Literary Master 1983

Chapter 347 Yu Qie's First Beneficiary (Part 1)

After that, the "canteen meal subsidy" policy was secretly implemented, and meal tickets were tallied twice a month.

If a student consistently eats only bland food and spends less than one cent during this period, it will be recorded.

Then they give out two 40-cent food coupons, which can be used to buy ribs, or exchanged for other dishes of the same price after the ribs are sold out.

Lu Buxuan has been doing very well these past two weeks, like a god.

On weekdays, there are novels to read, and on weekends, there are spare ribs to eat.

But he didn't know why the school was being so lenient.
In recent years, the university dismissed a number of senior professors without offering satisfactory compensation. They were forced to "show some magnanimity," and some of the professors were so angry they cried, as their entire families depended on their professorship salaries.

If professors are like this, what about students?

In just two weeks, the number of people "collecting tickets" has grown rapidly.

Nowadays, whenever it's time to get a receipt, long queues form at the spare ribs window in the No. 1 school cafeteria, because everyone gets a receipt and everyone can eat.

Yenching University students are very intelligent and have excellent organizational skills.

After the students figured out the policy, they deliberately teamed up to keep their per capita spending below one cent, so they could get those two four-cent pork rib coupons for free.

The pork ribs window, which used to be deserted, was now busier than the steamed bun window when it came time to get receipts.

It’s against Tiangang!
Who has this ability?
Lu Buxuan has joined the "New Reality Club" and become one of the few third-year members of the club.

Generally speaking, school clubs recruit freshmen to fill their quotas, and sophomores run for club officers. Only a very few remain in the club in their junior year, and these juniors often link their club experience with their careers.

Because of Yenching University's unique position among universities nationwide, students always have access to top-tier resources, and even joining student clubs can provide valuable experience.

Because of his position as president of the "New Reality Society," Liu Zhenyun often participated in the "Writers' Seminar" in Beijing as a student representative. He, a farmer's son, rose rapidly through the ranks and was selected as an editor for "October."

It should be noted that the last person selected, Luo Yihe, was the son of a high-ranking official among high-ranking officials.

You mean the top scholar?

Who here isn't a top scorer?
Both Cheng Guoping and Chu Fujun were vying for this position. Cheng Guoping wanted to be a "follower of Yuqie," a thorough researcher of Yuqie.

"From the age of twenty to thirty, I was prepared to do this one thing well. I studied literary history and found that literature is neither gradual nor spiral, but depends entirely on a few people. If they do well, literature will advance; if they start to mess around, others can rise to the top, but they can't reach that level. In this respect, there is indeed some idealism."

"But it is also materialistic, because the person must exist first before there can be that kind of literature."

"It's like comparing Guan Yu and Qin Qiong; that's how it is. That's what research is all about."

These are Cheng Guoping's original words.

Chu Fujun genuinely respected Yu Qie. And incidentally, he gained some fame – there's nothing better in life.

“We have already reviewed most of Yu Qie’s literary works. Now, I would like to talk about why Yu Qie is different from other writers?”

Cheng Guoping's words brought Lu Buxuan back to reality.

He asked, "Think about it, what exactly is the difference?"

"Can Yu Qie write foreign articles?" Lu Buxuan asked.

Cheng Guoping shook his head, not mocking him. But Chu Fujun couldn't help but laugh, saying, "You don't know Li Jinyang from America, or Xiong Shiyi from Yenching Normal University, but you should at least know Lin Yutang."

"He wrote novels in English a long time ago, and was reportedly nominated for the Nobel Prize twice. As a pioneer of English writing, Yu Qie is definitely not among the top. You know 'The Way Out,' but do you know 'Chinatown'? That's an English novel about immigrants from Guangdong to the United States! It was already a bestseller in the US half a century ago!"

Who is Lin Yutang? Is he from Yenching University?

At first, Lu Buxuan felt embarrassed by his own shallowness.

"In Taiwan, he studied the Dream of the Red Chamber and the Analects..."

"No wonder I didn't know!" Lu Buxuan immediately felt relieved. "Operation Spring Rain? Or my fiancée's breakup letter? Or the painful choice between studying abroad and staying behind? Lin Yutang never cared about my life, so of course I didn't need to know about him!"

Cheng Guoping and Chu Fujun were speechless for a moment.

You weren't a supporter of Yuqie before, so why are you so aggressive now?

Although Yu Qie was formidable, it cannot be said that there is only one hero in the world. To deny the achievements of others is a very narrow-minded view.

This is not good for Yuqie either, even though there are more and more "Yuqie fans" like this.

Because new writers will inevitably replace the old ones, readers always feel the influence exerted by contemporary writers more strongly.

In Su Shi's time, people might not have thought he was inferior to Li Bai.

Chu Fujun said, "You're just making excuses. Lin Yutang was very good at research, and Yu Qie was also very good at it, but they were doing economics research. From a literary point of view, it's a bit of a pity."

Lu Buxuan then realized that he wasn't exactly a traditional Chinese literature major.

Because he didn't think there was anything wrong with what Yu Qie was doing.

He still doesn't read "Dream of the Red Chamber," and as for the Analects? What is that anyway?

They spout grand theories, but if you try to make a living by following those principles, you'll be bullied to death.

However, Cheng Guoping paused for a moment, then excitedly patted Lu Buxuan on the shoulder. "You're close to my answer. This is why Yu Qie is better than others! He cares about our lives. As long as we are alive and can still speak, Yu Qie is the best of this generation."

"But this answer is too one-sided. Research requires rational thinking."

Lu Buxuan asked, "As a researcher, what do you think makes Yu Qie so remarkable?"

Cheng Guoping, however, kept everyone in suspense. "We can discuss that another time. Our priority today is to eat these cheap pork ribs."

"That's right!" Chu Fujun laughed loudly, "Although I've made some money, why wouldn't I eat the free ribs?"

"Where did these ribs come from?" Cheng Guoping asked.

"I don't know. I heard that some teachers also came to get food, but were told that it was only for students," Chu Fujun said.

"Who is it? So annoying, taking advantage of students."

"I heard it's Professor Yu from the Spanish Department, not the Yu as in Yuqie."

“This person doesn’t deserve the surname ‘Yu.’ People will think he has some connection with Yu Qie,” Lu Buxuan said abruptly.

He has become a complete "Yu Qie book fan".
-
In late February, Yu Qie and Hu Daiguang came to see the principal.

The World Congress on Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Anyang is already calling him.

Yu Qie should finalize the "meal allowance" as soon as possible and make it an internal school document.

Hu Daiguang advised, "Yu Qie, you can't just pay for the meal allowance by yourself. In the end, you still need help from society."

Yu Qie naturally knew: "I'm just starting out, and others will follow. In the future, when I supply food to the Yanda University cafeteria, I don't know how many people will fight tooth and nail to get a job. Then I'll retire gracefully."

Hu Daiguang added, “Principal Ding returned from the United States and studies mathematics. Several of us mathematicians have personal relationships with him. You should be polite to him. Your math isn’t very good, and Lin Yifu’s math isn’t great either, so you need to cultivate good relationships with him even more.”

"How could I be impolite to the principal?" Yu Qie laughed.

Can Yenching University students be this rude?

Hu Daiguang is simply worrying unnecessarily.

The two arrived at the office building of Yenching University.

Unexpectedly, Principal Ding was cornered by a student.

The student asked, "President, do you have time? Do you want Yenching University to regain its former glory of the May Fourth Movement? I would like to talk to you about the prospects for Yenching University's development."

Ding Lei was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said very kindly, "Sure. But I have guests coming, so how about we schedule a time separately?"

The student immediately followed Principal Ding's gaze and looked behind him, first seeing Hu Daiguang, and then Yu Qie.

Yu Qie!

Is it that Yu Qie?

The school magazine said: Senior Brother Yu is strong and powerful, and looks like a bodybuilder. Sometimes he is even a little scary, but as soon as he smiles, you will be infected by his enthusiasm.

The student was a girl with a ponytail, looking very capable. She unconsciously straightened up and said, "My surname is Zhao, and my name is Zhao Zehong. Are you Senior Yu, who's aiming for the Cervantes Prize, the highest award in the Spanish-speaking world?" "That's me," Yu Qie couldn't help but smile. "Why don't you introduce yourself?"

That's the smile, that's it!

"I'm an undergraduate student, so I don't have much to brag about. If I had to say something, I was the top scorer in Beijing's college entrance examination in 84!"

The top scholar in the capital!

They truly crushed my humble title of top scholar from Wanxian.

"Okay, you're amazing! You'll definitely be better than me in the future. I even repeated a year of high school." Yu Qie expressed his respect to the girl.

The female top scholar immediately blushed and said, "Then you two talk first, I'll come back later."

She then said to Principal Ding, "Principal, I am here on behalf of the students."

Principal Ding was already used to it: "See you there."

The girl looked at Yu Qie again...

Yu Qie offered, "I was there too, so feel free to ask me anything."

Afterwards, Yu Qie followed Principal Ding to his office. Principal Ding immediately said, "It seems that 500,000 is not enough. At most, it will last for a few years, or even a year or two. It's still not too late to retreat now, and the impact will not be significant."

"What retreat? I don't fight battles I'm not sure I can win."

The book "Metro" will bring Yu Qie millions of dollars in royalties in the United States this year.

That's not even a lot. Many of the top-ranking wealthy writers in the US earn millions or even tens of millions of dollars a year. It's just that most of them write popular literature, while Yu Qie's novels have a certain level of sophistication.

A million dollars is just royalties in the United States.

If I were to actually win the Cervantes Prize, I'd probably be getting several million dollars.

Principal Ding was taken aback when he heard this. After roughly estimating Yu Qie's income, he realized that he had underestimated him.

This student is not necessarily inferior to those Hong Kong tycoons.

Five years ago, President Ding was a visiting scholar at Harvard University in the United States.

He is a mathematician, a discipline that doesn't easily produce intuitive results, so his salary is generally lower than that of other engineering professors, and there are fewer perks.

However, Harvard is an exception, because many of their math professors work as consultants in the financial world, so in addition to earning two or three hundred thousand US dollars in their main jobs, they can also earn hundreds of thousands or even millions of US dollars.

This greatly shocked Principal Ding at the time.

If such a low-paying job can bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars, imagine how much more a bestselling author can earn.

President Ding recalled: "I learned in the United States that I had been selected as president. My mission was to balance the finances, retire some people and promote some new people, but all of this required money to appease them... I calculated and calculated, and my hair turned white with worry, but I found that it could be easily solved with just the salaries of a few American professors."

Yu Qie knew immediately that the matter was settled.

Because he's rich, that's a superpower.

Once inside the office, Ding Lei insisted on making tea for Yu Qie and Hu Daiguang.

He added, "I just want to confirm one thing: what will happen when the money runs out in a few years?"

Yu said, "I'll replenish it when it's used up. In a few years, people will naturally want to join in, just like in the early days of Operation Spring Rain."

"Yan University can't control other schools; it can only control Yan University. Will you establish a foundation in your own author's name, or will you donate anonymously?"

"Neither. I started as an alumnus, and later other alumni joined in, so it became a collective alumni funding project."

well!
Ding Lei and Sun are completely fine.

This ensured both the availability of subsequent funding and a legitimate reason for the action.

The scale was also well controlled.

Yu Qie withdrew from the "New Reality Club," which was spread across universities across the country, after two years. At first, it was thought that he was too busy, but now it seems that Yu Qie really understood.

Such a person is experienced, sincere, mature, and idealistic; no wonder Hu Daiguang likes him.

Ding Leisun talked about "Candlelight 'Night' Talks" serialized in the school magazine, saying that this is what we should really pay attention to.

"Simply put, this article has sparked heated discussions not only at Yenching University but also throughout the higher education community. I think that student Zhao came to me about this very issue. Students are unwilling to study and would rather drop out to do business! Teachers also have grievances, feeling that a dignified professor is less successful than a street vendor."

"I also see that you have a novel you're writing. Would you be willing to have it serialized in the school magazine so that all students can read it for free?"

Hu Daiguang and Yu Qie were both stunned.

I never expected what the principal was talking about.

“I’m a student at Yenching University, so of course my articles can be serialized,” Yu said.

“That’s not true!” Principal Ding laughed. “The first time I heard of you was because someone at the school serialized your articles, and you got into a huge fight. I remember you very well!”

“Therefore, whether I agree or not, I need to ask for your opinion first,” Principal Ding asked.

"Yes, of course I would agree!"

This means that the past is behind us.

Looking back, Yu Qie found it quite interesting: back then, he was the one who caused trouble, but he was let off lightly.

Principal Ding's actions now show that Yu Qie was not wrong; he was simply upholding the dignity of writers.

Therefore, we have to go through this ordeal.

Although Principal Ding studied mathematics, he is very meticulous! No wonder he was chosen as the principal.

When Lao Ding took office, his friends earnestly advised him—the situation is unclear, you'd better wait and see. Lao Ding didn't spout any nonsense; he directly used himself as a weapon, offending quite a few people in the process.

Ji Xianlin definitely doesn't like him.

First, they dismissed Ji Xianlin, then discovered that Ji was quite capable, so they offered him a few dozen yuan a month to become a professor. This back-and-forth effectively cost him his position as department head.

Just as Yu was thinking this, Zhao was still there when he came out. As soon as Zhao saw Principal Ding, he immediately began talking about "how to improve Yenching University," mentioning Cai Yuanpei from the Republican era, and Yenching University's tradition of inclusiveness and producing outstanding talents, and so on…

Then, in a somewhat forceful tone, he offered several suggestions to Principal Ding.

She implied that the principal wasn't doing a good job.

This is something that college students in later generations probably wouldn't even dare to dream of.

What suggestions did Zhao make?
The policy of allowing students to choose any courses and change departments at will was accepted by Principal Ding, who said, "We are also studying and resolving this issue."

The student added, "We still need good teachers. Yenching University has so many masters and academicians now. But they don't teach much anymore. Why don't the students attend classes? I think if a master came, the students would naturally respect him."

"Masters are very busy, aren't they? Take Yu Qie for example, would you say he's a master?" Ding Lei asked with a smile.

“Of course he’s a master. When it comes to writing novels, who in the entire Yenching University can compare to him?” Miss Zhao said matter-of-factly.

"Then do you think it would be suitable for Yu Qie to become a teacher in the future?"

"Yes! Absolutely! Right now!" The girl was overjoyed.

"Professor Yu hasn't finished his studies yet, so it's not ready. He can become a professor after he completes his doctorate. But we can consider whether it would be better for Professor Yu to come to the School of Humanities or the School of Economics?"

This question surprised everyone.

Hu Daiguang immediately replied, "School of Economics! Yu Qie is first and foremost an economist."

The student said, "He must be a writer... Economics isn't a bad option either, I think I've heard of it. Why don't we do both?"

Principal Ding said, "Your suggestion is very helpful. We will study and resolve it in the future..."

"—No?" Yu Qie was speechless. "Didn't anyone ask for my opinion?"

Everyone then realized that the person in charge hadn't spoken yet.

(End of this chapter)