Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 101 For a Lofty Ideal (Monthly Ticket Plus)
People are always hesitant when they are confused. After traveling back to the 1970s for more than two years, Lin Chaoyang actually did not have any definite goals to achieve. He was more of a go-with-the-flow mentality.

It’s just like those kids who have been forced to grow up fast for twelve years and finally get into college, but just want to lie down and do nothing.

Over the past year, he has gotten used to working and living in Yanda, and has also gotten used to earning some extra money as a part-time writer. Normally, he didn't think much of it, but when a seemingly better option appeared before him, he didn't feel tempted at all.

At that moment, Lin Chaoyang knew what choice he should make.

Different choices are presented to you. Sometimes you don’t actually need to know which one you want, you just need to know which one you don’t want.

In Lin Chaoyang's heart, at least for now, he likes his work and life at Yanda.

On the last day before National Day, Lin Chaoyang went to Renwen Publishing House again and handed the preface written by Wu Zuxiang to Li Shuguang.

"Wu Zuxiang? Are you on good terms with him?" Li Shuguang was very surprised when he saw the signature on the article.

Of course, Lin Chaoyang couldn't say that he had paid for this preface. "Not bad, neighbors upstairs and downstairs."

"Oh, by the way, you are also from Yan University."

Li Shuguang sighed, "It's good for you to work in Yanda. Any colleague you pick out may be a famous master."

Who would have thought that a master would also ask for a fee for writing? Lin Chaoyang secretly complained in his heart.

After chatting for a few sentences, Lin Chaoyang thought that was the end of it, but he was unexpectedly stopped by Li Shuguang again.

"Chaoyang, your novel "The Garland under the Mountain" has been very popular recently. Have you ever thought about publishing a separate volume?"

Renwen Press was willing to publish his novel as a single volume, so Lin Chaoyang was of course happy as he could receive royalties again.

However, due to the special subject matter and content of "The Garland under the Mountain", he did not dare to agree rashly, and decided to ask his uncle Du Ruolin later.

After understanding the situation, Li Shuguang nodded and said, "You are very thoughtful. You should let me know. I will wait for your news later."

"it is good."

After the two finished chatting in the office, Lin Chaoyang wanted to leave, but was stopped by Cui Daoyi from People's Literature next door.

"Chaoyang, have you started writing recently?" Cui Daoyi asked.

Lin Chaoyang shook his head, "No."

"What are your thoughts? Do you have any ideas? We can exchange them."

"I just wrote two novellas this year, how can I have so many ideas!"

Lin Chaoyang had just mailed out the manuscript he promised to Harvest two days ago. He hadn't stopped writing in the past few months and recently he just wanted to relax and do some homework.

Cui Daoyi was very sorry when he heard this. "You young people have active minds. You should start writing as soon as you have an idea."

As the two were talking, they heard Wang Fu, who had walked to the entrance of the editorial department, shouting happily, "Old Cui, look who I invited for you!"

The two looked in the direction of the voice and saw Wang Fu leading an old man in his sixties into the editorial office. The old man had gray hair and wore a white Dacron shirt, black trousers, and cloth shoes. Both his clothes and temperament were very simple.

Cui Daoyi stood up, and before he could speak, Wang Fu said, "Comrade Wang Zengqi from the Yanjing Opera Troupe!"

Cui Daoyi walked up and shook hands with Wang Zengqi. He and Wang Zengqi had known each other a few years ago, when Cui Daoyi had just started working.

The two exchanged a few pleasantries, and Cui Daoyi introduced Lin Chaoyang who was next to him to Wang Zengqi.

"This is Comrade Lin Chaoyang. You should have heard of his pen name, Xu Lingjun!"

Wang Zengqi was surprised. "I didn't expect that Xu Lingjun, who is so famous all over the country, is such a young comrade."

"You're too kind. I've read your essays, they're really well written." Lin Chaoyang said politely.

Hearing this, Wang Zengqi's face became even more surprised.

Wang Zengqi was born in Southwest Associated University and started writing novels and poems in 1940. He was well-known for his talent in his early years. However, because he could not make a living by writing, he devoted himself to being a teacher in a middle school run by his classmates at the Associated University for several years.

On the eve of the founding of the People's Republic of China, he joined the Fourth Field Army's Southward Working Group, which was considered to be his participation in the revolution. In 50, he was transferred back to Yanjing and became a literary editor of the Yanjing Federation of Literary and Art Circles.

At that time, the Yanjing Federation of Literary and Art Circles successively published two publications, which were the predecessors of the current "Yenjing Literature and Art". Later, he was transferred to the Folk Literature Research Association as a literary editor, just to increase his salary by two levels.

The Folk Literature Research Association has its own publication, "Folk Literature". During his tenure as editor, Wang Zengqi wrote many essays, which were scattered in publications such as "Poetry Magazine", "People's Literature", and "Yenching Literature and Art".

But afterwards, the political environment was turbulent and Wang Zengqi suffered a lot. Although he had many creations, they were all concentrated in the field of Peking Opera model operas, which could be considered collective creations, and he wasted some time.

What surprised him was that for Lin Chaoyang to be able to read his essays at his age, he must have been well-read.

At this time, magazines and journals from the 1950s were not something that anyone could easily find.

"I work in the Yanda Library and I like to read books in my spare time." Lin Chaoyang explained with a smile.

Wang Zengqi nodded in understanding.

People in later generations know Wang Zengqi's name mostly because of "The Rite of Initiation". In the early 1980s, Wang Zengqi became famous in the literary world. Since then, he has published a series of influential novels and essays, becoming an important writer in the literary world in the 1980s and 1990s.

At this time, Wang Zengqi has just emerged from the buzzing mire, and has not even published a single decent work.

Years of wasted time have made Wang Zengqi less well-known in today's Chinese literary circles, but for the veterans in the Yenching literary circle, his name is not unfamiliar.

When he was at Yenching Literature and Art, he was Mr. Lao She's right-hand man; when he was at Folk Literature, although he was nominally an editor, his real power was the editor-in-chief; even when he was a model troupe of the Yenching Peking Opera Troupe, he participated in the creation of well-known plays such as Sha Jia Bang.

Putting aside political factors, Wang Zengqi had a considerable reputation in the Yenching literary world, and his friends included famous writers such as Lin Jinlan and Deng Youmei.

He came to People's Literature today because Wang Fu had visited him several times and was attracted by his new novel Biography of Cavalry.

This novel was written based on his experience of collecting folk songs on the grasslands in 1974 and writing the script for the Peking Opera "Beacon Fire on the Grassland", in which he learned about the revolutionary experiences of several veteran cadres in Inner Mongolia.

Coincidentally, Lin Chaoyang chatted with Wang Zengqi for a few words, and then said goodbye to Cui Daoyi.

After sending the preface, Lin Chaoyang no longer had to worry about the publication of the single volume of "Little Shoes".

He didn't take a break during the National Day holiday. His colleagues often covered for him on weekdays, so he had to return the favor occasionally.

This morning, he saw Ah Mao in front of the library, but compared to his previous optimism and cheerfulness, Ah Mao looked much more depressed after not seeing him for two or three months. "Ah Mao!" Lin Chaoyang waved to Ah Mao from a distance.

The two walked to the opposite side, and Lin Chaoyang asked: "It's been a long time since we last met, where have you been?"

"Hi, Lin." A Mao greeted Lin Chaoyang with a melancholy look on his face. "Nothing much. I went out for a trip and then went back to the United States."

The first thing Lin Chaoyang noticed was that A-Mao's Chinese became much more fluent. He could see that A-Mao was in a low mood, but since he didn't want to talk, he didn't ask too much.

After chatting for a few minutes, he was about to go to work in the museum, but when he turned around, he heard A Mao calling him.

"Lin, do you think that mankind's communist ideal will never be realized?"

The melancholy big golden retriever suddenly asked such a profound question, catching Lin Chaoyang off guard.

"Why do you ask that?"

The big golden retriever's expression was evasive, "Nothing."

Lin Chaoyang saw that the child was in trouble and needed some guidance.

"Amao, do you know what the word 'ideal' means in Chinese?"

A Mao shook his head.

"Ideal is a beautiful imagination and hope for future things, and a concept of something reaching its most perfect state, so you can understand it as the highest goal and pursuit that humans strive for. Do you know what word it is most often associated with?"

A Mao shook his head again.

"Struggle, pursue, and sacrifice for a lofty ideal."

Lin Chaoyang's eyes were sacred and solemn, which gradually infected A Mao, who was in a depressed mood. He kept muttering: "Ideal, ideal..."

Seeing that Ah Mao had regained some spirit after being fooled by him, he asked, "What have you been doing all this time?"

Ah Mao hesitated for a long time before he said, "I'm going on a trip."

"In America?"

"China."

Lin Chaoyang looked surprised, "How did you do it?"

"I got a fake letter of introduction."

Lin Chaoyang's face became even more shocked. He was shocked at A Mao's courage, and also shocked that he could still see him at Yan University.

"Tell me in detail, what happened?"

Curiosity is human nature. Lin Chaoyang follows the call of his heart, which cannot be called gossip.

"that is……"

Before, under the persuasion of Lin Chaoyang, A Mao developed a strong interest in revolution. In addition to reading the Selected Works of Mao every day, he also exercised. After a period of time, he felt that he had gradually reached the requirements of a revolutionist both mentally and physically.

So a bold idea came up: to walk around and take a look at China's largest rural areas.

These days, the country has very strict management over foreign students. Most of them are confined to Yanjing City. Even if they want to have dinner at their roommates' homes, they need approval from the International Students Management Office, let alone such long-term travel.

A Mao simply secretly got a blank letter of introduction from the International Students Management Office, and got a fake stamp, and took advantage of the summer vacation to swagger out of Yanjing City.

He traveled south by train, passing through Hebei and Anhui, and spent a full half month there before the local government discovered something fishy and called Yanda in person to verify it.

It turned out that A Mao did not have the permission of Yanda at all and was directly arrested as a spy.

In those days, anything involving foreigners was a big deal, and the locals didn't dare to do anything to A Mao and sent him back to Yanjing.

After returning to Yanjing, A Mao was detained for three days and was finally released with the mediation of the American Historical Institute.

A magical journey ended here. After being released, A Mao felt disheartened. He took advantage of the summer vacation to go back to the United States. He returned to school after the semester started. He has been living in a daze recently.

According to A Mao, he became discouraged not because he was arrested or treated unfairly, but because of what he saw and heard on his way south, which made him disillusioned with the communist ideals he held in his heart.

Since he went to study abroad, he has been staying in Yanjing. Although it is relatively backward compared with Western countries, it is still a city with the basic foundation of industrial civilization.

But A Mao traveled to many poor and backward rural areas along the way. The collision between his beautiful ideals and the harsh reality shattered his nascent idealism, and he has not recovered until now.

He couldn't understand why there were still so many poor and backward areas in China, thirty years after the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Lin Chaoyang didn't expect that A Mao would actually put his ideas into practice. Feeling the seriousness of this foreign boy, Lin Chaoyang felt a little embarrassed. He had been joking in his previous interactions.

He sincerely apologized to A Mao, but A Mao was a little at a loss.

"No, no, Lin, although you always have a light-hearted and humorous attitude, I can feel that you agree with the concept you are talking about."

"Of course!"

Jokes aside, if he didn't agree with it from the bottom of his heart, how could he have instilled those ideas into A Mao?

Putting aside his joking thoughts, Lin Chaoyang said to A Mao seriously:

"Amao, you still know too little about China. Count our enemies in the past thirty years: the United States, the Soviet Union, India, Vietnam...

The military strength of each country ranks among the top on the planet. It has taken up too much of our energy to be able to hold our own against these enemies, or even to achieve victory.

Lin Chaoyang's attitude was neither humble nor arrogant, and he had a strong sense of self-confidence that made people unconsciously trust his words.

Before they knew it, the two had been discussing for a long time, and Lin Chaoyang's discussion helped A Mao come out of his disappointment and frustration.

"I always liked to joke around before, so I'll treat it to your apology by inviting you to dinner at my house tonight."

At the end of the conversation, Lin Chaoyang patted A Mao on the shoulder and said.

Ah Mao said happily: "That's great."

(End of this chapter)