Literary Master 1978

"Yenching Literature" is a comprehensive literary journal, with short stories, poems and other themes as the main content.

Because of the previous dinner party, writers who have won national awards sent Tao Yushu a lot of manuscripts, mostly short stories, which can be regarded as a mutual benefit for both parties.

Tao Yushu has been working for a few months, but her work results are more dazzling than those of many colleagues who have worked for two or three years. Leaders value her and colleagues envy her.

She herself is more demanding of herself and treats every manuscript more carefully and meticulously.

Influenced by her school habits, she also has a "bad habit" of taking manuscripts home. Because she is sleepy due to pregnancy recently, she often falls asleep while reading manuscripts.

Whenever this happens, Lin Chaoyang always teases her that "she has led to the bad atmosphere of overtime in the editorial department" and "promotes passive comparison among colleagues."

Tao Yushu also used her spare time to work overtime even when she was pregnant, but Lin Chaoyang was the opposite. Since she became pregnant, he not only took more leave than before, but also slacked off to a madman, leaving early was commonplace.

He did not pursue advancement in the unit, and was not afraid of criticism from his superiors.

This afternoon, he ran away before four o'clock and came to the gate of the Cultural Bureau to wait for Tao Yushu to get off work.

Accompanied by Geng Chuanfeng, the two of them walked around the West Courtyard. After a month of renovation, the West Courtyard can be said to be brand new.

The first and third courtyards are traditional Chinese courtyard styles, and they are still simple and elegant after renovation. The building of the second courtyard is Western style, and it looks more fashionable than before.

Especially the two French plane trees in the courtyard, the fresh and small new leaves gradually grow into dark green large leaves after the spring, and the branches and leaves of the plane trees grow wildly after every spring rain.

The lavender morning glory of early spring has disappeared, replaced by more flying catkins in the yard.

These flying catkins are a little annoying, but compared with the pleasure brought to the owner by the gradually full and dense tree crowns, this annoyance seems to be nothing.

Tao Yushu looked up at the crowns of the two sycamore trees, imagining that in midsummer they would crisscross on the roof and cover the sky in the yard, and his heart suddenly became cool.

"This yard is a good place to escape the summer heat!"

Lin Chaoyang also laughed, "More than just escaping the summer heat. The breeze is gentle, the branches and leaves are swaying, adding a bit of leisure and leisure. This will be our home in the future."

The couple has bought three houses so far, but in terms of elegant environment and superior geographical location, Huaqiao Apartment and Mianhua Hutong can hardly compare to Xiaoliubukou Hutong.

Tao Yushu couldn't help but yearn for it when he heard his words.

After appreciating the scenery in the yard for a while, the couple discussed moving again.

Lin Chaoyang bought this house to make it convenient for Tao Yushu to go to and from get off work. Now that the west courtyard has been cleaned up, of course he has to move in early.

After discussing what to move, the couple left.

When they returned to the Overseas Chinese Apartment, the security guard at the door said that a package had been sent. Lin Chaoyang took a look at the sender on it and saw that it was Lu Wenfu. He knew it in his heart.

When he returned home, he opened the package and saw that it was wrapped in kraft paper.

There are two layers of kraft paper inside and outside. The outer layer is kraft paper with good moisture resistance, and the inner layer is rough paper with good moisture absorption. This wrapping method is called rolling wrapping, which is a common method for piling and storing green tea.

Through the thick kraft paper, you can smell a refreshing fragrance. After opening it, it is indeed the tea leaves that have been fried.

Last year, Lu Wenfu said he would send him tea, and this year he really sent it.

"This tea smells so good!" Tao Yushu smelled the smell of tea and was a little intoxicated.

Lu Wenfu sent the best Biluochun, the new tea of ​​the spring.

After receiving the tea, Lin Chaoyang naturally had to write back to express his gratitude. Tao Yushu said, "I'll buy some specialties tomorrow and send them out together."

"Okay."

On a weekend, Lin Chaoyang got two carts to move the house, and the coolies were Li Tuo, Chen Jiangong, Zhang Chengzhi and others.

These guys often come to the house for free meals, and they can't be left out for moving. They all come to eat for free meals.

"Be gentle, be gentle! The box I put in is porcelain from the Ming Dynasty."

"Don't move it like that, oh, my painting!"

Li Tuo and his men worked carelessly. When they moved things, Lin Chaoyang was like a landlord staring at the farmhands working, watching them move things and shouting with heartache.

"Master Lin, why don't you find a few real farmhands. It's not worth it for us to just eat for free meals." Li Tuo complained.

"You raise soldiers for a thousand days and use them for a moment. Do you think those meals are free?"

"Black-hearted landlords!"

The few people mocked each other and moved the things away in one trip.

The Overseas Chinese Apartment is nearly ten kilometers away from Xiaoliubukou Hutong. It took a whole morning to go there. Lunch was arranged by Zhang Guiqin. After a morning of physical work, Li Tuo and his friends ate voraciously, almost squatting on the doorstep with their bowls in their hands.

After lunch, they toured the houses again.

Chen Jiangong said, "Your yard is really big. It will be no problem for four generations to live together in the future."

"It's better to make it bigger, so that he won't have no place to put his antiques."

Tao Yushu had no objection to Lin Chaoyang's collection, but he had a lot of objections to the antiques that filled up the house.

Before, the Overseas Chinese Apartment was only more than 100 square meters, and it became crowded when antiques were placed. Now it's better.

This courtyard house in Xiaoliubukou Hutong covers an area of ​​2,000 square meters. If it is fully repaired, it will have 40 or 50 houses. Lin Chaoyang can put it in whatever he wants.

After walking around, a few people sat under the verandah and enjoyed the spring breeze.

Lin Chaoyang made a pot of tea for everyone, "Let's try the Biluochun newly sent by Lu Wenfu."

Chen Jiangong took a sip of tea and said, "Well, it tastes better than scented tea."

"You're not talking nonsense!"

People in Yanjing have the habit of drinking scented tea, especially jasmine tea. In the early years, the well water in Yanjing city had a strong alkaline smell. Scented tea has a strong smell, which can cover up the alkaline smell of the well water.

"Why did he only bring you tea?" Li Tuo asked Lin Chaoyang.

Lin Chaoyang glanced at him, "Why don't you send it to me? Did you treat him to dinner?"

"What's the big deal about having a meal?"

Li Tuo's style is typical of scolding the cook when he's full.

Just when Lin Chaoyang wanted to stimulate him, Zhang Chengzhi changed the topic and said enviously: "Such a large courtyard house was only enjoyed by dignitaries in the past. Chaoyang's move is really extraordinary."

"After all the messy calculations, it's only a small amount of 20,000 yuan. It's all repaired, and 20,000 yuan can't stop it."

“I’m really willing to spend money!”

"No, it's really about making money. If you could write a novel in a few months like him, you could live in such a big yard."

Chen Jiangong's words made Li Tuo look gloomy. In the past two years, his main focus has been on movies, and the output of novels has declined sharply.

It's not that he doesn't want to write, it's actually that he found that he had stopped and rested for a year or two, and the latecomers had left him far behind, which made people feel a little frustrated. Recently, he has devoted his energy to literature again. The urge to comment upvotes.

"It's better to make money by writing novels!" Li Tuo sighed.

Zhang Chengzhi objected, "This is wrong. You have to be able to publish novels and have high output. Taxi drivers are quite profitable. They can easily make four to five hundred a month by driving to the airport or parking outside a foreign-related hotel." piece."

"This is hard-earned money, and it has to be speculation... You can't say that. It's called business now, and that's called making money. If you do well, one month can be as good as two or three years for the likes of us."

The three of them were jealous, and Lin Chaoyang suggested: "It's so good, you guys should do it too!"

The three of them shook their heads together, and their attitudes were surprisingly unanimous, "Forget it. We don't have the fortune to make a fortune, so it would be nice to engage in literary and artistic work."

"I haven't seen you produce many works!" Lin Chaoyang's sarcasm was heart-wrenching.

Li Tuo's eyes were angry, Chen Jiangong also looked sullen, but Zhang Chengzhi's expression was calm.

Anyone who is anxious will know that they have been hit in a sore spot. Li Tuo and Chen Jiangong only write short stories, and there have been no new works published recently.

Zhang Chengzhi just published the novella "The Black Horse" in "Yanjing Literature" in March, which has received a lot of praise from the literary circle and readers.

It is a pity that this novel was published at the same time as Lin Chaoyang's "Shutter Island", and the limelight was completely stolen, and it did not have much influence.

Whether it was sarcasm or ridicule between friends, it was mostly a joke, and no one would take it seriously. After laughing for a while, several people were ready to say goodbye and leave.

Before leaving, I didn't forget to take some tea leaves sent by Lu Wenfu, saying euphemistically: Don't favor one over the other.

When Lin Chaoyang returned to the main room in the west courtyard, Zhang Guiqin and Tao Yushu had already finished cleaning it.

Lin Chaoyang made tea for them both, "Let's have a rest."

Zhang Guiqin sat down to drink tea and said to Lin Chaoyang: "I used to hope that you could take root in Yanjing and have your own home. When we bought the overseas Chinese apartment, your father and I were quite happy. Now, the house is good. There are more and more, and they are getting bigger and bigger. It’s almost impossible to clean them just by cleaning them.”

"It's okay. I'll invite someone later."

Hearing this, Zhang Guiqin suddenly became anxious, "Inviting someone? Why are you inviting someone?"

"Wash, rinse, cook, or nanny for short." Lin Chaoyang said a wisecrack.

Zhang Guiqin's face was extremely serious, "I have two dollars to burn you. How can someone hire a nanny at home? You have no hands and feet, or I have no hands and feet."

"Didn't you say that cleaning is too tiring!"

"What's wrong with being tired? Isn't it right for farmers to be tired?"

Lin Chaoyang and Tao Yushu looked at each other and chose to shut up very well.

The next day, Lin Chaoyang brought a can of Biluochun to work and placed it at the front desk of the library.

"My friend just sent me a new tea. Let's try it."

Du Rong joked: "Are you using these small favors to bribe us again?"

It was common for Lin Chaoyang to ask for leave, be late, and leave early. Most of the time, he would ask a few colleagues in the library for help, so he would bring something to everyone from time to time.

"This is called a selfless gift between friends. You are vulgar!"

Du Rong said with disgust, brewing tea faster than anyone else.

The water vapor in the tea cup rose, exuding waves of fragrance, "Well, it smells much better than Gao Xiao."

High broken pieces are the tea leaves that were sifted out when tea was sifted in Yanjing tea shops in the old days, so they are also called high broken pieces. This kind of broken pieces are discarded and useless in other places.

But for the poor people in Yanjing at that time, it was a rare raw material for tea drinks. Over time, the common people in Yanjing developed the habit of drinking high-end tea.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, all units also distributed high-quality powder to their employees, and this tea had a new name, called labor protection tea.

"What you said is wrong. High-end tea is essentially good tea. How else would it be called high-end tea?

It's just a poor description, it belongs to the life of a young lady and a maid. "

Lin Chaoyang's tone was humorous, and Du Rong was amused by him, "Okay, then we will accept it with pleasure!"

Today, Du Rong and Zheng Tongjiang were on duty at the front desk. When Du Rong was talking to Lin Chaoyang, Zheng Tongjiang had already started drinking, saying while drinking, "Good tea! Good tea!"

"Old Zheng, you are not afraid of heat."

"You should drink hot tea, and marry a fat wife. You young people don't understand."

After a while of chatting and laughing, Lin Chaoyang was about to go to the library upstairs when there was a sudden noise outside.