1978: A Literary Giant Who Began His Military Service

Chapter 83 This novel became a hit

About half a month has passed.

The novel seems to be spreading like wildfire across the entire Chinese mainland.

"PLA Literature" has always been a platform for subscribed novels in the military. As a magazine strongly supported by the General Political Department, its influence in the military is comparable to that of "People's Literature".

However, today the call came not from the military, but from the distribution office of the magazine:
"Hello! Yesterday, Xinhua bookstores in more than a dozen streets in the capital, including Wangfujing, Jiefang Road, and Zhongshan Road, called us, asking you to quickly reprint and restock!"

In this era of planned economy, the distribution center is responsible for regulating the shipment of goods.

The distribution center issues orders to the publishing house based on the number of orders and reprint needs of Xinhua Bookstore, and the publishing house then arranges for the magazine to reprint according to the order.

Of course, *PLA Literature and Art* and the PLA Literature and Art Publishing House were originally published by the same magazine...

"Reprint!" Liu Songlin, who answered the phone, was a little unsure: "Is it really a call about reprinting?"

"Yes, the urging from the capital is urgent, and the distribution offices in Hubei and Guangzhou have also called to request additional printings!"

Hearing these words, Liu Songlin was slightly surprised for a moment. "PLA Literature and Art" is a magazine published by the military. The magazine supplied to the military is the main source of sales, while the sales to the general public are not that high.

However, this time the news of the reprint did indeed spread to the public first, even faster than the military's announcement, proving that more novels were being sold in the public sphere and that the novels were more popular.

Of course, that doesn't mean the military is unpopular. We've just had a few more calls coming in from the military.

"Is it 'Wreath at the Foot of the Mountain'?" Liu Jiaju asked.

Liu Songlin nodded.

Both of them were quite interested in this work, or rather, Zhou Xu's work, so when they heard the news of the reprint, the first thing they thought of was Comrade Zhou Xu.

Hu Qi heard the two discussing: "Let's do it this way for now, print an additional 150,000 copies, and if that's not enough in a week, print another 150,000 copies."

Wow! That's the spirit of a military magazine.

When it comes to which of these magazines and publishing houses has the largest print run, it has to be the PLA Publishing House. It is the only publishing house that can print more than 50,000 copies a day. This is the source of the confidence of a magazine that needs to provide cultural and artistic propaganda to five million people.

"Are we really going to print so many more?"

Hu Qi said, "We printed 400,000 copies in the first printing. Although the military took half of them, the sales volume in the market was close to 200,000 copies in just one week. Printing this many copies should be feasible."

While the two were talking.

Xiao Zhang slowly walked into the office, dragging a bag of letters, wiping his sweat as he went.

After Liu Songlin finished talking, he looked at him.

Xiao Zhang said, "Editor, these are all reader emails that have been in my inbox in the last few days."

Shortly after its publication, most of the letters that reached the magazine's office were from readers in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

For example, newspapers and television stations in the capital now receive letters or complaints from readers the day after they publish news.

In this day and age, letters are indeed a major platform for readers and viewers to express their views.

“A reader’s letter?” Liu Jiaju walked over, picked up a letter at random, and upon reading the contents, said, “This is indeed for ‘Wreath at the Foot of the Mountain,’ or rather, for Comrade Zhou Xu.”

Liu Songlin also came over.

I randomly opened one of the letters.

"Hello, Mr. Zhou Xu. I am Feng Xiaogang, a member of the cultural troupe of the Beijing Military Region. After reading your novel 'Wreath at the Foot of the Mountain' and hearing your story, I admire you greatly. I feel that you are truly a guiding light in the sky."

"Tsk, this guy's from the military region, I have a feeling he's definitely a suck-up." Liu Songlin sighed as he looked at the letter.

Liu Jiaju looked over and said, "Don't slander people, okay? It's obvious that they like our magazine's new work."

"Shall we look at the other letters?" Hu Qi asked curiously.

After all, he had nothing to do today, and seeing the novel's popularity, he was curious about what kind of letters readers were writing.

“‘From now on, if anyone says that I, Zhao Mengsheng, am afraid of death, I will fight him to the death!’ This line is so well written; it clearly describes the transformation of Zhao Mengsheng’s character.”

“I understand Zhao Mengsheng’s mother very well. After all, the older generation suffered and shed blood and tears, and they just hope that their descendants can live a better life without having to work so hard. But I feel even more strongly that the Party and the country do not have the title of ‘hero’! This is even better said by Lei Shenye.”

"The martyrs' cemetery is the dream of men and soldiers. After reading this novel, I now have a dream: to join the army! I'll join the army after graduating from high school next year!!"

"The protagonist of this novel is not Zhao Mengsheng, I feel it should be Liang Sanxi and Jin Kailai!! These two characters are written with so much passion and spirit."

"I was deeply moved when I saw Thor; that's the essence of this novel."

"..."

Countless letters and readers' opinions flooded the editorial department, all praising "Wreath at the Foot of the Mountain".

Of course, many people are discussing this novel, with the most common question being whether the second generation should go to the front lines—after all, this is indeed a very important criterion for judging whether society has changed or not.

Some have pointed out that the essence of the novel and film lies in Little BJ's sacrifice. Liang Sanxi's mother was still reconciled when she saw Zhao Mengsheng, but only when she met Lei Shenye and heard that Little BJ had also gone to the battlefield did she find peace regarding her son's departure…

There has been much discussion about this novel. It can be said that the fact that the all-powerful noblewoman did not transfer Zhao Mengsheng is a true reflection of the fact that the Party and the people have always been together.

Of course, in the previous life, the movie adaptation of this novel was also very popular.

The film "Garland at the Foot of the Mountain" is a product unique to the planned economy era, and it is difficult for modern films to produce such a classic film again.

As for Xie Jin, who directed the film, he was also one of the best of the third generation of filmmakers. He focused on the true, good and beautiful aspects of 'human nature', which made Zhao Mengsheng's transformation natural, Jin Kailai vivid and real, and Liang Sanxi's profoundness leap off the page.

……

Within a week, the magazine received not only letters from readers but also announcements from the distribution office about reprints... all pointing to one thing.

Hu Qi said with a little excitement, "This novel is a real hit!!"

-

in the afternoon.

Zhou Xu was practicing target shooting with the troops once a month.

Although he no longer needs to exercise, target shooting is his favorite activity! He can skip other forms of exercise, but he can't miss the monthly opportunity to shoot targets.

Maybe after I retire from the army and go home, I can hunt in the wilderness... and then marry an educated youth, a village beauty, a widow... Pshaw, okay, that's all just fantasy.

clap clap clap!
After firing all ten bullets, Zhou Xu didn't get all ten rings this time; he missed a few targets, partly due to his internal injuries.

"Zhou Xu, let me introduce you to a new musician in the performing arts troupe, named Zhang Nanfeng!" Chen Yong walked over with a young boy.

Zhang Nanfeng walked over and saluted Zhou Xu. After all, Zhou Xu was from the creative studio and could be considered a junior leader in the art troupe. Zhou Xu nodded and said, "Hello, Comrade Zhang Nanfeng."

"Hello!"

"What is this?" Zhou Xu asked.

Chen Yong continued, "Hey! Long Ping was transferred away last time. Our song and dance troupe was short of instrumentalists, so we transferred him from the Academy of Arts."

Zhou Xu nodded.

After exchanging greetings, we continued shooting.

After the target practice ended, Zhou Xu boarded the bus with the cultural troupe and returned to the troupe. After such a long and arduous journey, Zhou Xu was almost ready to develop an iron butt, just one step away from it.

As soon as we arrived at the cultural troupe, the political commissar waved to us!

Zhou Xu looked at the political commissar and knew he was being called over, so he immediately ran over and said, "Political Commissar."

The political commissar nodded and led Zhou Xu to the office as they walked: "Didn't I tell you last time that we were going to deal with that whistleblower from the Literature and Art Department? The decision has been made, and I'm here to give you an explanation."

Zhou Xu picked up two documents from the political commissar's desk.

It was dealt with in just half a month, which was indeed very fast.

He glanced at it; the document contained a brief description of the person's disciplinary action.

He has been demoted and sent to a lower-level position.

As for Long Ping, he went to the grassroots level but his rating didn't drop. The whistleblower, on the other hand, had a worse experience; his rating dropped.

The political commissar asked, "Are you satisfied with this result?"

Zhou Xu didn't mince words; since both of them had hit him, he immediately smiled and said, "Satisfied, satisfied!"

"There's one more thing, do I remember notifying you about this? It's about going to military academy!" The political commissar continued flipping through the documents.

"Not yet!"

"The registration and exams were supposed to be in the next few months... but I specifically applied to the higher-ups! They didn't approve it." The political commissar shook his head, looking rather helpless as he continued to show Zhou Xu the documents.

The suggestion to recommend him for admission without examination was also rejected.

Zhou Xu glanced at the document, which contained information, and asked, "Why?"

"Advanced role models, officers and soldiers who have been awarded second-class merit or above, and outstanding squad leaders and deputy squad leaders in combat units are exempt from examinations and can be admitted to schools without examination. They usually need to meet the basic requirement of having served in active service for two years."

"But it takes at least a year. You came last October, and it feels like you've been here for ages, but it's only been less than a year, just seven months!" The political commissar shook his head.
"Oh!" Zhou Xu nodded in realization. "Then let's talk about registration next year!"

“You’re quite optimistic. I’ll handle your application for admission to military academy next year while I’m still in the regiment,” the political commissar said.

Zhou Xu felt that if he wanted to advance his career, he definitely needed to study at a military academy. Moreover, the study period at a military academy was not long; some programs only lasted a few months, and even the longest postgraduate programs required two or three years.

From this perspective, the training actually ended very quickly.

(End of this chapter)