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

Chapter 347 You are a defeated opponent of Yimin.

When Liu Yimin returned to the courtyard house on his motorcycle, Zhu Lin was sitting in the study, half asleep.

Upon hearing the sound, he immediately ran out of the second courtyard.

Seeing Zhu Lin pouting, Liu Yimin laughed and said, "What's wrong? Are you acting like a resentful woman?"

"No, Teacher Liu, you haven't eaten yet! The food is still in the pot!"

"You didn't eat?"

"I was waiting for you, so I sat in the study and took a nap. When I woke up, you still weren't back, and I almost fell asleep again."

"Hurry up and eat, I've already eaten, but I can still eat a little more with you."

"Didn't the commander let you eat your fill?"

Liu Yimin put his arm around Zhu Lin's slender waist and walked into the courtyard: "The rice bowl is a bit small, so I was too embarrassed to ask for a second bowl."

"Haha, even Teacher Liu has moments of embarrassment."

Despite saying that, Zhu Lin quickly went to the kitchen to heat up the food; she was starving herself.

The two sat in the kitchen and wolfed down their food. Liu Yimin picked up a piece of meat and put it in Zhu Lin's bowl, saying with concern, "If I come back late in the future, you can eat first, you don't have to wait for me."

"Teacher Liu, I understand. Look, my stomach is so empty." Zhu Lin stretched out her belly and showed it to Liu Yimin.

Liu Yimin laughed and scolded, "Hurry up and eat, show me, I can't blow it up either!"

After dinner, both of them were so sleepy that they went to bed early.

The next day, after breakfast, Liu Yimin rode his motorcycle to Yenching University.

In the Chinese Department office, all the teachers were gathered together, and today they were assigning thesis advisors to the third-year students.

"Yimin, you are in charge of these three students: Yan Zhen, Wang Weiguo, and Li Sinian."

"Okay!" Liu Yimin wrote the three names down in his notebook and immediately summoned them to his office after the meeting.

"Is Yan Zhen still planning to replace her thesis with a novel?" Liu Yimin asked.

Yan Zhen immediately said, "Professor Liu, I still want to."

"Where are you two?"

"We are preparing to write a paper."

Have you decided on the direction?

“Teacher, I’m going to write ‘Seventeen Years of Literature’,” Wang Weiguo said.

Li Sinian wanted to determine the direction of "A Study on the Usage of Degree Adverbs in 'Dream of the Red Chamber'".

The two students' thesis topics were fairly standard, and Liu Yimin felt there wouldn't be any major problems. It was just that Yan Zhen's novel needed some guidance.

"You guys write out the outline of your paper for me first, and hand it in to me next time you have your third-year class. Okay, you can leave now."

After Wang Weiguo and Li Sinian left, Liu Yimin looked at Yan Zhen and said, "How's the novel coming along lately?"

"Professor Liu, after what you said last time, I revised it and wrote about five thousand words. Please take a look."

Yan Zhen was prepared and handed the manuscript to Liu Yimin.

How long are you planning to write?

"Write 20,000 words!"

Liu Yimin flipped through the book, glanced at it, and nodded to Yan Zhen: "This time it's well written. The factory life is described very realistically, which is the right way. Writing is like walking; no one can travel a thousand miles a day. You're about to graduate, what are your plans? Will you take the postgraduate entrance exam or find a job directly?"

"I want to find a job directly."

"Where do you want to go?"

Yan Zhen said shyly, "I also want to become a university teacher. Our provincial normal university contacted me and they are interested in hiring me."

"It would be good to work at a local university. Haven't you thought about taking the postgraduate entrance exam?"

Yan Zhen pondered and said, "Professor Liu, I've thought about it. I want to work and study for my master's degree at the same time, just like you do after I enroll. Actually, I wanted to apply for your graduate program, but unfortunately you're not accepting students right now."

"You rascal, you wouldn't say that just to please me, would you?" "Professor Liu, really. I admire you greatly, both in your writing and your scholarship," Yan Zhen said sincerely.

"Haha, go ahead and get busy. Come over and ask me anytime if you have any questions," Liu Yimin said.

Liu Yimin watched Yan Zhen's retreating figure, then stood up and went to Yan Jiayan's office, asking with a smile, "Professor Yan, are there any students from our class of '80 who stayed on at the university?"

Yan Jiayan paused his writing and pondered, "Currently, our Chinese department has a sufficient number of teachers. Without particularly outstanding students, it's really impossible to stay on as faculty. Have you discovered any promising talents?"

“I think Yan Zhen from the class of '80 is really good,” Liu Yimin said.

"Yan Zhen is alright, but not exceptionally so. In his year, I haven't found any particularly outstanding students; most of them are now graduate students. You wouldn't want him just because he's your class representative, would you?" Yan Jiayan asked.

"Look at what you're saying! I think this student is thoughtful and has a literary flair; he might even become a great writer someday!"

Yan Jiayan asked curiously, "How come I didn't notice?"

"Would you believe me if I said I could tell fortunes? Of course, it's because I've had a lot of contact with people and I can tell," Liu Yimin said helplessly.

“I’ll observe and see, but the chances are slim. Last year, apart from you, everyone else was a graduate student.”

"Okay, please think about it. I'm just worried that our school might lose a talented person."

Yan Jiayan wrote down the name "Yan Zhen" in his notebook and then asked, "How is the compilation of your teaching materials going?"

"Progress is going well, but we're running out of funding."

Yan Jiayan glared at Liu Yimin: "I shouldn't have asked. Didn't the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences just allocate three thousand yuan?"

"Hey, only three thousand yuan? That's not even enough to buy the materials," Liu Yimin said, half-jumping in disbelief.

Yan Jiayan waved his hand: "You can go now, I'll think of another way."

Back in his office, Zhu Guangqian looked at Liu Yimin and asked, "Did you go ask for funding again?"

"Just a side job."

"Don't we still have a lot of money?"

"Let me give Professor Yan a heads-up first, Professor Zhu, let's start with the German part today!"

"Okay, I'll study the history of Prussia first."

After dinner, Liu Yimin picked up Xu Chi and rode towards the Beijing People's Art Theatre. Xu Chi told Liu Yimin about the translation progress: "After Comrade Zhongshu and Comrade Yang Jiang joined, the translation progress has accelerated considerably. Comrade Zhongshu's translation skills are indeed quite good."

Liu Yimin pursed his lips and said nothing, then led Xu Chi to the Beijing People's Art Theatre.

Miller stood at the entrance, admiring the long queue, one hand in his pocket and the other holding the pipe in his mouth, listening to the chatter of the Chinese people around him.

"That American is such a good actor!" someone nearby cursed.

Miller looked at Ying Ruocheng, who said, "I'm asking you where you bought your pipe!"

“Oh, this pipe comes from Great Britain, thousands of miles away. It was made by court artisans from a five-hundred-year-old tree trunk, and Her Majesty the Queen personally presented it to me.”

Ying Ruocheng said to the people in line, "He does look a bit pretentious!"

Seeing Liu Yimin and Xu Chi arrive, Miller said to them, "Liu, look, there's a long line of Chinese people coming to watch the show!"

“Yimin, so this is your defeated opponent!” Xu Chi said directly in English.

Upon hearing this, Miller, looking somewhat embarrassed, asked, "Who are you?"

"Xu Chi!"

"I remember seeing you on TV; you were always following behind Professor Liu."

Xu Chi said, "I've never heard of you in China, and I haven't heard of you in America either. It seems you're not that famous in America!"

The group was speaking English, which the Chinese people around them couldn't understand, but everyone found it quite interesting and gathered around as if watching a show.

Ying Ruocheng said, "Let's hurry inside, otherwise it'll be big news tomorrow."

So the group walked inside. Miller and Xu Chi exchanged a glance, their hostility palpable.

(End of this chapter)