Chapter 83 Send Radiator
After telling his father the good news, Yu Hua's joy slowly subsided. He smacked his lips and looked at the returned manuscript.
According to the editor Lin Weimin, there are many problems with his manuscript, which can be seen just by looking at the densely packed comments on it.
Lin Weimin asked him to try again after revising it. Yu Hua was not stupid and knew that even if he made 80% of the revisions, it would be hard to meet other people's standards.
However, it was a pity for him to give up the manuscript just like that, especially since Lin Weimin had already made a lot of comments for him.
His eyes turned and an idea came to his mind.
I revised the manuscript according to Lin Weimin's comments, and then, as before, submitted it to a magazine of a lower level than Contemporary.
Yu Hua thought about it and decided to submit it to Yenching Literature, which is also located in Yenching.
As for Lin Weimin, he is a great writer and editor, and he thinks highly of Yu Hua. Yu Hua felt that he could not miss this opportunity.
Summarizing the experience and lessons learned from this submission, he wrote another short story.
This time, he silently raised the level of "Contemporary" to a higher level, making it on par with "Harvest" and "People's Literature". He made up his mind that in the future, he would choose "Contemporary" as his first choice for submitting manuscripts.
The moment he stuffed the submission letter into the mailbox, Yu Hua felt empty inside, not knowing what the outcome would be.
He thought of the goodwill Lin Weimin expressed towards him in the letter and encouraged himself in his heart.
Yu Hua, you have to believe in yourself, you are a genius! You are the best!
Yanjing, Baimixie Street.
Taking advantage of the weekend time, Lin Weimin came to the courtyard to check on the progress of the renovation.
In January in Yanjing, the weather is freezing cold and outdoor work is not possible, but it is not a problem to do work indoors.
Li Guangfu's logistics supply was very reliable. He really got the construction materials he said he would get.
The toilet and washroom that Lin Weimin wanted have been completed. Although they are not as eye-catching as those decorated in later generations, their functions are just as good.
The water tank in the bathroom was placed on the wall at a position approximately 1.8 meters high. Lin Weimin tried to pull the rope.
With a "splash", a whole box of water rushed into the squat toilet.
Li Guangfu followed behind Lin Weimin and said, "Teacher Lin, do you think this is okay?"
"Very good, very good. Thank you for your hard work, Teacher Li." Lin Weimin said with a smile.
"Don't be polite to me."
He went on to say, "The house is almost done now. There are still a few new pieces of furniture that have not been dried and painted. The connection between the main house and the west wing will have to wait until spring to be built, and then a door will be opened and everything will be done."
"Yes. Look at this stove I got for you."
Li Guangfu pulled Lin Weimin to the east wing, where a set of earthen boiler was lying quietly. Its size was two times larger than the ones used by ordinary families in Yanjing City.
"This was the stove used for heating in the street before. Now the government has provided them with joint heating, so this thing has been eliminated.
There are only a dozen or so rooms on that street, and we used this stove to keep warm in the winter. We also brought so many radiators, which will be more than enough for your family."
Nowadays, winter heating in Yanjing City is still mainly based on fire pits and earth heaters, and ordinary people generally burn coal briquettes, also known as honeycomb coal.
There is almost no centralized heating in places like courtyard houses and slums, and many units also use small steam boilers.
The homemade heating system that Li Guangfu got for Lin Weimin was just right for the size of his small courtyard house. Although it was troublesome to start, that's how it is these days. There's no such thing as something that's both worry-free and comfortable.
Lin Weimin pointed at the pile of radiators and said, "There are too many radiators. I only have a few rooms and I can't use them at all."
"Hey, these are all things that came to mind, and they didn't cost much in total. Hehe, I just treated them to a meal, and these are all things that will be scrapped."
Lin Weimin didn't say anything else. He looked at the radiators and suddenly thought of a friend.
After seeing the progress of the courtyard, it is certain that it will not be habitable before the New Year. It should be ready in the early spring after the New Year.
He invited Li Guangfu to a restaurant and talked about the rehearsal of "The Intouchables".
The crew has been rehearsing for nearly a month now. According to the tradition of the People's Art Theatre, a play needs at least two months of rehearsal.
By this calculation, we can start preparing for the performance around March.
Li Guangfu became excited when talking about the performance. After so many years in the People's Art Theatre, he finally played the leading role, with such a good script and such a good team.
He couldn't help but express his gratitude to Lin Weimin in his words, as if he was treating Lin Weimin as a benefactor.
"Teacher Li, we are friends now after all, so please don't be so polite to me." Lin Weimin said helplessly.
Li Guangfu was a little embarrassed, "Hey, look at me, let's not talk about this anymore."
After dinner, Li Guangfu left, but Lin Weimin returned to Baimixie Street. He planned to find a place to put the extra radiators.
"Tiesheng! Tiesheng!"
Lin Weimin's voice was heard again in the slum at No. 26 Lama Temple Street. He removed the radiator from the back seat of the bicycle, and then Shi's father pushed Shi Tiesheng out.
The Shi family father and son looked at the radiator that Lin Weimin had removed, and Shi Tiesheng asked, "Weimin, this..."
"My courtyard is being renovated, and I got a bunch of discarded radiators from other people's streets. I can't use them, so I'll just send them to your house."
Due to muscle atrophy, Shi Tiesheng's lower body blood circulation is obstructed all year round. Sitting for long periods of time every day causes bedsores to occur in the summer.
In winter, their house had only a coal stove for heating, and the temperature was 14 or 15 degrees. His numb legs could not stand the cold at all, and if they were frozen, they might die.
Shi Tiesheng took a big risk when he accompanied Lin Weimin to look at the house.
So when Lin Weimin saw these radiators, the first person he thought of was Shi Tiesheng.
His family uses a coal briquette stove. Due to the production process of honeycomb coal, the heat it emits during combustion is very small. There is no radiator, so even if the stove burns very vigorously in winter, the temperature in the house will not be high. It will be different with a radiator.
Shi Tiesheng looked at Lin Weimin's sincere face and was deeply moved.
"No need to go through so much trouble. This is how we have always been."
Lin Weimin smiled and said, "This is just a coincidence. I didn't buy it specially for you."
Lin Weimin said this in order to prevent Shi Tiesheng from having a psychological burden.
Lin Weimin sent a radiator to Shi Tiesheng, but that was not enough because their stove didn't have any connection to the pipes.
"I'll get you a new stove later," said Lin Weimin.
Father Shi hurriedly said, "No, no, I'll just go buy one."
"It's okay, uncle, it's just a side job."
However, Shi's father insisted and said that he would buy a stove as soon as Lin Weimin left the house. Only then did Lin Weimin give up.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
