Literary Master 1983

Chapter 344 Yenching University's "Dining" Benefits

Yu Qie then asked, "Besides eating, are there any other difficulties?"

"There are many difficulties. I don't have money to date, and I don't have a bicycle when my friends invite me on a trip to the suburbs. It seems like everyone at Yenching University has a bicycle, but I'm the only one who doesn't. I can endure all of that, but I can't endure eating."

My stomach is not behaving properly.

These words were truly heartfelt, and the man stepped into the candlelight.

He was indeed short and thin. Yu Qie didn't recognize him and guessed that he hadn't become a very famous person.

The others, upon hearing this, each had their own thoughts, and gradually they all entered the candlelight. There weren't many people in extreme poverty; most were simply experiencing temporary financial difficulties, compounded by the prevailing atmosphere at the school.

This phenomenon is not only being complained about by teachers, but also by students who have many grievances.

Faces gazed at Yu Qie, the candlelight flickering on their faces.

They completely trusted Yu Qie and began to tell this friend about their situation, just as they had thought about when they read Yu Qie's books all those years ago.

In Beijing, Yu Qie owns thirteen properties. He hasn't replied to readers' letters in a long time; he's only human, and it's impossible for him to reply to all of them.

Countless people confided in Yu Qie, and every letter Yu Qie wrote back sparked heated discussions.

Every so often, "October" would publish "Yu Qie's Reply," summarizing the frequently asked questions and having Yu Qie answer them.

How could Yu Qie possibly answer?
His reply will be insightful ten or twenty years from now, but it still won't change the current confusion.

Yu Qie once wrote "The Big Shot," a fairy tale for adults targeting international students. But here are many more students, each more outstanding than Gu Yan, yet they lack confidence not only in pursuing their studies abroad, but even in maintaining their education.

If the wave of people leaving academia to start businesses can lead professors to resign and become disillusioned with academia, what about students who have never seen the world?
Yu Qie picked up the candle, placed it in the center, then walked down from the stage and sat at the table in the front row.

He said, “You all stand up, stand up! Don’t sit down, at least look me in the eye, be the same height as me.”

Lu Buxuan stood up, but he was not tall, and when he stood up, he was not as tall as Yu Qie, who was sitting on the table.

Ma Yanan, a female editor of a campus newspaper, was even more so; when she stood up, she had to look up at Yu Qie slightly.

As for the others, some were tall and some were short, but out of respect and other factors, they chose to bend over slightly.

Yu Qie was very dissatisfied: "Stand up, stand up straight! If you don't do this, am I supposed to squat? Everyone here is a top scholar, they're all better than me. I've repeated my studies several times! Have some ambition to become a top scholar!"

Everyone stood up straight.

It was a strange experience. Yu Qie was a renowned figure, a living legend. Yet, Yu Qie made them see themselves as equals, filling them with both excitement and an unspeakable fear.

Some petite female comrades are still not as tall as Yu Qie.

Yu Qie had his own plan. He pulled out a stool and said, "Now that you can look me in the eye, stand on the stool and look at me from this spot."

The students were all dumbfounded.

Lu Buxuan asked, "Doesn't this violate the rules and regulations? The school rules say..."

"Which rule says that?" Yu Qie said, "If anyone at Yenching University holds a grudge against me for standing on a bench, I'll go to Tsinghua University."

How could Yu Qie go to Tsinghua University?
He's the living advertisement of Yenching University.

Yu insisted that they stand on the benches, and they had no choice but to do so, resulting in the sound of benches being dragged around the classroom. Since there weren't enough benches, those who were already tall gave up their spots to the women.

"That's how I teach."

"If anyone is shorter than me, please stand on the table, but be careful."

Ma Yanan, an editor of the school newspaper, suddenly felt there was a story to tell. She asked, "Professor Yu, could I write the article again? This time, I won't submit it to a journal, but to the literature section of our university."

“I won’t charge you any royalties,” Yu said.

Subsequently, Lu Buxuan did something.

The candles on the table were now obscured by Yu Qie's torso. Lu Buxuan placed a stool over the candles so everyone could see Yu Qie's face clearly. Melting candle wax dripped onto his arm, but he didn't notice.

He was completely captivated by Yu Qie's actions.

In the candlelight, Yu Qie's eyes shone brightly. "I won't talk about credits or systems. You've all studied Marxist philosophy. Things are always changing. Sometimes you might think being a speculator is good now, but it might not be; you might think you've wasted your time studying, but it might not be."

"Yan University is the best school, always will be! Unless one day I go to Tsinghua University... because I have good judgment."

Everyone was surprised by Yu Qie's words and couldn't help but laugh.

But Yu Qie said, "My mentor, Hu Daiguang, is a good person and a pure scholar. He is my role model. He may not have made any earth-shattering contributions, but he always tries to do something within his capabilities."

"This is also what I want to tell you. Adversity is always present in life, and getting out of it is only temporary. Society has its own difficulties, and people have their own difficulties."

"How we deal with difficulties divides us into two categories. Some people are defeated by difficulties, while others are able to keep getting up and moving forward. I think true maturity is not about pursuing perfection, but about facing our own shortcomings."

"Look at real-world examples. How many talented musicians never get to perform on the stage of the Vienna Golden Hall in their entire lives? How many diligent researchers spend their lives in obscurity in the laboratory? Have they all lived in vain? Of course not. These unsuccessful attempts also form the cornerstone of human civilization's progress, and this is what Yenching University students should do."

“Look at me again, I’m here, I’m with you.”

At this point, the bell rang for the class.

The students, however, were reluctant to leave or take the candles. They felt that once the candlelight conversations were gone, the atmosphere would disappear, and they would find it difficult to feel that sense of security again.

However, all good things must come to an end.

Yu Qie announced his dismissal and said, "I should write a novel about this."

Some had tears in their eyes. Few people listened to their thoughts, especially such powerful figures. They truly felt the “unparalleled intimacy” between writers and readers that had existed since the 1980s.

This kind of relationship had happened on the battlefield of Laoshan, and it had also happened among the wanderers in Southeast Asia... The weight of literature once again descended upon the classrooms of Yenching University.

People immediately realized that the two-year-long literary "scientific experiment" that had lasted for 85 years was about to be crushed, because Yu Qie had returned.

Lu Buxuan asked excitedly, "Will I ever see you again, Teacher Yu?"

You will see me.

Someone else asked, "Will Teacher Yu be the one to substitute teach next time?"

“I don’t know!” Yu Qie said.

It's actually unlikely we'll meet again; the fact that I substituted for Hu Daiguang was just a coincidence. It will be at least a few more years before Yu Qie becomes a professor through this transition.

By then, these people had naturally already left.

Yu Qie used a phrase that Qian Zhongshu once used to answer his fans: "You eat an egg, but you don't necessarily have to see the hen that laid it. When you feel that I have been here, I am already by your side."

Drawing back the curtains and opening the window, sunlight streamed in, creating an atmosphere that felt like stepping into another world. Suddenly, Lu Buxuan said, "My name is Lu Buxuan, Teacher Yu, do you remember me?"

Yu Qie was surprised, nodded and smiled, "I remember you."

Then someone else said, "My name is Ma Yanan! Teacher Yu!"

"I'll remember you too."

"Zhou Haitao!"

"remember."

"Li He".

"remember."

……

Everyone told Yu Qie their names. Yu Qie patiently shook hands with everyone, which left a deep impression on Ma Yanan, the editor of the school newspaper.

She went back and wrote down a concise summary of the conversation, calling it "Candlelight 'Night' Talk".

She recalled Yu Qie's appearance at the time, and even several hours later, the memory still stirred her deeply. After taking some time to calm herself, Ma Yanan wrote:

"Failure is a long-term process in life, while success is only temporary. How we deal with failure, however, divides us into two types of people... This is what Professor Yu said to his students not long ago. Why should we read books in this era? Professor Yu gave the answer."

"He said that reading is not a panacea, and there is no such thing as a one-time solution in this world. We are such students, and the times have given us the responsibility to strive for progress. This is Teacher Yu's message as a senior student."

……

As she wrote this, Ma Yanan suddenly realized that Yu Qie's words contained a contradiction. But she didn't know where the contradiction lay.

Yu Qie's speech was so brilliant, we can't let his words go to waste!
Ma Yanan took the manuscript and asked around.

However, Ma Yanan is an undergraduate student with no family connections. She's also very busy right now, everyone's rushing to write articles, and no one's paying attention to her.

The predecessor of the Yenching University Gazette was the Yenching University Daily, founded during the reign of Cai Yuanpei in the Republic of China. Although it was nominally a school newspaper, it actually had a great influence on the education sector. Even though it was a small school newspaper, the people working there all had impressive backgrounds.

There was a female editor named Wei Guoying who happened to be in the school newspaper's office. She was a professional editor who had been specially transferred to the school newspaper; she was skilled in her work and could always finish her tasks quickly.

Wei Guoying happened to be free, and seeing this, she asked, "Xiao Ma, what's wrong?"

Ma Yanan then revealed: This is a "candlelight 'night' talk".

"What candlelight talk? When it comes to journalism, don't be secretive or write like those college student literature pieces. You need to let the readers know what you're writing about right away. Otherwise, they'll lose interest."

"This is Yu Qie's candlelight conversation."

"What 'yu qie'? Which 'yu qie'?"

"It's Yu Qie, as everyone knows!"

Wei Guoying's face turned red instantly, then white... Finally, Wei Guoying said, "Let me take a look at you."

When Ma Yanan came over, Wei Guoying whispered again, "Little Ma, if you ever see Yu Qie again, never tell him what I said."

A sheet of A5-sized manuscript paper was laid out on the table. In just a short while, everyone else came to join in the fun, with those on the outer edge standing on tiptoe to peek inside.

"Yu Qie finally got our Yanda University to publish an article?" someone said.

Fun fact: Yenching University's internal publications haven't featured any of Yu Qie's novels for a long time.

The last group to do this was the May Fourth Literary Society, which was nearly killed by Yu Qie. This was a literary group that had been influential for decades, comparable to the school newspaper, but now it has lost its influence and been replaced by the New Reality Society.

Even the president of the company, Luo Yihe, has "defected".

Many editors quickly reviewed Ma Yanan's manuscript to understand the situation... Ma Yanan explained, "I always felt that there was something wrong with what Teacher Yu said, but I didn't know how to understand it."

what is the problem?
Who dares to say he has a problem?

Wei Guoying said, “It’s not a problem, it’s just some logical flaws. Teacher Yu said there is no such thing as lasting success, so why is he always successful? He won once, twice, three times… He won so many times that when he talks about failures, he seems to know a lot about them.”

It is indeed a major loophole.

It's like a lottery winner telling you not to believe in luck. He's the only one in the world who can't say that.

However, the experienced Wei Guoying still found a way to make up for it:
"Isn't Yu Qie's success just someone else's failure? Some people will be successful for a long time, while most people will fail for a long time. Yu Qie is talking about the majority of people."

The entire editorial team immediately sprang into action, revised the manuscript, and quickly published it in the school magazine.
-
Yu Qie went directly to Hu Daiguang to donate money.

"You're going to donate money again?" Hu Daiguang was stunned.

"This is not a direct donation of money, but a dynamic 'meal' scholarship. And it is not decided by the counselor or a certain administrative supervisor, but by the cafeteria staff."

Yu Qie began to discuss with Hu Daiguang how to use the money.

He wants to donate 500,000 yuan to try it out for a period of time. If it works well, he can ask other companies in society to sponsor it.

Mu Qizhong, who was known for his pretentiousness throughout his life, probably had this kind of audience. As long as the students of Peking University could admire his style and say "Mu Qizhong Yangchun Noodles" or "Mu Qizhong Pork Vermicelli," he would probably be willing to generously spend money on them.

"Isn't this a bad influence?" Hu Daiguang said.

"If the school pays for it itself, then I won't say anything."

"The school can't afford it..."

"Then let's give it a try."

Who will take responsibility for giving it a try?

"I don't know, Tsinghua University might be willing to take on this."

“Why go to Tsinghua University? Let’s try it here!” Hu Daiguang’s eyes were firm.

Yenching University has countless buildings named after companies and many laboratories sponsored by individuals in the future, so what negative impact could there be?

The implementation of this system actually requires the collection of statistics on grain coupons.

Currently, in many parts of Beijing, food coupons are no longer required. However, this was not the case at Yenching University. The university campus was one of the areas where food coupons were most strictly enforced. Until the end of 1992, Yenching University's canteens still required food coupons, and students were subject to restrictions on the purchase and distribution of food coupons until the food coupon system was completely abolished.

Later, many top universities in China had this hidden benefit:
The school keeps track of students' meal card spending. If someone makes frequent and repeated purchases in the cafeteria, and their spending is consistently far below the average, the school identifies that student as a "student in need" and automatically tops up their meal card. This process is known only to the student and is kept secret from everyone else.

What Yenching University lacks now is precisely such a "welfare" system.

(End of this chapter)