Literary Master 1983

Chapter 408 New Year's Gift (Happy National Day!)

Old Nie was silent for a while, then said dejectedly, "Brother! My legs are so heavy, I can hardly muster any strength!"

"How about I help you stand up and push off?" Yu Qie put his arm around Nie Weiping's waist.

"Forget it, forget it! Only I can pedal my bike!" Nie Weiping said. "After you pedal it, the bicycle won't even look at my short legs anymore!"

"I'm just destined to be a hard-working person. No matter how good I am at chess, what good is it? I still can't earn as much as a writer!"

“Old Nie, not all writers are like me,” Yu Shi said frankly. “Besides, you’ve won so many times, you’ll probably go down in history! After all, you’re an athlete!”

"Do you remember the monument we saw in Japan? It says, 'Zhou once studied here.' We still need to have some ideals as people."

Nie Weiping thought bitterly to himself: What you said makes sense, of course, but if you become a "novel saint" and still can't afford a house in Beijing, and your wife puts pressure on you every day, then you'll know that none of this matters.

When we got to the street outside, we saw a strangely shaped Volkswagen parked at the intersection.

It's not square; instead, it has an arc shape with a round head and a round tail, which is quite pretty.

"Huh? This Santana doesn't look quite like the ones I've seen before." Nie Weiping was knowledgeable. He casually walked around the car and quietly told Yu Qie, "I've never seen this car before... You should be careful, it might belong to someone's son or grandson!"

Yu Qie couldn't help but chuckle: "I think this car is definitely something special. It might be driven by a ruthless devil. We'd better be careful."

"Of course! I used to play chess with Secretary Jin a lot a few years ago, and speaking of the cars in their unit, they were really..." Old Nie held up one finger and gave a thumbs up, "top-notch! What kind of cars haven't I seen? But this one, hey, I really haven't seen before!"

As they were talking, the Audi C100 beeped twice.

"This has caused trouble?" Nie Weiping frowned, sensing that things were going badly.

But Yu Qie walked straight over, and the car window rolled down, revealing a fashionable woman with curly hair.

Chen Xiaoxu!
You even got a trendy hairstyle!
She smiled as soon as she saw Yu Qie: "I listened to Zhang Li and came to pick up the great writer! And this is..."

"Nie Weiping, our great chess master!"

"Stop talking nonsense! The title hasn't been announced yet! I'm so embarrassed!" Nie Weiping wanted to cover Yu Qie's mouth. "Yu Qie, since you know other people, why are you teasing me?"

Yu Qie laughed heartily and introduced Nie Weiping, "This is Chen Xiaoxu, she is my wife."

Your lover?
What about Zhang Li?

Nie Weiping was stunned. When "Dream of the Red Chamber" was airing, he was competing in Japan and missed the peak of the popularity.

Moreover, he has a bad memory and is basically an idiot in daily life. Apart from watching sports, he hardly watches TV and naturally never hears his family talking about Chen Xiaoxu.

"Chen Xiaoxu was the actress who played Lin Daiyu. Lao Nie, you're a bit out of touch. You don't even know Chen Xiaoxu from 'Dream of the Red Chamber'? She also acted in 'Family Spring and Autumn'!"

"I know him, I know him!" Nie Weiping's eyes darted around, his mouth agape, unable to hide his shock.

Chen Xiaoxu was both happy and worried: "Don't listen to Yu Qie's nonsense. As for me, I'm mainly good friends with Zhang Li, and I also have a good relationship with Yu Qie. I help take care of his family..."

How can someone be close to both Zhang Li and Yu Qie?
Old Nie's mind raced, and he gradually pieced together the truth. However, he felt no aversion; on the contrary, he experienced a sense of exhilaration at glimpsing the truth.

Chen Xiaoxu trailed off, finally slamming his hand on the steering wheel, "Yu Qie!!!"

"Get in the car, Lao Nie," Yu Qie said. "Come to my house for dinner."

"Hey bro, what am I going to do with my two-wheeled vehicle?"

"Stay here, I'll drive you to play cards tomorrow."
-
After seeing Nie Weiping off, I returned.

Zhang Li scolded Yu Qie for talking nonsense. "Why would you let him know?"

Yu Qie was quite embarrassed: "I seem to have friends all over the world, but there are only a few people I can drink, play cards, and go to the bathhouse with. Old Nie is one of my friends. How could he not know?"

Chen Xiaoxu also stepped forward, taking the blame for Yu Qie: "It's my fault. I shouldn't have driven to pick him up. I should have been more low-key."

Zhang Li was kind-hearted after all, and for a moment she didn't know what to do, so she could only say, "Brother Yu, you really have to try to persuade your friend."

What advice are you offering?

It turned out that Lao Nie seemed to have been provoked by Yu Qie's behavior of having women on both sides at the dinner party. He drank heavily and complained to Yu Qie about his wife:
He felt his wife was not pretty and had become a haggard old woman. She argued with him all the time and blamed Nie Weiping for not being able to buy a house (in fact, he didn't have a Beijing hukou and couldn't apply for a house).

As Nie Weiping rose to become a Go master, he gradually began to philander and have affairs. In early 86, Nie Weiping attracted the attention of a group of Japanese country girls. He was initially surprised, but quickly adapted, and by then his mindset had already changed.

This is what Yu Qie can see; as for what he cannot see, there are probably many more.

Yu Qie knew nothing else about the inside story; he also didn't know whether Nie Weiping was telling the truth.

Yu Qie knew that Nie Weiping had indeed been married three times in the previous timeline, and he didn't have a good reputation for it.

Moreover, his ex-wives all disliked Nie Weiping, especially his first wife, Kong Xiangming. She was the first female Go player of the eighth dan in China and could be considered a heroine. After getting together with Nie Weiping, she retired to be a wife and mother and retired. From then on, her life revolved entirely around Nie Weiping, and she suffered a lot... Unexpectedly, what she got in return was Nie Weiping's betrayal.

Years later, Kong Xiangming wrote a memoir, thoroughly criticizing Nie Weiping, revealing his bitter experiences!

Old Nie! If you don't have the skills, don't mess around.

The Spring Festival this year falls on February 17th in the Gregorian calendar, which is about a week away. On the 2th day of the twelfth lunar month, Yu Qie's parents came from Chongqing, and Yu Qie drove to pick them up.

"I even took a plane, and we arrived in no time... The capital is so cold!"

The two of them started complaining as soon as they got into the car.

Then they realized the car had been changed, and the passenger seemed to be Chen Xiaoxu. Yu's mother asked, "Where's my Zhang Li?"

"She's at home! You said it's so cold in the capital, are you suggesting she go visiting everyone?"

“That’s right, Zhang Li’s condition…is not suitable for her to travel around.”

Mr. and Mrs. Yu knew that Zhang Li was pregnant.

"What about Yu Xian? How is she doing in the mathematics department at Wuhan University?" Yu asked.

"Not good at all!" Mrs. Yu said speechlessly. "Your sister! She never calls home, saying it's too expensive! Is she trying to save money? No! She's always asking me for money, every time she calls, it's to ask for money."

"One minute she's saying she wants to change her major, the next she's not mentioning it at all. You bought her a house, and she just moved in there, saying she wants to start a business there! When you ask her what kind of business, she says she doesn't know. If she doesn't know, then she shouldn't say anything..."

"Mathematics majors starting businesses? Getting into computer science?"

"Seems to be."

"Oh, are you in a relationship?" Yu Qie asked.

Yu's mother was suddenly startled and clapped her hands, exclaiming, "It's over! They've been kidnapped!"

"It's okay to date, as long as she's a normal person. Since she stayed in Jiangcheng, it means she's a college classmate, maybe even from Wuhan University."

As Yu's mother was pondering, Yu's father couldn't hold back any longer: "How can you be dating in college?! I don't know which hooligan started this business. I say it's better to be a writer, write novels, and you'll have a secure future! Wuhan University is alright, being a writer is no problem! Being a writer gives you status, and you'll be there to help you."

So many writers have starved to death... You have no idea.

I don't recall Wuhan University producing any notable writers during this period.
Passing by Dongzhimen, where heavy snow had already fallen, everything was white. On a few low-rise houses, Beijing residents were sweeping snow from their doorways. Yu Qie dared not drive fast, slowly accelerating. His breath condensed on the side window, fogging it up. Just then, they stopped at a traffic light, and Yu Qie turned on the heater. Then he sighed, "Another year has passed, and I still haven't won the Nobel Prize. My time is running out!"

The people on the bus were stunned, both by Yu Qie's words and by the scenery outside the window.

Both domestically and internationally, people have long speculated about Yu Qie's goal—the Nobel Prize. However, no one has ever appeared before who is so young yet sets such a high goal, so few people have asked Yu Qie to confirm it.

Unexpectedly, Yu Qie said it here.

Chen Xiaoxu was somewhat moved and clenched her fists.

In just a short time, the snow had intensified! The previously cleared snow revealed the hard, accumulated pebbles underneath, which the citizens of the capital found impossible to shovel. They were reluctant to use salt to shovel the snow, so they could only stare at it in despair.

Shoveling snow also depends on timing; shoveling too late will be much less effective.

"Is it pretty?" Yu Qie asked Chen Xiaoxu.

Chen Xiaoxu leaned against the car window and said, "I've seen snow all my life. When I came to the capital from Anshan, I swore I would never go back and would stay in the capital... I didn't expect that after several years, the snow would still be the same."

"homesick?"

Chen Xiaoxu didn't say anything, but tapped the car window with her finger.

As the red light turned green, Yu Qie stepped on the gas and said, "In this situation, I can't help but recite a poem. You should know that I am still the number one poet in the 'Stars' magazine, the modern poetry king voted by the readers."

Chen Xiaoxu's novels are far inferior to Yu Qie's, but her poetry isn't that much worse. She couldn't help but laugh: "Your readers love you the most, they always side with you! It's only because your novels are so good, otherwise who could stand it?"

"That's because you haven't heard me read poetry—"

"Tell me about it?"

"Yes! — Snow falls on the land of China."
The cold is locking down China!

Yu Qiezhen began. He didn't prepare anything and just started reciting.

Chen Xiaoxu asked, "A poem by Professor Jiang Haicheng?"

Yu Qie smiled, but did not answer her.

"The wind is like a very sad old woman."

It followed closely, extending its cold claws to tug at the hem of the pedestrian's clothes.

Using words as ancient as the earth, they chatter on and on without stopping…

Yu Qie's voice was deep yet full of emotion as he recited poetry as he drove.

"The road in China is so rugged, so muddy..."

"Through the snowy night across the grasslands, those lands gnawed by the flames of war..."

"China's suffering and disasters are as vast and long as this snowy night..."

This is indeed a modern poem written by Jiang Haicheng in 1937. One can only imagine what would happen in that year. At that time, Jiang Haicheng was utterly despondent, feeling that China, frozen under the snow and ice, was plunged into despair by farmers, herdsmen, mothers, and children alike. He could only pray to heaven.

He attempted to express his anger and his compassion in his modern poetry, which is a rare instance of despair in his work.

Who would have thought that such a poet would praise life in Japan so much just a few years ago?
Although Yu Qie has many Japanese book lovers and a considerable number of Japanese pen pals, he has never been able to believe in "friendship" with the same fervor as his generation. This isn't just Jiang Haicheng's sentiment; even Ba Jin (a famous Chinese writer) earnestly hoped for friendship, though not to the extent Jiang Haicheng did.

Perhaps poetry itself is literature that is too emotionally intense?
Chen Xiaoxu sensed that Yu Qie was in a bad mood, so she stopped arguing with him and instead reached out and grabbed Yu Qie's arm, staring intently at him...

After arriving home, Yu's mother took the opportunity to ask Yu Qie, "I know you've met Zhang Li's parents, and we have too. Now that you and Chen Xiaoxu are settled, have you visited her parents?"

“It’s not a matter of visiting, but how could Chen Xiaoxu dare to say it?” Yu said.

"You should still go and pay them a visit! If you're too shy, we can go for you."

"No!" Yu Qie shook his head. "I'll go in a few days, at least after the New Year."

At this moment, Aunt Yu was very calm: "Then you should at least send them a New Year's gift. Even if you can't go, you can still test their attitude."

This makes sense.

The next day, Yu Qie searched through his "collection" for items suitable for gifting.

After much searching, they discovered that the French red wine sent by the Land of Light was the most suitable.

Many of his collections are either priceless, consisting of calligraphy and paintings by famous artists, handwritten manuscripts by domestic and foreign writers, or medals awarded by foreign dignitaries... but if they fall into the hands of someone who doesn't know much about them, they really wouldn't think they're worth much.

Red wine is fine; it's impressive and not too expensive.

It's quite valuable... This is a bottle of 82 Lafite, a gift from the King of Ultra. There were four bottles at the time; I drank two myself and gave one to the reportage writer Xu Chi.

The price of this bottle would probably be over three hundred US dollars in this day and age, and it will become a rare and precious item in the future, equivalent to at least two years' salary for a worker in Beijing.

The King of Ultra truly loves himself!

For three consecutive years, he has been giving gifts every year.

On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, most shops in Beijing were closed, except for the Friendship Store. Mr. and Mrs. Yu went there to shop as usual.

The Friendship Store also had a gift-sending service, and Yu Qie sent the red wine and Parker pen. He wanted to write a letter describing the situation, but after thinking it over, he didn't put pen to paper and finally just left his name truthfully.

That should be enough.

Yu Qie discovered that a Pizza Hut restaurant had opened this year, and memories of his previous life when he died flooded back. He used his foreign exchange certificates to buy two pizzas to eat.

Do you have durian pizza?

"No, have you met him in Italy?" The waiter recognized Yu Qie.

"I've never seen it before, I'm just asking."

"Your pizza has sausage, bacon, and hot dogs... Is it authentic?"

"The real deal, Professor Yu!"

The Friendship Store also sells magazines and newspapers for foreigners. One of them is a copy of The New York Times, which features news about Yu Qie and Diana... These items are uncensored and, strictly speaking, cannot be circulated in the mainland market.

But the sales clerk didn't stop him when he came in.

"Professor Yu!" The sales clerk nodded to Yu Qie.

Am I already that famous?

Yu Qie touched his nose, and then sent the gift to Ancheng.

(End of this chapter)