Lin Sha:
Happy New Year! I am very pleased to receive your letter on the 29th this morning, as well as the pictures and bookmarks attached to the letter. Thank you very much for your good wishes and send the same wishes!
On the afternoon of the 31st, we also had some activities, first of all, we had a meal, we drank together, bought a lot of dishes from the canteen, made some by ourselves, and had a good time. Then the students of the 79th class of the department held a gala together, wrote and performed some programs, and held an amusement party, followed by a dance party, which was noisy until more than eleven o'clock. After returning to the dormitory, he drank and played again, and did not sleep until two o'clock in the morning on New Year's Day in '81. You must have had a great New Year, too.
I have written a lot of letters to you in the last two letters, which are nothing more than clichés and some of my own subjective thoughts (many of which may be prejudices). I don't think I've been polite to you, and whenever you write to me and ask me something, I don't have a "modest" way to talk to you, whether it's right or not, I just write what I think. In fact, you are polite to me, and let me "advise" and let me "correct", I really blush, yes, I wrote these things again when I should say or not, don't be angry.
This semester, we have held a total of seven courses, among which modern literature, political economy, and physical education are examination courses, and all of them have been completed. The three exams are English, Ancient Chinese, and Introduction to Linguistics, which will be held on the 13th, 16th, and 20th of this month. This year, a new examination method is adopted, and all subjects except English are tested on a 4-point scale (Excellent, Good, Pass, Fail). From the point of view of scoring, 100 points and 90 points are the same, it seems to be a little less labor-saving than the previous 100-point system, but the scope of review is not specified, and the pressure of review is increased, especially these three are language courses, which are subjects that I am not very interested in, and I usually see very little, so I have to make a temporary assault, but fortunately, I usually remember the notes in more detail, and I don't feel too difficult to review.
How's your rehearsal, don't take the final exam? Do you have a winter vacation? The weather in Harbin has been quite cold lately, and the daytime is more than 20 degrees below zero. How about Beijing, it must be much warmer than here.
That's it, I won't write about it.
I wish you a happy spirit and a good study.
Ji Xiaodong
1981. 1. 3晚
Ji Xiaodong:
Hello, all the letters have been received (including the last letter and the New Year's card).
I'm glad to know that you had a great New Year's Eve. On the evenings of the 28th and 30th, I attended the evening party held at the Faculty of Foreign Languages. At 6 o'clock in the evening of the 31st, the New Year's party of the drama department began in our rehearsal room. It's really wrong for people who study acting to not even be active at the New Year's party, but they actually don't want to be active, and they have resentment in their hearts. I also have an opinion. (I remember that everyone was quite active at the New Year's party in the 80s) However, this time I didn't follow the "trouble". At half past 6 o'clock, I took another classmate to slip away, went to Peking University to participate in the dance party of the history department, had a good time, forgot the time, there was no bus at 11 o'clock, my classmates borrowed the car of international students to send us back to school, until 1 o'clock did not rest, on the 1st I left two relatives, and on the 2nd I went to class.
Regarding the drama I rehearsed, I finally caught the characters a little, but it was not ideal, and I was going to "fight the stab" in the next paragraph. The midterm exam time is from the 17th, February 1st winter vacation, I don't know how many days, whether to go back to Kazakhstan for a vacation I haven't finalized. If you want to bring something with you, write in advance and say that even if I don't go back, there are my classmates who will go back. I heard from home that I must go back and have a look, and it seems that I have to go back too.
When I say politeness, I mean something that is not practical, and that I don't understand in the first place (such as a literary question) and you have to say "not necessarily right" and so on, and I want to be blunt about this (I like that) because I know that I am ignorant in these areas. I think I'm always very polite, and I'm going to trouble you again today. In addition to poetry, I also saw some prose in the literary history I read, and I really don't know how to translate the original prose for prose.
You're really welcome to write at this time, students are very nervous at this time of the semester. I'm only writing at this time for the sake of my own little plans. I think this semester I basically know how to translate ancient poems and prose, and I am going to memorize some works and do something else during the winter vacation. It's not something you have to do, it's up to your time, and don't be embarrassed if you don't have time.
The last time I sent my bookmark, I didn't send the calendar card with it because of my overweight, so I only sent one (1. February). This time, I'll send the remaining five with the letter.
Best wishes!
Linsha
Noon January 6, 1981
Attached: The original text of "The Story of the Peach Blossom Spring".