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

Chapter 184 "Romance on Lushan Mountain": Streets Draw Huge Audiences and "Kissing" Scenes

Beside Dujiangyan, Xu Chi, feeling the river breeze, gazed at the city with deep emotion. Zhuoma, riding her horse, looked at the river and kept asking Liu Yimin to take pictures of her.

Liu Yimin glanced at Xu Chi, who was lost in his poetic reverie, and said helplessly, "Old Xu, stop reciting and think about what to do with this auntie!"

Xu Chi said dismissively, "It has nothing to do with me, Comrade Zhuoma. She obviously came with you!"

Zhuoma smiled and said, "I came with you."

The jeep drove ahead, with Zhuoma trailing far behind. They spent the night at the township government building, while she slept outside. Fortunately, the temperature in Sanjiang Township wasn't low, and her Tibetan robe provided just enough warmth.

Otherwise, this matter will escalate.

Liu Yimin couldn't help but say, "Zhuoma, how could you be so reckless? Does Comrade Suozhelang know? What if you encounter danger all by yourself?"

"Hey, writer from the capital. Zhuoma is a militia member. I also carry a knife and arrows, unlike you. If you encounter danger, Zhuoma can protect you." Zhuoma took out some barley wine and dried yak meat from her waist and started eating.

Liu Yimin said with his head hanging low, "Old Xu, let's go. Let's send a telegram to Comrade Suo Zelang first, otherwise he'll get anxious and might even think we're human traffickers!"

Upon arriving in Guanxian County (Dujiangyan City), they found the post office and sent a telegram to Ma'erkang County. Zhuoma cooperated; since she was already out, she didn't care about anything else.

Having never left Aba, Zhuoma was curious about everything. They rode in a carriage in front, while Zhuoma rode a horse behind, constantly asking questions.

Walking down the street, it feels both incongruous and yet not so incongruous.

Upon arriving in Chengdu, Zhuoma kept shouting into the jeep, "This is the outside world! What's that?"

Liu Yimin rubbed his aching temples and remained silent. Zhuoma pouted and said, "Hey, writer from the capital, don't be so petty. Zhuoma will be going back in a few days. Zhuoma has never been here before, so she should take a good look around."

Xu Chi poked his head out from the passenger seat: "Comrade Zhuoma, Comrade Liu Yimin and I can show you around, but you must go back in a few days!"

“Old comrade, you are more magnanimous than him!” Zhuoma said with satisfaction.

Upon arriving at the guesthouse, Liu Yimin presented his letter of introduction to check in.

Upon seeing Liu Yimin, the guesthouse staff exclaimed excitedly, "Writer Liu, do you know how popular your movie 'Romance on Lushan Mountain' is? I couldn't even get tickets! Zhou Yun is so beautiful, have you seen it?"

Liu Yimin put down his luggage wearily and said, "Comrade, I've already checked in Yanjing. Oh, and here's the letter of introduction. Please arrange accommodation for us."

The waiter seemed not to hear, continuing to rave about how wonderful "Romance on Lushan Mountain" was. My colleague saw this and realized he hadn't managed to get a ticket.

Hearing the noise, someone else ran over, shouting loudly, "Zhou Yun has so many clothes! They're so beautiful. Everyone's looking for someone to make clothes for Zhou Yun. Writer Liu, mine will be finished tomorrow. You can see if I look good in it!"

Xu Chi laughed, all his fatigue vanished, and he asked about the movie "Romance on Lushan Mountain" with a smile.

"They've kissed!" the waiter shouted to Xu Chi.

From their brief remarks, Liu Yimin and Xu Chi both sensed the sensation caused by the release of "Romance on Lushan Mountain," which could be described as drawing massive crowds.

Tickets sold out instantly, with long queues forming every day; it was even more popular than films about everyday life like "Manhunt" and "Homecoming." Those who saw it once wanted to see it again, and some went specifically for the scene of the kiss on the cheek.

"I watched the whole thing with a smile on my face, their relationship is so beautiful!" The chattering voices kept coming.

The noise subsided only after the guesthouse manager shouted a few times. Liu Yimin handed the letter of introduction to the manager, asking him to arrange a few rooms.

"Writer Liu, you've worked so hard. You traveled thousands of miles to gather material so we could read good works. Look at you, you've lost weight and gotten so tanned. Do you know? I've read your 'Romance on Lushan Mountain' twice."

Liu Yimin tapped on the table: "Comrades, I'm very tired. Do you have any rooms?"

The manager quickly replied, "Yes, yes, writer Liu, you can come anytime!"

Xu Chi and Liu Yimin both had letters of introduction, but Zhuoma didn't have one when it came time to check in, so she shouldn't have been allowed to stay. However, the manager waved his hand and arranged a room for her.

However, feeding the horses was a problem. Driver Lao Wang said he would find a way to ensure that Zhuoma's horses wouldn't go hungry.

Liu Yimin led Zhuoma into the room, told her to ask the waiter for help if she needed anything, and then taught her how to use the showerhead.

This guesthouse was of a very high standard, with private bathrooms in each room. After the lesson, Liu Yimin returned to his room.

After taking a shower, I lay in bed and rested for a few hours.

Upon hearing that Liu Yimin had returned, Lao Sun from the Sichuan Provincial United Front Work Department immediately rushed to the guesthouse. When Liu Yimin told him that the field trip had been very successful, Lao Sun's expression relaxed.

This was a task assigned by their superiors. Even though the success or failure of the field trip was not their responsibility, a successful one would be better for them to report back to their superiors.

"Comrade Liu Yimin, do you know?" Old Sun asked excitedly after inquiring about the mission.

"what do you know?"

"Your movie."

"Stop, Comrade Sun, this isn't my movie, I'm just a screenwriter."

Old Sun didn't care about the difference between director and screenwriter, and still said, "Comrade Liu Yimin, they're all the same, so many people like him! My wife has gone to see him several times, and when she comes back she insists on wearing Zhou Yun's clothes. Doesn't she realize that with his barrel waist, he can't possibly look good in them?"

"Aren't you afraid your wife will hear you?" Liu Yimin laughed.

"What's there to be afraid of? I'm the boss in this family. If I tell her to go east, she won't dare go west. If I tell her to beat the dog, she won't dare chase the chicken. We men of Sichuan, rise up!" Old Sun shouted loudly.

Liu Yimin looked at Lao Sun and thought to himself that not all men from Sichuan and Chongqing are henpecked!
They chatted in the room for a while, and the topic turned to Sozerang's injury while protecting herders and collective property. Old Sun said that they already knew about it and were preparing to discuss the issue of awarding him.

“Protecting herders and collective property is a very good example. Comrade Sozerang’s work in the local United Front Work Department is outstanding, and he was even commended last year. Writer Liu, rest assured, the organization has seen his contributions.”

Liu Yimin nodded and thanked Lao Sun.

Old Sun glanced at his watch, looking somewhat anxious.

Liu Yimin asked proactively, "Comrade Sun, is there something you need?"

"I need to go to the tailor shop in a bit!"

"Then you'd better hurry up and go, I think it's almost time to get off work!"

Old Sun shook hands, rushed downstairs, and sped off on his bicycle towards the tailor shop. Liu Yimin shook his head helplessly, went back to the front desk, and asked if there was any mail for him.

The receptionist placed a thick stack of letters on the table and said with a smile, "Comrade Liu Yimin, letters have been arriving continuously since you left. I collected them all as you requested. I was too excited just now and forgot to give them to you!"

Liu Yimin said "thank you," quickly unfolded the envelopes, and looked at them. They were all letters from Zhu Lin.

"Yimin, let's go eat! I heard that when you first arrived, Ma Shitu treated you to a meal. You're quite the big shot!" Xu Chi said, arms crossed. "Maybe it's not that I'm the big shot!" Liu Yimin paused before replying.

"Haha, let's go get some Sichuan food. Although I prefer milder flavors, I still really enjoy Sichuan cuisine."

Liu Yimin called Zhuoma, and the three of them walked on the streets of Chengdu. Old Wang went home.

The three of them passed by the movie theater, where there was a long queue at the entrance and hand-painted posters hanging outside, but the artwork was far inferior to that at the entrance of the Beijing People's Art Theatre.

Xu Chi pointed to the crowd in line and asked Zhuoma, "Comrade Zhuoma, do you know who wrote the movie they're all queuing up to see?"

"A writer from the capital!" Zhuoma looked at the crowd in line with envy, still with a sarcastic tone.

"Yes, our Comrade Liu Yimin, his novels are very popular! If you like reading them, ask him to send you a few copies!" Xu Chi said proudly.

"I don't know many words, I only went to the first year of junior high school," Zhuoma said awkwardly.

"That's enough, that's enough. Most of the words used in the writing are simple." After Xu Chi finished speaking, he looked at Liu Yimin and asked, "How about Comrade Zhuoma and I watch the movie?"

Liu Yimin gave a wry smile and pointed to the crowd in line: "Old Xu, no tickets!"

"You want someone from the United Front Work Department to send you two tickets? What a joke! A screenwriter can't possibly be without tickets. As long as you ask, which movie theater wouldn't give you tickets?"

Xu Chi, holding Liu Yimin's hand, said, "It's not easy for Comrade Zhuoma to come out, so we must treat her well!"

"Row!"

Seeing Liu Yimin nod, Zhuoma happily asked when she could go in to see the place. Liu Yimin told her that the earliest would be tomorrow.

In the evening, after dinner, they strolled around Chengdu to enjoy the night view. Zhuoma kept pointing at some of the sights and asking questions, which Xu Chi and Liu Yimin patiently explained to her.

The next day, Liu Yimin found Lao Sun and, in a small act of whimsy, first bought two tickets for the movie "Romance on Lushan Mountain" through him, and then had the propaganda department of the United Front Work Department quickly develop the photos that Liu Yimin had taken.

They have a photo developing area inside; if you go to an outside photo studio, it will take several days of hassle.

The photos were separated and placed in envelopes. Zhuoma took the photos of her and the herdsmen back with her, saving him the trouble of sending more. The other reference photos were his.

"Two shows of 'Romance on Lushan Mountain'?" Xu Chi looked at the tickets that Lao Sun had brought over and for a moment thought they had been delivered to the wrong person.

“How can one look be enough? You have to look at it twice!” Liu Yimin said as he handed the photo to Zhuoma.

Zhuoma looked happily at the photos in her hand, and after looking through them all, she asked, "Why isn't there a photo of you and me riding horses?"

"Wow, the owner of the grassland has a good memory!" Liu Yimin searched and found it in his envelope before handing it to Zhuoma.

That evening, in the movie theater, Liu Yimin, Xu Chi, and Zhuoma sat in prime seats watching "Romance on Lushan Mountain." Liu Yimin had seen it before, so he wasn't watching it very attentively.

Xu Chi and Zhuoma watched happily, but when they saw the scene of them kissing on the cheek, the whole movie theater went wild.

Xu Chi chuckled and commented, "It seems that 'Romance on Lushan Mountain' is going to set a new trend for movies. In the future, the range of themes will become wider and wider. I heard that it encountered quite a few troubles before its release?"

Liu Yimin nodded and said, "Yes, some comrades had different opinions, but Comrade Xia Yan gave his strong support, which is why it passed the review."

Zhuoma asked in a low voice, "Who is Xia Yan?"

“A very prestigious veteran comrade!” Liu Yimin said after a moment’s thought.

"Better than you?"

Xu Chi, like a kind old man, said, "Comrade Zhuoma, there is no first place in literature, but there is a second place in martial arts. Let me tell you about it!"

"Comrade Xu, let's finish watching before we talk!"

After the movie ended, the audience didn't stand up and applaud until the projector turned off. After clapping, they left in an orderly fashion, and many people could be heard shouting that they would come to see it again tomorrow.

As they walked out of the movie theater, Xu Chi said, "I think this movie is going to win the Hundred Flowers Award. Yimin, you've already won quite a few awards in just a few years!"

"make persistent efforts!"

Zhuoma asked many questions, and Liu Yimin explained them to her one by one, including how to film, and even told her about the technique of using camera angles to fake kissing.

Zhuoma felt it was very magical. When Xu Chi heard that it was filmed using a camera angle trick, he immediately said that Liu Yimin was a sly one.

Upon arriving at the guesthouse, Xu Chi seemed to remember something and asked, "Are you very familiar with Zhou Yun?"

"What's wrong, Comrade Xu?"

"Zhou Yun, I feel like I've seen her somewhere before. I think you have a picture of her at home?"

"She's an actress from the Beijing People's Art Theatre, and we have a very good relationship!"

"Very good?" Xu Chi asked subconsciously.

"We'll be inseparable soon!" Liu Yimin said honestly, though he said "soon" because there was still some distance between them.

"Oh!" Xu Chi gave a meaningful "oh," then grinned at Zhuoma. Seeing that she still didn't understand, he explained in a low voice.

After listening to Xu Chi's explanation for a while, Zhuoma finally understood and said to Liu Yimin with a complicated expression, "Impressive, a writer from the capital!"

"Hey, Comrade Zhuoma, when are you going to stop using that sarcastic tone of yours?" Liu Yimin said, shrugging.

"I'm praising you, Zhou Yun, you're amazing, such a beautiful girl!" Zhuoma said, then turned and went into her room.

Xu Chi patted Liu Yimin on the shoulder and said, "Do you want me to teach you a few moves? I'm very close to your Aunt Liu!"

"Never mind, Comrade Xu, I still need to reply to Comrade Zhu Lin!"

Back in his room, Liu Yimin quickly finished writing the letter and attached a photo taken in Aba. Staring at the large blank space at the end of the letter, he thought of the word "Do not" written in Zhu Lin's letter.

Liu Yimin's lips curled into a smile as he quickly wrote the word "use" on the paper. It seems that Her Majesty the Queen has gained a lot from her trip to Hong Kong.

The character for "kiss" without a mouth becomes "do not," meaning that when the person is not around, "kiss" naturally becomes "without a mouth." Similarly, the character for "embrace" without a hand becomes "use" when the person is not around.

Put together, it means a kiss. Liu Yimin put the letter into an envelope, pursed his restless lips, and chuckled.

(End of this chapter)