Literary Master 1978

The next morning, Lin Chaoyang got up and opened the curtains. The outside was covered with snow, and the yard was covered with thick snow.

"It hasn't snowed so heavily in several years!" Tao Yushu said.

"Yes, we have to sweep the snow again."

Lin Chaoyang put on his clothes and came to the yard. He picked up a big broom specially used for sweeping the yard and started sweeping the snow.

This is the bad thing about living in a courtyard house. You have to clean the yard frequently. The key is that their yard is big.

Tao Yushu went to make breakfast, and Tao Yumo stood under the eaves holding Xiao Dongdong and directed Lin Chaoyang to work.

"Brother-in-law, that place is not clean."

"This place, this place is swept like a dog, you sweep it carefully!"

"My nephew wants to see a snowman, you build a snowman for my nephew!"

Lin Chaoyang stopped and asked unhappily: "Is it your nephew who wants to see it, or you?"

"It's the same, it's the same."

Holding his nephew in his arms, Tao Yumo had the courage to "use the emperor to command the princes".

The habit of rebellion should not be tolerated. Lin Chaoyang threw the broom and came over to take the child from Tao Yumo's hand, "You go and sweep!"

"Why should I sweep?" Tao Yumo said unconvinced.

"Fifty cents!"

"Do I care about your fifty cents?"

Tao Yumo was not happy with his words, but his body was honest. Working to earn money is not bad!

When Tao Yushu came to call for dinner, Tao Yumo's head was smoking from sweeping. These fifty cents are really hard to earn!

After dinner, Tao Yushu prepared to go to work. It was easy to fall on a bike that day, so she simply took the bus to work.

Before leaving, she suddenly remembered something, took a set of Lin Chaoyang's old clothes from the closet, and said hello to Lin Chaoyang before leaving.

Arriving at the editorial office of "People's Literature", she said hello to her colleagues and went upstairs. There were two rooms reserved for writers from other places to revise their manuscripts in Beijing. Yu Hua lived in one of them.

There were two iron beds in the room and a desk in the middle. The conditions were not difficult, but they were indeed very ordinary.

"How was your stay last night?" Tao Yushu asked Yu Hua.

"It was pretty good. There is heating here. It's more comfortable than my home, but it's a bit dry."

After staying here for a night, Yu Hua's lips were dry. He was a Zhejiang native and came to the north for the first time. He was not used to the climate here.

Tao Yushu said: "If you feel dry, you can sprinkle some water on the ground, which can relieve it a little. Have you had breakfast?"

"I have."

After chatting about life for a while, Tao Yushu told Yu Hua some precautions for revising the manuscript. Yu Hua felt that he benefited a lot after listening to it, and thanked Tao Yushu.

"Okay, I won't bother you anymore. You can revise the manuscript. If you have any questions, come downstairs to find me, or talk to other people in our editorial department."

"Okay, thank you, Teacher Tao."

Yu Hua was about to see Tao Yushu off. When Tao Yushu stood up, he pointed to the bag he brought when he came in and said: "The clothes you brought are too thin, and you can't wear them in Yanjing. These are my wife's old clothes. You can wear them for emergency."

Listening to Tao Yushu's words, Yu Hua felt warm in his heart. If he couldn't revise the manuscript well, he would be sorry for Teacher Tao's care.

After Tao Yushu left, Yu Hua picked up the clothes she sent and tried them out. They were old clothes, but they were newer than the clothes he wore when he came. The key point was that they were winter clothes, which were much warmer than his clothes.

Yu Hua tried on the clothes. Except for the cuffs being a little big, the rest of the clothes were quite suitable. Considering the height of Teacher Tao's wife, it was normal to be a little bigger.

He took off his clothes and changed back into his own clothes. The temperature in the room was just right for this one.

After trying on the clothes, he sat down at the desk and it was time to revise the manuscript.

Time passed quickly and it was afternoon. The editorial department of "People's Literature" was quiet. At this moment, the editors were reviewing the manuscripts seriously. Yu Hua knocked on the door and entered the office of the novel group.

When Tao Yushu saw him coming, she thought he had some questions, but Yu Hua handed her the manuscript and said, "Teacher Tao, I have finished revising this manuscript, but I don't know if it is good enough. Please help me take a look."

New authors are usually at a loss when revising manuscripts, and they have to spend two days to get into the state. Tao Yushu just thought he was a newborn calf who was not afraid of tigers and made random revisions.

Unexpectedly, when she picked it up, she found that the revision was actually very good.

She read it carefully and seriously, and her surprise became greater and greater. After looking at it, it seemed that the manuscript was really revised.

Tao Yushu raised her head, smiled with satisfaction and praised, "Okay, Yu Hua, I really didn't expect that you could revise it so well for the first time, and the key is that you are fast. It took only one day to revise it!"

Hearing this, Yu Hua showed a look of joy, "Teacher Tao, is it really okay?"

"No problem."

"Then...then..." Yu Hua hesitated, wanting to say something but stopped.

Seeing his expression, how could Tao Yushu not understand what he wanted to ask, "Once the manuscript is revised, it can be published."

Yu Hua was immediately overjoyed, "Thank you, Teacher Tao!"

"Why thank me? You revised it well yourself..."

Tao Yushu praised Yu Hua, which also aroused the curiosity of other colleagues in the office about Yu Hua. It was rare for a newcomer who had not published a work to be so efficient in revising the manuscript.

Cui Daoyi teased, "Xiao Yu, you revised the manuscript too hard, you won't get the subsidy!"

The editorial department has subsidies for writers from other places who come to Beijing to revise manuscripts, two yuan a day, and accommodation is arranged, mainly to solve their food problems.

Cui Daoyi's words were originally a joke, but Yu Hua really regretted it after hearing it.

At this time, he had just started working for a short time and earned more than 20 yuan a month. He could earn 2 yuan a day for editing manuscripts, which means 60 yuan a month.

This was much more money than when he was working!

"Old Cui, can you teach young people something good?" Tao Yushu complained to Cui Daoyi and said to Yu Hua, "Don't listen to his nonsense. If you edit the manuscript quickly, won't you get the royalties earlier?"

Yu Hua felt that what Teacher Tao said made sense, but he had to take the two-yuan subsidy. Fortunately, he came here not to edit one novel, but two.

He was determined to edit the remaining novel slowly.

After get off work, Tao Yushu returned home and saw Lin Chaoyang walking in the yard with a refreshed face, so he told him that Yu Hua had finished editing the manuscript in less than a day.

"I think his speed is about the same as yours."

"That proves that you are right. He is indeed a good seedling worth cultivating."

After dinner, Tao Yushu saw that Lin Chaoyang did not go into the study to revise the manuscript as usual, and asked: "Aren't you going to revise the manuscript today?"

"I will send it out tomorrow after I finish it!"

Tao Yushu said with surprise: "Oh! I was wrong. Your efficiency is much higher than Yu Hua!"

Lin Chaoyang looked indifferent, "It's okay!"

The couple have been married for almost five years. Looking at his appearance, Tao Yushu knew that he was pretending to be reserved and must be very proud in his heart!

At night, Tao Yumo rubbed his wrist and found Lin Chaoyang, "Brother-in-law, the manuscripts have been copied."

It turned out that copying the manuscripts was all Tao Yushu's job. Now she is too busy at work and often brings manuscripts back home at night, so this job was handed over to Tao Yumo

So Tao Yumo now works two jobs, taking care of the children during the day and copying manuscripts at night. It is a bit tiring, but the reward is really good, three yuan a day!

After a winter vacation, she earned three months' salary, not to mention that she still received the salary from the school.

It's really great!

However, there are sequelae after making this money. Tao Yumo's shoulders and wrists hurt a lot from copying manuscripts recently. She said to Lin Chaoyang:

"Brother-in-law, I think you should buy a typewriter!"

Lin Chaoyang thought about it and said: "Your suggestion makes sense. The typewriter in our library is good for me, but it's a pity that I'm not used to using this thing when writing novels. I still feel better when writing by hand."

Tao Yumo said actively: "You can let me use it!"

Lin Chaoyang glanced at her and said, "For you? Then we have to discuss the price of copying the manuscript again."

Tao Yumo's face fell, "Ah? How can you be like this?"

"What's wrong with me? It's easy for you to use a typewriter, but not for me. Otherwise, why don't you buy one? Anyway, you can use it in the future."

Tao Yumo's eyes immediately became alert, and he almost held his purse tightly, "I don't have money!"

Lin Chaoyang shook his head, "You are not poor, you love money like your life!"

"Humph!"

Ten days before the Chinese New Year, the Spring Festival atmosphere in Yanjing City has gradually become stronger, and Yu Hua has been in the editorial department of "People's Literature" for five or six days.

He came to Yanjing this time to revise two manuscripts, one is "Stars" and the other is "You Go, I Go", both of which are short stories.

It took him one day to revise "Stars", but he learned that there was a subsidy for revising the manuscript, so he started to dawdle when revising "You Go, I Go", and it took three or four days.

If it were other newcomers, this efficiency would be normal, but Yu Hua made a big splash as soon as he arrived at the editorial department, revising a manuscript in one day.

He suddenly slowed down when he wrote the second article. Not only did Tao Yushu feel that something was wrong, he himself felt that it was a bit fake.

For that little subsidy, Yu Hua felt that his heart was tormented.

On Saturday evening, he was dawdling in the dormitory, and Zhu Wei downstairs suddenly came to him, "Hey, Yu Hua, we have a party tomorrow, are you going?"

Yu Hua was revising manuscripts upstairs these days, and he would go to the editorial department from time to time to find an opportunity to chat with the editors.

It was rare to come to "People's Literature" to revise manuscripts, so of course he wanted to get to know these editors and get familiar with them.

Zhu Wei was a few years older than him, and he was not arrogant, so the two quickly became familiar with each other.

Hearing Zhu Wei's invitation, Yu Hua suddenly became happy. He was happy not only because he could follow Zhu Wei to meet people and see the world, but more importantly, he had a reason to delay the manuscript for another day or two.

"What kind of party?"

"It's just a gathering of a few friends, all of whom are local writers in Yanjing, Li Tuo, Chen Jiangong, Zhang Chengzhi, Zheng Wanlong and others."

Yu Hua's eyes lit up every time he heard a name. The people mentioned by Zhu Wei are all well-known young writers today. If he remembered correctly, several of them have won the National Excellent Short Story Award.

Yu Hua couldn't help but feel happy when he thought that he could go to such a party.

The next morning, Yu Hua followed the route Zhu Wei pointed out to him and came to Li Tuo's house near Dongda Bridge.

"You are Yu Hua, right?" As soon as he entered Li Tuo's house, Yu Hua was pulled by the enthusiastic Li Tuo.

Li Tuo's enthusiasm made Yu Hua, who was from Zhejiang, a little uncomfortable, but soon he was moved by Li Tuo's frankness and sincerity, and put down the burden in his heart.

Yu Hua was the second person to come today. The first one to come was Zhang Chengzhi. After the two of them, Chen Jiangong, Zhu Wei, Zheng Wanlong, Zhong Acheng, He Zhiyun, Chen Jianyu and others came one after another.

Yu Hua was pulled by Li Tuo to get to know everyone. Among these people were writers whose works he had only seen in magazines before, and editors whose identities made him in awe.

Standing in front of these people, Yu Hua felt that he had no confidence.

"Yu Hua is a very clever writer. Yushu is very optimistic about him and specially asked him to come to Yanjing to revise the manuscript this time."

Zhu Wei brought Yu Hua to the party, and of course he had to praise Yu Hua a few words. These few words gave Yu Hua something to rely on, and his work would be published soon.

Except for Yu Hua, these people in today's party are all old friends. Because it is approaching the end of the year, Li Tuocai proposed to hold today's party.

Li Tuo's house is not big, and seven guests came at once, making the space in the house a bit cramped.

Chen Jiangong thought fondly at this time: "It's better to gather at Chaoyang's house. It's a big place, so you can do whatever you want!"

Li Tuo was very unhappy when he heard this, "You are greedy for enjoyment at a young age. I think you have no chance of becoming a writer!"

"Do writers deserve to be poor? Mr. Lu Xun still lives in a courtyard house!"

The two of them were noisy, and the others looked at it happily, and they were not idle, wishing that the two of them would have a fight.

After Chen Jiangong and Li Tuoyan stopped talking, everyone returned to serious matters and chatted about topics of interest to them.

Yu Hua looked a little confused as he listened to the words "Hegel", "Popper Theory", "Sartre" and many other words that popped out from everyone's mouth. It was obvious that everyone was talking in Chinese, but he just listened for a long time. I couldn't understand what these people were saying.

He couldn't help but feel a little ashamed of his ignorance, and he increasingly felt that these people were like stars in the sky, beyond his reach.

Perhaps aware of Yu Hua's predicament, Zhu Wei smiled and said to him: "Although they are chatting happily, in fact, all of them are half-understood. Let Chaoyang give you a class tomorrow, that will be called gaining knowledge." !”

Zhu Wei's words comforted Yu Hua a little. He asked curiously: "Old Zhu, I always hear you say 'Chaoyang' and 'Chaoyang'. Are you talking about Teacher Tao's lover?"

Yu Hua remembered that on the day he came to Yanjing, Teacher Tao's lover came to pick her up from get off work. Before he could finish introducing the two of them, he was interrupted by Liu Jianqing.

He only remembered that Teacher Tao's lover was called "Chaoyang", and today he heard everyone mention "Chaoyang". These people seemed to be familiar with Teacher Tao, so he asked this question.

Zhu Wei looked at Yu Hua in surprise, with a subtle expression.

"Don't you know?"

"Know what?"

"Yushu's lover is Lin Chaoyang!"