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

Chapter 73 International Student Tea Party (Please continue reading)

Inside the Yanda University canteen, Liu Yimin talked to Zhang Manling for about twenty minutes about the surrealism in "Dream of the Red Chamber," mainly the myth of Nuwa patching up the sky at the beginning, and the Buddhist and Taoist elements interspersed in the later plot development.

After quickly finishing her meal, she rubbed her aching back with her hand. Zhang Manling raised an eyebrow and asked, "What's wrong? Is your back not feeling well?" Then she realized it was because she had been eating with her head down for too long: "My bad, my bad. I'll go wash your lunchbox. You wait here and don't move."

He snatched the lunchbox from Liu Yimin's hand and ran to the sink to queue up.

Watching her retreating figure, Liu Yimin sighed, "That girl is quite nice; she knows she can't just give a lecture for nothing!" In mid-November in Yanjing, the temperature had plummeted, and the tap water was cold; after washing lunchboxes, hands were often red with cold. Liu Yimin was naturally happy to avoid touching the cold water.

"Yi Min?" Liu Yi Min was standing there waiting idly when someone patted him on the shoulder.

"Senior Brother Chen Jiangong?"

The man who arrived was Chen Jiangong, the one who had given them the stools that day. He was now the vice president of the May Fourth Literary Society. Apart from the vice president being a student, the president was a member of the Youth League Committee. The school could allow students to publish magazines, but it was impossible to completely avoid censorship.

“Yimin, you don’t need to call me senior brother, just call me Jiangong. Why didn’t you come to the literary society’s recruitment last time?” Chen Jiangong asked with a smile.

"I have something to do, so I'm going to People's Literature and Art Magazine."

"Have you considered joining? Most Chinese literature students have joined the May Fourth Literary Society, and I'd like to invite you to join. How can the May Fourth Literary Society be called a literary society without you?"

While Chen Jiangong was chatting with Liu Yimin, several members of the literary society came over.

Looking at the people around him, Liu Yimin knew that since they had already put things this far, he couldn't refuse. He simply said, "I probably don't participate in the literary society's activities usually."

"As long as you join, that's fine!" Chen Jiangong seemed very happy. During the meal, he also heard from others that Liu Yimin had a debate with another student during the 78 Chinese Department class today.

He found the arguments about "scar literature" very novel. Such a student with his own ideas and creative abilities was exactly what they needed. "Weiminghu" not only published works, but also literary theories.

No sooner had he said he was joining than Chen Jiangong began soliciting articles with a long face.

"I don't have any manuscripts on hand right now, but I will definitely submit them when I find one that is suitable for our 'Weiming Lake' magazine."

After Liu Yimin finished speaking, Zhang Manling squeezed through the crowd and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Liu Yimin: "I thought you had left!"

"You must be Zhang Manling?" Upon seeing Zhang Manling, Chen Jiangong invited her to join the literary society, just as he had invited Liu Yimin earlier.

Zhang Manling glanced at Liu Yimin and said with a smile, "Then I'll join too!"

As they walked out of the dining hall, the other members behind them exchanged glances. Cha Jianying said, "It's really hard to get them here!"

Chen Jiangong glanced at her, then at their backs, and said, "He's qualified. I've read his novels, and I feel I'm far inferior to him. Besides, most of what we write are short stories, and the difficulty of writing skills is on a completely different level compared to novellas."

"We're senior brothers and sisters after all!" Cha Jianying said, unwilling to give up.

"So what? Mr. Ai Qing praises him to everyone he meets. We don't even know when we'll get to meet him. If we weren't in the Chinese department, we wouldn't be able to meet those old professors either."

After placing the lunchboxes in the dormitory, Liu Zhenyun and his two companions appeared at the opportune moment. Upon hearing that Liu Yimin had also joined the literary society, the three of them immediately felt that they had found their tribe.

"There's another poetry gathering the day after tomorrow, and our whole dorm will participate together!" Liu Zhenyun said with a smile.

Liu Yimin didn't feel much about these poetry gatherings. He couldn't sense the enthusiasm of the participants. The weather was getting colder, so he figured he might as well stay in his dorm or go to the library to write and finish "The Smoke of War in Beiping" as soon as possible. "We'll see when the time comes!"

On November 19th, Liu Yimin neither attended the poetry gathering nor went to the library to write; instead, he was dragged to a tea party for overseas students. The selection criteria from the overseas students' office were: first, strong political integrity; second, literary talent; and third, the ability to speak Mandarin.

In the past, many students from Yenching University were selected because the local pronunciation in Yenching was similar to that of Mandarin, so it wouldn't mislead international students.

Liu Yimin met all three conditions, so he was directly selected to attend the international students' tea party.

The international students' tea party was held in Shaoyuan, which is their dormitory. The conditions there are good; there are two people per room and hot water for daily showers, a privilege that Chinese students can't match.

There were about thirty or forty international students participating, with an equal number of Chinese students. The leaders of the International Students Office first gave a long speech, followed by student self-introductions, and then students were free to do as they pleased—they could go dancing or chat with others.

Compared to these international students, the Chinese students were much quieter. Most of them came specifically because they wanted to stay until the end and then leave.

As soon as the tape recorder was turned on and music was played, the international students happily went to the open space in the middle of the classroom to dance.

"Oh dear, they're hugging, they're hugging!" a Chinese student whispered, covering his eyes with his fingers, pretending not to see.

Seeing that the Chinese students were very shy, these international students became even more unrestrained, and even said some lewd things.

"Liu, it's a pleasure to meet you!" An American with a high nose and deep-set eyes walked up to Liu Yimin and extended his hand. His brownish-black hair was slightly curly, making him look a bit comical.

"Hello, Li Congren."

When he introduced himself, Liu Yimin remembered his name. His English name was Andrew, and he had given himself the Chinese name Li Congren. He was a retired U.S. Army soldier who came to China to study with government funding, majoring in history.

“You actually remember my name. I know you too. You are a very famous young Chinese writer. I love Chinese history and hope we can be friends,” Li Congren said in broken Chinese.

"I also really like American history!"

"Mr. Liu, I'm Xiaomei Hezi from Japan. Please take care of me from now on." A slightly chubby-cheeked international student with big eyes extended her hand to Liu Yimin.

"Kongnijiwa!"

"Liu Jun speaks Japanese?" Xiao Meihezi's eyes widened.

"A little bit!"

Li Congren and Xiao Meihezi started chatting with Liu Yimin. Xiao Meihezi's Chinese was very poor, but her English was very good. Li Congren initially acted as the translator, but later the three of them simply communicated in English.

"Liu, why do you like American history?" Li Congren asked curiously.

Liu Yimin smiled faintly: "Because I enjoy creating, and creating naturally requires collecting materials, and history is the best material."

"I'm learning from you. It's clear your success isn't just luck; you even learn at the ball. So, how about this: you tell me about Chinese history, and I'll tell you about American history. Which part would you like to hear more about?"

Dear readers: Chapter Two will be released at the usual time.
(End of this chapter)