Literary Master 1983

Chapter 332 Yu Qie is the Coca-Cola of this place.
A common rumor is that Lin Yifu swam across the strait with a basketball in his arms.

The truth is, he was originally a swimming champion. For a period of time, he was transferred to be stationed in Jinmen, a place that is only two kilometers away from the mainland.

Lin Yifu explained, "I didn't actually come back carrying a basketball, nor did I swim across the entire strait. That's something no human could do. Mr. Yu, these are all exaggerated rumors."

Yu Qie asked him, "That's still very impressive. What are your thoughts on that?"

"I'm just an ordinary person who wants to do something, and I can't say I'm completely without selfish motives," Lin Yifu said with a smile. "Compared to me, my wife is much greater."

His wife sat next to Lin Yifu, looking like a smiling student, and introduced herself:
“Mr. Yu, my name is Chen Yun. I never expected him to mention me in front of you.”

"—She's amazing!" Lin Yifu couldn't help but interject. "She got her master's degree from the University of Edinburgh and then her doctorate in education from the University of Washington. She's also the one taking care of the children. She's much better than me!"

They turned out to be a married couple with doctorates.

This couple has set a record!

They were not only the first overseas PhD in economics to return, but also the first PhD couple to return.

Yu Qie exclaimed, "You two are both quite impressive. Apart from Mr. Schultz, there are probably few people here with higher academic qualifications than you two."

A translator was standing next to Schultz. After listening slowly, he said, "I'm not as good as Justin (Lin Yifu's English name). In fact, I didn't choose to go to high school back then; instead, I became a farmer. My first degree is from Brooklyn Agricultural College..."

This college in the United States is similar to a vocational high school in China and does not award bachelor's degrees.

In other words, Schultz's subsequent meteoric rise to the Nobel Prize was entirely due to his hard work and dedication, which allowed him to redeem himself from his previous academic background.

Do Americans not discriminate based on one's first degree?

Oh, Schultz was in school when World War II was about to break out, so what discrimination was there?

Yu Qie couldn't help but laugh: It's absurd that a Nobel laureate has the lowest first degree.

Schultz said slowly, “This is my regret, my friends. There are always many regrets in life, but we must move forward. The reason I have been able to achieve academic success is because I was a farmer, so I know that the previous understanding of agriculture in the economics field was wrong.”

He mentioned a situation in the economics field back then:

At that time, Western economists did not pay attention to agriculture; everyone was studying industry and commerce, and no one thought that agriculture was worth studying.

Farmers are foolish, and farmland cannot create more value.

"There is a popular saying that the Soviets focused too much on industry and too little on agriculture, which ultimately led to a long period of hardship for them; this is a hoax. The truth is that the United States also does not focus on agriculture, but we have 24 billion acres of arable land, accounting for 12% of the world's total, so we can afford to waste it."

Schultz spread his hands and said, "If we were in the Soviet Union's situation, I suspect we would be in a much worse situation."

Subsequently, his views gradually attracted the attention of the academic community. In some parts of the United States, simple knowledge training for farmers was tried, and the results were very encouraging. Simply put, with fertilizers, machinery, and other factors already fully utilized, the farmers' personal skills have become the bottleneck to increasing yields.

For a period of time, the more effective the training they received, the more productive the land in the United States became.

This strange phenomenon, which resembled idealism, prompted Schultz to extend his experience in agriculture to other fields. He realized that the role of workers' education in the economy was being greatly underestimated.

“When I started researching the field of human capital, I already felt that this would be a great discovery. And it could fully explain the rise of late-developing countries such as Germany, Japan and South Korea, because they attach great importance to education... and perhaps this will happen in China in the future.”

The passengers on the plane listened to this foreigner rambling on and on.

Those paleographers who originally came to China with Harper's money suddenly realized that coming to China wasn't such a bad thing.

Perhaps this will become a topic of conversation many years later.

One scholar said, "Perhaps I can say before I die that I have been here..."

"Then, the children asked me what kind of place it was?"

“I said, I don’t remember. Just like I don’t remember what the prettiest girl in my class looked like when she was little, because she wore braces. She was just average back then.”

These slightly romantic words quieted the entire plane a little. Everyone began to think about the things that had changed so much in the past.

As they approached Yanjing, Yu Qie overheard Lin Yifu privately asking Schultz, "How long will it take to see that moment?"

“Maybe half a century?” Schultz said. “You’ll see, I won’t.”

Now, that sense of romance has been brought back.

……

Nevertheless, significant changes occurred in Yanjing that year.

Last year, millions of square meters of residential buildings were constructed, and a large number of residents were relocated. The situation where ten or more families used to live in a single courtyard house has become increasingly rare, resulting in too many vacant courtyard houses, which even temporarily lowered the price of courtyard houses.

Of course, it's still very expensive.

Two or three thousand yuan was an astronomical sum for people in Yanjing at that time.

Some people are selling their courtyard houses in groups, especially those Chinese who were inexplicably returned their properties but are actually living abroad. Almost no one is willing to buy their houses, but sometimes they can meet a kind actress who brings her good friend to view the property.

They arrived on motorcycles, each with a helmet.

"Yu Qie has sent too many letters; I can't keep up with them all. I can't even finish reading them all," Zhang Li said with a worried expression.

Chen Xiaoxu suggested buying a house. "Yu Qie said you should use all your pocket money to buy a house. It will all be your house in the future."

“That’s Yu Qie’s money!” Zhang Li said.

“That’s money Yu Qie gave to his family, and you’re investing it; it’s called replacing fixed assets. That’s also Yu Qie’s house. Aren’t you studying economics? Leaving money unused is the behavior of a nouveau riche! Yu Qie said that in the capital, buying a house is economics.”

"Buy it, buy it!" Zhang Li said through gritted teeth. "If you're going to buy, buy ten sets!"

Filming for the TV series "Dream of the Red Chamber" is nearing completion, with only a very small portion remaining. The "Grand View Garden" cast is about to disband.

Zhang Mingming, the actress who played You Erjie, wrote an application to study in the United States. Her IQ was incredibly high, and she was accepted to the University of California, Berkeley, to study computer science.

This is so trendy, it has absolutely nothing to do with being an actor.

Everyone was shocked, but Zhang Mingming said, "When I went to the embassy to get my visa, the visa officer's eyes lit up when he heard that I knew Yu Qie, and he kept talking to me about Yu Qie."

"Is Yu Qie so popular in the United States?" Ouyang Fenqiang asked.

“Really! This visa officer is a China expert. He told me that once I get to the United States, I must mention Yuqie to the Chinese community. They will help me.”

“Yu Qie is a great hero over there. Berkeley also founded the ‘New Reality Society’.” Director Wang Fulin came especially after hearing about this. He mentioned, “Two films sold very well in Southeast Asia. One is ‘Journey to the West’, and the other is a documentary about Yu Qie.”

Everyone was in a state of bewilderment, as if they had heard that a ping-pong ball had drilled a hole in a cement wall.

The documentary "The East Wind Prevails Over the West Wind" is still airing, and some people treat it as a feature film. Many people still don't realize what kind of power it represents to be able to boss around the number one bookseller in the United States.

Because *October* is also Yu Qie's stronghold. Take *People's Literature* for example, doesn't it frequently discuss the writer Yu?

Last November, when Yu Qie received the American Literature Prize, a "Yu Qie Works Research Conference" was held.

Why are Americans so exaggerated?

Capitalism! It really turns people into monsters.

When Zhang Li and Chen Xiaoxu have free time, they come back to buy a house.

They treated this as a "real-world test" of their business acumen, buying up properties in prime locations everywhere. However, they didn't pursue their goals for the sake of achieving them. Zhang Li would often haggle with people, tirelessly trying to save money, while Chen Xiaoxu acted in the opposite way. Chen Xiaoxu would play the bad guy who would try to persuade her friends to leave, showing disdain for the properties.

When Zhang Li refused to lower the price, Chen Xiaoxu would throw her a motorcycle helmet and pretend to leave... The landlord was afraid he would never encounter such a demanding person again, so he had no choice but to agree to talk again.

They had also been extorted before, and when they reported it to the police, they were initially ignored. However, a local police officer surnamed Yang recognized them and reported it up the chain of command, eventually alerting their superiors. A few days later, the perpetrators were apprehended.

The leader sternly rebuked, "This is the work of a great author who has won the Akutagawa Prize and the American Book Critics Circle Award..."

Then his gaze swept towards Zhang Li—

“My love!” Zhang Li said.

“My love! Don’t you have eyes? In Yu Qie’s novel ‘If Heaven Has Feelings,’ Hua Di is dead beyond any doubt. Isn’t this admonishing you not to do bad things? Is there anyone who doesn’t know Yu Qie?”

The swindler tearfully admitted his mistake and vowed never to do it again.

There are too many petty swindlers like this in Beijing. Many of them have a legitimate job on the surface, but they start cheating as soon as they get off work.

In the words of writer Wang Shuo in his later recollection: "We didn't have much money back then... and life was very boring. Except for the middlemen, nobody had any money. What could I do? I always had just enough money, so I just wandered around, looking for things to do... I was so bored... Now I spend my days watching short videos..."

Then, the leader's gaze fell on Zhang Li.

Zhang Li was particularly embarrassed: "You read Yu Qie's books, why don't you study them well?"

He added, "I haven't suffered any losses, so let's just forget about it..."

"no!"

Chen Xiaoxu tugged at Zhang Li's sleeve and said, "Revenge is the best revenge. If Yu Qie finds out that this person got away scot-free, what will he think of us?"

Those present stared wide-eyed, as if they had anticipated something extraordinary. A wave of indignation swept through the crowd.

So the swindler got a good beating from Hao Lai.

After leaving the house, Chen Xiaoxu suddenly slapped his thigh: "Oh no! Now Yu Qie will know I stole his motorcycle!"

Two new waterworks were built in Yanjing, the heating installation area was increased, three telephone exchanges were built, more than 20,000 fixed-line telephones were added within a year, afforestation projects were carried out, supermarkets and restaurants were built near large residential communities, more than 20 new libraries and science and technology museums were built, a number of steel mills and coal mines were relocated, and the people of the capital were given a blue sky again...

All of this points to the factor of "openness".

People are starting to buy apartments; they need their own personal space and to pursue their personal interests.

They have their own toilets, their own telephones, and can stroll in the park downstairs and buy their own rice, flour, and eggs—by the way, in some places, food coupons are no longer needed. Just like those increasingly numerous restaurants that only accept money.

In just one year, fifty new farmers' markets were added, more than 90,000 individual businesses were established, and the number of small vendors making a living from their businesses reached 150,000, a number that was zero just a few years ago. In the Xiushui Street area, individual vendors set up stalls one after another, forming a fairly large-scale free market.

These people were very popular with the people of Beijing by selling clothing and household goods produced in the south, as well as pirated records and videotapes of Hong Kong stars.

Sometimes you might run into foreigners who come to see the novelty.

“What’s this? It feels like I’ve stepped back into the 1960s,” several French journalists from Paris Match laughed.

One of them, a middle-aged journalist named Chad Azte, said, “You’re not doing journalism, you’re here for tourism. Let me tell you what real journalism is.”

It turned out he was the leader of this group of French journalists. Because he was stationed in China for a long time, visiting at least twice a year, he had become acquainted with many sinologists and was fluent in Chinese.

When the French president visited China, Chad served as the interpreter and provided coverage throughout the visit. He met with the highest-ranking officials from both countries.

But Chade didn't just write about these things; he also wrote about Chinese customs and traditions. He felt there were so many topics worth recording.

In France, there is a radio program where he often can't help but share his experiences in China.

Chade turned to the stall owner in Chinese and said, "These French people are impolite. I apologize on their behalf. I know China has good things; show us some fashionable items!"

The shop owner pondered for a while, then suddenly realized something and borrowed a copy of "The Way Out" from a nearby stall. "Written by Yu Qie, Yu Qie. Our great writer."

This is a copy of "The Way Out" published by Iwanami Shoten in Japan. It's very expensive, a bilingual (Chinese and Japanese) version, and costs seventy times more than the price published by Huacheng Publishing House in mainland China! It's only circulated in Japan. Somehow, someone brought it to Xiushui Street in Beijing.

What does "余切" represent?
The incredible trip to Colombia is over, and even Yuqie needs to take a break for a while.

Now, it seems there's nothing to write about him.

Moreover, Paris Match is the largest-circulation magazine in France, a leading monthly and weekly publication. They consistently write in-depth, long articles, accompanied by impactful news images, introducing French readers to hot topics from around the world.

The reporters looked at each other.

Cha immediately burst into laughter: "The falling of a leaf signifies the arrival of autumn. Did you know that? That's news."

Cha gave him $100, which made the vendor hold up a copy of the Japanese-published book "The Way Out" and laugh in front of the camera.

"Kacha!"

He took the photo and named it "Business Card." He then said, "When the West describes an open China, there's always a picture of a child standing on the Great Wall holding a Coca-Cola can; it's truly a classic image. The Great Wall, Coca-Cola, Chinese children..."

“Now we have a businessman holding up a foreign language edition of a book by a Chinese literary master, which will create another scene; because openness is reciprocal, you understand? Chinese people drink Coca-Cola, and we read books written by Chinese authors.”

"This book is a pirated copy. I have studied Yuche's books in depth, and I know them better than I know French history. The reason they printed this is because they know that foreigners will like it. They see it as a domestic Coca-Cola."

(End of this chapter)