The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

Before traveling through time, Zhou Hexuan once visited Xiangfu Temple, which was already equivalent to a tourist attraction at that time. The temple is magnificently built, with the "Lingshan Giant Buddha Statue" and the "Ci'en Pagoda" towering over the temple. What comes across is the atmosphere of philistine and local tyrants.

At this moment, there is no sign of the big Buddha statue at all, and only three feet of the pagoda base of Ci'en Pagoda is left. Only the main hall of the entire temple has been renovated, and most of the other side halls are in ruins. There are scattered monks' houses hidden in the mountains and forests.

The setting sun slanted down, and golden waves appeared on the lake. The evening wind blew the green pines and bamboos, making a rustling sound, and the surrounding areas fell into silence.

The Xiangfu Zen Temple in its heyday is described in the literature as follows: It is located among the mountains and lakes, and is the most secluded... The waves and shadows of the clouds are shining... Three peaks are surrounded by dragons and tigers... ... Like a cloud nest, a moon cave, or ten thousand pines, there are scattered monks' houses.

Xu Zhimo is worthy of being a poet. Even when he became a monk, he had to choose a poetic and picturesque place.

Zhou Hexuan stood in front of the Main Hall and could see the beautiful Taihu Lake. Within a radius of ten miles, there are residential buildings, farmland, roads, and mountain peaks, creating a quiet and pristine scenery. Unlike later generations, standing in the temple and looking around, there are modern buildings everywhere that are unsightly.

Of course, this is all from the perspective of tourists, who think that undeveloped areas are good, but the poor farmers around them definitely don't want to live such a life.

A Zhike monk came up to him, put his palms together and asked, "Are you here to see Layman Xu?"

Jushi Xu?

It seems that Xu Zhimo has not yet had time to truly become a monk, and has just become a layman in the temple.

Zhou Hexuan put his hands together and returned the greeting, smiling and saying: "Exactly, I wonder what the Master calls him?"

The guest monk said: "The young monk's Dharma name is Hongpu, and he dare not call himself Master. Lay Master Xu is over there. The young monk will bring some donors over."

"Thank you." Zhou Hexuan said.

The monk's house where Xu Zhimo lives is in a bamboo forest. The chirping of insects and birds can be heard from time to time in the forest, making the place even more peaceful and quiet.

What a great place to hide from the world!

"Snapped!"

Sun Yongzhen slapped his arm and instantly brought the scene back to the world. He took a breath and said, "The mosquitoes here are so fierce. One bite can cause a big mosquito."

"Haha," Zhou Hexuan couldn't help laughing, "We should buy some mosquito coils and go up the mountain."

Being a hermit in the mountains and forests sounds cool and unrestrained, but he has to face the real problems of eating, drinking, urinating, being bitten by mosquitoes and snakes.

After walking for about seven or eight minutes, Zhike Monk pointed to a monk's house and said, "Donor, here we are."

Without even needing to be reminded by Zhike Monk, Zhou Hexuan had already seen more than twenty people standing or sitting in the open space in front of the monk's house.

Several torches were lit there. Xu Zhimo sat in the middle with his eyes closed and said nothing. There was an old monk standing next to him. Xu Shenru, Lu Xiaoman, Zhang Jiazhu, Song Chunfang, Rao Mengkan, Yu Dafu, Liu Haisu, Jiang Xiaoyu and others took turns to persuade him, but Xu Zhimo seemed to have ignored him.

Xu Zhimo's ex-wife Zhang Youyi also came, and she brought Xu Zhimo's son with her. The mother and son stood aside in silence.

Compared with the decadence of Xu Zhimo and Lu Xiaoman, Zhang Youyi has lived a wonderful life these years. Although she was a prostitute, she successively served as the vice president of Shanghai Women's Commercial Bank, the general manager of Yunshang Clothing Company, and even the financial controller of the National Socialist Party of China.

Xu Shenru also saw Zhou Hexuan, and quickly came over and said, "Mingcheng, please come and persuade me."

Zhou Hexuan saw that Xu Zhimo's hair was still there, and he was not shaved into a bald head. He was just wearing a sea blue monk's robe. He asked: "What's going on now?"

Xu Shenru explained: "Zhimo originally wanted to become a monk, but the abbot here thought that Zhimo's earthly destiny was not over and he would not ordain him. During this period, he studied farming with the monks during the day and studied Buddhism by himself at night. He has become a layman. Today He tried to run away in the afternoon, but I and others blocked him behind the toilet, and then he just sat there without saying a word."

Zhou Hexuan stepped over and shouted loudly: "Zhimo, my old friend is here to see you!"

Xu Zhimo still had no reaction. He sat in the courtyard with his eyes closed, as if he was petrified.

Zhou Hexuan said again: "Hey, you still owe me a thousand oceans, when will you repay the debt?"

As soon as these words came out, everyone looked sideways, and Rao Mengkan covered his mouth and snickered.

Zhang Jiazhu came to Zhou Hexuan's side, put their arms around each other and said, "It's useless, Mingcheng, we've tried everything."

Lu Xiaoman looked haggard and nodded to Zhou Hexuan, seemingly in no mood to speak.

Zhang Youyi seemed like the hostess of the Xu family. She pulled her son over and said, "Mr. Zhou, I'm sorry to trouble you."

Zhang Jiazhu introduced: "Mingcheng, this is my sister Zhang Jiabing, and my nephew Jikai."

"Hello, Ms. Zhang." Zhou Hexuan still respects Zhang Youyi. Whether as a wife, daughter-in-law, mother, or a strong woman, she plays all kinds of roles so well.

Zhang Jiazhu took Zhou Hexuan and introduced other people to him, including those he knew and those he didn't know, shaking hands and greetings one by one.

Song Chunfang, playwright, drama theorist, book collector, and pioneer of Chinese marine science. He used to be an official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Court, but now he is concentrating on studying drama. During this time, he happened to be living in Shanghai.

Yu Dafu, a famous writer, one of the founders of the Leftist League, is currently a councilor of the Zhejiang Provincial Government. Although he lived in Hangzhou, he happened to be in Shanghai for a meeting and stopped by when he heard the news.

Jiang Xiaoyu, sculptor.

Wang Wenbo, calligrapher, painter and collector.

Xu Zhenfei, economist, managing director and general manager of Zhejiang Industrial Bank.

Chen Mengjia, archaeologist, paleographer and poet.

Among the more than twenty people in front of the monk's residence, all of them had different backgrounds. You can imagine what kind of friends Xu Zhimo usually made. The left, the right, the center, the political, business and cultural circles are all gathered together at this moment.

There are more people arriving from various provinces.

It was already dark at this time, and Zhou Hexuan swatted several flower-legged mosquitoes to death one after another, his hands covered with blood. He said with a smile: "There are so many sages here and it is quiet and peaceful. Why don't we play mahjong. When I came from Shanghai, I happened to bring two sets of mahjong tiles."

Rao Mengkan rubbed his hands and said, "What Mingcheng said is wonderful!"

Zhang Jiazhu also likes to play. He asked the old monk next to Xu Zhimo: "Master Zhongyong, can I borrow the tables and chairs in the temple?"

Master Zhongyong is the abbot of Xiangfu Zen Temple. He smiled bitterly and said, "Everyone is welcome."

Zhang Jiazhu immediately called his friends and went to other monks' houses to carry tables. Xu Zhenfei and a few acquaintances made torches out of firewood and rags to illuminate the entire small courtyard of the monk's residence.

Although Yu Dafu has always presented himself as a melancholic prince, he has been doing well recently, and he has joined Jiang Xiaoyu at the table.

"Sanjo!"

"Touch! Ninety thousand."

"..."

The style of painting changed drastically in an instant, and every scholar and celebrity became a gambler.

Wang Wenbo was still pretending to be a cultural person, but after standing aside and watching two games, he couldn't help but want to roll up his sleeves and play in person. In the end, everyone discussed playing "Let's Play".

In the night, Xu Zhimo quietly opened his eyes, peeked a few times, and couldn't help but roll his eyes.