The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

Tianjin in early 1926 was generally peaceful. Although the people's life was difficult, at least most of the citizens could solve their food and clothing problems.

The Lantern Festival has just passed more than a dozen days, and many people still have Spring Festival couplets and blessings on their doors.

Walking on the street, Zhou Hexuan really felt a kind of retrogression in time: old houses, narrow streets, occasional telephone poles standing on the side of the street, and the majestic Drum Tower in the center of the city can be seen from a distance.

The Drum Tower was damaged once when the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded China, and it was rebuilt a few years ago. It was not until after the founding of New China that it was completely demolished due to traffic development. Zhou Hexuan had only seen it in old photos before.

Tracks are paved on the street, and a trolley with a wire fork is slowly approaching. Hu Laosan walked forward quickly and shouted: "Sir, that house is a bit far away, let's take the tram there!"

Zhou Hexuan immediately followed, and stepped onto the tram in two or three steps.

There are not many people on the bus, and ordinary people are reluctant to take this foreign thing. Most of the passengers are office workers and young students. In fact, the bus fare is not expensive, only two copper coins, which is about half a cent.

A few male students wore improved Chinese tunic suits, and looked extraordinarily energetic, but their hairstyles looked stupid, with mid-part and partial parting being the norm. The female students basically have short hair, and some have big braids. Unfortunately, the weather is cold now, and it is difficult to see beautiful student skirts and cheongsams. They are all wearing thick padded jackets.

"Qi Jun, have you read the newspaper? Yesterday the Japanese warship entered Dagu Port and bombarded the Nationalist Army. More than ten defenders were killed or injured."

"How could I not know about such a big thing? This huge China is being bullied by foreign powers all day long, but the warlords only know that you hit me and I hit you, and there are endless civil wars. They don't know when it will end."

"It would be great if Mr. Zhongshan was still alive. What a great opportunity the year before last. Cao Kun was expelled, and the Beiyang warlords had no leader and feared each other. With his prestige, he would definitely be able to quell disputes and form a real national government. It is a pity that he actually Died of illness at the most critical time!"

"well……"

The resentment in the hearts of the students turned into a sigh. They are the most passionate young people at the moment, but they can only act anxiously in the face of the chaotic situation.

But Zhou Hexuan didn't have that kind of empathy. He seemed like an outsider. For him, this era would always be shrouded in a veil, and it was still in the history books for the time being.

Listening to the content of the students' conversation, and then referring to the current year, Zhou Hexuan suddenly thought of a big event-the March 18th tragedy is about to happen!

"Sir, we're here." The voice of Hu Laosan interrupted Zhou Hexuan's thoughts.

After the two got off the tram, they walked for a few minutes, finally reached the entrance of an alley, and quickly entered a courtyard house.

The courtyard house was not as elegant and quiet as Zhou Hexuan imagined. There were a lot of clothes drying in the yard, and the wet ones were still dripping. When I walked in, I smelled a bad smell. I don't know whose toilet is not empty.

Two young kids chased and fought, and the one in front bumped into Zhou Hexuan's leg. He seemed a little shy, looked up and then turned and fled, hiding in the house and not daring to come out.

The landlord's surname is Shan, and his name is Shan Chengfu. He is an old man about 60 years old. Wearing a coat and gown, wearing a melon skin hat, with his hands in his sleeves, he is a typical old man in the Republic of China.

His son went to the south, leaving only his wife, daughter-in-law and grandson in Tianjin. The main house of the courtyard house was lived by the landlord's own family, the west wing was rented out to a large family, and several rooms in the east wing were still vacant.

"Sir, after returning from studying abroad, do you plan to live in Tianjin for a long time?" Shan Chengfu, the landlord, inquired.

Zhou Hexuan babbled nonsense, "It's because I want to stay here for a long time. I'm going out tomorrow to look for a job."

Returnees in this era are still very expensive. Shan Chengfu has no doubts about Zhou Hexuan's ability to make money. He nodded and said, "Long-term stay is good. If you want to, just pick one in the East Wing. The rent will be 50% per month." bucks."

Zhou Hexuan has been traveling around the world all year round, and has long been used to bargaining: "Five yuan is too expensive, can you make it cheaper?"

"It's not expensive at all. The location of my house is very good. You're a scholar and I'll rent it to you for five yuan." Shan Chengfu paused and said, "Well, four and a half yuan, pay a deposit of three months' rent You can rent it if you want, and I won’t force you if you don’t want to.”

Seeing that the old man didn't seem to be lying, Zhou Hexuan nodded and said, "That's fine, I'll move in today."

In the Republic of China, when renting a house, you had to ask for a guarantor, and without a guarantor, you could only pay a deposit. After paying 18 yuan including the deposit and rent, and giving Hu Laosan 20 cents and 5 cents as an intermediary fee, Zhou Hexuan finally has a foothold in this era.

Shan Chengfu was still very enthusiastic. After knowing that Zhou Hexuan had no luggage, he asked his wife to bring two old quilts, for fear that Zhou Hexuan would be frozen in bed at night.

Then he took Zhou Hexuan to meet the neighbors, knocked on the door of the west wing, and a middle-aged woman in her 40s came out. Shan Chengfu said: "This is Mrs. Zhou Jiayi, a native of Changshou in Eastern Sichuan. Her three sons will not come back until evening."

"Hello Aunt Zhou." Zhou Hexuan greeted.

Shan Chengfu smiled again and said: "Mrs. Zhou, this is Zhou Hexuan, the tenant of the East Wing. He just returned from studying abroad. You are still in the same family."

Mrs. Zhou's body is fat, and although she is not rich and luxurious, she is also clean and tidy. She seemed to have read the book, nodded back and said: "Hello, which country did you study abroad?"

"Western Ocean, all countries have traveled once." Zhou Hexuan did not lie, he really traveled all Western Ocean.

After a few words of politeness, the two left each other and went back to their rooms. After all, they just met each other, and neither of them are talkative people.

Zhou Hexuan returned to his room, tidied up briefly, then sat on the edge of the bed in a daze, thinking about how he would survive in the future.

Right now, there is a lot of chaos, so I definitely can't travel around anymore, I have to find a serious job to pay for food and clothing first. The 60 yuan he earned as a watch, after paying the rent, there are only 30 yuan left, which cannot withstand the expenses.

Zhou Hexuan has no awareness of being a time traveler at all, let alone saving the country and the people and realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. He is just an ordinary person. He studied history as an undergraduate, and he has not graduated yet. He doesn't know anything about politics, economics, science and military affairs.

If you want to talk about Zhou Hexuan's advantages, of course he also has them. When he traveled around the world, he learned English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian and other languages. Among them, English and French are the most powerful. He can write prose and poetry without any problem. The other languages ​​can only be used for daily communication.

With his language skills alone, Zhou Hexuan can find a good job in this era, such as being a translator.

When Zhou Hexuan was traveling, his favorite thing was reading, especially literature and historical works. He knew the history and classics of various countries very well, so it would be very easy for him to plagiarize several works in the future.

After walking so much in the morning, Zhou Hexuan felt a little tired. After thinking wildly in his mind, he simply fell asleep wrapped in a quilt.

"Boom boom boom!"

After an unknown amount of time, a knock on the door woke him up.

Zhou Hexuan pushed open the door and saw a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy standing outside, short and fat. He quickly realized and asked, "Are you Mrs. Zhou's son?"

"Yes, my surname is Li," said the chubby dun'er, "my mother saw that there was no business in your room, so she asked you to come and have dinner together."

"Dinner?" Zhou Hexuan realized that it was getting dark outside.

Zhou Hexuan travels all year round as a backpacker, and he doesn't know what it means to be polite. When people ask him to eat, he eats, so he followed Xiaopang Duner to the West Wing.

There is a big family in the room over there, all of them are slightly fat.

Mrs. Zhou introduced her eldest son and said: "This is my son Shanji. He changed his name to Li Shoumin."

Zhou Hexuan always felt that he had heard the name Li Shoumin somewhere, but couldn't remember it for a while, so he shook hands and said, "Brother Shoumin, I'm Zhou Hexuan."

"Brother Hexuan, it's a pleasure to meet you." Li Shoumin said in Mandarin with a Chuan accent.