The literary era since 1979

Chapter 2 Yanjing! Yanjing!
Is the ending of The Horse Wrangler dark?
In fact, the future is very bright. Xu Lingjun gave up the opportunity to go to the United States, gave up inheriting his father's billions of assets, and returned to the grassland to reunite with his wife.

It's just that the dialect is deliberately written in a dark tone, writing in the direction of "Chen Shimei" who abandoned his wife and children, implying that Xu Lingjun couldn't resist the temptation and threw Xiuzhi and the child to Qilian Mountain, but it didn't make it clear, and it ended abruptly, with an open ending.

If it were not for the hidden story, the next part would be Xu Lingjun going to the United States, getting married and having a daughter, while Xiuzhi raising their son with great difficulty and getting him into university. Their child was in Yanjing, and by chance, they met and fell in love. When the time came to talk about marriage, Xu Lingjun and Xiuzhi, as the parents of both parties, had a meeting as in-laws.

As a result, their half-brother background was exposed.

Brother-sister love, terminal illness, amnesia, car accident...

It is more than enough to make an 80-episode tragic ethics drama and give today's readers a little shock.

But I couldn't grasp the dialect, and was afraid that it would be too dark and get rejected.

I just need a chance to return to the city.

Now, here's your chance!
From the village to the brigade, the news that the dialect was going to Beijing for revision spread from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred, and as expected, it also reached the commune.

As the first "scholar" in the entire commune to be selected by a literary journal, Fangyan received all-round care.

Not to mention letters of introduction and train tickets, they even helped to exchange national food coupons.

These days, without food coupons, a brave man could really starve to death.

Whenever he went on a business trip or visited relatives, he had to exchange local food coupons for some national food coupons, otherwise he would go hungry along the way.

Under the escort of people sent by the commune and the brigade, Fang Yan brought his luggage and arrived in Chang'an unimpeded, and boarded the green train to Yanjing.

"Bang, bang, bang."

The aisle was crowded with passengers. Fangyan looked around vigilantly. Although the person in front of him was wearing glasses and holding a magazine, looking like an intellectual, and his companions were also well-mannered, they did not let down their guard, with one hand on the luggage and the other on their waist.

Before coming, I deliberately sewed a pocket in my underwear.

In addition to the meal tickets, the box contained all the belongings he had accumulated over the years of working in the countryside, a total of 36 yuan.

Part of it came from rewards and food subsidies from the commune and the brigade, part of it was taken from the living subsidies for educated youth, and part of it was earned by secretly working as an "underground contractor" to build factories on construction sites, saving every penny by working hard.

"Box lunch! Want a box lunch?"

As it was almost time for lunch, the conductor came over.

"Gulu."

Fangyan swallowed his saliva. Although his fellow villagers had specially prepared dry food for him, he had not tasted any greasy food since his rebirth.

Going to a special dining car to eat stir-fried dishes is too luxurious, but eating a box of rice to satisfy your craving is still acceptable.

He calmly took out 5 cents and asked:

“How much are the lunch boxes?”

"Well, pork skin jelly rice, 3 cents."

"Braised eggplant with dried shrimps for 3 cents."

"Braised pork 5 cents..."

The conductor answered enthusiastically.

"Pork skin jelly rice, thank you."

Fangyan struggled to make a decision and exchanged it for a meal ticket.

Nowadays, when selling meals in train carriages, you need to buy a ticket first and then the meal will be delivered. The people who handle the money and the meal are separate, and you use the ticket to get the meal.

"I'll have some pork skin jelly rice, too."

As soon as the man with glasses opposite took out the money, his friend by the window shouted, "Pass it to me, I want fried fish fillet."

"I want fried eggplant with dried shrimps!"

With this shout, everyone in the carriage waved their money and called out the name of the man with glasses:
"Lu Yao! And me!"

"Lu Yao?"

Fangyan shuddered and stared at the tall man. If he was a little fatter and had a middle-parted hair, he would look exactly like the bust of Lu Yao in his memory!

Good god! He didn't recognize Lu Yao!
Turning his head, the person sitting next to Lu Yao couldn't tell who it was, but the one who wanted to eat "Shrimp and Eggplant" looked up and down again and again, and was surprised to find that it was Jia Pingwa.

"Hi~"

I couldn't help but take a deep breath, looked left and right, and saw Lu Yao, Jia Pingwa and others holding several Shaanxi literary magazines such as "Yanhe" and "Chang'an", waiting quietly for their meal.

After a while, the conductor pushed the dining cart, and placed the prepared lunch boxes on the cart like stacking bricks to build a wall. One ticket for one lunch box, and they were being sold in one carriage after another.

"Make way, watch your step."

"Here, your pork skin jelly rice."

Fangyan took the rectangular aluminum lunch box and did not open it in a hurry. Instead, he helped Lu Yao and passed the lunch box to his companions.

"Mo Shen, yours."

"Teacher Hu, this is yours."

"Pingwa, the dried shrimp and eggplant you ordered..."

After handing over the lunch box, Lu Yao, Jia Pingwa and others looked at Fang Yan and smiled, "Thank you, young comrade."

"You're welcome."

Fangyan asked casually, "Are you writers from northern Shaanxi?" "Hey, how do you know we are writers from northern Shaanxi?"

Lu Yao's eyes widened.

Fang Yan smiled and said, "I saw you holding "Yanhe" and "Chang'an" and were discussing the works in them."

"Haha, that's it."

Lu Yao smiled and looked up, then opened the lunch box. The so-called "pork skin jelly rice" was pork skin, jelly, vegetables and white rice.

The rice is grain by grain, so you need to chew it hard.

When he saw that Fangyan was also eating pork skin jelly rice, he grinned and said, "What a coincidence! This one is called Ying, um..."

Seeing him shaking his head when he was about to say "Great minds think alike", Fang Dialect interjected, "Foodies have a tacit understanding?"

"Yes, foodies know this tacitly!"

Lu Yao, Jia Pingwa, and Mo Shen smiled at each other, their eyes full of admiration, "The word 'foodie' is used very well."

Fangyan smiled foolishly. His soul had long been attracted by the fragrant rice. He eagerly put spoonful after spoonful into his mouth, not wanting to waste even a single grain. He smeared any rice that stuck to the corners of his mouth or on his chin into his mouth. Even if some rice fell on his clothes, he immediately pressed it and put it into his mouth, as if he was tasting a delicious meal. He couldn't help but be intoxicated.

Finally I tasted the oily smell!
Seeing how he ate, Lu Yao and the others looked at each other with wide eyes, "You look like an educated youth who has returned to the city?"

Fang Yan licked the leftovers on the spoon and said, "I am an educated youth, but it is not my turn to return to the city yet. I am going to Yanjing to revise the manuscript."

"Revise the manuscript?!"

Even Jia Pingwa, who was eating quietly, couldn't help but look at Fangyan. Lu Yao was surprised and said, "I can't tell, young comrade. Oh, we've been chatting for a long time, but I still don't know your name?"

"My name is Fangyan, Fang means direction and Yan means speech."

Fangyan nodded and introduced himself.

Lu Yao also introduced himself and his companions.

From the late 70s to the early 80s, the group of writers in northern Shaanxi formed a powerful creative team and quickly made the northern Shaanxi literary world an important place in the national literary landscape.

For example, Jia Pingwa has three essays selected for the "Selected Short Stories and Essays of Northern Shaanxi" published this year. This is a culmination of the literary achievements of Northern Shaanxi in the 30 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China.

For example, Mo Shen, whose work "Window" won the National Excellent Short Story Award in 1978. As for himself, although he did not have many works, he was also the literary editor of "Yanhe".

Each of them is a rising star in the literary world of northern Shaanxi.

"I didn't expect you to be a fellow writer." Jia Pingwa cast an eager look at him. "Which magazine in Yanjing did you go to revise your manuscript for?"

"Yanjing literature and art." Fang Yan said with a smile.

"Oh!"

Everyone was shocked. "Yanjing Literature and Art" is now recognized as the leader of literary journals. It is a national magazine, and its level is much higher than regional magazines such as "Yanhe" and "Chang'an".

All of a sudden, the other party looked at him differently.

In particular, he mentioned that two works were selected.

"Teacher Hu, what do you think?"

Lu Yao and others were very respectful to the old man sitting in the back row.

"After listening to Xiao Fang's explanation, the first article, "Loess Plateau", is like Mo Shen's "Window", both of which are typical stories of scars. However, this "Horse Herder" is very different. It has a positive flavor different from the tragic color of scars. If it were me, I would not hesitate to select it into "Shaanxi Literature"."

"Thank you, Mr. Hu, for your compliment. You flatter me."

Hearing such comments from Mr. Hu, who is respected by Jia Pingwa and Lu Yao, Fang Yan suppressed his excitement and said, "I have to keep working hard and discuss with the editor how to revise the work next."

"It's a pity that I didn't have the chance to read your works "The Shepherd" and "Loess Plateau." Lu Yao couldn't help but feel regretful.

"not necessarily."

Jia Pingwa smiled and said, "Don't forget, we will stay in Yanjing until the end of the Writers' Congress. If Comrade Xiaofang's manuscript revision goes smoothly, we will probably be able to see his novel in the latest issue of Yanjing Literature and Art."

Lu Yao slapped his thigh: "Yes!"

"Literary Congress?"

Fangyan murmured something with a confused look in his eyes.

Lu Yao hurriedly explained that there were 13 of them, and they were going to Yenching as a delegation from northern Shaanxi to attend the Fourth National Congress of Writers and Artists, led by teacher Hu Caihu.

Seeing Fang Yan's envious eyes, Hu Cai encouraged him, "You will have this opportunity in the future, but Yanjing is full of hidden talents, and the competition should be very fierce. You need to work harder."

"Yes."

Fangyan curled his lips, but was thinking secretly in his heart.

Maybe I won’t stay in the literary world forever…

“Water is coming!”

There was a sudden commotion in the carriage. Water was brought over and everyone took out their lunch pots or simply poured water into clean lunch boxes. A few drops of oil immediately appeared on the surface of the water.

Fangyan sipped the wine greedily, looking out the window. The scenery was fleeting and his thoughts had long since drifted away.

Yanjing, here I come!
　The "Northern Shaanxi" here refers to "Shaanxi", because the names of provinces and cities in the Qidian system will become abbreviations, for example, "Shaanxi" becomes "SX", so it was changed to "Northern Shaanxi".

　　
　
(End of this chapter)