1978: A Literary Giant Who Began His Military Service

Chapter 126 We're no exception here... I'd love to (Seeking monthly votes)
In November, the PLA Literature and Art Publishing House finally sent Zhou Xu his royalties.

He looked at the letter. In the past six months, the sales of the single volume of "Wreath at the Foot of the Mountain" were about 500,000 copies!
Selling 500,000 copies in six months is an excellent achievement. Even top authors achieve this level of success. For many authors, selling more than 50,000 copies of a single volume is considered a good result.

Of course, 500,000 copies is also a good amount of royalties.

The first 50,000 copies will receive 3% of the basic royalties, the next 50,000 copies will receive 2%, and the remaining copies will only receive 1%.

The total comes to six thousand three hundred and seventy-five yuan!
Adding to the three thousand yuan in savings Zhou Xu originally had... he has finally broken through the ten thousand yuan mark and become a "ten-thousand-yuan household" (a term for someone with ten thousand yuan in savings). He can now go to the capital to buy a two-courtyard house and marry four concubines!

Pooh.

The person with ten thousand yuan put the postage into their bag, wondering what they could buy with it.

Another shout came from outside the door:
"Comrade Zhou Xu, someone is looking for you in the reception room."

Hearing this, Zhou Xu had no choice but to follow him out the door.

Sitting in the reception room was a woman around thirty years old. She had short hair and was wearing a Lenin suit. She looked quite mature and composed.

Zhou Xu had no choice but to walk over and ask, "Hey? Did you call me?"

There are many people he doesn't know.

Li Xiaolin extended her hand: "Hello, let me introduce myself first! My name is Li Xiaolin, and I am also the editor of 'The Boy in Striped Pajamas'! You probably know me more as Ba Jin's daughter."

Hearing this, Zhou Xu smiled knowingly.

There's no way around it; it's like when Chen Xiaoxu was doing commercials, everyone called her Lin Daiyu. Many people also feel that Lu Xun's grandson must also smoke and write!
Li Xiaolin's life has been inseparable from the label of "Ba Jin's daughter." If you open Baidu Encyclopedia, the first result is "editor-in-chief," and the second result is "Ba Jin's daughter."
Zhou Xu quickly followed up with, "Hello, hello!"

“I happen to be working around here these days, and I was thinking of coming to Nanjing to see you!” Li Xiaolin handed over her business card and a letter: “This letter was written by my father!”

"Oh! Thank you, thank you." Zhou Xu took the envelope and put it away without opening it.

A letter handwritten by Ba Jin? That's quite impressive!

However, Ba Jin was always in good health, and compared to other elderly people, he wrote quite a lot. In the 1980s, he wrote a number of essays, which were collected into a collection called "Random Thoughts".

"Hehe." Li Xiaolin chuckled lightly. Young writers all showed such respect to those older folks. She continued, "What are you doing? Studying and pursuing further education?"

"Yes, he was admitted to the Army Academy through a special admission program."

"That's amazing! I heard you went to the front lines?" Li Xiaolin asked.

"Not entirely, it's just that I was fighting the enemy in the front-line hospital..." Zhou Xu took a sip of tea.

"Oh!" Li Xiaolin had also served in the military. From 69 to 72, Li Xiaolin served as a soldier in the 23rd Surveying and Mapping Brigade of the General Staff Department, so she admired Zhou Xu quite a bit, and exclaimed:
"No wonder I think you stand out so much among this new generation of military writers! You must be one of the few writers with frontline experience, right?"

"This experience has indeed been helpful to my writing," Zhou Xu replied.

Li Xiaolin looked at Zhou Xu: "The last book, 'The Boy in Striped Pajamas,' sold quite well, over a million copies. Although it wasn't as good as 'Lurking,' it received high praise from the literary world! Look at this!"

Li Xiaolin took out a magazine, which was Zhou Xu's "enemy," *People's Literature*, and contained a literary review by Yan Gang.

"In his review, Yan Gang said that this novel is an excellent work that exposes the atrocities of Japanese aggression! It is rare among military novels of the 1970s and 80s, observing the war from a child's perspective with meticulous detail..."

Li Xiaolin said, "Comrade Yan Gang is an editor of People's Literature and a well-known literary critic in the industry. He highly praised your 'The Boy in Striped Pajamas'!"

"Oh!" Zhou Xu nodded. He had heard of Yan Gang before, and believed that he could be on par with Feng Mu in the later stages.

"So, Comrade Zhou Xu, your works are all excellent. I'm thinking of commissioning another article from you! Do you have any ideas lately?" Li Xiaolin asked with a smile.

"However, the People's Liberation Army Literature and Art magazine sent me a letter asking me to contribute an article."

Li Xiaolin laughed and said, "A letter of invitation to write? Comrade Zhou Xu, I came to pick up the manuscript in person, which shows much more sincerity than theirs. When it comes to inviting manuscripts, sincerity is what matters!"

Besides, she already gave him the "letter from Ba Jin," so she couldn't possibly let the manuscript get away, could she?
Zhou Xu nodded: "Then let me tell you my thoughts first?"

"Ok!"

Zhou Xu said, "The last time I wrote 'The Boy in Striped Pajamas' was after I finished reading 'Little Soldier Zhang Ga.' I was thinking about whether I could write a story about war from a child's perspective. Later, I saw some historical materials about Unit 731, so I combined them."

I stayed in Nanjing for a long time this time. It's a beautiful city, but I actually know that there are very few locals in Nanjing, which is related to the history of the massacre..."

Zhou Xu and Li Xiaolin talked for a long time.

-

Outside.

The director of the political department, whose surname is also Ding, used to be the political commissar of a division!
Director Ding walked with a fiery air, his clothes rustling as he passed the reception room... Director Ding paused for a moment.

The correspondent immediately stopped, holding the documents in his hand, and asked, "What's wrong, Director?" The director of the political department is the head of the political organ, subordinate to the political commissar, and is responsible for specific political work such as organization, propaganda, cadres, and security.

He can manage almost anything, big or small, in life if he wants to!

"Who is this person?" Director Ding stopped and looked through the window at Zhou Xu inside.

"He came from the Wuhan Military Region for further training!" The communications officer quickly confirmed Zhou Xu's identity, as he was an arts and culture soldier and very young, making him easy to identify.

"Wuhan Military Region? No, I'll have to give this soldier a good talking to later. Why do I see this guy coming to the reception room every day? I've seen him several times already! How much does he miss his family?! What kind of soldier is this?!"

Director Ding could accept normal family visits, but he also hated it when it came to visiting family all the time. He couldn't understand how soldiers who couldn't let go of any feelings could shoulder great responsibilities!
"Give me his information?"

The correspondent quickly pulled a piece of paper from his bag, which was filled with Zhou Xu's personal information in great detail.

"here!"

Director Ding looked at Zhou Xu's file: "First-class merit in the counterattack against Vietnam, first-class combat hero?... That can't be right. He killed so many enemies, how could he be such a coward?"

After glancing at Zhou Xu's file, Director Ding headed towards his office.

"He seems to be a member of the cultural troupe?" the communications officer replied.

“What’s wrong with the cultural troupe?” Director Ding replied, “Even cultural troupe members can’t do this! What kind of behavior is it to stay in the reception room all day long! Whispering to this person and whining to that person too.”

"..."

The correspondent replied, "Well... Comrade Zhou Xu filled out forms when he went to the meeting room, and he only met with people from the editorial department..."

"Editorial departments?" Director Ding sat down in his office. "Where did all these editorial departments come from? Who was that just now?"

The correspondent started searching through the documents again; every visit to the meeting room required filling out some personal information: "That person just now, she's an editor from *Harvest* magazine! She said she came to ask Comrade Zhou Xu for an article!"

"This... Harvest. The magazine published by Comrade Ba Jin?" Harvest is relatively close to Nanjing. Director Ding had heard of it and thought it was quite impressive.

"Yes, it's from Professor Ba Jin. Comrade Zhou Xu even published an article called 'The Boy in Striped Pajamas' in Harvest last time, which received praise from the old political commissar!" The correspondent spoke of Zhou Xu with a face full of envy and admiration.

"Ahem... Didn't the political commissar mention his work style? He's always either out or in the meeting room? I've approved his outing applications several times already!" Director Ding took a sip of tea and asked slowly.

The correspondent immediately said, "The old political commissar said that Comrade Zhou Xu was an exception. He came here to learn political work, which was only an auxiliary task. Creativity was his greatest strength."

“Exceptions? How could the old political commissar say that! There can be no exceptions in our military academy, and there can never be any exceptions!!!” Director Ding shook his head, his tone somewhat indignant.

"Director, please don't be angry. Comrade Zhou Xu was just busy doing propaganda for the army. He wasn't being unreasonable, was he?"

Director Ding nodded in agreement. He simply disliked this style of work, but he could understand Zhou Xu's behavior.

"Tell me, what works did he write?"

The correspondent, who frequently reads Zhou Xu's works, perked up upon hearing this: "The Battle at Lake Changjin, Lurking, and Garland at the Foot of the Mountain are all his works. Last time, Director Xie Jin also visited Mr. Zhou Xu in the reception room, saying he wanted to adapt his works into films..."

"He wrote 'Wreath at the Foot of the Mountain'?" Director Ding was taken aback.

After all, people who don't pay attention to literature rarely notice these authors; they just finish reading the novel and that's it.

"Yes, he's also a composer and lyricist. 'The Song of a Strong Army' and 'When That Day Comes' were both written by Comrade Zhou Xu?"

"Hiss~" Upon hearing this, Director Ding gasped, "No wonder he was promoted to deputy battalion commander despite not meeting the usual requirements..."

The correspondent, with a kind and understanding expression, said, "I really admire Teacher Zhou Xu. He can steadily carry out his studies and work while completing his literary and artistic works!"

"Cough cough cough!!!" Director Ding coughed.

The correspondent then realized he had overpraised the reporter.

"Well, it turns out it's related to his work! Well... this exception can be made!" Director Ding coughed and said, blushing.

Just moments ago, Director Ding was criticizing Zhou Xu's work style, but after listening to Zhou Xu's work, he seemed to understand this very busy man.

After all, the songs he sang every day before meals, such as "The Song of a Strong Army" and "When That Day Comes," were both works by Zhou Xu.

That was truly a strange feeling. He also felt a bit of admiration for Zhou Xu's talent.

The correspondent asked, "Should we still notify him to come here?"

"What a load of rubbish! If the old political commissar finds out, he'll think I'm hindering someone's creative work! Let's just turn a blind eye!" Director Ding complained.

(End of this chapter)