Reborn in 1977

Chapter 400: The Secret is Out

Chen Fan led Jiang Lili upstairs, took his drawing board from the bookshelf, turned around, handed it to her, and said with a smile, "I'm giving you this drawing board."

Jiang Lili's eyes lit up, and she happily accepted it, her fingers gently stroking the drawing board.

After a couple of seconds, she looked up at Chen Fan, her face a little hesitant again, "Then, what about you?"

Chen Fan smiled, "Have you forgotten that I made this drawing board myself? I'll just make a new one in a few days."

Jiang Lili smiled sweetly, "Thank you."

"There's no need for formalities. You helped me copy hundreds of thousands of words of manuscript, and I didn't say thank you, did I?"

Chen Fan rolled up his sleeves and took out a canvas bag from the cabinet under the desk, "The old bag was a bit broken. I made this new one a few days ago. You should change to this bag."

The original bag was made of homespun cloth, and it had already become loose and flimsy in less than half a year. When he went to the prefectural committee to buy agricultural machinery parts a few days ago, he bought a piece of canvas to make her a new bag. The key parts were also wrapped in leather, making it absolutely strong and durable.

Jiang Lili put down the drawing board and took the canvas bag with both hands, her eyes full of surprise. This craftsmanship? It's already much better than my own?

She looked up at Chen Fan, pursed her lips, and said softly, "Whether I have the opportunity to design clothes in the future or not, I will cherish this drawing board. This is my favorite gift I've ever received."

Chen Fan looked at her with feigned surprise, "Huh, isn't your favorite gift cake?"

Jiang Lili's face flushed red instantly, and she puffed out her cheeks angrily, even glaring at him.

Such a clueless fellow!

Unfortunately, this glare had no effect. Chen Fan grinned, unfazed, and said, "Change to the new bag. There are still some tools in the old bag, move them over together."

Jiang Lili pouted, then happily busied herself.

First, she removed the old homespun bag, put the drawing board and easel into the compartments of the new bag, and then took out all the tools from the old bag: paintbrushes, drawing paper, erasers, clips, pencil sharpeners... Some of these things were new, and some were old. The new ones were obviously just bought.

She put all the items into the small compartments on the outside of the new bag, neatly organizing everything.

Then, she found a stack of sketch paper about the size of a textbook inside the drawing bag.

She secretly glanced at Chen Fan, only to see him taking out stack after stack of manuscripts from the drawer, all of which she had helped him copy, ready to be mailed at any time.

Jiang Lili withdrew her gaze, her eyes slightly darting around, and she quietly flipped through his sketches.

Most of these sketches were very simple, depicting common scenes in the village.

There were flowers, trees, crops in the fields, melons and fruits in the vegetable garden, the stove in the kitchen, the water tank at the corner, and the pottery rack. There were also Duoduo, Qiuqiu, the little mare, the foal, and two little sheep. Of course, there was also Gun Gun and its two treasures, as well as Chen Fan's new house, the distant woods, and the long embankment by the river...

When she flipped to the end, Jiang Lili's gaze suddenly froze.

The last one was actually herself?

On the 16K paper was a half-length portrait of Jiang Lili. Compared to the simple strokes of the other sketches that outlined the charm of the scenery, this portrait was obviously much more complex.

From the strands of hair to the eyelashes, from the facial features to the eyes, every part had been meticulously depicted, even every strand of hair and every eyelash was lifelike, and there seemed to be a radiance blooming in her eyes.

Such skill could not be described as mere exquisite craftsmanship.

Holding the painting in her hands, Jiang Lili felt her heart pounding rapidly, her face burning hot, as if it could burst into flames at any moment, to the point of feeling dizzy.

After a long while, she suddenly woke up, breathing heavily, and glanced at Chen Fan in a panic, while also clumsily stuffing her portrait to the bottom.

Hearing the movement, Chen Fan turned to look at her, his eyes full of curiosity, "What's wrong with you?"

She was fine just now, why did her face suddenly turn as red as a boiled crab?

Jiang Lili's eyes darted around in a panic, not daring to look at him at all, "N-nothing."

Chen Fan frowned slightly, his eyes full of suspicion, his gaze moving back and forth over her, finally landing on the drawing in her hand.

Now he finally understood.

Well, the secret was out, and he was caught red-handed by the "victim"!

However, Chen Fan's skin had long been trained to be thicker than a city wall, and he immediately coughed dryly, opening his palm to her, "This is my usual practice work, I forgot to put it away. The other sketches are fine, but the last one has to be returned to me."

The blush on Jiang Lili's face deepened by another three points, and she unconsciously hugged the sketch, pouting and saying, "I won't give it back."

This guy, secretly drawing her was one thing, but to ask for it back so confidently when he was discovered? How could he be like this?

Chen Fan chuckled twice, and said nonchalantly, "Listen to my explanation, that painting, actually, I drew it when I first learned sketching. Wasn't my technique bad at the time? So I kept it to slowly improve. When I finish it someday, I'll give this painting to you, okay?"

He really wasn't lying. The first day he learned sketching, he returned to the courtyard and happened to see Jiang Lili working in the yard, and he couldn't help but take a pen and draw a simple sketch.

However, after finishing it, he felt that it wasn't well drawn, so he found another piece of paper, first drew an outline, and then gradually sketched it out, finally drawing it into what it looked like today.

He originally wanted to finish it before she left, but he didn't expect her to find it ahead of time.

Jiang Lili looked at him with suspicious eyes, "Really?"

After a pause, she felt something was wrong again, and quickly shook her head, "I mean, you can draw other things, why..."

Saying this, she couldn't help but lower her voice, "Why draw me?"

Chen Fan said seriously, "Because there were only the two of us in the yard at the time. If I wanted to practice drawing people, of course I had to draw you. Did you expect me to draw myself?"

Jiang Lili felt a little dizzy. Secretly drawing other people's portraits, and being so confident about it?

She puffed out her cheeks and muttered, "Then you should have told me."

Chen Fan chuckled, "I definitely couldn't have said it at the time. What's needed is that natural state. Even if you agreed if I told you in advance, your movements and expressions wouldn't be so natural. You need to know that learning to draw requires not only drawing the form, but also drawing the spirit. I'm doing this to make the painting look better."

After a pause, he added, "Look, aren't we friends? Besides you, I'm too embarrassed to draw anyone else, right? Of course, I can only draw you."

Jiang Lili tilted her head, always feeling that something was wrong, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Chen Fan said as he stood up, smiling, "That's it, I'll teach you how to draw now. When you learn how to draw, you'll understand the tricks in it."

Jiang Lili blinked, hesitated for a moment, "Okay then."

Chen Fan coughed dryly, put his hands behind his back, and said, "You first set up the easel and put the drawing board on it."

Without thinking, Jiang Lili put down the sketch and went to get the easel.

Chen Fan immediately seized the opportunity to snatch the sketch from the bottom with lightning speed.

Jiang Lili looked at him with a mixture of tears and laughter, "What are you doing?"

With the sketch in hand, Chen Fan first checked it to make sure he hadn't taken the wrong one, then calmly took out a picture album, inserted the sketch into it, and smiled, "It's not finished yet, I'll give it to you when it's done."

Jiang Lili's face was red, feeling both annoyed and amused. Just for a sketch, he even used a feint, was it necessary?

Thinking about how her portrait was gradually being created in his hands, a wave of shyness surged into her heart, and she felt a little at a loss.

Chen Fan put the picture album into the drawer, locked it, took out the key and put it in his pocket, then walked out with his hands behind his back, smiling triumphantly, "Come on, Teacher Chen's teaching time officially begins!"

Jiang Lili helplessly glared at him, but unfortunately, someone's skin was too thick and remained unmoved. She could only give up and set up the easel according to Chen Fan's instructions.

Adjusting the easel, securing the drawing board...

Chen Fan turned on his full teaching aura, focusing solely on her, explaining the ins and outs of art, from the shallow to the deep.

Listening to Chen Fan's voice, Jiang Lili unconsciously forgot the shyness she felt earlier, and concentrated on learning painting knowledge from scratch, from being completely ignorant to gradually getting the hang of it.

Unknowingly, half a day passed, until Huang Ying came up to call them for dinner, and Jiang Lili woke up from her studies.

With outsiders present, Jiang Lili habitually put on a layer of disguise, silently tidying up as usual.

Only when tidying up the sketches, her heart couldn't help but tremble, first glancing at Huang Ying waiting at the door, and finding that she wasn't paying attention, then glaring fiercely at Chen Fan to protest.

Unfortunately, someone's skin was too thick, and the protest was ineffective.

Chen Fan was smiling smugly. Seeing that Jiang Lili was about to carry the drawing board on her shoulder, he immediately said, "No need to take it down. This place has the best view. You can come here to practice drawing in the future."

Huang Ying also said at the door, "Yes, yes, don't take it out, or if the people in the team see it, my parents will ask me if I've learned to draw."

As she said this, her face fell, "We were studying together, and everything was fine, but they have to compare everything. We chose different directions, and the exam questions will definitely be different when the brigade organizes the selection exam in the future. What's the point of comparing?"

Chen Fan nodded in agreement, "Yeah, it really doesn't make any sense."

The main thing is that the college entrance examination doesn't test drawing.

Huang Ying turned her head to look at him, her eyes suddenly lighting up as she said with a smile, "Teacher Chen, how about you help me talk to my parents?"

Chen Fan spread his hands, "It's not a problem for me to say something, but the key is, do you think it will be useful?"

Huang Ying's face immediately fell, and she shook her head irritably, "Ugh, never mind."

After speaking, she ran downstairs, "Come down and eat quickly, or the food will get cold."

Chen Fan looked back at Jiang Lili, who had already put away her drawing board bag and walked out quickly, before turning around and going downstairs.

Starting a few days ago, Huang Ying and the others stopped cooking in the educated youth spot below and started using the kitchen here.

After all, they were studying here all day long, and it was a waste of time to keep running down there.

The row of three rooms, with the dining hall right next to the main building, connected by a covered corridor, and the kitchen in the middle, was not only larger in area, but also had more functional areas, including a water storage pool and even a relatively large fish pond, as well as all kinds of cupboards, shelves, dishwashing sinks, etc., making cooking much more convenient than in the kitchen at the educated youth spot.

Further inside, next to the panda enclosure, was the bathroom.

The weather was gradually turning cooler, so it probably wouldn't be long before it was put into use.

The dining hall was a bit large, and they didn't need a large round table for just a few people, so they didn't move the dining table out and just sat at the Eight Immortals table by the window.

The four girls sat on either side, and Chen Fan naturally sat alone on one side.

His bowl and chopsticks were already set out, and there was also a pot of rice wine warming up.

The ancient method of warming wine involved placing a pot of hot water over a charcoal fire to heat the water, and then placing the wine pot inside the hot water.

However, this method was relatively cumbersome, and the bottle had to be wiped every time wine was poured, so Chen Fan learned from the later generations of Zhejiang cuisine restaurants, the difference being that they used small candles to heat the wine pot, while he used burning charcoal.

The effect was still acceptable.

Chen Fan took a sip of wine to moisten his throat, and just as he picked up a piece of meat, he heard Huang Ying ask, "Teacher Chen, you said you're going to submit articles frequently in the future, are you going to submit to other magazines?"

Chen Fan nodded, and after swallowing the food in his mouth, he said with a smile, "There are quite a few literary magazines in the country, not just our province's 'Jiangnan Literature'."

Yang Ju immediately said, "I know about 'People's Literature' and 'BJ Literature'. These magazines are sold in Xinhua bookstores."

She then smiled embarrassedly, "I don't know about the others."

She also asked curiously, "What other magazines are there?"

Chen Fan held out his left hand and started counting on his fingers, "There are many, such as 'China Youth', 'Harvest', and 'Sprout'. These are all excellent magazines. 'Harvest', for example, was founded by Mr. Ba Jin and is a serious literary magazine with a very high influence throughout the country."

Yang Ju seemed to have discovered a new world, and her eyes widened in surprise, "So there are so many magazines."

After a pause, she asked puzzledly, "Then why aren't they in the Xinhua bookstore?"

Jiang Lili, Huang Ying, and Liu Dan also stared at Chen Fan expectantly, forgetting to eat their food.

Here's a little-known fact: before 1950, all newspapers and periodicals in the country were distributed by themselves. It wasn't until that year that second-rate newspapers and the Postal Department's General Post Office signed an important document, the 'Agreement on Newspaper Distribution'.

From then on, the distribution of second-rate newspapers was handed over to the post office.

Following this example, newspapers and periodicals all over the country began to follow suit. That year, the post office signed agreements with more than 30 periodicals, taking responsibility for their distribution.

By the end of '52, or rather, on December 28th, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and the General Administration of Publications issued the 'Joint Decision on Improving the Distribution of Publications', deciding to transfer all magazines originally distributed by various bookstores to the post office. The periodical distribution department of Xinhua Bookstore also merged with the post office.

From then on, the "unified postal distribution" system was officially implemented nationwide.

Since then, newspapers and magazines could be purchased simultaneously at both the post office and Xinhua Bookstore.

As for other bookstores, most of them no longer sold newspapers and magazines.

Unless it was a special bookstore with related special periodicals, that is, professional academic journals.

Under normal circumstances, Xinhua Bookstore would not carry such periodicals. If you wanted to buy them, you could only go to a specialized bookstore or subscribe through the post office.

Therefore, conventional magazines are generally available in Xinhua Bookstore.

Chen Fan often wandered around Xinhua Bookstore, so he naturally knew what books were there.

Hearing Yang Ju's words, he smiled slightly and said, "That's because these magazines haven't been relaunched yet!"

'BJ Literature' (renamed 'BJ Literature' in 1980) was relaunched in 1973, almost the earliest in the country. 'People's Literature' was also relaunched in January 1976. These two are available in Xinhua Bookstore.

As for other literary magazines, only some of the provincial literary federations' publications, such as 'Jiangnan Literature', have been relaunched.

So the relaunch of 'Jiangnan Literature' this year is neither early nor late, just right in the middle.

Earlier ones, such as 'Zhejiang Literature', were relaunched as early as May '75, and will be renamed 'Donghai' in '78, and later called 'Taste'.

A little later, such as 'Shanghai Literature', was just relaunched a few days ago, and the name was also changed to 'Shanghai Literature'.

As for the other two, the famous 'Flower City' and 'Dianchi'.

Sorry, they haven't been founded yet.

Including 'China Youth', 'Harvest', and 'Sprout', which haven't been relaunched yet, as well as 'October', 'Contemporary', 'Fiction World', which haven't been founded yet…

Chen Fan said that he didn't know when they would appear at all.

He only improved his mental strength and could recall many things, but it was useless to recall things he didn't know.

Not knowing is not knowing!

Anyway, the current literary periodicals are enough for him to profit from.

As soon as he finished speaking, Huang Ying couldn't wait to ask, "So you're going to submit to 'People's Literature' and 'BJ Literature'?"

Chen Fan took a sip of wine and said with a smile, "Not only."

He said, holding out his fingers, "What 'Zhejiang Literature', 'Shanghai Literature', 'Changjiang Literature', 'Heilongjiang Literature', 'Songjiang Literature', 'Xiangjiang Literature'…"

He counted more than a dozen in a row, and then smiled, "These are all like 'Jiangnan Literature', the best provincial literary publications in a province, and they solicit and distribute articles nationwide. Since they want to solicit articles, then I can submit them."

After he finished speaking, the four girls stared at him blankly.

Submitting to more than a dozen magazines across the country, is that something a human can do?

After a pause of two seconds, Huang Ying suddenly burst out laughing, "Hehehehe…"

Jiang Lili looked at her in surprise, as if asking, what are you laughing at?

After laughing twice more, Huang Ying barely stopped, grinned and said, "I was thinking, if Teacher Chen's submissions are all accepted, then, then, when readers all over the country take a look, no matter which magazine they buy, it will have Teacher Chen's article on it, wouldn't that be a big shock?"

Hearing this, Jiang Lili, Yang Ju, and Liu Dan couldn't help but laugh along.

But Chen Fan frowned, "That's a troublesome thing."

It's not bragging, with the current writing level of "literary youth", he can completely crush them in all aspects.

For example, Lu Yao founded a grassroots literary newspaper "Mountain Flower" in the place where he was sent down, and later created a "Mountain Flower Writers Group", from Cao Guxi to Lu Yao, and then to Shi Tiesheng, Tao Zheng, as well as Wen Pin, Haibo, Yuancun, etc., were all people in this group.

But at that time… actually, it was just a few years ago, how was their creative level?

Cao Guxi, then the leader of the county communication group, evaluated Haibo, and the original words were "The level at that time was terribly poor. The first poem published in 'Mountain Flower' was almost 'made' by several editors".

It's that down-to-earth!

Even so, the young writers who came out of "Mountain Flower" were still sought-after contributors to major newspapers and periodicals. Many literary youths from other places even rushed there to learn writing from them.

But Chen Fan used the writing style of later generations, which opened them up a lot in terms of skills, coupled with the honed writing and rich literary background, there was almost no possibility of being rejected!

If it is really as Huang Ying said, more than a dozen of the best literary periodicals in the country and locally all have his articles on them and his name is written on them, I am afraid that something big will happen.

The four girls laughed and laughed, and when they saw Chen Fan frowning, they couldn't help but stop laughing.

Jiang Lili thought silently for a while, and whispered, "Why don't you submit fewer?"

Chen Fan looked at her, and suddenly had a flash of inspiration, and said with a smile, "No need."

He picked up his bowl and chopsticks again, and laughed loudly, "Using my real name is too high-profile, it doesn't fit my low-key personality. From today onwards, except for the novel 'On the Field of Hope', I will use a pen name for all other articles!"

One pen name for one magazine, ten magazines for ten, as long as the author information is not announced, no one except the editor will know who I am!

Submit the manuscript, earn the money, and there is no impact.

I'm such a low-key person, perfect!