[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-1987-my-era":3,"chapter-1987-my-era-1987-my-era-chapter-6":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","1987: My Era",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2259166,4409,"Chapter 6: 《To Live》","1987-my-era-chapter-6",6,"\u003Cp>The novel《Waste Capital》is Lao Jia’s masterpiece. To put it simply, the work is famous, deeply influential, wildly popular in the market, and has won numerous international awards—he was somewhat tempted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But soon after, he rejected the idea.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the book’s content was simply too explosive; many people bought it back then purely as pornography.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Remember, he’s only seventeen years old now—how would others react if he wrote such a book brimming with experience?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Well, truth be told, he didn’t really care about any of that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether it was domestic history or foreign literary circles, countless prodigies had emerged throughout time—geniuses were never in short supply.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So why couldn’t he be one?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Bo wrote the eternal classic《Tengwang Pavilion Preface》at twenty-six; logically, he could too—no one could rigidly define who deserved the title “genius.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But his main concern was Chen Zijin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he became famous for writing《Waste Capital》，those relentless reporters would surely dig up every detail of his past with this girl.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Right now, he had no power or influence to suppress such explosive news.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What if reporters cornered him and asked: Mr. Li, did you sleep with Chen Zijin?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How would he answer?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yes?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>None of your damn business!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No matter which of these three answers he chose?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No matter whether he answered at all?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It would inevitably inflict a second wound upon Chen Zijin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those unscrupulous media outlets, desperate for clicks, might even attribute every explicit scene in the book to Chen Zijin, claiming he drew his practical experience and inspiration directly from her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In an era when reputation still mattered profoundly, Chen Zijin had barely escaped the public outcry of Shangwan Village—he had once, in his youthful ignorance, harmed her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After rebirth, he could not hurt her again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He abandoned《Waste Capital》and turned his attention to《Life Is Like the Sea》and《To Live》.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Both novels were masterpieces—he loved them both, having read each at least five times in his past life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially《To Live》，which sat on his bedside table—he’d said it ten times and still wouldn’t be enough; every detail and passage was etched vividly in his memory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Both were heart favorites—truly impossible to choose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Choosing one meant dooming the other—he felt reluctant, after all, he had once loved both authors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He even began digging into whether his ancestors had ever had feuds with the Yu family or the Mai family.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the answer was obvious: his ancestors were all peasants; the only one who ever rose to official status was Comrade Li Jianguo—and even he hadn’t warmed the seat before reverting to being a farmer again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Damn it, with a family background like this, he couldn’t even reach the eighth generation of those families—where would any feud come from?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After long, careful deliberation, Li Heng finally made a difficult decision: he would write《To Live》.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They say art stems from life yet rises above it; no matter how fantastical, a work’s content must at least connect to the author’s own life trajectory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His seven-year civil service career had turned him into someone with a relatively rigid mindset—he allowed himself minor flaws, but not too many.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, no one was a fool; too many inconsistencies would eventually be spotted by someone observant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if they found them, they couldn’t touch him—but still, it was a nuisance, wasn’t it?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And he was precisely the kind of person who hated nuisances.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In his past life, he had read an article stating that Yu Hua wrote《To Live》after hearing the American folk song《Old Black Joe》.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the song, the old Black slave endured a lifetime of suffering—his entire family died before him—yet he still treated the world kindly, never uttering a single complaint.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How convenient—Comrade Li Jianguo had a cassette tape of that very song.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though it was a pirated copy, he’d listened to it many times—it was the perfect excuse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover,《To Live》tells the tragic life of Xu Fugui—a prototype nearly extinct in the future, but not hard to find in this era.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His second uncle was a fitting subject.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the old days, Second Uncle had been a landlord’s son, indulging in gambling, card games, and taking concubines.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But after enduring the trials of war and the tide of social change, he ended up with his family destroyed, his wife gone, his children scattered—he was now a well-known five-guarantee household.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even so, he stubbornly lived on, drinking a little wine each day or wading into the river to catch fish—Li Heng learned how to fish from him as a child.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The song《Old Black Joe》plus Second Uncle—perfect writing ingredients, absolutely ideal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tell me, Yu Hua, are you panicked?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as Li Heng lit a kerosene lamp and began writing furiously, Yu Hua, attending the Lu Xun Literature Institute’s writing seminar in Jingcheng, suddenly felt dizzy, collapsed to the floor, and nearly fainted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The floor was hard—it hurt like hell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Groaning as he clutched his buttocks and rose, Yu Hua looked up at the dark night sky and suddenly felt a strange unease, as if something profoundly important was slipping away from him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next morning, sleepless and restless, Yu Hua passed a roadside stall and impulsively asked a blind man to read his fate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The blind man told him: You’ve encountered a malevolent star—your Hua Gai fortune has been stolen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Hua was startled and hurriedly asked if there was a remedy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The blind man waved his fingers—money!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Hua reached into his pocket, turned, and slipped away quietly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though Li Heng was usually lazy and fond of slacking off, once he made a decision, he instantly transformed into another person—his action was swift and decisive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He uncapped the ink bottle, dipped the pen nib inside, and gently squeezed the barrel with his thumb and forefinger—immediately, it filled with ink.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pulled out a fresh notebook, spread it open, and prepared to write—only to find the opposite house still banging drums and gongs in ritual ceremonies, making unbearable noise; no matter how many times he tried, he couldn’t focus.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, rural study environments had always been harsh—he’d grown up accustomed to it, so he didn’t feel like cursing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He put down his pen, took several deep breaths, then slowly closed his eyes and began cultivating his writing mood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They say sharpening the axe doesn’t delay chopping wood—sure enough, after ten minutes, Li Heng opened his eyes again; now he had completely shut out the noise outside and was immersed in his own world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That night, he handwrote five thousand characters in grid lines—from 6:30 p.m. until past midnight—his wrist ached slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Had Li Yan not interrupted his flow, he wouldn’t have realized how late it was—he could have kept writing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng turned, annoyed. “Big sister, what are you doing here at this hour?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yan placed a large bowl of meat noodles before him, beaming. “Brother, eat up—I sneaked this back, no one saw.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Look, these are pork chunks, these are beef chunks—so delicious! I just ate three bowls.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing the word “sneaked,” Li Heng couldn’t help but laugh and sigh—so his big sister knew the Chen and Li families were feuding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then why did you go running over to watch the spectacle?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, he didn’t blame her—in his eyes, as long as his sister was happy, he let her do whatever she wanted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng said: “I’m not hungry. Big sister, take the noodles to your second sister—she eats more than I do and gets hungry at night.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the mention of her second sister, Li Yan’s face fell. “I already brought her some—she refused it and called me spineless.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng froze, silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was exactly his second sister’s style—she’d rather starve than eat food from an enemy. In this, he had been deeply influenced by her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yan urged again: “Brother, eat up—the noodles will get soggy if you wait.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh, okay.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng said okay, but moved the bowl aside and told his sister:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m writing an essay—I’ll finish soon. Then I’ll eat. It’s late already—why don’t you go back to sleep?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His sister had low literacy—she’d been held back three grades in second grade, then quit school in shame amid mockery from her peers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So she couldn’t understand what Li Heng was writing—she only saw page after page of neat, orderly pen strokes, utterly impressive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Both his parents were educated, yet she herself couldn’t recognize a few characters—almost illiterate. Li Yan deeply admired and respected education.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, she immediately obediently slipped out of the room, moving quietly, afraid of disturbing his reading and writing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After his sister’s interruption, Li Heng felt a tightness in his chest—his writing mood vanished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He slumped over the old desk, gazing through the window lattice at the Chen household across the way—people came and went, eating noodles, shouting and laughing, lively as ever.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The familiar scene stirred up memories—he had once been a frequent visitor to the Chen home; every time he came, Chen Zijin and Chen Zitong would cling to his heels, calling him “Big Brother, Big Brother.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When they met again, Chen Zitong’s face was filled with unfamiliarity—things had changed, people had changed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he sank into childhood memories, his wandering gaze accidentally landed on a corner of the second-floor window across the way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His eyes locked—his gaze met Chen Zitong’s.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t know when she’d appeared, but clearly, she’d seen the bowl of meat noodles on his table.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They locked eyes for three seconds—Chen Zitong, expressionless, reached out and yanked the curtain hard—the fabric snapped shut with a swift whoosh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fine—she clearly disliked him. This bowl of noodles was impossible to explain away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1599,"2026-06-19T15:27:33.982Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","8d757a8969e7f8affe26c231a4b1913e835c169b35c799d1fa7dd862a2967741","1987-my-era-chapter-7","1987-my-era-chapter-5",713,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002F1987-my-era-cover.jpg"]