1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 12 If you mess with me, you've messed with me
Academy of Medical Sciences.

The campus was in ruins, full of traces of the revolutionary era.

Big-character posters and slogans fluttered on the walls, and teachers' quotations were posted everywhere, clearly visible.

Jiang Xian hid under the shade of a tree, which was lush and very cool.

Of course, "Hanged Ghost" and "Foreign Spicy Girl" are also indispensable.

Suddenly, a few of them will fall from somewhere and land on the back of your neck. No matter whether they sting or not, they are really creepy.

"[Heretical] should be obtained by completing three unorthodox things, which seems no easier to obtain than [Child of a Compound]."

Jiang Xian's work these days is relatively easy.

The school specially hired a temporary worker who is over 50 years old. He is a jack of all trades and is proficient in carpentry and bricklaying.

They, the handymen, just need to help him.

The school repaired the flower beds, built the playground, and laid the outer edges. The old craftsmen did the visible work, while the handymen were responsible for mixing the mortar, moving the bricks, and using the broken bricks from the corners to build the inner layer, commonly known as "preparing the lining for filling."

These two days, we have been carving the school name plaque. They assisted us by tracing the red characters and carving some strokes that are simple in structure, easy to carve, and will not damage the charm of the brush.

"Comrade Jiang Xian, look at my engraving of these words." Li Hongmin pointed at the board with the engraving knife in his hand, "These are the four ways to write the word '卉'."

He is the guy who was intercepted by Jiang Xian.

Jiang Xian didn't expect that the two of them were so destined to meet again in the same position.

"Very good, very good. I just learned these four ways of writing today." Jiang Xian complimented with a smile.

Li Hongmin showed a reserved smile with a hint of pride in it. "These are the most basic things. I also learned them when I was writing a manuscript a few days ago."

"Writing? Comrade Hongmin, are you interested in literature?"

"I wrote a few poems before and submitted them to Poetry Magazine."

"Poetry Magazine" is the only central-level poetry magazine in the country. Its first editor-in-chief was Zang Kejia. In 76, the teacher personally approved the resumption of publication. It has published poems by the teacher and Zhou Yang. Marshal "Fat Man" once had a poem "Presented to Comrade Guo Moruo" which was published in the same issue as Guo Moruo's "Presented to Comrade Fat Man", which was an interesting story at the time.

Comrade Guo Moruo, who served as the chairman of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles, passed away not long ago.

“Has it been published?”

"It has not been published yet, but the editors wrote the rejection letters to me personally. Editors are generally unwilling to pay attention to ordinary manuscripts and only send a printed sheet with unified format and sentence structure." Li Hongmin emphasized this deliberately.

"Great, great." Jiang Xian gave a thumbs up, "I didn't expect Hong Minni to be a poet."

"It's not worth mentioning. If you are interested in literature, I can teach you how to write, and we can make progress together." Li Hongmin smiled reservedly.

"Okay, I'll definitely learn from you Hongmin if I get a chance."

"Jiang Xian! Jiang Xian!"

Suddenly, shouts from other handymen were heard from the other end.

"There's a letter for you in the mail room."

Any news about “The Chess King”?
Otherwise, I never thought that someone would send a letter to me and send it to the Medical College.

Jiang Xian's heart instantly became excited and thrilled.

"Comrade Hongmin, I'll go to the message room to check."

"Together."

Li Hongmin stood up with a smile, his eyes sparkling with anticipation, "I submitted a few more manuscripts some time ago, maybe Poetry Magazine will reply to me."

The green glazed tiles reflect the northern sunlight.

During the Qing Dynasty, the Medical Academy was the residence of Prince Yu. It didn’t cover a large area, about the size of a football field.

The Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College are an integrated "institute and school" with a very special leadership system: one leadership team, one set of organizational structure, and two names.

Decades later, Qinghua was still involved. At that time, being admitted to this school meant being admitted to Qinghua’s medical department. After graduation, one could get a graduation certificate with the names of both Qinghua and Union Medical College written on it, thus having two alma maters.

However, now this top medical institution in the country only has the name of the School of Medical Sciences.

"Comrade, is there any letter from Li Hongmin?" The message room was crowded with people, and Li Hongmin asked the security guard.

Comrade Li Hongmin, the security guard, picked up a letter from a thick stack of letters and said, "It's from Poetry Magazine. Have you submitted your manuscript to them?"

"I submitted a few short poems."

Li Hongmin smiled reservedly and felt through the offset paper envelope, but the poem itself could not contain more than a few pages, and he could not tell whether it was rejected just by the thickness.

"Hurry up and check if the manuscript has been approved?" the guard urged curiously. Li Hongmin hurriedly opened the envelope, revealing a pile of rejected manuscripts. He then looked at the handwritten letter sandwiched between the manuscripts, and his face suddenly turned depressed.

The security guard was knowledgeable and experienced, and when he saw him become depressed, he knew what was going on without asking.

Leisurely he picked up the teacup and spat out the tea leaves.

"Tui! It's rare to have so many students submitting papers every day. Students in your medical school should put more effort into medicine."

"We are not students."

"Are you teachers?"

"We are handymen." Li Hongmin's voice gradually became quieter.

"Handyman?" The two guards looked at each other and couldn't help laughing. "Why would you submit an article if you're just a handyman? You're not an intellectual."

"Toad wants to eat."

"Ha ha ha ha."

"I"

Li Hongmin's neck turned red, but he couldn't find a way to refute the ridicule.

This is so infuriating.

But he also feels inferior in his heart.

Yes, he is just a handyman.

With only a junior high school education, you are not much different from the social drifters. Why should you dream of becoming a writer?

"Jiang Xian, don't you have another letter?"

"Comrade, what did you mean by that?"

Jiang Xian ignored Li Hongmin's urging, but instead questioned him vigorously.

“Why can’t we handymen submit articles?”

The guard sat on the chair, crossed his legs, and gave him a flirtatious look.

"I didn't say you can't submit. Even college students can't get their papers accepted. You handymen, don't you think about your academic qualifications?"

"That's right, what the hell, just joining in the fun."

"Who are you scolding for having low education?" Jiang Xian slammed the table. "CY only has primary school education, JY has never been to college, and WH and XP have only graduated from college."

"Which one of them are you calling a piece of shit?!"

“They are not worthy of submitting articles!”

"They are just joining in the fun!"

"You mean only high-level intellectuals are worthy of liking literature?"

"We, who are from poor and lower-middle peasant families, are just dirt-legged peasants in your eyes!"

"I don't think you're a college janitor at all."

Jiang Xian pointed at the guard's nose and said rapidly:

"You are a FD faction!"

"You are an enemy!"

"You are the gatekeeper of ZCJJ!"

Every time Jiang Xian put a big hat on the guard, the guard's face became paler.

In the end, his legs were shaking like a sieve, and he couldn't hold the enamel teacup steadily in his hand. He accidentally dropped it to the ground, making a series of clanging noises.

"You...what are you talking about!"

"Pick up the teacup, pick up the teacup!" Jiang Xian pointed to the ground with one hand, his hair standing on end with anger.

"Dare to mess with our handyman?"

"The message room has been demolished for you!"

(End of this chapter)