[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-rising-in-1979":3,"chapter-rising-in-1979-rising-in-1979-chapter-150":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Rising in 1979",{"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},2260858,4412,"Chapter 150: Two Million Copies in Circulation! (Guaranteed Minimum First Chapter)","rising-in-1979-chapter-150",150,"\u003Cp>The carriage was filled with straw and people, and there was also an empty iron cage—Gangdan was too small to need it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Gangdan” was the name Old Wei had given this little treasure; he and Xu Shufen had originally planned to name their third child “Gang,” but now they gave it to the panda cub—officially named Wei Gang, nickname Gangdan—making him truly the younger brother of Wei Ming and Wei Hong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sun expert, once you take Gangdan away, how will you raise it?” Old Wei asked, holding the panda. “You won’t make it do acrobatics, will you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ping’an County was not far from Wuqiao; Old Wei knew all too well how hard the lives of children trained in acrobatics were—how much harder, then, for a panda.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun expert said: “We’ll raise it artificially, train its wild survival skills, and if it proves strong enough, we may consider releasing it into the wild when it grows up. Of course, if a zoo shows interest along the way, we might send it to live there instead.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Shufen: “I know—the Beijing Zoo has giant pandas, and they live in luxury.” Their son had taken them to see them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming asked: “Could it also be sent abroad?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun expert: “There’s also that possibility. Pandas are our nation’s envoys of friendship, diplomatic heroes.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this time, the concept of “paid panda leasing” did not yet exist—pandas were simply given away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>First, the Soviet Union, North Korea, and other so-called allies received them; later, as relations with Western nations resumed, countries like the United States, Japan, Britain, and Mexico all received panda gifts—and always in pairs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But pandas rarely breed; by forty years later, only one non-Chinese giant panda remained in Mexico, while all others gifted in the sixties and seventies had died out without offspring.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing Sun expert say this, Old Wei and Xiao Hong grew unhappy—sending it abroad, far from home, how pitiful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some pandas living overseas enjoyed luxurious lives, treated like emperors, but others fared poorly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming cared more about this: “Giant pandas should remain our nation’s unique national treasure. If we keep giving them away, and foreign countries breed them in large numbers, we’ll lose our exclusivity. So, Sun expert, you could suggest to higher-ups: stop giving them away, start leasing them. Money doesn’t matter, but any cubs born abroad must be returned to us.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Old Wei praised: “That’s a great idea—it’s called returning to one’s ancestral roots!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun expert shook his head: “We have no say in policy matters like this.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Old Wei told his son: “Then Xiao Ming, why don’t you write an article about it? Maybe the top leaders will see it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming thought for a moment and nodded: “Alright. I was planning to write about Gangdan anyway—I can mention this suggestion. But whether the higher-ups will pay attention is uncertain.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Anyway, in two years the state would stop free giveaways—Wei Ming’s suggestion was perfectly timely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing Wei Ming speak so boldly, Sun expert and the others were stunned—wait, kid, who are you? You want top leaders to pay attention?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were about to ask when someone ran up to them: “Da Mao’s wife, Shufen, Jiefang—wait, wait a minute!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone turned—wasn’t that Wang Cai, the village party secretary from their grandmother’s village?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After stopping the vehicle, Old Wei laughed: “Secretary Wang Cai, didn’t you drink enough? Next time you come, we’ll keep going—I’ll get some strong liquor for you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this village, only Secretary Wang Cai could match Old Wei in drinking—they quickly became drinking buddies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s not about that,” Wang Cai hurriedly said. “Didn’t you forget what you promised?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What promise?” Old Wei thought, then smacked his forehead. “I was so focused on this little guy, I completely forgot—my apologies!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he told his son: “Secretary Wang Cai heard about your achievements and wants you to leave an inscription for the Da’gou Village Primary School.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Cai: “I brought paper and brush—I’ll have it painted on the school wall later.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming hadn’t expected he’d reached the level of leaving ink inscriptions—he’d have to ask Uncle Ping’an about calligraphy, but his brush skills came from Teacher Jin Kaicheng; he might as well go straight to Old Jin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing this, Sun expert and the others were even more baffled—the kid didn’t look old. Could he really be someone important?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming didn’t refuse—he took the paper and brush and wrote: “Since children in the mountains start behind others, education must be prioritized. We don’t demand great learning—just that they not become helpless fools manipulated by others.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun expert and the others leaned closer and saw Wei Ming had written two large characters: “Never let poverty harm education; never let hardship harm children.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Cai read it aloud, thanking repeatedly: “Young Wei, that’s perfect! I’ll paint it on the school wall—and the village committee wall too—so everyone in the village can see!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After waving goodbye to Secretary Wang Cai, the vehicle resumed its journey.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One of Sun expert’s apprentices said: “That phrase sounds familiar—it’s from the China Youth Daily!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her tone was indignant—as if Wei Ming had plagiarized.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Hong spoke up directly: “That’s what my brother said—the China Youth Daily just quoted it!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The article reprinted by the China Youth Daily had become famous; the slogan had spread widely. Someone who’d read the full piece said: “The article was about writer Wei Ming donating to his village’s primary school, right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Hong said proudly: “Our family name is Wei—guess my brother’s name.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah!” Everyone in the vehicle was truly shocked—they’d met the real thing!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon others named Wei Ming’s works like “The Herdsman” and expressed their admiration; Wei Ming instantly became more captivating than Gangdan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as the vehicle turned and began descending the mountain, Old Wei suddenly shouted: “Stop! Stop!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What’s wrong?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Jiefang: “I saw Gangdan’s mother!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Behind a roadside rock, an adult giant panda was watching the vehicle furtively.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gangdan in Old Wei’s arms began struggling and wailing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Old Wei thought: if Gangdan must return to the wild someday, better to learn from its own mother than from humans.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So he asked Sun professor: “The mother came to take it—should we turn back?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah, this…,” Sun expert hesitated—if they turned back, wouldn’t this whole trip be wasted? They’d have to write endless reports and face scrutiny proving they hadn’t conspired to sell the panda.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Old Wei didn’t think that far—he jumped out of the vehicle with Gangdan in his arms, holding the cub at a distance of dozens of meters from the mother panda—close enough to approach, ready to retreat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Hong and Yunyun blocked Sun expert and the others; in their simple view, such a young child should stay with its mother.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming raised his camera and captured Old Wei placing Gangdan down, Gangdan rushing toward its mother, and the pair vanishing into the wilderness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially the final shot—Old Wei waving, Gangdan looking back—Wei Ming felt art had been born.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun expert sighed: “Writer Wei, you must write clearly in your article that it was your father who released the panda cub—not us.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t worry, Professor Sun—I have photos as proof. It won’t be blamed on you. Can you still take us to Rongcheng?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun expert grumbled: “I’d love to leave you here, but I’m afraid you’ll write about me. Fine, get in.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Old Wei boarded the vehicle with elegance. Xiao Hong asked: “Dad, even though the panda mother is an animal, she’s clearly intelligent—she chased our vehicle. She must have been unwilling to let go of her baby, right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Old Wei shook his head: “From what I observed, the panda mother was just wandering and sunbathing. When she saw Gangdan, she looked confused. If Gangdan hadn’t chased her, I’d have thought I mistook another panda.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah?” Xiao Hong, Yunyun, and the experts were all baffled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming laughed—he found this perfectly aligned with his stereotype of giant pandas as “forgetful mothers.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After returning to the village, Secretary Wang Cai immediately organized people to paint Wei Ming’s slogan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in Wei Ming’s hometown, Gouzi Village, two days earlier, after the China Youth Daily’s extensive report, the old party secretary Zhou Xingbang had already ordered the slogan painted on the school and village committee walls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This act quickly spread throughout the commune, the county, and even the entire region.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every time Qi Kexiu passed the school, he saw the slogan he’d been ordered to paint—he wished Wei Jiefang would never return, just stay in Sichuan-Chongqing as a live-in son-in-law. Otherwise, how smug he’d be if he saw it!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Recently, he’d hit a wall writing his wuxia novel—he’d written the first thirty characters and couldn’t figure out what came next, so he went to the town’s supply and marketing cooperative for inspiration.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The town’s supply and marketing cooperative also sold or rented books—he was a longtime customer who’d read most of their comic books.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh, Teacher Qi! Welcome in,” said the cooperative director, Fei Lian, greeting him in the old Beijing style.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Any new comic books lately?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh, we just got a few copies of People’s Literature—you want to see? There’s your nephew’s new story, ‘The Spring of the Herding Class.’”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qi Kexiu waved his hand: “Not interested. Fei, how many cultured people are there in our town? Who reads magazines like that?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Uncle Fei, do you have the latest People’s Literature? I’ll rent two days!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Qi Kexiu finished speaking, a young man entered—clearly there for People’s Literature.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fei Lian successfully rented out a copy, then told Qi Kexiu: “If no one asks, can I order more? This issue is flying off the shelves—and you don’t know yet, this issue just had a 300,000-copy reprint!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adding the initial print run of 800,000, the total circulation reached 1.1 million—setting a new record for literary publications since the founding of the nation!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qi Kexiu asked: “Do you have Story Magazine? I think that’s better.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No, not until March.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qi Kexiu saw nothing he wanted and turned to leave—then Fei Lian pressed the playback button on his tape recorder, starting the new music cassette “The Spring of the Herding Class”—just received yesterday…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1694,"2026-06-19T16:30:57.111Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","70d10dfdd11dde982cadd9ffacba5d59f52d66f3fc88c3f7a22a6f507887ab43","rising-in-1979-chapter-151","rising-in-1979-chapter-149",509,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Frising-in-1979-cover.jpg"]