Chapter 22: Queuing up at midnight to buy classics

Don’t think that just because you have received training at the Institute of Literature and Art, you will definitely become a great writer in the future.

For many of the writers who received training including Lin Weimin, the training at the Institute of Literature Research was the highlight of their lives, and everything went downhill after that.

For some people, after completing training at the Institute of Literature, their literary talents have not changed much. Their newly created works can only be published in local publications, and some cannot even be published and no one is interested in them.

Therefore, students like Lin Weimin, who continue to produce works while still in the training stage of the Institute of Literature and Research and are able to gain recognition from a group of writer classmates, are also the teachers' favorites.

"Contemporary" is a literary magazine under the National Literature Publishing House. It was founded in 1979. Its founder Meng Weizai is the former president of the National Literature Publishing House.

The first issue was published in June 1979, and 70,000 copies were printed and sold out immediately. The second issue, 110,000 copies were printed, but still in short supply. The third issue, 130,000 copies were printed, and the number increased with each issue, reaching a peak of 550,000.

At this time, "Contemporary" has only published a few issues, but it has become a first-line literary magazine in China. Even in the 1980s when magazines and newspapers were flourishing, it still stood out.

Lin Weimin had nothing to be dissatisfied about as his work was published in such a magazine. However, he would have to wait until the editor had read the manuscript before making a final decision.

The next day was Saturday, and the bathroom in the backyard of School D was open. As soon as the class was over in the afternoon, the students rushed to the bathroom, especially the students from the south.

It is the habit of D School to burn the boiler to supply hot water on Saturdays. Now taking a bath on Saturdays has also become a habit of students in the Institute of Literature and Research. The girls take a bath first, then the boys.

The bathroom is not big, and there is a small air window on the ceiling, so when people talk inside, there is an echo.

Boys like to sing and act while taking a bath, and a bathroom with built-in reverberation effect seems to be particularly able to arouse people's desire in this regard.

There were no popular songs in those days. Everyone either sang revolutionary songs or local operas from their hometowns. Among them, Jadashan sang the loudest, which was completely different from his usually silent personality.

He was from Hebei and sang Hebei Bangzi, with a high-pitched, passionate and generous voice that was unforgettable. Lin Weimin didn't know what kind of opera he was singing, but it was probably the voice of an old man.

When these people were singing, Lin Weimin was listening nearby. He was from the Northeast, but he couldn't sing Errenzhuan. Forget about Xiaonianzhuan, which was just a small hat. Wouldn't it be a joke to sing Errenzhuan?

Taking a shower is like pressing a karaoke switch. When you finish taking a shower, the switch will automatically turn off.

The old men who were howling in horror just now instantly regained their composure and composure.

Lin Weimin came out of the bathroom, shaking his hair, and heard Qu Xiaowei say, "Tomorrow Wangfujing Bookstore will have a batch of four great classics and foreign classics. Should we go and queue up early?"

Buy classics?

Lin Weimin felt it was necessary. He had never read the original novel of Water Margin before, and his knowledge of Water Margin was limited to the familiar stories and various film and television adaptations. When Mr. Nie Gannu talked about Water Margin, he didn't understand much.

Among the four great classics, he had only read "Dream of the Red Chamber", but he had almost forgotten it. However, he still had a course on "Dream of the Red Chamber" taught by Wu Zuxiang later, so he had to prepare for it this time.

"Hey, I heard that you have to queue up to buy books in bookstores in Yanjing now, and the rows are one or two miles long." Cheng Shixu said on the side.

Qu Xiaowei said: "That's right, there are too many people and too few books, there are not enough to buy."

"Then should we go there early to line up?"

"this……"

Qu Xiaowei hesitated for a moment. Queuing up to buy books was a normal thing for him, but he had never studied in detail how long in advance he should queue.

"Why bother with all this? Just go and line up tonight."

"Tonight?" Qu Xiaowei resisted instinctively. It would be a pain to wait in line for a whole night.

"Listen to me, it's right."

Lin Weimin made the final decision.

When we returned to the dormitory, other students heard about going to Wangfujing Bookstore to buy books and were also eager to go. But when they heard that they had to queue up at night, they felt a little scared.

Lin Weimin came out of the dormitory with his bedding rolled up. Everyone was dumbfounded by his appearance.

"No, Weimin, what do you mean? What are you doing with the bedding?"

"Go to sleep!"

Qu Xiaowei pointed at his bedding and asked, "Are you planning to sleep while waiting in line at the bookstore?"

"What's wrong?" Lin Weimin asked confidently.

Qu Xiaowei gave a thumbs up and said, "You are the best! I am not surprised by anything you do."

In the past two years, people have occasionally lined up in bookstores late at night to buy books, but Qu Xiaowei was the first one to meet someone as single as Lin Weimin who skillfully rolled up his bedding and walked to the door of the bookstore.

"Are you still leaving?" Lin Weimin asked impatiently.

Everyone who was hesitant just now calmed down and said, "Then let's go together."

Lin Weimin said: "We don't need so many people. It will be the same if each student helps bring a few books."

"Wei Min is right. We don't need to send so many people. Just pick a few people to go." Squad leader Zhang Lin began to make arrangements.

After the final discussion, seven people from the class chose to participate: Zhang Lin, Jiang Zilong, Gu Hua, Cheng Shixu, Qu Xiaowei, Lin Weimin and Aibaier.

Except for Zhang Lin and Jiang Zilong, all of them are fresh forces.

With the earnest expectations of their classmates, the group of seven set out and boarded the No. 18 bus.

Among the seven people, only Lin Weimin rolled up his bedding. In the car, the others subconsciously stayed away from him.

I can't afford to lose face with that person!

Wangfujing Bookstore is located at No. 14 Wangfujing Street. It has been 30 years since its birth. After two expansions, the Wangfujing Book Building officially opened last year with a total construction area of ​​6,300 square meters and a business area of ​​3,600 square meters, making it the largest bookstore in China at that time.

In the 1980s, if anyone who could read and write had not visited Wangfujing Bookstore when visiting Yanjing, it would be like a wasted trip. In the minds of the scholars at that time, the status of Wangfujing Bookstore was no less than that of the Forbidden City.

It was already past seven in the evening when Lin Weimin and his group arrived at the bookstore, and there were already people queuing in front of the bookstore.

This discovery made Qu Xiaowei a little excited. When he came here, he was afraid that they were just making a fuss, but he didn't expect that there were really people who had nothing to do after eating and would come here to queue up to buy books.

"Tell me, how idle are these people?"

Qu Xiaowei took a seat while complaining.

Lin Weimin, who was next to him, spread his bedding on the ground and lay down in full view of everyone.

Several people who were traveling with him quickly moved away from him, fearing that they would be mistaken for being in the same group.

There were six or seven people in front of them, so they would not be afraid of not being able to buy books tomorrow morning. They stood or squatted in line behind Lin Weimin, chatting and found that a long line was gradually forming behind them.

By eleven o'clock in the evening, the line was so long that there was no end in sight.

Cheng Shixu ran to the end to take a look, and when he came back he was inexplicably excited, "The queue was more than a mile long!"

He had only heard of it before, but today he was finally enlightened!

(End of this chapter)