1978: A Literary Giant Who Began His Military Service

Chapter 84 That's Feng Mu! (20,000 words, please subscribe)

After discussing future matters related to college applications, the political commissar took out two stacks of documents from the table and handed them to Zhou Xu, saying:

"Oh, right, there's one more thing. Chen Yong and He Jing are soldiers who applied to the Arts Academy this year. Could you please pass these documents to them for me?"

There are two types of admission to military academies: direct admission and application.

Of course, military academies are generally divided into two types: arts and literature academies and command academies.

They, as members of the performing arts corps, applied to arts academies, and the exams all started in May or June of this year.

Applying to a military academy is different from being recommended for admission. Only soldiers and performing arts troupes with outstanding performance are eligible to apply. Chen Yong and He Jing are among the best in the military, so they were recommended to take the exam this year.

After leaving the office and stepping outside, Zhou Xu ran to the dance studio and beckoned He Jing and Chen Yong over.

"Comrades Chen Yong and He Jing, here are your files!"

He Jing and Chen Yong exchanged glances, and He Jing said excitedly, "So it was about the School of Arts. Thank you, Comrade Zhou Xu."

"You two are quite destined for each other; our group recommended both of you this year," Zhou Xu said with a smile.

They applied to the PLA Academy of Arts, the same university Mo Yan attended. Xu Huaizhong, the head of the literature department, thought Mo Yan was very talented and decided to let him retake the cultural subjects. In the end, Mo Yan was admitted.

Of course, this academy is the first choice for the arts and culture soldiers. As for Zhou Xu, he mainly wants to go to the National Defense University, hehehe!

"Tch! Who's destined to be with him?" He Jing scoffed.

Chen Yong asked, "Comrade Zhou Xu, what about you?"

“I haven’t served two years, and I’ve only served for less than a year this year, so I can’t get it done,” Zhou Xu said with a helpless shrug.

He Jing also said, "That's a real pity. But you have a first-class merit award, which means you can be recommended for admission, so you don't need to worry."

Chen Yong nodded in agreement.

-

The reason why "Wreath at the Foot of the Mountain" became a hit in China is that in the preceding months, the People's Daily and the PLA Daily reported a lot of related war news.

As a result, a group of people who are interested in politics are also quite interested in novels.

Of course, that's not all. The novel's popularity is due to many factors, including the endearing character designs.

Whether it's Zhao Mengsheng's transformation from a coward to a paragon of virtue, Jin Kailai's straightforwardness and willingness to speak out, or Liang Sanxi's spirit of selfless dedication and honest hard work...

Of course, there are also some memorable supporting characters, such as Little BJ who carries a rocket launcher but is eventually killed; he is actually Thor's son...

Liang Sanxi's wife and mother walked to the army base just to repay the money.

All of these factors combined to create this excellent novel.

At the same time, there is also the subject matter of military novels. After all, military and military-themed novels were created to promote the military, and of course, they also have an anti-war connotation.

However, domestic military-themed works are mainly literary and artistic works that promote the military. "Garland Under the High Mountain" is an excellent military-themed work with a popular story, which has made more and more general readers interested in the novel.

Some domestic media outlets are also gradually making headlines.

Military novels also have a flaw: their literary quality is obviously lacking, so the readership reacts more strongly than to literary magazines.

First, reviews and reports recommending "Wreaths at the Foot of the Mountain" appeared in several local newspapers and magazines across the country, including the Beijing Daily, Hubei Daily, PLA Daily, Guangming Daily, and Southern Daily.

Most of the voices in these newspapers came from people outside the literary world, but their love for novels was no less than that.

This once again fueled the novel's popularity in the country, spreading like wildfire.

Back in his studio, Zhou Xu looked at the positive reviews in the newspapers.

Zhou Xu nodded slowly. He had been paying attention to reader comments these past few days. For example, seeing positive reviews would make him happy for a little while.

When he receives a negative review, Zhou Xu is determined to retaliate with a barrage of insults.

Of course, not all published works will be well received, since people's preferences are not necessarily the same.

Suddenly, Lei Yuansheng shouted, "Damn it!! Who the hell is this?!"

After that shout, everyone looked at Lei Yuansheng, who was holding a magazine. Several people asked curiously, "What did you see that made you shout?"

"I found a literary review about Xiao Xu in the *Literary Gazette*!" Lei Yuansheng picked up the *Literary Gazette* and said to the group, "Look who this is!"

Most professional literary reviews are published in the Wenyi Bao (Literary Gazette), a magazine directly under the Writers Association, which is published weekly.

In the literary criticism field, the Wenyi Bao (Literary Gazette) holds a position roughly equivalent to that of Renmin Wenxue (People's Literature). Therefore, the appearance of literary reviews of Zhou Xu's works in the Wenyi Bao is indeed a noteworthy event.

"What is this?" Gao Ruxing looked closely and saw that the name on the sign was Feng Mu!

"Feng Mu!!" Let me introduce Feng Mu.

Editor-in-Chief of Wenyi Bao (Literary Gazette), Deputy Secretary of the Provisional Party Group of the China Writers Association, and Vice Chairman of the China Writers Association!

He arrived in Yan'an in 38, where he studied and worked at the Lu Xun Academy of Arts. Later, he served as an editor in the Literature and Art Department of the Liberation Daily and a frontline reporter for the Xinhua News Agency of the Fourth Corps of the Second Field Army.

In late 79, Feng Mu spoke out about the highly controversial short story "The Wounded," praising it as the first work to use artistic imagery to comprehensively reflect the severity of people's inner spiritual wounds and to call for the importance of healing those wounds. He said it represented the people in issuing the first wake-up call and deserved attention.

The term "scar literature" began with "The Class Teacher," but it was Lu Xinhua's "The Scar" that truly coined the term. The fact that "The Scar" was openly praised and even reversed some of the prevailing sentiment demonstrates its influence.

Of course, he was also a judge at the first Mao Dun Literature Prize selection meeting!
"It really is Feng Mu!?" Gao Ruxing on the other side was also full of surprise.

Gao Ruxing looked at Zhou Xu and immediately asked, "Comrade Zhou Xu, aren't you excited?"

Zhou Xu looked at the newspaper and said slowly, "Do I... need to be so excited?..."

After all, having experienced major events, I have become more composed.

Lei Yuansheng looked surprised and immediately said, "That's Feng Mu!! Even in our army, any comment he posts would generate a lot of discussion."

That's Feng Mu, a recognized literary theorist and critic in contemporary Chinese literature and art circles. He's influential not only within the military but also a leading figure in the literary world and literary criticism.

"Oh!"

Zhou Xu wondered if it was because he always looked down on this era from the perspective of the future, but although he felt excited, he was clearly not as excited as this group of people.

He nodded slowly.

Gao Ruxing shook her head: "Forget it, Xiao Xu has a bright future. It's perfectly normal that he doesn't understand our mindset."

Su Yunping is an old-timer in the creative studio and generally doesn't like to hang out with Zhou Xu, who is a young man. Of course, he is also the main screenwriter in the creative studio.

People like Lei Yuansheng and Gao Ruxing are musicians, and they've only heard of Feng Mu's greatness, but those who are actually involved in literature know just how high Feng Mu's status really is!
"Let me see? Which magazine?" Su Yunping asked as he walked over.

Lei Yuansheng wore a smug expression: "Would I lie to you? I'm talking about the real Feng Mu. Not a fake one! If you want to see, then go ahead and take a look!"

Su Yunping, Gao Ruxing, and the others truly saw the names and then read the contents.

Feng Mu wrote an analysis of the three classic characters in "The Garland at the Foot of the Mountain"! He praised the novel highly through its characters, truly extolling it from the inside out.

"Was it really written by Feng Mu?"

Su Yunping was already surprised when he saw the name, but he was even more surprised that Feng Mu not only commented on the novel, but also praised Zhou Xu's novel extensively.

This was something he hadn't expected.

It's common knowledge that Feng Mu cares about young writers, but the young writer has to be truly talented!

“Of course! I’ve always thought Xiao Xu was very talented, and look! His talent has been recognized so quickly!” Lei Yuansheng said.

Gao Ruxing immediately laughed: "You're such a Monday morning quarterback! When you first came to the studio, you were the one who couldn't stand Comrade Zhou Xu the most. Now that he's about to become famous, you keep calling him 'Little Xu' and 'Little Zhou'!"

Lei Yuansheng, without batting an eye, nodded to Zhou Xu: "I have been completely impressed by Comrade Zhou Xu's talent. Last time, the song he wrote completely won me over."

Zhou Xu blushed slightly as she listened from the side.

There were more than just them in the studio; several other screenwriters walked over.

He then praised, "Wow! Comrade Zhou Xu, it was actually Feng Mu who wrote the literary review for you! You've already attracted everyone's attention!"

"Comrade Zhou Xu has a bright future ahead of him. I see that the comments are full of admiration for him."

"Tsk!?" Suo Yunping immediately smiled and asked, "Comrade Zhou Xu, are you interested in joining our Wuhan Writers Association?"

Suo Yunping is a member of the Wuhan Writers Association.

"Huh?" Zhou Xu was stunned, not expecting Su Yunping to suddenly change his tone and ask him this question.

He thought for a moment, then shook his head and refused, saying, "I don't have much time lately!"

Bah~
If I'm going to participate, it'll definitely be because the provincial writers' association invites me, right?

Joining a municipal writers' association is relatively low-value, while joining a provincial or national writers' association is much more prestigious. However, it's unavoidable to attend meetings and seminars of all three.

Zhou Xu was thinking of joining the Writers' Association, and he planned to wait for an invitation from the Provincial Writers' Association before considering joining the Municipal Writers' Association, which would just waste so much time attending meetings...

"Aren't you going to reconsider?" Su Yunping asked.

"Because... well, because I have other things to prepare recently, so I'm sorry, Comrade Suo." Zhou Xu couldn't think of a reason to refuse.

(End of this chapter)