Time passed in a hurry, one day in October, Wu Dao's mailbox received a strange email, the account name of the mailbox was "Hundred Flowers Fairy" four characters in Chinese pinyin, the letter was named Si Baifang, the email wrote:

"Wu Dao, hello! My name is Si Baifang, and I take the liberty of writing to you, please forgive me. We don't know each other, I found your name from the website of the Department of Chinese at Jeju University. There is a list of graduate students admitted to the website, and only your name can be found on the Internet for graduate students majoring in modern and contemporary Chinese literature, but it is the name of a person who works in the government of Hecheng Town, Qicheng County, I am not sure if you are alone, but I still wrote you this letter, and I hope that you are alone. I was born in a rural area of Peony City, and my family was very poor since I was a child, so I went to Jeju to work after graduating from junior high school in order to let my younger brother go to school, where I set up a stall, sold clothes in a shopping mall, and later worked as a waitress in a restaurant near Jeju University. Although I only went to junior high school, I have loved writing since I was a child, and I have also dreamed of being a writer, and I have published several poems before. Every day, I envy the students of Jeju University who come to the restaurant where I work to eat. I was unwilling to be a waiter for the rest of my life, so I signed up for the self-examination and got a bachelor's degree in Chinese language and literature in three years. Undergraduate should not be my end, now I want to go to Jeju University for graduate school, I like modern Chinese literature the most, and I want to apply for this graduate school. I dreamed of going to college and becoming a real college student. I have a self-examined undergraduate degree, and my professional foundation is very poor, and I don't know where to prepare for the exam, so I thought of looking up the contact information of the graduate students admitted this year on the Internet, and finally found you. If you are really a graduate student majoring in modern and contemporary Chinese literature in the Department of Chinese at Jeju National University, can you help me? I look forward to hearing from you. ”

After reading the email, Wu Dao's heart couldn't calm down for a long time, that's right, the two Wu Dao mentioned in the letter are one person, he often used his personal mailbox to submit articles to the newspaper when he worked in the Hecheng Town Government, and inadvertently made the mailbox public, he was born in a poor family like Si Baifang, fortunately he obtained a complete higher education, if he went out to work after graduating from junior high school like Si Baifang, can he insist on self-study to get a bachelor's degree? What perseverance it takes! She's really a strange woman! He thought of Si Baifang's name and the account name of the Hundred Flowers Fairy, and couldn't help but be more curious about this girl who worked and taught herself, and also wanted to see what she looked like. Thinking of this, he decided to help the girl who asked for help, and immediately replied to an email:

"That's right, I'm Oh Do, who used to work in the Hacheng Town Government of Qiseong County and is now a graduate student at Jeju University. I'd love to help you. I have some materials for the graduate school entrance examination here, which I can pass on to you in person. Tomorrow at nine o'clock in the morning, you will go to the south gate of Jeju University, and I will give it to you in person. ”

The summer was particularly long, and although it was October, there was still no hint of autumn coolness, and people were still wearing summer clothes. Wu Dao arrived at the school gate at the appointed time, and he saw a petite girl in her early twenties, wearing a yellow plaid top and a dark gray skirt printed with a white peony pattern, two braids on her shoulders, a chocolate-colored bag on her shoulder, and a pair of small black leather shoes on her feet. Wu Dao's first feeling was that this girl must be Si Baifang.

After approaching, Wu Dao saw that the girl had a beautiful face, clear and bright eyes, but a little melancholy. He suddenly thought of Lin Huiyin, a talented woman in the Republic of China, Lin Huiyin in his mind is almost this image, if the girl in front of him is Si Baifang, she is indeed worthy of the name of the Hundred Flowers Fairy. Wu Dao said to the girl:

"Are you Si Baifang?"

"I'm Si Baifang, are you Wu Dao?" Si Baifang said.

"I'm Wu Dao."

"I'm so glad you came."

"I'm glad to meet you, but you're not what I thought you were."

"What's the difference?"

"I didn't expect you to be such an unearthly and temperamental girl, completely different from other working girls. I thought of the plot of Lin Daiyu's first arrival in Rongguo Mansion, Jia Baoyu said that he seemed to have seen Daiyu somewhere, and when I saw you, I also had a sense of déjà vu. Are you a Southerner? ”

"Lin Huiyin, I don't dare to be. My family is in Peony City, but my mother is from Hunan. ”

"No wonder you look like a southerner. I have brought you the materials I used for the graduate school entrance examination, and there are several books and notes that a good friend of mine gave me before, and I am also forwarding them to you, hoping to help you. With that, Wu Dao handed over the information he brought to Si Baifang.

Si Baifang put the information that Wu Dao gave her into her backpack, said "thank you", and took out a book of A4 paper bound materials from it, and said:

"I also brought a copy of my manuscript poetry book and sent it to you, please give me some advice."

Wu Dao took the poetry collection and looked at it, the poetry collection was horizontally, there were two or three hundred pages, and each page had one or two poems, that is to say, there were at least three or four hundred poems in the entire poetry collection, he was really taken aback, and said:

"I also like to read poetry and have written a few poems, but never published them. I really didn't expect that you would have written so many poems at such a young age. Guidance, I really don't dare to be, I can only communicate, if you want to point, I'm afraid it should be you who should guide me on how to write poetry. ”

"How can I advise you, you're already a graduate student."

"I may be better than you in research, but writing poetry is definitely not as good as yours. Moreover, writing poetry is a very talented thing, and if you don't have enough talent, no matter how hard you try, you can't write well. You must be a very talented person to write so many poems. ”

"You are too modest. I don't know if I'm gifted or not, but I've loved writing poetry since I was a child. ”

"Have you ever been to Jeju University?"

"I often walk in it, and sometimes I read books and study in it."

"Jeju National University is the only one that anyone can get into. Let's stop standing here and find a place to sit down in the school. ”

"It's okay, you can tell me about the graduate school entrance examination review again."

Oh Dao and Si Baekbang walked into Jeju University, and the two walked forward side by side. Wu Dao usually walks quickly, and when he walks with others, the people next to him often can't keep up with him and complain that he walks too fast, but he has developed a habit and often doesn't realize this. Walking with Si Baifang for a while, Wu Dao suddenly realized the problem of walking too fast, and wanted to reduce his speed, but was surprised to find that Si Baifang, who was less than one meter six tall, walked as fast as herself, and it didn't seem to be reluctant at all, she usually walked at this speed.

There is a small forest on the campus of Jeju National University, and there are many stone tables and benches in the forest, and two people sit down at a stone table. Wu Dao asked Si Baifang:

"What do you do now, are you still working as a waiter in a restaurant?"

"After I got my bachelor's degree from the self-examination, I applied for a job as a teacher in a private middle school, which is not far from here." Si Baifang said.

"You are really not a simple person, self-examination is a difficult thing, you have to work and study at the same time, it is even more difficult. By the way, which school do you work in? ”

"It's Gaoyang Middle School."

"Gaoyang Middle School, is that the school for migrant children?"

"You've heard of it, it's the school for migrant children."

"Why is that school called Gaoyang Middle School?"

"Because the school was built with the joint funds of two people surnamed Gao and one surnamed Yang, it was called that."

"I see."

"When did you come out to work?"

"My family was very poor, I didn't have money to go to high school, and after graduating from junior high school, I went out to work, and after I arrived in Jeju, I worked as a waiter in a restaurant, sold things in a shopping mall, set up a street stall, and sold blood in the most difficult time. More than half of the money earned every month is sent back to my hometown. I like to read and write poetry since I was a child, and I have published some works, and my biggest dream is to be a writer. People have to have dreams, don't they? ”

"Yes, people must have dreams, and only with dreams can they have the motivation to move forward. When it comes to poetry, I like it too, but I rarely write it, let alone publish it. Domestic poets, ancient, I like Li Bai and Su Shi the most, modern I like Haizi the most, foreign poets, I like Pushkin and Rilke the most. What about you? ”

"Domestically, I like Li Qingzhao the most in ancient times, Gu Cheng is the most in modern times, I also like Pushkin abroad, and I also like Apollinaire in France."

"I have also read Apollinaire's poems, and they are beautifully written. Speaking of French literature, I would like to tell you that I initially applied for modern and contemporary Chinese literature, but after entering the university, I switched to French literature, majoring in foreign literature. ”

"Why do you want to change majors, don't you like to study modern and contemporary Chinese literature?"

"No, what I have always wanted to study most is modern Chinese literature. When I was admitted to graduate school, I originally wanted to study the writers and intellectuals before the founding of the People's Republic of China in the major of modern and contemporary Chinese literature, but after the admission results came out, I did not contact my tutor in advance, and after entering the school, I found that the tutors in the direction of modern literature were all full, and I could only choose the tutor in the direction of contemporary literature. I don't like to study contemporary literature, so the admissions teacher suggested that I change my major, and I changed my major when I had no choice. When you are admitted to graduate school, you must get in touch with your tutor in advance to avoid being passive after admission. ”

"I see. However, I don't know the tutors at Jeju University, so how can I contact them, and do I send them an email as well? ”

"Everyone else does this, but you don't have to look for it online, I'll ask my classmates to help you get the tutor's email and phone number. Which supervisor you want to choose, I will go to the graduate student of that supervisor and ask for contact information. ”

"Thank you so much."

"No thanks."

"Can you tell me why you switched to foreign literature and chose French literature?"

"The research I want to do is writer intellectuals, intellectuals are a Western concept, and it is inappropriate to put it in the field of ancient Chinese literature, and ancient Chinese literature is a popular major at Jeju University, and there are no vacant places for graduate students, so I can only choose foreign literature when changing majors. In the field of foreign literature, I like French literature the most, and Balzac, Hugo, Sartre and so on are all writers that I like very much. Moreover, French intellectuals are the most typical in the world, and the word intellectual was coined in France, and there is a lot to be done in the study of intellectuals in French literature. More importantly, Tian Mowen, the graduate tutor of French literature and my current tutor, is a free-spirited and legendary person, and Tang Bohu's sentence 'others laugh at me for being too crazy, and I laugh at others for not being able to see through' is appropriately applied to him. ”

"Hearing you say that, I also think you are right to change your major. Is it hard to study French literature? ”

"The biggest obstacle to the study of French literature is language. If you want to do a good job in the study of French literature, you must know French. ”

"Is French hard to learn?"

"It's a lot more difficult than English, I studied on my own for a while as an undergraduate, but I didn't stick to it because it was too difficult. Now you have to study French literature and start from scratch. I admire you, and if it had been for your perseverance, I would never have given up learning French before. ”

"I'm sure you'll learn French well."

"I also believe that I can study well."

"Have you figured out which writer you're going to study?"

"I'm going to use Sartre as a research topic. Sartre was a writer and an existentialist philosopher, and he was a very typical intellectual. Existentialist philosophy believes that existence precedes essence and that man should be free to choose the path he wants to take, and I feel that my choice is right, and your choice is also right. Are you planning to take the Chinese Modern and Contemporary Literature exam? What exactly do you want to study? ”

"Hearing you say that, I also think we made the right choice. Like you, I want to study modern Chinese literature, and I like Xiao Hong the most and I want to study her works. ”

"Xiao Hong is also one of my favorite writers, and it is indeed a good choice to study female writers from a female perspective."

"I think so too. Is there anything else I need to prepare? Isn't it too late to start reviewing now? ”

"It's not too late to start reviewing now, when I decided to take the graduate school entrance examination and start reviewing, it's about this time, you take a good look at the materials I gave you, there will be no problem with professional courses, and if you learn English and politics well, you will definitely be able to get in." When I was going to graduate school, I was also working and reviewing at the same time, and you could get a bachelor's degree by self-examination, and it would definitely not be a problem to take the graduate school entrance examination. ”

"I'm still a little worried, I can take the undergraduate exam by myself, just read the textbooks, I have read very few books, and the foundation is very thin, unlike full-time college students who have so much time to study."

"I have read few books, and it does not have much impact on the graduate school entrance examination itself. Besides, if you want to read any book, you can tell me and I will borrow it from the school library for you. Graduate students can borrow twenty books at a time, and one library card is enough for the two of us. ”

"Thank you so much. By the way, when I was looking for contact information on the Internet, I saw that you work in a town government. I also thought that there were very few people with the name Wu Dao, so I sent you an email with the idea of giving it a try. Why did you give up that job and go to graduate school? ”

"Like Jia Baoyu, I have never been interested in fame and fortune. When I actually went to work in that government, I felt like I was in prison every day, and I couldn't get used to what was going on inside, and it wasn't the life I wanted. ”

"I'm not interested in fame either."

Wu Dao chatted with Si Baifang for a long time, and felt more and more that she was a rare strange woman in the world, not only that, but the two of them had very consistent interests, hobbies, outlook on life, and values. Both of them have the intention of seeing each other and hating each other. At the time of parting, the two left each other's phone numbers and QQ numbers, and agreed that Wu Dao would borrow two books from the Jeju University library every week for Si Baifang to read.