Unlike her previous creations, the style of this novella is a little magical.

The story takes place in a certain year of the Qing Dynasty, in order to control and suppress the Han scholars, the ruler wanted to collect all the poetry books in the world and burn them in one fell swoop on the grounds of compiling books. The protagonist was born in a prestigious family in the south of the Yangtze River, and the library building at home has a history of 100 years, and there are tens of thousands of precious ancient books in it.

In order to prevent the family's collection of books for generations from falling into the hands of the Qing court, the protagonist mobilized the whole family, men, women and children, but all literate people to copy books, from day to night, from early morning to dusk. can be tens of thousands of volumes, and where can people copy them all in a few days? But no matter how dissatisfied the family is, the protagonist is always unmoved.

In the days and nights of copying books, his body and spirit were on the verge of collapse. One day, he finally hallucinates and sees a ghost who claims to be the guardian of the library. In the dialogue, the two traveled through the past and the present, and reviewed the family's century-old book collecting history. The ghost gradually fades away after telling everything, leaving the protagonist with an ability to remember.

When the protagonist found out about this, he was overjoyed, if he could read all the books before the Qing soldiers confiscated them, and then copy them again, wouldn't it mean that these books could still belong to their family and still be able to leave these books in another way, so he once again fell into the sea of books day and night.

However, in the eyes of his family, his dementia has become even worse, although he no longer spends his days and nights copying books, he turns the books like crazy, and the books he has read are discarded and thrown all over the ground, trampled on at will.

At the end of the book, the protagonist finally goes berserk in the constant interweaving of sobriety and hallucination, and sets the entire library on fire the night before the Qing soldiers come to confiscate the collection. The skyrocketing fire quickly woke everyone in the house, and everyone got up to fetch water to put out the fire, but the fire grew bigger and bigger, almost burning half of the dark night sky.

In a panic, only the protagonist with his hair and bare feet suddenly calmed down and stood with his hands behind his back in the face of the firelight. At this moment, a gust of wind blew, and the raging fire became more and more soaring into the sky, and the paper ash and sparks in the sky flew into the night sky, disappearing into the boundless night.

Due to the obscurity of the subject matter, the article caused some discussion after it was published.

Some people say that the author uses historical metaphors to protest against the authorities' recent cultural repressive policies; some people describe how the old culture is collapsing step by step; some people praise the embers flying in all directions at the end, symbolizing that the fire of culture has not been broken; and some people criticize the protagonist for preferring to burn the collection of books rather than hand them over to the Qing rulers, which reflects the narrowness and prejudice of the Chinese people's cultural mentality......

Although there are different opinions, Wen Jianning, as the author, has always remained silent.

When an essay is finished, her mission as a writer is complete.

The rest is left to time to discern.

The discussion around "Burning" in the newspapers did not last long before it was overshadowed by several other major events that suddenly happened.

At the end of July, news came from the outside world that the British and French armies had been defeated on the European battlefield and were forced to retreat. Not long after, the Japanese army also snatched the Indian colonies from the French. The war situation on the other side of the Eurasian continent has not yet had a visible impact on the domestic situation for the time being, but the fact that the Japanese side is stirring up trouble in the Pacific Ocean has undoubtedly aroused the fear of the United States on the other side of the sea.

Soon after, the United States, Britain, the Netherlands, and other countries publicly announced sanctions against Japan.

In the midst of discussions, Wen Jianning still stayed in the house to write and read most of the time, occasionally receiving visiting classmates and friends, and giving his thoughts when they asked. Although it may not be mature, it is undoubtedly very rewarding to discuss with each other.

Sometimes, she would hear about the school.

It is said that in August, the Youth Club organized a performance to stage a new play that they had been choreographing for a long time, and many leaflets and tickets were distributed for this purpose. I never thought that there was an air raid on the day of the performance, and everyone didn't have the heart to watch the performance, so their carefully planned performance was in vain, and I don't know if it was their retribution for destroying other people's performances in the first place.

Although they have only graduated for a few months, everyone's lives have changed little by little.

It didn't take long for Feng Xin to have a boyfriend, who was said to be a top student in the Department of Foreign Languages with them, and quickly moved out of the small courtyard to find another place to live. As a result, only Ruan Wenyun lived alone in the small courtyard.

Wen Jianning invited Ruan Wenyun to move to Yuantong Temple, but Ruan Wenyun politely refused.

She knew that Ruan Wenyun was probably afraid of coming here to disturb her and Feng Yi, and after repeated persuasion, she moved some things to the empty house here, and occasionally came to live for a few days, but most of them usually lived in the small courtyard.

This peaceful day lasted until one day in September, when Feng Yi came back in the evening and suddenly said that he had something to discuss with Wen Jianning.

As the United States successively sent soldiers to China to support the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, there was an urgent shortage of translators in the army. The authorities ordered the recruitment of US military translators from major universities in Kunming, and asked young teachers and students who are fluent in English to take the initiative to respond to the call. Feng Yi is not only a young teacher, but also studied abroad, so he naturally became the first batch of people to be found by the school. It's just that he didn't give a definite answer to the school for the time being, and only said that he would ask his family about what he meant before making plans.

Wen Jianning could see that he actually wanted to go.

She didn't want to stop it, but she still had to ask: "Then will your life be in danger this time?"

Feng Yi explained to her that they were only going to translate for the American soldiers in the base this time, and they did not need to go to the front line.

After all, even Kunming and Chongqing are within the range of bombing by enemy planes, let alone training bases, but they are not as serious as imagined.

Wen Jianning relieved his heart and said generously: "Then you go, take care of yourself after you go, and remember to write to me more." ”

She agreed so happily, but it made Feng Yi hesitate for a while.

He pondered for a moment, then changed his words: "The school has not yet decided on the recruitment list, and even if they do, I will not necessarily go." It will take a year and a half to say the least, and I have to think about it again. ”

Wen Jianning laughed at him: "Mr. Feng, what's the matter with you." Why do you want to be an enlightened and cheerful person every time, but you yourself are hesitating here, and it is too indecisive. ”

Feng Yi raised his eyes and stared at her, sighed slightly and said, "Jianning, I'm worried about you." ”

He has no other obstacles in Kunming, the only thing he can't worry about is the people in front of him.

In the past six months, since her best friend Zhong Hui was dropped out of school, there have been accidents one after another. Every time she finally regained her spirits, there was always a new blow. He had read what she wrote at the time, or "Rainy Season" and "Burning", and the atmosphere in it was too depressing, obviously affected by his mental state.

Even though she seemed to be recovering a lot these days, he could still sense the faint scars in her heart.

He knows very well that the real Jianning is stubborn and fragile, a person who is very easy to get into the horns, and it is difficult for her not to blame herself for the accident of her friends.

Wen Jianning was stunned for a moment, and all the emotions that had been forcibly restrained these days suddenly surged, and his eyes turned red in an instant, but he still forced a smile: "I'm not a child anymore, what's there to worry about, aren't all those things in the past?"

Feng Yi said softly: "I just hope that it can pass in your heart." ”

Although the two had talked about this at the release pond that day, and Wen Jianning had also retaliated in her own way afterwards, it was not something that she could completely let go of in a while. There are hurdles in her heart, Feng Yi knows in her heart, but she will not take the initiative to uncover her scars, carefully maintain the calm on her face, and help her get out of the predicament little by little. But now that he is about to leave, he has to make things clear, and I just hope that she can cheer up as soon as possible.

Wen Jianning didn't make a sound, and his forehead rested on his shoulder for a long time before he spoke out sullenly, as if he was trying his best to suppress a certain emotion: "...... You don't have to worry about me, I'll forget about these unpleasant things sooner rather than later. ”

Feng Yi gently hugged her slender shoulder: "You don't have to give such unreasonable orders to yourself, if you can easily forget it, then you won't be bothered by it." It's just that you have to look up more often, your friends trust you and admire you, your teachers have high hopes for you, your articles are so popular, and so many classmates regard you as a guide. Whether it's life or the literature you love, everyone is looking forward to you moving forward, to a higher and brighter place, and ......"

What else, he stopped abruptly and did not continue.

Wen Jianning leaned on his arms, listening to his clear voice and powerful heartbeat, and the original unspeakable emotions surging in his heart were gradually diluted, replaced by a warm and peaceful emotion.

She found that she seemed to be becoming more and more dependent on Feng Yi.

Not only does she like Feng Yi as a person, she trusts his character, follows his advice, and always adjusts her state under his patient guidance, drawing warmth and strength from him. These were what Wen Jianning had dreamed of at a certain time, but after she really had them, she felt a little uneasy, and she always felt that it would be easy for her to have some kind of dependence. After she truthfully stated these feelings, she asked him with some confusion: "Is this a good phenomenon?"

Feng Yi hugged her hand tightly, and replied very seriously: "If you are a friend, I will definitely suggest that you talk to other friends more and don't put eggs in a bamboo basket." But now I just feel that all this is far from enough. ”

They are already lovers destined to spend their lives, and they will only trust each other more and rely on each other more and more in the future.

Wen Jianning pursed his lips and smiled slightly, before standing on tiptoe and whispering in his ear: "I will cheer up, and you can rely on me more in the future, so that we can settle down." ”

Feng Yi seemed to want to say something, but in the end he just tightened his arms and muttered in a low voice, "I'm just afraid that it won't be even."

......

A few days later, Feng Yi left Kunming with the first batch of teachers and students who volunteered to work as translators for the US military.

When they were separated, he took advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, gently lowered his head and kissed the hair on her forehead, and whispered in her ear: "Jianning, when I come back this time, we will hold a wedding." ”

According to the original plan of the two, not long after Wen Jianning graduated, the two began to plan for the wedding. But no one expected that so many things had happened in just a few months, Wen Jianning was not in the mood to think about how to get married for a while, Feng Yi took care of her emotions, and did not take the initiative to mention this matter.

When he left this time, he suddenly mentioned it, and Wen Jianning felt a little guilty.

Out of some kind of compensation psychology, after Feng Yi left, she began to think about the wedding alone.

Although they are not prepared to do it too much, at least some relatives and friends on both sides still have to be invited, such as the second uncle, he is Feng Yi's most respected elder, and his old man must be present for such a major event as the marriage of the two. Then Zhong Hui and his godfather and godmother are also on Hong Kong Island, so the wedding still has to be held on Hong Kong Island.

After Feng Yi left, perhaps because she was afraid that she would be lonely, Ruan Wenyun, who had been unwilling to come to disturb them, finally moved to Yuantong Temple to live with her. With her as a companion, Wen Jianning will not feel lonely at home alone.

It's just that when they are quiet at night, they can't help but be a little worried about the situation on Feng Yi's side, and they don't know where they have gone and whether they have encountered any danger on the way.

Fortunately, it didn't take long for her to receive a letter from Feng Yi.

(End of chapter)