Literary Master 1983

Chapter 409 New Year's Flavor

This year's Spring Festival Gala was quite good.

Many stars who became well-known to later generations made their stage debut in this year. Zhao Lirong, the queen of sketch comedy, collaborated with You Benchang, playing a little old lady.

The skit criticized parents who spoil their children, and these "children" are precisely those born in the 80s.

Sigh, what did the post-80s generation do to you? The post-80s generation has had it so tough!
Living in cramped quarters, the "ant tribe," the civil service exam craze... they're getting all sorts of attention.

The key point is that they may not have had a very good childhood.

Yu's mother scoffed at the plot: "When your child is born, I certainly won't be as absurd as those on TV! Yu Qie, you also need to be careful not to spoil him!"

"Which one should you spoil?" Yu's father asked.

"Yu Houqi".

"How could that be?" Yu's father said. "We have to take our first child seriously! He'll grow up to be a pillar of society... Don't you think so, Zhang Li?"

"Dad, I'll do whatever you say!" Zhang Li touched her belly, feeling very happy to hear this.

Yu Qie then entered the classic fatherly segment—he lay on Zhang Li's belly and listened, then asked, "I think I can hear the baby kicking me?"

“How come I didn’t feel anything?” Zhang Li said.

“You’re used to hearing it, so of course you can’t concentrate as well as I can. Zhang Li, I can hear the baby’s heartbeat.”

"Don't give me that." Zhang Li laughed.

Chen Xiaoxu watched from the side, her expression complex. She asked Zhang Li, "Is pregnancy painful?"

"It's hard to say. The doctor said everyone's reaction is different. I didn't suffer much. Yu Qie gave me a lot of money, and you took good care of me... I've even gained a lot of weight."

"Peking Union Medical College Hospital is also very good."

Chen Xiaoxu said, "I hope my pregnancy goes as smoothly as yours. But I hope it's a daughter, so our family will be complete."

“A daughter is indeed good! Siblings are better than siblings, as they can better cultivate Yu Houqi’s sense of responsibility,” Yu Qie added.

"A sense of responsibility? Didn't you say that Yu Houqi could just be a spoiled brat?" Zhang Li asked curiously.

"You can't be too much of a 'spoiled brat.' There's a skill involved in being a spoiled brat. Look at Márquez's two children; they've spent their whole lives revolving around him. Although they haven't become incredibly wealthy, they've lived very comfortably!"

Yu broke the ice, “—Let’s look at Ba’s son, Li Xiaotang. I’ve met him. He certainly doesn’t have much literary talent, but he’s good at keeping a low profile. Ba’s books and money are all going to be donated, and Li Xiaotang never said a word against it. The government is planning to make a biography of Ba, but Ba doesn’t want to, so Li Xiaotang just follows his father’s wishes and never tries to persuade him otherwise.”

It's rare to find a spoiled brat who doesn't cause trouble! What's worrisome is someone who's both incompetent and loves to play games.

Zhang Li realized: "It seems there's a skill to being a spoiled rich kid! It'll be hard for him to surpass you; he needs to have a normal mindset."

“See, you understand!” Yu Qie said.

Zhang Li looked down and gently touched her belly: "Then you really need to work hard!"

The television programs that followed were not much different from what Yu Qie remembered. This year, a Yugoslavian exchange student named Carlo also performed a stand-up comedy routine on stage.

The host introduced him as Ding Guangquan's apprentice.

If someone doesn't know who Ding Guangquan is, they'll definitely recognize his mentor: Hou Baolin. Hou Baolin was also quite remarkable; he visited the front lines in 51 and adapted many of Lao She's early works.

Carlo has an anecdote related to Yuche.

"I've lived in your country for many years and I've noticed that the most common phrase Chinese people use is: 'Have you eaten?'"

"Oh yes, we often say that!"

"Actually, I wasn't really asking. This would be a problem in the West!"

"What's the trouble?"

“Look, when they see us foreigners, they ask, ‘Have you eaten?’ and then leave, leaving the other person standing there for ages! They think they’re being invited to ‘eat a meal’!”

"Just one meal? He misunderstood!"

"We should say 'How are you' when we meet!"

"Is there anything else? This isn't fair."

How's the weather?

"Let's go for something more elegant!"

"Ask him if he knows Yuqie?"

"Hey! This is great!"

Yu Qie burst into laughter.

That evening, Yu Qie wrote a letter at his desk.

Every year before the Spring Festival, he would write New Year's greetings letters to his teachers and friends, and of course, make phone calls as well. In recent years, as he has made more and more friends, some people, knowing his habits, have taken the initiative to write him letters and give him gifts, and Yu Qie has no choice but to write back in return.

After becoming the vice chairman of the Beijing Writers Association, I had even more of this kind of work.

Is being a leader really that interesting?
Yu Qie wondered: He didn't know why Wang Meng found it so interesting.

In fact, when Wang Meng first took office in 85, he seemed to be able to write a few serious literary works. Now that he has become the GOAT of the literary world, we can hardly see his articles anymore.

This is far worse than even a player with low health!
In addition, performances to comfort the troops on the southern front have reached their peak this year. At this time, the war is stable and both sides are tacitly holding back their troops. As a result, cultural troupes from various provinces are forming teams to gain experience. It is not uncommon for those who have been there once to go a second or third time.

That's just how Gong Xue is.

Last New Year's Day, the Gong sisters went to Laoshan again and won the widespread welcome of the soldiers. The bizarre news from before was also erased, and Gong Xue finally managed to get out of the mire.

However, she was somewhat pessimistic and disillusioned about her acting career. I occasionally heard Xie Jin say that she and her sister Gong Ying depended on each other for survival and almost never had any contact with men.

Ugh!
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

It was Chen Xiaoxu.

"Why did you come to see me instead of being with Zhang Li?"

"It was my sister who sent me to find you." Chen Xiaoxu didn't lean against the door as she usually did.

She entered silently, and with a kick of her heel, the door closed.

Then she sat there, staring intently at Yu Qie, her face growing increasingly red.

How could Yu Qie not know what she was thinking? He took Chen Xiaoxu's hand and said, "There's something I've always wanted to understand... Zhang Li is supposed to be a few months younger than you, so why do you always call her 'sister'?"

"Sister Bao is Sister Bao. She was my sister from the first day she joined the crew, and she's still my sister now."

"I don't understand, but I'm deeply impressed!" Yu Qie commented.

After that, the two of them couldn't help but start studying. Yu Qie just buried himself in his work, and Chen Xiaoxu also wanted to get some extra lessons from him. They had been apart for so long, and they were full of energy when they studied.

"—Will they hear us reading aloud?"

"No, I did soundproofing. The Japanese materials are originally used in luxury cars and recording studios. Once the door is closed, you won't be able to hear anything."

"So that's why you did the soundproofing? We all thought it was for writing novels."

"Aren't we looking for material right now?" "Huh? Um... um..."

Soon after, Chen Xiaoxu got out of bed and asked, "What name will you give my future daughter?"

"No? This is still far from being finalized!" Yu Qiezhen was helpless and just wanted to get through this quickly so she could continue learning.

"You can't just take it anywhere."

"Okay, okay! How did you know it was a woman?"

"I hope so."

“Your hopes don’t count!” Yu Qie shook his head and took out his pen. “This matter needs to be approached scientifically, mainly depending on the quality of our writing, the timing, the learning attitude, and the answer we provide… Are you ready?”

Chen Xiaoxu was so shocked by these words that she blushed and, after a long while, managed to stammer out a sentence:

"Yu Qie, you're so annoying!"

"Then you're not going to learn?"

"You dare? I'll bite you!"
-
Ancheng, the second day of the Lunar New Year.

Chen Qiang, the head of the Ancheng Peking Opera Troupe, received a special mail from the Friendship Store in Beijing. It was signed Yu Qie.

Is it that "Yuqie"?

Upon opening it, I found a bottle of unfamiliar red wine, along with a Parker pen.

This delivery caused a sensation within the Chen family's small circle.

Chen Qiang already had a clue as to why the famous writer sent him such an expensive gift. He had a very famous daughter, Chen Xiaoxu.

Last winter, when her daughter returned to Ancheng, her family wanted to ask about her marital status, but she wouldn't say anything. To provoke her, Chen Qiang pretended to introduce her to blind dates, and Chen Xiaoxu immediately got angry: "These people are not good enough!"
Good heavens! That's quite a boast!
Who else could make Chen Xiaoxu so persistent? Based on Chen Xiaoxu's experiences over the past few years, Chen Qiang already knew the situation.

Marrying Yu Qie is fine... I even encouraged my daughter to steal him away before; now that it's really happened, Chen Qiang is a little worried.

Chen Xiaoxu was pampered from a young age, and her family put a lot of effort into her.

When Chen Xiaoxu was still in her mother's womb, her mother, Wang Yuanxi, had a strange dream. In the dream, an old man with white hair told her that she was carrying a girl, and that the child's name was "Chen Fen." Wang Yuanxi didn't understand, but before she could ask the old man what it meant, he disappeared.

The couple were both educated, but neither of them recognized the character “ye”. Later, they consulted a fortune teller, who told them: “This character is pronounced ‘ye’ (second tone). It refers to an inconspicuous little grass. Your child will have a life full of misfortunes and is destined to be very sad.”

So, to avoid bringing misfortune upon his child, Chen Qiang gave him a bright and cheerful name, "Xiaoxu," which means the morning sun. He hoped that this name would help to alleviate Chen Xiaoxu's originally tragic fate.

The name change brought strange power, and so far, Chen Xiaoxu has had a smooth life without suffering any major disasters.

Just when Chen Qiang had almost forgotten about this incident from many years ago, he suddenly remembered it again.

Who is the opposite of someone with a miserable life?
This is the same "Yu Qie" who was ridiculed in the Spring Festival Gala skit a few days ago. His name is quite interesting; it comes from trigonometric functions, and many children have been given this name in recent years—because people believe that such names can stimulate children's intelligence.

He wondered—could it be that Yu Qie's fate was too strong, and he even carried Chen Xiaoxu to victory?
Actually, things haven't always gone smoothly for my daughter either.

She practiced ballet for many years when she was a child, but she couldn't get into the ballet company. All her skills were wasted. She was so angry that she cried and almost fainted! After "Dream of the Red Chamber" was broadcast, the initial reviews were not good. The audience felt that she played the role too petty and too bitter. At that time, when the neighbors came to visit the Chen family, they would start comforting Mr. and Mrs. Chen after only a few words.

One common response was: "At worst, we can go back to Ancheng! We can enjoy our retirement at home!"
Then suddenly things took off. "Dream of the Red Chamber" became increasingly popular, and Xiao Xu became a big star, earning a lot of money from performances and even settling down in the capital. When she got the role in "Family Spring and Autumn," everyone said it was because of Yu Qie's connections...

After returning home, Chen Qiang discussed his daughter's situation with his wife, Wang Yuanxi. "We're going to have a very capable son-in-law! But there are some things you need to be prepared for. Let me explain in detail..."

After hearing this, Wang Yuanxi was a little overwhelmed: "I don't believe it, you're just talking nonsense."

"Isn't that just the truth?"

"Who would spread rumors about their own daughter!"

……

Wang Yuanxi was unwilling to admit it.

That evening, their daughter, Chen Xiaoxu, called to ask if the elderly couple had received their gifts.

Of course I received it.

The couple was about to ask about this, but they couldn't bring themselves to ask. They could only chat with Chen Xiaoxu about everyday things... Finally, as the conversation was about to end, Chen Xiaoxu said, "This call came from Teacher Yu's house."

Well, isn't that an admission?

Wang Yuanxi pressed further, "What were you doing at his house?"

“Take care of him.”

"Is he good to you? And... what about Zhang Li?"

“They all treat me like family.”

Wang Yuanxi covered the phone, and she and Chen Qiang looked at each other in bewilderment. A wave of sorrow washed over them, a mixture of anger and fear.

"Can you let Yu Qie come and talk to me?"

"Mom, please don't blame him!"

There was a rustling sound on the phone, followed by a strong voice: "Are you Uncle and Aunt? This is Yu Qie."

It's really him!
The documentary "East Wind Prevails West Wind" has been rebroadcast several times on CCTV, and there are almost no people in his workplace who haven't seen it.

Just as Chen Xiaoxu's parents were about to speak, they heard Yu Qie say, "Our feelings are genuine, and we are very happy now. Uncle and Aunt, I dare not say anything else, but I will never let Xiaoxu suffer even the slightest hardship."

“I support everything she does; she is more important to me than I am.”

"There are some things between us that can't be explained in a few words. If you're angry, feel free to vent it on me. It has nothing to do with her. Your daughter is always kind-hearted, intelligent, and elegant..."

"—Yu Qie!" Chen Xiaoxu on the other end of the phone gave him a shove. "You're still being sarcastic at a time like this!"

“Truth, truth!” Yu said.

After saying that, he asked the person on the other end of the phone, "I wonder if my uncle and aunt would agree? I am willing to come to their house to apologize. Please tell me if you have any concerns."

After a moment of silence, Chen Qiang and his wife said, "Our minds are in a mess. Let us think about it, okay?"

"Of course."

We chatted for a few more minutes before hanging up.

When it came to his parents, Chen Xiaoxu also became worried.

What if my parents disagree?

"You're an adult, you make the decisions for yourself."

“Yu Qie, we don’t have a formal relationship… Although Zhang Li understands me and sympathizes with me, we don’t have a formal relationship either.” She was secretly saddened.

“That’s easy. I just received a British title, and nominally I own a piece of land in Aberdeenshire. I am a baron, and you are a baroness.”

"You really are incredibly resourceful! I want to pluck the stars from the sky, what are you going to do then?"

“This is a bit difficult, but we can wait until human technology is more advanced in a few hundred years before we get it; I’ll spend money to register a star for you first, and we’ll name it Chen Xiaoxu.”

Chen Xiaoxu chuckled. "My parents definitely can't argue with you, and neither can I."

(End of this chapter)