Literary Master 1978

"I didn't say An Jie is your mother." Lin Chaoyang argued.

Tao Yushu narrowed his eyes and smiled, "Is Dehua also right?"

"Yes. Not only Dehua, but An Xin also has some of her colors."

"You are really good at writing about one character as several characters. But you know what, it is quite interesting to write like this."

Although "Parental Love" is about the bumps and hardships of Jiang Defu and An Jie over decades of wind and rain, the tone is actually light-hearted and cheerful.

Especially when describing the two characters of An Jie and Dehua, the words in the novel are full of a sense of humor and happiness, which always makes people feel happy when reading.

Tao Yushu said that Tao's mother would be angry, but it was just a joke.

Although An Jie in the novel has character flaws such as stubbornness and willfulness, she also has many advantages. It should be said that her advantages and human brilliance far outweigh her shortcomings.

If the mother reads the novel, she should be happy.

While the couple was chatting about novels, Zhang Guiqin had already taken Tao's father and mother to visit every household in the team, under the pretext of seeing the local customs and practices of our rural areas.

As soon as they returned home, someone came with a child in his arms.

"Professor Tao, I heard that you are a great professor at Yenching. Our child is just one month old and has not been given a name yet. Can you trouble us to give him a name?"

I don't know if the news of naming Damingzi's child last night spread. In just one night, someone from the next team came with a child to ask Tao's father to give him a name.

The other person was very polite. Not only did he hold the child in his hands, but he also had two pounds of pork.

Tao's father couldn't refuse either. He spent a little time to give the child a name. After the adults in the family thanked him, they left happily.

"Dad, I think if you keep going like this, you can earn back the money for the round-trip train tickets."

Tao Yushu teased his father while carrying pork, and Lin Erchun said, "My dear, country people have never seen the world, and I am sorry to cause you trouble."

Tao's father smiled and said, "It's not a big deal. They are very polite. Let me name the child, it's like treating me like a teacher, I should be very nervous."

The team members' thoughts are not difficult to understand. First, Tao's father is indeed a top intellectual who has not appeared in Xiaoyangtun for many years, and everyone has a little academic worship;

Second, it will be glorious to let him name the child, especially when Tao's father can always quote classics when naming the child, just listening to it makes people feel impressive, how face-saving!

Tao Yushu carried the pork and smiled and said, "We can add another dish today!"

Everyone laughed.

The fact is just as Tao Yushu said. In just one day, more and more people came to Tao's father to name the child.

When Lin Chaoyang asked, they were all from various brigades in the commune.

Father Tao never thought that he and his son-in-law would open up a new business when they went back to their hometown in Northeast China.

However, he was not impatient about this matter. He adhered to the spirit of not letting every parent go in vain, and seriously named each newborn, striving to make it not only nice to hear and easy to remember, but also with good meaning. His attitude was much more professional than those naming masters in later generations.

In just two days, Father Tao had received eight gifts, which also meant that eight newborns had names.

Lin Chaoyang had never realized before that the birth rate of newborns in their area was so high. You know, these children were less than two months old.

If this happened in the Northeast in later generations, it would probably be the number of births in this area in a year.

On the 29th, Lin Erchun was going to the market. Today was the last big market before the New Year, and it was also the last chance to prepare New Year's goods.

He harnessed the donkey cart early in the morning, and Lin Chaoyang and a few others were sitting on the cart. They followed him to the market to join in the fun.

The market is an indispensable and important shopping channel for rural people in this era. Even when speculation was at its worst in the past few years, the markets in many rural areas were also very prosperous.

The ticket ration in rural areas was originally less than that in cities. If there was no market to supplement it, it would seriously affect the daily life of farmers.

At this time, industrial products were not allowed to be sold at the big market. Clothing required cloth coupons. Food and snacks were not allowed to be sold, because these were all rationed.

As long as the rest of the products were not resold, selling the products produced by the family or the output of the production team was allowed.

The most common thing in the market was selling agricultural and sideline products such as vegetables grown in the family's private plot and poultry raised by the family. The most common ones were cabbage, radish, eggs, duck eggs, etc.

The production team also had special people to buy and sell cattle, horses, donkeys and mules. There were also members who brought piglets, chickens, ducks, geese and pigeons that had just been born at home to sell. Others included hand-woven kang mats, back baskets, dustpans, brooms, cooking brooms and other agricultural woven products.

It was the Chinese New Year, so there were more people selling New Year paintings, couplets, dried persimmons and candied haws in the market.

Lin Chaoyang bought Tao Yushu a bunch of candied haws with hawthorn, and they ate while walking around. The two fell behind Lin Erchun, and Lin Erchun gave everything he bought to Lin Chaoyang to carry.

Tao's father and mother walked behind, strolling around the market with interest.

Tao Yushu wanted to buy couplets, but Lin Erchun stopped him and said that he could just go back to the team and ask Cheng Xiucai to write two pairs for him.

Tao Yushu said, "It's better to let my dad write two pairs for you. His calligraphy is also good."

Lin Erchun smiled and said, "That would be great!"

After walking around the market, Lin Erchun took Tao's father to the team's "Cheng Xiucai" home in the afternoon.

The Lin family didn't have pen, ink, paper or inkstone, and they didn't have the tools to write couplets, but Cheng Xiucai did.

Cheng Xiucai was not a scholar, but his grandfather was a scholar. He followed his grandfather to practice calligraphy since he was a child.

Every year at the end of the year, every household in the team would write couplets, and he would make a small fortune.

Cheng Xiucai thought that Lin Erchun came to ask him to write couplets. At this moment, he still had two groups of "clients." After he had dismissed these two groups of clients, he was about to throw some ink at him, but Lin Erchun threw him away.

"Old Tao, come here!"

After two days of getting to know each other, Lin Erchun and Tao's father also became closer to each other.

Cheng Xiucai pulled Lin Erchun and said, "How do you calculate the money?"

Lin Erchun secretly gave him two cents, and Cheng Xiucai decisively chose to shut up. With the retouching fee, he didn't need to write, what a good thing!

But Cheng Xiucai was not happy for a while. The new customer discovered that Tao's skill seemed to be much higher than Cheng Xiucai's.

The most important thing is that he is a professor at Yenching University, and the couplets he wrote are exquisite calligraphy.

Someone shamelessly ran to Father Tao to ask for calligraphy treasures. Without Lin Erchun taking action, Cheng Xiucai stepped forward and "preceded for the king."

"Go, go, go, I'm a great professor in Yanjing. His words can be sold for money. Are you just trying to fool people with these three melons and two dates?"

The customer was very dissatisfied by Cheng Xiucai, "Your words are not worth three melons and two dates. I am a great professor, so the price must be different."

Cheng Xiucai was unconvinced and said: "Come on, come on, you pay these 20 yuan, and I will ask Professor Tao to write a couplet for you."

"Aren't you afraid that Feng Da will flash your tongue and pay back twenty yuan?"

"You still don't admit that you want to take advantage? Just wait and see!"

Cheng Xiucai was frightened when he saw the other person and looked proud.

While the two were arguing, Tao's father had already written the couplet. Cheng Xiucai praised: "Professor Tao's handwriting is really good. Isn't it Liu Gongquan's post?"

Father Tao smiled and said, "Yes. Your regular calligraphy skills are very good. It can be seen that you have worked hard for decades."

Cheng Xiucai was even more proud after receiving a compliment from Tao's father. Professor Yan Da recognized his calligraphy skills, and he would be able to boast about it in the future.

When he got home, Lin Erchun told what happened at Cheng Xiucai's house, and everyone laughed.

Lin Chaoyang whispered to Tao Yushu: "Why do I feel that when I go back to my hometown, your dad is more popular than me?"

Tao Yushu couldn't help but smile, "How many people have praised you in the past two days?"

"That's different. They looked up to your dad, but to me they said, 'You're just lucky.'"

"Ha ha!"

Tao Yushu was amused by him and laughed.

Lin Chaoyang's feeling was not wrong, because Tao's father's identity as a professor at Yan University was too far away from everyone, so when they saw him suddenly, everyone looked up at him.

As for Lin Chaoyang, the team members watched him grow up. He suddenly became a great writer. Because he was so close to him, it was difficult for everyone to have the feeling of looking up to him.

However, the situation improved significantly on the second day of the Lunar New Year, because the commune leaders led the county leaders to Lin Erchun's house.

It is said that the county leaders heard that Lin Chaoyang, a nationally renowned writer, had returned to his hometown and came to visit him.

After hearing the news, the people in Xiaoyangtun finally understood the value of Lin Chaoyang as a writer.

After seeing off the county leaders, Tao Yushu asked: "This County Magistrate Zhou is quite polite, but he just didn't tell me why he was here."

"I don't go to the Three Treasures Hall for anything. I'm a county leader, so there's no way he's really here to pay us New Year's greetings, right?" Lin Chaoyang said easily.

"Then you said he wanted to ask for something?" Tao Yushu asked.

Lin Chaoyang shook his head, "Who knows, officials like them won't tell you the first thing they want to say. They go around and around. I guess they just want me to write about my hometown."

Tao Yushu nodded slightly. Apart from this purpose, she could not think of any reason for a county leader to come to a writer's house to pay New Year's greetings.

"Then if he really asks you to help write something, will you do it?"

"If there is a suitable subject matter, there is no reason not to write about it. After all, this is my hometown, but if it is copied by force, there is no need."

While the couple was chatting, they watched Ms. Zhang Guiqin go out dressed neatly.

"Mom, why are you going?" Lin Chaoyang asked.

Zhang Guiqin replied: "I'm going to visit."

When Lin Chaoyang heard this sentence, it was automatically replaced by "I'm going to show off."

The couple looked at each other and smiled.

In the afternoon, Ermaitai ran to Lin Chaoyang and asked him, "Chaoyang, are you leaving tomorrow?"

"Um."

In the past few days since returning to Xiaoyangtun, Lin Chaoyang and his father-in-law's family have become the focus of attention from everyone in Xiaoyangtun and even the surrounding brigades.

In the past, everyone in the team knew that Lin Chaoyang's father-in-law was a professor at Yanda University and a great writer, but after all, seeing is not believing. No matter what Zhang Guiqin said, it was always unconvincing.

Lin Chaoyang has not been home for more than a year, and his father-in-law and his family have never been seen together. Some people who like to gossip have to go to great lengths to make arrangements based on these circumstances.

Now, the professor's father-in-law has arrived, and Lin Chaoyang has returned home. All the rumors have disappeared, and Lin Chaoyang has become a great writer who people say has been gifted since he was a child.

What am I talking about? This kid has been smart since he was a child, and he is a good candidate to be a writer!

In the past few days, Lin Chaoyang has become the focus of attention of the team, and Er Miatai has been promoting it behind his back.

"Chaoyang, the radio said that the country is going to reform and open up. Do you think there is a future for farming in the future?"

Lin Chaoyang was speechless and said, "When has farming ever had a future?"

"Then what do you think about me going out to work?"

"Work?"

There are three ways for rural youths of this era to change their fate: recruitment, military service, and entrance exams.

Ermaitai can't get any of them. The state-owned factories around his hometown haven't recruited workers for many years, and even if there is a recruitment opportunity, it won't be Ermaitai's turn.

There's no need to talk about military service. Ermaitai's eyes are a bit cross-eyed, and the army doesn't want him at all.

He only has an elementary school education, so he will never be associated with books in his life.

"Where do you want to work?" Lin Chaoyang asked.

Ermaitai was a little embarrassed, "If I go to Yanjing, can you help me find a job?"

Lin Chaoyang shook his head, "We grew up together. If you want to go to Yanjing and need a place to stay, I can help you think of a way, but if you want to help you find a job, it's beyond my ability."

Ermaitai said unwillingly, "Even if it's a temporary job, it's fine."

"If it's a temporary job, you only make 20 yuan a month. In Yanjing, which of the food, clothing, housing and transportation doesn't cost money? Can you save money?

And you may be sent home at any time. Is it meaningful for you to go to Yanjing?"

Hearing this, Ermaitai said disappointedly, "What can I do? I have to make money to marry a wife!"

"You only think about marrying a wife, why don't you think about your eldest brother?"

"What's wrong with my eldest brother? He has hope for the rest of his life." Ermaitai said heartlessly.

The nicknames of rural people in Northeast China are also particular. If someone has a nickname with "Er", there must be a "Da" in front of it.

Ermaitai has an older brother named Damaitai, who is luckier than Ermaitai and joined the army at the age of 18.

Last year, when fighting with the south, Damaitai also went to the front line and won a third-class merit, but lost a hand.

When the news came back to Xiaoyangtun, Ermaitai's family was upset, but they had a simple idea in their hearts. Since Damaitai was injured for the country, the army would definitely take care of him for the rest of his life.

They didn't know that there would be a reduction in the army in the next few years. Of course, the country would take care of Damaitai, and there would be no problem arranging a job for him when he returned to his hometown.

But with Damaitai's body, he would probably only be able to do marginal positions, such as security.

In a few years, he would face the fate of unemployment. Even if he didn't lose his job, he would probably live in poverty.

In an environment where frogs are boiled in warm water, life will only get harder and harder.

If the two brothers don't have a proper business, and just live in a muddle-headed way, they may only be able to go out to work in the future. It's better to take advantage of the many opportunities now and go to the south to make a living.

"If you want to work, go to Guangdong. There are many opportunities there." Lin Chaoyang sighed and said.

Er Maitai knew that Guangdong had the first batch of special economic zones opened in China, but when he heard the name of this strange place thousands of miles away, he felt at a loss.

"What can I do in Guangdong?"

"I will do whatever I can. I will definitely work for others first. I can save some capital in the future and do some business on my own."

Whether it is working or doing business, these things have nothing to do with Er Maitai's experience in the first 20 years of his life. He asked with some lack of confidence: "Can I do it?"

He dared to say that he would go to Yanjing because Lin Chaoyang was in Yanjing. He knew Guangdong, but he was unfamiliar with the place and felt timid when he thought about it.

"Nothing is impossible. Don't you want to make money to marry a wife? The atmosphere there is much more open than in the mainland, and there are many opportunities to make money, but the prerequisite is to be bold and smart. If you want to go out and make a living, I suggest you try it there."

Er Maitai hesitated for a moment, nodded and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you."

Lin Chaoyang took out two big unity notes from his pocket, "The train tickets when you go are considered as my sponsorship for you. Whether you can make it depends on you."

Er Maitai held the money and nodded vigorously again.

In his eyes, there was uneasiness about the unknown, a strong determination, and a vision for the future.