1978: A Literary Giant Who Began His Military Service

Chapter 125 The Old Commander Also Loves Hot Pot (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

"It would be great if it could be adapted into a movie. Do I need to be involved in the script?"

Making movies is not only a good thing, it's a great thing!

Compared to the combined text, images, and audio of movies and TV series, the dissemination of information solely through text is clearly very limited.

Movies can be understood by those who cannot read, but novels may not be so easy to understand. That's why the movie "Garland at the Foot of the Mountain" became more famous than the novel in later generations.

Zhou Xu's job as a creative writer was to promote arts and culture within the military. The greater the reach of the film, the more credit he deserves.

Upon hearing Zhou Xu's statement, Xie Jin asked in surprise, "Can you write screenplays?"

"Of course, when I was in the cultural troupe, I often discussed scripts with Comrade Bai Hua. We were planning to start writing one, but we were always delayed because of the novel project," Zhou Xu said.

Bai Hua was also quite well-known in literary circles. In his later years, he even went to Shanghai to serve as the vice chairman of the Writers Association. People who could hold such a position were basically famous writers.

"Oh! You studied under Bai Hua! I've heard of Comrade Bai Hua before, and I quite believe in his abilities."

At this point, Xie Jin asked, "You really write screenplays?"

Zhou Xu nodded: "I really will write it!"

A typical film script, which is around two hours long, requires about 20,000 to 30,000 words.

长故事片每部 1500元附近，根据其他文艺形式改编的电影文学剧本稿酬（包括舞台艺术片）按照上述标准的 20%-30%付原作者，50%-89%付改编者。

Because in this era, anything even remotely related to TV dramas can make money.

To give another example, the fee for composing a piece of music is generally ten yuan. Yes, that's all the magazines pay. But if you're composing music for a movie, it can be hundreds or thousands of yuan!

So, whether in later generations or now, we see the phenomenon of bad movies being paired with amazing songs, because providing music for these movies is really profitable.

In any case, any profession related to movies and TV series is extremely profitable.

Zhou Xu was also happy to make money: "You know, with so much royalties, it hurts so much when other screenwriters take away a few hundred yuan from it. My heart is bleeding... It hurts so much."

"..." Xie Jin passed by speechlessly. Wait, is this guy really a military writer?

Shouldn't military writers all have that spirit of selfless dedication?
"Alright, but Comrade Zhou Xu, could you please give me a draft of a thousand words first so I can take a look..."

Zhou Xu was stunned for a moment... Who makes demands before paying?
"What about the royalties?"

"Well, the guaranteed fee is two hundred yuan in copyright fees, but... we'll have to see what kind of script you write before we can consider it!"

Zhou Xu had never written a script, so there was no guarantee whatsoever, and Xie Jin wasn't stupid enough to give him money.

Zhou Xu had no choice but to agree.

He also directed the later film "Garland at the Foot of the Mountain," so it was safe to say that he was the one who made the film.

……

He went to the street and secretly bought some food: chili sauce, beef, mutton, a copper pot... It seems he bought too much.

They quickly walked through the school gate.

I just entered the house.

Song Zhipeng walked around him once: "You smell so good! Did you walk around with a girl?"

"...Where did this younger sister come from? Is your lover in Nanjing?" Yu Wenyong also started gossiping.

Zhou Xu recalled that Yao Fanghua did indeed smell very fragrant. If he had to describe it, it was similar to the smell of soap, but she also had a perfume scent that he had never smelled before, which was a very nice fragrance.

“A friend of mine caught a thief at the train station last time, and then she treated me to dinner.”

"..."

The group gossiped for a while.

Zhou Xu lay on the table and started working on the script.

Yu Wenyong, who was studying military theory in a book, watched Zhou Xulong write with great enthusiasm and curiously leaned over: "What are you writing?"

"It's a script I wrote; a film studio approached me to commission it!" Zhou Xu said jokingly, rubbing his head.

"A script? The novel is being adapted into a movie? That's amazing." Yu Wenyong felt a bit crude and couldn't compare to this young literary genius.

"There will be a spot check on military theory tomorrow. Are you sure you're okay without memorizing it?" Yu Wenyong asked.

"No problem, I wrote it down during class." Zhou Xu nodded.

"Huh? You have such a bad memory?"

Zhou Xu smiled. He found it relatively easy to learn, perhaps because he was frequently exposed to all sorts of different languages.

Ye Huawei coughed and said, "Alright, don't disturb them. They're busy creating!"

Old Ye was the highest-ranking person in this group, and he was also the dormitory head, so he was similar to a squad leader in a company.

Yu Wenyong then stopped being curious.

Zhou Xu continued creating.

……

the next day.

Zhou Xu took the manuscript to the door.

Xie Jin went into the reception room to discuss the manuscript with him!
The two sat facing each other, Xie Jin frowning as he read a novel.

Zhou Xu asked, "Director Xie, what do you think?"

Actually, the script is quite boring. The novel has the author's distinct writing style, whether it's satire or humor... but the script is—

Military academy, morning meeting room
Zhou Xu: Are you done?

Xie Jin (rubbing his hair): Very good. There are a few minor changes, but even those changes have their own charm! Write it this way!

Therefore, the scripts are all monotonous and boring.

After listening, Zhou Xu immediately asked, "About the royalties?"

Xie Jin said, "A normal long novel costs eight hundred yuan? How about I round it up for you? Let's say one thousand?"

"Thank you, Director Xie!"

When can the manuscript be submitted?

Zhou Xu pondered, "Within these two months?"

"I am waiting for you."

……

Time flies, and autumn has arrived.

Autumn in Nanjing is hidden among the plane tree leaves; the tree-lined paths of Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum are carpeted in gold, rustling softly underfoot. The waters of Xuanwu Lake are infused with the fragrance of osmanthus; a gentle breeze carries the sweet scent throughout the city. Maple leaves fall on the gray tiles of Laomendong.

Everything looks pleasant. Zhou Xu quite likes Nanjing; if the frontline song and dance troupe offered him the position of political commissar, he would go directly there.

Yu Wenyong is from Chengdu. Whenever the weather gets cooler, he rubs his palms together and asks, "It's so cold. I wish we could have hot pot."

Zhou Xu, who was writing a book, looked over with wide eyes when he heard the word "hot pot": "Wow? You can really eat hot pot!"

So he pulled a copper pot out from under his bed.

Yu Wenyong exclaimed excitedly, "What the hell? Where did this pot come from?"

"Isn't this what I brought with me when I went out last time? You all know I can't stay idle!" Zhou Xu glanced at the top leader: "Old Ye?"

Ye Huawei glanced at the four of them, then put away the notebook in his hand: "Go ahead and eat, I don't care about anything! Isn't this a common occurrence in the company?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Wenyong gave a thumbs up.

"Hiss? No chili peppers?"

Zhou Xu took out a bag of hot pot base from under his table. It was a type of hot pot base made from beef tallow and naturally fermented, and it was not very common on the market... You want to know where he got it?

This is a letter from a reader.

The things readers sent were all sorts of things.

"what about others?"

Zhou Xu took out beef, mutton... "Not enough?"

Yu Wenyong said, "Shall I go to the cafeteria to borrow some noodles?"

"Then can I borrow some vegetarian dishes?"

Ye Huawei sat there, put down his notebook, and looked at the group. "The way you guys are doing this makes me, as the leader, feel so awkward!"

He said, "Alright then, I'll go borrow an alcohol stove!"

How do we find this?

"It should be easy to find, I have a lot of friends!" Ye Huawei said.

Tsk!
Are they all second-generation?

For example, neither I nor Yu Wenyong are second-generation rich kids. It's just that there are quite a few second-generation rich kids in the school, and most of them know each other.

soon.

Yu Wenyong returned with the items.

Ye Huawei was smoking a cigarette and carrying a small alcohol stove.

The group entered the house and locked the door.

Turn on the fire and boil the water, add the butter base, bring it to a boil... then start adding various slices of beef and rolls of lamb.

It has to be said that hot pot is really easy to make, delicious and not troublesome. All you need is a pot, no wonder a group of soldiers in the army like to secretly cook it.

Song Zhipeng picked up a piece of meat with his chopsticks.

"Not cooked! Not cooked!!!" Yu Wenyong shouted.

"I don't care!" Song Zhipeng slurped down the meat in one go: "Don't we eat enough raw meat during training? This bite is no problem!"

"..."

Yu Wenyong was patient.

As for Ye Huawei, he was just hanging out with a group of people, so he waited leisurely and wasn't in a hurry at all. Zhou Xu looked at Ye Huawei.

He asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Old Ye, you have a great presence. I'd like to learn how to act like a military officer!" Zhou Xu said frankly.

Why do people who graduate from military academies all look so arrogant and cocky?
Since everyone was a military officer, they all picked up some of his demeanor through observation and interaction.

“…” Yu Wenyong complained, “What’s the point of learning this? You can’t even learn a fraction of the official demeanor. But when you become a leader, you can have this kind of temperament in the future.”

Ye Huawei shrugged and said, "Well, I can teach you. First, keep your back straight and look people straight in the eye, but raise your head slightly! Give people a sense of authority without being angry."

"Oh……"

Zhou Xu studied for a while.

"Company Commander Song, eat slowly, there's more!"

Zhou Xu took out seven or eight pounds of beef from his box...

"Where did you get this beef from?"

Zhou Xu told the truth: "It was sent by a reader's letter!"

"Wait, how come it has everything?" Yu Wenyong facepalmed, looking like Doraemon. Although he didn't know what Doraemon was, he wanted to complain!
"Oh dear, is it strange that I have readers from Chongqing and Inner Mongolia?" Zhou Xu sliced ​​the beef, quickly putting it into the pan with a clatter since he had brought a small knife with him.

"By the way, here's some antidiarrheal powder. After you've finished eating, Company Commander Song, why don't you drink some powder? I'm worried you might get diarrhea in the middle of the night."

Eat for a while.

Seeing that the meat was almost gone, Yu Wenyong threw a handful of noodles into the pot.

in fact.

Dried noodles are a common food in the Sichuan and Chongqing areas, right? After all, dried noodles easily absorb soup base, while northerners eat more hand-pulled noodles... Of course, that's not always the case.

In the Sichuan and Chongqing region, the highest praise for a pot of soup is: "Save it to cook noodles for tomorrow morning."

Yu Wenyong put the noodles in, and they started to boil.

"If you like them firm, they're almost done; if you like them soft, wait a little longer!"

Zhou Xu prefers slightly firm noodles because they're chewy and satisfying, while soft noodles are easier to slurp up...

Each person ate a bowl.

Ye Huawei exclaimed, "It's actually quite fun! I've never eaten these with anyone before!"

"You've never been in the army? Bah!" Yu Wenyong bluntly stated.

Ye Huawei shook his head: "I graduated from military academy and became a deputy company commander right after graduation. I've been doing that job ever since, and I've never even been to a normal recruit dormitory!"

"..."

Yu Wenyong asked unnecessary questions; this is how it is for the second generation.

"But the taste is good. When I go to the company, I'll punish them less and turn a blind eye," Ye Huawei sighed.

"Tsk! Oh, I didn't expect we'd rescued some comrades too."

(End of this chapter)