In late June, most colleges and universities are on summer vacation.
On the train coming from Wuhan, there were five young men and women sitting. They were the "Three Masters of Luojia" Yuan Changying, Su Xuelin and Ling Shuhua, as well as Yuan Changying's husband Yang Duanliu, and Ling Shuhua's husband Chen Xiying.
As for Su Xuelin, she has been separated from her husband for a long time, and the marriage is in name only.
These five people all teach at Wuhan University. Among them, Yuan Changying, Ling Shuhua, and Chen Xiying have close personal relationships with Xu Zhimo. Su Xuelin and Yang Duanliu also have a few acquaintances with Xu Zhimo.
They went to Wuxi not to dissuade Xu Zhimo from becoming a monk, but to receive a telegram from Hu Shi inviting him to a literary society.
Su Xuelin is the cousin of the philosopher Feng Youlan. She is also a well-known writer in the Republic of China. She is not only known as the "Three Luojia Masters" with Yuan Changying and Ling Shuhua, but also known as the "Four Female King Kongs" with Lu Yin, Shi Pingmei, and Feng Yuanjun.
Together with Bing Xin, Ding Ling, Feng Yuanjun and Ling Shuhua, she is also known as one of the "Five Great Female Writers in China".
Su Xuelin was once a student of Lu Xun and wrote many articles praising Lu Xun. However, the two teachers and students had turned against each other. When Lu Xun died, Su Xuelin would write countless articles to criticize Lu Xun. She was the woman who scolded Lu Xun the most.
Yuan Changying is a writer, translator, educator, and the daughter of the famous poet Yuan Xuean. Yuan Xuean is not only a scholar, but also served as acting governor of Hunan, director of the finance department of Yunnan, Shandong, and Anhui. Yuan Changying can definitely be regarded as white and rich.
Ling Shuhua's family background is also not simple. Her father, Ling Fupeng, was nominated for the same list as Kang Youwei and was one of Yuan Shikai's capable men. When Yuan Shikai was the governor of Zhili Province, Ling Fupeng served as the chief envoy, specializing in taking care of Yuan Shikai's internal affairs.
Anyway, these three women are of quite a high profile, they are ladies from official families.
The two men who accompanied him were from grassroots backgrounds. They gained a foothold purely by relying on their own talents, and finally completed their counterattack by marrying Bai Fumei.
Chen Xiying, who was talking eloquently, had a heated writing war with Lu Xun back then. The two wrote articles against each other for several months. However, next year, Chen Xiying's hat will turn green. He first chose to forgive, but then again
Ling Shuhua caught her adulterer in bed, then continued to forgive, and finally got her wife to repent.
Among the few people, the one with the happiest marriage was Yang Duanliu and Yuan Changying. Even though they were labeled as rightists after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the couple could still help each other and never leave.
When they got off the train at Wuxi Railway Station, they happened to meet Shen Congwen, Zhang Zhaohe and his wife.
Shen Congwen's life was not going well at this time. Although he was famous in the literary world, his career and life were in a mess. He couldn't even survive at Qingdao University and went to Peking to write Chinese textbooks for primary and secondary schools.
If it weren't for accompanying his wife to visit her parents' home, Shen Congwen would never have come to Wuxi. He felt sorry for those two long-distance train tickets.
"Congwen!" Chen Xiying shouted from a distance.
Shen Congwen looked back and smiled immediately: "It turns out to be Brother Xiying."
When two groups of people approached, Chen Xiying said, "Let me introduce you. This is Yang Chao (Yang Duanliu), the director of the Economics Department of Wuhan University, and this is his wife, Ms. Yuan Changying."
Chen Xiying introduced again: "This is the famous talented Ms. Su Xiaomei (Su Xuelin)."
"I have been admiring Ms. Su for a long time." Shen Congwen said with a smile.
Su Xuelin likes to write literary reviews, and has praised many writers including Zhou Hexuan and Shen Congwen without hesitation. Although Shen Congwen and Su Xuelin just met for the first time, they were acquaintances in newspapers. Blowing each other.
Everyone was a cultured person, and they soon got into a lively conversation. Only Ling Shuhua was relatively indifferent to Shen Congwen. As a young lady from an official family, Ling Shuhua looked down on Shen Congwen, a bumpkin from western Hunan.
After a few people left the city, they hired a boat and prepared to take the boat on the Taihu Lake waterway to Xiangfu Temple.
Chen Xiying said apologetically: "Congwen, I'm really sorry about what happened last time."
"It's okay, it's okay, I made it difficult for you." Shen Congwen smiled awkwardly.
Chen Xiying is the dean of the School of Liberal Arts of Wuhan University. Hu Shi and Xu Zhimo once wrote letters recommending Shen Congwen to become a professor at Wuhan University. But Shen Congwen was too low-income. He had neither studied abroad nor received higher education in China. The president of Wuhan University did not recognize Shen Congwen's teaching qualifications at all.
Even with the recommendation of Chen Xiying, Hu Shi and Xu Zhimo, Shen Congwen was rejected by Wuhan University and could only go to Qingdao University to teach in despair.
Seeing that Shen Congwen was in an awkward situation, Yuan Changying knew that he didn't like to mention such things, so he immediately changed the subject and said: "I heard that dozens of people have gathered at Xiangfu Temple. It must be very lively."
"Zhimo really wants to become a monk?" Ling Shuhua asked worriedly. She and Xu Zhimo were close friends who talked about everything, because Xu Zhimo and Ling Shuhua even turned against Lin Huiyin.
"How is that possible, haha," Chen Xiying, who is an absolute rationalist and does not believe in any religion, analyzed, "The telegram sent by Brother Shi clearly has a bad taste in the text, and he obviously has no worries about Zhimo becoming a monk. "
Shen Congwen knew Xu Zhimo's current situation relatively well. He said: "If Zhimo really becomes a monk, it will not be a good outcome for him."
Ling Shuhua immediately retorted: "A generation of talented people became monks. This is a misfortune for the Chinese literary world!"
Shen Congwen groaned without refuting. He and Ling Shuhua had nothing in common. Faced with such a high-minded official lady, Shen Congwen had a strong sense of inferiority in his bones.
A few people chatted and laughed, and soon they arrived at the edge of Taihu Lake and met the servants of the Xu family who were guarding the shore.
When they entered the temple, they suddenly saw a scene that made people laugh and cry.
I saw a banner hanging in front of the Main Hall with the words "Farewell party for friends in memory of Mr. Zhimo becoming a monk". Four people, Zhou Hexuan, Hu Shi, Zhang Jiazhu, and Song Chunfang, carried Xu Zhimo out together, completely ignoring Xu Zhimo's struggle.
Xu Zhimo was wearing a sea-green monk's robe, and his hair style was bald. He shouted in panic: "What are you doing? Let me go! Who allows you to shave my hair... Let go, you bandits! I want to go down the mountain." , I want to go back to Shanghai! Let go..."
Zhang Jiazhu comforted him and said, "Brother Zhimo, don't worry. It's rare for you to have the idea of becoming a monk, so you should leave some souvenirs anyway."
Chen Mengjia and Xu Zhenfei brought an imperial chair and placed it in the open space in front of the palace. They said with a smile: "The throne is already in place. Please take a seat, Mr. Zhimo!"
Xu Zhimo was dragged over by Zhou Hexuan and the others and pinned down to sit on the Grand Master's chair.
"Ta Kung Pao" reporter Chen Liangji picked up the camera, knelt half in front of them, and said with a smile: "Master Zhimo, please don't move, I want to take a commemorative photo of you as a monk."
"Don't shoot, if you shoot again I will kill you!" Xu Zhimo was going crazy.
There were dozens of people watching in front of the Main Hall. They were all relatives and friends of Xu Zhimo. At this moment, they all had expressions of gloating on their faces and they all cheered:
"Zhimo, please stop struggling."
"If you don't take pictures today, I will take off your clothes."
"Zhimo's bald head is so round."
"The photo of Zhimo becoming a monk will definitely make the headlines of Ta Kung Pao tomorrow."
“It’s a worthwhile trip to attend this grand event.”
"Wait a minute, I think we should change Zhimo into a cassock."
