Chapter 544 Influenced a Generation

In late April, the fourth issue of "Contemporary" had been on the market for more than twenty days, and Lin Weimin's "No One Less" had also been published for more than twenty days. The critics' evaluation of this novel was generally positive, but many people also believed that Lin Weimin's latest work after two years lacked the previous sharpness and spirit, and seemed very mediocre, and the novel was somewhat deliberately sensational.

Compared with the polarized opinions in the critics' circle, many readers' evaluations of this novel are more positive and active, and the letters received are almost all praises.

The most enthusiastic response came from the vast group of college students.

This group of young people in their prime and full of enthusiasm were deeply moved after watching "No One Left Behind". Many of them wrote to the editorial department of "Contemporary" and expressed their desire to devote themselves to the education cause in poor areas.

The first letter from a reader mentioning this idea also received a personal reply from Lin Weimin, in which Lin Weimin gave the enthusiastic college student some wise advice, urging him to think twice before acting.

The original intention was to hope that he would think carefully and not regret it.

However, the enthusiastic college student seemed to have misunderstood Lin Weimin's meaning, thinking that Lin Weimin did not trust him, and actually sent Lin Weimin's letter to China Youth Daily.

China Youth Daily was founded in Yenching in 1951. It is a national mainstream media with young people as its main readers and has great influence.

Since its resumption of publication in 1978, it has reported on the deeds of young advanced figures and advanced collectives such as Zhang Haidi, who has a strong spirit despite her disability, and the Chinese Women's Volleyball Team, which has aroused widespread and enthusiastic influence across the country.

This type of media has always been very interested in stories of young people's courage to fight and take responsibility.

At the same time as sending the letter to Lin Weimin, the college student also wrote a letter to China Youth Daily, explaining the whole story in detail.

The editorial department of China Youth Daily immediately became interested. College students with ideals and ambitions were inspired by the novel and wanted to devote themselves to the education cause in poor areas. What a great publicity material!

The editorial department immediately polished Lin Weimin's letter and the college students' letters and published them.

China Youth Daily is a national newspaper. Within just a few days of its publication, the current issue immediately aroused widespread discussion and attention across the country.

Readers can all see that Lin Weimin wrote that letter to college students out of good intentions.

As he wrote in the letter, "I hope that you did not make this important decision regarding your life destiny because of a momentary impulse inspired by the novel, but rather because you questioned your own heart and made a careful consideration."

The descriptions of the college students in their letter to China Youth Daily are full of the youthful passion and idealism unique to young people, especially the last paragraph.

“I want to thank Mr. Lin for his kindness, but I hope he can face up to my decision, which was not a hasty decision made on impulse.

I voluntarily devote myself to the cause of education in poor areas. Please supervise me, my country and the people!"

The influence of China Youth Daily is enormous. After it published this article, it not only attracted the attention and discussion of readers across the country, but also aroused discussions in many media, and this discussion is constantly expanding as time goes by.

College students of this era are truly the chosen ones and an important force for the development of the country and society. It stands to reason that they should be placed where they are most needed.

Sending these college students, who have been trained with great difficulty in the country, to the country's poorest areas to teach and educate people will not produce results in a short period of time and may also be a waste of talent.

Readers who supported and opposed the movement quickly split into two camps, and in a very short period of time, the issue tended to spread into a nationwide discussion.

Such nationwide discussions were not uncommon in the 1980s and 1990s.

On May 11, 1978, Guangming Daily published an article titled "Practice is the Only Criterion for Testing Truth" under the name of a special commentator, which triggered a great discussion on the standard of truth.

In May 1980, China Youth published a letter from female worker Pan Xiao, which triggered a "Pan Xiao discussion" on the meaning and value of life.

On July 11, 1982, Guangming Daily reported the story of college student Zhang Hua who sacrificed his life to save a night soil collector. The college student's replacement as a night soil collector triggered a heated discussion among the Chinese people about the value of life.

The Chinese people in the 1980s were poor in material terms but rich in spirit.

These nationwide discussions have enriched the lives of a generation, become the nourishment of their lives, and brought infinite vitality to the entire society.

In recent years, major discussions like this have become less and less frequent. A big reason for this is that the country's attention and energy are now increasingly attracted to economic life, while neglecting the pursuit of metaphysics.

The report in China Youth Daily just happened to inspire the spiritual pursuit of the Chinese people which had been dormant for a long time.

Lin Weimin had not expected that his letter would be published in the newspaper, and he was even more caught off guard by the development of outside public opinion. He still felt a little unprepared until a reporter from China Youth Daily found him.

"Teacher Lin, what is your attitude towards the current discussions among all parties? I read your letter, and it seems that you do not support the decision of the college students."

Facing the reporter's questions, Lin Weimin smiled helplessly: "At that time, I was mainly worried that this student had read my novel and made a hasty decision in a fit of enthusiasm, so I wrote him a letter in reply. It's not that I don't agree with him going, but I just hope that he can make a prudent decision, after all, this is a major event related to his future life."

At this point, Lin Weimin took out some letters that the editorial department of Contemporary Magazine had received recently.

"Look, these are the letters we received recently. They are all from students who watched 'No One Left Behind' and plan to support education in poor areas."

The reporter's eyes welled up with tears as he read through the letters from readers.

These letters are written in different handwritings, but they all express the same sense of responsibility and ambition for the country and the people.

"Teacher Lin, you have really done a great thing. Your novel has influenced a generation!" The reporter said excitedly with tears in his eyes.

Lin Weimin said sternly, "You can't say that."

"Why?" the reporter asked.

Lin Weimin pointed at the letters on his desk and said, "I believe that the students who wrote these letters have good ideas at the moment, but there is a huge gap between ideals and reality..."

The reporter was silent after hearing this, and after a while he said, "Are you afraid that they might regret it later?"

Lin Weimin nodded. "It's not easy to stick to ideals. Some people will regret it. I just hope that by that time, those who back down won't be burdened with guilt and condemnation from public opinion."

When he said this, he looked at the reporter, and the reporter subconsciously avoided Lin Weimin's gaze.

How could he not understand Lin Weimin's meaning? Devoting himself to the cause of education in poor areas is naturally a good thing full of idealism and humanistic care. The media is willing to see it and the government is also happy to see it happen, which is why public opinion fueled the trend.

Once someone really decides to do this, they will inevitably be pushed onto the high altar of morality and no retreat will be allowed.

"Teacher Lin, your concerns are somewhat reasonable, but this is a good thing for the country and the people," said the reporter.

Lin Weimin nodded slightly, "Of course it's a good thing."

He smiled and said, "This is just my personal little concern that is not appropriate at this time. I hope you can mention it in your report, okay?"

"No problem, your concerns are correct."

The reporter from China Youth Daily left. Two days later, an interview with Lin Weimin, the person involved, was published again, which attracted a lot of attention.

In addition to China Youth Daily, there were many other media outlets involved in this event and discussion. Many media outlets competed to report on cases of aspiring young students planning to devote themselves to education in poverty-stricken areas. This became a trend and even attracted the attention of TZY.

As the starting point of the whole incident, Lin Weimin was invited to have an in-depth discussion.

"It's a good thing that many students have such passion and ideals, but I think the government should provide positive guidance and not just rely on public opinion. College students are too idealistic and underestimate the difficulties they face in reality. We can't let them have too heavy a mental burden, let alone moral kidnapping."

"This kind of support activity must be based on the principle of voluntariness, and there must be some honorary rewards and hidden benefits. It cannot just be about dedication without talking about rewards.

Things are different now than they were before. It’s hard to get things done just by passion.”

“My suggestion is that it’s best to do it in the form of a volunteer activity.”

…

Not long after Lin Weimin was invited for in-depth discussions, TZY decided to implement the Chinese Youth Volunteer Action.

The first activity of the China Youth Volunteer Action is to call on young people with high school education and above across the country to teach in Hope Primary Schools in various places.

Since the Hope Project was launched at the end of 1988, it took more than half a year for the first Hope Primary School to be built and put into use. Although it seems slow, there were actually 30 Hope Primary Schools built at the same time as the first one. Now, another half a year has passed, and nearly 100 Hope Primary Schools have been built across the country.

These Hope Primary Schools are located in remote areas. Although there have been changes in hardware facilities, there is still a shortage of teacher resources.

The Chinese Youth Volunteer Action was organized and implemented by TZY in response to the teaching craze triggered by Lin Weimin's "No One Left Behind". It quickly received an active response from young students. In just half a month, more than 6,000 college students signed up to participate.

The term "supporting education" appeared in the Chinese context for the first time. It was associated with a novel called "No One Left Behind", which encouraged countless students to devote themselves to the education cause of the motherland.

The name of this novel, along with “supporting education in rural areas”, is destined to become a part of China’s education history.

I wrote these two chapters very slowly, so I will only update twice today.

(End of this chapter)