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

The Beijing Evening News seems to be strongly supporting Cheng Xuemin!
After receiving Cheng Xuemin's manuscript the next day, they decided on the front page headline that same day, and it was published in the newspaper the following day!
On the day the article was published, Cheng Xuemin had already begun the initial editing of "Tai Chi" and had to work overtime to finish it.

After all, there are only a few days left until the Bolin Film Festival at the end of next month.

I wonder if my aunt's request has worked out or not. Judging by the time it takes, we should get some news back by now.

Because we are not very familiar with foreign film festivals, and there has never been a precedent of sending domestic films to film festivals for competition, Cheng Xuemin's "Tai Chi" will have to put in some effort to go global.

The original plan was to go out and participate in the exhibition as soon as the Tai Chi video was edited.

But that would be very complicated in terms of procedures, and it would be impossible to get around China Film Group. In the end, it might get stuck and prevented from going out.

That's quite possible. Now that Cheng Xuemin has been attacked, they really need more excuses to block Taiji's expansion overseas.

The most direct reason is that there is no legitimate reason for the attack, which can cause the previous plan to fail immediately.

After all, since ancient times, we have always valued the principle of "no legitimate reason for an attack." Without a warm invitation from the outside, if Cheng Xuemin and his team want to take the initiative, they may face great resistance.

Fortunately, Cheng Xuemin always had two plans in mind.

Doesn't our tradition emphasize 'having no legitimate reason for attacking'?

Then let Tai Chi have a reputation for going global.

So when Feng Jiayou and her aunt returned to China to visit relatives last time, Cheng Xuemin asked her to pull some strings with the organizers of the Bolin Film Festival.

Ideally, the Bolin Film Festival would extend a warm invitation to China.

If Bolin takes the initiative to extend an invitation, given the nature of those people nowadays, they will definitely be flattered and feel very honored.

In that case, it would be a natural thing for Tai Chi to go overseas to participate in the competition at the Bolin Film Festival.

Maybe Cheng Xuemin won't want to go, but the Central Motion Picture Corporation will force them to go no matter what.
"Xuemin, look! There are lines at the newsstands, they say the Beijing Evening News is sold out!"

Cheng Xuemin was directing the initial cut of Tai Chi, while Huang Jianzhong, who was doing the final reshoots, suddenly rushed into the screening room with a newspaper in hand, his voice trembling.

"Yeah!?"

Cheng Xuemin looked surprised upon hearing this. He took the newspaper and saw that his article occupied an entire page, accompanied by a cartoon:

"A writer stands atop a pile of books, holding 'Dream of the Red Chamber' in his left hand and 'Story Collection' in his right, smiling serenely!"

Hey!
This *Yanjing Evening News* is something else!

He only wrote a response the day before yesterday, but he didn't draw an illustration like this.

Doesn't this whole thing make Cheng Xuemin seem far too arrogant?
"This has really stirred up a hornet's nest." Huang Jianzhong rubbed his hands together, both excited and worried. "That Teacher An and his group will definitely not let this go."

"So what if you stabbed him?"

"Old Huang, you need to hurry up on your end. Our main task right now is the post-production editing and dubbing of Tai Chi!"

"It has to be done by the end of the month; we don't have much time!"

Cheng Xuemin glanced at the newspaper but didn't show much emotion. As he'd said before, the most urgent task now was to ensure the follow-up work on Tai Chi was done perfectly, striving to launch another major breakthrough.

"Huh? So soon?" Huang Jianzhong asked with a surprised look. "Xuemin, I know you're in a hurry. You want it released during the Spring Festival, right?"

"But don't be too hasty. There are still more than two months until the Chinese New Year, so there should be plenty of time!"

Based on their factory's calculations for the post-production editing and dubbing of a film, two months should be more than enough time.

Therefore, Cheng Xuemin's focus now should not be on Tai Chi, but on the attacks from the outside world.

If these issues cannot be resolved quickly, Huang Jianzhong is worried about whether their film "Tai Chi" will be able to be released during the Spring Festival.

After all, this is a martial arts film, which is completely different from other art films.

Therefore, Huang Jianzhong was genuinely worried that China Film Group, under pressure from public opinion, would suppress their film "Tai Chi" and refuse to distribute it.

"Old Huang, we can't wait until the Spring Festival. I plan to get the final cut out by the end of next month!"

Cheng Xuemin tossed the newspaper aside and continued working on the initial editing, casually mentioning it to Huang Jianzhong.

"what?"

"Finish it before the end of next month? Xuemin, are you planning to release it on New Year's Day? Isn't that too rushed?"

Huang Jianzhong was stunned. He had always thought that Tai Chi would be released during the Spring Festival, and that they still had two months to go.

But after hearing what Cheng Xuemin said, if it starts on New Year's Day, then there's only about a month left. Isn't that too rushed?

"It might not even be until the end of the month. Anyway, Lao Huang, you guys need to hurry up. You'll see when the time comes!"

The fact that Tai Chi was going to go overseas to earn foreign exchange in US dollars was kept a secret even from director Huang Jianzhong. However, when it came time to go overseas, director Huang would definitely be present at the Bolin Film Festival.

So he'll definitely find out then.

"Are you in such a hurry?"

"Then...then I'll definitely get on my end working on that! But Xuemin, you can't let your guard down either, after all, whether our Tai Chi film can be released still depends on getting through China Film Group!"

Huang Jianzhong's face began to show signs of anxiety. He really didn't know that Cheng Xuemin was in such a hurry, releasing the film on New Year's Day. The timing was too rushed.

What's most troublesome is the verbal battles in the newspapers.

If the film is to be released as scheduled during the New Year's Day holiday, this war of words must be quelled in advance. Otherwise, China Film Group will definitely not put such a huge pressure on them to release the martial arts film "Tai Chi"!
After all, the current center of the controversy is that Cheng Xuemin, a literary icon, has actually stooped to writing popular historical fiction and cheap, mass-produced literature.

It truly disgraced them as intellectuals, but it aroused public anger and excitement.

If this isn't suppressed and quelled, the release of Tai Chi will only add fuel to the fire, making the situation even more uncontrollable and rapidly escalating in a direction unfavorable to Cheng Xuemin.

At that point, it remains to be seen how things will end, and whether Cheng Xuemin, the vanguard, will be able to escape unscathed.

They were all really excited!

"This Cheng Xuemin is too cunning; he actually blurred the line between popular and vulgar!"

"Moreover, he is extremely shameless, using ordinary people as a shield to cover up his vulgar nature!"

"Fight back! Fight back! We must fight back and expose Cheng Xuemin's shameful and ugly face!"

"We need to let the people know that true literature should be a beacon, not roadside weeds. Cheng Xuemin's approach is diminishing the value of literature!"

In a room at the People's Literature Guesthouse, An Shaokang, who had just arrived in Yanjing and settled in, read today's Yanjing Evening News and then slammed his fist on the table and shouted with several like-minded literary friends in the room!

"We must fight back! Cheng Xuemin is a very vulgar person, a degenerate tainted by money!"

"I'll write it now, and submit it as soon as I leave the house. I'll submit it to the People's Daily next door!"

"If the People's Daily won't publish it, we'll submit it to the Literature and Art Daily! We'll all go together. I refuse to believe that the Literature and Art Daily is a place to speak for us writers. If they don't publish it for us, we'll all appeal to the higher authorities!"

"Shaokang, shouldn't we take it slow and observe the situation a bit more? After all, we're all here to attend the Literary and Art Congress, and the higher-ups probably don't want anything else to happen during the Congress."

"After all, conflicts shouldn't be made too public, and they shouldn't be escalated too much!"

"What are you waiting for? We must take advantage of this literary and art congress to expose Cheng Xuemin's depraved face!"

"Otherwise, we'd all be deceived by him, letting this black sheep infiltrate our highest-level literary and art conference. Wouldn't that make us a laughingstock for the leaders?!"

"Yes, yes, yes, Shao Kang is right, he's absolutely right! We must expose his ugly face immediately. We must make him reveal his true colors and turn him into a rat that everyone wants to beat!"

What Cheng Xuemin didn't know was that Teacher An from Jiangcheng University, who was also Tianxian's mother's future husband, had been invited to this literary congress. He was currently being accommodated in the People's Literature Association's guesthouse.

After all, the main organizers of this literary and art congress were the People's Publishing House and People's Literature, so they were definitely responsible for the participants' food, drink, and other necessities.

Liu Xiaoli finished filming her last scene today, and was then summoned by the personnel department of Yan Film Studio.

After leaving, he looked utterly dejected and went straight home without even returning to the guesthouse.

"Lily's back?" Tianxian's grandmother turned around and greeted her daughter with surprise and joy. "Go wash your hands quickly. I left you a packet of candy, it's still warm."

Grandpa Tianxian straightened up from the rattan chair, placed the enamel mug in his hand on the small table with a clanging sound.

The inscription "Labor is the most glorious" printed on the jar was brand new, clearly a prize that had just been awarded.

Liu Xiaoli put the canvas bag down in the corner and didn't rush over to grab the candy bag as usual. She just stood there with her eyes downcast.

"Have you heard anything about the transfer order?" Seeing his daughter's reaction, Tianxian's grandfather must have guessed something, his voice trembling almost imperceptibly.

The elderly couple tried every possible connection to get their daughter transferred from Jiangcheng back to Yanjing, but to no avail.

I really didn't expect that before National Day, my daughter returned to Beijing to participate in the filming of a movie. She said that there was a teacher named Cheng in the factory who thought highly of her.

The plan is to have Yan Film Studio transfer their daughter from Jiangcheng to Yan Film Studio for intensive training.

When Tianxian's maternal grandparents heard this news, they were overjoyed and extremely surprised. They really didn't expect that the transfer order back to Beijing, which they had been trying to obtain but couldn't, would be obtained by a single sentence from Teacher Cheng in their daughter's film crew.

They said that once the current film is finished, they will contact Yan Film Studio to ask them to transfer personnel.

Now that my daughter has just returned from filming on location in another city, it's clear that there must be some official transfer order coming up.

Upon hearing the question from Tianxian's maternal grandfather, even Tianxian's maternal grandmother, who was busy in the kitchen, was overjoyed and rushed out to ask, "Lily, is there any news about returning to Yanjing?"

Liu Xiaoli tried her best not to cry, and instead took out the crumpled notification letter from her pocket.

This is the reply letter given to her by the personnel department of Yan Film Studio after their conversation. It only has a few words on it: "The quota is full, and we will discuss it again later."

Grandma Tianxian's hand trembled violently, and the rolling pin fell to the ground with a clatter. Her face was filled with utter disappointment as she asked, "How could this happen? Didn't Teacher Cheng from your crew say he was confident?"

“It’s An Shaokang!” Liu Xiaoli’s voice was as low as a mosquito’s buzz as her fingertips dug deeply into her palms.

“An Shaokang? Is that the teacher who writes you letters every day?” Tianxian’s maternal grandfather frowned. He vaguely remembered the name. His daughter had mentioned it a few times, saying that he was a teacher at Jiangcheng University who was pursuing her very hard.

She immediately asked, puzzled, "What does it have to do with him? You two aren't even dating, how could he interfere with your return to Yanjing?"

Tianxian's maternal grandfather knew a little about the relationship between his daughter and that university teacher in Jiangcheng.

It was just a one-sided pursuit by that guy; it didn't even qualify as dating, let alone marriage. Because only if they got married would the woman's household registration follow the man's, meaning she would have to stay in Jiangcheng and wouldn't be able to return to Yanjing.

This is also the main reason why Tianxian's maternal grandparents didn't quite agree; they wanted their daughter to return to their side and to Yanjing.

Instead of staying in Jiangcheng, even though the other party was a young teacher at Jiangcheng University, considered a highly educated intellectual, the household registration issue was the most prominent problem of this era.

Tianxian's maternal grandparents certainly didn't want their daughter to stay in Jiangcheng and be unable to return to Yanjing.

So, things were almost settled with Yanying Film Studio, how did this unexpected problem arise? Could it be that the guy surnamed An is holding them back and preventing their daughter from coming back?
“The article criticizing Teacher Cheng in the newspaper was written by him.” Liu Xiaoli raised her head, her eyes red like a rabbit’s. “Director Wang from Yanying Film Studio secretly told me that my name had already been submitted for publication, but An Shaokang’s articles caused too much of a stir, and Teacher Cheng is now being talked about in the factory, so they can’t bring up my matter anymore.”

"A newspaper? He wrote an article criticizing Teacher Cheng in the newspaper?!"

"He doesn't know about your transfer order back to Yanjing, and he's relying entirely on Teacher Cheng?" Grandpa Tianxian slammed his hand on the table, making the enamel mug jump half an inch high. He was truly dumbfounded!
"It was the Jiangcheng Evening News from Jiangcheng that published several articles attacking him! At the time, I was filming a movie with Teacher Cheng and the others in Chenjiagou, and Teacher Cheng ignored him!"

"But who knew that he would become even more unscrupulous, and actually wrote several more in a row!"

Liu Xiaoli then told her parents all about these things in detail!

Jiangcheng Evening News is not a national newspaper, and the number of copies that can be sent to Beijing is not large. In addition, due to the deliberate protection from the higher authorities, ordinary people in Yanjing have never even read Jiangcheng Evening News. It is only circulated in a small circle.

Tianxian's maternal grandparents were clearly unaware of the situation.

"What should we do? What should we do?! Why did that guy surnamed An write those articles out of the blue?"
Teacher Cheng is such a good person; he even took the initiative to handle Lili's transfer order, and it was almost finalized. Why would he do this?

Grandma Tianxian was so angry that she stomped her feet and kept asking questions, unable to understand why that person surnamed An was doing this.

Originally, their daughter was supposed to be transferred back to Yanjing before the end of the year after filming this movie, if all went well.

But now it's all good!
That guy surnamed An ruined everything. What should we do?

"Did you tell him that Teacher Cheng wants to transfer you back to Yanjing?" Tianxian's grandfather's face was also ashen with anger as he asked Liu Xiaoli resentfully.

"Dad, I...I...He wrote to Yanying Film Studio before, and I...I didn't want to get entangled with him, so I just mentioned it to myself!" Liu Xiaoli also realized that this news might have provoked him.

So, that's why he criticized Teacher Cheng so much in the newspaper—was it to prevent her from being successfully transferred back to Yanjing?!
Thinking of this, Liu Xiaoli's face turned deathly pale, and she felt overwhelming regret.

If I had known, she shouldn't have mentioned it in the letter!

Do not!
If she had known it would be like this, she shouldn't have replied to that letter. If she had just ignored it like before, none of this would have happened.

Now look what's happened. She's harmed herself and others. Not only has she been unable to return to Yanjing, but Teacher Cheng has also been severely affected.

"The matter was accomplished in secrecy. I told you so! You have no relationship with him, nor do you intend to have one. Why did you tell him this?"

"Now look what happened! That kid did it on purpose! He just doesn't want you to be transferred back to Yanjing smoothly. His intentions are truly malicious; he actually used this method to stop you!"

"No way, I can't swallow this! I'm going to call Jiangcheng University right now and ask that kid what he's up to!" Grandpa Tianxian was furious and immediately realized that it was the letter his daughter had sent back.

My daughter shouldn't have, in a million years, leaked the transfer order, which hadn't even been finalized, to any other people she didn't want to be involved with.

Now look what's happened, everything's gone!
As the saying goes, things are accomplished by secrecy. This is an experience passed down from our ancestors for thousands of years. Can't our daughter be more discerning?

And that guy surnamed An, he's really no good.

The methods used were incredibly dirty!
If that guy surnamed An were in front of him, Grandpa Tianxian would definitely slap him across the face.

"Old Liu, where are you going to make a phone call in the middle of the night? Besides, do you even know how you're going to talk to them?" Grandma Tianxian's voice was filled with despair. "They're professors from Jiangcheng University. They have the power to write and write. What can ordinary people like us do?"

Just then, there was a knocking sound at the courtyard gate, accompanied by a slightly excited male voice:

"Is Uncle Liu home? I'm An Shaokang, from Jiangcheng University! I'm in Yanjing for the Literary and Art Congress, and I took the opportunity to visit you and Auntie!"

It was indeed An Shaokang who came. After reading the Yanjing Evening News, he and his companions immediately wrote a scathing and incisive rebuttal.

They even went to the literary newspaper together, demanding that it publish their article, or they would go to the lake to protest.

Seeing the overwhelming force of the press, the literary newspaper had no choice but to agree to publish the article. With his demands met, An Shaokang thought about Liu Xiaoli from the Jiangcheng Song and Dance Troupe, whom he was pursuing, who was from Beijing.

He had previously asked someone to find out Liu Xiaoli's address in Yanjing, so he took the opportunity to visit her in person. He figured that if he couldn't get through to Liu Xiaoli, he would try a roundabout approach and win over his future father-in-law and mother-in-law first.

As long as her parents agree, and as the saying goes, marriage is arranged by matchmakers and parents, Liu Xiaoli has no choice but to marry him even if she doesn't want to!

So, carrying large bags and small packages, he personally paid a visit while Liu Xiaoli was away filming a movie.

They had absolutely no idea that Liu Xiaoli, who was filming a movie on location, had returned to Beijing and was now in the room just a door away.

Hearing the sounds outside, her delicate body stiffened abruptly. Her parents also exchanged a startled glance, their eyes filled with boundless rage.

……

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