Literary Master 1983

Chapter 378 "Rural Teacher"

Watson couldn't wait to read the whole story on the plane.

The first half of the story takes place in a remote rural area in Northwest China.

The villagers in this area are backward and ignorant. They sold the poverty alleviation production equipment that was delivered to them and the whole village had two big meals. They sold their land to heavily polluting factories and were even pleased with themselves for getting a good price. They dismantled the beams of the school building and used them to build the Lao Jun Temple at the entrance of the village. They rely on relief from the county every day. Such a poor and desolate place makes people feel that there is no hope at all.

The protagonist, Li Baoku, teaches in such an environment. His salary is meager, but he still tries his best to support students who want to study. He is seriously ill, but he still insists on coming to class.

However, miracles did not spare this rural teacher. At the very beginning of the story, Yu Qie wrote:
This person has cancer and is going to die.

what?
Yu Qie actually wrote a tragedy? He never writes tragedies.

Even the darkest and most brutal film, Metro, has a satisfying ending where everyone dies together.

Watson felt sorrow for this teacher in a remote Chinese village, a saintly figure. It reminded Watson of medieval preachers—though they preached for a fictitious deity, people were always moved by their selfless acts.

“Li Baoku is a good man, and America needs a teacher like him! Their Chinese communism has some tricks up its sleeve,” Watson sighed.

His fingers traced the paper, as if one could see Yu Qie writing furiously.

For Watson, Yu Qie wrote this article specifically for him.

Yu Qie didn't say that, but Watson was a very confident person, to the point of being arrogant, and he felt that he was worth Yu Qie doing this for him.

Then, the plot begins to reveal why Li Baoku chose to teach in this godforsaken place. Li Baoku accidentally discovers that the students here are exceptionally intelligent, no different from the students in the city, and some are even more intelligent.

Oh, isn't that just like me?

Everyone deserves to be educated, but some people deserve it more.

When Li Baoku learned that he had cancer, he wanted to pass on all his limited knowledge as soon as possible, and asked the children to memorize Newton's three laws of motion... But Li Baoku still died, and died quietly.

It was indeed a tragedy!
Watson couldn't help but sigh softly.

But the story takes a sharp turn here, beginning its second half. The perspective shifts to a place 50,000 light-years away from Earth, where an interstellar war has broken out between silicon-based and carbon-based civilizations in the Milky Way. The carbon-based civilization has won a hard-won victory, and they plan to establish an isolation zone in the third spiral arm of the Milky Way to destroy most of the planets there in order to prevent the silicon-based civilization from entering.

They assess the level of civilization here to avoid destroying advanced, intelligent carbon-based life.

Earth, where humanity resides, is located on the third arm of the Milky Way. On the day this village teacher died, the village children he taught were also chosen by this higher-dimensional civilization... In the end, the children's memorized Newton's three laws of motion saved human civilization from disaster.

As dawn broke, the earth continued to turn, and the villagers continued their lives of toiling in the fields, their backs to the sky. The children no longer had teachers. This knowledge may seem useless, but only those who read the story know that the earth was nearly destroyed once.

This is not a tragedy, but a fairy tale!
"As expected of Yu Qie! Only he could write a novel like this!" Watson was deeply impressed by the story.

He felt that he was a saint like Li Baoku, and he finally found an excuse for his racial discrimination. It turned out that he was speaking recklessly for the sake of the survival of human civilization.

Watson told his assistant, "This novel, though short, touches on the vast mysteries of the universe. We need both great teachers who can select students and highly intelligent children who can learn Newton's three laws."

"If a higher-dimensional civilization had encountered sub-Saharan Africans, what do you think would have happened to humanity? We would have been extinct by then."

Watson was so excited that he danced with joy.

"It seems that basic education in rural China is a matter of life and death for all human civilization... I have a responsibility to tell others this truth!"

The person standing next to Watson was his assistant. He felt that Watson had been brainwashed by Yu Qie and gently advised him, "This is just a novel, and Yu is a nationalist. Even if Chinese people are not intelligent, he will find other ways to prove that Chinese people are worth being educated."

Watson got angry when he heard this: "You can't assume things that didn't happen. The Chinese are actually more intelligent, as you've seen. These billion people are the intellectual high ground on Earth, but we haven't been able to fully utilize it!"

The assistant was also dumbfounded: "But the Earth has never been destroyed! Isn't this just a hypothetical scenario?"

Watson said, "How do you know there aren't any? You're not an alien! Can you prove there aren't any aliens in the world? You can't! Yang Zhenning believes that there is an absolute will of a higher dimension in the world... Countless scientists believe that there are higher-dimensional civilizations that are even secretly observing humanity, otherwise the wonders of our world today cannot be explained."

"So, can you prove that Chinese people are more intelligent than others? Sorry, you don't need to prove it, I've already proven it!"

Watson's few words left his assistant speechless.

I want to do something for Yuqie and Chinese students!
Watson checked his schedule and discovered he had an interview with Scientific American in August. He decided to use that interview to urge more people to invest in the country—not for any other reason than its intellectual prowess.

Those high-tech, labor-intensive industry giants, why don't you invest in China, but instead invest in Africa and Oceania—are you out of your mind?
Now there's a better way to put it: we're doing this for the survival of human civilization!
Meanwhile, Yu Qie's new work, "The Rural Teacher," was published in "October."

The editorial department's praise goes without saying. What sets Yu Qie apart from other writers is that he has begun to use literature as his weapon.

He no longer lived for royalties, nor did he need to prove his writing ability. Novels were like a sword in his arsenal, a dazzling array of weapons, from which Yu Qie could always draw the perfect one according to the circumstances.

Chen Dongjie from the October reportage group wrote an in-depth analysis entitled "A New Form of Literature".

The article states: "Now we are afraid and start discussing why literature has declined. Instead, we should explore why literature once flourished to such an extent! In the early 1980s, literary journals almost enjoyed the status of the primary media! I believe that literature was once like an amplified voice, satisfying the need for the whole society to speak out. It should have been an elitist product, but it was closely related to the conflicts in our society, which made it strangely popular!"

"During this period of social transformation, thought has been greatly liberated, and the whole society has a strong desire for expression. Writers have keenly captured this and expressed it through stories, enabling literary journals to assume a function far beyond what literature should bear, and writers to become spokespeople for different groups."

"However, they don't know why they have such a great influence! They only think it's because they write good novels. The more they study how to write good novels, the more they lose their influence. Because they hide away and no longer see the outside world."

This article became a reflective piece, answering the question posed by Wang Meng, the chairman of the Writers Association, regarding "why literature is gradually losing its influence."

Because writers often work in isolation, they don't know why they are popular.

Yu Qie knew this, and he suspected that this was the essence of literature. Therefore, he still maintained a huge influence in the latter half of the 1980s when literature began to decline.

The article's publication was like breaking the ice, and many writers suddenly realized its significance.

So Lao Tzu was the spokesperson!

I speak for others, express their feelings, and sometimes my feelings just happen to resonate with theirs. They all started reading *The Village Teacher*. Then they realized how difficult it was! Writing a good novel is difficult in itself, let alone one with a deeper meaning.

The editorial of "October" and Yu Qie's new work traveled south and arrived at the "Zhongshan" magazine office in Nanjing a week later.

At this time, the magazine was reflecting on the recent "South China Sea Writers' Conference".

Although many writers participated in this literary gathering, no works truly stood out. It was a bit of a case of much ado about nothing, and I feel bad for disappointing Yu Qie's well wishes.

Shi Tiesheng, Li Duo, Chen Jiangong, Gao Xingjian... and even the new writer Su Tong. So many writers failed to write a single piece like "The Fiancée's Letter" or "The Garland at the Foot of the Mountain."

The naval officers and soldiers were very disappointed.

The editors in the editorial department conducted a severe self-criticism regarding this matter.

One editor said, "I think it was a mistake to invite these writers. I'm not saying they're bad, but they've never written about military life, many of them have never served in the military, let alone been on the battlefield. This isn't their forte."

Another editor reflected, "I think the problem lies in our mindset! Good articles are rare; they require insight, execution, and aesthetic sense. How many people can reach that level?"

“Isn’t Yu Qie just that kind of person? He is the founder of New Reality, but you can’t say that he is just a New Reality writer.”

"Nonsense! Then all Chinese writers should stop writing articles and wait for Yu Qie to write novels. Let him write day and night, let his articles become model operas and eight-legged essays... Everyone can just read his novels."

Su Tong felt very uncomfortable after hearing these words.

How dare you question Yu Qie?

Does that mean it's wrong for someone else to write well? This kind of person who can't stand seeing others succeed should be expelled from the Zhongshan journal.

He, who was usually introverted, suddenly shouted at the others to shut up!

"Enough already?!"

Everyone was startled and looked at Su Tong.

Su Tong said in a deep voice, "I think the first thing we should do is to learn humbly. 'The Rural Teacher' praises rural teachers in remote areas. In the past, we focused on students and teachers... This novel focuses on civilization and explores the continuation of humanity."

"Since it is the continuation of humanity, it is naturally also the future of China. Isn't that right? Students at the Beijing Affiliated Primary School can meet James Watson and talk about American-standard biology labs, while students in Northwest Ning County are about to go to school and have no access to the latest textbooks... Can this continue forever?"

His words carried so weight that everyone fell silent. No one dared to refute him.

Su Tong continued, "But after removing all the background information, please take another look at this novel. Isn't it a good story? Yes! So the reason why our writers' conference didn't go well wasn't a technical problem, but an attitude problem. We didn't figure out who we were writing for, nor did we write a novel that was at least good."

“We failed in every aspect! I failed too, and I apologize.”

Li Xiaolin, from the Shanghai-based Harvest magazine, took some time to read this article.

She knew more than others. She knew this was Yu Qie's second novel written for rural education; the first was "Carrying Dad to School."

The novel was very well done, very simple and unpretentious, but it didn't quite achieve the effect Yu Qie wanted. Yu Qie donated all the royalties and immediately wrote another novel on the same theme upon returning to China.

Moreover, this time it is more simple and straightforward. The novel contains many reduplicative words, such as silvery, gloomy, and trembling, which even a primary school student can understand.

How simple is "The Rural Teacher"?

It's so simple it could be published in a children's newspaper.

Children's novelist Zheng Yuanjie's serialized novels in the magazine "King of Fairy Tales" are very popular, but some of them are not as fairy tale-like as "The Village Teacher".

Isn't this a bit of an overinterpretation?
No, if you look closely, you'll find onomatopoeic words like "clicking," "tap-tap," and "clinking." Although the novel describes a higher-dimensional civilization, it tries to use familiar terms like "sun," "space," "humanity," and "universe."

It was clear that Yu Qie was intentionally trying to connect with the readers; he didn't want to make the writing too complicated. He knew exactly what he was doing.

This is on another level! It's reached a state of complete freedom.

Li Xiaolin took the novel to Ba Jin for a look, and Ba Jin said, "It seems that Yu Qie has grown since winning the Cervantes Prize. Harvest should also reprint this kind of novel."

Harvest is a bimonthly publication, which means that even if it reprints other people's leftovers in September or October, Ba Jin would still think it's worth it.

Yu Qie noticed that "The Rural Teacher" was currently much more popular than his previous novel.

why?
Was it because of the alien craze of the 1980s?

It could also be because this is his first novel after winning the Cervantes Prize.

Or perhaps it's because Liu Cixin is indeed a remarkable figure, having created this novel in another time and space. People always praise Liu Cixin's rich imagination but belittle his literary skills, simply because he wasn't formally trained in literature.

In fact, this novel is very beautiful; it is one of Liu Cixin's rare novels that possesses aesthetic appeal.

Yu Qie's version of "The Village Teacher" is near perfect, not only because it is shorter, but also because it includes some real off-stage stories. This actually elevates the status of "The Village Teacher".

By early August, the novel had been reprinted by more than 20 newspapers and magazines, and even some mainstream newspapers had excerpted parts of "The Village Teacher".

When Yu Qie came to Yenching University for a meeting, several professors came to talk to him. They were the teachers in the college entrance examination essay question-setting group.

"Yu Qie, your novel aligns well with the direction of the college entrance examination reform. We want students to think about questions that are neither right nor wrong. The key is to test their critical thinking skills."

Good grief, so it was you guys who came up with the question.

(End of this chapter)