Rebirth of Rural Literary Life

Chapter 125
The day when the sixth issue of "China Youth" in 80 was released.

Thousands of miles away in a southern town called Nanshan, 27-year-old literary youth Wang Shi sleeps in a bamboo shed on a construction site with a copy of "David Copperfield" that has been torn up by him.

In 1977, Wang Shi graduated from Jincheng Railway Institute and was assigned to the fifth section of the Yangcheng Railway Bureau project as a water supply and drainage technician with a monthly salary of 42 yuan.In 1978, he took over the disinfection warehouse project of Sungang North Station.At this time, Nanshan is still a restricted area for border defense, and not just anyone can come.

The construction site of Sungang North Station is very simple, and temporary dormitories for sleeping and rest are built beside the railway.Thirty or so people lived in the sheds built with bamboo mats.In the dormitory, Wang Shi lived on the upper bunk of the double-decker iron bed. Yangdong mosquitoes only bullied people from other provinces.Hang mosquito nets to prevent mosquito bites and flies; the clothes drying rope or light rope is always occupied by flies, densely packed, making your skin crawl.

He went to Xinhua Bookstore during the construction spare time, because he would always hold a book in his spare time and shut himself up in the room after dinner to make reading notes until early in the morning.Today, in addition to buying a few books from the bookstore, he also bought some of the most popular magazines nowadays.

"Chinese Youth" is the bedside reading material of many young people nowadays, and Wang Shi is no exception. He put the book he bought aside and opened "Chinese Youth" first.

In the last issue of the magazine, a letter from a young man named Pan Xiao was published, describing her confusion in life and ideals. After reading it, Wang Shi had a deep understanding, and for several nights he held back his desire to write a letter to the magazine. , I had a good talk with this young man named Pan Xiao about life and ideal propositions, but after writing several times, I found that the ink in my stomach was far from reaching the level of discussing this proposition, so I could only give up in dejection.

Although he gave up the idea of ​​writing a letter to the editorial department, this did not prevent Wang Shi from paying attention to the progress of this matter, because not only him, this letter on "China Youth" also aroused the resonance of many peers around him .

"Life is not a road, but a wilderness—Answer to Comrade Pan Xiao." Wang Shi read the words on the page word by word. This is a reply selected by the editorial department from thousands of letters. What is outstanding, Wang Shi thought to himself after reading the previous "Editor's Notes".

"Life is not a one-way road with no return, but a journey blindfolded and wild in the wilderness. We can never predict what will happen in the next second...Looking forward and backward, worrying and worrying are meaningless waste of limited life waste of..."

Wang Shizhi turned over, put his eyes on the roof of the shed, and muttered in his mouth: "Looking forward and backward, worrying and worrying are meaningless waste of limited life... It's really good to say, you have to do it when you think about it. Meaning is not something you think about, but something you do.”

Also in Yangcheng.

Huang Hongsheng, who is studying at South China Institute of Technology (later renamed South China University of Technology), is also sitting at the desk in the dormitory, and is reading this article published in "China Youth" to two younger brothers in the same class.

Huang Hongsheng is the first batch of students after the resumption of the college entrance examination at South China Institute of Technology. He majored in the radio class.The oldest student in their class is 40 years old, and the youngest is only 18 years old.Among them, three students of similar age are very good friends. The youngest, Chen Weirong, is from Luoding County, Yangcheng.Huang Hongsheng and Li Dongsheng, who are more than one year older than him, are from Wuzhishan in the South China Sea and Huizhou respectively.

Because they are similar in age and share similar interests.The three became inseparable brothers shortly after school started. Huang Hongsheng was the eldest brother among the three, and he always took good care of the other two younger brothers.

The three of them chipped in to buy this issue of "Chinese Youth". They are students, and they are not rich at any time.

"It's really well written, and this comrade writer's thinking is really thorough." Huang Hongsheng sighed.

"That's right, it's much better than the letter the three of us were thinking about writing a few days ago. Fortunately, we didn't send it, otherwise it would be really embarrassing."

"What's the matter? I don't think there's anything wrong with this letter. The writing is dry and tasteless to read." Chen Weirong, the youngest, said unconvinced.

After all, Huang Hongsheng is older and more mature than his younger brother, "Dongsheng, we need to see the essence of the problem clearly. Comrade Pan Xiao's letter wrote about her confusion about life and ideals. Comrade He Ping's reply letter is not so brilliant. , but he can explain the truth to us in concise words, and let the young people including us listen, that is his ability."

"Yeah, it's not like writing poetry now." Li Dongsheng echoed.

Chen Weirong muttered in a low voice: "There are so many of you and you are justified, why don't you just pull a foreigner's theory, something that happened many years ago, I can do it myself."

Huang Hongsheng and Li Dongsheng laughed seeing the younger brother's unconvinced look. The three of them often gathered in the dormitory to read books and newspapers together.

But this is also very good. If everyone is the same, it will be boring. Only when everyone's ideas collide can a spark of wisdom be born.

In 1978, after 12 years of silence, the re-publication of "China Youth" was like a nirvana. In less than two years, the circulation exceeded 200 million copies. People like Wang Shi, Huang Hongsheng, Li Dongsheng and Chen Weirong all over China There are countless young people who are full of worries about the future, and people including them who have experienced sports for many years seem to have nothing to say.

The big discussion that shocked a whole generation of young people that started in May 1980 has become a legend in the history of "China Youth". The reply added a rational and logical brilliance to this legend.

1980年5月的《中国青年》创造了当期400万份的惊人销量，而刊载着何平回信的80年6月的这期《中国青年》更是创造了当期450万份的奇迹般的发行量。

In Yangcheng, in Shanghai, in Beijing...

In any place where "China Youth" can be published, the two names Pan Xiao and He Ping have become idols sought after by countless young people.

And the young writer He Ping, who stirred up the situation of the times with a single reply letter, also quietly stepped onto the stage of the times and opened a corner of the curtain in this big discussion about life and ideals in the spring of 1980.

　Written at the end of the roll:
　　The story of the first volume is over, and the story of He Ping has just begun.There are many deficiencies in writing a novel for the first time for a newcomer, thank you book friends for your tolerance and support.

　　On the first day of the Lunar New Year in the Year of the Ox, I wish all book friends all the best and good health.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)