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

Chapter 478 Return to Beijing
The sunflower seed packaging already features the words "Traditional Wheat Flavor Sunflower Seeds." Liu Yimin suggested that Li Lanyong try several different flavors to create a richer taste experience that would give his taste buds multiple layers of flavor.

Li Lanyong led Liu Yimin into his office, which had a strong "military style." It was originally a military barracks, and when they left, they thought they were coming back, so they didn't take many of the decorations.

The military flag and the D flag hung on the wall, and behind the desk was a "battle map" marked with the territories of several major smuggling operations.

Sitting behind my desk, I can see the old man's portrait and the slogan "Strengthen discipline, and the revolution will be invincible" when I look up.

"Good heavens, you're not here to be the factory director, you're here to be the regimental commander!" Liu Yimin teased, looking around.

Li Lanyong picked up an enamel mug with a red five-pointed star printed on it and poured water: "It would be even better if there was a sand table, so I can experience what it's like to be a regimental commander. There are some 'Silly Melon Seeds' and samples from other factories on the shelf, you can try them."

Liu Yimin walked to the cabinet, where there were boxes of different shades on the shelf, with the flavors marked on the outside. Liu Yimin tasted them and thought they were all just average. The flavor of the "Fool's Melon Seeds" was a bit stronger than other brands.

"Nowadays, people prefer milder flavors, so the stronger the taste, the better. Snacks we usually eat have little flavor, so the richer and more layered the flavor, the better."

Li Lanyong handed the teacup to Liu Yimin with one hand: "I'm going to modify our wheat-flavored melon seeds, add some sugar and spices."

Liu Yimin had just sat down when Tian Qingping rushed over; he was now the deputy township head. Before he even arrived, his voice called out, "Yimin, Yimin?"

Li Lanyong called out to the outside, "Mayor Tian is here!"

Tian Qingping burst in, pointed at Li Lanyong, and said to Liu Yimin, "This kid is putting me down again. Yimin, let me see. A second-level professor who came back from Yanjing, that's the spirit. I had the young students who came to the village study your interview, and they learned a lot from it."

"Alright, alright, let's stop flattering each other," Liu Yimin said with a smile.

The three men sat down on the sofa and started chatting, mainly about the reform policies in the south. Tian Qingping was shocked when he saw the news in the newspaper; the policies were far too generous.

Tian Qingping spoke fluently, recounting everything he had read in the newspaper:
"Last year's No. 1 document for rural areas revitalized the rural economy. In addition to farming, everyone tried every means to do various jobs to earn money. We didn't go to the south, but the newspapers said that things were progressing by leaps and bounds. The Xiamen Special Economic Zone has suddenly expanded to the entire island of Xiamen."

“Our Mayor Tian isn’t content with just being a mayor; I think he’ll at least lead the whole province in the future,” Li Lanyong joked again.

Tian Qingping lit a cigarette and said, "If I had the chance, I would really like to try it. We farmers can't stay poor forever. People in the south are living in small houses, while we are still building rammed earth and tile houses."

"I'm planning to go to the south after the New Year to take a look around and find out where Shazi Melon Seeds is headquartered, to see how they sell it. Mayor Tian, ​​if you want to go, we'll reimburse your travel expenses collectively," Li Lanyong assured him.

"Forget it, if I want to go, we'll pay for it ourselves. You're going south, do you even know where to go?"

Li Lanyong pointed to his own combat map and said, "When I was fighting in joint operations with other units, I met a comrade-in-arms from Pengcheng. After retiring from the army, he joined a secondary business unit in Pengcheng and was a small manager. It was no problem to stay at his place for a few days."

"You should still be careful. I heard that the economy in the south is developing well, but the public security is not good. There are a lot of scammers and robbers," Tian Qingping couldn't help but warn.

Li Lanyong snorted coldly, his face showing disdain: "These people should all be arrested. Why can't they be decent people and instead do such despicable things?"

At noon, the three of them sat on the street and ate a bowl of he luo noodles. The taste was the same as before, but the noodle shop was now run by the same chef and was no longer a collective unit.

The snow piled up on both sides of the street had turned black, and the road in the middle was a black mud road. Some villagers who came to buy New Year's goods wore rubber shoes, while others simply walked around in the mud.

Clutching a nylon bag or holding a rope, they happily surveyed the stalls on both sides of the road. When they encountered something they wanted to buy, they would first examine it to see if it was good or bad, and only start haggling if they felt it was acceptable.

The New Year's market is a seller's market, with stall owners stubbornly sticking to their prices, leaving villagers with no choice but to pull out crumpled banknotes from their inner pockets to pay and take their goods.

When they meet acquaintances, they often excitedly ask if the other person has prepared all the New Year's goods and show them the New Year's goods they have bought.

Some people carried their goods home, while others drove oxcarts to transport goods. Alongside them were villagers hitchhiking, and as they walked, they talked about the unusual things happening in the market.

Someone rode past on a bicycle, splashing a few drops of black mud onto the three of them. Li Lanyong said to Tian Qingping, "Mayor Tian, ​​the roads in the township need to be paved. If the roads continue to deteriorate, no one will want to come here to transport goods."

“I mentioned it to the county government. County leader Lao Yang often drives to Yimin’s house without knowing that the road is bad. What if one day international friends come to visit Yimin’s house? It would be such a bad sight.”

In the evening, Li Lanyong and Liu Yimin returned to Maiji Brigade.

Back home, Zhu Lin sniffed Liu Yimin's scent and said with a smile, "Teacher Liu has really gotten himself all flavorful."

"Does it?" Liu Yimin sniffed the smell on the clothes.

The eldest brother, Liu Yiguo, walked over and patted Liu Yimin's coat: "The dust from roasting the sunflower seeds inside the factory is really high."

"Big brother, I can do it myself," Liu Yimin said with a smile, patting the dust off his clothes and walking over to the fire to warm himself.

Liu Yu and Liu Lin hadn't seen him all day, and they happily snuggled into his arms. Liu Yimin took out some sunflower seeds and peeled them for them to eat.

“Come here, Liu An, let your uncle give you a hug,” Liu Yimin said to the timid Liu An beside him.

Gu Ping encouraged Liu An to walk over to Liu Yimin and taught him to call him "Second Uncle." Lured by the melon seeds in Liu Yimin's hand, Liu An finally uttered the words "Second Uncle."

The next day, Liu Yimin and Liu Yiguo went up the mountain with machetes to cut cypress branches. They chatted for a long time. The snow on the mountain was deep. On their way back after cutting the cypress branches, they saw a rabbit. They dropped their things and started chasing it, but unfortunately, neither of them caught it.

"That rabbit runs really fast." Liu Yiguo wiped the sweat from his face.

Liu Yimin leaned against a tree, panting heavily: "Neither of us can run as fast as we used to."

"Yes, yes, in the blink of an eye, I've reached the age where I have elderly parents to care for and young children to raise."

After resting for a while, the two carried cypress branches down the mountain. Liu Yiguo took the initiative to carry all the branches on his own back, leaving only Liu Yimin to carry the sickle.

That Spring Festival, the Liu family was exceptionally lively, with a constant stream of guests. Liu Yimin, carrying Liu Yu and Liu Lin, kept greeting the visitors; with their limited memory, it was already quite an achievement for them to remember even one person's name.

Liu Fuqing and Yang Xiuyun, an elderly couple, sat in the sun in the courtyard wearing brand-new cotton-padded clothes, their laughter never stopping.

Liu Yimin and Zhu Lin prepared to return to Beijing on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. This time, Yang Xiuyun did not come with them. When the two of them carried Liu Yu and Liu Lin from the train station to board the train, the two little ones cried incessantly, calling out "Grandma" repeatedly.

The crying was so heartbreaking that Yang Xiuyun turned away and kept wiping her tears.

Fortunately, Liu Yimin and Zhu Lin were in a soft sleeper berth, and there were only the two of them. The crying continued, and even when the train arrived in Los Angeles, they were still sobbing from time to time.

Zhu Lin and Liu Yimin looked at the two little ones with worried expressions, wondering if Ximei could take good care of them by herself when they got back.

"If that doesn't work, we'll find another nanny," Liu Yimin said.

Zhu Lin sighed, said nothing, and simply coaxed the two little ones to sleep. At 3 PM on the sixth day of the lunar new year, they finally landed in Yanjing.

The two little ones had swollen eyes from crying. When they returned to the Overseas Chinese Apartment, Zhu's mother heard the crying on the phone and rushed over with Zhu's father without saying a word.

Mr. Zhu said, "My in-laws have been taking care of the two little ones for almost two years. Of course they're reluctant to part with them. It's not the children's fault."

"What's the difference between what you said and not saying anything at all?" Zhu's mother rolled her eyes at Zhu's father and started playing with Liu Yu and Liu Lin.

With Yang Xiuyun gone, Xi Mei felt a void in her heart.

Liu Yimin and Zhu Lin did not hire another nanny. Zhu's mother moved in temporarily. Even if they were to hire another nanny, it would have to wait until after the Lantern Festival. Right now, everyone was still immersed in the joy of the New Year.

The next day, Liu Yimin first called his old leader, Xia Yan, Zhang Guangnian and others, and then he and Zhu Lin took Liu Yu and Liu Lin to Muxidi to pay their respects in belated New Year.

Li Yuru gave Liu Yu and Liu Lin each a large red envelope. The two men didn't recognize money, but they held onto the ten yuan inside the envelopes tightly.

Upon receiving news of Liu Yimin's return to Beijing, CCTV Deputy Director Yang Weiguang rushed over to discuss the channel's launch with Liu Yimin. "Comrade Yimin," Yang Weiguang said, "Sundays from 8 to 9 pm are the best time slot. We have requirements for listenership; if the effect isn't good, the program will have to change its time. Of course, our program's effect can't be bad."

Liu Yimin countered, "What standards need to be met?"

“The number of listeners must be at least four or five million!” Yang Weiguang said, looking at Liu Yimin.

"Four or five million, Comrade Yang, that's quite a demand. There are currently less than two million college students in the whole country," Liu Yimin said with a faint smile.

Yang Weiguang showed him some past data; this time slot was one of the busiest listening times after the evening news broadcast. However, Yang Weiguang's request was indeed asking for too much.

It is estimated that there are only about 30 to 40 million privately owned radios in China. The data of nearly 100 million people interviewed by Liu Yimin at that time was calculated by combining the broadcast data of private and official loudspeakers, plus the data of a rebroadcast.

Yang Weiguang said with a smile, "Comrade Liu Yimin, I believe in your abilities and I'm sure you can do a good job with the program. The usual viewership for this time slot is around four to five million. If we don't do a good job, the replacement program team will definitely have complaints."

Liu Yimin doesn't quite agree with the so-called prime time slot of 8 to 9 o'clock, arguing that radio and television time slots are different.

Moreover, the 8 or 9 pm time slot is prone to competition with television for viewers. Radio can't possibly win against television in this battle.

Liu Yimin adjusted the time slot to 10 to 11 o'clock, so that viewers could listen to the radio for a while while lying in bed after watching TV.

"Comrade Yimin, since you want to move it to 10 or 11 o'clock, I agree. If it works well, I will rebroadcast the program during the morning commute."

Liu Yimin and Yang Weiguang agreed on the revenue sharing of the advertising. The Cultural Research Institute had the right to decide on the content, while the TV station only had the right to supervise and ensure that the content was not "anti-dumping and countervailing" content. The radio station would start broadcasting on the first weekend of March, which was March 2nd.

"Comrade Yimin, it's a pleasure working with you. Who will be doing the interview for the first episode?" Yang Weiguang asked, as he most wanted Liu Yimin to be on the show, as that would guarantee high listenership.

There are people better than me!

"Who?"

"Qian Xuesen, the old man." Liu Yimin slowly uttered five words.

Yang Weiguang asked doubtfully, "Comrade Yimin, can you invite Mr. Qian to do a program?"

“Professor Qian is very concerned about the growth of the next generation, so I believe there won’t be any problems,” Liu Yimin said.

After Yang Weiguang left, he asked Liu Yimin to keep in touch with him and to start producing the program once the higher authorities officially issued the document.

Nowadays, programs are all pre-produced and then broadcast. There are very few programs that broadcast live and interact with viewers during the broadcast.

After seeing Yang Weiguang off, Liu Yimin made a phone call to Qian Lao. When Qian Lao heard that it was Liu Yimin, he smiled and invited him to come to the aerospace compound to chat on the morning of the tenth day of the lunar new year.

On the morning of the tenth day of the lunar new year, Liu Yimin got up early and had breakfast. Zhu Lin went to film a movie, leaving Zhu's father and Ximei at home to take care of the two children.

Now Liu Yu and Liu Lin don't cry for "Grandma" much anymore, but when they see Yang Xiuyun's photo, they still stretch out their arms and call out "Grandma".

Professor Qian lived in the Aerospace Compound on Fucheng Road, where many aerospace experts resided. When Liu Yimin entered, he underwent a rigorous security check, and his security secretary personally came to greet him.

When Qian Xuesen first returned to China, he lived in the dormitory building of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Zhongguancun. Sixty years later, he moved here.

The sound of piano practice drifted from the high-rise buildings, while children ran and played everywhere downstairs. You could feel that the compound was very different from the outside world; the people here were relatively "Westernized."

Like the compound of the Yanjing Military Region, this place was a self-contained society. The closer one was to Qian Xuesen's residence, the tighter the security became.

Old Qian was sitting in front of the red brick building, which was shaded by sycamore and pine trees, basking in the sun. When he saw them coming over, he waved to Liu Yimin.

Liu Yimin quickly stepped forward and walked in front of Qian Lao. Qian Lao smiled and said, "This is your first time here, right? Now that you know the way, come and sit here more often."

"Mr. Qian, I'll be troubling you quite often in the future. It's windy outside, shall we go inside?" Liu Yimin said with a smile.

"Let's go!" Old Qian stood up, and his guard and secretary immediately brought him a stool.

After greeting Mr. Qian's wife, I entered Mr. Qian's study.

There was a table in the study, with a digital watch on the upper left corner. In the center were the People's Daily, Economic Daily, Guangming Daily, Science and Technology Daily, PLA Daily, Beijing Daily, Reference News, and Economic Information Daily, in that fixed order.

In the study, there was another area with brown paper bags labeled with various themes. Inside were clippings of newspaper articles by Mr. Qian, containing whatever he found interesting.

"Mr. Qian, your study is not what I imagined."

"What's different?" Mr. Qian asked with great interest.

Liu Yimin pointed to the table and said, "I thought there would be a computer."

"Haha, home isn't a research institute." Old Qian laughed and had someone pour Liu Yimin a cup of tea, then chatted with him about the current news in the newspapers.

They talked about newspapers, literature, and Liu Yimin's remarks during an interview at Yenching University. Professor Qian was interested in many things and knew almost all the important news about current events.

"In a great wave, the individual wave is confused, and young people today are facing such a problem. You said that the country's education of college students is like an investment, and the view that investment allows for some failure has some merit. But no one wants to see the investment fail; everyone wants to see the investment succeed."

Seeing that Mr. Qian brought this up, Liu Yimin took the opportunity to suggest that he would like to do an interview with him.

"Youth Night Talks?" Qian Lao straightened up, clearly intrigued. "I usually give lectures to university students. This is the first time I've given one to young people across society. But what should I talk about?"

"You have so much to say! How about I be the host, and we do a question-and-answer session?"

Old Qian rubbed his hands together, stood up, and said, "Okay, when? I don't need to prepare, anytime is fine. But you should prepare some questions, and be prepared with some good ones."

"Okay," Liu Yimin said happily, and thanked Mr. Qian for his help.

Mr. Qian waved his hand, indicating to Liu Yimin that he didn't need to thank him: "The problem of youth is the problem of the country, and the future of youth is the future of the country."

After having lunch at Mr. Qian's house, Liu Yimin left the aerospace compound.

Liu Yimin took the opportunity to visit Zheng Yuanjie and inquire about the sales of his "King of Fairy Tales" comic book.

"It's alright, we sold around 30,000 copies, and we've already recouped our costs. Sales of the text version surged during the Spring Festival, but we didn't reprint enough, so we estimate we'll run out of stock by the 20th."

“This is good. Don’t regret printing too little; after all, nobody can see in the future. We can just print a larger first edition next time. These are chapters five through eight of ‘Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit Seven Heroes.’” Liu Yimin handed the manuscript to Zheng Yuanjie.

Zheng Yuanjie picked it up and started reading. When he saw Blue Rabbit and Pig Wujie fighting and exchanging barbs, he couldn't help but laugh.

"Yimin, I think we can print 500,000 copies of our next issue of the magazine. As the story unfolds, the content becomes more and more attractive."

Printing 500,000 copies at once was something Zheng Yuanjie wouldn't have dared to dream of before, but now he can.

Zheng Yuanjie showed Liu Yimin the fairy tale he had recently written. His son ran over and handed Liu Yimin a piece of candy. Liu Yimin smiled and gave the son a red envelope in return.

"How are your grades?" As soon as Liu Yimin finished speaking, Zheng Yuanjie's eldest son ran out of the study.

(End of this chapter)