1978: A Literary Giant Who Began His Military Service

Chapter 79 I think it's you who are smearing heroes

The old commander received the phone call while inside the military region.

Upon hearing Zhou Zhigang speak on the other end, he became furious: "You don't need to come to the capital anymore, I'll go in your place!!"

Ever since the "Song of a Strong Army" and the first-class merit incident, the old commander has been quite fond of this soldier.

Now that I've heard about this, I'm even more indignant.

"If this matter is not handled properly, it will not only be a repeat of the same mistake, but it will also discourage our soldiers who are fighting on the front lines! We cannot let this happen."

Hearing the voice on the other end of the phone, Zhou Zhigang was slightly taken aback. He had only asked the old comrade for help, but he didn't expect him to go to such lengths. He paused for a moment and said, "Then I'll thank you on behalf of Zhou Xu."

He slowly stood up: "Xiao Li, prepare the car. We're going to the Discipline Inspection Commission."

The messenger immediately came out and began preparing things for the old commander.

"It's still a bit cold today, sir. Would you please put on a coat before you go?"

The leader stood up, put on a coat, and said in a slightly hoarse voice, "Well, it's all right now. Let's go."

The two went outside.

A military jeep.

The car sputtered and sputtered as it drove straight to the Discipline Inspection Commission.

get off.

He strode into the office. The comrades at the door looked at the car, then glanced at the leader, who seemed to be of a very high rank, so none of them dared to say anything.

He joined the disciplinary committee.

Director Liu was so startled when he saw the person who had entered that he stood up from his desk and immediately saluted neatly, saying, "Greetings, sir!"

The leader glanced at him, not having a chance to sit down for tea. After all, the leader was pressed for time and wanted to resolve the matter quickly. He said:
"I heard you received a tip-off letter! You directly wanted the security department to come to our Victory Cultural Troupe to arrest someone!?"

Director Liu was slightly taken aback. He made the call yesterday, and they've already come today! He himself was surprised by the speed.

Looking at the leader in front of me, who is usually upright and decisive, why did he come directly to my office today for someone?
Although he didn't know exactly what had happened, he was still very surprised.

He said, "Reporting to the commander, I received a letter of complaint about Comrade Zhou Xu, so I arranged for the Security Department to investigate it directly!"

"Investigate!" the leader said. "Give me the letter of complaint."

Director Liu of the Discipline Inspection Committee immediately took out the original letter of complaint from the drawer. The old leader opened the letter and glanced at it: "The all-powerful old woman, borrowing money..."

"Just for something this trivial?! Comrade Liu! Is this some kind of life-or-death matter?!"

Director Liu was ashamed. He said, "Sir, what the letter says is reasonable and well-founded. I... I have no choice."

"...I'm not going to argue with you here."

The leader glanced at Director Liu. If he had immediately changed his mind because of the pressure he had put on him, then perhaps he would also be partly responsible for the problem with the letter. But even so, he insisted on his original opinion, so the leader concluded that the problem lay with the letter.

He stood up without sitting down to drink a sip of tea.

They sped away like lightning.

……

The leader stormed into the Arts and Literature Department.

Everyone in the Literature and Art Department was intimidated by his imposing presence and stared at the old leader. It was Gao Junlang, one of the more perceptive editors, who quickly realized what was happening and immediately stood up and saluted.
"Hello, Chief!"

"Hello, Chief!"

Upon hearing this, a group of people stood up as well.

It's common to see high-ranking senior leaders in the General Political Department, but it's rare to see a senior leader personally come to the editorial department. The group of people looked at the man in front of them and swallowed hard in shock.

The commander paused for a moment: "Our Wuhan Military Region received a letter of complaint! It says that a comrade in our cultural troupe named Zhou Xu wrote a novel with problems, titled 'Wreaths at the Foot of the Mountain'! Of course, the person who made the complaint is right here in your editorial department!"

"..."

The group of people were stunned for a moment.

I quickly realized that this had happened several days ago.

At the time, a group of people were discussing the novel, but no one took it seriously. After all, the whistleblower was Jiang Yi, and seeing how angry Jiang Yi was, they assumed there was really a problem with the novel.

So the group of people subconsciously looked at Jiang Yi.

Jiang Yi was clearly stunned.

The leader waited a short while, then slowly said, "I'm still waiting! Where's the original manuscript? And which all-powerful comrade wrote the letter?"

The sudden sound startled Jiang Yi, who was already somewhat frightened. He paused for a long time before reacting and taking the manuscript of his novel from his drawer. He spoke without much confidence: "Reporting to the commander, this letter of complaint is mine... and the novel is here."

The commander took the manuscript from his hand, glanced at him, and didn't say anything in a hurry...

"..."

He opened the book and glanced at it. For the past half hour, the group of people had been watching the old commander without daring to move an inch.

The commander didn't rush to a conclusion. Instead, he personally glanced at the novel before speaking with confidence: "Liang Sanxi borrowed money, which is mentioned later in the story, to pay for his father's medical treatment. But when you submitted the report, you only wrote 'borrowed money'! Is this Comrade Zhou Xu smearing the soldiers, or are you deliberately smearing them?!"

The old leader's calm remark.

Everyone present turned their attention to Jiang Yi.

When they were reading the novel, they hadn't finished it. They were just following along with the part Jiang Yi mentioned, but they never expected that Jiang Yi would focus on just one part and report it.

This was clearly something none of the editors knew.

“Novels… can be used for artistic embellishment, but I think… it’s not appropriate to publish this kind of plot in a magazine…” Jiang Yi explained stiffly.

"...Your reasoning is indeed sound! So the reasoning behind your whistleblower letter, which so distorted the truth, is also based on this!" The commander's voice rose.

"I...I..." Jiang Yi was so frightened that his face turned pale.

The old commander waited patiently for Jiang Yi to speak, and after a long while, he glared at him and scolded:

"Smearing the soldiers! I think you're the one smearing the soldiers!! Do you know who you're reporting?! It's our troupe's only first-class meritorious soldier, he went to the front lines to fight monkeys!!! Are you saying he's smearing heroes, or are you deliberately smearing the soldiers of our troupe!!!"

At this point, the leader slammed his hand on the table.

Startled, Jiang Yi trembled, and the pen he was holding fell to the ground with a "clatter".
The office was so quiet you could hear his heavy breathing. The old commander's gaze was like fire, making his back tense.

He opened his mouth to defend himself, but his throat seemed to be blocked, and he could only make soft "uh uh" sounds. The little bit of confidence he had just had had vanished in fear, leaving only panic and lingering fear in his heart—he never expected that the person he had reported was a frontline soldier who had been awarded a first-class merit.

He himself reported the person who was a first-class meritorious official.

This whole thing felt like the sky was falling on him... what if the person in question was truly innocent...?

"I think it's people like you who have really ruined the entire cultural troupe!" The old commander slammed his finger on the table, his voice filled with anger. "You wield your pens but don't write about the soldiers' passion or remember the heroes' sacrifices. Instead, you spend your time making unfounded accusations and distorting the truth!"

"Where were you when the frontline soldiers were eating compressed biscuits in the foxholes and fighting desperately in the hail of bullets? You were hiding in the office picking on others and making up baseless accusations. Do you even deserve to mention the words 'Literature and Art Department'?"

"What is the purpose of the cultural troupe? It's to encourage soldiers and create biographies for heroes! It's not for you to be a 'whistleblower,' using complaint letters as weapons to stab your own people in the heart! If you don't clarify this matter today, I don't think you can sit comfortably in your editor's position!"

"Reporting to the commander, I'm writing an application letter, I'm writing an apology letter! I misunderstood Comrade Zhou Xu!!" Jiang Yi rubbed his forehead, beads of sweat dripping down his face.

"You figure out what you said yourself!!" The leader flicked his sleeves and left the Literature and Art Department.

Jiang Yi then sat down, feeling as if his mind had just been hovering on the edge of death.

He took a deep breath.

The people over there started discussing, "Who is this?! Do you know him?"

Gao Junlang paused for a moment: "It's a leader from the Wuhan Military Region!"

"..."

Hearing this, Jiang Yi felt like the sky had fallen!
Commander! Such a light and airy word sounded so unrealistic to him, especially since this wasn't a literary pursuit, but a real military operation!
He came here personally for someone! ! ?
Jiang Yi couldn't understand it at all, nor did he dare to understand it.

He felt dizzy and disoriented. He had originally planned to submit an article to the Discipline Inspection Commission to show that he had achieved something... but he didn't expect to encounter such a tough challenge.

In this situation, he himself doesn't know what to do.

"Tsk! It's all Jiang Yi's fault. Why did he have to write that whistleblower letter?! He should be forgiving when he can, doesn't he know that saying?!"

"Yes, that's why we were also punished by this all-powerful old leader and made to stand for half a day."

"I think Jiang Yi messed up with the wrong person this time! Even such a high-ranking official has lost his temper... I don't know what to do!"

A group of people were whispering in his ear, but their words, though seemingly wise, reached Jiang Yi's ears, leaving him completely bewildered!

They are both right.

Gao Junlang sighed helplessly. He had advised Jiang Yi, as someone who had been through it all, not to go too far. Now, this retribution was entirely his own fault.

He said, "Finish your apology letter and application letter as soon as possible, if you can admit your mistake quickly enough..."

Gao Junlang didn't know what to say.

Zhou Xu was a fake who smeared the heroic warrior, but now it's true that Jiang Yi deliberately framed and smeared the heroic warrior. If the other side investigates even a little, he will definitely be guilty.

Of course, Jiang Yi understood, and he scribbled away with his pen for a while.

(End of this chapter)