1978: Female educated youth, don’t want an illiterate husband

Cheng Xuemin was genuinely startled by the headline on the front page.

He thought to himself that he was upright and had nothing to hide, and that he hadn't done anything particularly depraved.

For example, issues related to lifestyle.

Although Cheng Xuemin was surrounded by beautiful women, including Zhu Lin from the north and Gong Xue from the south, as well as Liu Xiaoli, the mother of a fairy, and many other female comrades.

But those were all work-related interactions; Cheng Xuemin had no improper thoughts whatsoever.

At the same time, he was also brought up by Hai Zi and became a somewhat famous public figure. He has always been very careful about his personal life, fearing that he would be caught out and exposed, thus ruining his reputation.

Even so, it still made the front page and was criticized.

Cheng Xuemin wanted to see what exactly had caught him off guard, that he had made it onto the front page of the Jiangcheng Evening News with such an eye-catching headline: "The Fall of Cheng Xuemin, a Pioneer of Reform and Opening Up."

They didn't even add the word "comrade" to it.

Good guy!
After Cheng Xuemin quickly glanced at the article, he was both relieved and amused.

They actually exposed his true identity.

The front page headline of the Jiangcheng Evening News reported the following:

"A writer who once shocked the literary world with 'The Appointment of Factory Director Qiao' and who just received high praise from Hai Zili for 'The Garland Under the High Mountain' has actually condescended to write a martial arts legend for a street stall magazine!"

"What the cotton robe cannot conceal is the pandering to popular tastes; what leaps between the lines is the betrayal of serious literature..."

The article, spanning two or three thousand words, is filled with scathing criticism, revealing the author's excitement and agitation at exposing Cheng Xuemin's previously unknown, sycophantic, and vulgar pseudonym.

In short, the message conveyed between the lines is: So this is what Cheng Xuemin, the pioneer of reform and opening up, really is!
For a few measly royalties, he actually bowed down to vulgar, low-brow literature, and wrote vulgar historical novels for a disreputable publication like Story Club.

Is this still our rising star in the literary world, the young pioneer of reform and opening up, who was once so promising and was highly anticipated by Hai Zi?
In order to earn that little bit of royalties, he actually went so far as to flatter and pander to vulgar tastes, submitting articles to the street vendor magazine "Story Club" and writing a series of vulgar historical novels such as "The Big Man and the Little Wife" and "The Cotton Robe," which were not worthy of being presented in a respectable manner.

How could Cheng Xuemin, a pioneer of reform and opening up, have fallen into such a rapid and complete depravity?

They even want to earn royalties, they want to earn everything!?
After reading the article, Cheng Xuemin, despite its extremely sharp content, merely chuckled and felt genuinely relieved.

He was genuinely afraid of having his personal conduct exposed and being targeted and attacked on the front page of the media.

If that's the case, it's safe to say that regardless of whether there are any issues with his conduct, those unfounded rumors alone could cause Cheng Xuemin to fall from grace and even face irreparable ruin.

However, the pseudonym used by the magazine "Story Club" was exposed, revealing that it contained two popular historical novels written for the magazine: "The Big Man and the Little Wife" and "The Cotton Robe."

Then it doesn't matter.

It's just that I wrote two fictional novels for "Story Club". Why make such a big deal out of it and even have it featured on the front page of the Jiangcheng Evening News?

Cheng Xuemin didn't take it seriously at all. He was upright and had nothing to fear. What was wrong with writing some popular novels?
Are popular novels inferior?

That's utter bullshit.

However, the fact that this article was published directly in the Jiangcheng Evening News, and even on the front page, shows that the author must have some influence!
To challenge me so openly, is he planning to use me, Cheng Xuemin, to gain fame and reputation?

Is this a plan to climb up by stepping on Cheng Xuemin's head?

Cheng Xuemin wanted to see who was behind this and who was trying to use him to boost their reputation.

An Shaokang?!

How dare you! Is this your real name or a pseudonym?
Cheng Xuemin felt that the name seemed familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before, but he couldn't quite place it.

It didn't matter. He would let him run around for a while longer. Cheng Xuemin ignored him and was too lazy to fight back. He didn't want to be used as a pawn by the other party.

Because once Cheng Xuemin responds and retaliates, regardless of whether it succeeds or not, it will greatly boost the other party's reputation.

This allows someone who can only hide his head and cower, daring only to publish petty things in a small publication like the Jiangcheng Evening News, thus fueling his arrogance.

If Cheng Xuemin responds, he will have lost.

In any case, let time smooth things over or let things ferment. If Cheng Xuemin doesn't pay attention, the war of words between intellectuals won't start. It takes two to tango, so it will soon be submerged and calmed down, and thus smoothed over.

But if the other side is determined to persist and becomes increasingly rampant when Cheng Xuemin refuses to fight, it doesn't matter.

Because Cheng Xuemin has already accumulated a trump card, just waiting for time to develop, and when Cheng Xuemin plays this trump card of "Tai Chi", he will create a huge achievement of tens of millions of US dollars in foreign exchange for the country.

When the time comes, how will the instigator who started this war of words and meticulously planned to ferment it to its peak and make it uncontrollable respond to Cheng Xuemin's card?

The movie "Tai Chi" was adapted from an extremely clichéd historical novel.

As for the creative adaptations, they are all betrayers of serious literature, Cheng Xuemin, who only bows to the stench of royalties and money. How can they possibly accept his offer?
A traitor to serious literature has managed to generate tens of millions of US dollars in foreign exchange for the country with a vulgar, popular film. How should they respond to this situation?

Therefore, no matter how things develop, Cheng Xuemin, holding the trump card, was already fearless.

On the contrary, I was actually a little excited!

The expectation is that his refusal to fight back and his indifferent handling will make the other side feel ignored, causing them to become even more rampant and aggressive.

Only in this way will the resounding slap in the face after two months be all the more powerful.

Having decided to ignore the matter and handle it coldly, Cheng Xuemin simply put it aside and went to Mount Lu the next day as planned to check on Gong Xue's work.

"Comrade Cheng, our Secretary Chen has already instructed me to be by your side at all times while you are filming a movie in our county!"

The three-day symposium helped Cheng Xuemin build good relationships with the local leaders. They were also very sincere, even assigning their former driver to Cheng Xuemin, making the driver available 24/7.

Cheng Xuemin felt genuinely embarrassed, yet he couldn't refuse the invitation out of politeness, as the man had been so hospitable.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Xiao Zhou!" Cheng Xuemin nodded to the young man surnamed Zhou, and then got into the car without further ado.

"It's no trouble at all. It's my honor to be the driver for Comrade Cheng, a pioneer of reform and opening up and an outstanding and famous writer!" This driver was quite good at talking, and he immediately showered him with compliments.

"Comrade Cheng, you're not still angry about the day I gave birth to you, when I threw a pile of yellow dust on your butt, are you?"

Then, this driver, Xiao Zhou, began to reflect on his actions.

That day, he went down to the commune with Deputy County Chief Ke to pick up the pioneer of reform and opening up who was sitting in the car. But who knew that the man would block their car halfway? Neither he nor Deputy County Chief Ke recognized him. They just stepped on the gas and sped over, kicking the man's buttocks with dust.

Thinking about this, the driver, Xiao Zhou, felt uneasy and could only report the matter truthfully to Secretary Chen.

Secretary Chen was also quite surprised to hear this; it was such a coincidence.

After criticizing him on the spot, he was directly assigned to be Comrade Cheng's driver, which can be regarded as giving him a chance to make amends.

"No, no, Comrade Xiao Zhou, do you think I'm such a petty person?" Cheng Xuemin chuckled and waved his hand. It was just an unfortunate coincidence; there was no need to be so petty and hold a grudge.

I immediately tried to reason with them and talked to them about some interesting stories that young people like to hear, which helped to resolve the unpleasantness between us.

"By the way, Comrade Cheng, shall I take you directly back to Chenjiagou?" The driver, Xiao Zhou, whose mind had been cleared, then casually asked.

"Xiao Zhou, let's not go back to Chenjiagou yet!"

"Take me to the largest supply and marketing cooperative in your county. We'll buy some things first, then head up Mount Lu!"

Since Cheng Xuemin planned to visit the set in Lushan, he certainly couldn't go empty-handed. He had to bring some food to properly comfort Gong Xue, who had such a gluttonous appetite.

"Okay, okay!" Driver Xiao Zhou nodded repeatedly in agreement, then asked with a hint of doubt, "Going to Mount Lu?"

"Comrade Cheng, are you going to climb our Lushan Mountain?"
"Great! It seems Comrade Cheng has another masterpiece about to be published!"

"How so?" Cheng Xuemin was amused by the flattery from the young driver, Zhou.

He was just going to the mountain to visit and comfort the crew of "Romance on Lushan Mountain". How does that have to do with the release of another major work?
"Is not it?"

"Aren't great writers and literary giants like Comrade Cheng just like those ancient literati, appreciating the beautiful landscapes of our motherland and expressing their feelings in a way that results in a masterpiece that will be passed down through the ages?"

"Great poets like Li Bai, Du Fu, and Bai Juyi all visited our Mount Lu and left behind masterpieces!"

"Haha, I definitely don't have that!" Cheng Xuemin laughed heartily. It turned out this kid was quite cultured; he knew Li Bai, Du Fu, and Bai Juyi, and even knew how to nitpick and bring up literary figures.

Sorry, kid, you're thinking a bit off. Cheng Xuemin was just visiting a friend on set, nothing more.

of course!

The young man wasn't entirely wrong. If "Romance on Lushan Mountain" is considered a masterpiece, then he did leave something behind on Lushan Mountain, but that was something he had already paid homage to before he even arrived. "Comrade Cheng, you're too modest!"

Driver Xiao Zhou smiled and nodded, thinking that this pioneer of reform and opening up was just being modest. How could a great writer like him not be inspired to write something after visiting Mount Lu?
No matter how well it's written, it's still the calligraphy left by Comrade Cheng Xuemin, a pioneer of reform and opening up. The county will definitely attach great importance to it and will definitely make a copy.

"Film crew?"

"Are there film crews shooting movies on Mount Lu?"

Once the car reached Guling Town Commune, it couldn't go any further. However, Xie Jin's film crew was still at Meilu Villa, so they still had to climb a long mountain road.

Wait until we get off the bus!

Cheng Xuemin then told the driver that he had come to visit the set of "Romance on Lushan Mountain," and the driver looked puzzled, as if he had never heard of it before.

Cheng Xuemin didn't say anything more; it was actually normal that he hadn't heard of it.

After all, although their county is also at the foot of Mount Lu, Mount Lu is administratively located in Lushan County, not under the jurisdiction of Ruichang. It's normal that they don't know the situation on the mountain.

……

On Mount Lu, the autumn sun warmed the stone steps of Hanpokou.

Xie Jin sat on a small stool next to the camera, holding a rolled-up script in his hand, but his gaze went beyond the churning sea of ​​clouds and landed on the winding road leading down the mountain.

"Director Xie, it's time to reshoot the scene where Zhou Yun and Geng Hua reunite."

The script supervisor walked over carrying the clapperboard, his blue cloth jacket covered in bits of grass—splashed from the water scene they filmed that morning at Ruqin Lake.

Xie Jin hummed in agreement, but his gaze remained fixed on Xie Jin.

This was the fifth time he had looked down the mountain today. The crew had been filming in Lushan for almost two months, from early autumn in September to late autumn, and had used more than forty rolls of film. But he always felt empty inside, as if a piece of the puzzle was missing.

"Director Xie, Xuemin should be arriving soon, right?"

Gong Xue walked over carrying a military green jacket. She had just changed out of her stage manager's uniform and was still wearing the white shirt from the play underneath, with a small red five-pointed star pinned to the collar.

In fact, Gong Xue had been looking forward to it all along, and he also secretly regretted not visiting the Yanjing Film Studio when he passed through Yanjing on his way back from his visit to the Northeast.

Xie Jin smiled and tapped her arm with the script: "Xiao Gong, Xiao Cheng's eye is indeed excellent. Zhou Yun is practically written just for you. You've been in great form the whole time, and you've almost perfectly portrayed the Zhou Yun I wanted. Very good!"

"You've been working hard these past few days because of the tight schedule!"

After praising Gong Xue, Xie Jin said directly, "Well then, since the crew is on vacation for the next couple of days, I reckon Xiao Cheng should arrive by now!"

"So if he doesn't come up soon, how about we go down the mountain and look for him?"

Gong Xue was overjoyed to hear Xie Jin's suggestion and definitely wanted to go down the mountain to find her classmate Huang Tu.

To know!
She wanted to tell her classmate from Huangtu just how popular "Night at the Military Port," which he had written for her, was when she took it to the Northeast for a performance to comfort the troops.

Even now, when she comes to Lushan to film "Lushan Love", she still often receives letters from listeners forwarded by the General Political Department.

Gong Xue wanted to share these letters from listeners with her classmate Huang Tu.

Before Gong Xue could reply, the roar of a car engine came from down the mountain, and everyone in the crew looked up!
These days, not many cars can drive up Mount Lu. Apart from the county committee's sedan, there are only the jeeps used by cadres who occasionally come to inspect the area.

"Could it be Comrade Cheng?" Old Wang, the photographer, stood up with his camera, his eyes wide with surprise.

Xie Jin quickly stood up as well, unconsciously smoothing out the script with his hands.

But the car sped past the bend and headed straight for the guesthouse at the top of the mountain, without stopping at Hanpokou, where the film crew was stationed.

Seeing the light in his eyes dim down, Gong Xue's own eyes also dimmed, and she could only say softly, "Director Xie, didn't you say before that Xuemin also has a movie that will be filmed on location in Ruichang?"
Perhaps he's already there, only about a hundred miles from here. Should we borrow a jeep from the locals and go visit him?

"Judging by the time, it's about time! Xiao Gong, let's set off tomorrow to visit Xiao Cheng!"

Xie Jin nodded, sat back down on the stool, and spread the script out on his lap.

Actually, he wasn't hoping for Cheng Xuemin to give him any guidance.

Xie Jin simply wanted to talk to Cheng Xuemin about the "outrageous" designs in "Romance on Lushan Mountain":

When it came time to film the scene where Zhou Yun and Geng Hua held hands in the movie theater, Xie Jin was somewhat unsure of himself; he was simply too daring.

In any case, Xie Jin has never filmed a scene of gay men and women holding hands in his previous directing career.

There's also a close-up of Geng Hua carrying Zhou Yun across the river, with his shirt sticking to his back. This was a shot that Cheng Xuemin specifically marked as essential to film when drawing the storyboard.

When Xie Jin received the script for "Romance on Lushan Mountain," he was only happy and secretly pleased, and he never imagined that there were so many pitfalls in the script.

Therefore, Xie Jin became increasingly unsure as filming progressed, and needed Cheng Xuemin to come and provide him with personal guidance and reassurance.

He couldn't say these things to the censors, nor could he say them to the young people in the crew.

The only option is to talk to Cheng Xuemin.

What's wrapped inside the military uniform is, first and foremost, a warm heart.

Cheng Xuemin had told himself that what he wanted to leave on the screen was not just the scenery, but also the light shining in the eyes of young people of this era.

Ok!

The most important point is that Xie Jin and the female lead, Gong Xue, both tacitly avoided mentioning it.

That is, there is an even more outrageous scene in this movie than holding hands and carrying each other across the river.

That was a kissing scene.

Yes!

In this day and age, holding hands and having the male lead carry the female lead across a river are absolutely forbidden territory. Such scenes would never have appeared in serious movies in the past.

But Cheng Xuemin's script had an even more damning minefield: kissing scenes.

A kissing scene between the male and female protagonists.

Xie Jin intentionally put this scene last, feeling that Cheng Xuemin himself had to come, otherwise he wouldn't dare to film it.

Even if he dared to film it, the female lead, Gong Xue, would definitely not agree to act in it.

After all, Gong Xue is now considered a pillar of their General Political Department's cultural troupe.

With several popular songs written for her by Cheng Xuemin, such as "The Blood-Stained Glory," "The Moon on the Fifteenth," "Sending Off Comrades," and "Night at the Military Port," she has become a household name across the country.

There was absolutely no need to risk making a major mistake by filming this kissing scene.

Moreover, although Gong Xue never explicitly said it, her various actions clearly indicated that she was very resistant to that kissing scene.

This put Xie Jin in a very difficult position, and it was indeed necessary for Cheng Xuemin himself to come and make the final decision.

So at this moment, Xie Jin was more eager than anyone else for Cheng Xuemin to come over, but unfortunately, after waiting for a long time, the kid still didn't show up.

Seeing the car heading straight for the guesthouse at the top of the mountain, Xie Jin was disappointed again and could only quickly take some more shots with the few cameras he had.

Then the afternoon sun slanted through the pine forest, casting dappled shadows on the ground.

Xie Jin was instructing Gong Xue on her performance.

This is a scene where she plays Zhou Yun, and the tears in her eyes when she learns that Geng Hua is going to America are just right, making her truly pitiful to behold.

"Good! This one is excellent, passed!"

Suddenly, a voice rang out saying "That's enough," which immediately surprised Xie Jin. He asked, "Who said that it was enough?"

But as soon as I asked the question, I realized that it was Cheng Xuemin's voice.
Immediately afterward, Xie Jin looked in the direction of the sound and froze on the spot!

Who else could it be but that brat Cheng Xuemin?!
……

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