1979: My fiancée is a goddess

Chapter 187 Chen Bochui: Old Ye, your students are so smart...amazing.

A courtyard house somewhere in Beijing.

Under the beautifully shaped and transparent white marble screen wall is a pool made of red bricks.

At the bottom of the pool, a white pipe provides a constant flow of fresh water into the pool.

In the clear pool, a few water plants swayed in the water, and more than a dozen koi fish swung their flower-like tails in the water, occasionally eating a mouthful of water plants, with their black dead fish eyes staring blankly upwards. Leisurely and contented.

"Wow~"

An honest old man with gray hair and glasses grabbed a handful of feed and scattered it. It fell into the water from the air like flowers scattered by a fairy, causing ripples.

Suddenly the fish seemed to come alive, scrambling to swallow the food.

The old man looked at the fish that suddenly came alive, with a faint smile on his old face.

This person is Mr. Chen Bochui, who is known as the "master of children's literature". He enjoys a very high reputation at home and abroad and has made outstanding contributions to the cause of children's literature. He has written a collection of fairy tales "A Cat Who Wants to Fly" and a collection of reviews "A Brief Discussion on Children's Literature".

After feeding the fish, Chen Bochui put down the bait, returned to the main room, moved out a stool, and sat under the shade of the tree.

He was holding a copy of Children's Literature in his hand, which was the June issue. What attracted him was naturally Cheng Kaiyan's "The Alchemist's Alchemy".

Although it has been published for more than a month, because he reads slowly and likes to savor the sentences and flavors in the book, he has only read more than half of it now.

"Old Ye and Ms. Xie's evaluation is indeed correct. Since winning the award, the child has gradually shown the aura of a master... He is only 21 years old. Old Ye is lucky to have such a talented student."

Chen Bochui felt a little sad, thinking that when he entered the literary world, he was as young as Cheng Kaiyan.

Time flies, but as time goes by, Chen Bochui has created many works, from children's literature works, collections of reviews, collections of short stories, to theoretical research on children's literature, and has achieved considerable results.

Although he has not yet achieved the level of having a large number of works, he is also a well-known master of children's literature both at home and abroad.

He shook his head, picked up the bookmark stuck in the gap and continued reading, immersed in this classic work.

The temperature was a little hot in the morning in early July, but fortunately there was a big tree above our heads, which blocked the scorching sun like a canopy. Coupled with the occasional breeze, it was quite comfortable.

I was immersed in the book like this and I don’t know how long it took.

Outside the door, a thin middle-aged man in a shirt walked in. "Dad, I brought you this issue of the Journal of Peking University."

Chen Bochui heard the noise, looked down at his watch, and realized it was already eleven o'clock in the afternoon. He shouted, "I know, bring it here."

"Okay, what's for lunch? I'll let Viking make it."

Chen Jiaer walked to his father's side and placed the thick stack of journals in his hand on the stone table under the tree.

This is Chen Bochui's son. He graduated from Northeast Renmin University and was one of the first students in China to study in the UK on government scholarship. In 63, he studied in the Department of Nuclear Physics at Oxford University and was a visiting scholar at the Rutherford Institute for High Energy Research. He is currently a professor in the Department of Physics at Peking University, engaged in research and teaching of particle accelerators.

As for the Wei Jin mentioned by Chen Jiaer, it is his wife, Zhou Wei Jin.

Since his father Chen Bochui was old and needed someone to take care of him, the family lived together in this small courtyard and lived a comfortable life.

Chen Jiaer had just come back from get off work and had some free time. She sat on the stool next to him and saw the fairy tale titled "The Alchemist" in her father's hand. She couldn't help but chuckle and jokingly said, "You haven't finished reading it yet, old man?"

"It's almost time. Good books should not be gulped down like a cow. They should be savored like tea, simmered slowly and carefully."

Chen Bochui shook his head, inserted a bookmark and closed the book. He turned his attention to the "Journal of Peking University" brought back by Chen Jiaer, reached out and picked up the top one and started flipping through it.

Soon he saw the title of the paper and the author's signature.

"Three major themes in children's literature - Authors Cheng Kaiyan and Jiang Ting."

Chen Bochui's slightly cloudy eyes shrank, and a hint of surprise appeared on his calm face.

Chen Jiaer, who was standing by, noticed this change and asked casually, "What's wrong?"

"You'll know when you take a look. This guy actually wrote a paper."

Chen Bochui laughed, turned the paper in his hand over and showed it to Chen Jiaer.

"Cheng Kaiyan? Isn't this the young man who wrote the story about the shepherd boy?"

Chen Jiaer was a little surprised. His father had watched the show often at home during this period, so he had some impression of the name.

"It should be him."

Chen Biechu nodded, his eyes flashing with a bit of spirit, and he was obviously quite interested in this paper. "No wonder he could write such a classic work as the Shepherd Boy. It turns out that he has his own understanding and research of children's literature. You go and ask Viking to cook, I will continue to read."

"Got it. I'll call you later."

Chen Jiaer knew that her father had always been interested in children's literature. He admired Jiang Feng who emerged from Zhejiang two years ago, so it was normal for him to be willing to go there for Cheng Kaiyan.

But... Cheng Kaiyan?
I always feel that this name sounds familiar.

Chen Jiaer silently repeated the name in her heart, and the fleeting feeling made her feel a little uncomfortable.

He shook his head, not taking it seriously, and got up and left.

When Chen Bochui opened the paper, the three major themes of children's literature appeared in front of him.

Love, naughty children, and nature are the three main themes. What are the themes?

Chen Bochui raised his eyebrows and thought with some surprise: "He actually came up with a new way of dividing? Not bad, Cheng Kaiyan!"

Although the topic of the paper is very broad, Cheng Kaiyan's paper is well-structured. First, she introduces her own classification principles, and then fully analyzes and evaluates the classification methods of domestic and foreign children's literature theory researchers.

For example, Chen Bochui proposed the children's literature stratification theory in the 1960s, dividing it into infant literature, children's literature, and juvenile literature.

Chen Qiqi couldn't help but laugh when he saw this, but at the same time he was shocked.

He realized that this was an extremely innovative paper that might break the traditional classification method.

Compared with Cheng Kaiyan's theory of three major themes, his three-level theory seems a bit outdated.

Chen Bochui sat up straight, which was rare, and his face became serious.

Flipping through the pages quickly, starting from the first modern fairy tale in China, "The Scarecrow", the book continues analyzing along the lines of historical development, literary development, and contemporary development.

Only then did he realize that this was not just a paper focusing on elaborating on three major themes, but even a simple review of Chinese children's literature. Although simple, it was logically self-consistent in terms of the logic of the argument and the construction of the theoretical framework.

In this regard, a thought flashed through Chen Biechu's mind, which was: "This paper is very suitable as a textbook for children's literature! It is comprehensive and easy to understand."

Through the meanings and characteristics of these three eternal themes, we can better understand the inherent beauty and value of children's literature.

What resonated most with Chen Biechu was that some of the ideas in the article coincided with his own. Children's literature is not only a tool for social education, but its aesthetic function and artistic atmosphere are equally important, providing children with rich and diverse spiritual nourishment.

At the same time, it also called for upholding the child-centered approach, with children’s affairs remaining children’s and adults’ affairs remaining adults’.

……

"Huh... Well written. It seems that theoretical research on children's literature has taken a huge step forward."

Chen Biechui sighed and said that although he had not finished reading it, the grand spirit of the article was already on full display.

This is what a great article is like. You can tell the quality of the article just by looking at the opening.

Such a theoretical work has come into being, which is both innovative, has a complete theoretical framework, integrates the history of Chinese children's literature, and combines theory with practice.

This is truly a great blessing for the children's literature community.

No...it is a great blessing for the literary and academic circles.

As a great figure of children's literature of the older generation and a theorist of children's literature, Chen Bochui had to sigh that he was getting old and that the world now belonged to the young.

"Old Ye! You have such a keen eye. You have found such a good seedling."

Chen Bochui gritted his teeth and said. …

"Dad? What are you talking about?"

At the well under the shade of a tree, Chen Jiaer carried a bucket to fetch the clear summer well water, and then put the glass bottle of beer into the bucket to chill it.

After hearing what his father said, he couldn't help but be surprised.

"I mean Cheng Kaiyan wrote a good paper. Your uncle Ye has a good student."

Chen Bochu stood up, patted his legs which were a little numb from sitting for a long time, and said with a smile.

Well written?

I didn't expect that he was also Mr. Ye's student.

Chen Jiaer was a little surprised. You know, Mr. Ye had never formally accepted any students. How come in his old age, he was so calm and thoughtful that he accepted a young man as a student?

"Why, what's so surprising about this? Xiao Cheng is a very good kid, very good, especially in the field of children's literature.

When the two literary awards were presented in March, your Uncle Ye and Ms. Xie rode in the same Red Flag car with Xiao Cheng. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that they had a special relationship. Moreover, not long ago, the two of them publicly praised Xiao Cheng as a future master of children's literature in the Literary Gazette. "

Chen Bochui explained with a smile.

"Is that so?"

Chen Jiaer nodded.

At this time, a short-haired woman came out with a bowl of rice and shouted, "What are you talking about? Come over and eat!"

The two of them hurriedly set off to the main room to eat.

After lunch in the morning, Uncle Chen was so quiet that he wanted to do something. He told his son, "Jia Er! Take me to your Uncle Ye. He probably hasn't read this paper yet. Let him take a look!"

……

The two went out and went to Ye Shengtao's house.

The petals of the crabapple trees on the east and west sides have already fallen, but the leaves are still lush and green.

"Why didn't Uncle Ye hold a Begonia Poetry Festival this year? Didn't he invite a group of friends to get together in previous years?"

Chen Jiaer asked curiously.

"Your Uncle Ye is old and can't stand the noise. He was hospitalized once before the New Year."

Chen Bochui shook his head and sighed, "Let's not talk about this. Let him hear the good news. I guarantee he will be happy."

"Yes."

I helped my father into the yard and soon saw a white-haired old man lying quietly in the shade of a tree in the flower bed, enjoying the cool air. The yard was quiet, with only the sound of the wind.

"Lao Ye!"

Uncle Chen blew and shouted several times before waking Ye Shengtao up.

"Who was that? It was Bochui!"

Ye Shengtao opened his eyes and responded with a smile.

……

The two sat down and Chen Jiaer went to make tea.

Ye Shengtao rubbed his eyes and asked, "Why did you come here suddenly?"

"You're here for your precious student, aren't you?"

Chen Bochui said with a smile that it was hard to imagine that an old man in his seventies or eighties could still smile like a child.

"My dear student? When did I accept a student?"

Ye Shengtao was speechless. Although he said this, he knew in his heart who his friend was talking about.

It’s none other than that kid Cheng Kaiyan.

But... for him?
Thinking of this, Ye Shengtao calmly asked, "What does he do? Can he make you go there in person?"

"hehe."

Chen Bochui looked up and down at Ye Shengtao's expression. The two had known each other for many years and were naturally familiar with each other.

He said it as if he didn't care, but when he heard that I came here specifically for Cheng Kaiyan, he immediately asked.

"This child is too outrageous."

But the more this happened, the more Chen Bochui wanted to tease him. He patted his thigh and said seriously.

"You are still a child, what do you know? Tell me and I will teach him a lesson for you."

Ye Shengtao frowned and said.

"Pfft!"

"Hey! I'm just kidding. What does he have to do with me?"

Chen Bochui chuckled, just like a naughty old boy.

"You old thing...are you trying to entertain me?"

Ye Shengtao stared at him and cursed.

"No need to joke around, forget it, let me get down to business. Here! You haven't read the paper written by your precious student yet, right? As soon as I saw it, I brought it to you immediately. Please take a good look at it."

Chen Bochui waved his hand and handed over a book.

It is the Journal of Peking University.

"Paper? Is this kid serious?"

Ye Shengtao recalled what Cheng Kaiyan said when she came with her boyfriend that day, and he became very curious. He quickly flipped through the paper, and soon after seeing the content of the paper, Mr. Ye's expression became serious.

In this way, Chen Bochui and his son drank tea while Ye Shengtao read the thesis.

Time passed slowly until Mr. Ye closed the book, looked at the sun in the distant sky, and slowly exhaled a long breath. His face showed both emotion and relief that there was someone to succeed him. Finally, he said with great emotion:
"This kid... is really an overnight sensation. From the time this paper is published, his reputation as a future master of children's literature is completely secure!"

"He's so outstanding, why not just let him be my student."

Chen Bochui suddenly interrupted Ye Shengtao's sigh.

“This is my student!”

Ye Shengtao's eyes widened.

"You just said he wasn't one, and did you hold a banquet to welcome him as your teacher? Did you invite his parents? Did you collect the gift? Did you give him a name?"

Chen Bochui spoke in a neutral tone and calmly drank a sip of tea.

Chen Jiaer, who was standing by, was really nervous when she heard this, fearing that her old father would make Mr. Ye so angry that he would have a heart attack.

"Just wait! I'll do it in a while, and then I'll see what gift you give me!"

Ye Shengtao snorted coldly.

(End of this chapter)