Writer 1978: I Need to Give the Literary World a Lesson

Chapter 295 Arriving at the front line
The journey from Beijing to Yunnan Province was a tedious one. To keep everyone entertained, Wang Yan and Li Jun would occasionally organize activities in the carriage to liven things up.

The entire crew sat in a hard-seat carriage, and after a while, their buttocks ached terribly.

However, unlike the passengers in other carriages, no one crawled under the seats to sleep; after all, everyone considered themselves respectable people.

The production crew provided Liu Yimin with a special hard sleeper berth, but lying down for a long time was uncomfortable. Zhu Lin, as an actress, could only sit in a hard seat.

Liu Yimin asked her to rest in a hard sleeper berth, but she stubbornly refused, afraid that others would say she was seeking special treatment.

"Comrades, if you have any special skills, stand up and show them off!" Wang Yan said with a smile, standing up and secretly moving his buttocks where no one could see him.

Because they lost the game, Feng Xiaogang and Chen Peisi's faces were covered with strips of old newspaper. When they heard Wang Yan's words, they shoved the strips away with both hands, making them look like emperors removing the tassels from their crowns.

“I’ll do it, I’ll do it!” Feng Xiaogang also stood up and said enthusiastically.

"This is cheating! This is wrong!" Zhu Shimao said with dissatisfaction.

"I'm from the military, and I'll sing you a military song!"

Before Wang Yan could nod, Feng Xiaogang started singing inside the carriage. Standing in the aisle, he gestured with his hands as he sang.

Yu Guang kept an eye on the actresses playing the nurses. Seeing their expressionless faces and their occasional glances out the window, he felt a pang of disappointment.

After hurriedly finishing his song, he plopped down in a chair.

Then many more people stood up to sing, and Zhu Lin pulled Liu Yimin to sing a duet of "Our Life is Full of Sunshine".

Oh, my dear, let's move forward hand in hand ....

Our lives are full of sunshine.

...]

After the song ended, the entire carriage was filled with laughter and joy.

Feng Xiaogang stood up and said loudly, "Well sung! Comrade Liu Yimin and Comrade Zhu Lin's duet has shown me what true love is. Their affection is something we are all extremely envious of."

Zhu Shimao and Chen Peisi also offered a few words of praise, which amused the entire carriage.

Zhang Fengyi was so anxious that beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. He wanted to slap his head and yell at his brainless brain, "Think faster!"

After thinking for a long time, he stretched his neck and said, "I think so too!"

The train police and attendants stood at the connection between the carriages, pretending to be busy, watching the theatrical performance.

After a while, the train conductor came over, followed by several attendants in blue uniforms.

The train conductor whispered a few words to Li Jun, then turned his gaze to Liu Yimin. The next moment, he walked over with a smile: "Comrade Liu Yimin, right? Our entire crew is very happy to see you on this train!"
We've read all your novels, and we especially love "Triumph at Midnight." On this train, we met many parents of martyrs; some of their children were not even twenty years old.

The train conductor held Liu Yimin's hand tightly, their palms both sweaty, unwilling to let go.

Several train attendants smiled and thanked Liu Yimin for bringing them the excellent novel. Among them was a female announcer wearing a "broadcaster" badge, who invited the crew to participate in the broadcast, bringing joy to all the passengers on the train.

Zhu Lin also went there in high spirits and sang a few songs for everyone.

The other passengers were still wondering what was wrong with the broadcasting station today, with one surprise after another.

After Zhu Lin left, Zhang Fengyi moved to Liu Yimin's side at some point and gave him a simple, honest smile.

"Comrade Liu Yimin, I'm sorry, I wanted to attend your wedding with Comrade Zhu Lin, but I didn't know the location!" Zhang Fengyi said in a low voice.

Liu Yimin glanced at the flustered Zhang Fengyi and joked, "It's alright, I don't hold grudges!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Fengyi felt a sense of relief. This matter had been weighing on his mind for several days. On his day off, he happily went to visit his college classmates.

When I returned to the crew's dormitory in the afternoon, I saw Feng Xiaogang, Zhu Shimao, and Chen Peisi, all of whom were drunk.

The three men kept talking about the wedding scene, and then Liu Yimin said to Feng Xiaogang, holding his hand, "He said Lin Dalin's acting is bad, and Xiaogang can replace him."

Zhang Fengyi was furious when he found out that the three of them had gone. He thought to himself, "Those three are so cunning and always bullying honest people!"
"Comrade Liu Yimin, want to play a few rounds?" Feng Xiaogang shouted over, his eyes fixed on Zhang Fengyi, trying to see something different in Zhang Fengyi's expression.

Bored, Liu Yimin sat down and took over Feng Xiaogang's seat. He played a couple of hands and won every time, narrowly escaping defeat with seemingly hopeless hands.

"Comrade Yimin's card-playing skills are truly amazing!" Chen Peisi said with a grin.

Looking at Liu Yimin's cards, Feng Xiaogang laughed and said, "Hey, this hand is going to leave you with nowhere to run!"

Zhang Fengyi was also advising from the sidelines, and he had a feeling that this was not a team that could win.

However, ten minutes later, Liu Yimin's last four was taken away by Chen Peisi's three.

After Zhu Lin returned, Liu Yimin felt there was no challenge and stopped playing.

Zhang Fengyi secretly picked up Chen Peisi's cards, glanced at them, and saw that there were three threes, so why were they played alone?

That night, Zhang Fengyi suddenly opened his eyes. This wasn't a game of cards at all; it was all about human relationships and social interactions!

When Liu Yimin woke up in the morning, he walked to the film crew's vehicle and asked Li Jun, "Director Li, where are we?"

“Xuzhou!” Li Jun said.

Wang Yan said with a smile, "It took us a whole day and night to get to Xuzhou!"

“I’ve been here before when I was filming the War of Liberation!” Li Jun pointed to the faintly visible urban area in the distance: “Xuzhou has been the site of more than fifty large-scale battles throughout history. On this ancient battlefield, the rise and fall of countless dynasties were determined. It was also here that we completely buried the elite troops that Bald Head had built on the Central Plains and East China battlefields.”

"Back then, Xiang Yu met his end not far from here!" Wang Yan said with emotion.

"Victory won by the people pushing their wheelbarrows!"

Li Jun thought for a moment, shook off his drowsiness, and smiled at Liu Yimin. Just as he was about to speak, he glanced at Wang Yan out of the corner of his eye and swallowed his words.

This Wang Yan is from the Beijing Film Studio!
When the two were alone together, Li Jun whispered to Liu Yimin, "We just walked past the site of the Huaihai Campaign, and I have a strong desire in my heart. Do you know what it is?"

"What? You want to film the Huaihai Campaign?" Liu Yimin asked casually.

Li Jun was taken aback: "How did you know?"

"I'm guessing. Director Li, I know you too well, and I know the August First Film Studio too well. After all, shooting military-themed works is the mission of the August First Film Studio."

"Only the people truly understand me! If the opportunity arises, I hope you will write the script!" "The Great Battle" was originally directed by Li Jun in the 90s, but the August First Film Studio had wanted to make it for a long time. However, due to funding issues, it had never officially begun.

"Hahaha, Director Li, I'm waiting!" Liu Yimin said with a laugh. He couldn't help but feel excited; he really wanted to be the screenwriter for "The Great Battle."

The filming of "The Great Battle" involved more than 800 of the more than 1,000 employees of the August First Film Studio, including more than 3 million personnel from the army, navy, and air force. The filming locations spanned 13 provinces.

The cost involved reached 7 million yuan. This was far beyond the capacity of the August First Film Studio, and even several film studios combined could not afford it; a special fund was absolutely necessary.

"We'll all wait!" Li Jun coughed as soon as he saw Wang Yan approaching and then fell silent.

These two brothers share a deep bond of blood, but also harbor over eight hundred ulterior motives.

The train continued south, and the crew, wanting the actors to have a chance to relax, would always notify the crew members at major stations to wait at the entrance and walk around the platform while getting on and off the train.

Because this train carriage was reserved for their film crew, getting on and off was much more convenient than through other doors.

The cast and crew jokingly call this time period "fresh air"!
On June 5th, after a transfer, the crew finally arrived at Wenshan, one of their destinations.

Liu Yimin and Zhu Lin sat shoulder to shoulder in the back of the truck, which was a military vehicle sent by the army to pick them up.

There is no train service in Wenshan, so the local transport unit had to pick them up from the nearest train station.

During the filming, these five large trucks will follow them, with a jeep leading the way.

Li Jun and Wang Yan originally intended for him to ride in the jeep, but Liu Yimin, seeing that their buttocks were already stiff as iron plates, let them sit there instead.

Arriving in Wenshan means arriving at the border. It's completely different from Yanjing, with a desolate and fierce scene of war and battle.

Every now and then, you can see military vehicles and tanks carrying soldiers heading towards the border, and at the same time, you can also see jeeps carrying messages running back and forth.

“Teacher Liu, seeing this scene, I finally understand what it means to travel thousands of miles to the battlefield and cross mountains and passes as if flying!” Zhu Lin said in a low voice.

The soldiers were worried about the bumpy ride, so they drove very slowly. But the other troop carriers drove faster and faster.

Their destination was a military camp in Wenshan, where a border defense regiment was located.

"Hey, are you from the cultural troupe?" A head popped out of a military vehicle, looking at their snail-paced convoy, and called out curiously.

Before they could even reply, the car had already pulled away.

After an hour's drive, the car finally arrived at its destination.

Zhu Lin jumped out of the car first, then reached out to help Liu Yimin. Liu Yimin, not to be outdone, jumped out himself and whispered to Zhu Lin, "Don't I have any dignity?"

Zhu Lin chuckled: "Then next time, let Teacher Liu help me. I don't care about saving face!"

The actors in the film crew curiously kicked at the red soil beneath their feet, marveling at how the soil here was red.

Before they could even line up after getting off the bus, a group of people emerged from a nearby low building and loudly asked, "Which one of you is Comrade Liu Yimin?"

“I am!” Liu Yimin stepped forward and said.

"Hey, I'm from the 231st Regiment, Commander Chen Damin. Just call me Chen Damin. We're both civilians, so if you need anything, just come to me!"

"I am Political Commissar Lin Youhua. If Old Chen isn't here, you can find me!"

Liu Yimin shook hands with the two men and said with a smile, "Thank you, Commander Chen and Political Commissar Lin!"

Political Commissar Lin was rather thin, with a mole between his eyebrows, suggesting a background in political work. Regiment Commander Chen had a square face, thick eyebrows, and large eyes; his voice made the air around him hum.

"You're too kind! We've been looking forward to your visit for a long time!" Commander Chen said with a smile. "Thank you for writing such a wonderful novel for us. All the comrades miss you. My old friends are all so envious of you when they find out you've come from my 231st Regiment!"

"Comrades are all waiting for you!" Political Commissar Lin said.

"Commander Chen, Political Commissar Lin, this is Director Li Jun, and this is Director Wang Yan!"

Li Jun and Wang Yan reached out their hands to express their gratitude for their cooperation.

"You're welcome, you're welcome. The military should help you film your movie. Our division commander said that he will only nod and do your thing, he will never refuse!"

When Commander Chen spoke, he had a Sichuan accent, but it wasn't strong.

In Wenshan in June and July, the weather is hot, and you can hardly breathe when you get out of the stuffy truck.

Political Commissar Lin quickly ushered everyone into the building and had well water drawn up for them to wash their faces. The border defense regiment's logistics department distributed heatstroke prevention supplies such as Ren Dan (a traditional Chinese medicine) and cooling oil to everyone.

Many soldiers in the barracks watched the film crew excitedly through the windows. Some held up copies of "Triumph at Midnight" and speculated about who Liu Yimin was.

The actors in the film crew lived in an empty two-story barracks. Wang Yan arranged for Liu Yimin and Zhu Lin to share a room. Apart from the director and Liu Yimin, who had double rooms, everyone else slept in a large dormitory.

After entering the room and making the bed, Zhu Lin lay down on it, pounding his buttocks, and said, "You really think it's made of iron!"

"Here, let me rub it for you!" Liu Yimin said with a smile, wiping his face with a towel.

Before he could knead it a few times, a shout rang out from below: "Comrades from the film crew, after you've finished tidying up, come to the canteen for lunch! The cooks have prepared big meat buns for everyone, each bite bursting with juicy goodness!"

"Let's go and eat!"

Liu Yimin and Zhu Lin followed Commander Chen to the army's mess hall, a simple brick and wood structure with rows of rectangular wooden planks placed in the middle as dining tables.

"Comrade Liu Yimin, our troops are simple and cannot compare to those in Beijing, but if you want to eat anything, just tell the cooks!" Political Commissar Lin pointed to several cooks who were busy at work.

While they were busy, the group secretly glanced at Liu Yimin, trying to guess who he was.

Border troops receive a meal allowance during wartime. In addition, the film crew received extra funding for their meals. The food wasn't particularly good, but it wasn't bad either.

After the meal, Commander Lin explained the precautions to everyone: "Comrades, we are close to the battlefield, but also relatively far away. Enemy agents generally won't come here, but you still need to be careful."

You must report before leaving the camp. When you go out to film, we will be accompanied by soldiers from the guard company.

In addition, although enemy aircraft will not enter our airspace, they will still conduct reconnaissance in the vicinity. Everyone should pay attention to air raid sirens, don't panic, but don't ignore them either; after all, it's not impossible for the enemy to bark and then jump over the wall.

The ground forces fought fiercely, and both sides also deployed their air forces, but these were mostly for reconnaissance and no air combat occurred.

(End of this chapter)