1978: A Literary Giant Who Began His Military Service

Chapter 33 The Cultural Troupe's New Year's Eve Gala

"Brother Youcai!" Zhou Xu saw Zhou Youcai.

He stopped, a mixture of joy and sorrow on his face; his lips moved, but no sound came out. His attitude finally became respectful, and he clearly called out, "Zhou Xu, hey! You're... a platoon leader now!"

The platoon leader's Type 65 military uniform jacket had "four pockets," while soldiers had two pockets. This was the core dress code that distinguished "officers and soldiers" after the abolition of military ranks in 1965.

Zhou Xu coughed. He really hadn't expected to be promoted so quickly; it was mainly because he was just too outstanding...

"By the way, Brother Cai, you guys have split into different units, right?"

Basic training started in early November, and now it's almost February, so it's already over.

As the first person after Zhou Xu, Zhou Youcai was naturally assigned to Company Commander Song's team.

"Mm." Zhou Youcai nodded gently.

His gaze towards Zhou Xu was rather complicated. After all, they came out at the same time, and he used to boast that he would help Zhou Xu get promoted. Now Zhou Xu had been promoted, while he was still a lowly soldier.

With such a significant difference, he naturally felt a pang of bitterness.

"Where are the others?" Zhou Xu asked curiously, still feeling a bit of camaraderie.

Liu Xiang and Li Xiang waved: "Here I am, Brother Xu."

"Just the two of you?"

“There are only four people from our company assigned to our dormitory. Besides these three, there’s another one… Wang Kang…” Squad Leader Li knew that the two didn’t get along well, so he didn’t say more.

Zhou Xu nodded, then smiled and raised his camera: "Let me take a group photo of you all."

"I've wanted to take photos and send them back to my dad ever since I joined the army, but I never had the chance to go out!" Liu Xiang clapped his hands excitedly.

Zhou Xu said, "It's a pity I don't have much film left. Let me take a group photo of you all, and I'll make some copies later and bring them down to you."

Li Xiang immediately nodded: "Brother Xu, we're actually very happy to have any photos at all, even if they're just photocopies."

Is Zhou Xu abusing his power for personal gain?

No, no! It's because the first unit he happened to encounter that wanted to take photos and conduct interviews was his old company!
The analysis in "From the Soil: The Foundations of Chinese Society" is quite accurate. China is a society based on personal connections; without acquaintances, one cannot even walk the streets.

Everyone laughed and huddled together, striking a perfect military pose. Zhou Xu snapped another photo.

Zhou Xu then handed out cigarettes to a group of his comrades.

Liu Xiang, holding a cigarette, said, "Brother Xu, you're doing well now, smoking Peony cigarettes!"

"Brother Xu is a cultured man, how can he smoke the same kind of cigarettes?"

"Brother Xu, your story 'The Battle at Lake Changjin' is really good. We couldn't sleep at night after reading it!"

The group of people looked at Zhou Xu with genuine envy and respect, after all, Zhou Xu had only been there for three months and had already reached this level.

As comrades-in-arms, they knew best about Zhou Xu's family background; he was just an ordinary citizen.
The reason Zhou Xu was promoted so quickly is purely due to his ability and outstanding performance.

They naturally thought Zhou Xu was capable and had a bright future.

The article "Changjin Lake," which has been widely discussed in the military recently, was actually written by the man in front of them, which made them admire Zhou Xu's talent even more.

"These were a gift from a friend, I'm sharing them with you!"

Zhou Xu wasn't lying. The group in the creative studio were all from the same university, with even the lowest-ranking member, Lei Yuansheng, getting promoted next year. They were all smoking Peony and Zhonghua cigarettes. Zhou Xu casually accepted...

After finishing up here, Zhou Xu went back to the front.

I sat down with Bai Hua and her group.

The performance began. The host came on stage first and gave an introduction.

Finally, the performance by the cultural troupe's dance team began.

Actually, if these women in the performing arts troupe weren't wearing clothes... oops, Zhou Xu misspoke, I meant they weren't wearing military uniforms, but their training clothes, they would look even better.

Walking out in this performance costume instantly makes me feel more formal, like I was ten years ago.

Her face was covered in bright red blush and her eye makeup was a bit over the top...

But Zhou Xu absolutely admits—

Model operas are also art; they absolutely belong to an art form!

The first program is "Grassland Women Militia".

Performed by He Jing, Mai Sui, and others. Because they are a cultural troupe from central China, they cover dances from all over the country, and "Grassland Women Militia" is a classic dance program that originated from the Southwest Cultural Troupe, namely the Zhanqi Song and Dance Troupe.

Almost all performing arts troupes perform similar programs.

"..."

The soldiers below watched the performance and applauded enthusiastically!

"well!"

"it is good!"

A group of people cheered.

"The next program is the song 'Goodbye Dabie Mountains'!" This is Lei Yuansheng's most classic work.

"..."

"The last program is a chorus performance of 'On the Golden Mountain of North China' by the performing arts troupe!"

Wow! We've arrived at this legendary song. Zhou Xu had heard it before, but now that he's listening to it in this era, will his experience be any different?

Absolutely.

"The golden sun shines in all directions from the Golden Mountain of the North, and Mao Zedong is that golden sun, so warm and kind, illuminating the hearts of us serfs..."

Thousands of people sang songs together with the performing arts troupe.

The more people sing along to this song, the more powerful it becomes. You can always feel that the singers are warm inside and their eyes are often filled with tears.

Zhou Xu rarely felt that way.

The times have a great influence on a person. He wasn't interested in non-popular songs before because he had heard them since he was a child and didn't have any particular feelings about them.

But now that we've truly entered this era, an era where forests are ablaze with color and mountains are ablaze with red, he understands just how powerful this song truly is.

After the performance, the crowd slowly dispersed.

The soldiers stood up, got into the vehicle, and headed back to their unit to continue their own activities.

As for Zhou Xu, he followed the cultural troupe.

someone shouted.

"Eat, eat!"

Zhou Xu followed closely behind several soldiers, hurrying towards the canteen.

Every year during the Lunar New Year, the troupe's canteen would prepare the New Year's Eve dinner for the troops, which included not only more vegetables but also more meat.

Zhou Xu glanced around inside the cafeteria.

Today's New Year's Eve dinner consists of five dishes. In addition to rice, the main dishes include dumplings with chives and pork filling, braised pork, Huangpi Three Delicacies, stir-fried beef with yellow peppers, Huangpi Three Delicacies, and the last soup is a classic Hubei pork rib and lotus root soup.

The comrades from the cultural troupe were carrying a large plate of food; this was indeed a good life.

Looking at it, Zhou Xu felt it had the flavor of a New Year's Eve dinner.

He sat down.

Chen Hai, He Jing, Mai Sui, and several others from the performing arts troupe came over and surrounded him.

He Jing removed her makeup and asked with a smile, "Comrade Zhou Xu, how was our dance performance?"

"It looks great and has a very powerful feel," Zhou Xu commented.

He Jing squinted her eyes: "So, do you like watching it?"

"Quite like."

"Hehe," Mai Sui said cheerfully, "Don't try to take advantage of others."

Zhou Xu changed the subject: "Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year."

Everyone held a glass of beer, and Zhou Xu toasted his first New Year in the army.

(End of this chapter)