Chapter 6

At noon, Uncle Da and his wife, along with their daughter Rongrong, returned home. Compared to the other three uncles, Uncle Da, who had served in the military, was more straightforward and was the one Feng Yiping liked the most. He remembered that when he was young, he often ran to his grandfather's house because there were four uncles there, which made it very fun, and his favorite was Uncle Da. After Uncle Da was discharged from the military, he brought back a military cap with a five-pointed star and a few bullets with the gunpowder removed, which were rare treasures for children at that time.

However, Uncle Da was the first to get married. After he got married, he could no longer stick around with Uncle Da.

Usually, Grandfather cooked separately, but today they all ate together. Uncle bought some meat, and Aunt cooked egg noodles. Since the noodles were not very filling, she also fried some scallion pancakes.

In the afternoon, Uncle and his family still had to go to the mountain, leaving their youngest son with Grandfather.

Even if it was with Grandfather, it was still hard to ask for money. After hesitating for a long time, Feng Yiping carefully brought it up.

Mei Jianzhong was quite surprised. A child who had just graduated from elementary school, telling a long story, might not even be able to tell it clearly, let alone write one?

When he saw the stack of exercise books that Feng Yiping had used as manuscript paper, densely filled with words, he began to believe it.

He put on his reading glasses from the drawer and started reading carefully from the beginning.

Ruirui was also tired from playing, and Feng Yiping held him in his arms, gently patting his back. The little guy soon fell asleep.

It took more than an hour for Mei Jianzhong to finish reading the novel carefully. He had no literary expertise, so he couldn't say whether it was good or bad, but at least the story made sense. Although the story was set in a rural area in the northwest, whether it was the northwest or the central region, the rural areas were poor at that time, and many of the events in the story could be found in real life.

As for whether the magazine would publish his grandson's work, he had no idea. However, his grandson, at such a young age, had made such an effort to help reduce the family's burden, which was very commendable. Even if it wasn't published, it could be considered a dream for the child.

At the same time, Feng Yiping, who had just graduated from elementary school, could write a novel of several ten thousand words, which made Mei Jianzhong very proud. He thought that this child, with such determination, would surely have a bright future in his studies.

He took off his glasses, folded the manuscript, and said softly, so as not to wake his grandson, "Yiping, you put a lot of effort into this, and it's not easy. Grandfather is very happy. We'll go to town tomorrow morning, and you don't need to worry about money. Grandfather still has some."

Although this was what Feng Yiping had expected, he was still very happy. If Grandfather hadn't agreed, it would have been even harder to get his parents to agree.

He wanted to say something in thanks, but in the countryside, emotions were usually reserved. Saying it too formally would seem fake, so he said, "I'm young, and I can't help much with the family's difficulties. Instead, going to school costs money, so I thought about writing something. If it gets accepted, it could help my parents a bit. You know the family's situation; we don't have any money, so I could only come to you."

The more he looked at his grandson, the more Mei Jianzhong loved him. He said with a smile, "You're so young, and you can think about so many things. Grandfather is also your family. If you encounter any trouble in the future, and it's not appropriate to ask your parents, come and talk to me."

The next day, Grandfather took out fifty yuan from a handkerchief-wrapped package in a small box on top of the wardrobe, and after telling Uncle Da, the two of them set off for town.

Although Uncle Da was a bit puzzled about why they were going to town for no reason, he didn't ask further, only asking if they needed a ride. However, with two people, it was difficult to fit them on his bike, so he gave up.

Rongrong was fine, but Ruirui cried and demanded to go along. However, the round trip was several dozen miles, and it would be very tiring for an old man and a young child to carry such an active little guy. Mei Jianzhong squatted down, promising to buy him candy and a toy gun, and Ruirui finally stopped crying.

But as soon as they stepped out of the house, Ruirui started crying again. Aunt scooped him up, laid him on her lap, and slapped his bottom, "Why are you crying? You're not being obedient!"

The little guy cried even louder, and Feng Yiping and Grandfather had to quicken their pace.

Although they were near the provincial road, the vehicles passing by were mostly long-distance buses and trucks. There were no private vehicles or tricycles for hire, and most people either walked or rode bicycles.

The road had been realigned, and the original route was along the river. Now, the bends had been straightened out. The two of them walked along the river, which was a pleasant and cool route. In the places that had been realigned, Grandfather led him along the old river path, perhaps because these old paths were more familiar and dear to him.

Wuli Ao Town was a bustling town. Originally just a town, it had now merged with four surrounding townships, making it one of the larger towns in the county. In more than twenty years, its land prices would not be lower than those in the county town.

The original Wuli Ao Town, although near the provincial road, had houses concentrated on one side of the road, with a gap of over a hundred meters. Now, houses lined both sides of the road, and a new department store had been built, along with a farmers' market and a trade market. Thus, the provincial road had become the main street of Wuli Ao Town, quickly replacing the commercial functions of the old town center.

Besides various shops, the sides of the road were lined with small stalls. However, it was mid-summer, and it was noon, so there weren't many people on the street, and the vendors were drowsy.

During holidays, it was a different story. It was so crowded that it would make the Wangfujing and Dongpi in Beijing, or the Nanjing Road and Chenghuang Temple in Shanghai, seem like nothing in comparison.

Vendors stood on the road, their stalls one after another, and people buying things were shoulder to shoulder. Motor vehicles and bicycles had to navigate carefully, and it was a challenge to drive at even 7 km/h.

When Zhang Yan first went home with Feng Yiping for the New Year, the car had to move at a snail's pace. It felt like the people around were carrying the car. Zhang Yan remarked, "When I went to a Liu Dehua concert in Wenzhou, I thought the density of people in the stadium was the highest, but now it's nothing compared to this!"

The Xinhua Bookstore was at the eastern end of the town, near the bus station, with only one storefront. It was not an open-shelf store; all the items were displayed in counters and cabinets against the walls.

To the young Feng Yiping, this was not just any place. The sign was written by Chairman Mao, and it sold books, stationery, and other items related to knowledge. Moreover, the prices were fixed, and there was no bargaining. To the young Feng Yiping, it was more like a temple than just a bookstore.

Of course, for the current Feng Yiping, who had seen larger and more luxurious bookstores, this one seemed very simple.

Behind the counter sat a middle-aged man in a blue short-sleeved shirt with gray hair, reading a book. Hearing the sound, he looked up and saw Grandfather and Feng Yiping, smiling and greeting them, "You're here, Uncle. Is this your grandson?"

Even in a state-owned enterprise like the Xinhua Bookstore, because it was in town, the employees were all locals, and they were all familiar with each other. Therefore, the employees of these state-owned enterprises in town treated customers much better than their counterparts in the county or city. If they were rude to someone, their parents, relatives, or friends might come to find them the next day, saying, "That person is my so-and-so."

So, their attitudes were very good, and their service was not stiff. They didn't start by asking what you wanted to buy but by chatting with you.

"Oh, this is my eldest grandson," Grandfather said with a smile, and Feng Yiping politely said, "Hello, Uncle!"

The middle-aged man praised him, "This child is very polite. What grade are you in?"

Grandfather answered, "He'll be in the first year of junior high school this fall. Today, he wants to buy some manuscript paper and a fountain pen. Yiping, do you need anything else?"

Feng Yiping asked, "Uncle, do you have the 'Harvest' magazine? Our Chinese teacher said it's a good magazine."

The middle-aged man scratched his head, "The 'Harvest'? I think we have it, but not the current issue. Let me find it for you."

"It's okay, it doesn't have to be the current issue."

After a few minutes, he found a thick issue from the bottom of a cabinet by the wall and handed it to Feng Yiping, "June issue, take a look."

"Thank you."

Feng Yiping took the magazine and started flipping through it slowly. The main thing was to check the mailing address, which was easy to remember, but he was afraid of getting the postal code wrong. Just as the middle-aged man was helping Grandfather choose a fountain pen, he took a fountain pen, dipped the tip in some ink, and wrote the postal code on his left palm, then said the pen was good and asked Grandfather what he thought. Since Grandfather was buying it for him, he said it was good, so they chose that one.

They also bought three sheets of manuscript paper. Feng Yiping smiled apologetically at the middle-aged man and handed him the magazine, "Uncle, I still can't understand this book. I'm sorry to trouble you!"

The middle-aged man thought it wasn't suitable for a child who hadn't even started junior high school, so he said, "It's okay. If you need to buy reference books in the future, come to me. If we don't have them, I'll order them for you."

"Sure, I'll definitely trouble you then!"

On the other side, Grandfather was looking at the backpacks on the wall, thinking of buying one for Feng Yiping. Feng Yiping went over to persuade him, "Grandfather, we really don't need it. We live in the dormitory, so we don't use it."

"Really don't need it?" Feng Yiping nodded, and Grandfather didn't insist. After settling the bill, the manuscript paper cost 1.5 yuan per sheet, and the fountain pen cost 3 yuan, totaling 7.5 yuan. Feng Yiping held the manuscript paper and walked out with Grandfather, and the middle-aged man politely asked, "Would you like to sit for a while and have some water?"

After leaving the bookstore, Grandfather took Feng Yiping to the clothing stalls at the trade market and insisted on buying him two shirts, a sailor shirt, and a white T-shirt with a five-pointed star on the front, spending 11 yuan in total. Then, they bought a plastic toy gun, two ounces of soft candy, and five pounds of local pears. The two of them slowly walked back along the road, and if they hurried, they could still catch the noon meal.

As they approached the village, Mei Jianzhong paused, tucked one of the T-shirts into his waist, and pressed it against his stomach. He was wearing a dark gray shirt, so it wasn't noticeable from the outside. The other T-shirt was wrapped in a black plastic bag, rolled into a small cylinder, and placed at the bottom of the plastic bag with the manuscript paper. The fountain pen was in his pocket. Feng Yiping understood that Grandfather was worried that Uncle and Aunt would say something if they saw the clothes.

Knowing they would return at noon, Uncle and Aunt had already prepared the meal, and Rongrong was holding Ruirui, waiting at the door. Seeing them, Ruirui ran over excitedly, "Grandpa, I want candy."

Grandfather took some candy from the bag and handed it to him, "This is all yours. Do you want anything else?"

"Gun!" He grabbed the candy with one hand and pointed the toy gun at his sister, making "beep beep" sounds.

Rongrong took the bag of candy, and Grandfather carried the pears with one hand and held Ruirui with the other, heading to Uncle's house.

As soon as they entered, Uncle Da said with a smile, "Oh, you're back! Ruirui, you're already eating candy."

Aunt glanced over and said, "You're back. The meal is ready. Yiping, what did you buy?"

Feng Yiping deliberately showed a bit of the manuscript paper, "Grandfather bought me three sheets of letter paper."

At this point, Grandfather put down the pears and said, "Yiping, let's go wash our faces first, then come to eat. You must be hungry, right?"

Feng Yiping held the bag of manuscript paper and followed Grandfather to the next room.

Over the next two days, Feng Yiping carefully transcribed the novel onto the manuscript paper. He wrote very slowly, afraid of making mistakes and wasting a sheet of paper.

After he finished a page, Grandfather would check it with his glasses on.

On the day before school started, Grandfather accompanied Feng Yiping to the post office in town and, with great hope, sent out two registered letters.

This time, the return home was more relaxed. The two of them walked and chatted.

After returning home, they had a meal together. Uncle and Aunt went to work in the fields, leaving Ruirui at home. After they left, Ruirui was still sleeping, and Feng Yiping prepared to go home. Grandfather packed his clothes for him and offered him 5 yuan, but Feng Yiping refused. Grandfather had to put the money away and, after some thought, said to Feng Yiping, "Grandfather doesn't understand novels and literature, but think about it: out of so many people in the country, only a few can publish their work. So, if this time it doesn't work out, don't be discouraged. Keep trying, okay?"

Feng Yiping smiled and said, "I understand, Grandfather. I'll come to see you during the holidays."

"Good, be careful on the way."

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