1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 267 We must remember, we should remember

Wang Shuo felt ashamed when he recalled the doubts that emerged in his mind before reading "The Garland under the Mountain".

He actually suspected that a person who could write a novel of this level was a military illiterate?
As a child of a wealthy family, Wang Shuo knew very well that Jiang Xian's novel was not groundless.

Wang Shuo had heard his elders and peers discuss the deeds of many people.

Wang Shuo had heard of a similar story about the father and son pair called "Little Beiping" and "Lord Thunder God".

"Little Peking" fought bravely and had a strong ability to read maps. He served as the company's gunner. He was extremely accurate in shooting, but he fired two consecutive shells, both of which were duds. He was hit by the enemy and died heroically.

It was not until after the war that we learned that his father was the "God of Thunder" whom Zhao Mengsheng had spent so much effort to establish contact with before the war.

The suicide note of "Little Beiping" before the war read: Dear father, we will be assembled soon. You have been a soldier for most of your life. I don't need to elaborate on what fighting means. If I sacrifice myself as a soldier on the battlefield, there is no need for the whole country to hold a funeral for me, the "future leader". However, I can rest my head on the towering green mountains of the motherland and my body on the red soil of southern Xinjiang. I have no regrets in death and I am worthy of being the descendants of the Chinese people and the descendants of the Yellow Emperor.

After the war, "Lord Thunder" remained restrained and did not show any grief. He would only go to his son's grave late at night and say calmly:
My child is buried here too.

In reality, Zhang Zhixin, a famous general in a certain division of a certain army, had a son named Zhang Li who was originally in a training camp in a certain unit before the war and was not supposed to go to the battlefield. However, when Zhang Li heard the news from the front line, he resolutely applied to his father Zhang Zhixin.

Comrade Zhang Zhixin told him seriously: "I will not tell everyone that you are my son. You will be just like an ordinary soldier. I hope you remember that when the gun sounds, you must rush forward and not embarrass me!"

Zhang Zhixin's wife strongly opposed and asked him to transfer their son back, but Zhang Zhixin refused.

"It's dangerous for our children to be in the reconnaissance company, but aren't other people's children in danger? He is my son, Zhang Zhixin, and he must take the initiative to go to the front line."

Unfortunately, Zhang Li was shot and killed during the mission at the age of 21. Before he died, he held his comrade's hand and spoke a few words incoherently:

"Please tell my father that I have not brought shame upon him."

Later, Zhang Zhixin did not bring his son's ashes back to his hometown, but buried them in the Martyrs' Cemetery with his comrades.

"My son should stay with his comrades. He was not treated differently in life, and he will not be treated differently in death."

In Wang Shuo's opinion, the Zhao Mengsheng portrayed by Jiang Xian is real, and the father and son pair "Little Beiping" and "Thunder God" he portrays are equally real.

Zhang Li is just one of the representatives. There are many similar situations. Wang Shuo himself has heard of many of them.

"A general's family may have dog sons, but they may also have tiger sons!"

In the evening, Wang Shuo was dragged by his friends to have dinner at Lao Mo.

He sat absent-mindedly in his seat, still thinking about the content of the novel "The Garland" in his head.

Good buddy Ye Jing clapped his hands and held the hand of a man next to him, "Our Zuo Shanglin, Master Zuo is back!"

Wang Shuo had only seen this man a few times and was not familiar with him, so he listened blankly to Ye Jing's introduction.

Zuo Shanglin's family is very well-connected. He was originally in the spearhead company, but was transferred to other places before the war. This time he asked for leave to come back. The leave had already come, but he extended it on the grounds of "suffering from the flu" and planned to play for a few more days at home. This is how he got the opportunity to get together with his childhood friends.

"The capital is still the best."

Zuo Shanglin took a puff of Zhonghua cigarettes, "Tango, Rumba, Disco, Cheek-to-cheek dance, small Sanyo, big Sony, Snowflake refrigerator."

Wang Shuo just listened to Zuo Shanglin talking about perfume, lipstick, dresses as thin as a cicada's wing, whiskey, brandy, and Coca-Cola that made the bones of a proud man of his time go soft.

Zuo Shanglin smiled playfully, "If you want to buy a large color TV and a tape recorder, just tell me. My parents are both in the foreign affairs department, so buying imported goods is a piece of cake for me. We are all brothers, and the price is guaranteed to be half the market price."

Wang Shuo was originally drinking cautiously, but gradually he became angry.

He is a soldier too!
So he stood up, slammed the table, pointed at Zuo Shanglin and said:

"Get the hell out of here!"

Others were startled.

Zuo Shanglin was stunned for a moment, then smiled at him, "Why, you haven't forgotten how I bullied you when we were kids?"

"Are you going to get out of here or not? If you don't, I'll slap you!"

Wang Shuo was about to go over as he spoke, but Ye Jing stopped him.

Everyone advised, "Why bother?"

Ye Jing also said, "For my sake"

"I don't care about anyone's face. I will get angry with anyone who protects him today, and he must get out!"

As Wang Shuo spoke, he threw a porcelain ashtray at Zuo Shanglin.

Zuo Shanglin felt pain in his arm and let out a cry, then dropped his arm. He was a little angry, but didn't want to cause any trouble during his vacation, so he muttered something.

"what."

"What are you?!"

Wang Shuo became more and more wild and violent. His eyes were red as he was half drunk. His body below the upper body struggled hard in Ye Jing's embrace, and he stretched his head forward.

"Damn Wang Lianju!"

Wang Lianju is a stereotyped villain in "The Red Lantern". In the era when everyone watched model operas, he was notorious and had a reputation like a rat crossing the street.

Zuo Shanglin was so angry at being insulted that he said, "Say that to me again."

Wang Shuo's face turned pale and he gritted his teeth and said:

"I'm gonna fuck you! I'm gonna fuck you!"

Seeing that the meal could not be held, the others tried to persuade Zuo Shanglin, "Shuozi drank too much today, let's get together again later, let's get together again later."

"We're all buddies, why bother?"

The meal ended unhappily.

Wang Shuo staggered back.

To be honest, he was just using the alcohol to vent his temper. His mood was extremely complicated and contradictory. He was confused, but if he really wanted to kill Zuo Shanglin, he didn't have the courage to do it.

But when he thought of the novel "The Wreath" which he had just read today and heard about Zuo Shanglin's extravagance and decadence, he felt something irritating in his chest and he had to let out a breath.

He thought of Liang Sanxi. He had not yet seen the child being born, and the rattle that was left with him had not yet been handed to the child personally.

Liang Sanxi is fictional, but the battlefield is in need of a tough guy like Liang Sanxi.

Another person who impressed Wang Shuo was Jin Kailai.

Wang Shuo's portrayal of Jin Kailai, a troublesome character, is so well-crafted that it is deeply rooted in people's hearts.

He spoke rudely and offended many people. He pointed at Zhao Mengsheng and cursed him more than once, and even threatened to give him a "peanut".

Wang Shuo could still remember his bold words after drinking a bowl of Xishui Daqu before the war.

"Let's drink this glass of wine, and see you at the Martyrs' Cemetery!"

Wang Shuo was also a passionate young man. He could still recall that in the army at that time, everywhere he could see was filled with red letters of request to fight written by everyone.

At that time, some soldiers tried to cut their fingers and write a blood letter. They wanted to write a passionate blood letter, but if they did that, they would have to cut off all ten fingers and it would not be enough.

Finally, a squad leader in the company came up with an idea: he went to the medical team and asked them to help draw a can of blood from his arm, and then used this can of blood to write a complete letter in blood.

A bunch of navy men, I don't know what they are doing.

Wang Shuo now thinks back on this memory and finds it somewhat ridiculous, like watching children playing. However, when he thinks of his “young and frivolous” self, the word “regret” does not appear in his heart at all.

After all, at that moment he only remembered his only name - Chinese soldier.

Wang Shuo himself wrote in his memoirs:
"I joined the navy at the age of 18. I served in the military to oppose imperialist aggression, not to get a house, promotion or wealth. At that time, I thought that I would either die in a naval battle or become the head of the navy."

Yenching University.

Liu Zhenyun had just finished reading the article "Wreaths under the Mountains" in the fourth issue of "October" magazine in 1981 in the library.

In 73, Liu Zhenyun was 14 years old. Because of his height advantage, his parents lied about his age and sent him to join the army.

One was to eat white steamed buns, and the other was to see the girl.

In those days, the most beautiful girls in China were in the army.

Unfortunately, all that awaited him was a sky full of yellow sand. He served as a soldier among a bunch of grown men for five years and was only demobilized in 78.

Although he is now a student at Yanda University, he still cannot forget that unforgettable period in his life.

Therefore, after seeing the article "The Wreath at the Foot of the Mountain", he instantly became interested and read it in one breath.

After reading it, Liu Zhenyun's eyes were already wet with tears, and he felt so uncomfortable for a long time.

For him, the warriors in this article are not words, but living lives.

When he read the novel "The Wreath", he was more deeply moved than other readers because one of his old comrades-in-arms fell in that place.

He heard the battle scenes from other comrades, just as described in "The Garland":
A group of people gathered together drinking and shouting "See you at the Martyrs' Cemetery". Before going to the battlefield, everyone wrote a suicide note carefully. The soldiers agreed with each other that if anyone died, the others must go back to take care of his parents.

Liu Zhenyun covered the book with his hand, and when he thought of those lovely people, he couldn't help but feel a sore throat and shed tears.

Old comrade, I really want to have another drink with you!
After a few seconds, Liu Zhenyun suppressed his emotions, picked up the "October" magazine again, and looked at the article "Wreath" on the headline.

At this moment, he extremely hopes that more readers will read this novel.

Liu Zhenyun fully understood why Jiang Xian named the novel "The Garland under the Mountain".

I heard that the martyrs did not have neat graves, but were simply hastily buried at the foot of a mountain with a piece of wood as a tombstone.

There are clusters of garlands at the foot of the mountains.

The veterans will lie silent at the foot of the mountain, but the blood, life and enthusiasm they once gave will never be forgotten.

This is ingratitude and betrayal.

In Liu Zhenyun's view, this is the meaning of the title "The Garland under the Mountain".

Years later, when the flowers have faded, will people still remember that they gave their lives here?

Should remember!

Must remember!

Liu Zhenyun sat at the table with a sharp gaze, "If this novel doesn't become popular, it will be unforgivable!"

In a blink of an eye, a month has passed since the novel "The Garland under the Mountain" was published.

Last year, due to the planned supply of paper, "October" was still "limited release", and the print run increased with each issue, from 1980 in the first issue of 1 to 14 in the sixth issue of 1980.

From time to time, the editorial office would receive letters or phone calls from readers from other places, reporting that October was not available at the local post office and asking for solutions.

This year, the post office finally cancelled the limited edition of "October", and the number of readers' subscriptions increased significantly, with the print run of the first issue this year reaching 1 copies.

After the fourth issue of "October" was published, the editors were looking forward to readers' reactions, and even more so to readers' feedback on the novel "The Wreath under the Mountain".

Before "The Wreath" was published, it had already been praised as a "masterpiece" of contemporary military novels by some editors and writers in the circle.

This also represents the cultural community's recognition of "The Garland".

What is worth paying attention to now is whether "The Wreath" will be coldly received among readers.

Zhang Shouren was worried and didn't sleep well for a long time.

Fortunately, readers’ feedback came quickly. Not long after the fourth issue was published, the publisher’s mailroom began to receive “whole mail bags” of readers’ letters addressed to October.

Among them, there are thousands of letters written to "The Garland under the Mountain" alone.

The editors had guessed early on that "The Wreath" would create a big satellite, but the positive and enthusiastic responses from readers still caught the editors of the entire literary and art group by surprise.

Zhang Shouren clenched his fists excitedly.

“The Garland Under the Mountain” is done!

The pressure he was under during this period was absolutely enormous.

"The Garland" is a good novel, but also a dangerous novel.

Before the announcement, he pulled Jiang Xian and said, if you get flowers, I will give them to you, if something goes wrong, I will take the responsibility.

He promised Jiang Xian from the bottom of his heart that he was willing to bear all the consequences of his publication.

But now, the response from readers across the country is better than ever.

It can be said that Jiang Xian's novels and Feng Mu's commentary articles are a perfect match and complement each other, creating an unprecedented momentum for "October" since its founding.

Zhang Shouren couldn't guarantee that nothing would happen to "The Wreath" in the future, but at least, so many readers had already read this novel.

If you hear the truth in the morning, you will die in the evening.

He was probably in this state of mind at the moment.

The editors in the editorial department quickly read the letters from "Hualu". Interestingly, among the more than 1,000 letters received, more than 300 were complaints, and without exception, they all reflected:

"Rewrite Jin Kailai's ending!"

Faced with letters from readers, the editors were helpless and could only treat them as a funny story.

But problems soon arose.

The print run of each issue of October is 50 copies, and this year's highest sales volume is 65 copies.

Out of trust in Jiang Xian, the first print run of the fourth issue in 1981 was 4 copies.

But one and a half months after it was on the market, as the popularity of "The Garland under the Mountain" grew, all 60 copies of the fourth issue were sold out.

Such a sales speed directly shocked the editors of October.

The editorial department receives letters and calls from readers from other places almost every minute, asking them how to order the latest issue of "October".

The editorial department hurriedly printed more copies and decided to reprint 30 copies.

As a result, no one expected that the female workers in the printing factory would become upset.

No more printing!

I just realized that the previous scheduled release settings were wrong.

I set the time to 10:55, but it turned out to be 10:55 the next morning. For some reason I didn’t update for a whole day and I didn’t even notice.

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(End of this chapter)