Chapter 97: Bringing the Queen Out, You're Breaking the Rules! (First Order)

Peking University, early morning, on the stone boat by the Weiming Lake.

Although the weather in April is getting warmer, it is still cold.

However, for the freshmen of Peking University’s Chinese Department, the cold weather cannot resist the passion in their hearts.

At this moment, at the bow of the boat, a female student was reading a manuscript with great emotion in her hand.

"Gently, I left"

"Just as I came quietly"

"I left quietly"

"As I Come Quietly"

"I waved my sleeves"

"Don't take away a cloud"

When the girl finished her passionate recitation, the other students at the scene immediately applauded her enthusiastically.

It was during this applause that Li Changhe and Zhu Lin walked over quietly.

"Long river!"

Chen Jiangong, who was standing next to the girl reciting, saw Li Changhe at the first moment and immediately called out to him and waved.

A group of people turned around at this time and saw, as expected, Li Changhe and a beautiful short-haired woman standing on the rocks of the island in the middle of the lake.

Seeing Zhu Lin beside Li Changhe, Zhang Yunlan on the stone boat changed his expression and became a little pale.

Wang Xiaoping on the side looked at her with a hint of pity.

Others may not know, but she knows exactly what her good friend feels.

"Linlin, this is Chen Jiangong, a talented man from the Chinese Department of Peking University."

"You stupid genius, who among us dares to pretend to be a genius in front of you?"

When Chen Jiangong heard Li Changhe's flattery of him, he immediately made a rude retort.

"This must be my sister-in-law!"

Chen Jiangong is 28 years old this year, much older than Li Changhe.

Li Changhe nodded: "Yes, this is my wife, Zhu Lin, who works at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences."

"Hello everyone, I am here with Changhe to observe our literary gathering today. Sorry to bother you all."

Zhu Lin was not stage-frightened at this time, and spoke to Chen Jiangong and the people around him in a bright and generous manner.

"Why bother you? This is just a gathering of literature lovers. You came just in time."

“Let’s discuss and exchange ideas together”

Chen Jiangong said gently that he really admired Li Changhe, especially the novels he wrote.

On the contrary, he also knew about some of his classmate Zhang Yunlan's behaviors, but he did not approve of her behavior. Unfortunately, as a classmate, he could not say anything.

“No problem, everyone can continue.”

“We continue to listen”

Li Changhe said with a smile, then walked aside with Zhu Lin.

As Li Changhe and Zhu Lin walked to the side, the girl wanted to continue, but suddenly she found that everyone's eyes were on Li Changhe and Zhu Lin.

Li Changhe is fine, he is a well-known author of People's Literature and a young writer who has published a collection of novels. For many Chinese majors, this is an achievement that is hard to match.

As for Zhu Lin, there is no other reason, it's just that she is too unique.

Compared with these female students with pigtails and green military uniforms.

Zhu Lin, wearing a black corduroy jacket with a wool sweater underneath, clearly has a high-end feel that is out of touch with the times.

In addition, the girl herself is bright and elegant, and this outfit makes her stand out among the group of young people wearing old student uniforms and green military uniforms, and she is radiant.

To put it simply, it was a complete foul for Li Changhe to bring Her Majesty the Queen out like this!
In desperation, the girl turned her gaze to Chen Jiangong, after all, he was the organizer of this literary gathering.

Chen Jiangong was also a little embarrassed. Li Changhe and his girlfriend were too eye-catching.

"Changhe, I see everyone's attention is on you, how about you tell everyone about it?"

Chen Jiangong said to Li Changhe helplessly at this moment.

Li Changhe also noticed that a group of people's eyes frequently fell on him and Zhu Lin next to him.

"Okay, I haven't communicated with you all before, so today I will share my reading experience with you all."

"it is good!"

When Li Changhe spoke, some people applauded enthusiastically.

When Li Changhe attended literary gatherings in the past, he usually didn't speak much and was very frugal with his words, but today he finally spoke.

"But what I said today may not be the same as what you imagine. I will just say it for the time being, and you can just listen to it for the time being."

"Before I start, let me tell you a little story."

"There was a man who, when he was young, married a young girl at the behest of his parents and a matchmaker because of his family background. After they had a child, the girl stayed at home to take care of his elderly mother."

"Later, he went abroad to study and met someone he liked. He divorced his wife without hesitation and abandoned them and their child. What do you think of this man?"

"Okay, let's stop here for now. We think he was pursuing love and opposing feudal oppression. Then the story continues. The girl he fell in love with abroad did not agree to him. It can also be understood that she did not like him and only treated him as a friend."

"Then this man returned to his country. After returning, he met another newlywed young woman in our capital and fell in love with her at first sight."

"Then he and the newlywed woman were in love again, completely disregarding the secular perspective. Eventually, the newlywed woman divorced her husband."

"What do you think of this person, students?"

Li Changhe asked with a smile.

The group of young people looked at each other and frowned.

Those who knew some of the inside story had helpless looks on their faces.

"The person I'm talking about is Xu Zhimo, the author of the poem "A Farewell to Cambridge" that the female classmate just recited!"

Li Changhe didn't keep anyone in suspense and spoke directly.

The modern poet Xu Zhimo is unfamiliar to most young people born in the 1950s.

Because his works are no longer included in Chinese textbooks or taught in classrooms.

It was only in the Peking University library that these Chinese department students came into contact with Xu Zhimo's poems and then recited them in this era.

Li Changhe's words made the faces of the students present change. They didn't know what Li Changhe wanted to say.

Li Changhe continued: "In fact, I didn't mean to criticize Xu Zhimo when I told this story. The core of my story is only one, which is my feeling."

“Words are deceptive.”

"Like this "Farewell to Cambridge", from a literary point of view, it can be said to be the pinnacle of modern poetry. At first glance, it writes about the beauty of all kinds of fantasies."

"But the reality is, can you imagine that when the poem was written, its author was already married to the newlywed woman?"

“Now that you know the story I told, how do you feel about this poem?”

"When you truly understand the origin of the poem, will you feel and perceive it the same way when you read it again as when you first read it?"

“Words are the most powerful creation in the world, but at the same time, they are also the most deceptive creation in the world.”

"When I hoe the field at noon, my sweat drips down to the ground. Who knows that every grain of rice on the table is the result of hard work?"

"In spring, plant a grain of millet, and in autumn, harvest ten thousand grains. Even if there is no idle land in the world, the farmers will still starve to death."

“Does anyone know these two poems?”

Li Changhe continued to ask.

“I have read it!”

Someone raised his hand and responded to Li Changhe.

Li Changhe nodded and said with a smile: "Did you think that the author of these poems was concerned about the country and the people, and was full of sympathy for the vast majority of the working people?" "But in fact, the author of these two poems, Li Shen, later became the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty. He had no mercy on the people, imposed heavy taxes, and made people live in misery."

"Many people have been asking me why I didn't apply for the Chinese Department, but chose the Economics Department instead. Mr. Zhang Guangnian, the editor-in-chief of People's Literature, also asked me the same question."

"That's what I told him."

"Because I found that novels and words can only express the appearance of society. This appearance can be false or true, depending on how the reader thinks it."

"But appearances do not represent the truth of society. Many times, they are just a beautiful portrayal and description."

"What I want to do more is to see through many truths of this society, so that I can write better literary works."

"This is what I want to discuss with you today. I hope that when you read literary works, whether they are Eastern or Western, you will not be fooled by the appearances in the books, because words can be deceiving."

"The great men have taught us to look at problems dialectically. I think the same is true for reading books and literary works."

"When I attended our literary gatherings before, I always felt that everyone was overly focused on what was expressed in the works, and even argued about it endlessly."

“I think it’s a good habit, but it’s not a good habit either.”

"The fact that everyone can argue shows that everyone has read it carefully, but I also think that everyone's argument is not thorough enough."

"I prefer that people can see the essence through the appearance, and see the thoughts and social phenomena that the work expresses in that era and under what circumstances the author was in. Only in this way can people truly appreciate the brilliance of a work."

“I hope everyone can see the truth behind literary works, rather than just seeing the illusion between the lines.”

“This is the reading experience I want to share with you today.”

"Of course, this is just my personal opinion. You can like it or criticize it."

"But if you want to criticize, please wait until I'm gone, because I don't want to embarrass myself in front of my wife."

Li Changhe finally said with a smile.

Everyone present laughed, but then there was a warm applause.

"Changhe, well said. Your reading experience has really benefited me a lot."

At this time, Chen Jiangong applauded and spoke to Li Changhe.

Li Changhe smiled and said, "Okay, Jiangong, I won't bother you anymore. I have to go take some pictures with my partner. We finally get to come to school, so we have to leave some memories."

Li Changhe then explained to everyone on the stone boat, and then walked down from the stone boat with Zhu Lin.

Just as I got off the boat, I saw a thin old man standing there in a Zhongshan suit.

"Mr. Ji!"

Seeing this, Li Changhe led Zhu Lin over and greeted him respectfully.

The person in front of you is Ji Xianlin, a first-level professor in the Chinese Department of Peking University and a master of Chinese studies.

Ji Xianlin looked at Li Changhe, glanced at him and Zhu Lin, and then asked calmly: "From what I heard from you just now, you don't like Xu Zhimo?"

Li Changhe nodded calmly: "I can't say I like it, but I can't say I don't like it either."

"That means I don't like it."

"It's okay. I don't like him either."

After saying this proudly, Ji Xianlin turned around and left.

It seemed that he stayed just to tell Li Changhe that he also disliked Xu Zhimo.

Li Changhe looked at Ji Xianlin's back as he left and smiled. As expected, this gentleman was as free and easy as his diary.

"Changhe, who is he?"

After Ji Xianlin left, Zhu Lin asked curiously.

"The head of the Chinese Department, a national first-class professor, Mr. Ji Xianlin."

Li Changhe did not mention the title of Master of Chinese Studies, because Chinese studies were not popular at that time. The trend of Chinese studies did not emerge until the 1990s.

"So he is Mr. Ji Xianlin."

Zhu Lin nodded in understanding. To her, this was a person she had only heard of but never seen in person.

"Let's go."

Li Changhe took Zhu Lin away.

The speech just now was just a casual talk for him, and he just hoped to guide some students to read literary works dialectically.

Don't be brainwashed by the West like in the future and used as cannon fodder for certain ideas.

Along the way, Li Changhe met some teachers and greeted them respectfully.

Finally, when they were almost at the dormitory building, Zhu Lin asked the doubts in his mind.

"Changhe, why do I see some of you calling me teacher, but others calling me sir?"

"How should I put it? This is a kind of honorific title unique to Peking University. For a first-class professor like Ji Xianlin, we directly address him as Mr. instead of calling him Teacher."

“Only some young lecturers are called teachers.”

"Perhaps this is a unique respect for the older generation of Peking University professors. For example, Mr. Chen Daisun, the dean of our economics department, we all call him Mr. Dai behind his back."

"Old Dai is highly respected. Even those people in the past few years, when they met Old Dai during the chaos, they had to call him out respectfully."

Li Changhe said with emotion at this time.

Some professors at Peking University in this era are indeed respectable.

Just like Mr. Dai, he only did one thing in his life, which was teaching.

He never married and had no children, but enjoyed the salary and special subsidies of a national-level professor and taught diligently at Peking University for decades.

How could such a person not be respected?

"By the way, why did you bring me here?"

When they arrived at the dormitory building, Zhu Lin said to Li Changhe speechlessly.

Li Changhe smiled and said, "Let's come over to pick someone up."

"Lao Tao!"

"Lao Tao!"

Li Changhe shouted loudly towards the upstairs.

After a while, Tao Haisu poked his head out from the balcony.

"Wait, Changhe, get down immediately."

"I asked Lao Tao to borrow a camera so that he can take some photos for us later, including our visit to the Summer Palace."

At this time, Li Changhe turned around and said to Zhu Lin that he planned to let Lao Tao be a follower today.

Not long after, Lao Tao, Yigang, Haiwen and others ran down together.

"That's great, Changhe. Let's join in the fun today and take some photos together."

Several people came down and talked to Li Changhe happily.

"Okay, let's go together."

The person who spoke was not Li Changhe, but Zhu Lin.

Since these were all Li Changhe's classmates, she naturally would not let Li Changhe refuse at this time.

Anyway, they are married now, not in love.

"Then let's go together!"

Since his wife agreed, Li Changhe had no reason to refuse.

Then a group of people walked towards the depths of Peking University campus in a lively manner.

　and also!

　
(End of this chapter)