Chapter 16: My son Wei Ming has the makings of a literary giant! (Please follow and read!)

Hengzhou Region, Ping'an County, Hengheli Commune, Gouzitun Production Brigade.

Wei Jiefang had been back in the village for nearly half a month. After the initial amazement and longing, the villagers had lost their sense of novelty regarding the ultra-luxurious Quanjude Restaurant and the story of spending a hundred yuan on a single meal.

Uh, he had added a little water to the story; this made Wei Ping'an seem to be doing well, and it also highlighted the deep bond between the brothers.

At this moment, Lao Lao Lao Wei was holding a small leather whip, driving a donkey cart. On the cart was pig feed borrowed from the neighboring village brigade's workshop; it was a public-to-public transaction, and he was just running an errand.

Who else but him had such a knack for tending to these animals? This all counted toward work points.

"Hey, Uncle Wei~" Wei Jiefang hurriedly got off the cart when he saw the fellow villager, preparing to chat more about what he had seen in the capital.

Uncle Wei reacted quickly, "Oh my, I still have edamame boiling in my pot."

After saying this, he turned and entered his courtyard, blocking Wei Jiefang outside. You've told that story eight hundred times already, and you're still going!

Having been snubbed, Wei Jiefang had no choice but to continue on his way. When he returned to the brigade headquarters, Accountant Old Jia called out, "Wei Jiefang, there's a letter for you."

"Who wrote it? Is it my son who's a professor's assistant at Peking University?"

Accountant Jia pushed up his glasses, "Ah, yes, yes, yes. Hurry up and take the letter and get going."

Wei Jiefang didn't rush to open the letter on the spot. What if Old Jia wanted to see it? And what if Wei Ming had written in the letter about his experiences standing guard at Peking University? That wouldn't be very good.

He figured it wasn't anything major; perhaps the chili sauce he had mailed to his son had arrived.

Wei Jiefang returned home, not expecting to have a guest in the courtyard. However, upon seeing the person, Wei Jiefang didn't have a very pleasant expression.

The other party, however, enthusiastically took out a cigarette case, "Oh my, Big Brother is back! Have one~"

This person's name was Qi Kexiu. More than a decade ago, he had come to this place as part of the "Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside" movement, married a wife named Fan Chunhua, and had since taken root in Gouzitun, becoming a substitute teacher at the village primary school.

Fan Chunhua was the daughter of Wei Jiefang's uncle—his cousin.

Although the two families were related by blood, Wei Jiefang didn't like Qi Kexiu because Qi Kexiu prided himself on being a Yanjing native and was very pretentious.

And as everyone knows, a village cannot hold two pretentious people.

As for the deeds Wei Jiefang had spoken of since returning to the village, others were extremely shocked and envious upon hearing them, giving him plenty of emotional value.

Only Qi Kexiu would faintly exhale a smoke ring and say, "Quanjude is an antique from the last century. Didn't your brother treat you to Old Mo? What? You don't even know about Old Mo?"

Then he would flick the cigarette ash, his mouth curling slightly, and say no more.

Then, the villagers' worshipful gazes would all shift to Qi Kexiu.

It infuriated Wei Jiefang!

Annoying as he was, the cigarette was innocent. Wei Jiefang took the cigarette, and his wife, Xu Shufen, who was tending the fire, immediately picked up a burning wooden stick to light it for him.

Wei Jiefang felt immensely satisfied as he glanced at Qi Kexiu. Do you have a wife as gentle and beautiful as this!

Although Fan Chunhua was his cousin and closer by blood than Wei Ping'an, she was a real shrew.

Qi Kexiu was indeed hurt when he saw this, but since he needed a favor, he could only endure the "dog food" attack before him.

"Big Brother, when are you going to the county seat? Give me a lift."

"What for?"

"To buy some books. You know I'm the most studious person," Qi Kexiu said, shamelessly.

Wei Jiefang snorted, "You're studious, my foot. Usually, you're either reading comic books or those historical romance stories. None of them are serious books. Our little Ming was led astray by you!"

Thinking of Wei Ming's severely lopsided academic performance, Wei Jiefang was full of anger. His son used to score double hundreds when he was little.

Qi Kexiu stood up, "Big Brother, that's not fair of you to say. Without reading so many extracurricular books, could little Ming write such good essays? Doesn't that have something to do with my contribution?"

"What's the use of writing good essays!"

"How is it useless? Maybe little Ming can be a writer in the future," Qi Kexiu laughed, though the smile didn't look very sincere.

Xu Shufen uncovered the pot at this moment and replied, with a mix of softness and firmness, "If that day really comes, we should thank his aunt's husband. He couldn't even pass the university entrance exam himself, yet he could teach a writer."

In '77, Qi Kexiu, who was 30 at the time, had also taken the college entrance exam, and both he and Wei Ming had failed.

However, he didn't care at all about Xu Shufen's mockery and even praised her, "Hey, Sister-in-law, your millet porridge is really authentic. I smelled the fragrance from so far away, and I immediately felt hungry. What dishes are you making for lunch?"

"What else could it be? Sichuan-Chongqing style, chili sauce stir-fried with chili peppers."

Qi Kexiu: "Uh..."

He touched his backside; he couldn't handle spicy food very well, and his hemorrhoids hadn't healed yet.

As the two were talking, Wei Jiefang had already opened the envelope. He first saw the photos and felt a surge of pride. He turned and tucked them into his pocket; now he had physical evidence when he went out to talk to others about the prosperity of Yanjing City.

Then there were two slips. Eh? These are, these are two remittance slips!?

A twenty-yuan remittance slip?!

Could it be that the brat had mailed back the money he had given him?

That's not right, why are there two of them?

Finally, he saw the letter, and then he fell silent.

"Big Brother, say something. When are you going to the county seat?" Qi Kexiu turned to look at Wei Jiefang.

"Going this afternoon."

"Haha, what a coincidence!" Qi Kexiu was happy to save on the fare. "What time? I'll wait for you at the brigade." "Xiuzi, don't leave yet. My eyes aren't very good," Wei Jiefang called out to Qi Kexiu. "What does this slip say? I can't see it clearly."

"What slip?"

"Little Ming sent it to me. You read it for me."

Qi Kexiu took it and looked, "Children's Literature manuscript fee remittance slip..."

His heart gave a sudden jolt, and then he heard Wei Jiefang let out a loud howl and run into the house, "Shufen! Our son has become a writer! He's become a writer, hahaha!"

"What's wrong?" Xu Shufen wiped her hands.

Then Wei Jiefang told her the contents of the letter exactly as they were. In his hand, he held the real remittance slip that could be used to withdraw money.

"This is our son's first manuscript fee, twenty yuan exactly. And he wrote it in one night! Twenty yuan in one night, imagine how much he'll make in a month! Tell me, is that impressive or not!"

"Ah, really!" Xu Shufen's eyes turned red with excitement, the more she thought about it, the happier she became.

Her son was away from home all by himself. These days, she had been worrying about his future in Yanjing, and now she had finally seen a glimmer of hope.

Seeing Qi Kexiu still in a daze, Wei Jiefang snatched back the photocopy of the manuscript fee slip from his hand, "Little Ming said he wants to keep it as a collection. This first time is the most meaningful. No matter how many manuscript fees he gets in the future, they won't compare to this one, right?"

!

"Ha, right, right, but it's only twenty..." Qi Kexiu still wanted to resist. You're showing off so much over twenty yuan?

Wei Jiefang didn't give him the chance and interrupted directly, "Xiuzi, little Ming really has to thank you, his aunt's husband. Stay and have a bite."

Xu Shufen also said, "That's right, we made some non-spicy dishes today, too. Aunt's husband, stay and eat together."

"No, no, Chunhua has already cooked. I'm going, I'm going, no need to see me off."

How could Qi Kexiu fall into the trap? If he stayed, he would definitely be hurt by Wei Jiefang's pretentiousness!

Wei Jiefang looked at Qi Kexiu's back and sighed with regret. In the afternoon, he had to deliver vermicelli to the county supply and marketing cooperative for the brigade, and he would go to Qi Kexiu's house first thing.

Cousin Fan Chunhua said, "He went to the town to take the bus early this morning. Big Brother, what did you say to Xiuzi? He's been smoking non-stop since he got back, the floor is covered in cigarette butts, and his voice was hoarse when he left."

Hearing Fan Chunhua say this, Wei Jiefang was in a great mood, "I didn't say anything. Chunhua, let me tell you something."

"What is it?"

"Your nephew, my son, might become a great writer!"

"Ha?"

Because he still had to go to the city, Wei Jiefang only had time to tell Fan Chunhua this good news. He would announce it to the whole village one by one when he returned.

Once in the city and after delivering the vermicelli, he immediately ran to the post office and successfully withdrew the money. He even specifically requested, "I want it in one-yuan bills."

Holding the 20 bills in his hand, they felt substantial, like a huge sum of money.

Afterward, he mailed another letter to Wei Ming, telling him to keep up the good work and bravely climb the peaks of the literary world. He even used their fellow Ping'an County townsman Sun Li to encourage him.

Finally, Lao Lao Lao Wei went to the County No. 1 Middle School to see his daughter.

His daughter, Wei Hong, was 13 years old this year and had just started her first year of high school. She returned home every weekend.

A 13-year-old high school student wasn't rare in this era. She started primary school at 6, which was a five-year system.

She started junior high at 11, which was a two-year system.

High school was still a two-year system now, which meant she could enter university at 15.

"Dad, did something happen at home!" Wei Hong was a bit flustered, her little face pale—though not from fear, she was naturally fair-skinned.

She was going home in two days; what good could come of her dad running over here at this time?

"Something did happen," Wei Jiefang laughed, "Great news!"

"Dad, calm down, you're scaring me."

"Sorry, Dad got a bit carried away. Sorry, sorry." He then handed Wei Ming's letter to his daughter and let her read it herself.

Wei Hong's first reaction after reading it was also disbelief. Writing novels to earn manuscript fees? Is this still my dull-witted brother?

Then Wei Jiefang showed her the photocopy of the manuscript fee slip.

At this point, Wei Hong was completely conquered by her big brother's talent.

"I told you, my brother has been extraordinary since he was little, different from others. You could tell at a glance he wasn't an ordinary person!" Wei Hong's face was also full of joy; the 13-year-old girl was floating.

Then she suggested, "To celebrate Big Brother's successful publication of his novel, let's split this manuscript fee!"

"What are you thinking, splitting it? I'll give you five yuan at most."

"Thank you, Dad, and my brother far away!" Wei Hong's bottom line was actually three yuan.

Three yuan was enough for her to buy many study guides!

It just so happened that the Chinese teacher asked them to write an essay that day, and the topic was "My xxx."

This hit the nail on the head for Wei Hong, who immediately wrote on the title: "My Brother is a Writer!"

And Wei Ming hadn't even received his father's letter yet when he first received a letter from far away~

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 17 =====