Literary Master 1983

Chapter 82 211 Highland
In order to ensure Yu Qie's safety during his field trip, the army sent an experienced veteran soldier Ning Ke to accompany him, and also invited a war photographer to take notes.

They went to the headquarters to pick up Yu Qie at noon the next day, still riding in a military jeep.

"Yuqie? Yuqie!"

Ning Ke shouted outside the dormitory. When Yu Qie came out, Ning Ke immediately stretched out his hand and said, "You are quite courageous. I have wronged you comrades in the literary and art circles before. I originally said that your great writers and stars would not come to the front line. I was wrong..."

"I apologize to you!" Ning Ke took off his hat and said in a deep voice.

"You can't do that!" Yu Qie recognized Ning Ke as the deputy squad leader of the third squad of the seventh company. "Didn't you see him today?"

Ning Ke said: "I did see it, but it was the first time I saw it! Since the counterattack began, you are the first non-combatant to go that far. You have achieved an amazing achievement!"

The war photographer also said: "Comrade Yu Qie, don't worry, we will definitely ensure your safety... Now that you are going to the front line to collect folk songs, it has become a major event for us and your literary and artistic circles. We will never tolerate any mistakes on your part."

"——It's an honor to meet you. My name is Wang Min."

Yu Qie was puzzled: "Wang Min, aren't you also a non-combatant?"

Wang Min immediately laughed and said, "I am an active combat member of the army - don't look at me carrying a camera, I am no worse than an ordinary scout!" Wang Min waved his camera.

Holy shit! The camera Wang Min is carrying is a Leica! The red logo and the words "Leica" look like Coke, it's probably a second generation.

"Your camera..."

Wang Min was also surprised: "You know Leica? This is what my father brought me from abroad, how do you know..."

Ning Ke said, "I heard that Yu Qie is studying at Yenching University."

"Oh, you're a college student from the capital, no wonder you recognize this brand."

Wang Min no longer doubted and briefly introduced the northern slope of Hill 211 where Yu Qie was going this time, where there was a frontier position that could be stationed for a long time. In the spring of this year, a certain unit received a special task: to make good use of the existing natural caves within the enemy's firepower coverage and build a position for combat.

The entire cave complex consists of seven main caves and several branch caves. From the topographic map, it looks like a butterfly spreading its wings.

After approval, they were to collect materials from two main caves, No. 2 and No. 3. Among them, No. 2 cave is an important node for communication, and No. 3 cave is the location of the command post and is also the most complicated cave.

Wang Min had been there once before, and he told Yu Qie: "The most dangerous and difficult one is Cave No. 37, which is located at the forefront, only meters away from the Vietnamese position."

"The widest part of the cave is about 1.2 meters, and the narrowest part is only 40 centimeters. Only one person can pass through sideways. The highest point of the cave ceiling is less than 2 meters, and the lowest point is less than 1 meter. The soldiers can only bend over or crawl forward."

Yu Qie asked, "Can we go to hole number 1?"

Wang Min shook his head and said, "Even I have never been to Cave No. 1. It's not because I'm afraid of death, but because that place is too close to the Vietnamese army's position... You may not know that when it was first built, all the engineering work was done at night."

"The engineers could only use steel chisels and hammers to dig holes in the rocks. To avoid making any noise, each blow had to be gentle and precise. An ordinary hole had to be chiseled hundreds of times, and often only a dozen centimeters could be advanced in one night."

Ning Ke continued, “So, we went up the north slope at night to avoid being seen. Although the Vietnamese knew we were building fortifications, they probably didn’t know that we could build such a deep place so quickly!”

After lunch, all the people who participated in the cultural performance came to say goodbye to Yu Qie.

Zhu Shimao said: "I will write 'The Days in Laoshan' when I get back and send it to our Military Literature and Art Magazine. I will mention you in it! Because you have brought honor to us!"

Yu Shuqing chose to hug Yu Qie: "Teacher Yu, although you are younger than me, you are a reliable person; if you want to play in Shanghai later... just contact me in advance..."

People immediately started to make a fuss. In this day and age, just holding hands could make one's heart beat faster. Yu Shuqing was already showing her love in a rather bold way.

Of course, in everyone's opinion, Yu Qie is a promising young man, so it is not surprising that he is being noticed by the girl.

Gong Xue was the last one to say goodbye to Yu Qie. She said, "Should I hug you too?"

Yu Qie was stunned, because the person he had the most awkward relationship with during this period was Gong Xue. Without waiting for Yu Qie to answer, Gong Xue opened her arms and hugged Yu Qie, then said: "I also regard you as my comrade-in-arms, and I hope you can come back safely! Also, you have to write better novels in the future - Yu Qie, you really do this!"

Yu Qie thought that Gong Xue was done with, but he didn't expect that after he got on the jeep, Gong Xue suddenly shouted again: "Yu Qie? Yu Qie?"

"what happened?"

She chased to the jeep and handed Yu Qie a candy: "We are all going to receive a commendation meeting in Chengdu, Yu Qie, you must come back safe and sound!"

"What are you doing?"

"This is the candy my nephew asked me to give to my comrades. I told you, you are my comrade too."

When Gong Xue came back, Yu Shuqing nudged Gong Xue with her elbow and said, "What comrades? Sister Xue, you might be interested."

Gong Xue said: "I just like reading his novels. I don't have any personal feelings for him."

"Nonsense." Yu Shuqing certainly didn't believe it.

She turned to look at Gong Xue, only to see Gong Xue staring blankly at the car going away, and Yu Shuqing sighed. She felt that neither of them was suitable for Yu Qie, and Yu Shuqing had no interest in literature and could not enter Yu Qie's spiritual world.

Although Gong Xue has this hobby, she is much older after all, and sister-brother relationships are rare nowadays.

Gong Xue is also a person who attaches great importance to rules and reputation: when she was filming "Under the Bridge", she wanted to change the script and got upset just because the heroine was pregnant before marriage.

How could such a person overcome the psychological barrier? Even she herself would never admit it.

If Yu Shuqing knew that Yu Qie still had a partner, she would probably be even more desperate than Gong Xue.

------

"Yu Qie? They are very careful. I promise you won't be in danger." Ning Ke patted his chest and assured Yu Qie.

"How can you guarantee that?"

"If you want to hurt you, you have to step over my body first!"

"Why don't you carry the walkie-talkie for me?"

"No, you are the only one who can carry this among the three of us."

The three were climbing up the north slope. Ning Ke carried a submachine gun and other auxiliary combat equipment, Wang Min carried a Leica camera and a pistol. Yu Qie carried a military walkie-talkie. If they were in any danger, they would use this antenna to report to the headquarters.

Walkie-talkies are precious things. Nowadays, most public institutions in the country still use the first generation of magnetic telephones. There is an "L"-shaped crank on the right side of the body, and people are accustomed to calling it a "crank" phone.

Last year, Motorola released the first mobile phone in history in the United States, which is commonly known as the Big Brother. It belongs to the fourth generation of push-button phones and is much more advanced than the "crank phone".

Wang Min complained, "The camera is heavy, and the pistol is not light either. Yu Qie, the cave is too crowded. I've been there several times. Please help me get the pistol."

"Is this even possible? Yu Qie has never touched a gun." Ning Ke disagreed.

"I turned off the safety." Wang Min handed the pistol to Yu Qie. Yu Qie took it and saw that it was a Type 64 pistol, which was modeled after the German PPK.

In his previous life, when Yu Qie went to the United States to study, he happened to play with this gun in a club and knew how to play it, but he said nothing now.

The Type 64 rifle is known as the "kind gun" and the "sissy pistol" because of its low power and the fact that "four shots cannot bring down a criminal". However, it is still a gun after all. As soon as I hold it in my hand, I feel an inexplicable sense of security.

Wang Min made a few gestures at the entrance of Cave No. 3, and after receiving the secret signal, the three of them crawled in through the entrance.

(End of this chapter)