The unparalleled talent of the country started from Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 32, Nine Letters

In the blink of an eye, it was the end of June. At around nine o'clock in the morning, he handed the "revised" manuscript to Zhou Yanru and then left the editorial department of "Beijing Literature and Art".

Everyone says that when you come to Beijing, you must climb the Great Wall, but Wang Duoyu refused to do so because he finally got himself a day off, so of course he would stroll around the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace and other places. There was no need to make himself so tired.

He also asked Zhu Ling to take a walk with him, but she also didn't want to run around and make herself too tired.

In this era, blind dates are really about getting to know each other, and this was the third time the two met. They had lunch together, then visited the Summer Palace, and went home before dark.

The next day, he returned to the editor-in-chief's office. Zhou Yanru smiled with satisfaction when she saw him.

"This ending is very well revised. I didn't expect you to finish it in just over a week. It's really fast. Several people before you took more than a month to finish it, and you were much faster than them."

It took a total of nine days, which seemed very slow to Wang Duoyu, but the old lady was so satisfied. It seemed that the four colleagues before had really taken slacking off to the extreme. They were definitely old hands.

But on second thought, it makes sense. After all, I can revise the manuscript here with free food and accommodation, and I get paid one dollar a day. That's really great. If possible, I might spend half a year revising it.

Wang Duoyu said a few humble words, and Zhou Yanru said that his article would be published in the July issue. At the same time, considering that it was his first time in Beijing, he could stay in Beijing for a while, and the magazine could still cover his food and accommodation.

This was really great. He quickly thanked the old lady, then happily took the note and went to the accountant to get the money and receipt. After getting the money and receipt, he slipped away.

He spent a day climbing the Badaling Great Wall and took photos. He also visited the Summer Palace, the ruins of the Old Summer Palace, Yanyuan, and Prince Gong's Mansion.

In 1962, the Prince Gong Mansion was specially rebuilt by the relevant departments in Beijing, with the approval of the higher authorities. It was then opened to the public in 1975.

Zhu Ling had to go to school and had a lot of schoolwork to do, so she only took time out on weekends to accompany him to visit the ruins of the Old Summer Palace and the Ming Tombs.

After playing for five days, seeing that the college entrance examination was approaching, Wang Duoyu ended his trip, submitted his resignation to Zhou Yanru, and asked Fu Jixiang to help him exchange for food coupons. Before going to the Beijing Railway Station, he went to Guixiang Village Food Store to buy twenty boxes of pastries.

This was the real time to purchase the goods. There was no other way, as his family was large and only twenty boxes were divided into one piece, so each child could only get two pieces at most.

Wang Duoyu finally took a look at Han Chongqian's manuscript, but he only read the first three pages and didn't read any further because it was a real waste of his time.

As for the revision suggestions?
Forget it. Wang Duoyu would rather write a new one than offer any suggestions for revisions because it is too childish and there is no need to revise it.

Zhu Ling was a little surprised to learn that he would be taking the college entrance examination this year and asked him why he didn't stay in Beijing as a writer or just stay at Beijing Literature and Art as an editor.

"You can't just stay here if you want to." Wang Duoyu has already made plans to study at Harbin Institute of Technology to add a golden layer to his resume.

Going to Peking University or Tsinghua University to study, staying at Beijing Literature and Art as an editor, or becoming a full-time writer were not part of his plans.

"Remember to write to me. After the college entrance examination, if you have the chance, come to Beijing to see me. I will take you to climb the Great Wall." Zhu Ling was reluctant to part with Wang Duoyu, but she also understood that it was time to say goodbye.

His so-called blind date was destined to remain a mystery, because Zhu Ling was sure that he was not the blind date introduced by her mother. Whose blind date would be in a rural area in Northeast China more than a thousand kilometers away?
The return journey was another bumpy and tiring one day and one night long. He had originally bought twenty boxes of pastries, but when he arrived in Shuanghe County, only fifteen boxes were left because he had eaten the other five boxes on the way.

At the post office hall, Wang Duoyu came to pick up his mail. Before he left for Beijing, he had already told Sun Shouyi that if there were any letters for him, he didn't need to pick them up. He would come and get them himself when he returned. "Great writer Wang, you're back. Is Beijing fun? I heard you went there to revise your manuscript. Is it done? When will it be published? I'll buy it and take a look."

As soon as he walked into the post office hall, Wang Duoyu was greeted by the familiar postal worker. He felt instantly friendly and chatted with the other person for a few words while receiving the letter.

He set out for the capital on June 19th, and it is now July 8th, about twenty days in total. He has accumulated a total of nine letters, two of which were sent by Liu Xiaoli.

"Great writer, you now have seven letters from magazines. How much are they worth?"

Wang Duoyu didn't continue chatting with the postal worker. After thanking him, he walked out of the post office hall and opened the seven letters one by one.

Among the seven letters, there were five remittance slips for royalties, with the total amount of royalties adding up to RMB 128. The remaining two letters, one was a request for him to write an article, and the other was an invitation letter for him to go to the Institute of Mathematics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to participate in the assessment of an intern researcher.

The letter requesting an article was from the People's Literature magazine. He didn't like this kind of fixed-topic essay and would definitely politely reject the other party when he got back.

The invitation letter for internship researcher was even less suitable for Wang Duoyu, because he only had a high school education and would definitely not be accepted without a bachelor's degree or other qualifications. He also had no intention of pursuing pure mathematical theoretical research, so he would still politely decline.

After reading these seven letters, Wang Duoyu rushed to the bank to take out all the money from the remittance slips for royalties, and then put it into his passbook.

He went to Beijing and originally prepared more than 500 yuan as funds for this trip, but he only spent more than 100 yuan, and there was still about 400 yuan left. It can only be said that Mrs. Zhou was really good to him.

If it weren't for Old Lady Zhou helping him with food and accommodation and giving him a salary of ten yuan, his expenses this time would definitely have exceeded two hundred yuan.

Thanking the old lady again for her generosity and kindness, Wang Duoyu packed up and found a tractor back to Qingshan Township, ready to hitchhike back.

The tractor drivers all knew him and knew he was a great writer. They were reluctant to take his money and some even looked very angry when they saw him giving them money. But after he took the money, he smiled again and was very enthusiastic.

This kind of enthusiasm is pure and unrequited, which is completely different from the neighbors in Dafang Hutong who are only thinking about calculating.

On the way back, he opened the two letters from Liu Xiaoli, read them all the way, and was happy all the way.

From the other party's letters, he could clearly sense the other party's joy and excitement. Although the other party hid it, each letter was more than 1,500 words, and these words could not deceive anyone.

The tractor driver was a very nice person and took him directly back to Dahonggou Village. So after getting off the car, Wang Duoyu forced a box of pastries on him.

"Uncle Nine (Nineth Uncle, Ninth Grandfather)!"

There was a group of little kids playing at the entrance of the village, many of whom were relatives of Old Wang's family, so when they shouted at the top of their lungs, the place immediately became chaotic.

"Xue Yuqing, Wang Shuting, Wang Zhihong, come here and help take these. The cakes are for you, but you need to take them home first and let your parents divide them among you. You are not allowed to eat them secretly, okay?"

Wang Duoyu distributed all the remaining pastries on the spot. In addition to the pastries, there was also a roast duck and a bottle of Erguotou for each family. The roast ducks were kept in a refrigerator when brought back because there was no vacuum packaging technology at that time.

(End of this chapter)