My era, 1979!

Chapter 37 Xu Chengjun: Don't let ideologies confine your life!

On July 16, 1979, in Hefei, the morning light had just washed over the arcade buildings along Changjiang Road.

Newspaper vendor Lao Wang's "Forever" brand bicycle came rolling over the bluestone slabs.

In the wire basket on the back of the car, the newly printed Anhui Youth Daily still smelled of ink, and the seven bold characters on the front page, "On Labor in the Scales," shone brightly in the morning mist.

"Exclusive interview with Xu Chengjun! Educated youth from Fengyang talk about individual business owners - Where is the ideology in labor!" Old Wang's shout hit the blue brick wall, startling the sparrows in the locust tree.

"Xu, the educated youth who wrote 'Weighing the Stars'?"

The workers in overalls had just finished their night shift, their enamel mugs still steaming. They squeezed their way to the stall in a few quick movements: "Give me one! I heard on the radio yesterday that this is going to be a hit!"

Old Li, the lathe operator, stuffed the newspaper into his toolbox, the clinking of the metal box mingling with his laughter: "I'll tell my wife tonight, we're going to set up a shoe repair stall!"

The bluestone slabs in front of the post office gleamed from being walked on. Old Zhang, the gatekeeper, had just placed a stack of Anhui Youth Daily newspapers on the windowsill when he was surrounded by a throng of people.

The worker in blue overalls clutched two cents, his fingertips tapping repeatedly on the title of "On Labor in the Scales": "Give me one! I heard on the radio yesterday that Xu, an educated youth, criticized 'theory of ideology,' I have to see it with my own eyes!"

Old Zhang bundled the newspapers into small stacks with twine, beads of sweat dripping from his forehead onto the bolded words "Labourism is not a priority": "Don't rush, don't rush! One copy per person, the comrades from the factory behind are still waiting!"

Seeing the girl in the floral shirt standing on tiptoe to look around, he casually handed her a newspaper: "Isn't your dad thinking of setting up a sewing stall? This newspaper can be your talisman!"

Under the sycamore trees at the entrance of Anhui University, students wearing school badges gathered around the bulletin board, their fingertips drawing white lines on the line "Youth Should Be Wild".

"He said, 'If you're afraid of being laughed at, you can't get anything done!'" The girl with the ponytail folded the newspaper into a square and stuffed it into her textbook. "I'll use that to argue with the department head at the debate this afternoon!"

The boy wearing glasses next to her quickly grabbed her arm: "Lu Xiaoxiao! Watch your words!"

In the early morning at Mingjiao Temple vegetable market, dew still clung to the green beans. The men selling vegetables had just set up their stalls when they were interrupted by a series of hurried footsteps.

A young man in a military green satchel, clutching a copy of the Anhui Youth Daily, weaved through the crowd: "Exclusive interview with Xu Chengjun! 'On Labor in the Scales'—It's not shameful to be a self-employed person!"

The woman selling sweet potatoes straightened up, spread a newspaper on the pile of sweet potatoes, and ran her fingertip over the line "What is laborism?" Suddenly she slapped her thigh: "That's right! I sell sweet potatoes, and he repairs bicycles. We both earn clean money!"
The butcher in front of the meat stall snatched the newspaper with his greasy hands, the iron hooks for hanging meat still swaying: "'If you're afraid of people talking behind your back, don't take on important responsibilities'—that's some serious talk!"

He chopped on the cutting board, splattering fatty meat onto the newspaper: "My brother deals in Dacron in Shanghai, and he's always afraid of being labeled a 'speculator,' so I have to send him this newspaper!"

Housewives in blue cotton shirts gathered around a vegetable stall, passing around newspapers, while eggs crackled softly in a bamboo basket. "Look at Old Zhou, his signboard's been torn down three times and he still dares to keep going," one said. "I also want to sew cloth shoes to sell at the market, but I was always afraid the neighbors would laugh at me..."

The older woman next to her chimed in, "What are you laughing at? Xu Zhiqing already said that he earns his living with his skills and can hold his head high!"

At the tofu stall on the corner, the owner pasted newspaper onto a wooden board and smoothed it out with glue. "Let me read it to you all!"

He tapped the copper ladle he used to scoop tofu against the rim of the vat. “‘Individuals are streams, the collective is a great river.’ Aren’t we tofu sellers also adding water to the great river?”

People in line crowded around, some taking out pens to copy sentences from cigarette boxes, saying they would take them to the educated youth in the commune. By the time the sun was high in the sky, the newspapers had already reached the hands of the night soil collectors.

He leaned the carrying pole against the wall, pointed to the line "Youth Should Be Wild" with his dirty fingers, and grinned: "My kid wants to study and go to university, but he's always afraid people will say 'a toad wants to eat swan meat.' This newspaper will show him that 'don't believe those condescending platitudes.' Daring to dream is what makes a man capable!"

The office of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles.

A copy of the Anhui Youth Daily lay on Su Zhong's desk, several paragraphs highlighted in red, still glaring in the sunlight.

It is drawn in red pen:
Ma Shengli: Young people who want to set up stalls or explore new avenues are often told they are "restless." What exactly does "restlessness" mean?
Xu Chengjun: Being content with one's lot doesn't mean sitting still and waiting to die. I've seen fellow educated youth in the educated youth settlements who clearly knew how to repair radios, but were afraid of being called idle, and ended up becoming sullen and withdrawn. When policies loosen a crack, one should seize the opportunity. Always waiting for others to pave the way for you is laziness, not contentment.

Ma Shengli: Which side do you think writers should stand on?

Xu Chengjun: Stand on the side of the wheat, stand on the side of the shoe repair stall, the sunflower seed stall. Stop writing those vague "grand principles," look more at the weeds in the corner. They grow even without watering. The pen isn't for whitewashing, it's for exposing those who are hypocritical.

Ma Shengli: Do the collective and the individual have to be enemies?

Xu Chengjun: Where do all these rivals come from? The collective is the great river, and the individual is the stream. If the stream dries up, the river will also dry up. Last year, when the county's state-owned factory was short of parts, it was individual business owners who worked overnight to produce them; when the commune's granary leaked, it was the villagers who brought ladders to fix it. When working, they don't distinguish between "us" and "them," but when it comes to "isms," they get all worked up. Isn't that just putting on airs?

Ma Shengli: I'm not afraid of people saying 'writing this is too sensitive'

Xu Chengjun: I write about people's hearts, not about 'sensitivity'. Just like Lao Zhou's melon seeds, you only know if they're sweet or not after you taste them.

Ma Shengli: A final piece of advice for young people?

Xu Chengjun: Don't believe those empty platitudes that try to bind you. Your strength is your own, your life is your own, do what you want to do. The sky won't fall, and even if it does, there are people willing to hold it up.

Su Zhong was enveloped in smoke and remained silent for a long time.

After a long silence, he finally chuckled and said, "That brat!"

What Su Zhong didn't know was...

Before writing "The Fitting Mirror," Xu Chengjun went to the Anhui Youth Daily alone and met with Editor-in-Chief Li. He felt that he had not expressed himself clearly enough and insisted on revising the interview content. He also wanted to change "Anhui Youth Daily Interview Transcript: Xu Chengjun - On Labor in the Scales" to "Xu Chengjun: Don't Use Ideologies to Frame Your Days!"
Editor-in-Chief Li pondered for three days, hesitated for three days, smoked five packs of cigarettes, and was hit by his son seven times.
Ultimately, the part of the interview with the red line drawn by Su Zhong was added, but the interview title was not changed.

After confirming the dispatch, Editor-in-Chief Zhang shook his head repeatedly: "A bombshell! A bombshell!"

This column is going to be a hit!

Black and red are also red!
Meanwhile, Xu Zhiqing's "outrageous theories" were spreading rapidly through the streets and alleys of Hefei, from Old Wang, the newspaper vendor on his bicycle, to people at the post office.
Like a pebble thrown into calm water, it sent shockwaves through Hefei!
Meanwhile, Xu, a young intellectual, was pondering the "special hard sleeper" on the train.
"Hey, ma'am, do you think it's cooler under this seat or when we're sitting on the chair?"

"I told you cultured people don't understand, you lack experience, needless to say."

(End of this chapter)