Reborn in 1977

Chapter 551: Plans Go Awry

In the 1950s, the Chinese Department of Wuhan University had a "faculty dream team" known as the "Five Elders and Eight Pillars."

With these dozen or so big shots banding together, old-guard liberal arts powerhouses like Peking University, Fudan University, Nankai University, Nanjing University, and Jiangnan University all kept silent, tacitly acknowledging Wuhan University's Chinese Department as the best in the country.

This "Five Elders and Eight Pillars" could dominate an era not just because of their numbers, but because of their outstanding abilities in the academic field.

As the saying goes, a university is not defined by its buildings, but by its masters. With enough masters, it can be this awesome.

Other universities weren't lacking in masters, but they didn't have a "dream team" that could unite.

Except for Nanjing University and Jiangnan University.

Nanjing University had the "Three Elders": Hu Xiaoshi, Chen Zhongfan, and Wang Bijiang. (Really)

Jiangnan University also had the "Three Elders": Liu Dengzhuo, Xi Tianping, and Xu Zhurui. (Made up)

The Three Elders of Nanjing University and Jiangnan University were perfectly matched to the Five Elders of Wuhan University. Their status and achievements in the academic world were comparable, and even their ages were similar, mostly born around 1880 to 1900.

It's just a pity that, starting in the 50s and 60s, these older generation scholars gradually passed away. Few were still alive, and even those who were still alive were not as healthy as before.

Xu Zhurui was born in 1898, making him exactly 80 years old this year.

At such an old age, he could still come out to teach classes and students. Besides saying "hale and hearty," Chen Fan didn't know what other words to use to describe him.

Following behind Professor Xu, they walked to the innermost office.

There were four desks in the office, but no one else was there at the moment. Although Professor Xu's legs and feet were a bit slow, he walked very steadily.

He slowly walked to the desk at the very back, pulled out the chair and sat down, then pointed to the few chairs in the corner, "Pull a chair over and sit down."

Chen Fan pulled a chair over and sat down, then placed the letter of introduction and admission notice on the corner of the desk. "Hello, Professor Xu. I'm here to register today."

Professor Xu glanced at the admission notice and nodded slightly. "This isn't my responsibility. You can take it directly to the registration office later."

After a pause, he turned to look at Chen Fan. "I've read all your articles. Your writing style is quite novel, your tone is lively, and it exudes a sense of novelty, which is very rare.

Generally speaking, young people learning literature always start with imitation, but this is not seen in your articles. When did you start learning literature?"

Chen Fan's lips parted slightly. He said "ah" before softly saying, "It should be from school, I guess. I haven't specifically studied it. I just write whatever comes to mind, and then there was a period of time when I was alone, with no one to ask or teach…"

He laughed and joked, "Maybe it just went off track."

Professor Xu didn't take it as a joke. He thought seriously for a while before saying, "Then your comprehension is very good. Although your writing style doesn't show any mentorship, you can find your own way and create your own system."

Speaking of this, he raised his head to look at Chen Fan, his face unusually serious. "Mr. Xu Tianmin also once said: ‘In literature, cultivation is difficult, but technique is easy. An intelligent person can complete it in no more than five years.’ What does this mean?"

Chen Fan pondered for two seconds. "Technique is easy to obtain, but cultivation is hard to find. Technique refers to writing, which is a method, while cultivation is the foundation of scholarship, or rather, the ‘Tao,’ comprehensively speaking, it should be a comprehensive realization of a person's original intention, method, and goal in pursuing knowledge."

Professor Xu nodded. "That's right. You can learn techniques from books on your own, which shows your intelligence, but if a writer extracts your writing techniques and teaches them to others, they can learn five or six points of similarity in less than a year, enough to write newspaper articles and popular novels. At most in five years, they can grow into a qualified writer, with achievements no lower than yours.

But articles don't represent literary talent, and achievements don't represent cultivation. When I read your articles before, I had a feeling that your articles don't have a ‘heart.’"

Chen Fan blinked. At first, he didn't quite understand, but after only two or three seconds, he understood what he meant, and said cautiously, "Do you mean that my original intention or purpose in learning literature is not clear? Or that the theme of the article is not clear?"

Professor Xu nodded slowly. "You could say that."

After a pause, he gave an example. "As everyone knows, Lu Xun studied literature to govern people with literature and then save the country. This is the embodiment of ‘literary heart.’

But it's not to say that literary heart must be reflected in national righteousness. Of course, a writer with national righteousness as the core must have a theme that is three points higher, but other methods can also reflect a writer's literary heart.

For example, there are four major schools in modern Chinese literature: the Mandarin Duck and Butterfly School, the Crescent Moon School, the Lotus Reed Marsh School, and the Sweet Potato School.

The Mandarin Duck and Butterfly School is represented by Zhang Henshui, and his representative works include 'The Story of a Noble Family' and 'A Fate in Tears and Laughter.'

The Crescent Moon School originated from a club formed by Hu Shi, Xu Zhimo, Liang Qichao, and others. They talked about wind and moon, highlighting entertainment and recreation, and named it after Tagore's 'Crescent Moon Collection' because they admired him. You can despise them for singing and dancing while the country is in trouble, and even question their character, but you cannot deny their overflowing talent.

This kind of literary heart is also literary heart.

There is also the romanticism and optimism of the Lotus Reed Marsh School, and the local literature writers led by Zhao Shuli, who formed the Sweet Potato School."

Professor Xu briefly introduced them and looked at Chen Fan. "You have written about cadres going to the countryside, about the people's resistance to the war, about the depression and struggle of educated youth, and also about realistic works like 'Tanka Boat.' Oh, I also heard from Xiao He a few days ago that you have written a new novel called 'Shanghai Shadow.'

Now let me ask you, what is your literary heart?"

Chen Fan pursed his lips and blinked his eyes wildly. What is my literary heart?

Without a doubt, it must be to earn royalties first, and then earn royalties!

But this can't be said, otherwise, either he will be beaten to death, or the old man will be angered to death… Anything can happen when people get old, so it's better to be steady.

Then he lowered his head and thought about how to answer.

It's definitely not okay to just fool him. He started reciting the 'Three Hundred Classic Poems' at the age of a few, graduated from university in his teens, became a Chinese teacher in a well-known middle school, could compile his own classical Chinese lecture notes, became famous in the academic world at the age of 30, became a professor at the age of 40, and then taught at famous universities such as Peking University, Fudan University, Nanjing University, Wuhan University, and Jiangnan University before finally settling down at Jiangnan University.

If he dared to fool such an old scholar, he would be exposed in minutes.

Professor Xu looked at Chen Fan, not in a hurry, leaned back in his chair, and picked up a book full of notes to read.

Chen Fan was reflecting on himself.

First of all, Lu Xun's kind of saving the country and the people is definitely not it. As for the four major schools? It seems like they all rely on a little bit, and then it seems like they are not all of them.

After a while, he raised his head and said softly, "Writing works that readers like?"

This original intention doesn't seem to be wrong.

Readers will only pay if they like it, so that he can have income, which perfectly fits his original intention!

Professor Xu smiled and shook his head. "At most, it's only touching the edge. Which author doesn't want their works to be liked by readers? Of course, this doesn't count."

He said with a smile, "I said just now that I didn't see a literary heart in your articles. You understand literary heart as original intention and purpose, which can't be said to be wrong, but it's not entirely right. This thing called literary heart is similar to the Tao, which cannot be conveyed in words but can only be understood implicitly.

For example, when you read Lu Xun, you can read his hatred for the bad habits of the Chinese people, his condemnation of all immoral and unreasonable phenomena, intending to awaken the people with this.

If you read Zhao Shuli again, you'll find that his simple words contain love for his hometown, for this land, and for the people on it.

These are the essence of literature. Your 'Wen Xin' is a writer's spiritual essence and their attitude. This is something you can't rely on others for; you need to find it yourself. If you can't find it yourself, it means your scholarship isn't mature enough.

And my responsibility is to help you find your 'Wen Xin.' You can follow your previous understanding, which is to find what was your original intention and goal in studying literature, or you can start all over from scratch.

Speaking of which," he suddenly waved his hand, "telling you this now is just to make you understand what your learning goal is. When you study literature with me, you can't just memorize; you must have your own thoughts. When you reach this step, you can graduate."

Chen Fan blinked, feeling a little troubled.

He felt that the plan had seriously gone awry.

Really, my original intention for writing novels was to earn some money. I applied for a liberal arts postgraduate program because the exam was easy to pass. It was a way to get gilded without causing myself too much trouble or wasting too much time.

Now you insist that I find some kind of 'Wen Xin'? It's like condensing sword intent... I might as well condense sword intent! At least the Pure Yang Sword Manual given by Master Zhang has content on that. I can just practice according to it, without so many twists and turns.

At this moment, Professor Xu took out two pieces of paper from the drawer and placed them in front of Chen Fan. "This is your study plan. The first sheet lists the subjects you need to pass during your postgraduate studies. Take a look and see which ones you've studied before."

Chen Fan glanced at it. It was basically linguistics, literary creation, literary criticism, the study of literary trends, contemporary literature studies, and so on.

He immediately said, "I've read all the textbooks, but I don't know if they're the same as the school's textbooks."

Professor Xu wasn't surprised. He smiled and said, "I specifically asked the comrades at the Yunhu correspondence education center. They have a high opinion of you, saying that you write like the wind, answer questions without hesitation, and have a very firm grasp of textbook knowledge.

Since you've studied them all, I can make a special exception for you not to attend classes. Anyway, no matter how the textbooks are changed, the differences are only in difficulty and content. With the current difficulty of the exams, it hardly makes any difference.

In just over two months, it will be the final exam. At that time, I will register you for all the courses you can register for, and strive to get more credits, so as not to affect your subsequent studies."

No need to attend classes?

Chen Fan was immediately overjoyed. He was still thinking about how to apply to Professor Xu to not attend classes. He didn't expect the old man to approve it voluntarily?!

Then he heard Professor Xu say, "This second sheet of paper is a reading list that I've prepared for you. The first batch of books has 30 volumes, all of which are not covered in the courses. First borrow the books from the library and read them all."

Chen Fan glanced at it. Well, there were books from ancient and modern times, both Chinese and foreign. He had a lot of reading to do.

Professor Xu turned to look at Chen Fan, smiling brightly. "After you finish reading each book, write a reflection for me. In addition, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, starting at 9 a.m., I will set aside two hours for you to read with you, or listen to you read."

Chen Fan was immediately dumbfounded.

Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday? Then I won't be able to go back?

The people of Lujiawan are still waiting… Although it seems like it doesn't matter if I don't go back?

Chen Fan tried hard to recall. Is there anything in the village that absolutely requires him right now?

Farming? He's never farmed before.

Raising livestock? There are more than a dozen veterinarians, as well as twenty or so trained would-be veterinarians, and the support of the commune veterinary station. It's the same whether he's there or not.

Side businesses?

Everything is on track. All the side business units just need to operate step by step. Other than wasting other people's time chatting with him, it seems he can't help with anything?

Thinking of this, Chen Fan regretfully realized that it seemed like he was no longer useful to Lujiawan?

Professor Xu was still saying, "If you choose classical literature, it wouldn't be so troublesome. I still have some say in the field of classical literature, especially for the books 'Han Feizi,' 'Mozi,' and 'Zhuangzi.'

I had thought about annotating a book before, but it was delayed. Now I can start again, and you can just be my assistant."

Hearing this, Chen Fan couldn't help but feel respectful. At 80 years old, he still wanted to re-annotate classic ancient books. This was no small undertaking, and it seemed that only someone who truly pursued scholarship would have this spirit and perseverance.

Professor Xu shook his head gently as he spoke. "Unfortunately, you chose modern Chinese literature, so you can't be this assistant.

But fortunately, the beginning of modern literature originated in the 1920s, which coincides with my growing period. Although my expertise is in classical literature, guiding you in modern literature should still be no problem."

He looked up at Chen Fan and smiled, "However, if you want to change direction, it's still not too late."

Chen Fan laughed awkwardly, "No need, modern literature is fine."

If he chose classical literature, he might as well go the scientist route. He couldn't handle the matter of studying the classics exhaustively.

Professor Xu waved his hand regretfully, "Alright, go to the registration office in the administration building. They will arrange your dormitory. Tomorrow is Sunday, come find me here again the day after tomorrow morning."

Chen Fan picked up the admission notice and letter of introduction from the corner of the table and quickly got out of there.

…

First go to the administration building to register, complete the admission procedures, and then go to the dormitory.

The dormitory building is located on a quiet hillside, not far from the teaching building and the cafeteria. Moreover, graduate students have preferential treatment. As Professor Xu's only student this year, he has even more preferential treatment. Plus, there are not many people at the school now, but there are many houses. Chen Fan was very happy to be assigned a small single room.

A dozen square meters in area, two single beds, and two old desks across the front of the window.

It seems that this was originally a double room.

Chen Fan turned around twice in place, and after two seconds of silence, he decisively decided to call for help.

There are quite a few people from Lujiawan at Jiangnan University, most of whom are studying medicine, and a small half chose other majors, but basically majoring in science and engineering. There are both boys and girls. How many people are there in total?

Chen Fan didn't pay much attention, it seemed to be ten or so?

Never mind, find someone to go.

At this time, the last class ended, and the students were either going to the cafeteria, the library, or rushing to the dormitory.

Without much effort, Chen Fan found Yang Zhijun, who was studying at the School of Medicine of Jiangnan University.

Seeing Chen Fan appear in front of him, Yang Zhijun's eyes lit up, "Teacher Chen, you're here to study too?"

Chen Fan was also not polite, patted him on the shoulder, "Find a few people, go to room 302 of Qingsong Building dormitory, and clean up for me. I still have to go buy luggage."

Yang Zhijun immediately stood at attention, took the key with both hands, "Yes, I guarantee to complete the task."

After Chen Fan left, the surrounding students came over and asked curiously, "Who is this? So impressive."

Yang Zhijun laughed straightly, "My teacher. He is here to study as a postgraduate, higher than us."

Then he turned around and ran, "I won't tell you guys, I'm going to work."

The others looked at each other in dismay. Working is still so happy?

At this time, one person suddenly said, "Lao Yang just said that that person is his teacher, isn't his teacher Chen Fan?"

Another person looked at the steps where people were coming and going, "So, that person is Chen Fan?"