My 1978 Hotel

"Hello, Secretary Liu."

Li Feng was really helpless. He had just met more than ten secretaries and directors.

"Comrade Li Feng, it's nice to see you at last."

Secretary Liu was very enthusiastic, much more so than the previous secretary and director. This puzzled Li Feng, as he hadn't met him much before. Han Anjun leaned in closer and whispered, "Meijie Community has the largest pig farm in the county. Pig farming is their commune's largest source of income, aside from tea."

No wonder, in addition to being a writer, Li Feng is also a pig farming expert.

Secretary Liu's enthusiasm was understandable; he was just a bit enthusiastic, practically clinging to Li Feng. "Comrade Li Feng, if you have time, you must go to Meijie. Our Meijie Commune has specialties like scorched dates and Polygonatum odoratum, in addition to tea. Especially the Polygonatum odoratum stewed with black pork is delicious and nourishing. You must try it."

"There's time, definitely, definitely."

Wow, Li Feng was really overwhelmed by Secretary Liu's enthusiasm. Too much enthusiasm. "Why are you bringing something?"

"It was just given to me by Secretary Liu's assistant."

Han Anjun said with a smile, "Thanks to you this time, I got a portion of scorched dates and a portion of Polygonatum odoratum."

"This Secretary Liu is really good at handling things."

Li Feng's portion also included pork jerky, which is rare these days. What a great thing! He had never expected Secretary Liu to be so welcoming and generous. "Let's go to Mei Street when we have time."

"Then find a time, on the weekend. Mei Street is not far from our commune."

It wasn't far, just over a hill and along a mountain road for more than ten miles, which would take two or three hours. While they were chatting, another person came over. Li Feng thought it was the secretary or director of the same commune, but he didn't expect it to be an old acquaintance.

Deputy Director of the Revolutionary Committee Wu Desheng approached, accompanied by a middle-aged cadre. Well, I still want some quiet time. I'm afraid there won't be any peace and quiet before the meeting. "Come on, Comrade Li Feng, let me introduce you. This is Yao Mingyuan, the new head of our county's Federation of Literary and Art Circles."

Yao Mingyuan looked at Li Feng. He had heard of Li Feng's name before he took office. Recently, senior leaders from the province called to inquire about Li Feng's situation and instructed him to do a good job in Comrade Li Feng's work.

Yao Mingyuan inquired and found out that one of Li Feng's novellas had been published in People's Literature, a prestigious journal that even represents the official direction of literary creation. Generally, being published in People's Literature signifies that a writer has achieved recognition within the literary establishment.

Yao Mingyuan has always felt that Anhui Province does not have many literary talents, at least not top-notch ones. Of course, this is also related to its cultural heritage. In terms of literary publications alone, Anhui Province is not even a little bit behind several major literary provinces.

The lack of literary heritage and insufficient attention to cultural talents have been a long-standing tradition in Anhui's cultural circles and have continued for decades. Anhui has no literature. He never thought that he would encounter a young literary master.

Yao Mingyuan was very excited last night and planned to find Comrade Li Feng to have a good chat today.

"President Yao."

"Comrade Li Feng is glad to meet you. I have admired you for a long time." Yao Mingyuan was even more enthusiastic than Secretary Liu. For a while, Li Feng's hands were grabbed and shaken non-stop. This head of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles was too enthusiastic.

"Come on, let's find a place to sit down and talk."

Well, it wasn't long before the awards ceremony, so luckily Wu Desheng reminded them. "Chairman Yao, after the meeting, you should have a good chat with Comrade Li Feng."

"Oh, look at me, I was so happy that I forgot, Comrade Li Feng, please don't mind me, I've been fond of you for a long time, and I was too excited to see you."

"No, President Yao."

Li Feng wondered how he had become so popular. He had no idea he was now a well-known figure in the entire Anhui literary community. Even without mentioning his other articles, the fact that he had been published in People's Literature alone put him at the top of the Anhui literary establishment.

Not to mention, there are also those who lead the trend and started Scar Literature. "Scars" was even published in Wenhui Daily and is very popular now. Li Feng is too isolated from the news, and recently, because Li Ran and others have not been to the city, he has not had any contact with local writers.

I don't know how much discussion there is about "Scars" in Shanghai and Nanjing. Compared with spreading it privately, publishing it in newspapers directly presents this article to the public. Previously, it was only spread privately by some educated youth, but now it has become a social phenomenon.

Unlike later generations, when Scars was often treated as a bit of a student exercise, even a bit melodramatic, now it's more about identification and emotional resonance. After all, the great turmoil was only a few years ago, and so many people were deeply moved by it, which has led to an alarmingly high level of discussion about Scars.

The influence spread in waves. Yao Mingyuan, as the head of the county literary federation with a provincial background, was well-informed. He only heard the news three days after the announcement. He had originally planned to visit Li Feng, but he had some work to attend to in the county.

Well, it has been delayed until now. This time when he meets Li Feng, he has to have a good chat about everything. Of course, he has also thought about Li Feng's treatment. The initial idea is to transfer him to the Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and he even considered serving as a group leader.

Li Feng didn't think too much about it, he was just a little frightened by Yao Mingyuan's enthusiasm. This guy, why did he meet so many weird people at the award ceremony today.

"An Jun, do you think President Yao is a little too enthusiastic?"

Li Feng asked Han Anjun beside him in a low voice.

"I'm not surprised."

Han Anjun whispered, noticing Yao Mingyuan had already walked away. "We in southern Anhui used to have the Tongcheng School, who were well-known figures in the cultural world back then. But in recent years, we haven't seen many talented scholars here."

"You've published several short stories and a novella in less than six months. That's quite impressive, and the publications are all quite impressive," Han Anjun said. "At best, they're all provincial-level publications, and one of them was published in a top-tier journal."

"It wouldn't be right for President Yao to be unenthusiastic."

When Li Feng heard An Junxing's name, he gave a very clear analysis. No wonder Secretary Wu recruited him as his son-in-law. He has a good brain and maybe he can get promoted in the future. It's quite easy to do business these days.

"That's a bit too enthusiastic."

Li Feng sighed. It was too much enthusiasm and he could hardly handle it.

"Others are afraid of being ignored, but you are doing great. After the meeting, you can have a good chat with Chairman Yao. Maybe it won't be difficult for you to be transferred to the County Federation of Literary and Art Circles." Han Anjun was a little envious of Li Feng when he said this.

Not everyone can be transferred here from the county. He is a technical secondary school student and can only be assigned to the commune.

"Just transfer to the county seat."

Li Feng has no plans to stay in the county town permanently in the short term. After all, the management in the county town is stricter, and he's afraid of being reported for frequent visits by unfamiliar people. "I think Hanjiaba is great, it's perfect for my creative work. The county town is too impetuous."

At this moment, Han Anjun had a new understanding of Li Feng. No wonder he could become a writer. This was a great opportunity to move to the city, and he didn't feel sorry at all.

"Then you should explain it to President Yao when the time comes. But you should fight for the treatment you deserve, so don't shirk it."

Han Anjun thought about it and finally brought it up. Li Feng smiled and said, "Of course. The current salary is a bit low." Ten yuan a month or so isn't commensurate with my status. I'll definitely need a temporary position, which will earn me thirty to fifty yuan a month. I'll also need more food allowances, especially writer's nutrition allowance, which is a lot.

Thinking about it this way, Li Feng didn't think Yao Mingyuan's enthusiasm was excessive. If he wasn't enthusiastic enough, it would be difficult to make so many demands.

"Let's go, it's time to go to the auditorium."

In the county party committee auditorium, cadres at all levels, advanced workers, model workers, etc. from more than a dozen communes and hundreds of brigades gathered together.

"Comrade Li Feng, please come to the front."

Li Feng was just about to follow Secretary Wu and An Jun to the back when a young assistant ran over. "Isn't this Secretary Cheng's assistant?" Wu Feng thought to himself, this kid is so capable now.

"Comrade Li Feng."

"Secretary Cheng."

Li Feng knew this person. Secretary Cheng of the County Revolutionary Committee had been to Hanjiaba last time. He had never thought that he would still remember him after so long. "Comrade Li Feng, please sit here."

He sat in the front row. I don’t know if it was a temporary arrangement. Li Feng looked around and sat down. The people around him were all acquaintances, including Wu Shengnan’s father Wu Desheng and other leaders of the county revolutionary committee.

The commendation meeting was presided over by a deputy director of the Revolutionary Committee named Wang. Secretary Cheng spoke first, and his speech was short. Secretary Cheng is a man of action. When the awards were being presented, something went wrong. Li Feng had originally thought there would only be two awards.

Who would have thought that he would have to choose a representative to speak? Fortunately, Li Feng had prepared some words, and they were quite decent. At least he didn't embarrass himself or make any mistakes. "Well, it's finally over."

"It's a good thing that you reminded me early in the morning, Anjun. Otherwise, it would be embarrassing if I didn't prepare to go on stage." Han Anjun found him and mentioned that he might have to go on stage. Li Feng originally thought that it might not be his turn. After all, he had no official position, so how could he speak as a representative?

"Except the bonus is a little less."

There were quite a few things. Li Feng won several, including three certificates, but the prize money only added up to a little over ten yuan. "You probably got the highest prize today," Han Anjun said with envy. A total of four or five people from the entire Maya Commune won prizes.

Among them, Li Feng won the most awards. The others didn’t even need to go on stage. They were completely not on the same level as Li Feng.

"President Yao is here."

"Okay, I'll go deal with it first." Fortunately, Secretary Cheng and others had something to do and left first, otherwise, Li Feng would have had to eat lunch in the county party committee compound.

"President Yao."

"Comrade Li Feng."

The two shook hands and found a place to sit down. Yao Mingyuan first asked about Li Feng's life and learned that Li Feng was still in Hanjiaba. "Comrade Li Feng, the Federation of Literary and Art Circles is interested in transferring you to the County Federation of Literary and Art Circles. What are your thoughts?"

Li Feng, of course, expressed his gratitude, but also shared some of his own situation. "I'm currently working on a rural-themed piece. In the short term, I still hope to be in the countryside, as this will be helpful for both source material and creation."

Yao Mingyuan never expected that Li Feng would choose to continue to stay in the countryside. Although this is a good thing for creation, rural life is no joke. It is hard, inconvenient, and one has to endure a certain degree of loneliness. Compared with the county town, life is convenient and supplies are relatively sufficient.

In terms of spiritual life, there are also movies, theaters, etc., compared to the basic lack of spiritual life in rural areas.

Yao Mingyuan was somewhat impressed by Li Feng's creative attitude and gave him the utmost support. "How about this, Comrade Li Feng, you will serve as the head of the literary and art association's creative team for the time being, and your specific compensation will be at the level of a deputy section chief."

"President Yao, isn't this salary a bit high?"

You have to know that the vice-chairman of the county literary federation is only at the deputy section level, so even though Li Feng was only paid at that level, it was still somewhat beyond his expectations. He had originally thought that being paid at the stock level would be good, with forty or fifty yuan at most.

Yao Mingyuan was not joking. He had consulted his superiors and offered an unexpectedly high salary. Not to mention Li Feng, Yao Mingyuan himself was actually quite surprised. He had originally planned to give him shareholder-level treatment.

Now they are directly given a level 21 salary, plus a creative subsidy of five yuan and a nutrition subsidy of five yuan. The salary is more than seventy yuan. In addition, they are given a five-jin subsidy for food coupons. Together with the five-jin nutrition subsidy, the total food coupons exceed forty-five kilograms per month.

The guy was given some preferential treatment in terms of non-staple food, meat coupons, oil and sugar coupons. This really surprised Li Feng. Which God had opened his eyes to him? This treatment was double what Li Feng had expected.

This guy declined Chairman Yao's invitation. Li Feng left the county party committee compound, still a little bit in disbelief.

"here."

"Hey, Anjun, you didn't go back to the commune?"

"No, Secretary Wu has some business to attend to in the county."

Han Anjun didn't say anything, but there's no need to guess. It must be a private matter. After all, if it was a business matter, Han Anjun would definitely follow.

"That's it."

"What about you? What does President Yao say?"

Han Anjun pushed his bicycle and asked as he walked. Li Feng talked to Han Anjun about the salary issue. "Ah, it's so high. Apart from the salary, other aspects are not worse than Secretary Wu."

"I'm quite surprised too."

Li Feng was puzzled. "An Jun, tell me, how did it suddenly increase so much? I only recently published a novella and have a novel coming up soon. Of the other short stories, the most influential one is 'Scars,' and that's been circulated privately. How could this public release have such a huge impact?"

"I don't know about that."

Han Anjun looked at Li Feng. "Have you received many letters from readers recently?"

"Ah, these past few days, I really don't know."

Li Feng understood Han Anjun's meaning. "Besides, the article was just published not long ago, so it will probably take a few days for readers to write to us."

"That's true."

Han Anjun sighed. "Do you have any relatives or friends in Shanghai? It would be great if I could ask them about their situation."

"I'm afraid this is a bit difficult."

He has relatives, a lot of them, but he doesn't have any real relatives in the Magic City. Li Feng thought he should make more friends, but now he has no information about the Magic City. "Don't think about it anymore, let's go, I'll treat you to dinner."

"Second brother, where are they?"

Han Anjun reminded Li Feng immediately. He had almost forgotten that Han Fuqiang, Han Anbing, and the others were waiting for him at home. "Then let's go meet them at their home first, and then go to the state-owned restaurant. This time, not only did I get a bonus, but I also got a raise. This is a happy occasion, so we have to have a good meal."

Han Anjun did not refuse anymore. What Li Feng said was right. He was jealous of the good treatment. In terms of non-staple food and grain, he had caught up with the commune secretary, and the salary was almost the same.

When Li Feng returned to his yard, as soon as he entered the yard, brothers Gao Ju and Gao Cheng came to greet him with excitement on their faces.

"Old...cousin."

Gao Jue was so excited that he almost blurted out something, but luckily he reacted quickly and immediately held it back when he saw Han Anjun standing beside him. "What's the matter?"

"About the old furniture."

“Oh, how much was delivered?”

"More than ten."

Gao Jue whispered, "There's a really good one."

"Oh, the best?"

Li Feng suddenly became excited. When he learned that it was a Huanghuali desk, his eyes changed. It might be from the mid-Ming Dynasty. Its value would be very high. It might even fetch tens of millions if it was auctioned. What the hell was this a good day today?

Treat everyone, definitely treat everyone. Li Feng was so excited that he got a Huanghuali desk worth tens of millions. This guy was so excited that he took the opportunity of the salary increase and the award to treat everyone.

"Good good."

"Second brother, tell everyone that we'll be at the state-owned restaurant later. I'll treat you."

Li Feng said with a smile. "Eat meat, plenty of braised pork."

"Enough braised pork?"

"Really, Brother Feng?"

"Really, I'm happy today. Let's go to the state-owned restaurant."

Li Feng waved his hand. Han Fuqiang was about to say something, but Han Anjun whispered to him. "Really? That's incredible! The salary is on par with that of a commune secretary."

"Yes."

It was really enviable. Han Anjun looked at Li Feng, who was waving excitedly to treat him. Perhaps he would be so excited and thrilled when he had such good treatment and salary one day. (End of this chapter)