Literary Master 1983

Chapter 334 New Year
Just as Yu Qie's literary journey started smoothly because he had a good teacher.

In the field of economics, resources and factionalism are equally important, and it seems that the humanities and social sciences are no exception. This applies to both the East and the West.

The Chicago School of Economics in the United States once dominated the economics field, producing numerous Nobel laureates in this area alone. In China, there is a saying of six major schools of thought.

Tsinghua University needs no introduction; it's a place teeming with talent. Yenching University is like Shaolin in the martial arts world, not only because it produces many outstanding individuals with clear career paths, but also because it has its own theoretical system—investment theory, which is like the Yi Jin Jing, a unique skill of the school. The School of Social Sciences is within the system itself and has the Sun Yefang Prize, the Nobel Prize of Chinese economics, as well as the top journal "Economic Research," making it a truly comprehensive institution.

The level of the leaders of Balitai University varied greatly over the years; some were like Qiao Feng, while others were later seen as Shi Huolong. Wuda University had relatively little influence in the field of economics, but it was very strong in mathematics, with a group of mathematicians serving as elders. It was a gathering of experts, but there was no single master who could make the final decision. It also always played against top-level opponents, which led to poor performance. It was identified as Murong of Gusu.

Finally, there's Minzu University, which is right next to Yenching University. It's also quite good; almost all the textbooks used by undergraduates are compiled by this group of people.

Yu Qie is a member of one of the six major sects, so he no longer needs to seek a master.

Hu Daiguang gave Yu Qie a year to write a high-quality paper. Yu Qie thought and thought, but couldn't find a suitable starting point.

Dual-track system?
This is good, but it will damage my reputation. If I have to write it, then I'll have to use his extraordinary wisdom, Lin Yifu, to be the writer and the evidence provider, and I'll "complete it together."

Or should we follow the old path of Yenching University's "investment theory"?

This version of the Yi Jin Jing is still under development and hasn't been completed yet.

He went directly to the research institute to find Lin Yifu and asked him for his opinion.

Jianguomen East Road.

All I saw was a small sign that read "Rural Development Research Center" vertically. The place wasn't big, but it was quite vibrant.

The Lunar New Year is almost here, and the place is completely full.

A woman wearing glasses heard the sound, poked her head out, and asked:

"Comrade, you are..."

"I'm looking for Senior Brother Lin Yifu."

A short while later, Lin Yifu invited Yu Qie to his office. He asked curiously, "My wife was stopped here because she didn't have a ticket and spoke with a strong Taiwanese accent; how did you get here?"

Yu Qie pointed to his face: "Foreigners are face-blind, but Chinese people aren't."

Lin Yifu burst into laughter: "It seems I should let her make more connections, otherwise it would be too embarrassing to encounter this kind of thing again!"

Upon returning to China, Lin Yifu was immediately entrusted with important responsibilities and was already extremely busy within a few days. One of his remarkable qualities was his keen understanding of worldly affairs. Although he was one of the earliest economics PhDs to return to China, few others have achieved the same level of success as him.

During their casual conversation, Yu asked him what he had been doing for the past few days.

Lin Yifu said, "Get to know people, make friends, and think about how to conduct research."

So you also have a paper to write?
"Well, that's unfortunate. I have a few ideas, could you give me some pointers?"

"Don't dare to take it, don't dare to take it..."

As Lin Yifu blurted out, he listened to Yu Qie talk about the directions they could strive to break through... After listening for a while, he said directly, "I think your ideas are all very good, but they are difficult to write down."

"why?"

“Let me tell you about the problem I’m facing in my research: I can’t find any academic literature. I either use foreign literature or literature from decades ago. In short, I have to start everything from scratch. It’s an endless blank. I once saw a paper by an academician in engineering where he said, ‘The references cited in this paper are from the author himself.’ But I can’t do that. This isn’t engineering.”

Yu Qie was stunned for a moment.

He came here to work on the data, but Lin Yifu said that even he was still working on the data from scratch.

“Is there no data from decades ago? That’s impossible,” Yu said.

“Of course we have them, but those data aren’t very useful,” Lin Yifu said patiently. “The Soviet-style statistical methods and the elements they focus on are completely different from those of the Chicago School. We’re not going to say who’s right or wrong here, but the problem is that you can’t just transplant them directly.”

He noticed Yu Qie's expression change and continued, "For example, you might want a car's gearbox, but there are many car windows here; you might want to play a game of ping-pong and study the diameter of the ping-pong ball, but there's an open-air basketball court here..."

"Okay, I understand what you mean. You need to start with the basic data."

“That’s right.” Lin Yifu nodded emphatically. “In the next few years, I will travel to every remote rural village in the country. That’s when I will begin to do my research.”

Is this something unique to China?
of course not.

Just like the so-called "axioms" in mathematics, this does not need to be proven. All other research is carried out on this basis, writing a hundred or a thousand articles, turning into a skyscraper; and all of this is based on the premise that "the foundation is solid".

Sometimes certain "foundations" are proven false, which causes skyscrapers to vanish in an instant, just as Schultz discovered that "agriculture also needs college students." This subversive discovery destroys the existing buildings and erects its own.

Economics is a discipline that "believes in the power of belief"; without belief, it ends.

Schultz will, of course, be refuted one day, but that will be many years from now.

"In short, Mr. Schultz's discovery was inseparable from his experience as a farmer. He knew very well how different an experienced, skilled farmer was from a novice, while the economics community only focused on fertilizers and machinery... This absurd inference, and hundreds of further inferences, dominated the American economics community in the 1950s... Fallacies were everywhere."

Yu asked, "So what will you do next?"

"I plan to spend three or four years conducting this investigation. First, I need to understand our own situation."

At this moment, Yu Qie suddenly remembered that Lin Yifu did not have any academic achievements in the first few years after returning to China and was almost unknown.

For example, he had already risen to the position of second-in-command at the research institute, yet the Taiwanese authorities were completely unaware, believing he had long since perished at sea. In reality, he only began producing explosive results in the early 1990s. It was only then that they discovered his talent and issued an "arrest warrant" for him—which, of course, is quite ridiculous.

Oh my god, I'm early this time.

Yu Qie suddenly realized.

Thus, this academic exchange had to turn into a dinner. Lin Yifu was quite pleased: "I told everyone in the institute that Mr. Yu was not only my classmate at Yenching University, but also my friend. They didn't believe me then, but now they do!"

"Cheers to the cause of economists." During the dinner, Yu Qie offered his blessings to Lin Yifu.

"It's for the cause of all our people," Lin Yifu said. "Yes, it's everyone's cause," Yu Qie replied with a smile.

Lin Yifu has an older son and a young daughter. His wife brought both children with her. The girl is only four years old and has always lived in the United States; she doesn't speak fluent Chinese.

But he's incredibly cute, inheriting his wife's looks, with a round face, and he's not shy like most Chinese kids. When he sees that Yu Qie is good-looking, he plays with Yu Qie and pinches his muscles.

Then he showed an incredulous expression.

The older boy was also secretly glancing at Yu Qie's arm, which was especially obvious under the adults' noses.

The little girl asked in her childish voice, "Why are you so strong?"

Because I eat beef and drink milk.

Before Yu Qie could speak, Chen Yun explained, "Uncle Yu came to protect everyone, which is why he became so strong."

Does he protect me too?

"Of course. Mom works at the foundation, and the most important work is led by Mr. Yu... Some children are born unable to walk and can only lie in bed. Mr. Yu has worked hard to change this situation."

The little girl opened her mouth wide in surprise for a moment, then kissed Yu Qie.

Everyone burst into laughter.

It turns out that Lin Yifu's wife, Chen Yun, was working for the "Spring Rain Action" project. Chen Yun holds a doctorate in education and has historically spearheaded psychological counseling for disabled children and established charitable projects in this area. Now that there are benchmark charitable projects in mainland China, she naturally doesn't need to put in the effort again.

The Red Cross project team for the "Spring Rain Action" is actually not a lucrative position.

Not only because Yu Qie was keeping a close eye on income and expenditure, but also because at this time, the doctor had much better options.

Chen Yun did not receive any preferential treatment, and worried that it would affect Lin Yifu's reputation, so she deliberately did not register for various job level assessments. Historically, she spent a full nine years working at the grassroots level before she finally got a formal position.

However, the "Spring Rain Action" project team was also located on Jianguomen East Road, so she was able to conveniently take care of Lin Yifu.

“I am not a modern woman; I am essentially a traditional person. Wherever Mr. Lin goes, I go. This job has not buried my potential; I can help children. Others know that I am from Taiwan and take good care of me. They even feel indignant on my behalf and offer to promote me. I refused. I already feel very lucky.”

"Because I know it would be very difficult if I did it myself."

Chen Yun said affectionately.

These words brought tears to Lin Yifu's eyes. He said, "The Spring Rain Initiative is unique among developing countries, in no way inferior to the West, and even more pure. Its cultural influence is greater, and I hope that one day I can leave my mark."

"The real change here... oh, say change is too arrogant, let's say influence. I hope I haven't come in vain."

"—Learn from Comrade Yu Qie," someone suddenly suggested.

Everyone then repeated, "Learn from Comrade Yu Qie."

Yu Qie had heard this slogan countless times, yet it still resonated with him. This resonance came from someone else.

……

Schultz received a very warm welcome in China. This was his second visit to China, but the adoration he received was no less than it had been a few years earlier. Schultz's colleagues also won the Nobel Prize in 82, and the "cure for the economy" they were developing in Chile did indeed appear to be quite remarkable.

In Chile, real wages are declining and unemployment is rising, but the nominal economy is indeed growing and inflation is under control.

Fighting poison with poison is better than doing nothing at all.

There's a reason why Yu Qie is welcomed by the Chicago School of Economics. In recent decades, literature has proliferated in Latin America, and so have the "Chicago disciples."

This group of people traveled far and wide, specializing in prescribing medicine for others. Schultz was invited to give a speech at Yenching University, where he spoke some truly honest words:
“I have studied the small-scale peasant economy in Shandong Province. Contrary to the common perception that it is stupid and crude, the farmers here have cultivated the land to an unparalleled degree. Even the most skilled agricultural experts, under the same conditions, cannot achieve a higher yield than the farmers. No change in any form will necessarily yield better results.”

"Therefore, I realized the role of investing in education in personal development. People don't need to become masters; labor and practice will enable them to become the most professional in their field, and there is still a lot of room for exploration in this regard."

"..."

In the middle, Schultz talked a lot about the theories of the Chicago School. Then, he abruptly changed the subject, as if issuing a disclaimer:
"However, there is a Chinese saying that all knowledge must come from practice."

“I saw the most popular novel in the United States right now, ‘Metro,’ which was written by the same author who had contact with Native Americans, lived in Boston, and combined his childhood memories with his own experiences… After the success of the past few years, Chile has once again fallen into economic stagnation.”

"why?"

"Because the treatment is only temporary, giving people a breather, the final outcome still depends on the efforts of the Chilean people."

Many of those who visited the United States were in the audience, including Yu Qie.

Yu Qie always felt that Schultz had glanced at him.

Did Schultz know that Yuche was writing a paper?

Lin Yifu also felt that Schultz was watching him. As a "foreign student" and his last disciple, Lin Yifu was entrusted with high hopes. He believed that this was Schultz's wish for him to "localize the Chicago School".

Schultz's words were met with thunderous applause.

This old man will build bridges in academia, encouraging more domestic scholars to visit and study in the United States.

After that, Schultz spent some time providing guidance at the research institute, and then traveled around Beijing. Last July, the Italian film "The Last Emperor" began filming in China. The film had been in preparation for a long time, but the filming period was about eight months.

Filming is now nearing its end.

Foreigners in the capital have their own social circle, and the newly joined Schultz is quite famous in it. He is invited to parties for foreigners in China and has a lot of fun.

The production crew frequently mentioned a person named Yu Qie. This time, it wasn't because of Yu Qie's novel, but because of an actor named Zun Long, who bears a resemblance to Yu Qie.

Moreover, this actor, who appears gentle but is actually very resolute and longs for his motherland, has always been proud of being a Chinese writer named Yu Qie.

(End of this chapter)