Parental Love: Jiang Weimin's Life of Lying Down

Jiang Weimin has been carefully reviewing the story outline of his "Father's War of Resistance" at home these days.

According to the current progress and plan, he is confident that he can successfully complete the anti-Japanese chapter of the "Father's War of Resistance" series within this year.

Based on Jiang Defu's experience in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, the next five parts are titled "Surprise Attack on Gezhuang", "Blasting Yishui County", "Mengyin Offensive", "Meeting on a Narrow Road" and "Decapitation Operation".

When all these works were completed, Jiang Weimin decided to embark on a new journey - painting "Drawing Sword".

This is not only a challenge to his painting skills, but also an opportunity to pay tribute to the classics.

On this day, Jiang Defu was taking a break and reading Dream of the Red Chamber with a ruler at his desk. He looked very sad. At that time, Dream of the Red Chamber was in vertical format.

Jiang Weimin walked into the study and saw Jiang Defu like this. He smiled and said, "Dad, can you really read the book like this? You read it as if you have a grudge against it!"

"Yeah, it's too hard to read! I don't know who invented this vertical version of the book, it's too hard to read."

Jiang Weimin became excited when he heard this, and here comes some scientific knowledge.

"Dad, I know something about this. In ancient times, we wrote on bamboo slips and wooden tablets, and wrote vertically for easy arrangement and connection.

Later, writing was done on scrolls. The vertical version of the text was naturally read in conjunction with the way the scroll was unfolded. When the scroll was unfolded, reading from top to bottom line by line was done in sequence, which made it less likely to cause confusion.

Therefore, the writing style of characters eventually became vertical, and this tradition was passed down to future generations.”

"You know a lot, kid!"

"Dad, I have a way to make you quickly familiar with Dream of the Red Chamber."

Jiang Defu immediately perked up when he heard this and asked excitedly, "Oh? What's the solution? Tell me quickly."

Jiang Weimin looked at his father's excitement and couldn't help laughing in his heart. He pretended to be mysterious and said, "Then you wait."

After saying that, he turned and ran back to his room. After a while, he came out holding a thick stack of books.

This stack of books is exactly the set of 19 comic books of "Dream of the Red Chamber" by Wang Haiyang that he treasured.

Jiang Weimin carefully placed the books on Jiang Defu's desk.

"Dad, take a look at this. It may be difficult for you to understand the feudalism depicted in the book, but it is different when you read the comic book.

Through the combination of pictures and text, you can feel the plot development in the story more intuitively, and also better understand the characters and thoughts and feelings.

Due to space limitations, it is impossible to be as comprehensive as the original work. The plot may be cut and simplified, and some minor characters and details may be omitted.

Jiang Defu's eyes lit up after hearing his son's words. He couldn't wait to open a comic book and read it carefully.

He nodded as he read it, with a satisfied smile on his face: "Well, this is indeed much better looking and easier to understand."

With Jiang Defu's knowledge, it is good enough that he can understand the general outline of the story.

Seeing Jiang Defu's satisfied smile, Jiang Weimin said, "Dad, I have something to ask you to help me solve it!"

Jiang Defu sat at his desk, staring at the comic book in his hand, and asked without raising his head: "What's the matter?"

"Dad, please help me find some English materials and an English-Chinese dictionary! I want to learn!"

"Why are you learning English? It's like a mystery."

"Dad, I'm going to Guangzhou to attend the Canton Fair with Qingdao Publishing House in April."

Jiang Defu put down the comic book in his hand, looked up in surprise, and said, "You are going to Guangzhou again, and what meeting are you going to attend?"

“It’s the Canton Fair. I’m going to promote my comic strips to see if there are any foreign buyers and earn foreign exchange.

So I wanted to see if I could learn English.”

If you want to sell more books at the Canton Fair, English may be a help.

Moreover, I had passed the Level 4 English test in my previous life, so the basics were still there and I could master it again with a little effort.

"Okay, I'll ask for you tomorrow!" Jiang Defu nodded in agreement.

"Then you take a look at it yourself, Dad! I'm going to draw." After getting his father's promise, Jiang Weimin turned and left the room.

After a while, Anjie walked slowly into the room and his eyes fell on Jiang Defu who was concentrating on reading.

The corners of her mouth slightly raised, and she said with a hint of mockery: "Old Jiang, you are still studying hard? Can you really read such a profound book?"

Jiang Defu raised his head and responded with a firm look in his eyes: "Why can't I continue reading? Don't underestimate me. I only need five days to finish reading this book."

Anjie raised his eyebrows and chuckled, "Stop bragging. Let me see where you have read so far."

As she spoke, she walked straight to Jiang Defu and looked down at the book in his hand.

However, when she saw clearly that Jiang Defu was reading the comic book of "Dream of the Red Chamber", she couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"I say, Old Jiang, you actually started reading comic books?

If your leaders knew you were using the comic strip of Dream of the Red Chamber to fill in the numbers, they would definitely laugh their heads off!" An Jie joked.

Jiang Defu, however, did not take it seriously and retorted, "Go away, go away, I will first read the comic strip to get a general understanding of the story of Dream of the Red Chamber, and then read it in comparison with the book, so that I can understand it more deeply."

Although Anjie denied it, she was a little shaken in her heart. However, she still said stubbornly: "Humph, you are only suitable for reading this kind of comic book."

"I not only want to read it myself, I also want to recommend it to others. This is a very good idea. First, you can read the comic strip to get an understanding of the whole background, and then you can have a deeper understanding of Dream of the Red Chamber by reading the book."

"Hmph, if you're not afraid of being laughed at, then go ahead and recommend it!" After saying that, An Jie left angrily again. Jiang Defu once again hit An Jie with his literary knowledge.

A few days later, Jiang Weimin saw Jiang Yaning reading a novel.

"Yaning, what novel are you reading?"

"Third brother, I'm watching Anna Karenina."

Jiang Weimin had never read this novel in his previous life.

"Yaning, what kind of story are you telling?"

“The story has two main plot lines. One is about Anna’s pursuit of love and happiness, but ultimately she is destroyed in pain and despair.

Another aristocratic youth, Levin, was dissatisfied with the extravagant life of the nobles, so he carried out agricultural reforms in the countryside and experienced love.

Although Jiang Weimin has not read this book, he knows that it has become a world-famous classic and it must contain many reflections on life.

"This book is a world-famous masterpiece. You should read it slowly and carefully appreciate the profound thoughts in it."

"Yeah, I see, Third Brother. Mom said the same thing. I really want to know what Anna is like."

"It's hard to say. Tell me what Anna looks like in the book, and I'll draw you a picture."

Then Jiang Weimin drew a picture of Anna who looked like "Monica" based on Jiang Yaning's description.

"Brother, this is so beautiful. This is Anna in my mind. Brother, you are so amazing. Please draw me another portrait of Levin!"

Then Jiang Weimin drew a portrait of Levin in his own image, but with a foreigner's hair.

Jiang Yaning looked at it carefully and said, "What is this, Third Brother? You are not drawing yourself!"

"Isn't your third brother the most handsome in your eyes? Can't I be Levin?"

"No, Third Brother, you have to draw a new one for me."

"You can draw now, too. Draw yourself a picture of Levin in my mind."

"But I've never seen a foreigner before. My mind is blank and I can't draw anything. Third brother, please draw one for me!"

At this time, Jiang Yafei came over and saw the painting in Jiang Yaning's hand. "Yaning, who is this beautiful lady?"

"Sister, this is Anna from Anna Karenina."

"What about this one?"

"This is Levin from Anna Karenina, but my third brother drew him to look like himself."

Jiang Yafei took a closer look and saw that it was indeed Jiang Weimin. "Jiang Weimin, you are so shameless. You painted yourself as the protagonist."

"Why can't I be the protagonist?"

"You look like your dad!"

Hearing this, Jiang Weimin was speechless and said, "I won't draw for you." Then he left quickly.

"Sister, how can you say that about Third Brother! Third Brother hasn't drawn for me yet!"

"Don't worry, I'll bring him back right away." After saying that, he chased in the direction of Jiang Weimin.

Then Jiang Weimin was pulled out by Jiang Yafei.

In the end, Jiang Weimin drew a picture of a handsome foreigner based on the plot, which satisfied Jiang Yafei and Jiang Yaning.