Chapter 78 What does Li Changhe look like?
Noon, Wangfujing Street, Minzu Hotel.

Li Changhe, Liu Jianqing, and Zhang Guangnian were cooking mutton slices around a copper pot.

This is the famous Donglaishun old restaurant, but now it is still called Minzu Hotel.

It's still chilly in Beijing in February. It's very comfortable to eat hotpot in such a cold weather.

Because it was early noon, Liu Jianqing and Zhang Guangnian did not order any wine as they still had to work in the afternoon.

"By the way, Lao Zhang, I heard that the higher-ups are planning to allow these time-honored brands to change their names back?"

After blanching a piece of mutton, Liu Jianqing stuffed it into his mouth happily, then smiled and asked Zhang Guangnian beside him.

Zhang Guangnian shook his head and said with a sigh: "It's hard to say now. There is a lot of controversy."

"That's mainly it. Never mind. I won't say more."

Zhang Guangnian hesitated to say some things. There were some things he knew more clearly but could not say them.

Li Changhe sat opposite without interrupting and quietly ate mutton.

Reform has never been smooth sailing. Where some people advocate change, there are naturally others who advocate conservatism.

Looking back from the perspective of later generations, it was an unprecedented great change in the country, but now living in this era, Li Changhe can only say that it was a battle of swords and sabers.

"Let's talk about Changhe. You said you wanted to study economics instead of Chinese."

"If you graduate from the Chinese Department, you can be assigned to our Ministry of Culture or the Writers Association. That would be a great thing."

At this time, Zhang Guangnian said to Li Changhe with emotion.

With Li Changhe's current fame, as soon as he graduates from Peking University's Chinese Department, he can be said to have a smooth career in the cultural field thanks to Peking University's reputation and his achievements.

Zhang Guangnian thinks it would not be difficult to become his successor in the future.

"I think it's a pity, too. I still haven't figured it out. What does the political economy department do? I think it studies economic theory, right?"

"Are you going to be an economist from now on?"

Liu Jianqing also asked Li Changhe curiously at this time.

Li Changhe smiled and said, "Not really. I just personally feel that literature is a subject that reflects social phenomena, but this kind of portrayal is superficial."

"That is to say, we can only describe these social phenomena through words, but there is no explanation as to how they came about."

"Economics, on the other hand, is the underlying driving force behind changes in social phenomena. It is like a pair of hands, pushing society to keep changing."

“If you just want to depict this society, maybe the Chinese department is enough, but if you want to understand the core of this society, I think you still need to study economics.”

“Young man, you see things more deeply than we do!”

Zhang Guangnian smiled and praised at this time, and then said to Li Changhe: "Jianqing told me before that when the Writers Association is restored, he wants to recommend you to join the Writers Association."

"That's what I mean. Our Writers Association is a mass organization. Joining it won't affect your studies or work, and it will still be of certain benefit to you."

Zhang Guangnian is very optimistic about Li Changhe, not only because he has written excellent works at a young age, but also because Li Changhe is very smart.

Sometimes Zhang Guangnian even had a feeling that this young man saw some things more deeply and farther than he, an old man, could.

Just like what happened just now, young people generally like to talk a lot and give advice, especially on national affairs.

But when he was talking to Liu Jianqing just now, Li Changhe just listened quietly, neither participating in the discussion nor expressing his own opinions.

This kind of calmness is very rare in young people of this era.

In Zhang Guangnian's opinion, this trait makes him very suitable for politics.

Unfortunately, if Zhang Guangnian's thoughts were known by Li Changhe, he would definitely tell him that it was impossible for him to enter politics. Many people think that it is a good thing to return to the 1980s and join the system, as there are many opportunities and promotions are fast.

But Li Changhe just wanted to say that it was too simple to think about it. This era is full of old predecessors and their disciples and descendants.

There is one carrot and one hole. Who knows what is in the hole?

The waves behind the Yangtze River push the waves in front of them. 99.9% of the waves in front of them die on the beach. Are you sure you will be one of the 0.1%?

While the three were having dinner, several young people hurried into the Minzu Hotel and sat next to Li Changhe and the others.

There were five people in total, three men and two women. After a moment, a girl with pigtails came in quickly.

"How's it going? Did you buy it?"

As soon as the girl with pigtails came in, the others asked hurriedly.

"I bought it, how about you?"

The girl with pigtails took out a book from her arms and looked at the other people proudly.

"We didn't get one. We went too late and the Xinhua Bookstore over there had sold out."

"Forget it, one book will do, we can just take turns reading it."

"So Ling Jue's real name is Li Changhe. He's only 22 years old, so young?"

"Of course, otherwise I wouldn't be able to write such a realistic account of the rural life."

"But it's strange that every time I finish reading his novel, I feel the same way, but when I read the ending, I feel that he has a broad mind."

"Yes, I feel that at the end of each of his stories there is a sentence that contains the philosophy of life. For example, in "The Courage to Go to the Countryside", there is a sentence that says this."

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but the perseverance of one’s convictions in the face of fear.”

"When I finished watching it, I felt like, wow, it really touched my heart."

Several young people were discussing this nearby, and the focus of their discussion was Li Changhe's new collection of novels.

Zhang Guangnian and Liu Jianqing looked at the young men next to them, and then looked at Li Changhe.

Li Changhe was seen with his head down, calmly taking mutton from the pot and putting it into the bowl to eat, as if the person talking next to him was not him.

"I don't know what Li Changhe looks like."

"I think he must be a gentle and elegant young man, like Chen Jingrun."

"I think he might be a big, bearded man, full of northern heroic attitude."

Suddenly, a quarrel broke out at the next table. A few young men and women somehow started discussing Li Changhe's appearance, and then started arguing for no apparent reason.

Seeing that the situation was getting more and more intense, Liu Jianqing couldn't help but look at Li Changhe and said jokingly: "Changhe, why don't you stop them?"

Li Changhe shook his head: "The greatest charm of words is that they can allow you to imagine endlessly. No matter whether it is beautiful or ugly, it is a picture that belongs to you alone."

"Besides, true friendship only progresses through quarrels!"

How can we call friendships that break up because of quarrels true friendships?

Hearing Li Changhe's words, Zhang Guangnian smiled and put his chopsticks into the bottom of the pot, then turned it vigorously, and then the smile on his face gradually faded.

My goodness, we were so busy chatting that the meat is gone from the pot.

(End of this chapter)