Literary Master 1983

Chapter 250 "The Journey of Hero Yu to the East"

Wu Jinglian's article is titled "The Journey of Master Yu to the East".

In this article published in the World Economic Herald, he mainly focused on three major things that Yu Qie did:
"The first priority for the hero is to have a road permit. Hero Yu grasped the essential issue that individuals cannot raise funds, and it is necessary to combine with the Children's Foundation's account and follow the compliant route. It can be said that if he had gone astray from the beginning, the better Yu's fundraising effect was, the greater the damage it would have caused later - because not everyone has the same original intention as Yu."

This matter gets to the heart of the problem.

If Yu Qie doesn't seek out official channels and tries to organize donations on his own based on his influence, it will be awkward whether he succeeds or fails.

"The second is to learn the art of disguise. In China, Master Yu is not a person who likes to show his face; he should be an assassin. But overseas, Master Yu is open and aboveboard, and he is well-versed in the local propaganda system. In the first half of this year, I received economic experts from Japan, and they mentioned Yu Qie in the NHK interview program to me. They said that Yu Qie is an interesting person... football, Japanese economic jokes, and even alarmist claims that Japan is about to collapse! They all find it interesting."

“I said, this is not the Yuqie I know. Yuqie is a simple and pure person. He doesn’t talk big. He’s willing to go through fire for bamboo curtains… But after watching the Japanese program, I have to admit that every single one of them is him.”

"Thirdly, after accomplishing the task, one should leave without a trace, concealing one's merits and fame. Today, the donation campaign has developed into a certain system, and it is far from being the achievement of Yu Qie alone... The education department wanted to imitate the 'Spring Rain Action' to provide education for children in mountain villages and proposed a funding campaign. They were originally short of funds, but now they suddenly discovered that they could raise funds from the masses."

"This unprecedented fundraising event, whether it's called Project Hope or Sunshine Action, seems to have nothing to do with Yu Qie. He refuses to admit that he initiated the charity fundraising."

"But without spring rain, where would hope and sunshine come from? Parting the clouds, the moist earth sprouts new buds, and Master Yu sets off again... We should know this: he was the one who first brought this rain."

Holy crap, oh my god!!!

No wonder you couldn't beat Old Wu, who can write articles, as soon as you showed up.

This literary talent has been completely exposed.

Because the World Economic Herald is a current affairs newspaper, it even contains small advertisements for dating and get-rich-quick schemes. Therefore, Professor Wu's comments were likely written casually and without much refinement.

What level of writing skill is this?

"The Journey of Hero Yu to the East" quickly became the Economist's version of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes," a top-tier, immersive, and exhilarating novel. This time, Yu Qie is not Qi Shaoshang; he is "Hero Yu," he is himself.

Li Yining saw the article not long after.

As is well known, Wu Jinglian is a representative of the domestic market faction. He and Li Yining are academic rivals. Wu Jinglian has a nickname, "Wu the Market," while Li Yining is nicknamed "Li the Shareholder," which shows their different academic views. One leans towards a thorough market approach, while the other belongs to the industrial party and the production faction.

Professor Li was a bit upset because of "The Journey of Master Yu to the East." Is it my fault that I can't write a good novel? You're cheating!
How can you conduct research like this? This is very serious stuff!

On July 15th, the journal "Economic Research" was published, and he came to Yu Qie's house and threw down a sample copy.

Yu Qie pushed open the door and came out: "Professor Li, what's wrong? Come in and sit down."

Li Yining said, "According to the rules, after a paper is published, a sample copy of the journal should be provided. Although Economic Research is a domestic journal, it is not low-level. Submitting an article to it is a higher starting point than submitting an article to Red Crag in the same year."

Yu Qie laughed: "Professor Li, you also know that I submitted to provincial journals in my early years?"

"I read your novels too!" Professor Li suddenly felt a pang of sadness.

I was here first! I was here first! Whether it was reading the novel or helping Yu Qie publish articles... I was here first, so why has everything turned out like this?
He said, "Yu Qie, did you also read that article written by Wu Jinglian from Shanghai, 'The Journey of Master Yu to the East'?"

"This article is about me, of course I've read it. As soon as it was published, a friend told me to pay attention to it."

"So what's your opinion on it?"

Yu Qie gave a thumbs up: "Great article. The Yu Qie written by this professor is even better than the real Yu Qie."

Yes, it's all praise for you. A serious economic study, a biography, has been turned into a martial arts novel. This has always been some people's forte—you and I are both from the Yenching University economics school, you should be on my side, but now you're the protagonist, how could you not like it?
Teacher Li was overcome with grief and turned to leave, but Yu Qie quickly grabbed him:

“Teacher Li, that’s how words are; they can deceive. They have an indescribable magic. Once you look at them, you’re already on the operating table, and you’ve handed your heart over to the surgeon who writes them.”

“We can’t do this!” Professor Li said. “At least, we can’t keep doing this.”

He said helplessly, "When we do research, we have to be meticulous and rigorous. Research isn't supposed to be sacred, but at the very least, we can't act like actors in a play, deliberately putting on airs to attract attention. As if doing so would make our performance more exciting!"

Professor Li's words reminded Yu Qie of Guan Moye from before.

People's thoughts are very difficult to change.

Professor Li devoted his entire life to research but never wrote a widely circulated economics book because he fundamentally resisted this writing style.

Yu Qie could only advise, "These days, even good wine needs advertising; you need to know how to promote yourself when you're doing research."

"Maybe."

Hmm? Advertising?

Professor Li suddenly said, "Our Yenching University has produced a talent like you! You can definitely do this well, because you are much better at writing novels than Wu Jinglian."

Professor Li held up the paper written by Yu Qie in the journal *Economic Research*, along with the report that followed. "Yu Qie, if you ever do some research in economics, you probably don't need to be too profound. Your identity as a novelist is enough to get your articles popular! This is another kind of masterpiece in economics."

exactly!

Yu Qie opened the journal "Economic Research" himself. It was shiny and new, printed on high-quality woodfree paper, and you could even smell a slight ink odor. It was printed by Xinhua Printing Factory using equipment imported from Czechoslovakia. At the time, it was a national-level project. In the entire Eastern Hemisphere, apart from those factories in Japan, this was the highest-grade printing of this book.

Hmm, shall we smell this ink again?

Printing detailed coordinate graphs and function symbols within a small magazine spread is no easy task.

The 500 jin of ink newly developed by the Shanghai Ink Factory?
Products from ink factories jointly built by Japanese companies in China?
It couldn't possibly be ink imported from East Germany, could it? That's high-quality ink used for printing critical documents, and it's only used for things like signing documents.

While Yu Qie was basking in his own satisfaction and researching the origins of these inks, his paper, "The Impact of Yen Appreciation on Infrastructure Loans," was already generating considerable buzz within small circles of economics.

The appreciation of the yen was predictable. The infrastructure loans were also known to those who watched the news.

What if the two are connected?

People didn't know.

This is not because people are really that stupid, but because infrastructure loans are often ultra-long-term interest-free loans of ten or even decades. "Interest-free" is a wonderful illusion, and ultra-long-term loans are an excellent anesthetic. No one realizes that there are hidden financial traps. There is a kind of mental inertia that is hard for ordinary people to get out of here—today's yen and tomorrow's yen are not the same value.

Yu Qie picked this out.

More importantly, the explanatory text that follows is just like "The Journey of Master Yu to the East," a casual and whimsical piece of writing. Yet, it has a greater impact because people realize that even a small mistake can have a huge impact, truly affecting a person's entire life.

According to Yu Qie's estimate, this means that 19% of the capital cost of the national infrastructure investment will surge due to a small exchange rate difference, and this will have to be saved from the real-life scenarios of people across the country...

It's really unusual that my dad stunted his growth because of one mistake by your grandfather.

The article first influenced the expert panel that reviewed the dam's feasibility study!

Among the interest-free loans from Japan, water conservancy, railways and highways are the main investment sectors. At present, we not only need to borrow Japanese funds, but also hire Japanese experts and use Japanese equipment.

The expert group for the sediment analysis of the Century Dam. Group leader Lin Bingnan is reviewing a research report collected from various places, his brow furrowed.

"Team Leader Lin! Yu Qie has written something again!" A researcher waved a magazine in his hand and walked towards Lin Bingnan from a distance.

Lin Bingnan laughed and asked, "What's wrong? What novel did you write?"

"—It's not a novel, it's a research paper! Yu Qie wrote about our water conservancy infrastructure."

what?
Lin Bingnan found it interesting and opened the paper, intending to start by looking at the data. However, the researcher said, "Team Leader Lin, you should go directly to the report at the end. Yu Qie wrote about how a Chinese person's life was affected by these yen loans, based on the conclusions drawn earlier."

Affected by yen loans?

Lin Bingnan thought to himself: Of course there will be an impact; this money will have to be repaid in the future. The Chinese are not a nation that doesn't keep its promises.

However, when Lin Bingnan opened the article and read a few pages, his expression suddenly became extremely serious.

Yu Qie said that this fictional Chinese baby was born without many vaccines because of a lack of money... Isn't that a bit of a stretch? Many vaccines are unnecessary.

Then, Yu Qie wrote that during the child's second puberty, insufficient protein intake caused him to be three to five centimeters shorter than his potential height...

That's a bit of a stretch.

A person's height is mainly determined by genes. Some people eat poorly but still grow tall, while others eat very well but may not have a good physique.

Yu Qie is a great writer, how could he write like this?

Lin Bingnan flipped back to the main text of the paper and discovered that Yu Qie had drawn a crude, linear deduction based on the conclusion, which naturally resulted in an absurdly large number. Folding a piece of paper 42 times would make its thickness exceed the distance between the Earth and the Moon.

How absurd is this? For example, during the honeymoon period between China and the US, when China sought to join the world trade system, many people said, "China can never join the world trade family because if their current growth rate continues, they will surpass the US in half a century! At least they will far surpass Japan!"

This kind of unbelievable thing is something that neither Americans nor Chinese themselves want to believe.

West Germany, South Korea... and South Africa, their growth rates are all very high. If you calculate it this way, each of them will surpass the United States in half a century.

Then, Lin Bingnan saw that after "Chinese children" grow up, due to insufficient investment in the medical field caused by infrastructure loan repayments, they may suffer injuries or illnesses during childbirth; he also saw that the price of Japanese equipment has increased due to inflation... He also wrote that the Panasonic large-screen TVs that ordinary people watch will increase in price to three thousand yuan in the next two or three years.

Lin Bingnan suddenly realized what Yu Qie was writing.

His report was not an academic study, but rather an attempt to draw attention to this issue and prepare for the future.

At this point, Lin Bingnan returned to the purely academic paper section before the report. This time, it was written in a very proper manner, a standard scientific research paper with only numbers and conclusions, without any emotional expression.

However, Lin Bingnan's mind was filled only with the report that followed Yu Qie!
Yu Qie's report was exaggerated, which is worrying. Even if one-third or one-fifth of the situation he described actually occurred, it would still be a huge error that could have been avoided in the early stages.

Simply add a clause to the loan agreement stating that "if the yen appreciates significantly, repayments will be calculated based on the original exchange rate."

Putting down the article, Lin Bingnan said with deep concern to the researchers who came to visit, "Originally, the loan had nothing to do with us; it was a matter for the commerce department, and we just needed to do our research... But Yu Qie's article describes something so terrible, and the cost of avoiding it is so small—just one more line of text. Shouldn't we suggest this to our superiors in our report?"

The researcher said, "Are you saying that we should also let the government see Yu Qie's paper?"

“Of course,” Lin Bingnan said. “We were in Nanjing last month and in Shanghai this month, studying the issue of siltation… Even a small mistake could have huge consequences in the future, not to mention loans, even the terrain could be altered!”

Lin Bingnan became excited as he spoke: "I consulted the local county annals and found that a hundred years ago, the Pudong area of ​​Shanghai was still a mudflat, but now it has become an alluvial plain. Today, Chongming Island is an exclave. According to estimates, in a few hundred years, Chongming Island will be connected to the mainland. Shanghai will grow bigger and bigger. As long as the Yangtze River does not change its course, Shanghai will continue to prosper."

"Although Yu Qie's report is sensational, it is not impossible, and we should be vigilant."

"They'll definitely read it!" the researcher exclaimed immediately. "This is Yu Qie's work!"

On July 19th, in Yanjing, Ma Shitu returned from his old friend's house and stayed at his disciple's house again. But this time, his expression was particularly complicated: Yu Qie had actually written a paper, and unexpectedly, it had also caused an impact.

Ma Shitu had been staying at Yu Qie's house for some time, but he rarely bothered Yu Qie, as he had his own things to do. Now, for the first time ever, he went to the brightest room in the courtyard and knocked on the door:
"Yuqie, Yuqie?"

"What's wrong?" Yu Qie asked, poking his head out.

“Come with me tomorrow to play cards,” Ma Shitu said.

(End of this chapter)