1987 My Era

Chapter 134, Cultural Ambition, Hongxiu adds fragrance (Please subscribe!)
The English teacher’s hometown is not far from Shao City, about 20 miles away, and is on the only way from Huixian County to Shao City.

Looking out the window at the yellow-orange rice fields outside, Li Heng suddenly had an idea and shouted to the driver: "Master, give me a push!"

"Boy, we haven't reached Shao City yet." The driver saw that he looked young and thought it was his first time in Shao City, so he kindly reminded him.

"I know." Li Heng replied.

"Brake!", the car stopped.

Li Heng got off the car with his bag on his back, and Li Ran and Zhang Zhiyong followed him out in confusion.

Li Ran looked around and saw nothing but rice fields, hills, and some thatched houses.

"Li Heng, what are you doing? Why did you get off halfway?"

Li Heng pointed to the wooden house in front of him on the right and said, "That's our English teacher's house. Let's go take a look."

Li Ran suddenly realized: "If we go to someone's house, we have to buy something."

"of course."

A few people found a nearby village store and bought some candy, wine, and some fruit, spending a total of nearly 15 yuan.

Nowadays, this is already a very luxurious gift.

The three of them had bags in their hands and walked along the path along the ridge of the field. Soon they arrived at the English teacher's house.

As soon as she stepped into the threshing floor, she saw the old principal, who was also her father, the English teacher.

There is also a fashionable woman with big wavy hair next to her, probably she is the second wife married by Changshi Yali Middle School.

Seeing the couple, Zhang Zhiyong couldn't help but mutter: "Uncle Heng, we might be in vain."

Li Heng also had this bad premonition.

Sure enough, after greeting the old principal and the English teacher's grandparents and chatting for a few days, I learned that the English teacher had returned to Shao City the night before, had a meal and left, and did not stay overnight in his hometown.

Not seeing anyone, the three of them drank a glass of water and left.

"What should I do? There is no car?" Zhang Zhiyong asked while lying on the ground.

"Wait, there will be a passing car." Li Heng answered confidently.

About 5 minutes later, a medium-sized bus came from the opposite direction. It was packed with people and the driver did not stop.

11 minutes later, another car came. No matter how they waved, the driver ignored them and flew past, raising a cloud of dust.

"Damn! So cool, is it a big deal to have a car?" Zhang Zhiyong was splashed with dust and jumped up and down and cursed.

After cursing, the three continued to wait.

After waiting for about 20 minutes, a car finally came willing to take them.

As soon as they got in the car, Li Ran suddenly asked Li Heng: "Do you want to bring your English teacher with you again?"

Li Heng had no idea before, but after seeing the old principal and his wife, he had this idea:
"Anyway, we are all familiar with each other, and it will be more lively with more people. I will call and ask in the city later."

Zhang Zhiyong was very happy to hear this: "Hey, we have 4 more people now. I can't bear to lose one of them all of a sudden."

Li Ran agreed with this. Over the past month, the four of them stayed together for warmth and developed a deep bond.

When Li Heng arrived in Shao City, he found a public phone and called his English teacher as soon as he got off the car.

"Boom boom boom!"

The phone went through immediately, and a sexy voice came from the other end, "Hello, who is this?"

"Teacher, it's me."

"Li Heng? What's up?"

"Teacher, I just went to your hometown and found that you were not there. We are about to set off for the Three Gorges, would you like to come with us? Quxinyan and Li Ran are waiting for you." Li Heng did not waste any words and stated his purpose in a concise manner.

"Teacher Wang, let's come together. We have a companion now. We'll feel like something is missing without you." Li Ran said to join in the fun.

Wang Runwen thought for a while, and finally asked: "Where are you?"

Li Heng said: "I just got off the bus at the West Bus Station."

After Wang Runwen was moved, he was bold and said, "Then you go to the train station first, I will come to find you."

"Oh, good! Good!" Li Heng was very happy. After hanging up the phone, he clapped his hands with Li Ran and Quxinyan to celebrate.

"Li Heng, I'm hungry. I'll go find a restaurant and have a big meal." Li Ran said.

"Okay, no problem, I'll treat you." Li Heng was in a very good mood when the English teacher returned to the team.

Not long after the three of them arrived at the train station, the English teacher arrived. She was wearing a red shirt that made her bust look unusually full, casual pants and red shoes. She walked in a swaying and charming manner, and her whole person stood out as sexy.

Many people stared with their eyes wide open, swallowing their saliva secretly.

After greeting Li Ran and Duxinyan, the English teacher narrowed his eyes and warned Li Heng in a low voice as he passed by his ear: "Look again, or I'll dig your eyeballs out!"

Li Heng rolled his eyes.

Teacher, this is unfair to me! Can you please stop staring at me?
With so much capital, there must be at least 100 men who are secretly looking at me, if not 80. This is purely instinctive on my part. What's wrong with that?

Thanks to my English teacher’s network of connections, I was able to get the train ticket that I had originally given up on, and it was still a hard sleeper.

After dinner, while the four of them were waiting for the bus, Wang Runwen shook his hair and said with a smile, "Plans can't keep up with changes. I didn't expect to run into the couple in my hometown. I didn't expect to travel with you again."

Li Heng asked: "Teacher, the old principal came back from Changshi without informing you?"

The English teacher sneered, "I refuse to communicate with him."

Li Heng nodded and handed her a bottle of soda.

After 8 o'clock in the evening, the four boarded a westbound train and arrived in the Three Gorges the next morning.

Unfortunately, the weather was not good. It started to drizzle and a cold wind was blowing. The few people could only stare blankly in confusion.

However, Li Heng was not idle. After finding a place to stay, he started calling "Harvest" magazine.

"Hello, who is it?"

"Editor Zou, good morning!" Li Heng recognized the other party's voice immediately.

"Is it Mr. Li?"

Zouping had been unable to contact Li Heng for the past month, and no one answered Wang Runwen's phone. He was so anxious that he suddenly got a call and stood up in excitement:

"Teacher Li, you finally called me. If you don't come, I will go to your hometown to look for you."

Li Heng apologized, "I've been traveling around for the past two months and don't have a fixed residence. I'm sorry."

Hearing about traveling, Zouping asked curiously, "Teacher Li, where are you now?"

Li Heng said: "In the Three Gorges."

Zouping's mind moved, and he asked bravely, "Do you have new inspiration for writing?"

Not bad, he is good at this. I didn't expect it to be quite sensitive. Li Heng did not hide it: "I have been writing for the past two months and have written tens of thousands of words."

It turned out to be true!
Zou Ping, who was originally trying to test the waters, was overjoyed. He calmed down and asked, "What kind of subject is it?"

Li Heng said: "Prose."

"What? Prose?" Zou Ping was a little surprised.

No, I was very surprised!
How old are you?

You just turned 18 not long ago, right?

Why did the subject matter jump to prose?
Zouping's mind froze, and he was a little puzzled for a moment, but he couldn't openly question it, so he just asked anxiously: "How long are you going to stay in the Three Gorges?"

Li Heng pondered for a moment and said, "It depends on the weather conditions. It should be one to two days."

Hearing this, Zou Ping was a little disappointed and continued to ask: "Then where is the next stop? Have you decided?"

Li Heng said: "Dongting Lake."

Zouping immediately made a decision, "Then I'll go to Dongting Lake to wait for you."

Li Heng almost knew what the other party meant. He probably wanted to check the quality of the new article, so he didn't refuse: "Okay, we will probably arrive in three days."

After finalizing the details of the meeting, Zouping began to announce the good news: "Teacher Li, congratulations! The single volume of To Live has exceeded 100 million copies. As of yesterday, the cumulative sales have reached 1067203 copies."

106 million copies?
This data is so shocking and completely unexpected.

Li Heng was so happy to hear that his mouth almost stretched to the back of his head.

I did some calculations in my mind. If each book was priced at 3 yuan and there was a 5% royalty, with more than 106 million copies, I could earn 16 yuan.

16 million!
It’s definitely a huge sum of money!

Li Heng felt a little dizzy, and felt that the excitement was greater than that brought by tens of millions of deposits in future generations.

"Teacher Li, are you still there?" Seeing that there was no sound on the other end of the phone for a long time, Zou Ping asked carefully.

"Yes." Li Heng replied.

Zouping asked for his opinion: "Should I give you the bill of exchange directly when we meet, or wait until you go to Shanghai for university?"

I'm quite interested in it. I even know where I'm going to college.

For safety reasons, Li Heng weighed the pros and cons and said, "No hurry, give it to me when I get to Shanghai."

"Row."

Because the phone bill was too expensive, we hung up after a brief chat.

Just as the phone call was hung up, a figure came over from the editor-in-chief's office.

Editor-in-Chief Liao asked: "Was that the writer December who called just now?" Zouping replied yes.

Editor-in-Chief Liao asked with concern: "He disappeared for so long, where is he?"

When facing his leader, Zou Ping did not play tricks and told him everything that had just happened.

For example, Li Heng has traveled across most of China.

For example, he is writing a new book.

Editor-in-Chief Liao listened patiently and frowned: "Did you hear it wrong? Are you really writing prose?"

Seeing that the editor-in-chief had the same suspicion as himself, Zou Ping felt much better for some reason: "I have confirmed it repeatedly."

Editor-in-Chief Liao was silent for a long time before he said, "Go buy two tickets. Forget it. Don't worry about this. I'll take over."

"Ah?" Zou Ping looked confused.

His dream of becoming a gold medal editor in the future is determined by clinging to this big thick leg, so why doesn't he just have to take care of it himself?
Suddenly, he felt very uncomfortable, but he didn't dare to show it.

Editor-in-Chief Liao noticed his strangeness, reached out and patted him on the shoulder and said, "The credit still goes to you, and you will still be responsible for connecting with December.

As for this time, it's a special matter, I have something to see him about."

Hearing this, Zouping's mood suddenly turned from cloudy to sunny and he was beaming with joy.

Seeing his expression, Editor-in-Chief Liao laughed and changed his mind again, "You should come with me, or you will have trouble sleeping and eating."

Zouping scratched his head and pretended to smile foolishly.

After returning to the office, Editor-in-Chief Liao closed the door, then picked up the landline phone on the desk and dialed a number.

After waiting for about half a minute, the phone rang. "Zhaoyi, it's me."

"Uncle Liao, you have something to talk to me about so early in the morning?" Huang Zhaoyi hadn't gotten up yet, and she hadn't even opened her eyes.

"I have news about the writer in December." Editor-in-Chief Liao said.

Huang Zhaoyi opened her eyes instantly, "Uncle Liao, are you busy? Let's meet and talk."

"Okay." The two parties agreed to meet at a cafe and ended the call.

An hour later, Editor-in-Chief Liao appeared in a nearby coffee shop, looked out the door, and went to the private seat in the right corner.

"Zhaoyi, you came earlier than I thought." Editor-in-Chief Liao took the initiative to talk as soon as he sat down.

"Uncle Liao, I'm sorry to have embarrassed you. I just got up too."

After ordering two cups of coffee, Huang Zhaoyi pondered for a long time and asked, "What is his real name?"

Editor-in-Chief Liao had guessed about various issues before he came, "Li Heng."

Huang Zhaoyi pondered the name and asked again, "Where is he?"

"We are now in the Three Gorges and will be in Dongting Lake in three days." Editor-in-Chief Liao told what he knew.

Huang Zhaoyi thought carefully and asked, "If I go to meet him rashly, will he be unhappy?"

This question stumped Editor-in-Chief Liao.

Because he had no idea what happened between Li Heng and Zhaoyi?

I have no idea what the two of them wrote.

All she knew was that Li Heng suddenly ignored her.

Zhaoyi seemed to be somewhat bothered by this.

Editor-in-Chief Liao suggested: "Then this time, you show up as my assistant?"

Huang Zhaoyi shook her head: "I sent him photos."

???

A row of question marks flashed through Editor-in-Chief Liao's mind. Although he knew that the other party admired Li Heng's talent very much, he didn't expect that he would be so proactive?
He actually took the initiative to send photos.

This somewhat overturned Editor-in-Chief Liao's past perception of her. Facing each other, he was choked for a moment and didn't know how to start.

Huang Zhaoyi smiled bitterly and asked, "Do you find it incredible?"

Editor Liao asked, "What was Li Heng's reaction?"

Huang Zhaoyi looked out the window and said, "We haven't been in touch since then."

Editor-in-Chief Liao sighed secretly after hearing this, but he also understood Li Heng very well.

After all, Li Heng was only 18 years old, and although the Zhaoyi in front of him had an extraordinary family background, she was older than him after all. How could he be tempted?

In fact, there is an information error here. Editor-in-Chief Liao did not know that Li Heng rejected Huang Zhaoyi as an older married man.

Huang Zhaoyi didn't know that Li Heng was just over 18 years old.

Due to his status and to save face, Editor-in-Chief Liao could not ask about the content of the two people's correspondence. Huang Zhaoyi naturally would not say more.

Therefore, to a certain extent, the two people spoke their own words and failed to communicate with each other.

The coffee came, and after the waiter left, Huang Zhaoyi asked, "Is his new book an essay?"

Editor-in-Chief Liao said: “I have only heard about it, but I haven’t seen the content.”

Huang Zhaoyi asked, "Uncle Liao, do you think it's good?"

Editor-in-Chief Liao thought for a while and shook his head: "It's hard to say."

Then he added: "However, Li Heng's talent is obvious to all, and there may be unexpected surprises, so I decided to go there in person."

After saying that, Editor-in-Chief Liao looked at her.

After a long time, Huang Zhaoyi finally gave a reply: "I still won't go. I will wait for his new work at home."

Editor-in-Chief Liao nodded after hearing this.

After drinking coffee, the two went their separate ways.

Before they separated, Huang Zhaoyi wanted to ask Editor-in-Chief Liao to get her a photo of Li Heng, just to see what he looked like. But when she thought of Li Heng's refusal and her concerns about her own image, she swallowed the words back.

...

It drizzled for two days in the Three Gorges, and Li Ran took Zhang Zhiyong on a crazy two days in the small town.

Apart from looking through some local county chronicles, Li Heng did not go anywhere else and stayed in the hotel, concentrating on revising his manuscript.

For "Cultural Journey", he did not copy Mr. Yu's text.

Although Mr. Yu's writing is very beautiful, its shortcomings are also particularly obvious.

For example, the writing style is too artificial and lacks natural and fluent expression.

For example, although "Cultural Journey" sets the standard for cultural tourism with a model of culture, history and sensationalism, Mr. Yu neglects to conduct an in-depth discussion on the essence of culture.

Although it is generally recognized that "Cultural Journey" is a rare classic in the history of Chinese literature and has an extremely important position in the history of contemporary literature, these shortcomings have affected the depth and breadth of the work to a certain extent, and also caused a small number of readers to have a low opinion of it.

Li Heng, who has rich reading experience and decades of life experience, decided to inherit the advantages while improving the disadvantages.

Especially in exploring the essence of culture, he really put in a lot of effort.

Not only did he come to the site in person to pay his respects and experience it, he also read local documents and county annals. Combined with the more than 140 reference books and notes left to him by Zhao Jing, as well as his own experiences in two lifetimes, he can now be said to be fully prepared and fully grown.

Li Heng can confidently say that the words he writes are not only more beautiful, but also have higher literary and cultural qualities, reaching new heights that are not in the original book.

Of course, he did not mean to belittle Mr. Yu. On the contrary, in terms of literature alone, he still admired the other party very much.

What he is doing now is just standing on the shoulders of others to improve and repair them, eliminate the redundant, add cultural heritage, and bring the works to another level.

Originally, the original work of "Cultural Journey" consisted of a preface, an afterword and 37 articles, totaling more than 23 words.

But after Li Heng's repairs and improvements, he estimates that the number of words in the finished version will reach about 32.

This is a very huge project, and it also carries his ambition after his rebirth.

He planned to drain all his knowledge and put his heart and soul into this work to make it more eye-catching and brilliant.

Give it a higher historical status in literary history.

Even though he was already shocked, and had been shocked several times, the English teacher still couldn't calm down for a long time after seeing him make drastic changes over and over again on the original basis and looking at his meticulous profile.

I thought he was a genius and his writing had reached perfection, but with every revision, his writing became more refined and vivid, and the improvement was obvious, which made Wang Runwen think he had met a monster.

Maybe, okay, he really is a monster! He doesn't belong to this world.

While the English teacher was thinking this, she was also secretly happy for him. She felt a sense of honor of witnessing history and a miracle.

The rain outside kept falling, tinkling on the corners of the eaves.

Although the window was open, the room was still very stuffy. Seeing the sweat on his forehead gathering into balls and about to drip onto the paper, Wang Runwen, who was already immersed in the world of literature, did not think much about it. He leaned forward slightly and instinctively took out a handkerchief to wipe it for him.

But at this moment, her fullness almost pressed against Li Heng's left hand, gently, hazily, and the touch was soft and clear.

The air trembled.

One raised his head, the other lowered his head, and they looked at each other quietly for a while without saying a word, and then went about their own business in tacit understanding.

The English teacher wiped his forehead with a handkerchief and rubbed his neck back and forth. Her movements were always gentle and delicate, which was very different from the way she usually said "get out".

The house was very quiet, with only the sound of rain falling and the rustling sound of the pen tip moving across the white paper.

After doing all this, the English teacher returned to his original state, watching him write attentively, occasionally glancing at his profile, with a peaceful heart.

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(End of this chapter)