1979: My fiancée is a goddess

Chapter 123 People's Literature Confirms to Publish Love Letter
"Tanghulu~"

In the evening, a peddler selling handmade candied haws stood at the entrance of the alley on Beichizi Street, holding a thick long wooden stick in his hand, on which were circles of straw bales. The bright red and festive candied haws were made of hawthorn, orange, and apple, and they looked delicious.

A few furry kids wearing small flowery cotton jackets and with runny noses were playing and being extremely greedy.

"Ding Ding Ding ~"

A bicycle came and Wang Meng pedaled towards home, with the briefcase in the basket filled to the brim. After get off work, he successfully insulted Cui Daoyi and made her lose her temper. Wang Meng also got the novel "Love Letter" from Zhang Guangnian as he wished.

"Your dad is back!"

A child pushed an inconspicuous little girl and pointed at Wang Meng and shouted.

"dad!"

"What!"

"I want to eat candied haws!"

"Okay, your dad is happy today."

Wang Meng looked helplessly at his youngest daughter Wang Yihuan, propped himself up on one foot, and shouted to the vendor selling candied haws: "Give me some candied haws!"

"okay!"

After buying the candied haws, Wang Meng picked up his youngest daughter Wang Yihuan and put her on the front bumper of the car and started to eat them. Several other children looked at them eagerly, feeling extremely greedy.

"Share some of it out."

"oh oh."

……

After Wang Meng was transferred back to Beijing last year, he held a leadership position in the Beijing Writers Association and also held a certain position in the editorial department of People's Literature.

He now lives in the Beichizi Street Guesthouse at the foot of the Imperial City. It is an address arranged by the Beijing Literary Association. The environment is very good and can barely accommodate a family of five.

When I brought my daughter back to my home in Beichizi Guesthouse, my wife and my eldest and second sons had been waiting for a long time.

Wang Meng's wife is named Cui Ruifang, his eldest son is Wang Shan, his second son is Wang Shi, and his youngest daughter is Wang Yihuan.

"came back?"

A gentle middle-aged woman with short hair, wearing an apron and holding a spatula in her hand, walked out of the kitchen.

"Ah."

"Eat, I've been waiting for you for a long time."

A family of five sat at the dining table, eating and chatting about the interesting things that happened today.

"Why is it so late today?"

His wife Cui Ruifang picked up a peanut and asked in confusion, "The working hours of People's Literature are until five o'clock, and it is rare for him to come back at six o'clock like today."

"Haha, today is a special situation. The editors from the screenwriting department all left very late today, all waiting to witness something." Wang Meng laughed.

"Witness? What?"

"Have you seen the fragrant grass I bought last time?"

"Well, I've read almost half of it. This book has too many words and it's very slow to read. The true and false love story is also very distressing. What does it have to do with this?" the wife replied.

“You like reading romance novels, then you are lucky.

Editor-in-Chief Zhang had previously made an appointment with Comrade Cheng Kaiyan, the author of Fang Cao, to write an article. I went with him, along with reporter Yang from People's Daily. At the time, Editor-in-Chief Zhang boasted that any article written by Comrade Cheng Kaiyan would be published.

As a result, this young comrade wrote a love novel and sent it to People's Literature, which made Editor-in-Chief Zhang very depressed.

Today, everyone in the editorial department was waiting to see whether this love story could pass the review of Editor-in-Chief Zhang, so I replied late. "Wang Meng explained.

Comrade Cheng Kaiyan, who wrote "Fragrant Grass", wrote a love novel?
Cui Ruifang looked at her husband in surprise and asked curiously, "How is it? Did you pass?"

If it really passes, doesn't that mean People's Literature will publish a romance novel?
It’s really unimaginable!

"Passed! The editor-in-chief passed it and gave it a very high evaluation!"

Wang Meng took a piece of fish with his chopsticks and said excitedly.

"Comrade Cheng Kaiyan is really amazing. Isn't that the first love novel in People's Literature?"

"Yes, I brought the manuscript back. The editor-in-chief has done the final review, and I will do the second review."

Wang Meng picked up the briefcase hanging behind his chair and patted it in front of his wife.

"Then let's watch it together later!"

Cui Ruifang said expectantly.

After lunch, the family of five washed up one after another and went back to their rooms to sleep.

In the bedroom.

Wang Meng returned to the room in his pajamas and carrying a briefcase. His wife was already waiting for him in bed. He turned over and leaned on the soft pillow, while his wife leaned on his shoulder.

The two met when they were seventeen or eighteen years old, and it has been more than twenty years now, but they are still very much in love.

Wang Meng picked up the bound manuscript paper and started flipping through it.

"Love Letter? Is it actually named after Love Letter?"

When the wife saw the name at the beginning, she remembered something and said in surprise, covering her mouth.

"The story should be advanced through love letters, right?" Wang Meng guessed.

The two of them watched carefully and found that the story began with the heroine Hiroko attending her fiancé's third anniversary funeral. The plot of this chapter was mostly provided through flashbacks and reverse chronological order.

Therefore, Wang Meng and his wife could only see a general idea.

"The male protagonist dies at the beginning, so how can we write a love story? It won't be a story about the female protagonist and another man, right?" Cui Ruifang, his wife, frowned and said to herself.

"The familiar face that the heroine saw again at the funeral was quite calm, even calm. She had just lit the incense sticks and was about to offer them but they were extinguished by the snow. Combined with the fact that the hero's mother said that the snow might have been caused by him, there must be a deeper meaning. Maybe he hoped that his fiancée would get over it, or maybe there was something else."

The two of them watched and communicated at the same time, which was their habit.

Some people like to finish watching the whole thing in one go and don’t like to discuss the plot, but some people like to watch it slowly and think about the plot while watching.

As the papers turned, the plot came to the point where Mrs. Andai and Hiroko were looking at the protagonist's junior high school photos.

Because of the male protagonist's "prank" when burning incense and this non-existent address, the heroine Hiroko decided to send a letter.

"How are you? I'm fine."

Wang Meng whispered softly the words in his heart. The sentences were short and did not have any deep meaning, but they touched people's hearts.

"I'm very good."

His wife's warm breath blew on his hand, and she said softly, "This girl must be very in love with this boy."

"I think so."

However, when they turned to the next chapter, the two had different opinions.

The reason was that the heroine had an intimate kiss with Akiba, who indirectly killed the hero.

"I can't accept this kind of thing. I thought this heroine was so affectionate? Haha..."

His wife Cui Ruifang sneered.

"It's actually quite normal. People can't stay in the same place. No matter how beautiful the past was, it's gone. And it's not contradictory to miss her fiancé and fall in love with another man at the same time." Wang Meng calmly explained. Yes, people can't stay in the same place, but infatuated people are not one of them.

Cui Ruifang agreed with this view, but she could not accept it.

The two then looked down. This letter was originally sent to heaven, but they unexpectedly received a reply. How will the plot develop next?
Apparently what his wife Cui Ruifang said was almost correct. It was not the love story between his fiancée and another man, but the story of the deceased male protagonist and his secret crush.

A past that had been buried for decades was dug out by the gentle and kind woman Hiroko. The weeds and rotten soil on top were brushed away. Two women with similar appearances, each holding their own memories of the male protagonist, pieced them together through the exchange of letters.

Two broken keys are pieced together to form a real key to unlock the box of the past.

"The fastest way for me to tell you everything about him is to send you my head," said the female Ashu in the letter.

At twelve o'clock in the evening, when everyone was asleep, Wang Meng and his wife finally finished reading the novel.

His wife Cui Ruifang commented: "It is plain and simple, with a hint of sadness and regret, but also has corners that make people smile. This novel reminds me of Shen Congwen's "Border Town."

"It is also the same delicate and calm text, with excellent emotional background, everything is calm and calm, everything is like a trickle that takes us to appreciate the love of a different country. It is excellent, and it has passed the second review with me." Wang Meng nodded in agreement.

"Speaking of love letters, I think of you at that time."

His wife Cui Ruifang smiled gently and said to Wang Meng that she was suddenly touched by the novel by Comrade Cheng Kaiyan, in which the male protagonist expressed his love through many inconspicuous details, and his details were the love letters he gave to her.

It was the summer of 1950.

The man in front of him was transferred to work in the 3f5f Movement Office, where he met the love of his life, Cui Ruifang.

The "39ff" office was located in a courtyard at No. , BJ East st Street, and Cui Ruifang did clerical work in the office.

Cui Ruifang was born in Peking in 1933, one year older than Wang Meng.

She is dignified and beautiful, with pigtails, and is a gentle and kind girl.

At that time, Wang Meng was 18 years old and Cui Ruifang was 19 years old.

Wang Meng fell in love with her at first sight.

She only remembered that she often saw a young man outside the glass window, peeking at her working.

Later in the second year, Wang Meng wrote her a love letter. Cui Ruifang felt sweet in her heart, but she just didn't reply after receiving the love letter.

"Yeah, I still remember that you only received letters but never replied, which made me so anxious!"

Wang Meng said with a smile, a look of reminiscence in his eyes.

At this moment, he was certain in his heart that this novel was definitely another classic masterpiece.

"Fragrant Grass" and "Love Letter" were published one after another. I think it will take these two novels for Cheng Kaiyan to establish his reputation as a great talent!
Wang Meng felt a little sour when he thought about it, because he was also a great talent back then!
At the age of eleven, he skipped a grade in Peking Middle School, participated in underground work at the age of twelve, joined the underground party at the age of thirteen, was a cadre of the Youth League Committee at the age of fourteen, wrote "Long Live Youth" at the age of nineteen, "Xiaodouer" at the age of twenty-one, and "A Young Man Came to the Organization Department" at the age of twenty-three. Last year, he returned to Beijing and released several works, including "Lobbying", "Buli", "Cousin", and "Cat's Eyes".

This little Cheng is only twenty...

Will the literary world of 1980 be overshadowed by this young man's writing?
The wife snorted at this time and said, "Huh? Do you think girls can't see through the little tricks you guys have?"

"Yes, you can't hide it in front of the person you like. Why did the female Shu in the story..."

"Who knows? There must be a reason."

"Yeah, there's a reason for everything. It's the same for everyone in the story. Go to sleep. You have to go to work tomorrow."

With a click, the room fell into darkness.

Both of them were still immersed in the story and couldn't forget it for a long time.

……

The next morning, yellow sand blew on the streets.

Wang Meng took the manuscript back to the People's Literature Editorial Department and greeted everyone in the office one by one.

"Good morning, Lao Wang!"

"Morning, Lao Cui."

"How do you like the manuscript?"

Cui Daoyi hurriedly came over with a teacup in his arms. He was so excited that he didn't sleep well the whole night yesterday.

As soon as he saw Wang Meng, he asked anxiously.

"I've finished reading it." Wang Meng nodded.

"Who asked if you had finished watching it! I asked you how it was?"

Cui Daoyi asked speechlessly.

"With "Fragrant Grass" in one hand and "Love Letter" in the other, there are probably few rivals in the literary world of 1980."

Wang Meng looked at the expression on Cui Daoyi's face, pondered for a moment, and said something that was not going to shock the audience.

He spoke quietly, but all the editors who had come to work in the office heard Wang Meng's astonishing evaluation.

"hiss!"

"Fizz!"

Everyone gasped for air at once, and the entire office suddenly became much warmer.

This evaluation is too high!

"Okay, my work has passed the second review. Who will do the first review? After everyone has finished reading it, I will hold a workshop to discuss the work before it is published."

Wang Meng held up the manuscript in his hand and announced loudly.

At this time, Cui Daoyi finally saw the right opportunity, snatched the manuscript from Wang Meng's hand, and then turned around and ran away, leaving only one sentence: "I will review it first! No one is allowed to snatch it from me!"

When everyone in the editorial department heard this, they were all at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

Which deputy editor-in-chief will come for the first review?

Moreover, the review process for this work is too outrageous. Others follow the order of first, second and final review, but he only goes through the final, second and first review!
Soon the news spread among the members who visited each other everywhere. Everyone knew that the romance novel had passed the second review and the first review was now beginning.

The publication of "Love Letter" is a foregone conclusion.

It was not until lunchtime that Choi Do-yi came out of the world of the book.

Before he knew it, he had been reading for three or four hours. He felt a kind of frustration in his heart that he had to express, but he didn't know how to say it, so he put his thoughts into writing on paper.

At noon, when the members finished their lunch, they all looked towards Cui Daoyi's desk expectantly.

"Old Cui, how is it?"

"Has it passed?"

"pass!"

Cui Daoyi put down his pen, stood up, stretched his body, then looked at the editors in front of him with burning eyes and shouted.

"It's passed! It's really passed!"

This news quickly swept through the residents of No. 166 Chaoyangnei Street like a whirlwind. Everyone knew that "Love Letter" had passed the review and would be published in "People's Literature" if nothing unexpected happened!
After reviewing the manuscript, Cui Daoyi gave it to the editor in the editorial department who wanted to read it. After just a few days, almost everyone in the editorial department had read the novel.

On the morning of March 12, a seminar on the work "Love Letter" was held in the fifth-floor conference room under the leadership of Zhang Guangnian, editor-in-chief of the People's Literature Editorial Department.

The meeting decided to approve the love letter and confirm the publication of this work.

At the same time, it was announced that in order to speed up the publication of "Love Letter", the entire magazine had to speed up the process and carry out work processes such as revision, proofreading, printing, and publication!
We will strive to have it published in the fourth issue of People's Literature on April 1980, !
A volcano of secret love is accumulating strength, waiting for the arrival of April 1st. Its eruption will affect a generation's view of love.

(End of this chapter)