1979: Reopening Wenhao Road from the Village

"These are all letters written to me by fans who have read 'The Herdsman'. I went to the October Magazine office today, and Editor Zhang asked me to bring them all back."

Chen Weidong put down the sack and felt that it was quite heavy.

"So many!?"

Su Man looked at the sack of envelopes in surprise; there were at least a hundred of them.

There are two more bags outside.

"What? Two bags? Weidong, what's in these bags?"

Hearing the noise, Chen's mother came out of the main room, still holding Chen Xiaosui in her arms.

"Mother, Weidong said it was a letter written to him by a fan."

Seeing Chen Weidong leave again, Su Man replied on his behalf, then untied the rope, revealing a sack filled with envelopes.

When Chen Weidong carried in two more sacks, Chen's wife and Old Mrs. Chen came out of the house. Upon hearing that it was a letter written by a fan to Chen Weidong, Old Mrs. Chen immediately urged happily, "Quickly, open it and read it."

Grandma Chen wanted to know as soon as there was any good news about Chen Weidong, and she also wanted to hear others praise him.

"Honey, you read it first, I'll have a sip of water."

Suman picked up a letter and opened it.

"This is a letter from a teacher in Guangdong Province to you."

Comrade Chen Weidong:

I've watched "The Herdsman" seven times, and I wrote to him every time. I hope you don't find me annoying.

Like Xu Lingjun, I am also a member of a powerful family, and I have always felt ashamed. This year, my father suddenly wrote to me, saying that he was going to settle in Hong Kong Island and wanted me to go with him.

I watched the movie and couldn't sleep that night. I thought of what Xu Lingjun said to his father: "This is the land where my sweat has soaked, and here are my relatives and friends who have shared my hardships."

But I hesitated. I've been teaching in mainland China for twenty years, and my students treat me well, but my salary is only a few dozen dollars. I might earn more in Hong Kong.

Do you think I should leave?

Looking forward to your reply.

A teacher at a middle school in Guangdong Province

March 1979.

After reading it, Su Man looked at Chen Weidong and asked, "Weidong, what are you planning to say back?"

Chen Weidong was quite happy when he first heard it, but he hesitated a bit as he listened. After all, the other party was asking him so sincerely, and it would be bad if he wrote something wrong and it affected the other party.

Moreover, from a future development perspective, going to Hong Kong Island now is indeed better than staying on the mainland.

"Let me think about it some more."

"Suman, read the others."

Grandma Chen picked up another letter.

"Grandma, this letter comes from an employee of a textile factory in Shanghai."

Comrade Chen Weidong: I am a 25-year-old female worker at a textile factory in Shanghai. After watching "The Herdsman," I couldn't sleep well for three nights, not because I was excited, but because I couldn't understand it.

Why did Li Xiuzhi, who was so good, have to marry Xu Lingjun? Didn't she know that "class background" mattered? My mother said that if she had married a member of the Youpai faction in the 1960s, the whole family would have been criticized.

The novel says that Xiuzhi fled famine from Sichuan Province, had no household registration, and could only marry Xu Lingjun, which I understand. But you wrote her too perfectly, like a fairy descending to earth to save Xu Lingjun, not a real person.

I asked my mother, and she said, "There were women like that back then, few, but not nonexistent. Most of them were from the village, illiterate, and stubborn."

My mother said again, "You don't understand. When you're hungry, it's a great kindness to have someone give you food."

I don't really understand, but I'm willing to believe it.

There's a young man at the factory who's pursuing me. I see he has a good family background and a good job, but I just don't feel anything for him.

After watching the movie, I thought, if he could be like Xu Lingjun, even if he was poor or unlucky, as long as he had something in his heart, that would be fine too.

May I ask: Comrade Chen Weidong, are you married? (This sentence was crossed out by the female worker, who then wrote: Never mind, even if I knew, I shouldn't have asked.)

Sincerely,

A young female factory worker who wanted to understand what love was

March 1979.

"This little girl is quite interesting, but her mother does have some valid points."

Chen's mother nodded in agreement. It was too chaotic at that time. Even working-class families like theirs were terrified. She had personally witnessed many families in the alley being fine one day, only to have the whole family sent away the next.

……

University students, soldiers, and pasture workers... the letter writers came from all over the country.

They were all deeply moved after watching "The Herdsman" and wanted to have a good chat with Chen Weidong. Many people, like the teacher from Mawei, Guangdong Province, sought his advice.

The more Chen Weidong listened, the more complicated his feelings became. He was just a novelist who initially wrote to earn some money for his family, and then returned to Yanjing.

He's not a saint, how could he possibly know what to do?

Chen Weidong has lived two lives, and to this day, he still hasn't figured out life, let alone how to guide others.

"I won't reply to them for now. A thousand readers will have a thousand Hamlets. Once the novel is finished and published, it's no longer my concern. How people interpret it is their personal understanding, and I can't give them any advice."

"This is true. In this life, whether you are full or hungry, you have to experience everything yourself. Instead of praying to Buddha or gods, you should rely on yourself."

Weidong, you've grown up!

Old Man Chen returned at some point, and upon hearing Chen Weidong's words, he spoke with great emotion, even praising Chen Weidong.

Old Chen has lived his entire life from the Republic of China era to the present day, and he has seen it all. Therefore, he is not moved by these requests for help. He has more faith in his own hard work, and it is precisely because of this that he was able to buy this half of the courtyard house.

When Chen's father and elder brother returned that evening, they heard that someone had written three sacks of letters to Chen Weidong. They didn't even eat, but went to the back room to take a look, and each of them was shocked.

……

"Editor-in-chief, Wei Dong has agreed to participate in the creative seminar."

As soon as Chen Weidong left, Zhang Shouren went to Zhang Zhong'e to retrieve the manuscript of "Hibiscus Town," and then went to the editor-in-chief's office to report to Su Mao.

"Good. Then make preparations immediately and invite editors and critics from newspapers and magazines such as Wenyi Bao, Wenxue Bao, Renmin Wenxue, and Yanjing Wenxue to participate in the symposium on the creation of 'The Herdsman'."

"Okay, editor-in-chief."

Zhang Shouren nodded and continued, "Also, Comrade Weidong submitted another article to our editorial department this time..."

Before Zhang Shouren could finish his report, Su Mao excitedly interrupted him.

"Comrade Weidong has submitted another article! Where is it? I definitely need to read it carefully."

"Here."

"Wow, it's so thick, it looks like a long novel."

Su Mao was also somewhat surprised. She had originally thought that Chen Weidong had written another novella similar to "The Herdsman," but she did not expect that Chen Weidong would change his target to a full-length novel in just the second part.

It's worth noting that many established writers rarely venture into writing long novels, fearing they might not be able to handle the genre.

……