The literary era since 1979

Chapter 17 I'm Afraid My Brothers Will Live Better Than Me
"Wow, hairtail! Pork scraps!"

Fang Yan smelled the food and came out of the room. She saw the steaming steamed hairtail on the table. She swallowed her saliva and then saw the crispy and crumbly pork. She couldn't help but grab a piece and put it in her mouth.

"Swallow. Use chopsticks!"

Yang Xia scolded in annoyance.

Fang Yan stuck out her tongue, picked up the chopsticks, and put piece after piece into her mouth, leaving her mouth full of oil.

Pork scraps are her favorite snack. She only eats them a few times a year, so she is extremely happy when she can have a bite of them.

"Yaya, Yanzi, you guys eat too."

Yang Xia greeted Fang Yan and Fang Hong.

Fang Yan sucked the oil on her fingers, "Mom, what day is today? Why is it so rich? It's almost Chinese New Year!"

"Your brother has found a job and his royalties have arrived. Do you think we should celebrate?" Yang Xia said with a smile.

Fang Yan thought to himself that there was something worth celebrating, which was that Yang Xia and Fang Hong did not agree to the Lu family for his sake. The tragedy of his sister's previous life had taken a big turn.

This trip back to Beijing was worthwhile!
“It’s my fault.”

Fang Yan said jokingly: "It would be best if my brother could pay me for my writing every day. That way, I can celebrate every day and eat pork scraps every day!"

Fangyan pinched her nose and said, "You little greedy cat are too useless. You are content with eating pork scraps. When Quanjude reopens, I will bring you a roast duck."

"Brother, this is what you said, don't lie to me!"

Fang Yan's eyes lit up.

"You, you just earned some money and you don't know how to spend it. You've spoiled this girl's appetite. She can't even eat corn porridge."

Yang Xia glared in pretended anger.

"mom."

Fang Hong persuaded him for a while, and Fang Yan continued, "I will stay in Yanjing for a few more days before returning to northern Shaanxi. During this time, you must try your best to eat something good. If you miss this opportunity, you will miss it. Yan Zi can only follow me and drink some soup at most."

"What? You're going back to northern Shaanxi so soon!"

Yang Xia and others were shocked.

Fang Yan said, "I have made an appointment with someone to take a bus back to northern Shaanxi as soon as the closing ceremony of the National Congress of Writers is over, which is on the 17th."

"You've only been back for a few days, why are you leaving again?"

Yang Xia couldn't help feeling sad, and Fang Hong and Fang Yan weren't much better. The originally cheerful atmosphere suddenly became solemn and sad.

Fang Yan waved his hand and said, "Hey, it's not like I won't come back. I've already got the quota. Once Yanjing Literature and Art completes the necessary procedures, I'll be able to recruit workers and return to the city."

"Yanzi is right, Mom, it's not like I won't come back!"

Fang Hong held Yang Xia's hand to comfort her, and she calmed down. "We're leaving on the 17th, right? That's just in time for the lard to solidify. By then, I'll make you some lard rice."

"Wow, rice with lard!"

There was a gleam of light in Fang Yan's eyes.

"You little foodie."

Fang Yan touched her head and said, "Mom, sister, it's good for you to just know about this matter. Try not to tell anyone else."

"Okay, I won't tell you. I won't tell you."

Yang Xia put a piece of pork scraps into her son's bowl and said, "Yanzi, don't forget to go to the post office sometime to collect your royalties."

"I'll go to the post office to get the money tomorrow."

The next day after Fangyan said this, he went to No. 7 West Chang'an Avenue as usual and stayed in the editorial department to revise the manuscript. Finally, those days were not wasted, and he successfully changed "Loess Plateau" into a reflective novel.

It was circulated widely and was unanimously approved by editors including Li Qingquan, Wang Meng, and Zhou Yanru, and was finalized for publication in the next issue.

Still, the front page of the journal!
After finishing the last thing in Yanjing, I went to the post office, took out some money from the exchange window, and put it in my underwear pocket.

With a huge sum of money in his pocket, he returned to Nanluoguxiang carefully.

"Congratulations, Iwako!"

Suddenly, Su Ya's voice came from behind.

Fang Yan was startled and looked back, and saw Fang Hong and Su Ya walking together after work, "Where does your happiness come from?"

"Don't give me that. Sister Hong told me that you are going to work at Yanjing Literature and Art." Su Ya was genuinely happy for her childhood friend.

"Sister, didn't I tell you yesterday not to..."

Fangyan sighed helplessly.

"Su Ya is not an outsider either. We grew up in the same courtyard."

Fang Hong smiled awkwardly, but saw Su Ya with her hands on her hips, looking at her with a frown: "Yes, you are too mean, you still want to hide this from me? We are in elementary school, middle school, and high school, and we are all studying in the same school. What kind of friendship do you think this is!"

"Pure revolutionary friendship?"

Fangyan raised his eyebrows.

"you do not say!"

Su Ya pointed at his shoulder bag and said, "So tell me the truth, why is your bag so much bulgier than usual? What's in it?"

"Just some letters." Fang Yan said.

"It's not a love letter, is it?"

When Su Ya heard it was a letter, she couldn't help but tease.

"What are you thinking about? It's a letter from a reader."

Fangyan explained seriously that the contents of the bag were all letters sent to him by readers who had read "The Shepherd". Since he didn't know the author's specific address, the letters were basically collected by the editorial department.

This is also one of my future jobs, to organize and classify letters from readers, forward them to the authors, or reply to them on their behalf.

“Are there any from our factory?”

Su Ya watched him take out a stack of letters from his bag: "You don't know, many female comrades in our factory have written to you."

At this moment, a voice echoed in the alley:
"Is Liu Jianjun at home?" "He's here! He's here!"

Liu Jianjun hurried to the door, took a stack of letters from the postman, and opened the envelopes impatiently.

"People's Literature", manuscript rejected!
"Contemporary", rejected!
On each piece of paper were written the reasons for rejection and the editor's suggestions for revisions, but the general meaning was the same.

It is detached from the logic of reality and difficult to resonate with emotions.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible..."

Liu Jianjun was devastated and lost his mind.

Fangyan sneaked up to his side and said, "Jianjun, what's in the letter? You're so engrossed in it!"

"what!"

Liu Jianjun was so frightened that he screamed. When he came to his senses, he noticed Fang Yan, Fang Hong, and Su Ya standing in front of him. He said unhappily, "What are you doing, kid? You scared me to death."

"You are to blame for taking it too seriously."

Fang Yan leaned forward and asked, "What's written on it?"

"Nothing, I met some pen pals in the cram school."

Liu Jianjun hid the hand holding the rejection letter behind his back with a guilty conscience, "Look, this is the letter they sent me."

Just as Su Ya was about to open her mouth, she was interrupted by the postman's words, "Teacher Fang, there's a letter for you." Her attention was then drawn to the letters that were piling up like snowflakes in the bag, one bundle after another.

The addresses written are varied.

Some wrote "Collected in the dialect of the author of "The Shepherd", some wrote "Collected in the dialect of Yenching writers", and some even just wrote "Collected in the dialect of Yenching", with no beginning or end, and no detailed address.

Fortunately, the postman in this area knows the dialect.

Looking at the heavy pile of letters from readers in Fangyan's hands, Liu Jianjun felt sad when he thought that these were only the ones sent to him, and there was no telling how many more letters had not been successfully sent here across the country.

Wait, I still have two letters to open!
maybe!
All of a sudden, I became energetic.

Liu Jianjun took a quick look and saw one letter was from China Youth Daily and the other was from Yenching Literature and Art, so he tore open the seals.

"Huaxia Youth Daily", manuscript rejected!
The content of the rejection letter was very formulaic, with only "thank you for your submission" and so on. They didn't even bother to mention any suggestions for revisions. The two novels were sent back exactly as they were.

In the end, the only thing left was "Yanjing Literature and Art", which he cared the least about and regarded as a backup, but now it is the only glimmer of hope left.

My heart is trembling and my hands are shaking.

He didn't dare to open the letters again, especially when he saw the postman holding Fangyan's hand tightly and shaking it hard, it was as if a thorn was piercing his chest.

"Hey, Jianjun!"

Su Ya caught a glimpse of him sneaking back into the yard from the corner of her eye.

Fang Hong was surprised and asked, "What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know either. Jianjun is such a jerk. He just left without saying hello to us. He's not usually like this."

Su Ya was very confused.

"I guess he's in a hurry to reply to his pen pal."

A smile appeared on Fangyan's lips. He saw it clearly just now. What pen pal? It was clearly a rejection letter!

"This can't be a rejection letter, right?"

Liu Jianjun lay on the bed, reading the letter over and over again, but he didn't open the seal and couldn't make up his mind.

"Jianjun, who sent the letter?"

Wang Meili suddenly walked into his room and asked, "Is this a letter from the publishing house? Is your novel going to be published?"

"Mom, why are you in such a hurry? It won't be that fast."

Liu Jianjun stood up straight.

"How can I not be anxious? Do you know that because Yan Zi published a novel, he now goes directly to work at Yanjing Literature and Art?"

There was a hint of sourness in Wang Meili's tone.

"what?!"

Liu Jianjun opened his mouth in shock.

"You didn't see how happy Yanzi's mother was when she was washing clothes." Wang Meili couldn't help but sigh, "I really didn't realize that Yanzi was not serious when he was young and didn't look like a good student at all. Now he has become a cultured person."

"How...how could this happen..."

Liu Jianjun stared down at the letter in his hand, his Adam's apple moving.

Wang Meili frowned and said, "Jianjun, you should work harder, you know, if your novel can be published, even if you don't do well in the college entrance examination, you can still work as an editor in a publishing house like Yanzi."

"Don't worry, don't you still have confidence in your son!"

Liu Jianjun just gave Wang Meili a perfunctory response and sent her out the door.

He leaned against the wall, took a deep breath, and thought:

Although his manuscripts were rejected by People's Literature and Contemporary Magazine, Fangyan never published his works in these magazines.

It's just in the "Yenching Literature and Art" magazine.

If the dialect works, so can I!

Finally, I prepared myself mentally, mustered up my courage, opened the envelope, and saw densely written words on each page. After a long time of careful reading, I could finally make out two words between the words:

Rejected!
No!!!!!!

Liu Jianjun's face was pale, his heart was broken, his back was pressed against the wall, and he slowly slid down, and the rejection letter fell from his hand.

Pages of paper were floating around.

　Entering the next stage, Liu and Lu’s roles come to an end.

　　Please collect, read and invest.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)