1978: A Literary Giant Who Began His Military Service

Chapter 77 The Old Chief

The group of people in the cultural troupe lacked any respect for the soldiers. Many of them were cynical and irresponsible, after all, they were all second-generation rich kids.

He Jingcai walked in from outside and, upon hearing these unbearable jokes, a nameless anger suddenly erupted from her chest!

He yelled at the top of his lungs, "Long Ping, what did you say?! I heard what you just said! You're slandering and defaming war heroes!!!"

Long Ping's bald head was very conspicuous. Hearing He Jing's voice, he visibly trembled, and finally said hesitantly, "This...isn't..."

The group of people were stunned for a moment.

Unexpectedly, He Jing, who is usually quite quiet, exploded at this critical moment. She continued, "Don't think you can get away with anything you say. When the political commissar comes back, he will deal with you!!"

"..."

Long Ping was stunned for a while, then felt his face turn red with embarrassment. He didn't like Zhou Xu very much to begin with, and preferred He Jing. He never expected that the person he liked would scold him for someone he didn't like. His worldview was collapsing a little.

“Yes, Longping, you’ve really gone too far!” Mai Sui added immediately.

Long Ping spat and cursed, "None of your business, Mai Sui! What's the use of reporting me! My dad's in the military region! Don't even mention you guys, even if the political commissar came, he couldn't transfer me away!"

Chen Yong looked at Long Ping's smug face, rolled up his sleeves, walked forward, and threw a punch at Long Ping's face.

This sudden action stunned Long Ping for a moment. His face contorted as the fist cleaved, and he fell to the ground in the direction of the fist.

"You dare hit me?!"

"That's exactly what I'm going to do, you foul mouth!! The political commissar is absolutely right, the atmosphere within the regiment is ruined by people like you!!" Chen Yong retorted with a string of curses.

"Slap! Slap!" Two more slaps across the face.

At this point, chaos broke out within the cultural troupe.

The two women started fighting, and some people tried to break them up. He Jing and Mai Sui took the opportunity to kick them twice.

"Stop hitting! Stop hitting! The director is coming!!" someone shouted.

Bai Hua led Lei Yuansheng in.

At this point, everyone stopped.

"Who? Who?! Who's fighting?! The political commissar just left and you've already thrown this chaos!!!" Bai Hua glared at the group of people.

Mai Sui said, "The director doesn't blame Chen Yong; it's Long Ping who's making baseless accusations."

"Yes, yes, we all heard it. He even slandered Comrade Zhou Xu!"

Bai Hua turned to Long Ping and said, "This is a mess! Long Ping, you'll have your points and bonus deducted this month!!! As for Chen Yong, you should reflect on your actions!"

Lei Yuansheng frowned, clapped his hands, and said, "Let's call it a day. Nobody's in the mood to practice. Let's go back and rest."

— Over here.

Zhou Zhigang gripped the phone, his knuckles turning white: "What's with the report materials from earlier??"

The cultural troupe's direct superior was the military region's political department, so Zhou Zhigang's authority was actually quite limited.

There was a two-second pause on the other end of the phone, followed by a deliberately softened laugh, but with a hint of slick perfunctory politeness:

"Oh, Director Zhou, please calm down. This really wasn't something we dared to do on our own. It was an order directly issued by the Discipline Inspection Commission. We were just errand runners; we didn't have any decision-making power whatsoever!"

The Security Department was a division-level unit, not as large as the cultural troupe, nor as large as the leadership team of the Political Department.

"You don't need to report when you're carrying out an order?" Zhou Zhigang's voice turned colder. "Now, take these materials back immediately!"

"That really won't do, Commander Zhou." The other party's tone was one of helpless refusal, but there was no real conviction in his words. "It depends on what the Discipline Inspection Committee thinks. You... we really can't make that decision."

Zhou Zhigang took a deep breath, suppressing his anger: "Was it reported by the Arts and Literature Department? Fine, I'll call them right now!"

The person on the other end of the phone immediately interrupted, their tone full of a self-serving mentality:
“Oh, Commander, we can’t say who the whistleblower is or what procedures were followed, according to the rules. You know, if you say anything more about these things, you’ll get more trouble. We’re all in this system, so please understand.”

The silence on this end of the receiver was palpable, but Zhou Zhigang knew exactly what was going on.

The old fox on the other side was pretending to be confused, not wanting to offend the Discipline Inspection Commission, nor wanting to clear himself of any wrongdoing, just waiting to pass the buck back to him.

However, the other side also hinted that the problem wasn't with the disciplinary committee, but rather with the arts and culture department.

Zhou Zhigang frowned, not because he felt Zhou Xu was causing him trouble, but because he was furious. A mere member of the Literature and Art Department! He hadn't even published a novel, yet he reported someone just because of a title!!
If this had happened ten years ago, the consequences would have been unimaginable!

Within the military, it's all about taking things out of context; even a single word can ruin everything!
Zhou Zhigang is determined to find the murderer; he is currently filled with rage.

The phone rang.

"Hello!?" Zhou Zhigang asked.

"Old Zhou, it's you! What's up with the call?"

Zhou Zhigang rubbed his head. He had made three or four phone calls today. It was only because he was old and retired in the Political Department that he felt so powerless.

He asked, "Old comrade, you went to the capital for a meeting, right? Could you please go to the Discipline Inspection Commission? Someone there reported that Comrade Zhou Xu's novel has a big problem! I think my meritorious subordinates can't suffer this injustice."

Please help me find out who reported this! What was the original text? I want to see how they distorted and fabricated the facts!!

"A report!?" The old commander clearly remembered the scene when he awarded Zhou Xu the medal last time.

"It's infuriating! They go to the front lines to fight the enemy! And when they come back to the rear to write, they get framed! This is the kind of behavior we've had for so many years! It's these kinds of people who have ruined the morale of our troops."

(End of this chapter)