two families were scattered in the two-story building of the Du family, and there was laughter everywhere.

The chef is from Shandong and he cooks Shandong cuisine.

Braised fish fillet in rice wine, four-happiness meatballs, stir-fried kidney slices, braised prawns...

When it was almost noon, the dishes were served on the table one by one. The children in the family were waiting by the table eagerly, waiting for the meal to start.

Du Ruolin asked Du Feng to open two bottles of white wine, saying that it was to reward Lin Chaoyang, the great contributor, but it seemed more like he wanted to get him drunk.

Halfway through the banquet, Du Ruolin asked under the influence of alcohol: "Chaoyang, The Wreath under the Mountain is well written. Many leaders in the army have praised you to me, saying that you are an expert in writing military-themed novels. Our army needs talents like you. I haven't forgotten what I promised you before. How about it? Do you want to come?"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's eyes were focused on Du Ruolin and Lin Chaoyang.

(End of this chapter)