Literary Master 1983

Chapter 249 Finally, we got to play bridge (Part 1)

"Without the people's army, the people have nothing!"

"Loyalty to the country forges the soul of the army!"

This is the army's slogan!
Ma Shitu has also come to the central government.

Yu Qie's teacher, Ma Shitu, has been frequently traveling to the capital to play bridge this year. He is exactly seventy years old this year, but he is still in good health. It seems that the higher-ups want to give him more responsibilities. The cultural department has approved the establishment of a "Chinese Poetry Society," which was originally proposed by several classical literature scholars. Now, Ma Shitu has been selected as the vice president of this poetry society.

Ma Shitu never considered himself a literary figure, and now he shamelessly took charge of "poetry," making a complete fool of himself. He felt like he was a spy, back in his youth, working underground in the field of poetry... Because the Chinese Poetry Society was holding a conference in the capital, Ma Shitu had no choice but to travel up the river to the capital once again.

He planned to have a talk with Yu Qie.

This trip was not lonely for Ma Shitu, who has friends all over the world because his itinerary was public and he was received by leaders along the way.

Ma Shitu is a veteran military officer, so he naturally has many friends in military uniform.

In Chengdu, Ma Shitu was invited by the military region to interview American pilots. In Nanjing, he was asked by his superiors to write his personal biography—Ma Shitu had already written biographies for many leaders.

When writing a biography, you're bound to chat about trivial things, right? So, it was inevitable that he would talk about his apprentice, Yu Qie.

The leaders all said, "Old Ma, your disciple is a truly excellent one! He excels in everything; I simply can't find any fault with him! I've read many of his novels, and not only are they well-written, but their themes are also profound!"

"If he joined the army, he would definitely be a good soldier! A good soldier who could become a general very quickly!"

Is that how it is?
For the latter half of the journey, Ma Shitu's mode of transportation changed to a green-skinned deluxe soft sleeper. On the train, he read through Yu Qie's latest work, "Returning to One's Roots." He was deeply moved, realizing that this was a work he absolutely could not have written: Yu Qie clearly wrote a tragedy, yet he offered hope at the end and subtly indicated that everyone would encounter the same problems as the "reservoir area migrants"—we would all lose our original hometowns.

This is a collective confusion about the transition from an agricultural to an industrial nation, not just about a dam or a resettlement area.

No wonder everyone praises Yu Qie.

No wonder, after Ma Shitu arrived in the capital, he played cards with his fellow Sichuanese. After only a few rounds, he was suddenly asked:
“Brother Ma, I went to present the award to your disciple, and he truly lives up to his reputation. I asked him if he had any difficulties to overcome… and he actually said he had no difficulties! I haven’t met someone like that in a long time!”

Ma Shitu's fellow villager was Qiao Gong. Qiao Gong laughed heartily: "But when I think about it, he really doesn't lack anything... He has earned several million yuan in royalties from domestic and foreign sources, and the government has even taken advantage of him by exchanging a lot of foreign exchange."

“I told him not to donate so much money, but he didn’t care. Someone told me that he has published several more books in Japan and will receive a lot of royalties in the future… I’m just worrying unnecessarily. He will never lack money in his life.”

He will never lack money in his entire life!

You know, to be told something like that, Ma Shitu was naturally delighted; those words were like a resounding bell. Ma Shitu was so excited by Qiao Gong's evaluation of Yu Qie that he couldn't sleep half the night.

Once upon a time, Ma Shitu's highest expectation for Yu Qie was that he would become a fearless and innovative writer... Little did he expect that just a few years later, he would become a pillar of the domestic literary scene.

Judging solely from its popularity, one could even say that these past few years have been Yu Qie's literary years.

Because of him, Wanxian has become a renowned literary city, with many schools placing great emphasis on composition classes. Yu Qie's "College Entrance Examination 1977" has become a masterpiece that has inspired countless students. It is precisely because this place has produced writers such as Ma Shitu, He Qifang… and most importantly, Yu Qie!
However, there are some concerns. It seems that Yu Qie has had an incredibly smooth journey, without encountering any major setbacks. Compared to his senior brother Luo Guangbin, Yu Qie's path has been far too easy.

Does Yu Qie still notice where his foundation lies?
He didn't write for the central government; his status was elevated by readers he didn't know, but whom he trusted most.

Coincidentally, the movie "Children of Heaven," for which Yu Qie wrote the screenplay, was about to be released, so Ma Shitu came to Gulou Street to find Yu Qie and observe him.

Old Ma has written biographies his whole life and read about all sorts of people; now he's going to observe his own disciples.

"Bang bang bang!"

A series of knocks on the door.

"—They're here!"

Yu Qie opened the door and was immediately stunned: Ma Shitu?
I was bragging to Jiang Wen before, saying "Let the bullets fly."

"What brings you here, sir? Come in, come in quickly."

Ma Shitu complained, "What? Qian Zhongshu can come, but I can't?"

It turns out that Ma Shitu did see the report by the Hong Kong female reporter from China News Service.

Yu Qie said, "I am not familiar with Qian Zhongshu. I was used by him to act as a shield. He wanted to give an interview and asked him to choose a well-known young writer in China. After looking around, he chose me."

Yu Qie told Ma Shitu what had happened that day.

Ma Shitu's expression darkened: "How can I only call you here at a time like this? What are Qian Zhongshu and his family doing?"

Holy crap, is Old Ma really that short-tempered?
Yu Qie was taken aback and quickly tried to salvage the situation: "There's not much we can do. If he mentions someone else's name, like Liu Xinwu from a few years ago—then the reporters will ask, 'Qian Zhongshu, do you have a problem with Yu Qie? Do you look down on him?'"

Ma Shitu nodded: "That's how it is."

Then, Ma Shitu said with some emotion, "You've really reached this position. Everyone can see you. When something happens, they always think of you. There's no escaping it."

He added, "I'm now being forced to contribute my remaining energy. Actually, I've wanted to retire for a long time, but the organization always has one task or another, so I have no choice but to continue to shamelessly show up."

"What do you mean by that?" Yu Qie found Ma Shitu's words strange.

Ma Shitu shook his head: "It's nothing."

He looked at Yu Qie and said, "I donated 1,400 yuan to you!"

"Where did the money come from?"

"This is the payment for my memoir about the Flying Tigers. Consider it a small contribution to the charity project you've started. I'm definitely not as rich as you are right now. Although the article was published in People's Literature, the total payment is only a little over 1,400 yuan. Don't be too upset about it."

Oh, Yu Qie remembers now. When Ma Shitu was young, he was instructed by his organization to befriend a group of American pilots from Southwest University. So, many years later, he wrote this memoir, "My American Pilot Friends...", to commemorate these American friends.

More than forty years have passed since then.

Many people don't know that Ma Shitu is currently a symbolic figure of Sino-US friendship, just as Sino-Japanese friendship often involves mentioning Lu Xun, Kanzo Uchiyama, and Mr. Fujino... Ma Shitu also has his national-level persona.

You say you haven't been in contact for forty years, and Ma Shitu can't speak a word of English. Are you really still friends?
Don't worry about it, just be friends. So many people want to be this bridge of friendship but haven't had the chance yet.

Yu Qie might very well become known in the future as an old friend of the Latin American people... a representative of China-Latin America friendship.

"How could that be! Teacher Ma, your willingness to show your face is the greatest support you can give me." Since Ma Shitu had already come to the capital, Yu Qie invited him to stay at his home for a few days.

The master and apprentice were on different career paths, and their interactions only crossed slightly when they returned home to rest at night. Yu Qie arranged for Ma Shitu to stay in the master bedroom, but Ma Shitu declined the best room offered by Yu Qie and chose the most secluded spot instead.

As a result, it became difficult to even see Lao Ma when getting up at night.

At first, he was worried that if Lao Ma did this, no one would take care of him and something might happen. But Lao Ma would get up every morning to practice boxing, full of energy, and he would go to bed early every night, which was much more regular than Yu Qie's routine.

After the boxing match, Lao Ma was picked up by a driver sent by his boss: Monday was spent playing bridge with his boss, Tuesday was spent participating in interviews with foreign journalists, Wednesday was a small gathering of the Chinese Poetry Society... Lao Ma's life was very busy every day.

Got it!
I was overthinking it.

Yu Qie then devoted himself entirely to his own affairs.

The upcoming release of the film "Children of Heaven" has sparked a new wave of fundraising efforts. Previous estimates indicated that the campaign aimed to raise 200 million yuan over ten years, averaging 20 million yuan annually.

Now, the direct fundraising from charity alone amounts to seven or eight million, and with subsequent film revenue sharing and government subsidies, the goal for the year can basically be achieved.

Once a good start is made and the production line is up and running, the government will not allow the distribution of the oral polio vaccine to be stopped again.

To promote the donation drive and the film, Yu Qie gave a series of interviews to the media, and sugar pill researcher Gu Fangzhou also appeared in public with him.

In 1963, the Beijing Daily published the famous article on learning from role models. 22 years later, the Beijing Daily also did a special report on Yu Qie and Gu Fangzhou: the reporter selected one story from each of them and wrote it down.

Gu Fangzhou was experimenting on himself and his children to research sugar pills; Yu Qie, on the other hand, wrote the cuneiform character "I" at the Hangzhou conference.

Xiao He, a reporter from the Beijing Daily, said, "Mr. Gu, Mr. Yu, in order to help our readers understand the situation at that time, why don't you two take a photo of the scene?"

Live photos?

"How can we film it?" Yu Qie wondered. "We can't fly back to that time now, so how can we film the live footage?"

Xiao He laughed and said, "We'll call a few people to act as extras, writers, Teacher Gu's children and colleagues, and you can cooperate with us to act out the situation at the time... that way we can take real photos."

Oh, it was a scene recreation.

No wonder some inconsistencies were found in the photos in the article about learning from role models—for example, the role model was reading by lamplight with a flashlight, but the shadow of the flashlight fell on the book.

This indicates the presence of an additional light source; this was a later reshoot.

Actually, the situation was the same as Yu Qie's back then and is now. The things were really done, but the photos could only be taken from behind. Even now, with the development of literature, there are still many people in China who are illiterate. In rural areas, there is a very popular job called "newspaper reader," which is specifically for reading newspapers to other illiterate villagers.

Reporter Xiao He said, "Many of our major policies and guidelines are conveyed to others through literate teachers and doctors; not all of Yu Qie's novels have probably sold books... Many stories are passed down by word of mouth."

"We need words, and we also need real photos! Even if the photos have some flaws."

Yu Qie laughed and said, "One of my books has tens of thousands of words, and some even have hundreds of thousands of words. It's probably not easy to talk about that... It's one thing if you can't remember it, but even if you could, you'd have to talk until your mouth is dry!"

Before Xiao He could speak, Gu Fangzhou burst into laughter!
"Yu Qie, there are several people in our Peking Union Medical College who can basically recite one or two of your novels. They've read your novels so many times that they can remember the plot even when they're asleep. They're also the first audience for your movie! The entire staff of our Peking Union Medical College will buy tickets to support you!"

Yu Qie saluted him: "Dean Gu, I will always be grateful for your support."

Subsequently, the Beijing Daily actually found several young people to act as extras and cooperate in taking photos.

"Kacha!"

Yu Qie's "live photo" was released. In the photo, Yu Qie, braving the harsh winter of Hangzhou in December, wrote the crucial cuneiform "I" at a meeting. This writer called on others to pay attention to the inherent value of readers, and then wrote the article "Little Shoes".

Gu Fangzhou was in a rather awkward position because he couldn't find a baby as small as his child at the time. So he found a young man from the newspaper who was about the same age as Yu Qie, and had him show the back of his head in the photo, squat down, and pretend that this was Gu Fangzhou's child.

Gu Fangzhou said awkwardly, "My child was only eight months old at the time."

This time, Yu Qie laughed: "Your child is already this big at eight months? How can it be eight months?"

Reporter Xiao He wrote an article titled "The Father of Sugar Pills and the Father of Charity," which was published in the Beijing Daily:
"Gu Fangzhou faced two problems: should he choose Soviet technology or American technology? The two superpowers provide 16 million doses of vaccines to the world every year, but even if all of these vaccines were given to Chinese children, it would not be enough! We have a huge population and very little funding."

"He made a third choice: to research his own sugar pills."

"..."

"Yu Qie, entrusted by his friend, is taking over the baton and conjuring up sugar pills from his hands! He knows this is not a truly inexhaustible supply, so he writes down cuneiform characters, determined to use words to move people and draw everyone's attention to this disease."

"Thus, the charitable foundation had its first account specifically for special illnesses; thus, China's first writer to do charity was born; and thus, more illnesses began to raise funds through the same column... In the wave of economic reform, he embarked on a third path, a path that was neither market-based nor state-owned: the path of charity."

The article had a significant impact; after it was published, the Daily News reprinted it. Subsequently, numerous print media outlets began reprinting "The Father of Sugar Pills and the Father of Charity," and Yu Qie gained the title of "philanthropist."

The concept of "charity" is gaining popularity in the West, and it is considered a third line of defense for the poor in emergency situations, in addition to the market and administration, and a third way of distribution.

Although "philanthropy" is a premature topic in mainland China, it does not prevent various economic researchers from commenting on it, especially since the topic involves the famous writer Yu Qie.

Therefore, along with the hype surrounding the movie "Children of Heaven," many economic newspapers published articles about the charitable donations made by "writer Yu Qie" last year.

Many researchers, in order to write their papers, went to look up information and then discovered—damn, Yu Qie actually studied economics, he's one of our own!

His mentor was none other than the renowned Hu Daiguang? Even Lao Tzu's textbooks were compiled by Hu Daiguang.

At that time, there were several economic newspapers and periodicals in mainland China, including the earliest one, the China Finance and Trade News, the Market News, a supplement to the Daily News, and the provincial-level Economic Life News...

The commentators praised Yu Qie's noble character with enthusiastic words.

The most significant report came from the World Economic Herald, a newspaper jointly founded by central and local academic institutions, which featured many prominent figures. At the time, the newspaper stipulated that scholars and experts should not be preceded by titles such as "famous," and officials should only use simple official titles, without adding the title "comrade" after their names, which was quite unusual.

In this newspaper, Yu Qie was portrayed as the person who made it possible for everyone to receive the sugar pills. A professor from Aurora University named Wu Jinglian wrote a story that began with Yu Qie's fundraising trip to Japan, followed by a series of novels he wrote in China, and finally ended with him securing donations both domestically and internationally. The story was humorous and witty.

Even a professional novelist would be at about this level.

(End of this chapter)