Chapter 248 The King is Writing Poetry
The Spring Festival is coming to an end.

After the excitement, there is usually emptiness.

For students who are about to start school but have not yet started school, this feeling is even stronger.

Li Jilin worked day and night to resume work at Longjingyuan, because this ordinary canning factory embodied his efforts for more than ten years and a man's unremitting pursuit of career. With the help of his father-in-law, his wife Xie Jing finally returned to her hometown, the provincial capital of Lijin City, to work at Xiangnan Normal University. Because school employees need to go to work early, she has already gone to Lijin City, the provincial capital. Daughter Li Yufei stayed at home alone, which was hard for her. She was spoiled since she was a child, and now she has begun to learn to cook and do housework by herself. Her good friend Zhao Yingying often came to play with her, or maybe go shopping.

On the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, Liu Zicheng called and said that he had recently purchased several new poetry magazines and wanted to organize a poetry exchange meeting and get everyone together.

Zhao Yingying was very excited about this idea.

In that era when there were no mobile phones or computers and information had not yet exploded, people generally had a strong love for literature and poetry. Literature and poetry were the spiritual food of young people, and recitations and exchanges were very popular. And now there was still more than a week before the start of school. Li Yufei thought it would be nice for everyone to get together and chat, so she called Yu Qingqing and several other girls in the class who were good friends with her, and asked Yu Qingqing to ask Wang Xiaokai and others to come together. Finally, she thought about it and sent a message to Zhang Yunqi.

She always remembered Zhang Yunqi's pager number.

Zhang Yunqi quickly returned the call, and the two chatted for a while before Li Yufei said, "Liu Zicheng said he wanted to hold a poetry exchange at my house. Yu Qingqing and Xiaokai should all come. Do you have time?"

Zhang Yunqi asked: "When?"

Li Yufei hesitated for a moment: "Tomorrow, the eighth day of the first lunar month."

Zhang Yunqi thought for a moment and said, "I have a lot of things to do on the eighth day of the first lunar month. I may not have time. Sorry, Yufei."

It is not easy to refuse a girl's kind invitation, especially a beautiful girl with whom you have a good relationship, but when Zhang Yunqi heard that it was a party on the eighth day of the New Year, he still refused.

It would be nice for everyone to get together, but he himself has no interest in poetry exchanges. It's not that he's putting on airs, but he is very clear that his views and perceptions of society are different from those of young people who are full of idealism but lack practical action.

He really couldn't agree with those poems that were illusory, sad, unrealistic, and focused only on the narrow inner spiritual world, but were unwilling to face the cruel reality and strive to strengthen themselves and closely link their own destiny with the social and national world. It's not that he thinks highly of himself. Just think about it, how can an ordinary adult who has experienced the beatings of society indulge in things that are false and out of touch with reality? Just like when we were young, we loved the youth idol dramas on Xiangnan Satellite TV, but when we grew up, we sneered at them and called them brain-dead dramas.

He is now more keen on reading news and current affairs, or literary works with realistic significance and a sense of crisis, such as the book "China's Crisis and Thinking" which he just finished reading some time ago. It was edited by the famous philosopher Li Ming and tells the story of the crisis in China's humanities and material energy at that time. The whole book is full of a strong sense of crisis and patriotism. It is worth mentioning that the writing background of this book was the atmosphere of Western learning spreading to the East in the late 1980s. Everyone was full of idealism, and the authors in it were almost all leaders in various fields of thought, which in turn influenced a group of Chinese young people's views on the world.

What do most high school students like nowadays? They like Haizi's "Spring Flowers Blooming" and Wang Guozhen's mental hallucinations, but to Zhang Yunqi, it is just a piece of shit with beautiful colors but no nutritional value, which can only make sensitive people self-indulgent.

Of course, Zhang Yunqi had no intention of looking down on him.

Everyone has been young, and everyone has grown from childishness to maturity. He is the same. He has also copied some beautiful poems in his notebook and moved himself to tears. Thomas Mann said, "The writer's duty is to see through the shortcomings of the times." The meaning of poetry is to sing about the feelings of this world, singing about pain or love, noise or loneliness. Therefore, any kind of spiritual confession is neither right nor wrong, even if this confession lacks practical significance and is too focused on the superficial feelings of the self.

Of course, the main reason is that the eighth day of the Lunar New Year is the day when the cannery resumes work. He is so busy with work that he decides not to join in the elegant activities of young people in spring flowers and autumn moons. In the end, he will either annoy himself or others. Why bother?

The eighth day of the first lunar month.

Early in the morning, the sounds of firecrackers and fireworks filled the entire Longjingyuan factory area.

When Li Yufei got up, the sunlight outside the window was very bright and warm. She sat on the bed and stared outside for a while, then changed her clothes and went out. The living room was empty. Her father Li Jilin had already gone out to work. Today was the day the cannery resumed work, so her father would probably come back late at night, reeking of alcohol.

While washing up, Li Yufei stared at her eyes in the mirror and found some dark circles. She didn't sleep very well last night and had insomnia. She didn't know why, but she kept thinking about Zhang Yunqi's refusal to come and play. She wasn't sad, because she never felt sensitive or fragile.

After washing up, Li Yufei simply ate some bread and milk and read for half an hour. At around ten o'clock, Liu Zicheng and Zhao Yingying, the children of several factory workers, came with a group of good friends. In addition, there were Wang Xiaokai, Tian Zhuangzhuang and Yu Qingqing, who were good friends in Class 156.

Originally, because of Zhang Yunqi, Liu Zicheng and Wang Xiaokai's group, they had never gotten along well, and the class 156 was naturally divided into two male camps. Those who were close to Zhang Yunqi were mostly ordinary students, but they had a solid mass base and were larger in number. Those on Liu Zicheng's side were all students from wealthy families who were well-off in school and often interacted with some outstanding students in the same grade. For example, Zhao Chengming and Li Xiaoman, whom he invited to play today, although they could not compare with the popular students Lin Zihao and Huo Xiaoguang in the third year of high school at the school level, they were very famous in the second year of high school.

Of course, there was no dispute between Liu Zicheng and Wang Xiaokai in the class, but it was inevitable that they disliked each other. Liu Zicheng felt that Wang Xiaokai and his gang were peasants who came to the city, spoke in a vulgar manner, and were full of shit, with very low quality. Wang Xiaokai and his brothers felt that Liu Zicheng was a pretentious person who had practiced the "Sunflower Manual" like Yue Buqun. He didn't have much ability, and acted like a group of people all day long. He seemed to be superior to the boys in the class and looked down on others. But he was very different in front of girls. He was like a lapdog, too hypocritical!
Usually everyone plays their own games and doesn't interfere with each other's business. But today Wang Xiaokai and a few others came to play and Liu Zicheng had no choice. Li Yufei invited them. Fortunately, Zhang Yunqi didn't come, otherwise it would definitely be more uncomfortable for him than eating shit.

After everyone arrived, Li Yufei was washing fruits in the kitchen while everyone else was eating snacks in the living room. After chatting for a while, the atmosphere gradually became lively. Liu Zicheng took out several new issues of the famous poetry magazines "Today" and "Selected Contemporary Avant-garde Poems" from his bag as if he was presenting a treasure. These included representative works of various avant-garde poetry schools since the poetry exhibition. They had a variety of languages ​​and forms and were very popular among young people in the 1990s.

When people pass the copy to each other, they often marvel at a poem that resonates with them, such as Haizi's "Autumn": "In the hometown of God, eagles gather; autumn is deep, and the king writes poetry; autumn is deep in this world; what is to be gained has not yet been gained, and what is to be lost has long been lost."

After reading the poem, Zhao Chengming, who was invited by Liu Zicheng, could not help but comment: "This poem "Autumn" is full of Haizi's personal feelings, and his intuition about the times is quite penetrating. 'Autumn is deep, Wang is writing poetry' should be a famous line! Unfortunately, not many people know about it." His comment attracted the attention of the girls.

Zhao Chengming is tall and handsome, and seems to have a good knowledge of literature and poetry. He is very likable and talkative. Under his leadership, the atmosphere in the living room became better. A group of people ate fruits and snacks, and talked about literature and poetry in the early spring sunshine, such as Gu Cheng, Shu Ting, Wang Guozhen, and Haizi. Zhao Yingying also suggested that everyone write a simple poem with the theme of the resumption of work at the Longjingyuan Canning Factory today.

This idea was welcomed by everyone. Although it was particularly noisy outside because the cannery resumed work today, except for the two little fools Wang Xiaokai and Tian Zhuangzhuang who were just eating and playing around, everyone else took it seriously and thought about it carefully with pen and paper. In fact, sometimes, when you devote yourself to a metaphysical thing, everything in reality will become insignificant.

The joyful gathering didn't end until after two o'clock.

After everyone left one after another, Li Yufei was the only one left at home with Zhao Yingying, who lived in the factory staff family quarters. The two of them cleaned the house together.

While mopping the floor, Zhao Yingying suddenly said to Li Yufei who was washing dishes in the kitchen: "Yufei, by the way, I want to ask you something. I have been holding it in for a long time. It was difficult to talk to you because there were so many people around."

Li Yufei tilted her head: "What?"

Zhao Yingying came to the kitchen door, took two grapes from the cupboard and stuffed them into her mouth, then asked with a smile: "Didn't you invite Zhang Yunqi? Why didn't he come today?"

Li Yufei smiled: "I have something to do, what's wrong?"

Zhao Yingying rolled her eyes. "Something? What could it be? He didn't even come when you asked him to. He must be busy with something big. I guess he has to host the resumption meeting of the Longjingyuan Canning Factory today, right?"

Li Yufei was stunned: "What do you mean?"

Zhao Yingying's eyes revealed an indescribable meaning: "Did you really not hear anything? It's unlikely. I heard some factory workers gossiping this morning, saying that the boss behind Longjing Garden is Niu Fen's younger brother, but where did Niu Fen get a younger brother? However, there is one in his mother's family! Don't you think this is a bit too magical?"

Li Yufei was silent.

After a moment, she said, "Yes, it's amazing. It's hard to imagine."

Seeing Li Yufei's indifferent reaction, Zhao Yingying said, "I thought, you knew about this a long time ago, right?"

Li Yufei smiled: "So what if you know? So what if you don't know? Is this important?"

"How come it's not important? It's such a big deal."

"But what does this have to do with you and me?"

Zhao Yingying was startled for a moment, then looked up at Li Yufei who was washing her hands in front of the sink. The early spring sunshine slanted in from the window through the ivy and fell on her little face which was splashed with a few drops of water, as beautiful as a fairy tale.

She said: "I don't know what you think, but maybe there are always some different people in this world. He is not the prince charming in fairy tales, nor the brave knight in Norman epics. He is just an ordinary person living in your and my life, polite, friendly, unpretentious, and inconspicuous, but the energy he contains, his insight into human nature, society, the world and this country, is unfathomable, far beyond the cognitive scope of our peers. Since we cannot have a correct understanding, let's treat it normally, otherwise, we may not even be ordinary friends. After all, autumn is deep, what we have gained has not been gained, and what we should have lost has long been lost."

******
Pls. Sorry for the long hiatus.

Recently I was transferred to a new department and became a new person. The work is very complicated.

This is an objective reason.

The main reason is that it is difficult to write the beginning of the new volume. I have no good ideas for this plot. I racked my brains but couldn't think of a way to connect the subsequent plots. I didn't want to be perfunctory. I lay in bed every day, which was extremely painful. But please rest assured that I will definitely write it well. I have also had ideas for the subsequent plots, and I hope to speed up the process while ensuring quality.

Finally, say sorry again.

The update is slow, and the genuine readers are right to criticize me. The pirated readers please don't criticize me in the book review area. Life is really hard.

(End of this chapter)