1978: A Literary Giant Who Began His Military Service

Chapter 24: We need people, but what kind of people?

Another period of turbulence followed.

Soldier King Zhou Xu finally returned to his original recruit company.

It only snows in Jiangcheng in mid-January each year, and there is no snow at other times, so Zhou Xu did not feel cold at all after getting off the train.

Doorway.

The clerk was waiting for a jeep to stop.

The tall man kept getting off the car and unpacking his luggage. After tidying up, Zhou Xu saluted the clerk and the instructor.

"It's good to be back!"

"Clerk, instructor!"

The instructor nodded and said, "I was the one who approved your leave slip when you left the company last time! I just didn't get a chance to see you! The company has gained a talented person!"

In the 1960s and 70s, talent was indeed highly valued, especially since many people at that time could only read a little. If your writing was even slightly better, you would be highly valued.

They could all potentially enter administrative positions, clerical positions, or performing arts troupes.

Why mention the talented person who was transferred to revise manuscripts as soon as he arrived at the company!

Wang Shuo's submissions were rejected several times back then.

"Instructor, Clerk, these are some local specialties I bought in the capital, for you!" Zhou Xu took out a jar of dried fruit from his bag and handed it to the two of them.

"No, no!" Zhao Xin quickly waved his hand in refusal.

The instructor also said, "Not now, this is..."

“It’s not a matter of conduct. I brought them for all the comrades in the company…” Zhou Xu said sensibly.

Without saying a word, the two accepted a jar of dried fruit from the capital and took it back to their wives and children. Their families were happy for days!
The instructor asked, "Are these things expensive?"

It's only five yuan, but Zhou Xu is very rich now, with seven or eight hundred yuan in savings. He's willing to spend a few dozen yuan to build connections.

"It's not much, just a few dollars. I just received my royalties! I want my writer to help me send some money back to my parents!" Zhou Xu said slowly.

"how much is it?"

"It's only a hundred yuan," Zhou Xu said.

Sending too much is not good. Not only will the parents find it difficult to accept, but there's also the possibility that someone might embezzle the money.

"Have you sent all the royalties back?"

Zhou Xu said, "I kept a few dozen yuan for myself. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to keep the rest, so I sent it back to my parents to save for me to find a wife!"

The instructor found it amusing; "You're such a simple, honest kid from the countryside. With grades like yours, you could pick and choose a wife even if you went to the performing arts troupe!"

"...You mean..." Zhou Xu scratched his head.

"Alright, let's go back to the company first!"

The instructor and the clerk exchanged a glance and led Zhou Xu toward the company dormitory.

After all, talented people are valued.

While walking.

The instructor, holding the dried fruit in his hand, was in a good mood. He turned his head and saw Zhou Xu, feeling he needed to offer a few words of advice:
"Comrade Zhou Xu, are you familiar with military academies?"

"Yes, our People's Liberation Army has an arts academy. I've heard about it at a magazine."

"Not only the arts academy, but also the military academy... Generally speaking, grassroots soldiers need to have extremely outstanding performance to be admitted, such as first or second place in a skills competition... If you get a third-class merit as a recruit and have good writing skills, and you perform well in your unit after basic training, our military region still has quite a few openings."

The instructor offered a few pointers.

Zhou Xu immediately replied, "I understand, thank you, instructor."

"Hey! We're almost at the dorm, gotta go."

The three of them wisely stopped discussing the topic.

……

I entered the dormitory.

Upon seeing Zhou Xu, Liu Xiang exclaimed, "Wow! Brother Xu is back!"

Now, Zhou Xu's story has spread throughout the recruit company; he's practically a legendary figure. "Hey, keep your voice down!"

"Pah! Brother Xu, please come in."

"Instructor, clerk!" The group saw the leaders behind them.

The instructor waved his hand: "You guys continue, I'll talk to you later!"

As Zhou Xu entered the room, the first thing he smelled was a strong stench of sweat and foot odor. After all, back in the capital, he at least had a single room and a sister from the performing arts troupe to take care of him, but here he could only live in a mixed dormitory.

Hey!
It's hard to go from extravagance to frugality!

Upon hearing this, Zhou Youcai and the others rushed over to help Zhou Xu with his luggage.
"Brother Xu, you're back so soon!"

"They said the manuscript would be published after a month of revisions, so I came back. Besides, I was the one revising the manuscript; my workplace hasn't changed!"

"Brother Xu, here's your bed."

"What does the capital city actually look like? I've heard it's full of skyscrapers!"

"Are there a lot of girls in the capital? You can see them showing off their legs on the street."

"How naive! You think this is America?"

Zhou Xu waved his hand and said, "Wait a minute, everyone, I still have things in my luggage!"

As the saying goes, a year in the military forges a lifetime of military service. Although Zhou Xu has only been in the military for a month, he has already developed some affection for these young soldiers.

So he took out two more jars of local specialties from his bag and handed them to his roommate.

"Squad leader! These are local specialties I bought in Beiping. Share them with yourselves!"

In the military, where even a bowl of instant noodles is a scarce resource, this jar of snacks is like a godsend.

"Brother Xu, you're really rich! This must have cost a lot of money..."

"..."

The group of people stopped surrounding Zhou Xu, picked up the snacks, opened them, and started sharing them.

"It's delicious!"

……

Today is New Year's Day, a day off, so there is no training today.

A group of people were still arguing when a dignified and rather tall figure walked in from outside.

"Hello, company commander!"

A group of people put down their snacks and saluted.

Company Commander Song scratched his head: "What's all the noise about!"

"It's nothing, Zhou Xu just came back and brought us some things."

After saying that, Company Commander Song also glanced at Zhou Xu, a hint of surprise in his eyes: "Oh! You're back, soldier!"

The instructor saw Company Commander Song, walked over and patted him on the shoulder: "Zhipeng, you're here just in time. I have something to tell you."

Company Commander Song looked at the political instructor and asked, "What's the matter?"

"The military region asked you for someone!" the instructor said slowly.

All eyes were on Zhou Xu; they could all guess who the military region wanted!

"Huh? Which soldier?"

"I won't hide it from you! It's this soldier who came back today!"

"No? I received the division's order, but I was prepared to negotiate with you. This soldier cannot be given to you!"

The instructor scratched his head: "...He's an arts and culture soldier, his specialty is writing! You can't exactly take him with you to the artillery regiment, can you?"

“He’s an arts and culture soldier, skilled with words, and he can serve as a communications officer and part of my administrative team! He’s the strongest in all aspects of training among these soldiers! Of course, I want to keep such a good soldier for myself.” Company Commander Song wouldn’t budge.

He's already given away his third-class merit, and now he's taking his own soldiers with him. Doesn't that deserve a beating?

(End of this chapter)