The literary era since 1979

Chapter 77 Gao Jialin's Story
The letters I sent out received replies one after another.

He separated the letters and read them one by one in dialect. It was revealed that Jiang Zilong, Tie Ning and other direct relatives were temporarily unable to provide him with artillery support.

It was the Shaanxi Army, and Lu Yao was the first to stand up.

He truly deserves to be the leader of the Five Tiger Generals!

Reading line by line, Lu Yao is writing about a rural youth, Gao Jialin, and his life choice between the countryside and the county town.

The thought flashed through my mind in an instant: this is about "Life"!
This is a masterpiece that is in no way inferior to "Ordinary World", and even Sun Shaoping has the shadow of Gao Jialin.

But his fate was different from that of Sun Shaoping. Sun Shaoping's rural teacher was not exploited, but Gao Jialin was replaced and became a victim of corruption. But the dramatic thing was that he also became a correspondent by relying on the unspoken rules and became a beneficiary of corruption.

As a result, when he was feeling very proud of himself, he stumbled, was reported and lost his job. It was quite a dark humor.

But no matter how pitiful it is, there are also some hateful aspects to it.

When Gao Jialin was about to stay in the countryside, he decided to stay with Liu Qiaozhen, who loved him, for the rest of his life. But when he got out of the countryside through the back door, he fell in love with the city girl Huang Yaping, and turned around to abandon the "village beauty" Liu Qiaozhen.

When I saw Fangyan for the first time, I was so angry.

So when he saw the ending, Gao Jialin lost his job, had to separate from Huang Yaping, and finally witnessed Liu Qiaozhen getting married, all the anger in his heart was vented out all at once.

Later, I read more, gained more experience, and became more open-minded.

Just like the title of the book, this is life!
But the title of the book is not "Life" yet. Lu Yao just came up with a name and gave it a random name -

"The Story of Gao Jialin".

Just as Fangyan read the end of the letter, Tian Zengxiang's voice suddenly came, "Yanzi, who's the letter that you're reading so enthusiastically?"

"It's probably a reply from the writer that Yanzi commissioned."

He Xin raised his head and said with a smile.

Fang Yan exclaimed, "Teacher He guessed it right. How did you guess it?"

"I saw you wrote a lot of letters some time ago, and I thought you were contacting writers you've worked with before to prepare for the commission plan at the beginning of the year." He Xin said directly, "The plan will be submitted soon, Yanzi, have you decided where to go?"

"I plan to go to northern Shaanxi."

Fangyan nodded and folded the letter.

"I didn't expect Yanzi also knew writers from northern Shaanxi."

He Xin raised his eyebrows.

"Yanzi was sent to work in northern Shaanxi, so it's normal for him to know a few writers from northern Shaanxi."

Tian Zengxiang touched the white jade and said, "If you really want to talk about it, he can be considered half a writer from northern Shaanxi."

"What Lao Tian said makes sense."

After these days of getting along, Fangyan's relationship with him has improved dramatically, if not overnight. The only thing missing is Tian Zengxiang calling out, "Brother~"

"Which writer from northern Shaanxi is this?"

He Xin cast a curious look.

"Lu Yao, the editor of Yanhe, I wonder if Mr. He knows him?"

Fangyan had no intention of hiding the secret. Once the editing plan was submitted, everyone in the editorial department would know about it.

"Is it the Lu Yao who wrote "A Thrilling Scene"?!"

He Xin was very surprised, "I didn't expect you two knew each other."

"It's just a coincidence."

Fangyan spoke with reservation about what happened before and after the National Congress of Writers, but he did not mention that he had rescued Lu Yao's novel from being rejected, and that he had indirectly found a way for him to be published by Contemporary Magazine. One should know that once A Thrilling Scene was published, it received an enthusiastic response in the literary world.

Wang Meng had mentioned to him that a national award for outstanding novellas would be established in 1981, which is next year.

"A Thrilling Scene" will, if nothing unexpected happens, be nominated for the first session together with his own "Infernal Affairs".

"No wonder Yan Zi wants to go to northern Shaanxi. You must have a good relationship with the literary world in northern Shaanxi."

There was a hint of envy in He Xin's words, "Unlike me, I can only wander around in the Forty-Nine City."

"Speaking of wandering around Sijiu City, Yanzi, while we have some free time before the New Year, would you like to go to the jade shop I often visit?"

Tian Zengxiang changed to a piece of black lacquered Hetian jade seed material and touched it.

Fangyan agreed readily, and after agreeing on a time, he then prepared to buy a tape on the way.

Tian Zengxiang explained: "It's a tape of the Cultural Center Spring Festival Concert." "Spring Festival Concert?"

Fangyan became interested. These days, the Spring Festival Gala is not only hosted by CCTV.

Just like in the past life every local TV station would put on various "Spring Festival Galas" in advance, now the major ministries and commissions will also hold similar Spring Festival Galas to serve as a warm-up atmosphere, and usually arrange a recorded cultural evening on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

The organizer is the Culture Bureau.

The CCTV News and Documentary Film Studio will record this concert, and the audio part will also be separated out and sold on cassettes.

"Yes, according to people who attended, the tapes all contained Li Guyi's songs, and the best one was "Homesickness."

Tian Zengxiang lowered his voice. After all, the song "Homesickness" was very controversial in the music industry.

"I'll buy one then."

Fangyan curled his lips and said, it would be better if they didn’t say anything. The more they say it’s going to be banned, the more I want to buy it!

…………

After get off work, I pushed my bicycle home in Nanluoguxiang in the biting cold wind.

Riding a bike in the middle of winter is a bit rude!

As luck would have it, I was passing by the Central Academy of Drama when I heard a man with broom-like eyebrows walk out of the door, shouting as he walked:
"what!"

"Since I have chosen poetry and distant places, I will just focus on the journey regardless of wind and rain."

"Pfft."

Fangyan almost couldn't hold back when he heard him reciting "Love Life". When he saw his intoxicated expression, he couldn't hold back even more.

Isn’t this Jiang Wen!
"Ah! I don't think about whether I can win love, since I am so obsessed with roses..."

Seeing Jiang Wen reciting poetry, Fang Yan's shoulders trembled slightly, and he left while trying hard to hold back his smile. If he didn't leave, he would have laughed out loud.

After such a long period of fermentation, "Love Life" was promoted as "positive energy" by many mainstream publications such as "Poetry Magazine", "Poetry Exploration" and "People's Literature". From the elderly to children, no one disliked it.

According to Fang Hong, the poems in the noodle factory's current newspaper all imitate his colloquial style.

The workers cannot understand obscure poetry, so catchy "chicken soup for the soul" poems like "Love Life" are very much to their taste.

So when the female workers knew that Fang Hong was their sister, they all asked Fang Hong to ask for his autograph.

"The King of Huainan issued an order to divide the group into three groups to meet him."

"It's obvious that he used the tiger's intimidation first. I can't help but laugh!"

Humming "Huaihe Camp", Fangyan returned home and saw Yang Xia cleaning the radiator.

"Yanzi, come and give me a hand!"

"Mom, why did you suddenly think of washing this thing?"

"Is it okay not to wash it? The heater isn't warm enough. I guess there's too much scale inside."

"Let me do it."

Fangyan operated it skillfully. Radiators and coal are essential items for wintering in the northern region nowadays.

The earliest heating system in China was basically learned from the Russians, with cast iron radiators used extensively in central heating areas.

Cast iron radiators have a large water capacity, can store heat for a short period of time, and are low in cost, so they have been widely promoted.

"This radiator was installed when Yan Zi was born. I didn't expect that after so many years, it has become so old."

Yang Xia kept muttering how time passed so quickly, and in the blink of an eye it was 1981.

"We are so old, Mom, why don't we change the radiator?"

While cleaning, Fangyan said, "A new type of steel radiator with 'closed steel string' has been introduced recently."

“What kind of radiator is this?”

Yang Xia's face was full of confusion.

"I also saw this at my teacher's house. It was just replaced not long ago. It's much better than this one. It doesn't take up space and most importantly, it's not expensive."

Fangyan looked back at the sky. It was gloomy and snowing.

This winter is so cold!
　Thanks to China Mighty for the 100 Starting Coins and Tianxia Zonghengyouwo for the 600 Starting Coins.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)