The literary era since 1979

Chapter 97: Under the Hawthorn Tree

"Oh, the dense hawthorn tree with its white blossoms all over its branches."

"Oh why are you so sad, you lovely hawthorn tree?"

"When the loud whistle just stopped..."

Fangyan was twirling a pen in his hand and listening to the radio quietly.

The tape of "The Hawthorn Tree" in it was borrowed from his neighbor, the second uncle. Square dancing was not popular these days and dancing in public was also prohibited, so elderly people who were more artistic basically had to learn a musical instrument, especially the accordion, to make friends through music.

As long as you play the piano well, you will be a handsome guy in the eyes of old ladies.

"Snapped."

He turned off the radio and glanced at the paper on the table.

"In the early spring of 1974, Jingqiu, who was still in high school, was selected by the school to participate in the editing of new textbooks. She had to go to a place called Xicunping, live in the homes of poor and lower-middle peasants, interview local villagers, and then write the village history of Xicunping into a textbook..."

In the densely packed grids, there is the unfinished "Under the Hawthorn Tree". After much thought, there is no love novel more suitable for my sister's age than this one, which is known as the cleanest love novel in history.

The three views are correct and the story is touching.

It tells the story of Jingqiu, a city girl during that special period. She had always been very inferior because of her bad background. When she was in high school, she was chosen to experience life in Xicunping and met the third brother.

Although the third brother was the son of a military captain, he did not stay away from her because of her background. Instead, he fell in love with her.

I can do anything for her.

Although Jingqiu wanted to be with the third brother, due to factors such as environment and family, the two could not be together openly, especially since her mother did not allow Jingqiu to have a relationship before the age of 25.

So, they made an agreement with each other.

Unexpectedly, before Jingqiu grew up to be 25 years old, she received the news of the death of the third brother, who died of leukemia.

Although it has a faint flavor of old Korean dramas, the story is quite touching, and more importantly, it is a real experience.

There really is a girl like "Jingqiu".

Her best friend wrote the book "Under the Hawthorn Tree" based on her memoirs in her previous life, which was then made into a movie by Zhang Yimou.

It is known as "the purest and cleanest love story in history".

It is hard to say whether the dialect is the purest and cleanest, but this kind of love-themed literature written by educated youth will definitely be very popular.

Holding a pen, he crossed out the words "Love Letter", "Sweet Honey", "If Love Has Destiny", "My Father and Mother"...

Then, on another piece of paper, write slowly:

"In the past, the sun became slower. Cars, horses, and mail were all slower. There was only enough time to love one person in a lifetime."

"The locks in the past were also beautiful, and the keys were exquisite and stylish. Once you locked it, people would understand."

Fangyan plans to draw on the plot of the unsent love letter in "Love Letter" and change Mu Xin's "Life Was Slow In The Past" into an unsent love letter written by Lao San to Jing Qiu, which is both a suicide note and a regret.

"elder brother!"

Just as he was writing furiously, Fang Yan ran in hurriedly, "Second uncle asks you, have you listened to the tape?"

"Okay, I'll go give it back to Second Master."

Fangyan took the tape off the radio.

"Brother, what are you writing?"

Fang Yan leaned over curiously.

"What else can I write? Write the novel you want to read."

Fangyan tapped her forehead lightly.

"Really!?"

Fang Yan jumped up, very excited: "Brother, what did you write? Let me see it, let me see it!"

"Don't worry, wait until I finish writing, then you can read it."

Fangyan took the tape and walked out the door with a smile.

Fang Yan followed behind him, and the brother and sister were talking and laughing.

…………

The next day, go to work normally.

In the editorial department of October, the offices of the medium-length, long-length, short-story, and essay groups were all packed with people.

The agreed manuscripts will first be circulated within the editorial department, and the outstanding ones will be selected, and then finalized and typeset according to the editorial plan.

"The poems written by Mr. Yan's group are all in a colloquial style."

"Colloquial poetry is very popular now, especially after Huaxia Youth published Yan Zi's "Love Life", colloquialism is undoubtedly the mainstream trend in the entire poetry world."

"........."

"The novella that Teacher Zhang asked for is good." "Teacher He's is also good!"

Hearing this, He Xin's gloomy face finally broke into a smile, but when he glanced at Fang Yan, the smile froze instantly.

Not only Zhang Zhonge and Tian Zengxiang, but also Zhang Shouren and Su Yu, the two editors-in-chief and deputy editor-in-chief, were also busy with the novel in his hands.

"Let me put this here. Among all these manuscripts, I'm afraid none of them can surpass Life in terms of concept and quality."

Tian Zengxiang looked left and right, "What do you think?"

“This article, Life, is of very high quality indeed.”

Zhang Zhonge, Zhang Shouren and others nodded in agreement.

"Iwako!"

He Xin's heart tightened, and he immediately came over: "Can I read Lu Yao's manuscript?"

"Of course." Fang Yan handed it over.

"Life" is not short, but not long either. It has more than 100,000 words. He Xin can read ten lines at a glance and is very fast.

The more I look down, the colder I feel.

When I saw the ending, my heart was completely broken.

To be honest, the novella I commissioned to write cannot be compared with "Life". The difference is simply heaven and earth.

He could see it, and so could everyone else in the editorial department.

"It seems that everyone has the same idea."

Su Yu clapped his hands and directly announced that "Life" would be placed on the front page of the third issue of "October", which is the latest issue.

"Clap clap clap."

Everyone applauded and congratulated Fangyan.

He Xin also clapped his hands, but his smile was forced. Seeing Fangyan take the lead and become famous in the editorial department, and with the support of "The Great Qin Splitting", he felt that the position of deputy team leader of the medium and long novel group was getting further and further away from him, and his heart ached.

"Teacher Zhang, Yanzi, let's have lunch together in the cafeteria at noon!"

Tian Zengxiang laughed heartily.

Fang Yan and Zhang Zhonge smiled at each other without any objection. In this commissioned writing project, the entire medium-length and long-length group performed the best, and they jumped from a backward unit to an advanced unit.

This is such great progress that it must be celebrated!
"Teacher He, let's go together."

Fangyan extended the invitation.

"Yanzi, you really got a good work. Congratulations." He Xin returned the manuscript with a complicated look in his eyes.

Fangyan pretended not to hear the sourness in his tone, and smiled as she pulled him along. The four people in the medium and long-length group lined up in the cafeteria.

Each person ordered a dish, and the money and ticket were shared equally in the end.

Shredded pork with garlic sprouts, braised liver tips, twice-cooked pork, persimmon cake and winter melon, and shredded pork soup with pickled mustard tuber, four dishes and one soup, extremely rich.

Only halfway through the meal, Su Yu suddenly came to the office.

The dialect was called out in a confused manner, with a look of confusion on his face.

"Could it be the deputy team leader's business to talk to Yanzi?"

Tian Zengxiang glanced at He Xin playfully.

He Xin's heart skipped a beat, but he said calmly on the surface, "How is that possible? How could they skip Teacher Zhang and go straight to Yan Zi when appointing a deputy team leader? The editor-in-chief must have something else to ask him."

Having said that, his eyes were always looking towards the door.

However, it was not what they expected.

Fang Yan originally thought that it was an appointment as deputy team leader, but it was not. Instead, it was Zhang Guangnian who called and asked him to come to Renwenshe.

"Congratulations, Xiao Fang."

"You have been selected into the latest list of professional writers of the Yanjing Writers Association." Su Yu said kindly, "If nothing unexpected happens, you may become the youngest professional writer in the country."

“Professional writer?”

I had never heard of the dialect before and looked confused.

"Well, when you meet Mr. Zhang, he will tell you in person. In short, it is definitely good news for writers."

There was a hint of mystery in Su Yu's tone.

"I'll be there this afternoon."

Fangyan nodded. He also wanted to take the opportunity of submitting an article to "The Disguiser" to find out what the trouble with "October" was.

　Thanks to Tiantiankanshuchong for the 500 Qidian coins.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)