Wild 1979: From Fishing and Hunting to Becoming a Literary Master

Chapter 100 The Little White Birch Tree

Although Wu Laowai had a dirty heart towards Hu Yuling, the pretty doctor in the forest area.

But despite his rotten heart, he does have some sincerity; he won't skimp on the food and drink he's given.

People like He Yunqing have visited the Songling Forest Area quite a few times in previous years.

The best way to deal with this kind of person is in winter.

In the freezing cold, a person can be taken away by the old foreman in the time it takes to urinate, and the person will leave clean and upright.

"Uncle Wu, you don't need to lift a finger. If he writes it as we say, we'll make sure he gets a real beating."

"Kid, if we don't take advantage of him while he's completely drunk to lure him out, we might not have such a good chance again..."

Wu Laowai was a mountain hunter who focused more on hunting and made a living by killing. When he needed to be ruthless, the old man still had a bit of a murderous look on his face.

"Uncle Wu, he's at the Forestry Bureau's guesthouse! If you lure him out, what if someone drags him back? This isn't urgent..."

After seeing off the indignant Wu Laowai, Chen Tuo sat on a tree stump, warming himself by the campfire, and sipping his bowl of wild fruit soup.

No matter the time, speculators always manage to get by.

It's a bit unreasonable for He Yunqing, who came from afar, to directly cut off his source of income.

If He Yunqing lived in a place like the educated youth settlement, Chen Tuo would not only not advise Wu Laowai, but would also add fuel to the fire.

But if you stay at the Forestry Bureau's guesthouse, you can't do that.

This area is both a forest region and a cold region, so people are most concerned about keeping warm and preventing frostbite.

It's easy for Wu Laowai to lure someone out, but it's difficult to freeze them solid!

He got up and organized the manuscript he had written, along with the ginseng remnant, and put it into the tin ammunition box he had obtained from the Armed Forces Department.

They then placed the ammunition box in the repair room where the two mountain dogs were hiding.

If He Yunqing came for the manuscript, and he could get it from Shan Gouzi, Chen Tuo would accept it.

Just in case, when leaving the repair room, Chen Tuo took the little puppy, Hong Maozi, who was already running around freely.

He didn't close the door to the repair room properly either.

After more than half a month, the two mountain dogs have settled into their new home and no longer wander around.

In the afternoon, Hong Ye came over and asked about the results of his communication with He Yunqing, but Chen Tuo gave him a vague and perfunctory answer as well.

The next morning, He Yunqing, with his deep-set eyes, came to the educated youth settlement again.

He inquired about Chen Tuo's creative process and writing experience in a seemingly serious manner.

"Teacher He, I think that writing should come from the heart, and we shouldn't be bound by writing styles."

"Xiao Chen, that's not entirely true. For example, your 'Fish-Catching Diary' is very interesting, but its literary quality is just average, and the word choice is still a bit lacking."

There's no need to speculate; He Yunqing came with ulterior motives.

However, his evaluation of Kouyuji was relatively objective.

Although Chen Tuo imitated Wang Zengqi's Beijing style in "The Story of Picking Fish".

However, to avoid making his writing too sophisticated, he also referenced the clean and fresh style of the Lotus School and the rustic charm of the Yam School.

This change made his writing style lean towards the old-fashioned, and it had nothing to do with contemporary reflective literature or scar literature.

The writing style was also one of the reasons Chen Tuo was certain that He Yunqing had ulterior motives.

What's popular among young people now is "scar literature" and the Misty Poetry School.

Meanwhile, middle-aged and elderly people value reflective literature.

While the old-fashioned writing style of works like "The Story of Picking Fish" has its own charm, as He Yunqing said, its literary quality is generally average.

Even if a background investigation is to be conducted before publication, or even if a new fishing and hunting column is to be launched, there is no need for He Yunqing to meet with him in person.

It is normal to select suitable works based on the quality of the submissions.

Nowadays, literary journal editors are not so free that they can go around conducting research and gathering material.

Braving the wind and snow, traveling thousands of miles, they must have something to gain!

"Teacher He, my education level is limited, my reading volume is insufficient, and my literary quality is not high. These are problems that inevitably occur during the creative process."

Chen Tuo subtly mentioned his educational background, and without giving He Yunqing a chance to speak, he went straight to asking about some basic knowledge of literary creation.

Following the Chinese literature department's curriculum, one question followed another, giving him no chance to ask any more questions.

It must be said that He Yunqing's basic theoretical knowledge is very solid. Even when Chen Tuo asked increasingly complicated questions, he was not stumped.

Just as He Yunqing was getting impatient, Hong Ye arrived right on time for work.

"Chen Tuo, good news! You must be Teacher He? I'm Hong Ye from Songling Post Office!"

Chen Tuo squinted at Hong Ye after she finished introducing herself, went inside to take off her hat and gloves, and then turned to He Yunqing.

He Yunqing, who was talking in a daze and had a dry mouth, first squinted at Hong Ye, then admired him, and then showed undisguised greed.

Judging from his behavior, this guy must have been a completely different person in the literary and artistic circles of Beidahuang. He was either a nice guy or a rigid old scholar.

It's not hard to understand why He Yunqing would show such greed in Songling; it's simply because he felt good about himself from looking down on others.

"Chen Tuo, 'New Life' will be published in the next issue of Huacheng. This is the remittance slip that just arrived."

After removing his hat, scarf, and gloves, Hong Ye didn't try to get close to He Yunqing, the editor from the Beidahuang Literature and Art Institute. Instead, he took out a remittance slip.

"Only ninety yuan? I was hoping to get over a hundred! Hongye, what does 'Xingan Little Birch' in parentheses after your name mean?"

After receiving the remittance slip, I noticed a parenthesis after his name that read "Xingan Little Birch".

Chen Tuo first boasted to He Yunqing about his royalties before asking what the Xing'an Little Birch meant.

"Well……"

Clutching the remittance slip that arrived early yesterday morning, Hong Ye wanted to explain, but she was too scared to do anything but bury her head in the sand like an ostrich.

"Xiao Chen, you also submitted an article to the Guangzhou Flower City magazine? What kind of article did you submit? Was it also a short story?"

Upon hearing Hong Ye mention "Huacheng," He Yunqing's expression became unnatural.

Seeing the 'ninety yuan' in Chen Tuo's hand, his expression changed from unnatural to dejected.

He volunteered to come to Songling because Hong Ye had negotiated the highest possible remuneration with Beidahuang Literature and Art, and also because Chen Tuo's "The Fish-Picking Story" had a low literary threshold.

Who in a writing profession doesn't dream of becoming famous overnight?

The fishing and hunting series, which has a low barrier to entry, gave He Yunqing a chance to become famous overnight.

His view of Songling was not due to his status as a journal editor from the provincial capital.

It was the fantasy of becoming famous overnight on the train that changed his mindset.

If Chen Tuo only submits his work within the province, He Yunqing could easily control him based on his connections in the provincial capital's literary circles.

But he first submitted his work to Huacheng Publishing House and received a considerable amount of royalties, becoming an overnight sensation as a young writer. Now, he was not someone to be trifled with.

"Poetry! Teacher He, the freshman's poem is twenty lines! Hongye, let me ask you, what does 'Xingan Little Birch' mean?"

After giving He Yunqing a brief reply, Chen Tuo turned to Hong Ye, if his guess was correct.

This so-called "Xingan Little Birch" must be a pen name that Hong Ye gave him.

"Chen Tuo, the teacher in Huacheng asked you if you had a pen name, and I blurted out 'Little Birch of the Xing'an Mountains'!"

Upon hearing that it was indeed Hong Ye's doing, Chen Tuo shook his head helplessly. This guy was still stuck at the level of "really good" and "really bad".

Having a pen name isn't a bad thing, but it should be catchy and memorable.

The white birch trees of Xing'an inexplicably reminded Chen Tuo of modern-day gangsters and former bandits.

This isn't a pen name, it's clearly a bandit's nickname...