Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 735 Whisper
Winter has passed and spring has arrived; a month has gone by in the blink of an eye.

After school that day, Jiang Lili packed her schoolbag and prepared to leave as usual.

A female classmate next to her tugged at her arm and whispered, "There's a celebration tonight, aren't you going?"

Jiang Lili looked on in surprise, "Didn't we already celebrate during the day? Why is there another celebration tonight?"

The female classmate smiled. "The daytime event was just organized by the school, which wasn't enough. Tonight it's our department's turn. I heard they pooled together some tickets, bought sunflower seeds and peanuts, and some people have even prepared performances. You're really not coming?"

Jiang Lili smiled and shook her head, "No, I have something to do tonight. You guys have fun."

The female student looked regretful. "Alright then."

He paused, looked around, and whispered, "How's that thing I told you about last time?"

Jiang Lili smiled helplessly and said, "I remember, but Xiao Fan hasn't come yet, and I don't know where he is now. When he comes, I'll definitely ask him to sign your book as soon as possible."

The female student beamed with joy. "Thank you. But I should correct you, it's your boyfriend's book, I just asked him to sign it."

Starting in early January, the movie "The Ferryman" was gradually released in cinemas in major cities across the country, winning over countless viewers and even boosting the popularity of the original novel.

When this female classmate was corresponding with a friend, they talked about the movie, and she boasted in her letter that Chen Fan's fiancée was a classmate of hers. Not long after, she received more than ten books, all of them Chen Fan's book "The Ferryman," which she asked him to sign.

If you don't agree, you're just bragging.

She had to bite the bullet and go ahead with what she had boasted about, so she had no choice but to ask Jiang Lili for help.

Fortunately, the two usually had a good relationship, so Jiang Lili agreed in private, only asking that she not tell other classmates, otherwise even more people would come begging to her, and Xiao Fan wouldn't have that much time to deal with them.

The female classmate only cared about herself and didn't care about others, so she readily agreed.

Unfortunately, Chen Fan recently went out to collect folk songs, and even Jiang Lili didn't know where he went or where he was. Even sending him by mail wouldn't work, and she didn't know when he would return. She could only wait.

As for the celebration she mentioned earlier, it was naturally to celebrate the successful conclusion of the special operation launched last month, which dealt a heavy blow to the arrogance of certain animals.

This victory is also the first major win in more than a decade.

Especially after the frequent incidents in the past two years, many animals in the surrounding area were restless. It also happened to be the time of reform and opening up, when many people were feeling uneasy. Such a victory was very encouraging and morale-stabilizing.

It also provided a stable international environment for reform and opening up.

It can be said to be of great significance.

Since the announcement of the end of the operation two days ago, celebrations have been ongoing across the country, and schools are no exception.

Jiang Lili walked out of the classroom with her schoolbag on her back, looked around at the cheering crowd, unlocked her bicycle, got on, and slowly rode away.

She quickly returned home, and instead of opening the door first, she opened the small mailbox hanging on the wall next to the gate.

Unfortunately, it was completely empty.

Pouting, Jiang Lili reluctantly opened the door and went inside. She then locked the gate, opened the door again, went inside, took off her coat and hung it on the hanger, then hung up her schoolbag before rolling up her sleeves and starting to work.

Half-pound raccoon dog obediently climbed onto the windowsill and lay there, dozing off with its eyes half-closed.

Now, there was a cutting table in the living room, with a pile of fabric scattered on the large table and several design drawings next to it.

She has finally started learning fashion design, beginning with the simplest clothes, and has already made several outfits.

Unfortunately, Xiao Fan wasn't there, so no one tried it on and we don't know if it would fit.

Half an hour later, the faint rumble of a car engine came from outside the door. Jiang Lili turned her head and glanced at it, knowing that her sister had returned.

Sure enough, the gate opened, and Jiang Tiantian drove in in a van. She got out, closed the gate, and quickly went inside.

Jiang Tiantian placed her schoolbag next to her younger sister's and looked at her, asking, "Did you receive any mail today?"

Jiang Lili pouted and looked at her sister pitifully, "No."

Jiang Tiantian's face stiffened slightly, but she quickly recovered and walked over with a nonchalant smile, "It's okay. Xiao Fan has sent a few postcards this month, mostly to relatively remote places. It's normal for them to be a few days late sometimes."

When her sister came back, Jiang Lili didn't want to work anymore. She pulled her sister to sit on the sofa, stretched, and said listlessly, "I know, but I'm just unhappy because I haven't received a letter from him."

Jiang Tiantian looked at her and was both amused and exasperated. She reached out and poked her forehead, saying, "Can't you be a little more dignified?"

Jiang Lili's eyes widened. "I found such an outstanding man, isn't that a success?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Tiantian was immediately speechless with anger.

That said, if it weren't for this special operation, Chen Fan would probably have been the center of attention in the spring of 79.

The reason, as for the reason, is still the movie "The Ferryman".

Although Chen Fan was famous in the past, his fame was limited to the literary world and a large number of literature enthusiasts.

In comparison, movies undoubtedly have a wider reach.

Even though he is only the original author, and ordinary viewers only care about the movie and the actors, it doesn't stop the fact that the movie opens with a separate screen that says "This film is adapted from Chen Fan's work 'The Ferryman'", and it is held for 5 seconds.

In addition, everyone around him who likes to read keeps talking about Chen Fan, making it impossible for them not to know him.

Most importantly, the newly revived "Popular Cinema" magazine published a report that Chen Fan's other work, "Cloud Lake Love," has also been adapted into a film and will be released in May.

Meanwhile, "Shanghai Spy Shadow" is also in the midst of intense filming.

The literary and film industries were shaken, with some even proclaiming "Chen Fan's Year," meaning that Chen Fan would influence the entire literary and film world this year, and no one else could rival him.

Pulling herself back to reality, Jiang Tiantian looked at her younger sister's matter-of-fact expression and could only shake her head and sigh, speechless.

Jiang Lili leaned closer to her sister, took her arm, and asked curiously, "I thought you'd be back late today, but you came back on time. Didn't your school hold any celebrations?"

Jiang Tiantian leaned over to her, found a comfortable position to lie down, and laughed, "How could there not be? There were parades and celebrations, and people were singing loudly, especially the people from the Spring Bamboo Literary Society. They applied for a small auditorium early on to hold a celebratory poetry recital."

However, I've been focused on creating lately, and I also participated in the celebration parade during the day, so I wasn't in the mood for anything else and simply came back.

Jiang Lili raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised. "You're also a member of the Spring Bamboo Literary Society, and you're not attending the poetry gathering? Doesn't anyone else have any objections?"

The Spring Bamboo Literary Society was established less than half a year ago, but many students from the Chinese Department and the Journalism Department of Fudan University have joined the society. For example, Lu Xinhua, who recently became a little famous, is one of the representative figures of the society.

In the original history, his influence was far more than just a "small fire," but a "huge fire."

This time, although the literary world did not rate him highly, believing that his writing was rather awkward, lacked skill, and his ideas were not mature enough, the general public loved his writing very much and used it as a basis to create a new school of thought.

Unfortunately, Chen Fan took the lead and wrote "The Ferryman," a representative work of reflective literature, which far surpasses Chen Fan's work in both literary and ideological aspects, thus diminishing Chen Fan's influence.

However, not everyone has a high level of appreciation. Many people with average talent still flock to him, and the genre with a theme of sadness is still listed separately, just like in the past.

Before Chen Fan left, he talked to Jiang Tiantian about this matter.

Another representative figure of the Spring Bamboo Literary Society is Jiang Tiantian, who wrote "A Generation".

As one of the founders and an important representative of the literary society, Jiang Lili was indeed surprised and worried that he would not participate in the society's activities, especially the special celebration.

Jiang Tiantian, however, didn't take it seriously, saying, "The roots of a literary society are still in literature. If it leaves the soil of literature, does this literary society still have any meaning?"
"I just told them I had some creative inspiration and wanted to come back to write, and naturally they couldn't say anything." Jiang Lili's eyes sparkled, and she gave her a thumbs up. "You're really something, you even came up with an excuse like that."

Jiang Tiantian smiled and said to her, "I'm not lying, I really am going to create something."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Lili immediately straightened up, her eyes shining as she looked at her, "Really? What work?"

Meeting her sister's gaze, Jiang Tiantian felt inexplicably flustered and instinctively turned her head away from her. After a two-second pause, she said, "It's a poem. I don't know if it's well-written or not, but I quite like it myself."

Jiang Lili grabbed her arm and shook it wildly, "Let me see quickly."

This time, Jiang Tiantian did not hesitate, but her gaze remained unfocused, and the smile on her face disappeared, replaced by a hint of melancholy. She said softly, "If you don't see it, I'll read it to you."

Under Jiang Lili's expectant gaze, she spoke again after several seconds, "Birds soar across the sky, fish swim in the sea, chasing the wind they stir up; on the seabed, salt grains dream sweet dreams within their shells. Birds fly across the horizon, the horizon bites the moon's bait, fish gently breathe on the surface, and the sea surges with the blue dreams of seashells..."

After a long while, Jiang Tiantian finally finished reciting her newly composed, somewhat obscure poem.

He then looked at his younger sister and smiled, "Don't laugh at me. I know I'm definitely not as good as Xiao Fan, but this is something I thought about for a long time."

Jiang Lili didn't laugh. She held her tightly, rested her head on her shoulder, and after several seconds, murmured, "Sister."

Jiang Tiantian pursed her lips, leaned her head closer, and chuckled softly, "What's wrong?"

Jiang Lili turned her head to look at her, her lips moved, and she suddenly smiled, "So, are you a bird, a fish, or perhaps a seashell dreaming on the seabed?"

Jiang Tiantian glared at her, "What nonsense! This is poetry, obscure poetry."

Jiang Lili chuckled and said, "Yes, yes, it's a poem in the Misty Poetry style. You didn't mean anything by it, you just wrote a poem."

But in my heart, I was thinking, "I may not be a literary youth, but my man is a great writer; he has at least basic literary appreciation. The poem is overflowing with the emotions of unrequited love and longing, and there's no other meaning behind it?"
The two sisters chatted for a while, and were just about to get up and go about their own business.

Just then, the phone next to me rang.

Jiang Lili glanced back, reached for the microphone, and held it to her ear. "Hello, how can I reach you?"

The next second, she sat bolt upright, her eyes wide with shock. "Company Commander Zhang? What? Guangzhou? Xiao Fan is in the hospital?"

After a few words, she put down the phone with trembling hands, completely stunned, her mind blank, staring blankly, at a loss for what to do.

Jiang Tiantian quickly grabbed her shoulders, her eyes filled with anxiety, "What's wrong with Xiaofan? Say something."

Jiang Lili then came to her senses and said in a trembling voice, "Xiao Fan went to the border, and after returning, he fell into a coma while sleeping. It's been three days now."

Jiang Tiantian's heart tightened. "He's injured?"

Jiang Lili shook her head. "Company Commander Zhang said no, but after being transferred to a hospital in Guangzhou, they still couldn't find anything wrong, and he just didn't wake up. That's when Company Commander Zhang called me and asked if I wanted to go and take a look."

"Why are you asking? Of course I'm going."

Jiang Tiantian stood up abruptly, clenched her hands tightly, thought for a moment, and said in a deep voice, "We'll go to the school separately to ask for leave and get letters of introduction. I'll go to find Mr. Ba and ask him to help me buy plane tickets. We'll go to Guangzhou tomorrow."

Seeing her sister handle the situation calmly, Jiang Lili also caught her breath and quickly ran outside.

Jiang Tiantian took a deep breath, clenched her fists tightly, and whispered to herself, "It's okay, it's okay, I'm not hurt, I'll definitely be fine."

He then looked around, grabbed the car keys from the cabinet, and ran.

……

The next day at noon, the two sisters met Chen Fan in a private hospital room.

Zhang Wenliang, who had disappeared for several months, stood aside, awkwardly touched his nose, coughed, and said in a low voice, "Old Chen went to the border a month ago. You all know his skills. He's elusive and no one can stop him. The leaders contacted his master, but his master said not to worry about him, so the leaders stopped interfering."

He stayed there for a month, doing two things: pulling out nails and rescuing people. He was fine until a few days ago when he returned with the last group. When I went to find him, I found him lying unconscious in bed. After notifying his superiors, they immediately arranged for a plane to take him to a hospital in Guangzhou.

After saying that, she secretly glanced at the two sisters lying on the bed, her eyes full of strangeness, and finally whispered, "And then it's been four days now."

Zhang Wenliang was even more nervous than the two sisters. In his opinion, if his group hadn't gone to the border, Chen Fan probably wouldn't have gone.

In fact, his trip was worthwhile; besides saving himself twice, he saved countless others.

Anyway, he was carrying a large backpack and wearing a homemade ghillie suit, appearing and disappearing mysteriously in the jungle. While he might not have destroyed entire cities and strongholds, the exact number of enemy heavy firepower and command posts he destroyed was probably only known to the command headquarters.

Moreover, whenever he had free time, he would often provide first aid to wounded soldiers, not only using up all the medical supplies he brought, but also seizing a lot from the other side.

It's infuriating to think about it. The enemy's individual equipment is actually better than ours. The Soviets even provided them with individual medical kits, and many of their weapons were sponsored by us. But that was meant for them to fight against aggression; instead, they used it to invade us.

It would be better to feed them to dogs.

After cursing under his breath for a while, Zhang Wenliang saw that the two sisters were lying motionless by the bed, so he sighed softly and quietly went out.

……

For the next two days, the two sisters stayed by Chen Fan's side without taking off their clothes.

The hospital conducted several examinations, but no matter what methods they used, they couldn't find anything wrong. They even invited a renowned traditional Chinese medicine doctor, who, after taking his pulse, also concluded that he was simply sleeping.

Who sleeps for five or six days in a row?

When the news reached the capital, Master Zhang called and told Jiang Lili not to worry, saying that the boy was just sleeping, but not in an ordinary way. It was a Taoist state of cultivation, similar to how the patriarch Chen Tuan used sleep as a form of cultivation.

It's possible that the previous month was too strenuous, and once back in a safe environment, the body automatically enters a period of rest to replenish the depleted energy and spirit.

Jiang Lili was skeptical of this claim.

How could something so outrageous happen?

In other words, it was Master Zhang who made the call; if it had been someone else, they probably would have started yelling at him.

So the result remained unchanged, and the two sisters continued to stay by each other's side day and night as before.

It wasn't until another day passed, after Chen Fan had slept for seven whole days, that his consciousness slowly awoke from the deepest sleep, as if rising from the deep sea to the surface.

Then I heard a sound coming from the side.

"Sis, are you angry that I asked you for that watch?"

"What are you saying? That watch was originally a pair with Xiao Fan's, so it's only right that you want it back. Why would I be angry? It's just that I didn't think of it before, so please don't blame me."

"Hehehe, sis, did you not remember, or do you just not want to think about it?"

"...Lili, what do you mean?"

"Sis, can you help me match the watches? I'll help you match yours too."

"No, what do you mean? I've said it many times before, I will never get married again in this life, so don't make trouble for me."

"Really? What if that person is Xiao Fan?"

(End of this chapter)