Writer 1978: I Need to Give the Literary World a Lesson

Chapter 169 Zhu Lin sweeps the entire poetry gathering
Cao Yu and Mao Dun went to the Ministry of Culture together, while Liu Yimin sat in the rehearsal room watching the rehearsal. Zhu Lin had a performance tonight, so the rehearsal ended early. Lan Tianye held Liu Yimin's hand affectionately, making him feel a little creeped out.

"Yimin, what were you talking about with Jiabao and Mao Dun just now? You seemed to be having a good time. Did you come up with a new script?"

Liu Yimin glanced at Lan Tianye and thought, "Wow, his nose is pretty sharp."

"Not yet, Teacher Lan. What's our relationship? I'll definitely tell you if I do!" Liu Yimin said with an honest face, indicating that he could put his mind at ease.

The more he acted this way, the more uneasy Lan Tianye became. He tried to find out more, but couldn't get any useful information out of him.

"I believe you!"

The sincere look in his eyes made Liu Yimin feel a little guilty, but he quickly suppressed the guilt.

I was also thinking about the internal unity of the directors at the Beijing People's Art Theatre. Besides, there really isn't one yet, so we have to wait for Cao Yu to go to the Ministry of Culture and the United Front Work Department to communicate.

After the actors finished rehearsing, Liu Yimin walked up to Zhu Lin with a smile and said, "Comrade Zhu Lin, let me treat you to a meal!"

Zhu Lin smiled and nodded, then followed Liu Yimin forward. They only became lively once they reached the entrance of the Beijing People's Art Theatre, though the two still maintained a slight distance on the street.

There were also intimate moments, their shoulders brushing lightly against each other, cool and ticklish, which felt very comfortable.

Upon arriving at the state-run restaurant, they ordered a plate of stir-fried pork liver and a plate of stir-fried pork with green peppers. Zhu Lin had a performance that evening, so she ordered a separate plate of rice and vegetables.

Before going on stage, stage actors need to eat enough to maintain their energy for two hours, but they can't eat too much. If they eat too much, their tone and intonation will sometimes be off, and they won't be able to deliver their lines accurately.

A light diet with little water is recommended to avoid stomach upset and frequent urination.

Liu Yimin ate meat and rice heartily without any restraint. Noticing that Zhu Lin was looking at him, he looked up and asked, "Why are you looking at me?"

Zhu Lin chuckled softly and said, "Watching you eat, watching you eat meat, is the same as me eating meat too. I never realized you ate so fast!"

"What? You can learn something from eating this?"

"Of course! If I ever need to play a character who eats fast, I'll have to become your apprentice!"

"You have to pay an apprenticeship fee to become an apprentice!"

"Consider this meal my apprenticeship fee!"

Zhu Lin went to the front desk and got Liu Yimin a bottle of soda: "It's getting hotter and hotter. Drink some soda to cool down. We're going to Hong Kong in a week. I don't want to go."

"what happened?"

“I just don’t want to go, it’ll be several months!” Zhu Lin looked at Liu Yimin and instructed, “When I go to Hong Kong, remember to write to me.”

So it turns out they couldn't bear to part with Liu Yimin!

After thinking for a moment, Zhu Lin said, "Writing letters is too slow. I'll install a telephone in the courtyard. That way, we can call each other, which is much more convenient than letters. Although the call center is sometimes busy, it won't be like we can't make a call for three or four days. I wonder if it's easy to make calls from Hong Kong here!"

“I’ll do the installation myself, how can I let you pay for it?” Liu Yimin quickly said.

Restrictions on telephone installation are gradually being relaxed, allowing private residences to install telephones. Previously, only department-level cadres, besides those in their work units, could install them. This wasn't for differentiation, but mainly because telephone resources were extremely scarce.

Of course, you can't just get a phone installed whenever you want. If a private individual wants to install a telephone, they need to apply to the telephone company. Telephone company staff will come and take a look; if there's no existing line, then installation can't be done. Installation can only proceed once a new line is available.

Of course, there's also something called a carrier phone, where you connect your home phone line to someone else's line. The downsides are that you can hear other people making calls, and they can also eavesdrop on your conversations.

Two people whispering sweet nothings to each other, and someone next door is eavesdropping—it's unbearable to even think about.

At that time, telephone calls were still completed manually, and the number of lines was limited. It was only after the introduction of program-controlled exchanges that the popularization of telephones in my country began to accelerate.

On the other hand, installing a telephone costs several hundred yuan in initial installation fees. If Zhu Lin were to pay that, with her meager salary of only a few dozen yuan, she would be eating dirt in the future.

"I'll go to the telephone company in a few days to ask if I can apply for one and if they have any lines available."

In the evening, after Zhu Lin finished her play performance, Liu Yimin took her home and then rode his bicycle back to Yenching University. He had class early the next morning and still needed to go back to his dorm; riding his bicycle to catch up in the morning was too tiring.

When the two parted, neither of them noticed a dark shadow flash by in the corner of the wall.

When Zhu Lin returned home, he saw that only his mother was there, so he asked, "Mom, where's Dad?"

Zhu's mother said guiltily, "I don't know, she might have gone for a walk!"

"It's almost 11 o'clock and you're still taking a walk?"

"The later it's done, the better for your health!"

Inside the dormitory, Liu Yimin rode for over an hour to get back. When he arrived, he found Li Xueqin and Chen Dazhi there, but Liu Zhenyun was missing: "Where's Zhenyun?"

"I don't know. He didn't come back after dinner. Maybe he's reading under the streetlights!"

Even after the dormitory lights were turned off at Yenching University, many students would still be studying under the streetlights, including Li Xueqin and Chen Dazhi. They were not surprised by Liu Zhenyun's disappearance.

After Liu Yimin finished washing up and climbed into bed, Liu Zhenyun hurriedly ran up, covered in sweat and without any books in his hands. Once they were both in bed, Li Xueqin asked curiously.

Liu Zhenyun said he had something to do, but didn't say what it was.

Chen Dazhi excitedly recounted the story behind the poem "Just Right": "Yimin, do you know how they express their feelings nowadays?"

Li Xueqin rolled over and spoke first: "If one person says 'what a coincidence,' and the other person says 'just right,' it means that they both have that intention. If the other person doesn't say 'just right,' it means they don't have that intention."

Chen Dazhi glared at Li Xueqin and added, "I've been hearing a few of those things every time I walk around the playground these past few days."

The poem "Just Right" tells the story of a man and woman testing each other's feelings and eventually expressing their love. I never expected it to be used in this way.

Liu Yimin suddenly remembered and looked at Liu Zhenyun, saying, "Zhenyun, weren't you by Weiming Lake just now?"

"No, no, I didn't go to the big pine tree on the left side of the lake today!"

"Oh!" Liu Yimin nodded, not pressing the matter further. He then grinned at Liu Zhenyun in the darkness, making Liu Zhenyun even more guilty.

The next day in class, the professor discussed the Wei and Jin dynasties, mentioning the "Wei-Jin spirit." Liu Zhenyun, standing nearby, asked Liu Yimin what his views were on the Wei-Jin spirit.
"Isn't that what Zhang Dai meant when he said that if a person has a particular quirk that he will never change throughout his life, he is a famous scholar! Later literati praised this kind of gathering to drink and make merry as being detached from worldly affairs," Liu Yimin said without hesitation.

A group of people gathered together to drink, make merry, and engage in idle talk, which led to the effeminacy of men. If there is a founding father in the world of drug use, it would be the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove. One person taking Five-Stone Powder is not enough; a group of people must take it together.

Of course, Mr. Lu Xun thought so too. Liu Zhenyun closed the lecture notes helplessly: "Now that you put it that way, it seems there's nothing to learn."

On the way back to the dormitory, Chen Jiangong found Liu Yimin and wanted to invite him to the poetry gathering, but Liu Yimin refused without even thinking about it.

Chen Jiangong quickly caught up and said, "This poetry gathering is specially for you, and all the guests are your readers. It was requested by Chinese literature departments and other student organizations from other schools in Beijing, and they sent representatives to our literary society."

"If you don't show up, the dragon's eyes can't be painted on. Without eyes, the dragon won't have any spirit!"

Liu Yimin stopped and looked at Chen Jiangong. This was moral blackmail!

"I only have a few poems, so there's no point in holding a poetry gathering!"

"Compared to some people, the total number of poems is not large, but quality is more important than quantity, and their influence is significant. Several university students have come to see me these past few days. Sunday is the day after tomorrow, and I don't have much to do anyway!"

Chen Jiangong followed behind Liu Yimin and advised him, saying that he knew his junior brother well; others would attend poetry gatherings every day, but he would avoid them if he could. In the several years since the start of the semester, he had only attended one poetry gathering.

"Comrade Liu Yimin, we are from Tsinghua University, and I am from Beijing Normal University!"

Behind Chen Jiangong, several more people followed, holding up the single-volume books they were holding and placing them brightly in front of Liu Yimin. They were the heads or representatives of several other university literary societies.

Liu Yimin looked at it and said, "Alright then!"

Liu Yimin had originally planned to go for a walk with Zhu Lin on Sunday. When he told Zhu Lin about the upcoming poetry gathering, she was even more enthusiastic about attending than he had expected.

"How about this, from now on, we'll just go to poetry gatherings whenever we have a date!" Liu Yimin joked.

"Okay, Teacher Liu, but I'll only attend your poetry gathering!"

"Narrow-minded, hahaha!" Liu Yimin gently patted Zhu Lin's head when no one was paying attention.

Zhu Lin turned his head around in a panic, and only felt relieved when he saw that no one was paying attention: "I'll be there on time at 2 PM on Sunday afternoon."

On Sunday, a large crowd gathered on the playground of Yenching University. Previously, poetry gatherings were held indoors, but due to the large number of attendees, this event, jointly organized by the Chinese departments of several universities, was moved directly to the playground.

Looking at the groups of students, Chen Jiangong and the other students from the Chinese Department of Yenching University felt a surge of pride, as if the Chinese Department of Yenching University was the leading force in the literary world of college students today.

To leverage the leading role of the Chinese Department at Yenching University, a sum of money was allocated to purchase a considerable amount of fruit and snacks for refreshments. Like the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, the Yenching University Literary Society also had its own funding, and it also published the school magazine "Weiming Lake," which generated some revenue from sales.

“Don’t be reluctant to part with them. These are all readers of our ‘Weiming Lake’ magazine. They might even order some when they go back in the future,” Chen Jiangong said to the members of the literary society.

He was reluctant to spend the money, but when he thought about how he could earn it back by publishing a magazine, he gritted his teeth and persevered.

When Li Congren and his colleagues from Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press heard about it, they also eagerly requested to participate. Liu Yimin waved his hand and brought them over as well.

“You all sit here and don’t move. I’ll go get you some food.” Liu Yimin, imitating the Monkey King, drew a circle around the foreigners, making them stay there alone.

Under the shade of the trees, with the spring breeze blowing, it didn't feel hot at all.

The poetry recital began under the guidance of Chen Jiangong. Amid applause, Liu Yimin said a few words, mainly thanking everyone for their enjoyment, welcoming everyone on behalf of the May Fourth Literary Society, and calling on the young literary societies to have more exchanges in the future.

In the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press area, Klif remarked, "Liu is really popular in China!"

Li Congren looked around and said with a smile, "I believe he will be just as popular when he goes to the United States in the future."

"Liu is very popular in France now. His 'Old Man and Dog' will be among the top best-selling books in France this year." Fernando, a French student, spoke with a hint of pride.

After a while, Xiao Meihezi said, "Most of the people who came today are girls, and they all seem to like Liu Jun."

After the welcoming remarks, representatives from several literary societies and groups asked Liu Yimin questions on hotly debated topics such as poetry writing and literary reform.

After a while, a girl raised her hand and asked, "Comrade Liu Yimin, some people believe that the creation of poetry and literary works requires experience to write, while others think that it can be done entirely by imagination, and that writers and poets do not necessarily have relevant experience?"

Liu Yimin replied, "I think the creation of literary works requires relevant experience or understanding. Experience and understanding are not the same, but they are both ways for us to approach the creative subject. Experience is direct, while understanding is indirect."

In poetry writing, I believe imagination is very important, but it is also influenced by one's personal state of mind and past experiences.

"So, when you created 'Just Right,' was it an imagination or an experience?" Zhang Manling shouted loudly.

A group of people burst into laughter, while others waited expectantly for Liu Yimin's answer.

"It combines imagination with experience!"

Someone wanted to ask further questions, but Liu Yimin interrupted them, saying that it was time for everyone to recite poems. Today, everyone will be reciting poems written by Liu Yimin, as well as their own, and some of their reflections on Liu Yimin's poems.

"Comrade Liu Yimin, may we recite a poem together?" a girl ran over and invited Liu Yimin.

She wore a white dress, and her two little braids tied with a headscarf swung back and forth.

"What should we recite together?" Liu Yimin asked.

"Just Right!"

"I'm sorry, this poem isn't suitable. How about reciting 'Ideal' instead?" Liu Yimin said.

The girl nodded, and the two stood in the center of the crowd to recite. After they finished, Liu Yimin was about to step down when Zhu Lin walked over with a smile and handed him a cup of cool tea to soothe his throat.

Then he said, "Comrade Liu Yimin, may we recite a poem?"

After clearing his throat, Liu Yimin asked in a low voice, "What happened?"

Zhu Lin winked at him secretly: "Is it okay, Comrade Liu Yimin?"

After Zhu Lin finished speaking, she began by saying, "I walked through the spring breeze and happened to meet you in the wind." After reading it, she looked at Liu Yimin.

“You just happened to glance at me,” Liu Yimin quickly replied.

Zhu Lin looked at Liu Yimin with deep affection and recited, "Just in time~ I also glanced at you—" In her eyes, besides Liu Yimin, there was only the willow branches swaying gently behind Liu Yimin.

"Perfect timing—we both glanced at each other—"

(End of this chapter)