Great Love, Little Love

Selected as an Outstanding Online Literary Work in the Nationwide Selection for the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China; selected for the China Writers Association and Jinjiang's "Glorious Journey: Outstanding Online Fiction Exhibition Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China" themed writing contest; showcased jointly by multiple major platforms for eight months and featured by major national print media, provincial television stations, and new media; awarded third prize in the online fiction contest celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, jointly held by Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui under the Yangtze River Delta Literary Development Alliance; awarded an Outstanding Work in the Century-Long Journey category of the first Red-Themed Writing Contest, "Tell Red Stories Well, Celebrate the Centenary of the Party." Selected for the China Online Literature Yearbook (2021) at year's end.

I'd like to share the award, the honor, and the story of receiving it with everyone:

As it was a centenary celebration, this year's awards ceremony was especially grand, with red flags flying across the country and a festive atmosphere everywhere. I received an official invitation from the organizers through Jinjiang Literature City and flew to the awards ceremony. As soon as I landed, I was warmly welcomed by staff from the local organizers, the Writers Association, and the Party organization. They put me up at the historic Lanzhou Hotel, where that evening I was treated to local tea and Gansu specialties. The organizers took care of all accommodation, meals, and transportation throughout the event. The following evening, wearing a red-lanyard guest pass, I arrived at the venue. For the large-scale awards ceremony, the winning authors had to arrive early to rehearse a short segment with the host. At the actual ceremony, the host and presenters read out the winners' names. When they called mine, I went onstage, and a huge banner screen behind me lit up with the cover of my book, Great Love, Little Love, and the Century-Long Journey Outstanding Work Award. I later heard that some of my fans in the audience had clapped and cheered for me, making quite a commotion. I was presented with a red certificate and a trophy of honor. I held the certificate in my left hand and the trophy in my right as the entire moment was filmed by a television cameraman. After I came down from the stage, some people asked me for autographs. The Century-Long Journey trophy came in a red silk gift box. It felt exquisite and was very heavy. It now has a place of honor on my bookshelf beside some of my other awards.

The awards ceremony was broadcast by satellite television that day, and video reports appeared on several leading websites, including CCTV Video and the China Writers Association website. On the third day, the organizers arranged a special visit for the winning authors to the long-established and renowned Reader Group of China. As one of the most influential publishing giants in the world, Reader magazine has sold more than 2.4 billion copies since it was founded in 1981, with several million copies per issue. It ranks fourth in the world and first in Asia in print circulation, and has a dedicated historical exhibit documenting each issue's record-breaking circulation. A photographer accompanied us, and our visit was featured in the group's news coverage. At the end of the visit, the group's editors gave each of us a copy of the Reader digest. I leafed through it. Its red cover was lovely, and I took a commemorative photo of it beneath the sky, with the Reader Group's landmark building in Lanzhou behind it. The organizers also provided spacious vehicles for the authors' city tour. We visited historic sites in Gansu Province and the White Pagoda by the Yellow River, and they recommended three routes for our cultural research trips. The other Writers Association authors I'd met during the event and I chose to drive to Dunhuang, where we enjoyed a grand historical production... The whole awards trip gave me more motivation to write, introduced me to new writer friends, and deepened my firsthand understanding of the Silk Road civilization. I'm very happy to have had this experience.

The following year, on the recommendation of the city Writers Association, I attended a residential advanced literature program for Hubei Province at the Lu Xun Literary Institute. The program was held at a university in Wuhan that trains national procurators. The campus was beautiful, with imposing stone memorials and bronze lion and tiger statues, while the solemn school motto was carved into the teaching building. The university had its own museum, park, and sports grounds, and the grounds were extensive. The Lu Xun Literary Institute provided the authors with free full-board meals, high-standard single rooms with showers, and plenty of drinking water every day. The large cafeteria was impressive, with a solemn, elegant, pale-gold square ceiling and gleaming marble floors. At every buffet meal, two long rows of delicious dishes seemed to stretch endlessly. Perhaps because the campus was near a lake in Wuhan, the ingredients were especially fresh and plentiful. Each meal offered forty or fifty dishes and around ten varieties of soup, followed by fresh-cut fruit like watermelon, cantaloupe, and cherry tomatoes. There was my favorite Honghu lotus root soup, rich old-duck broth, crawfish, and more. The chefs were superb, mastering the heat and authentic essence of Hubei cuisine. My stomach was so happy and content that, even after I returned home, I kept thinking about those signature dishes.

Every morning, the writers and poets exercised on the track, discussed poetry, and took in the pomelo trees, peach gum, and natural surroundings. When they met the Hubei Writers Association chairman or the retired institute director, they would naturally and politely say good morning. The Lu Xun Literary Institute students spent a happy period studying together. On campus, we attended master classes taught by literary luminaries, including winners of the Mao Dun Literature Prize, masters of Chinese prose, and the chairman of the Chinese Poetry Association. Editors-in-chief and editors from the People's Publishing House also gave talks on publishing. I added several Chinese prose masters and Poetry Association teachers on WeChat, and took a photo with Liang Xiaosheng, author of A Lifelong Journey and winner of the 10th Mao Dun Literature Prize. Every day, I arrived punctually at the teaching building to attend the masters' lectures and take thorough notes. I spoke courteously at literary writing seminars, completed my coursework successfully, and was approved for graduation. I was also honored to receive a graduation certificate with a blue cover flecked with silvery shimmer, personally signed by Wu Yiqin, the director of the Lu Xun Literary Institute.

My photo with Mr. Liang Xiaosheng and my beautiful Lu Xun Literary Institute graduation certificate, with its dark-blue cover and silver-foil lettering, can be seen on my social media account, @Qing Luo Shan Zi. I also have some course readers from the institute, Mr. Liang Xiaosheng's signed book, the schedule, and photos recalling my time studying and living at the institute in Hubei. I may organize and share them someday. In short, that year's studies broadened my horizons. I met renowned Chinese prose writers, famous Chinese poets, leading figures in Chinese literature, and fellow writers. I'm grateful to the Jinjiang platform and the China Writers Association for providing these opportunities for literary study and cultural research trips.

P.S. A few details to address some questions people have asked:

1. I attended the Lu Xun Literary Institute in 2022, when a few sporadic cases of COVID-19 remained in Wuhan. The Hubei Writers Association organizers and the Lu Xun Literary Institute put considerable effort into organizing the program together and took extensive safety precautions. The literary masters and editors who came to teach us willingly flew in despite facing a certain risk of illness. They didn't put on airs like literary masters. Mr. Liang Xiaosheng, for example, was already over seventy at the time, yet still came despite the danger of the virus. Seeing this firsthand made the students respect and admire him even more. I heard privately that the retired director in Hubei had devoted a great deal of care and effort to nurturing talent. So if a somewhat socially anxious student happens to run into a teacher at the institute and doesn't know what to say, it's fine to simply go up and greet them politely and respectfully. The teachers will understand what we mean. Another student and I did just that. When the retired director saw us say "Good morning," he smiled, then chatted with us about everyday things as we walked along.

2. Tuition, textbooks, notebooks, pens, meals, and accommodation at the Lu Xun Literary Institute were all free. You do have to cover your own transportation. Taking the high-speed rail and then the subway is an efficient and convenient option. There is parking on campus, and some students drove there. For example, I spent only a little over a hundred yuan in total on this trip, most of it because I liked buying snacks every day from the campus self-service vending machines.

3. Jinjiang can reimburse transportation expenses for contracted authors who have won awards and need to attend the awards ceremony. They reimbursed about 2,000 RMB for my plane ticket and ride-hailing fares, and the process was quick. I only found out after the event that I could claim the expenses, and I hadn't kept all the paper receipts. After some communication and several confirmations, I found an electronic receipt from the airline to submit as a supplement. Jinjiang authors who need to claim similar expenses in the future should keep both paper and electronic receipts for their round-trip travel, then send them to their Jinjiang editor after everything is finished and wait for the reimbursement to arrive.

Those are my memories of winning the red-themed award and attending the advanced Hubei literature program at the Lu Xun Literary Institute. All the details are objective and true, and no one else's privacy has been invaded. There's only so much space here, but if there's a chance, I'll write more someday about applications to the China Writers Association, literary seminars, and writers' research trips. I hope you enjoy reading.

By Qing Luo Shan Zi

Main Story Synopsis

Part 1

[Let's have a daughter as beautiful as you.]

The 1980s were a time of social progress and industrial development,

but also of material scarcity.

At an outdoor plaza, Yang Yi asked her to dance. On a snowy night, she gave Yang Yi a pair of cotton slippers.

Secretary Zhuang's beautiful daughter rejected her family's plans and struck out on her own.

She transformed from the salt-alkali plant's golden girl into a purification worker at the ammonia plant,

all to prove her worth.

Young people today ought to strive for self-improvement and forge their own paths in life.

Circles of red skirts, roads stretching onward.

On a lonely journey, a pair of warm, large hands and a small, soft hand came to meet them, and the three moved forward together.

Part 2

Riding little bikes, playing video games, playing badminton...

The happy childhoods spent in apartment blocks are a beautiful shared memory for those born in the 1990s.

When Zhong Ruiyao was seven, he was already plotting how to claim the chubby-cheeked little Rongrong as his and his alone. First there were his fierce little sidekicks, then his noble and upright future father-in-law. But Zhong Ruiyao only had eyes for Rongrong.

More importantly, faced with a fast-developing and ever-changing era, every young person has to ask: What can we do tomorrow?

The Olympics, SARS, and the pandemic: time and again, they witnessed world history firsthand.

The children of yesterday returned after completing their studies, ready to serve their country and devote themselves to the nation's satellite remote sensing and mapping fields.

Aerial surveying, border measurement, international geographic data collection...

They witnessed the strength of China's surveying and mapping sector in global competition.

Every tiny thing touches the heart. That was the little love they tended with care, and also the great love they vowed to uphold for a lifetime.

"Every generation has its own mission. We of this generation, the scientists, put down roots in the salt-alkali soil so the next generation can stand somewhere higher and see the world."

/

Sixty years, two generations, the love between parents.

China's chemical industry, the "Hou's Method" in chemistry textbooks, satellite remote sensing and mapping.

Childhood sweethearts, innocent and inseparable, joining hands to face the future.

/

A milestone work by Qing Luo Shan Zi.

Great Love, Little Love: I have great love for my country and a deep-rooted love for my hometown. When every little love comes together, it becomes a great love.

Theme: The story follows the parents' generation in the 1960s and 1970s, sent to work in the countryside, who used the Hou's Method for making soda ash to build the place where they lived into Asia's largest combined alkali plant. Their children return after completing their studies and start from a higher point, devoting themselves to the nation's surveying and mapping satellites and aerial surveys, witnessing the strong position of Chinese surveying and mapping on the world stage. The work has a grand style, a rare and distinctive subject, detailed depictions of the surveying and mapping industry, and a vivid, multidimensional cast. It conveys the lofty spirit of our scientists and celebrates the Chinese people's indomitable determination to strive forward. It has won awards in red-themed writing contests several times and was selected for the national exhibition of outstanding works celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Party.