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

Chapter 77 My Favorite Thing is Dancing (Thanks to the author "天下纵横有我")
It's a trend for students to start their own newspapers and magazines. Journalism students have their own newspapers, and it won't be long before Liu Yimin's words appear in their own newspaper.

Inside the poetry recital classroom, students took turns reciting poems in the center. The literary society had even brought in a wired amplifier. There were all sorts of poems being recited, some were their own compositions, and others were works by established authors.

“Back when we were in exile, we often gathered like this, and our voices were full of anger. Some older comrades said that in the past two years, young people have become more and more fond of poetry about love. We’ve been busy for so long, just to let young people do some of the things they should do when they are young, to talk about love and romance. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Zou Huofan pointed to a boy in the middle of the classroom who was reciting "Rainy Alley" and said with a smile.

Liu Yimin, who was sitting next to him, felt it was a bit noisy and wanted to leave, but with Zou Huofan there, he felt embarrassed to move and could only chat with him casually.

"I forgot to give it to you. This is the payment for 'Ideal'. After Lao Yan saw it, I didn't even mention it and just gave it to him according to the standard payment of seven yuan for ten lines of a thousand words."

Liu Yimin smiled and put the royalties into his pocket. "Ideal" has many lines, so the standard fee of seven yuan can earn more than sixty yuan, which is equivalent to what others earn for writing a short novel. Indeed, line breaks are a skill.

The original poem "Ideal" was mostly in two-line format with a comma in between. Liu Yimin simply replaced all the commas with spaces, doubling the number of lines.

"Thanks!"

You're welcome. You should thank yourself!

"How to say?"

"You're so shameless! Old Yan from the branch office was frowning so much that he finally said, 'You young people are really smart.'" Zou Huofan couldn't help but laugh as he recalled the scene.

The subtext is that young people are more shameless than older poets who wouldn't stoop to doing something like that.

"Hello students of Yenching University, I am Zhu Lin from the Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences. The title of my recitation is 'To the Oak Tree'."

If I love you
It is definitely not like a climbing trumpet vine.

[Using your high position to show off]

Liu Zhenyun nudged Liu Yimin, his voice low but tinged with excitement: "They're here, they're here, it's them."

"Who?"

Liu Yimin and Zou Huofan looked up together and saw Zhu Lin looking in their direction. Their eyes met, and Zhu Lin smiled with her eyes lowered, which made the atmosphere in the classroom even more lively.

It’s really her!

Liu Yimin nodded slightly to her, causing Zhu Lin, who was reciting, to lose her breath and quickly turn her head away.

Zhu Lin's roommates waved frantically at Liu Yimin, each holding up the gifts they were carrying, frantically hinting at him.

"He's looking over here! He's looking over here!"

I wonder if he liked the cookies I gave him last time.

After Zhu Lin finished reciting, he returned to the crowd, blushing and patting his chest. Chu Hong was the second to go up, smiling at Liu Yimin and saying, "I will be reciting for everyone 'My Motherland, My Beloved Motherland,' written by Comrade Liu Yimin."

"You two know each other?" Zou Huofan asked.

"Editor Zou, let me tell you the whole story. Here's what happened. These are all readers of Yimin." Liu Zhenyun and the other two finally found a topic to start a conversation with Zou Huofan.

Li Xueqin and Chen Dazhi added from the side that the four of them were just as gossipy as Liu Yunsheng from the cultural center.

Zou Huofan nodded repeatedly. This young man had some talent. But who didn't have some female readers when they were young? This was nothing unusual in the literary world.

As the three chatted, their true natures were revealed. Liu Zhenyun whispered, "Editor Zou, a friend of mine has written a poem and wants to submit it to our poetry journal. Let me read it to you and see if it's acceptable?" Li Xueqin replied, "Editor Zou, I also have a friend!"

“Everyone has friends. My friend wrote this, and I think it’s alright. Let me read it aloud first!” Chen Dazhi rolled up his sleeves.

After reading it aloud, Zou Huofan pursed his lips and shook his head. They then said, "It's okay, I'll share your opinion with my friends next time."

Zou Huofan didn't expose him, but instead glanced at Liu Yimin and then at the other female students who were reciting.

At 7 p.m., a cold wind suddenly rose by Weiming Lake at Yenching University.

Zhu Lin and Chu Hong, along with several of their roommates, happily handed the things they had brought to Liu Yimin. They were similar to what they had brought last time. Liu Yimin waved his hand, and the three people next to him immediately stepped forward to take them.

"Comrade Liu Yimin, were the cookies I made last time delicious?" Liu Li, Chu Hong's roommate, asked while linking arms with Chu Hong.

Liu Yimin glanced at the guilty-looking Liu Zhenyun: "Delicious, very sweet!"

"Comrade Liu Yimin, could you sign your name for us?" Chu Hong took out a pen from her bag and handed it to Liu Yimin. The other seven people immediately reacted and took out notebooks from their bags.

"Okay!" The cold pen made Liu Yimin shiver. After signing his name, he quickly put the pen into his handbag.

Seeing Comrade Lao Zou standing to the side, hands behind his back, looking around, Liu Yimin said with a smile:

"This is Comrade Zou Huofan, the first deputy editor-in-chief of our Poetry Journal. Don't you want him to sign his name? You might not get another chance like this!"

"Really?" Zhu Lin glanced at Zou Huofan, then quickly took out a notebook and a pen and handed them to Zou Huofan.

Comrade Lao Zou gave Zhu Lin a kind look, slowly took the pen, wrote his name in the notebook, and then looked at Liu Yimin, saying, "This young man is teachable!"

After everyone had signed their names, Zhu Lin and the others shook hands with Liu Yimin; his cold hand was a reminder that it was time for them to leave.

After riding his bicycle for about ten meters, Zhu Lin came running over, pushing his bicycle with difficulty: "Comrade Liu Yimin, our school is having a dance on the 5th of next month, and my roommates would like to invite you to attend!"

"Okay, I'll definitely go then. I love dancing the most."

"Really?"

What kind of dance are you good at?

"I'm good at stepping on feet!"

Zhu Lin paused for a moment, then chuckled, and pushed his bicycle away. His voice came from ahead: "Comrade Liu Yimin, we'll be waiting for you at the school gate at six o'clock this afternoon!"

"Youth is wonderful, and I should be leaving now! Yimin, remember to come to Poetry Journal next time, let's have another drink with Lao Ma, he's been complaining about it these past few days, but that's not his capacity at all!"

After Zou Huofan left, Liu Yimin stamped his cold, numb feet and said to the three of them, "Let's go eat!"

Liu Yimin took a bite of the biscuit and looked at the three of them in astonishment. No wonder Liu Li, who had just delivered the biscuits, had changed her expression; the biscuits were salty.

"Yimin, can we go to the ball together?"

"It's not appropriate. A dance in the girls' dormitory is definitely for girls. It's not suitable for you to go!"

Please vote! Can I reach my goal with 1,000 monthly votes? Gentlemen, it's a clearance sale!
The previous chapter took a long time to be reviewed, sigh!

(End of this chapter)