Literary Master 1983

Chapter 252 Flying

It's still the sea in the middle to the south, and it's still that big park.

Same place, same people.

Yu Qie knew the way well, greeted a few comrades, and then tossed his Bridgestone bicycle outside—ignoring it.

Let me tell you, you can't just steal my car from here, can you?

The security personnel greeted Yu Qie as soon as they saw him: "Hey, Teacher Yu, you're here again!"

“Here we go again, here we go again.” Yu Qie nodded.

When others enter the central government, they all talk big; I just play cards every day.

A comrade caught sight of Yu Qie's bicycle and asked, "What kind of bicycle is that? I've never seen the brand before."

"Those Japanese guys are boring. They're not very good."

When Qiao Gong's daughter, Qiao Nan, came to pick up Yu Qie, she immediately asked, "Japanese bicycles? How much do they cost?"

Oh dear! That's not something I can reveal.

When I bought it, it cost two thousand yuan. Now that the yen has appreciated, it's probably worth three thousand yuan now—more expensive than my motorcycle!
“Five hundred, not three hundred yuan!” Yu Qie held up three fingers, as if making a vow.

Qiao Nan rolled her eyes at Yu Qie: "Yu Qie, you're just bragging. Such a cheap Japanese geared bicycle, why don't you buy one for me too?"

"No way, I seized this from the Japanese, that's why I bought it cheap. If you want to buy it for several hundred dollars, you'll have to rely on your connections!"

"I don't believe a single word you say!" Qiao Nan retorted.

Qiao Nan was a student in the class of '64 at Yan University, making her Yu Qie's senior. After learning about this relationship, the two naturally became closer. Otherwise, Yu Qie would hardly speak to an ordinary person like that.

Upon entering the room, they found it already full. Old Ma was having a great time playing cards when he saw Yu Qie arrive, and asked Yu Qie to take his place.

"My disciple has arrived!" Ma Shitu said with a smile.

“You only have Yu Qie, and you have to make Yu Qie clean up your messes every day!” Qiao Gongdao said.

Ma Shitu was quite proud of himself, saying, "I'm getting old and can't keep going. What Master can't do, I'll help him do. You all have so much energy, I can't compare to you."

Provoked by Ma Shitu, the others who were initially unwilling now agreed.

As soon as Yu Qie took over, he immediately changed his style. He took every point he could and called the highest possible number of cards. Moreover, Yu Qie could count cards, putting a lot of pressure on the others. But this was exactly what Qiao Gong wanted, as he loved to play against experts.

However, after one round, Yu Qie still couldn't defend at the last moment and lost.

Old Ma was even happier to see Yu Qie lose than he was to win.

Old Ma, do you even know how to play cards, or do you not?

How come you're so good at providing emotional value to people!

Look at your fellow villager, smiling broadly.

When are you going to let my good friend Lao Nie come over? Let's, the "remnants" of the family, team up and beat everyone in this park!

I've heard that many leaders enjoy playing football. Coincidentally, I'm also quite good at it.

"That's it, that's it. Let's call it a day." Qiao Gong stood up and announced the retreat, then suddenly asked Yu Qie, "Yu Qie, I heard your movie was released?"

"How did you know?"

“Some of our older comrades really enjoy reading your novels. When they heard your movie was released, they insisted on seeing it as soon as possible.” Mr. Qiao looked around and suddenly laughed. “I’m afraid we’ll be the first audience to see your movie. As soon as your movie came out, we burned a copy to our homes to watch.”

"So, what do you think of the movie?"

To be honest, after "Children of Heaven" was released, Yu Qie was busy playing cards and writing novels, and had never seen his own film or promoted it.

When a movie is released, there's no premiere. It's sold to major state-owned cinemas. A certain percentage of the proceeds goes to the production studio. As long as the movie sells well, it can still be shown in theaters even after two or three years.

The movie "Shaolin Temple" grossed over 100 million!

However, it has been sitting there for many years!
So, what does Mr. Qiao say about this film?
He even tried to recall something, as if looking for something he was dissatisfied with, but after searching and searching, he really couldn't find any faults. Finally, he shook his head and said, "I feel there are no flaws. I knew that your film and novel were specifically written for fundraising activities... I thought there would be some exemplary parts, but I didn't expect there to be none at all."

"This is a great movie!" said Mr. Qiao. "You moved people with emotion throughout your entire film, without a single slogan."

He added, "I'm speaking as a viewer who has seen the film, not representing any other identity, but it's a good movie, and I really think so."

It turns out that the leader had already seen the movie.

During this period, the secrecy surrounding cinema chains was practically nonexistent, and there was little awareness of anti-piracy measures. Anyone could obtain a pirated film reel of an entire movie if they were willing to produce film and had the original film.

It's just that ordinary people can't afford it.

The film "The Battle of Taierzhuang," which is currently being filmed, was made into several volumes before its release. These volumes were first shown to the leadership, and only after they were deemed acceptable will the film be shown to the general public.

As a mainland Chinese film, "The Battle of Taierzhuang" was strictly guarded against in Taiwan and was absolutely not allowed to be shown. However, the Chiang family wanted to see it anyway, and in the end, they managed to have the film reel burned in Hong Kong by secret agents and then transported back to Taiwan. It can be said that they used a great deal of power to piracy it.

It's not just leaders who have seen "Children of Heaven".

The film quickly sparked a nationwide viewing frenzy after its release, and Yu Qie's novel, written earlier this year, also began to sell well again. Nine publishers, including Beijing Publishing House, Huacheng Publishing House, and Emei Publishing House, printed another three million copies nationwide.

Su Yu, the editor of "October," is also working on including excerpts from this work in current primary and secondary school textbooks. Su Yu remarked, "I simply asked if we could excerpt Yu Qie's novels, and everyone agreed."

"It's clear that even if I didn't bring it up, someone else would eventually. Because Yu Qie, you've come this far, and your brilliance cannot be hidden."

As Yu Qie sat at home, letters from readers all over the country poured in like snowflakes.

The last time he received so many letters was after Xu Chi's report came out.

Students from Yenching University Affiliated Primary School, Beijing No. 4 Middle School, and other schools wrote letters to Yu Qie and the film crew, expressing their love for the film.

Ali's bravery, his sister's innocence and kindness, and Gong Xue, a female teacher from the mainland, became popular figures during this period.

Not to mention other places, even here at Yenching University, the drama club put up movie posters—and before a night had even passed, whoosh, the posters were gone.

They also put up posters and small signs that read: "Comrade, stealing is immoral!"

It was completely useless. Less than two hours after it was put up, "whoosh," the poster was snatched up, leaving only bare plaster on the wall!
Tickets for this movie are incredibly hard to come by.

There were several cinemas in Xidan, Beijing, which served as the cultural and entertainment center for the people of Yanjing during that period. After the movie "Children of Heaven" was released, tickets cost 3 cents each, which was really not cheap! Then, many people not only watched the movie, but also left their donations in the donation boxes set up at the cinema entrance.

Some of Yu Qie's friends, unable to get movie tickets, had to ask him for help: "Teacher Yu, do you have any tickets? I'd like to take them to see the movie with my spouse!"

"No, I don't have any."

"You're the screenwriter of the movie, how come you don't have one?" "I haven't even seen the theatrical version yet."

Qian Zhongshu from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences is one such person. His family is very particular; they dislike conflict and don't like crowded places. So, they planned to buy tickets after the movie had cooled down, but after waiting for more than a week, not a single ticket was available for them.

Qian Zhongshu had no choice but to call Yu Qie: "Yu Qie, do you have any extra tickets?"

"No, but I have many more stories I can tell you."

"Then write me a letter and tell me about it."

Yu Qie wrote a short note of a few hundred words, telling some interesting stories from the filming process—for example, the actress playing Ali's sister was not initially "Xiao Yingzi," but rather a local ethnic minority girl.

Qian Zhongshu wrote to me, saying, "This is a mistake on your part; you shouldn't have arranged it this way. It seems that Xie Jin, though famous, is just so-so."

That's "Little Yingzi"! Where can you find such a cute little girl?

To be honest, do you know what the standard of living is like in our western region right now? A poor family is fine as background, but if you actually cast two emaciated child actors, and then take the movie to an international film festival after its release—I don't know how they'll criticize it then.

Yu said, "Xie Jin was a professional when it came to making movies. He gave me advice several times, and I trust his judgment."

This movie even sparked a wave of remakes.

Almost all of Yu Qie's novels were analyzed for their potential film and television adaptations. Novels like "The Way Out" and "The Fiancée's Letter" were the most popular. Even before any plans were finalized, a wealthy Southeast Asian businessman who was in Beijing offered 100,000 yuan to buy the rights to adapt one of his novels into a film.

I refused.

He wants to leave the film to a director from mainland China to make.

—This news made the news again, and the public was talking about Yu Qie's refusal to bow down for five pecks of rice. Little did they know that he thought 100,000 yuan was too little and wanted more money.

Ma Shitu lived in Yu Qie's house and could see all of this very clearly. Yu Qie was buying musical instruments, antiques, paintings and calligraphy for his home... His friends all came to visit him.

Not only that, but because he had so many letters to reply to that he couldn't keep them all, Yu Qie also started buying properties in other parts of the capital, purchasing three properties in a row.

The nearest apartment is right next to Jingshan Park, practically wall to wall with the Forbidden City. Once it's renovated and I move in, playing bridge will be just a short walk away.

Ma Shitu felt that Yu Qie was now associating with all sorts of people and seemed to be drifting aimlessly. He always wanted Yu Qie to settle down and write some more profound and down-to-earth novels, but he couldn't find a good starting point.

"Children of Heaven" and "Getting Home" should only be the beginning.

Yu Qie is entering a true master stage. Just like his casually written report on yen aid, he has a deep understanding of readers' psychology and has mastered business skills, which allows him to achieve the desired effect with ease.

On that very day, Yu Qie was called to play cards again and met another person—Lin Bingnan.

Lin Bingnan is a water conservancy expert and the head of the Institute of Hydraulic Engineering. He is currently leading a group of experts across the country in researching the problem of siltation. He has written many reports and sent them back to the central government. In a recent report, he mentioned the "Japanese Yen infrastructure loan" mentioned in Yu Qie's paper.

The higher-ups took this matter very seriously, and they also valued the insights in Yu Qie's paper. So they arranged for the two of them to meet.

The real trouble is about to begin.

Upon meeting Yu Qie, Lin Bingnan did not mention the yen loan, but instead talked about the movie "Children of Heaven".

"Teacher Yu, I've watched your movie twice since I came to the capital. Now there are people watching movies everywhere. Ali is so cute, and the stories you write are really wonderful."

"I am over-flattered."

“I have read many of your novels, and I like your ‘Immigrant’ series the most because I was born in Malaysia and studied in the United States during my youth… I know best what you are trying to express, but I believe that the home I truly identify with is the one in my heart.”

“That’s right.” Yu Qie didn’t deny Lin Bingnan’s interpretation. He generally didn’t deny the reader’s understanding.

Lin Bingnan said that in his later reports, he might need to cite more content from Yu Qie's paper... If possible, he also hopes that Yu Qie can conduct further research.

Yu Qie agreed.

The Plaza Accord was signed in September, so Yu Qie didn't need to do any research—as soon as the news came out, anyone in China who had studied basic economics knew that the yen would appreciate.

Lin Bingnan said, “Professor Yu, we have never independently operated such a large-scale project before. After the reform and opening up, we have rarely received large-scale assistance from Western countries for construction. We lack a lot of experience. We originally thought that we lacked engineers, but now we find that we also lack novelists and economists... We can’t do without any of them.”

Upon hearing this, Yu Qie glanced at Lin Bingnan with considerable surprise.

The problem that was suffered in this regard was precisely a problem of the Soviet-based countries as a whole. This is easy to understand because the Soviet-based countries originally did not have the concept of "currency" at all, so the operation of currency was a blind spot for some economists in the country.

Lin Bingnan had already anticipated this situation, and he said with deep concern:

"Suppose we want to build an unprecedented project, costing hundreds of billions, which would account for a considerable portion of the national fiscal revenue! To this end, the whole country tightens its belt, and the construction teams work overtime, just to reduce the construction cost by a little bit. For example, we reduce it from hundreds of billions to 80 billion. Then, because this money is an interest-free loan, and the yen appreciates, we end up repaying 160 billion—making all the things we did before a joke!"

Yes, this was precisely because China was extremely short of financial talent at the time.

Yu Qie said, "That's impossible. We're here now to prevent what you're describing from happening."

"I have something else to say!"

"whats the matter?"

"Donation".

After saying this, Lin Bingnan brought out a notebook containing the signatures of more than a hundred researchers from across the country.

On this page, everyone donated a sum of money to the "Spring Rain Action," ranging from a few cents to several or tens of dollars. The places where they donated the money were, of course, the children's foundations in their respective regions, but they recorded these amounts in their own notebooks so that they could show them to Yu Qie.

Lin Bingnan took this out for a reason—we are supporting your fundraising efforts with real money and practical actions.

Now, it's your turn to do more for us.

Yu Qie was deeply moved. In the following days, he once again submitted a paper on yen-denominated infrastructure loans to the central government in the name of economist Yu Qie and engineering expert Lin Bingnan.

The conclusion is simple: be wary of yen loan traps.

The decimal point in the agreement may carry more weight than hundreds of thousands of tons of steel.

After this article was written, it initially generated a lot of buzz but little action. Firstly, the relationship between China and Japan is currently better than ever, and many people are indeed working towards this goal. Secondly, even if there are some potential pitfalls, people generally feel that it's not as exaggerated as it seems, given the urgent need for foreign exchange in China.

While Yu Qie is indeed an "expert on Japanese affairs," his title carries a somewhat mocking connotation because his predictions have never come true.

To Yu Qie's great surprise, in the following days he suddenly heard that all domestic projects involving Japanese loans were required to include clauses restricting exchange rate fluctuations.

Then, even more shocking news arrived: Japan had visited the sacred toilets. Immediately, people recalled Yu Qie's alarmist paper.

Can Japanese people be that bad?
Japanese people can be that bad.

The photo of the latrine illustrates that no matter how you deal with neighboring countries, you must always be prepared. Never forget to be vigilant.

(End of this chapter)