[Anti-ABO] Bamboo in the Courtyard

Nearly thirty years after Mr. Zhao Tingzhu passed away, I went to visit Xie Wen one day. He asked if I wanted to write a memoir. I was surprised and asked what the point would be. He said that nowadays, a lot of people demonize Mr. Zhao, and I should write about the real Mr. Zhao.

I immediately waved my hands and said, "I can't, I can't. I wasn't close to Mr. Zhao. If you want someone to write this, you should find Qiu Yu. She knew him best."

To my surprise, Xie Wen laughed when he heard that. "Ah, Zheng Yi, you're getting senile! Qiu Yu's been gone for thirty or forty years."

Only then did I remember that Qiu Yu was gone. Then he added, "Besides, love is blind. I'm absolutely certain you wouldn't say anything bad about Mr. Zhao."

When I heard that, I felt terribly awkward. I couldn't keep a straight face, so I told him that if he kept talking nonsense, I'd leave.

That finally made him drop the subject.

But later, after I went home and thought it over, I realized he had a point. Many young people born after 2178 misunderstand him, and mainstream critics often focus on his flaws for one reason or another. He may not care what people say about him after he's gone, but we, his friends, have always remembered him. It really is time for us to speak up. Once we old friends have all passed away, who will speak for him?

And so, with Xie Wen's help, this book came to be.

Zheng Yi

Written in the autumn of 2140, as the preface to the first edition of In the Courtyard, Bamboo: A Memoir of Mr. Zhao Tingzhu

A fictional story set in the future. The author is seriously exploring life. The protagonist's views aren't necessarily right, nor do they represent the author's opinions. Thanks for understanding. And especially ladies, please go easy on the negative ratings qaq! I really don't mean to offend you!

I'll be rewriting this soon ^_^