Li Qiuxia
Southeast Network - Strait Herald June 7th (Reporters Lin Fanmang, Yang Chenggong, Lin Hongda / Text, Liang Zhanglei / Photos) A palm-sized table, a less than 10 square meter rental room, the small space is packed with books, even the bed is occupied by books.
The owner of this humble dwelling is a genuine farmer. Despite having only an elementary school education, she has a mad passion for writing. During her working period, she寄托ed her spiritual pursuits in writing. By day, she drove a crane between goods, and at night, she tirelessly wrote in her small room, pursuing her 20-year-old literary dream without giving up.
32-year-old Li Qiuxia is a crane operator and also a "farmer writer" in the eyes of her colleagues.
Dropped out at 13 years old
Farmed for 10 years at home
"I am a migrant worker. Although I haven't read much, I am passionate about literature and have written many novels and songs." Recently, a reader repeatedly called the hotline of the Herald, "I want my debut work to be published into a book, but I don't have confidence in my own works. Can you help me revise and guide?"
Yesterday morning, the reporter met with Li Qiuxia as scheduled. She is short in stature, slim in figure, and has dark skin. "I worked in the fields for more than ten years, I've never been white." After some casual conversation, Li Qiuxia shed her initial tension upon entering and gradually relaxed.
Li Qiuxia comes from Zhoukou City in Henan Province. Due to poor family circumstances, at the age of 13, she finished elementary school and was forced to drop out, starting her farming life. Like most young people in the village, Li Qiuxia was busy all day: plowing, planting rice, harvesting... "Although I was busy every day, my heart felt empty and lost. I didn't want to live like this all my life, but I didn't know where my future lay." Li Qiuxia recalled, "From then on, I began to寄托 my longing on writing, turning my hopes for love and the future into novels."
Such a life went on for 10 years, surprisingly, Li Qiuxia's family had no idea. "No one in my family could read, they wouldn't understand me, so I didn't want to tell them." Li Qiuxia said. In this way, she often stayed in her room writing, with a very introverted personality.
Wrote down personal experiences
Cried while writing
In 2005, Li Qiuxia couldn't bear the dry life anymore and started working outside. Whether at home or in the city, whenever she had time, she would read books and write down her ideas on paper. "Xiamen is very prosperous, compared to that, the poverty of my hometown made me feel a strong contrast in my heart." Li Qiuxia said, this stimulated her desire to write, she began to record her own and the humble stories of the workers around her. The novel genre evolved from the initial romance category to the current legal category. Recently, Li Qiuxia started trying motivational novels. "The plot and characters are mostly based on my life experiences and the reflections of my friends, derived from real life. Sometimes when I get emotional while writing, my tears can't help but fall."
Nowadays, Li Qiuxia is already a mother of two children. She works during the day and does housework at night, greatly compressing her writing time. "I can only use the 5 to 10 minutes of rest time at work, find a shady place, and write down my ideas on my phone - once inspiration comes, I have to catch it!" Li Qiuxia laughed. Sometimes waking up in the middle of the night, inspiration flashes through her mind, and she writes all night long. "Every time I finish a chapter, my mood becomes particularly relaxed, and I feel especially energetic the next day." For Li Qiuxia, this "writing fanatic," writing and work do not conflict; instead, writing can become the motivation for work.
However, her closest husband has always been discouraging her: "You only graduated from elementary school, now there are many highly educated people, just live your life, don't daydream!" Li Qiuxia's monthly income is less than 2000 yuan. After deducting food expenses and children's education costs, she still spends 20% on buying books and writing, which led to multiple arguments between the couple.
Repeatedly rejected
Keeps striving after falling
Without getting recognition from her family, Li Qiuxia turned her attention to the online community, for which she bit her teeth and spent over 2000 yuan to buy a computer. "I wrote my novels on QQ Space, in two years, I wrote 7 novels, about 200,000 words. Some netizens commented after reading, 'We're all workers, what's the use of writing these?' But most netizens encouraged me, 'Your spirit is rare, don't give up, keep trying!'"
"With encouragement from netizens, I wanted to publish my novels into books and turn the lyrics into songs." Li Qiuxia looked seriously at the reporter and said. Two years ago, after going through many twists and turns, she found a publisher, but was deterred by the "astronomical" publishing fee; sending lyrics to several record companies like Rock Records, she was stopped by her relatively older age and the 100 yuan/hour training fee.
Under repeated setbacks, Li Qiuxia felt that although she regarded writing as a sacred pursuit, she did not receive recognition from the experts, leading to a period of mental depression. "I made countless calls and went to the media seeking opportunities, but I encountered rejections everywhere, under immense mental pressure." Li Qiuxia said, during that period, due to insomnia and depression, she suffered from hormonal imbalance and rested at home for nearly a month, severely affecting her work and family life. However, Li Qiuxia's dream was not shattered by this, "I accidentally came across the story of grassroots singer Zhou Ziling's rise to fame, which greatly inspired me. I regard him as my idol - if he can make it, I can definitely make it too."
"Writing is my 'spiritual bread', whether or not it gets published, I will persevere!" Li Qiuxia said at the end of the interview.
[Back-to-Back]
Forgetting troubles temporarily while writing
Yesterday morning, Li Qiuxia rushed from Tong'an to the newspaper office, bringing a thick stack of novel manuscripts.
Reporter: Have you ever thought of giving up after 20 years of writing?
Li Qiuxia: (Pausing briefly) Yes. I'm not afraid of the difficult writing conditions, but I can't stand others mocking me as a "madman" with unrealistic dreams.
Reporter: What kept you going?
Li Qiuxia: The life of a worker is hard and monotonous. Writing is not only my hobby, but also my spiritual pillar. Only when I write can I temporarily forget my troubles.
Reporter: What are you currently writing about?
Li Qiuxia: I am writing a motivational novel titled "The Story of Wang Xiaoyan". Even if I cannot become a writer, as long as someone reads my novels, even if there's only one reader, I will continue writing.
Reporter: What are your wishes?
Li Qiuxia: I hope the whole society respects farmers (sigh), hopes the income of farmers matches their efforts, and hopes for a quick mechanism for work injury compensation.
Welcome to post comments, I want to comment.
Twitter Recommendation | Today's Twitter Hot Topics (Editor: SN046)