Chapter 141

"Thanks to Editor Liang for yesterday's hospitality. Rongcheng is a city that makes people not want to leave once they arrive; it really gets the poetic juices flowing!"

Liang Ping's eyes lit up. Finally, I waited for you, and fortunately, I didn't give up!

It was a short poem of about two hundred characters. Wei Ming didn't think about asking for a manuscript fee; he left it directly to Editor Liang and then took his parents and sister to board the jeep. There were also things they had bought in the car; Wei Ming's Sichuan food stamps finally came in handy.

This was another first for Wei Hong. She excitedly squeezed in the back with her parents, while Wei Ming sat in the passenger seat.

Not until the car disappeared from view did Editor Liang impatiently open the envelope. Even the guesthouse staff nearby crowded over to compete for a look.

After all, it was Wei Ming's new work, and he was currently red-hot.

The title of the work was "Chengdu."

Editor Liang read it out:

"If you want to write about Chengdu, you can't just write about Chengdu.

You must write about the misty azure sky, a cat overturning the wind at the alley entrance.

Write about the slow pedestrians, the lazy treetops, the Jinjiang tide turning over and over beneath the brows.

You must write about the Poet Saint of the Thatched Cottage through the ages, Su Shi's moon, and Li Bai's wine.

Write about the towers where scholars climbed, and the clouds stealing dew beneath Yang Yuhuan's skirt.

Write about Jinli, write about Kuanzhai Alley, write about a bluestone slab settling the dust of a thousand years."

Editor Liang read it twice and praised: What a "cat overturning the wind at the alley entrance"! What a "Poet Saint of the Thatched Cottage through the ages, Su Shi's moon, and Li Bai's wine"!

This was a short poem that wasn't exactly stunning in its entirety, nor did it have any deep connotations, but the quality was extremely high and quite interesting. In just a few sentences, Wei Ming had written out the soul of Rongcheng. What powerful insight!

He hadn't even stayed in Rongcheng for a full day, yet he could write about it with such subtlety. This literary talent was too high; it was a grade above ordinary people!

Liang Ping immediately took the manuscript back to the "Stars" poetry journal and handed it to Editor-in-Chief Bai Hang. As for whether to urgently adjust it for publication this month or wait until next month, that would be his decision.

"Old Brother Wan, which unit are you from? You drive so steadily." Wei Ming started chatting with the guide who was driving.

"Oh, actually, I'm also an editor, but not many people know our magazine. It's called 'Science Fiction World'." Old Wan glanced at Wei Ming and found no confusion in his eyes.

"Yo, you've heard of it?"

Wei Ming thought to himself, how could he not have heard of it? Decades later, this would be the most famous magazine brand in Sichuan, from which many Chinese science fiction writers took flight—Liu Cixin, Wang Jinkang, He Xi, Bao Shu, and so on.

Wei Ming also had a science fiction dream and had filmed spoof short dramas like "Spider-Man vs. Predator."

Of course, "Science Fiction World" wasn't doing very well right now. It was only merged from two magazines, "Science Literature and Art" and "Strange Tales," last year, and its circulation was less than 10,000 copies at its lowest point.

But this wasn't the lowest point for "Science Fiction World" yet.

Regarding science fiction literature, Wei Ming chatted back and forth with Old Wan, leaving Wei Hong in the back seat dumbfounded.

Her brother actually understood science fiction too; he was just too well-rounded!

"Old Brother Wan, where are you from?" Wei Ming asked again.

"Oh, I'm from Ya'an. I go to Baoxing often too. The roads there... ordinary people can't drive through them at all."

Ya'an is a prefecture, which later became a prefecture-level city. Baoxing is a county under Ya'an. This area belongs to a mountainous region. The road from Rongcheng to Ya'an was fine, but starting from Ya'an, it became very difficult to travel, and the jolting began.

Wei Hong didn't mind the jolting. She sat by the window, staring intently at the roadside, hoping to see a giant panda and then have her brother take a picture of it.

Suddenly, she thought of a question: "Giant pandas are also bears, so do they hibernate? Can we see giant pandas coming here at this time?"

It was still freezing cold in the north, and they had all boarded the train wearing cotton-padded jackets, although their clothes were already relatively thin now.

Old Wan answered with a smile, "Giant pandas don't hibernate because we have green bamboo all year round in Ya'an. In the summer, they go to high-altitude places to eat, and in the winter, they come to low-altitude places, so it's actually easier to encounter giant pandas at this time."

"Then, Old Brother Wan, have you seen wild giant pandas?" Wei Hong asked hurriedly.

Old Wan's expression became serious, "I have. I saw them often when I was a child. But in the last two years, with the opening of mountains and roads, as well as the reclamation of farmland, pandas seem to have become fewer, and I see them less often."

Looking at the increasingly familiar environment on both sides of the road, Xu Shufen also recovered some memories of her childhood.

"When I was a child, giant pandas often broke into our village to steal things to eat. We could see them several times every year. Once, one was just a few meters away from me."

Even if the number of giant pandas decreased in later generations, Baoxing County, with a population of only 40,000, had nearly 200 giant pandas. When Xu Shufen was a child, it was estimated that there was one giant panda for every few dozen people. It was the place with the highest per capita giant panda content in the world.

Xu Shufen added, "At that time, there wasn't enough awareness of protection. I vaguely remember that some people in the village even hunted and killed pandas."

"Ah, how could they kill pandas? That's too much!" Xiao Hong cried out for the pandas.

Wei Ming smiled, "The giant pandas you think are cute and clumsy are actually large beasts in reality. And in that era, people didn't have enough to eat themselves. If they dared to snatch food from people, let alone pandas, even if people came to snatch it, they wouldn't end up well."

Old Wan asked Wei Ming, "Which village should we go to first to ask around?"

The villagers in the village that was covered by the mudslide were divided into three villages. Xu Shufen's relatives were most likely in these three villages.

Because Wei Ming already knew the correct answer, he suggested, "Let's go to the nearest village."

"Okay, Dagou Village. The road there is also easier to travel, and the car can drive in." Wei Jiefang suddenly became spirited, "It feels like the name is similar to our Gouzi Village. It's really fate!"

And Xu Shufen also quietly held her husband's palm. The exciting moment had arrived!

Xu Cunmao was a well-known poor household in Dagou Village. When he fled from famine, he brought back a lame wife when he returned. He didn't get any good fields, and later he had three more children. A few years ago, he had just sent his father away, and there was still an old mother who needed support.

However, everyone was struggling, so his family's difficulties didn't seem so embarrassing. They had been living like this all these years.

Today the situation was a bit special; it was the day for his eldest daughter, Yunyun, to meet her prospective in-laws. They wanted to make their family look less difficult.

Yunyun is 18 years old this year with a primary school education, but she is beautiful and spirited, just a bit simple-minded. Xu Cunmao was worried about her being wronged at her in-laws' house.

Neither of the couple was lazy, but unfortunately, the wife had a disability, and it wasn't easy for him to raise three children alone.

Today, the house had been tidied up by them to look brand new. To save face for the family, the eldest sister from the next village even specifically rode her bicycle over and placed it in the house, and the nephew was carrying two brand-new thermos bottles in his hands.

Just after the house was decorated, the matchmaker, dressed in bright red, brought people over.

The man, his mother, and some relatives had all come. There was also a group of local villagers watching the fun, including many children.

!

Just after the New Year, there was no work in the fields, and school hadn't started yet, so they were idle anyway.

The boy was also about 18 or 19, dressed very spiritedly. He had long known that Xu Yunyun of Dagou Village was pretty, and he was determined to win today. He just wanted to settle things on the same day and marry her home as his wife sooner.

However, his mother told him to speak less when he arrived and to act according to her cues.

"Da Mao, Da Mao, your future in-laws are here. Hurry up and call Yunyun out to let everyone see!" the matchmaker said in a high-pitched voice.

The first to come out was Xu Yunyun's aunt, then the Xu family came out one after another, and finally, Xu Yunyun stepped out.

Today was a very important day for her. She had also put on her best clothes, and although there were still patches, they were clean and tidy.

The man's mother was relatively satisfied when she saw Xu Yunyun's appearance. She wasn't short, which could improve the curse that the men in their family couldn't exceed 1.6 meters.

Although satisfied, as they chatted, the man's mother began to pick faults with the Xu Cunmao family, as if saying: Your family is too poor. It can be considered your family's climbing up to be able to match our family.

Xu Cunmao and his wife felt uncomfortable after hearing this, and Xu Cunmao's mother's face began to look even worse.

Only Xu Yunyun was silly and didn't hear the subtext of the other party. Hearing her say that her family didn't have this or that, she thought she was preparing to add things to her family.

Regarding this, the matchmaker was completely acquiescent and did not stop it.

In her view, this was a downward-compatible marriage. Since the man's family didn't mind your family's poverty, don't mind their unpleasant words.

What the man's mother couldn't accept most was that Xu Yunyun still had a younger brother and a younger sister, and both were minors. They couldn't be allowed to suck blood from their family!

So she said in advance: "In the future, when Yunyun and our Nannan get married, Yunyun, you must distinguish which one is your own home. Don't turn your elbows outward and let all the family wealth leak to other people's homes."

Xu Yunyun nodded, "I'm not stupid. How could I not know where my own home is?"

Xu Cunmao's eldest sister, Xu Shuxiang, couldn't watch anymore. She asked her niece directly, "Yunyun, where is your home?"

Xu Yunyun pointed to her feet, "Right here."

Xu Shuxiang smiled with satisfaction, but the man's mother was somewhat annoyed.

"I'm talking about the home of you and our Nannan. Only when you get married in the future will that be your home."

Xu Yunyun: "That's the in-laws' home. This is the maiden home. Both are my home."

The man's mother was so angry she stomped her feet. Rotten wood, rotten wood indeed!

At this time, the matchmaker hurriedly jumped out and said, "Alright, alright, I think everyone is chatting very well and is very satisfied with each other. Why don't we settle the marriage today?"

Settling it meant they were engaged. After that, they couldn't talk to other families. After getting along for a while, they could officially hold the wedding, and finally, they would get the certificate, which might be after having children.

The other family's conditions were indeed quite good, and they were in the same commune, not far away. Except for the man being short and the mother-in-law being a bit overbearing, everything else was acceptable.

Xu Cunmao looked at his wife and asked for his mother's opinion. What could they do if they weren't satisfied? Where could they find a son-in-law who was satisfied with everything?

Xu Cunmao was just about to nod when the brigade secretary, Secretary Wang Cai, suddenly ran over.

"Da Mao, Da Mao, do you have a younger sister!"

Xu Shuxiang stepped forward, "Am I not standing here?"

Secretary Wang Cai: "I'm not talking about you, it's, it's your younger sister named Shufen!"

(Finally finished writing, asking for monthly tickets!)

(End of chapter)