Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 79: Response to "Little Shoes"
Yenching University Journal is a weekly publication that is published every Tuesday and has four pages per issue.

Although it is only a school magazine, its distribution is not limited to the Yenching University campus. Many universities and academic and cultural institutions in Yenching City subscribe to it.

On the third Tuesday of May, the new issue of "Yenching University Journal" was officially published.

After finishing the class, Mr. Tao walked back to the office. He had just sat down to drink a sip of tea when Deng Guangming, who was sitting next to him, came over with a newspaper.

"Xiao Tao, come and have a look!"

"What are you looking at?"

"Your son-in-law has been published in the Colonel's Journal."

Deng Guangming is ten years older than Tao's father. His research direction is Song Dynasty history. He is known as the number one scholar of Song Dynasty history at home and abroad in the 20th century.

He calls Tao's father "Xiao Tao" not because he is taking advantage of his seniority, but because it is a habit that has been passed down for decades.

Father Tao took the newspaper. A few days ago, he heard his daughter mention the school magazine's interview with Lin Chaoyang, but he didn't take it too seriously.

For senior professors like them, publishing in the school magazine is just a normal thing.

However, he could also understand his daughter's feelings. His son-in-law was a top choice in terms of character, temperament, and talent. The only pity was that he came from a humble background.

But it was precisely because of his humble background that it was not easy for his name to appear in the Yenching University magazine.

While feeling relieved, Father Tao's eyes quickly scanned the words in the newspaper.

"Hmm?" His eyes stopped at a section of the interview and examined it carefully.

This brat is quite good at flattering.

After reading this interview, Tao's father showed a knowing smile on his face.

In an interview with the school magazine, Lin Chaoyang praised his wife Du Ruohui a lot. Although it was not quite true, Tao's father could understand his good intentions.

Over the past six months or so, he has seen how his wife treats her son-in-law.

It is rare for this child to be able to do this, and he deserves to be described as gentle, tolerant and considering the overall situation.

After dinner, Tao returned to the house and took out the school magazine and handed it to his wife, "Take a look!"

Tao's mother didn't understand what he meant. She took it and looked at it for a long time before she realized what her husband wanted her to see.

"He's also a good guy!"

Tao's mother was still harsh in her words, but her tone was much softer.

Father Tao said in a deep voice: "People are all made of flesh and blood. You are a bad person because of your mouth."

After being scolded by her husband, Tao's mother turned around unhappily and ignored him.

Tao's father smiled bitterly. His wife's temper has been like this since she was young. She has a bit of a spoiled daughter's temper. Most of the time, she is harsh with words. She can't be described as having a "sharp tongue but a soft heart", but she certainly doesn't have any bad intentions.

Adults are difficult to convince. His wife has seen the child's attitude, and Tao's father has no way to force her. He only hopes that his wife can accept this son-in-law from the bottom of her heart, and the family can live in harmony.

In the past one or two months, the news that the library administrator Lin Chaoyang is Xu Lingjun, who wrote "The Shepherd", has been circulating on the Yanda campus.

Some time ago, "Yenching Literature and Art" once again published Xu Lingjun's work "Little Shoes", which also attracted the attention and heated discussion of students.

In the past two days, the "Yenching University Journal" published an interview with Lin Chaoyang by the editor of the editorial department. For a while, Lin Chaoyang's name became a hot word on the Yenching University campus, and students were discussing him privately.

From being born in the countryside, to being the son-in-law of a Yenching University professor, and then to being a cutting-edge writer, Lin Chaoyang's experience is an inspirational legend.

Taking advantage of the popularity of the interview in the school magazine, Chen Jiangong found Lin Chaoyang on behalf of the May Fourth Literary Society and made a request to him.

"Let me give a speech?"

Lin Chaoyang looked at Chen Jiangong with surprise on his face.

"Yes, the students are very interested in you now, and everyone hopes that you can come and give us a speech." Chen Jiangong said excitedly.

"I'm not good at public speaking, and I don't have much to say."

"Just think of it as an exchange! Don't feel pressured. Your experience is very inspiring to us students. Just share your experience."

Lin Chaoyang pondered whether to agree to this matter, but Chen Jiangong said, "Comrade Yushu will definitely want you to participate."

Hearing this, Lin Chaoyang looked at Chen Jiangong fiercely, knowing that he was using Tao Yushu to put pressure on him.

Lin Chaoyang knew without thinking that it must have been Zou Shifang who told him.

That day, Guan Qingsong and Zou Shifang were going to interview Lin Chaoyang. Tao Yushu was even more enthusiastic than the interviewee Lin Chaoyang. Anyone could see her inner hope that her husband would become successful.

When he got home in the evening, Lin Chaoyang told Tao Yushu about the invitation from the May Fourth Literary Society. She was really excited and urged him to attend. She also enthusiastically inspired Lin Chaoyang's speech content. It's so hard for me to have such a motivated wife!
The May Fourth Literary Society was one of the earliest student societies at Yenching University. As it coincided with an era of vigorous literary development, its appeal was naturally self-evident within the university.

The news that scar literature writer Xu Lingjun would be invited by the May Fourth Literary Society to give a speech spread throughout the Yanjing University campus in less than two days due to the enthusiastic spread of the members.

Not only that, the news is also spreading to several surrounding universities.

In the past six months, the whirlwind of scar literature created by "The Shepherd" is still continuing, and Xu Lingjun's name has become more and more famous in the domestic literary world with the spread of the novel.

This month, "Yanjing Literature and Art" published "Little Shoes". This novel presents a style and content that is completely different from "The Shepherd". It abandons the elements of scar literature and firmly focuses on the countryside and reality.

Although the style has changed, the core remains the same. All readers who have read "Little Shoes" can tell at a glance that this is the Xu Lingjun they are familiar with.

Less than a month after the publication of "Little Shoes", the response from the literary community had not yet spread, but "Yenching Literature and Art" had already received thousands of letters from readers, which is rare in the history of "Yenching Literature and Art".

Even in March, when Fang Zhi's "The Traitor" was published in the magazine and received wide acclaim from readers and critics, the editorial department only received a few hundred letters from readers in the first half month.

And the vast majority of these letters are readers' praises for the novel and the author himself.

Warmth, sunshine, positivity...

This type of positive words frequently appears in the letters, which also illustrates the positive energy that readers gain from the novel.

Judging from the number of letters from readers, readers' enthusiasm for "Little Shoes" is far greater than that for "The Traitor", which makes the editors think of the grand occasion after the publication of "The Shepherd".

The influence of a literary work is built up through letters from readers.

These days, readers are very enthusiastic about reading literary works and writing letters to magazines, publishing houses, editorial departments, and authors. The readers who write letters come from all walks of life, including students from many universities in Yenching.

Unlike most readers who read novels for fun, whether due to cultural reasons or identity reasons, these college students always have a critical eye when looking at literary works.

Compared with the overwhelming praise among ordinary readers, "Little Shoes" caused quite a controversy among students at Yenching University. The focus of the debate was on whether the warm and affectionate rural society revealed in the novel was distorted.

Now that the news has spread that Yan University is inviting Xu Lingjun to give a speech, many college students are eager to get involved.

Among these people, there are not only readers who truly like "The Horse Shepherd" and "Little Shoes", but also many argumentative people who want to take this opportunity to communicate (tai) (gang) with Xu Lingjun.

Originally, the May Fourth Literary Society invited Lin Chaoyang to give a speech, planning only to hold a small event. There were more than a hundred members in the society, and at most two or three hundred young literary people on campus.

But since the news spread, Zhang Youhua, Zou Shifang, Chen Jiangong and others have successively received messages from student groups of major universities in Yenching University, saying that many students hope to participate in this speech event and hope that they can expand the scale.

"This is how to do?"

Several people gathered together to discuss it. Based on what they knew, the scale of this speech event might be far beyond their expectations. The venue they had prepared before, as well as their organizational capabilities, were simply not enough to cope with it.

"Let's go find a school!" Zhang Youhua is the president, and his first reaction was to ask the school for help.

After some discussion, Zou Shifang and Chen Jiangong also thought that this method was the safest, and they went straight to the office of Vice President Zhang Longxiang. Zhang Longxiang was in charge of school affairs including student activities of Yanda University.

In later times, it is hard to imagine that a few students would dare to break into the vice-president’s office and express their demands for a student activity.

But this is not a problem in the current Yan University. The arrival of several uninvited guests surprised Zhang Longxiang a little, but he still entertained them politely and listened carefully to their requests.

After understanding the situation, he told the few people directly without any official language.

"On the morning of June 6, the dining hall will be at your disposal. The Security Department will send ten more security guards to assist with your literary club's activities. How do you think that works?"

Chen Jiangong and the others were overjoyed when they heard this, and hurriedly bowed to Zhang Longxiang to express their gratitude, "Thank you, Principal Zhang!"

Zhang Longxiang's smile is sincere and full of the demeanor of a humble elder.

“Holding such a speech event can broaden students’ horizons, which is a good thing. However, the students’ enthusiasm for participation is too high, especially with students from other schools participating. The school’s participation is indeed necessary, and you are doing the right thing in this regard.”

After receiving Zhang Longxiang's affirmation, they were even happier and worked even harder to organize the speech after returning.

It was originally just a small speech organized by a student club, but with the participation of Yanda University, it was moved directly to the dining hall. The members of the literature club cheered when they learned the news.

The reason why everyone is so excited is related to the special status of the dining hall in Yanda.

The dining hall was built after the major reorganization of colleges and departments in 1952. In addition to serving as the canteen for Yenching University students, it is also the most memorable venue for activities for Yenching University students.

Yan University is always ahead of the society and the times. The large dining hall connects the dormitories and teaching areas. It is bustling all day long and is a hub for information exchange inside and outside the school.

In April 1957, Ma Yinchu gave a speech here entitled “New Population Theory”, proposing that birth control and population control were urgent choices for social development.

From then on, the dining hall became the venue for such important events and speeches.

The dining hall also serves as an auditorium for large-scale meetings, film screenings, art performances and dances.

The May Fourth Literary Society has organized so many activities, but this is the first time that the dining hall has been used. Everyone generally believes that this event is a milestone for the May Fourth Literary Society.

(End of this chapter)