Literary Master 1978

After being moved, Tao Yushu went to open the canvas bag she used for school.

"I originally wanted to wait until the Chinese New Year to give it to you."

As Tao Yushu spoke, he took out a blue box from his canvas bag. On the front was the trademark composed of Chinese characters for "沪上" and at the bottom was the Chinese pinyin for "上海上".

"watch?"

"Um."

Tao Yushu opened the watch box and revealed the bright silver watch inside. This is a Shanghai brand 7120 watch. The strap is made of all steel and the dial is made of plexiglass. In this day and age, wearing this watch is definitely a status symbol.

"Put it on and take a look."

Tao Yushu put the watch on Lin Chaoyang's wrist, looked at each other, and said happily: "It's a perfect fit!"

"How much did it cost?"

"With the watch and ticket, the total cost is one hundred and sixty."

One hundred and sixty yuan, almost catching up with Lin Chaoyang's four months' salary.

“Too expensive!”

Lin Chaoyang felt a little pain in his body. He had been struggling for three months, but his small treasury was not enough to buy a watch.

This damn life!

Tao Yushu raised his arm and looked at it again, and said nonchalantly: "I originally wanted to take it out during the Chinese New Year. Besides, you work outside, so it's convenient to have a watch to tell the time."

These days, having a watch is not only a convenient way to tell the time, it also invisibly elevates a worker's status. To use an analogy from later generations, it is probably equivalent to getting an iPhone 13 years ago.

The couple gave each other gifts, and they were like glue to each other.

If it weren't for the broken bed at home, Lin Chaoyang would have already taken up the gun.

At the same time, he felt a little bit guilty about the small treasury.

"Hey, how much savings does our family have now?" Lin Chaoyang asked Tao Yushu.

"Including what mom gave me, there are still six hundred and eighty-five yuan."

"There are so many more?" Lin Chaoyang was a little surprised. His wife bought him a watch for 160 yuan.

"Your salary, my subsidy, plus the twenty yuan dad gave me last month."

Lin Chaoyang glanced at his wife speechlessly. You only said that your mother-in-law favored your uncle, but you didn't even mention a word about your father-in-law favoring you!

Looking at it this way, the sister-in-law who is making noises at home is actually not loved by her father and mother?

Lin Chaoyang suddenly felt a little sad for his sister-in-law when he thought about it.

When he thought that the couple's combined savings amounted to nearly 700 yuan, Lin Chaoyang's uneasy conscience disappeared. At least I also had a share of the credit.

The end of December is a weekend, so I can take a Sunday off. Plus a day off on New Year's Day, that's two days of rest.

Motivated by Tao's mother, Tao's home was cleaned inside and out. There was less than a month left before the Spring Festival of 1979. If we tidy up now, we can save a lot of work during the New Year.

After the New Year's Day holiday, the Yanda campus became a bit desolate.

Various colleges and departments are preparing for final exams, and there are far fewer active students on campus than usual.

At this time, the study room in the Yanda Library will be full. On the contrary, the work in the borrowing office is much easier than before. The students are focusing on the final exam and putting all their study energy on the books. It’s time to borrow books.

On this day, Lin Chaoyang finally received the payment slip from Shanghai Literature and Art.

The manuscript he submitted to "Shanghai Literature and Art" this time was still a short story, but it was much longer than "Wrangler", a full 28,000 words.

The standard remuneration offered by "Shanghai Literature and Art" was six yuan per thousand words, which was more generous than that of "Yenjing Literature and Art". He earned 168 yuan in royalties at once, which was higher than the two articles he published in "Yenjing Literature and Art".

No matter how many words you have, it’s really profitable!

However, one regret is that he used a new vest again when submitting articles to "Shanghai Literature and Art". Continuing the previous idea, his pen name directly used the name of the male protagonist of the novel.

As the saying goes, what good writer doesn't have a few vestments?

If the words "Xu Lingjun" are used, the fee for a 1,000-word manuscript will have to rise even more.

You can't be too greedy, Lin Chaoyang warned himself.

I had nothing to do at work in the afternoon. Lin Chaoyang was holding a copy of Hao Ran's "The Cotai Strip".

When he was a young literary man, he read a lot of foreign masterpieces in order to show his talent, but he dismissed the works of many domestic famous writers.

Now that I have matured and have time, I would like to make up for these works.

Haoran's works are the product of the typical "three prominence" creative principles, that is, the positive characters should be highlighted among all the characters; the heroic characters should be highlighted among the positive characters; and the main heroic characters should be highlighted among the heroic characters.

In the 1950s and 1960s, "Sunny Day" and "Cotai Strip" were his highlight moments. But after the reform and opening up, his creative style quickly became outdated.

There is not only the issue of updating and iteration of the literary style itself, but also a great influence of political factors.

Regardless of political factors, Lin Chaoyang always believes that works such as "The Cotai Strip" are worthy of recognition and should be passed down.

Some people say that literature cannot be a stereotyped praise, but they don’t say that they have to describe it in the sewer, right?

One flower blooming alone is not spring, but a hundred flowers blooming together fills the garden.

"Chaoyang!"

While Lin Chaoyang was reading, an acquaintance came to the closed library desk.

Ever since Liu Zhenyun found out that Lin Chaoyang was one year younger than him, the news spread quickly. No one in the seventh-level Chinese department called him "brother" anymore, because the youngest in the class were all about the same age as him.

The oldest Ye Junyuan in their major is 32 years old this year, and is affectionately called "Old Ye" by his classmates.

Lin Chaoyang sniffed and smelled a scent of vanishing cream in the air, which came from Zhang Yaozhong. He had never smelled it before.

Lin Chaoyang looked at Zhang Yaozhong carefully. Could this boy be in love?

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Zhang Yaozhong felt uncomfortable when he was stared at.

"Nothing. How come you have time to come to me?"

Zhang Yaozhong pulled the classmate behind him over, "I came to see you specifically. I want to ask you for some creative advice."

Lin Chaoyang immediately glanced at the side. Hu Wenqiong was reading a book seriously, so he probably didn't hear it.

He winked at Zhang Yaozhong, signaling him not to talk nonsense, then greeted Hu Wenqiong and walked to the corner of the Sunshine Hall with the two of them.

The one who followed Zhang Yaozhong to find Lin Chaoyang was Liang Zuo, a classmate of theirs. He had a round face and small eyes, and wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses on his nose. He was well-mannered and looked a bit festive. Lin Chaoyang knew him without Zhang Yaozhong introducing him.

Liang Zuo didn't know Lin Chaoyang before, and only knew him when he went to Xiaoxitian to watch a movie. Yesterday, he accidentally learned from Zhang Yaozhong that Lin Chaoyang was the author of the recently popular "The Shepherd".

In addition to being shocked, the first thing he thought of was to pull Zhang Yaozhong to ask Lin Chaoyang for advice.