Chapter 57: My Year of Fighting
"In the autumn of 1976, I was working in the fields, looking at the golden wheat fields and imagining the good harvest this year. Then the radio came on. At that moment, I just felt like the sky had fallen!"

The first sentence immediately made the editors present feel nostalgic.

Yes, who doesn’t feel that way at that moment?

Later, Li Changhe began to write about his own emotional ups and downs.

The pillars of his spiritual world collapsed after hearing the news, and the flame of chanting "Standing alone in the cold autumn, the Xiangjiang River flows north" was rekindled.

He wrote about the confusion of rescuing people from the reservoir and returning to the city due to illness, and then wrote about the awakening of “we are young students, in the prime of our youth”.

During this period, Li Changhe wrote without hesitation that he voluntarily gave up the job assigned by the commune to others, and then chose to pick up the pen and began to use words to convey his spiritual transformation to everyone.

"In the winter of 1977, I sat in the examination room, writing furiously, working hard to get into university, studying for the modernization of our motherland, and also to fulfill the expectation of an old man."

"All the past is gone, and the heroes of today are still to be seen"

Li Changhe knew very well that if he wrote his essay in a normal way, his experience of the past year would be a big drag.

Others are working hard at the grassroots level, but he retired to the city due to illness and has not accepted a job yet. If it is written truthfully, even if he is not a backward element, he is not advanced either.

Therefore, Li Changhe took a different approach and wrote about his battle of the year as a spiritual battle and the redemption of the soul. The fire of redemption is the old man's poetry.

From "Changsha" to "Snow", every spiritual transformation was tempered by the poetry of that person.

This turned his lazy year into a year of spiritual battle and beautified his journey of the year.

At the same time, Li Changhe also had his own little thoughts. With that person's poems as endorsement, the teacher who marked the papers couldn't give him a low score.

"It is well written and touching, showing the transformation of the educated youth's mental outlook over the past year."

An editor of a daily newspaper sighed at this time.

"I actually know this Li Changhe. He did write a lot of manuscripts this year."

"I'm sure you've heard of his pen name."

Another editor of a daily newspaper also spoke up.

"Oh? Who is it?"

These editors are also literary workers, although they are editors of People's Daily.

“That Ling Jue in People’s Literature”

"I only found out about this when Lao Zhou talked to me about the book that the People's Literature Publishing House was planning to publish a while ago."

"Ling Jue's real name is Li Changhe."

"That's what I meant. No wonder it was written so fluently and in one go. Most candidates don't have this level of ability."

"The most important thing is that he..."

One editor didn't say anything, but the meaning of his words was very clear. The individual's spiritual transformation was closely linked to that person's poems. The weight of this essay was extraordinary.

"To be honest, the essay is very well written, but if it is published directly, it will be a bit too vague."

Another editor expressed his opinion that the composition was excellent, but the level of writing was too high.

"Comrade editors, I have another essay here that I think is very well written. Would you like to take a look at it?"

At this time, another examiner took out a composition and passed it over.

"My Year of Fighting" opened the name of the candidate and found that her name was Liu Xuehong

"Another year of autumn wind"

Compared with Li Changhe's composition, this one is written at a more grassroots level, completely describing the changes in life in this year from the perspective of a grassroots educated youth.

"This essay is closer to the grassroots working people."

"Yes, I feel this one is more down-to-earth and more sincere in terms of words."

"But Li Changhe's article is obviously of a higher level of thought and a more sublime purpose."

"Okay, there's no need to argue. Let's take the good ones back and let the editor-in-chief make the final decision."

"Let's copy down these two manuscripts first." The editor in charge set the tone, and the others nodded.

Come to think of it, I'll take them all back and let the editor-in-chief decide.

Then he took out paper and pen and started copying.

After all, these are college entrance examination papers and you can't take them away.

That night, several editors screened the manuscripts overnight and finally selected four or five good ones, which they took away together.

After the editor left, one of the examiners took a sip of water and said with a sigh, "This Li Changhe is incredible. I heard that he got close to full marks in other subjects."

Except for Chinese, the grading speed of other subjects is faster, and many of them have started to calculate scores.

We all mark papers in the same school, and some information is also communicated privately.

Because of the expedited nature of this year's exams, the marking process for this year's college entrance exams was far less strict than in later years.

Many regions were in a hurry to prepare, arrange examination venues, and assign teachers.

Once everything is expedited, there are bound to be various loopholes, and it is not as strict as in later generations.

It was also because of this college entrance examination that many problems arose, and ultimately the higher authorities were asked to check for deficiencies and fill in the gaps.

By the 78 college entrance examination, there will be a unified national examination paper and unified questions, and the teachers who set the questions will be completely restricted to setting questions until the end of the college entrance examination.

On the other side, several editors who returned to the People's Daily editorial department, with dark circles under their eyes, put the excellent manuscripts in front of the editor-in-chief.

"Editor-in-chief, these are the manuscripts we selected. The two best ones are at the top. One is by Li Changhe and the other is by Liu Xuehong."

"We all have our own disputes, so you will have to make the final decision."

The editor in charge spoke seriously to the editor-in-chief.

The editor-in-chief nodded, then put on his glasses and picked up the manuscript to read.

He read it very carefully, almost word for word. After reading several manuscripts, the editor sat there and pondered for a while.

"These two essays actually complement each other very well. One is a spiritual battle, and the other is a battle in life."

"Well, let's publish both together!"

The editor-in-chief made the decision.

"But this is our layout."

"Don't rush to publish it immediately. See if there are any manuscripts that can be withdrawn later or suitable for postponement, and find space for them."

The editor-in-chief provided a solution.

"it is good"

A few days later, with the completion of the college entrance examination paper marking work, the scores of candidates in the Beijing area were basically out.

Then the admissions teachers from various universities and colleges gathered in Beijing to select students.

Because each province sets its own questions, the personal preferences filled in by students for this year's college entrance examination are only for reference and are not used as absolute screening criteria.

That is to say, you applied for this school, but the school and major may not be consistent with your choice.

Moreover, the method of admitting students is that each school selects its own students after the score line is announced.

Of course, there is a first come first served principle here, and Tsinghua University and Peking University are the schools that have priority selection rights.

"Teacher Zhang, this is the high-scoring information for liberal arts candidates in Beijing this year. You can take a look at it first."

In those days, Tsinghua University was still a science and engineering college, and priority for liberal arts candidates basically went to Peking University.

"Come, let's see who has the highest score in liberal arts in Beijing this year?"

Teacher Zhang sat down with several other Peking University teachers, looked at the information and said with a smile.

(End of this chapter)