The Book Fair

"Who's that girl? She's gorgeous." "No idea. Why is she carrying a tin lunchbox?" "It's the lead actress from Romance on Mount Lu! She just got back from Jiangxi and is staying at the studio." In the early autumn of the capital, the leaves in the courtyard were turning yellow. Gong Xue wore a light jacket, trousers, and low-heeled leather shoes. Clutching her tin lunchbox, she endured one probing gaze and whisper after another. Fortunately, Zhang Jinling was right beside her. "Pay them no mind," she said. "It's always like this whenever a new face shows up. All they know how to do is gossip." "I'm fine, Sister Jinling." Chatting, the two made their way into the cafeteria and joined the line for food. As they waited, they drew quite a few more stares. A newcomer had arrived at the studio—and a beauty at that! People were always eager for gossip; it was no different from when Chen Qi had first joined. "Xiao Zhang, back from Mount Lu?" A man standing ahead of Zhang Jinling glanced back. In his thirties, short, with a wide mouth and upward-slanting eyebrows, he looked like Bulbasaur. "Yeah, just got back a few days ago." "And this comrade is...?" "She's with our crew, staying at the guesthouse." "Oh, hello, Comrade!" the man greeted with a smile. "Hello..." Gong Xue looked up like a timid little rabbit. "I'm an assistant director here at the studio. Name's Huang Jianzhong." "I'm Gong Xue." "A pleasure to meet you!" Huang Jianzhong chatted for another moment, got his meal, and went off to sit at a table with a few others—evidently their own little circle. Zhang Jinling leaned in and murmured, "He's from the Second Collective, the assistant director on Little Flower. Already has kids." "Little Flower? Then he's quite accomplished." "He definitely has some talent, but he's got nothing to do with us. Just being polite is enough." As mentioned earlier, Beijing Film Studio had four creative collectives, and Wang Haowei belonged to the Third Collective. Although Gong Xue didn't know much about the studio's inner workings, she could tell from Zhang Jinling's tone that they moved in different circles. After getting their food and sitting down to eat, they heard a voice call out: "Sister Jinling!" "Oh, little Cai Ming! How's your shooting going?" "Just a little left to wrap up, so I came over to sponge a meal again!" The newcomer was none other than eighteen-year-old Cai Ming, young, adorable, and bursting with energy. The cafeteria was where people gathered to chat, clustered in twos and threes, shooting the breeze about anything under the sun—some talking about the book fair, others talking about heading to the airport to see the nude mural... Before long, Chen Qi and Liang Xiaosheng walked over and sat down across from them. Chen Qi glanced around. "Where's Old Tang?" "Off getting married, of course!" "Oh, almost forgot. He still owes us wedding candy." "You should've seen the look on him—riding high on life! His grin's been practically reaching his ears these past few days... Hey!" Zhang Jinling lowered her voice suddenly. "Do you know what his wife does?" "Isn't she a doctor at the August First Film Studio clinic?" "It's not that simple. The other day when he was talking with Director Wang, I overheard a bit. His wife's family is extraordinary—her father is at least a major general." "That impressive?" Liang Xiaosheng chimed in, astonished. "I never heard anyone mention that." "Sounds impressive, but around the capital, that barely gets your foot in the door. There are plenty of children of senior cadres," Zhang Jinling said. "Yeah. If a brick fell in the Inner City, it'd hit several of them." Chen Qi nodded. In this era, it really was easy to run into kids of high-ranking cadres, unlike in later generations when they kept things veiled in mystery, quietly harvesting the masses without letting on. Except for Miss Han, of course. Miss Han went around every day like one of the Calabash Brothers: Grandpa~ Grandpa~ A grandpa-backed goddess! "By the way, do you have plans today? I was thinking of checking out the book fair. Anyone want to come?" Chen Qi invited. "Sure!" Zhang Jinling readily agreed. Gong Xue smiled as well. "I was actually hoping to go, too, to pick up a few books to read." Chen Qi glanced at Cai Ming. Since they were all sitting together, it felt wrong to leave her out, so he said, "If you're free, want to tag along?" "I'd love to! Reading is my favorite!" Cai Ming had been waiting for that exact invitation. She chattered away, "I rode my bicycle here, so you won't need to carry me. Even if you hadn't mentioned it, I was going to head over in a bit anyway. I heard Ye Shengtao, Zang Kejia, and Bing Xin are all coming today! Oh, I just adore Bing Xin. I have to get her autograph..." She went on and on without stopping. Hmph! Noisy little Cai Ming! Chen Qi rolled his eyes. ... Everyone was keen on visiting the book fair, so they reached an agreement at once. But just before setting out, an unexpected hitch arose—their group had gained a little girl. "We're going to a book fair. What are you tagging along for?" "You think I wanted to come with you? My dad didn't have time, so he told me to follow you guys... Whoa, keep it steady... Aah, you're going to crash us!" In the mid-morning, Jiang Shan, who was also on school break, sat on the back seat of Cai Ming's bicycle, shouting at Chen Qi. "Keep yelling and I really will crash into you!" "Don't you dare! I'll tell my dad!" "I'll tell your dad, too—that you were wailing like a banshee and cursing up a storm." "When did I ever curse?" "Ever heard of framing someone?" Jiang Shan squawked in fury, utterly exasperated by this guy. She patted Cai Ming in front. "Sister Cai Ming, you hit him, too!" "Look at his weight class, then look at mine! What are you thinking?" Pedaling with her short legs, Cai Ming glanced over her shoulder. "Hey, Brother Xiao Chen, you're a grown man weighing well over a hundred jin. Is picking on a kid really that fun?" "If I wait until she's grown up to pick on her, wouldn't that make me a hooligan?" "Huh? That actually makes sense!" "Sister!" Jiang Shan's eyes went wide, while Chen Qi burst out laughing. Good old Cai Ming—I'll make sure you find Guo Da a little earlier in life. Off to the side, Liang Xiaosheng pedaled with Ge You riding along, looking at Chen Qi with immense envy. Neither of them could banter and joke around so easily with female comrades—even if one of those comrades was eighteen and the other twelve. A little further off, Zhang Jinling was carrying Gong Xue, who watched him with fascination. She hadn't expected him to have such a childish side. Setting out from Beijing Film Studio, the group passed Shichahai and skirted the Forbidden City southward until they arrived at the Working People's Cultural Palace. Located east of Tiananmen, it was formerly known as the Imperial Ancestral Temple, where the Ming and Qing imperial families had enshrined ancestral tablets—as referenced in the phrase "enjoying sacrifice in the Imperial Ancestral Temple." After the founding of the PRC, it had been renamed the Working People's Cultural Palace. A well-chosen change of name. "Good heavens, so many people! Must be over ten thousand?" "More than that. I read in the newspaper that they sold over three hundred thousand volumes in three days. People even came all the way from Tangshan." After parking their bicycles, they clicked their tongues at the dense sea of people. Men, women, young and old, across all walks of life and occupations—some decently dressed, others in ragged clothes—every face beamed with delight and excitement. It went back to the same truth: people had been starved for too long, ravenous for culture in every form. They drifted inward with the flow of the crowd. The fair was set within the Cultural Palace's cypress grove—the Imperial Ancestral Temple naturally being surrounded by evergreens. Seven book-selling stations were arranged among the gnarled, towering ancient cypresses, their open-air stalls laid out for unrestricted sales. Every stall was swarming with people. Everywhere, voices bickered loudly over a prized book; people recited poetry aloud on the spot; complete strangers sat cross-legged on the ground, engaged in heated, passionate discussions; some had even brought burlap sacks, filling them to the brim. In such an atmosphere, even Liang Xiaosheng rolled up his sleeves, eager to plunge in. Pouting, Jiang Shan gripped Cai Ming's shirt hem, terrified of being crushed to death in the crush. "The crowd is pretty intense. Will you be all right?" Chen Qi asked Gong Xue out of nowhere. Gong Xue offered a small smile. "I'll be fine. It's not like I'm fragile as glass." "Then let's go—charge in!"