1978: A Literary Giant Who Began His Military Service

Chapter 99 Returning to Hometown with Honor
We arrived at their largest shopping mall in Lichuan! Well, even the largest mall isn't a third the size of one in Wuhan! After all, it's a mountainous city, and without good transportation, it's hard for it to develop.

He took his elderly father directly to the electronics store.

"Comrade, do you have a television set here?" Zhou Xu asked.

Nowadays, black and white televisions are very expensive, usually costing around 300 to 500 yuan. For example, the well-known "Yingge" brand television in Wuhan is priced at 310 yuan for a 12-inch black and white television.

The most important thing is to have a ticket. Reselling tickets might be illegal, but they can still sell for forty or fifty yuan a piece! Tickets for the washing machine might be even more expensive. Zhou Xu got his ticket from his work unit.

Yes! That's all.

There weren't many television sets in the county town; the main one was this "Yingge" brand. Only department stores in Wuhan had imported Japanese television sets.

"Can you get me one? Can you deliver it to my door?"

"Yes, where do you live?"

"Is it the Changshun Brigade?"

The sales clerk thought for a moment and said, "Changshun Brigade is a bit far... not really feasible."

"How about adding three more?"

"can."

The sales clerk quickly took Zhou Xu's money and receipt.

Zhou Guoping was quite surprised: "Hey? What kind of TV are you buying? This thing costs several hundred yuan."

"It's alright. I saw you and Mom were bored at home, so I thought you should get some rest! It's not like I'm short of money. Your son is a company commander now!!!" Zhou Xu patted his chest!
"Company...Company commander?" Zhou Guoping was stunned for a moment when he heard this word: "Don't brag. If the troops hear that, you'll be criticized."

"What are you bragging about? I'm a company commander, I was just promoted, and I even received a first-class merit. Why didn't you promote me to company commander?" Zhou Xu pouted, still wanting to show off his achievements in front of his father.

"...Oh! That's true."

The father and son bought some New Year's goods in the county town. The old father was shocked by Zhou Xu's wealth, but considering his position as a company commander and his ability to earn money through writing, he had no doubts.

On the last bus back to their hometown, Zhou Guoping sighed, "Sending you to join the army was definitely the right decision. Otherwise, I wouldn't have known you would have had so much potential in the military..."

Zhou Xu was stunned. You really know how to flatter yourself.

Even if you're not in the military, you can still make money by writing, but having a military identity makes it a bit safer.

Soon, the father and son arrived at their hometown carrying bags of things.

Each person arrived at the house with three or four bags of goods.

Hearing the commotion, even a group of people who don't usually like going out in winter couldn't help but peek out to see who it was. They then saw that it was the father and son.

"Hey? Zhou Xu's back?"

"Where? You must be seeing things."

"With so many things on your hands, how could you possibly be mistaken?"

So when the two of them reached the path, a group of people hurriedly surrounded the doorway, looking at Zhou Xu... After all, they just liked to find some excitement in the quiet winter.

Helpless, Zhou Xu called out, "Third Aunt, Sixth Aunt...Seventh Aunt..."

A barrage of relatives, like they were shouting commands.

"Look! Look! When you grow up, you should learn from them and join the army, understand?"

An older woman, pulling her seven or eight-year-old child along, watched Zhou Xufeng's triumphant scene and couldn't help but say something.

"Yes, yes, you little rascals should all learn from this!"

"..."

When we arrived at the doorstep, even my elderly mother was startled: "How strange, there are so many people!"

Zhou Xu called out to Zhang Qiutian, "Mom!" Zhou Xu put the things in the house.
"Oh! It's our little one back! Come in quickly!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Qiutian immediately rushed over, tears welling up in her eyes. Ever since Zhou Xu joined the army, she had been filled with anxiety, and her worries only intensified after he went south…

She felt a little better after seeing her son unharmed.

"Mmm." Zhou Xu went straight into the house to warm himself by the fire.

Those outside glanced at him a few times, then Zhang Qiutian said, "Alright, alright, everyone disperse for today. It's late at night, be careful the tigers from the mountain might come down and eat you!!!"

After a few scare words, the group had no choice but to go home.

However, Zhou Xu had only heard about tigers from older people. They said that Enshi Prefecture was an autonomous prefecture for the Tujia and Miao ethnic groups, although the Tujia people had basically been assimilated into Han culture.

But I vaguely remember my parents saying that the totem of the Tujia people is the white tiger. For example, Xuan'en and Enshi have White Tiger Fortresses, Lichuan has White Tiger Mountain, and Hefeng has White Tiger Terrace. After all, there used to be South China tigers here.

To be realistic, if there really were tigers, wouldn't the Great Leap Forward have burned everything that could be burned a few years ago? People would have nowhere to live.

"..."

Dinner in the evening.

There were many more meat dishes on the table.

When the New Year came, the team slaughtered a pig, and the family received several dozen kilograms. Later, the couple felt that it might not be enough when their son came back, so they went and bought several dozen more kilograms.

This year's Lunar New Year is definitely going to be a good one.

"Oh, right, Mom and Dad, I also bought you some clothes. See if you can wear them!"

Zhou Xu bought his parents one set of clothes for spring and autumn, and one set for winter! Just two sets of clothes for each of them, in the style of clothes made of Dacron fabric.

Dacron is still fashionable now, but it didn't start to decline until the 1980s.

The couple each changed their clothes. Zhou Guoping said, "These clothes are not bad; as long as they're wearable, that's fine." "Yes, yes, we're not picky. Was your time in the army tough?"

It seemed that his parents were quite curious about his life in the military, so Zhou Xu gave a brief account of his time there.

The parts that were too amazing were removed, and the parts that were too unpleasant were omitted; I just gave a brief overview.

Zhou Guoping nodded repeatedly: "This political commissar is a good man! By the way, you should bring him some local specialties for the New Year!"

"I will definitely remember!" Zhou Xu nodded repeatedly; of course he remembered the political commissar's kindness to him...

That evening, Zhou Xu went to his room, since he didn't have any younger siblings. His room was relatively well-preserved…

Zhang Qiutian took out some charcoal and flint from the furnace, carried a small stove up, filled it with charcoal and flint, and then closed the stove, leaving a small gap between the openings.

"If you get cold, just add some charcoal to the charcoal bin by the door!"

Nowadays, charcoal in rural areas is usually obtained in this way: when cooking, the charcoal flint is taken out and put directly into a sealed jar. A pile of charcoal is stored for three seasons of the year and then used in winter.

"I remember! I know, Mom! I went to the city, but that doesn't turn me into a city bumpkin!!!"

Only then did Zhang Qiutian close the door and leave.

the next morning.

Early in the morning, Zhou Xu had his parents pack some things, and he carried two bags to the secretary's house.

Knock on the door, and the Party Secretary opens it: "Oh! Xiao Xu is back!"

The Party Secretary had lived through decades of chaos; the fact that six months had passed didn't mean he had forgotten his son's death, but rather that he had become more indifferent to many things...

Zhou Xu looked at his smiling face and then took out two bags of gifts: "I'd like to wish you an early New Year."

"You...this, all these things must have cost a lot of money, right?" Secretary Zhou said helplessly.

Zhou Xu put the things at the door: "There's not much stuff. Brother Cai asked me to take care of you guys before, so I can't go back on my word, right?"

Youcai's mother eventually accepted the gifts and invited, "Would you like to come in and have some tea?"

Zhou Xu nodded.

Once inside, the house was fairly clean.

He actually really liked a line Cui Ping said in "Lurking": "I helped the county peasant association issue martyr certificates, and I issued more than 20 in one day. None of those widows could hold on like you said. Women in the Dabie Mountains aren't afraid of death. Does the death of their men mean they can't live?"

Cui Ping's single sentence utterly shattered all current feminism.

The same applies to the families of martyrs; they don't necessarily have to cry and whine. They can also live a good life.

After delivering the items, Zhou Xu patted his little brother's head.

"I heard that you, Secretary, have been transferred to the commune?"

Upon hearing this, Secretary Zhou nodded: "It was the commune that said they're going to send me to take a look."

However, it was indeed related to Zhou Youcai that he was transferred to a higher position. Of course, Zhou Xu was also happy for the families of martyrs who were being taken care of in their hometown.

After finishing his meal at the Party Secretary's house, Zhou Xu left.

I went home.

Today, the "Yingge" brand television finally arrived at our home.

In fact, Zhou Xu had wanted to buy a TV for a long time, but the biggest pity was that if he bought another TV while he was in the army, it would become hedonism, so he decided against it.

The television arrived at our doorstep.

Another group of villagers ran over to watch. It wasn't that they had never seen a television before, but rather that their entire village only had one television set, which belonged to the family at the village entrance where both parents worked.

This is Zhou Xu's second television set. Someone said, "You still have to join the army, kid. Did you hear that? When you grow up, buy your dad a television!"

Zhou Xu was sweating. Is that how it's said?
"Guoping, you've raised a wonderful son!"

"Quickly turn on the TV and let us see!"

"I'm so envious, Guoping. Your son has really brought honor to your family. You'll have plenty to brag about in the future."

Under the watchful eyes of a group of people, Zhou Xu finally turned on the television.

The TV screen flickered.

Finally, the screen appeared, and sure enough, it was the CCTV Evening News!
"It's here! Tsk tsk! What news are they broadcasting?"

"Speak louder!!"

"That's amazing!!"

There's no way around it; that's just how things are these days. A TV set is basically 'shared' throughout a street or a village. As soon as people get off work, a bunch of them gather around the TV to watch it.

Zhou Xu wasn't short of electricity, but he thought it would be better if there were more people. His parents were bored staying in their hometown alone, and having guests every night would give them something to gossip about.

The thing elderly people fear most when staying at home is loneliness.

"Alright, everyone, just watch TV! Be quiet, the people in the back can't hear us!" Zhou Xu shouted with a smile.

That one sentence immediately quieted things down.

You're enjoying watching the evening news so much? Zhou Xu wasn't surprised.

If you experience a top-tier high school, you'll understand what it's like. For students at top-tier high schools, reading a week's issue of "Newsweek" is like salvation. Zhou Xu never wants to recall that period of life, which was even more painful than his current life in the military.

(End of this chapter)