Literary Master 1983

Chapter 425 Joint Security Area (Part 4)
There was a barter market on the Laoshan front. For example, a military novel could be exchanged for a day's reading time with chocolate or chewing gum; canned goods and bottled water were quite valuable, and cigarettes were especially valuable. A pack of cigarettes could sell for ten times the price in the civilian market! So much so that cigarettes had to be broken down and traded one by one.

Soldiers would mortgage their post-retirement wages in advance just to have a cigarette... Some unlucky guys were already in debt for years before the war was even over. This was something Li Cunbao discovered when he came to the front lines to investigate, and nothing much has changed since then.

What is the value of the Joint Security Area?
At the outpost closest to Laoshan, the Fourth Company, it was worth a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes.

Yu Qie ended his visit here. This outpost, where the "last battle" had taken place, also became Yu Qie's last stop in Laoshan.

Xianyunqiang from the Military Pictorial, Lao Jiang from the Political Department, Lao Xu from the Propaganda Section, and Pei Shunhua, the head of the Propaganda Special Section of the Vietnamese side... they all prepared to solemnly commemorate this farewell together with Yu Qie.

Early that morning, Yu Qie delivered several copies of "Joint Security Area" to Pei Shunhua, telling him the good news:
"Colonel Pei, we plan to distribute the novel for free at the front lines and also record it as a radio drama so that our Vietnamese brothers on the other side can hear it too!"

As a semi-spy, Bui Hue naturally knew about this book: "This book is too expensive, several dollars! We Vietnamese can't afford it! We'll wait until you Chinese are tired of reading it and can recite it from memory before it's our turn to read it!"

Vietnam's current economic situation has indeed deteriorated to an unbelievable degree. For example, at the farewell party held by both sides a few days ago, soldiers from both sides threw notes to each other, expressing their wishes for the post-war period.

Most Chinese people make practical wishes for scarce resources such as "good jobs" and "houses," but the Vietnamese are different. A dozen or so men in a Vietnamese battalion made the same wish—they hoped to buy Forever brand bicycles in southern China after the war.

These people fought for the Vietnamese government for more than ten years. After retiring from the military, the only one who had the money to buy a bicycle was the battalion commander of the combat battalion.

In the 1980s, joining the army was essentially a matter of receiving benefits far exceeding the social average. The military not only provided food, clothing, and education, but also job assignments. This was especially true for the Vietnamese, who had a militaristic system. While the Vietnamese on the front lines were complaining bitterly, their civilian population was probably already struggling to survive.

Yu Qie could judge the economic situation of Vietnamese people from this one incident. He said, "A bicycle is one of the three major items! In China, for a man to get married, he needed at least a watch, a bicycle, and a sewing machine, and that was the price in the 1970s!"

"now what?"

Yu Qie said, "Television, motorcycle, washing machine."

Qiu Lian, the company commander of the Fourth Company who was visiting with us, laughed: "Our treatment isn't that good either. A motorcycle costs several thousand yuan! A motorcycle shouldn't be considered one of the three major items. I think the other major item is a refrigerator or a video recorder."

“That’s something we can’t afford,” Bui Hue said sincerely. “We have to pool our money to buy a bicycle. The domestic economy is already in a very difficult situation. I’ve been in contact with Comrade Truong Chinh and know some real economic data… Professor Yu, Comrade Truong Chinh is friendly to China. They are a friendly force among the top leaders of Vietnam.”

Pei Shunhua said in a deep voice, "If it weren't for Comrade Chang Zheng, we would have had a much longer conflict. You wouldn't have seen me, who was originally in the rear."

Yu Qie asked him, "The way you're talking makes it sound like peace was all given to you Vietnamese people! What would happen if we really fought? It would just mean more deaths. Would I be the one to die? It would definitely be more Vietnamese people who die."

Pei Shunhua was so provoked by Yu Qie's words that his face turned red. He wanted to argue for the government, but he was speechless.

He dared not disrupt the overall peace, and could only adopt a submissive attitude, saying:
“It’s peaceful now, Teacher Yu… please don’t say these things anymore.”

Yu Qie did not respond, but subtly reminded Pei Hue: "We plan to teach Vietnamese people basic Chinese through the radio, and we will also send out the 'Historical Album of Sino-Vietnamese Friendship' via hot air balloon. The novel 'Joint Security Zone' will also be distributed free of charge to you Vietnamese people at my own expense."

How many copies are you planning to donate?

“Two hundred copies,” Yu Qie said. “I hope we can remain friends forever. Think about it, didn’t Ho Chi Minh think the same way back then?”

These words drew enthusiastic applause from everyone. Only Pei Shunhua felt that Yu Qie's words carried a murderous intent.

It's impossible for friendship to last forever. How can it last forever? Unless all the militants in Vietnam are killed, then it might last forever.

And why did he mention Comrade Ho Chi Minh...?

He couldn't possibly send "The Love Story of Ho Chi Minh" to the front lines! Did he even write it?!
Pei Shunhua was horrified upon closer examination.

Sure enough, not long after, Yu Qie requested that the Vietnamese troops stationed opposite the outpost also come to the "demilitarized zone" so that everyone could celebrate together. According to the armistice agreement, this was a zone about forty kilometers wide, which happened to occupy the valley area of ​​Laoshan.

“I want to invite them to a meeting!” Yu Qie said. “Don’t be afraid, it’s just a meeting!”

Carrying the novel "Joint Security Area" in his arms, Pei Shunhua rode in a Romanian jeep across the valley back to his own people's defensive line.

In the car, he opened a novel to read.

It captivated him from the start: with the armistice agreement about to be signed, a death occurred at a border post on the Sino-Vietnamese front, resulting in the deaths of one northern soldier and three Vietnamese soldiers.

The armistice was signed shortly after this incident, so neither side wanted to publicize it much.

A Vietnamese man of Chinese descent, Thuan Hoa, was sent to investigate… He quickly discovered that the matter was not simply a chance encounter, but rather a deeper truth. Multiple pieces of evidence inside the outpost indicated that something similar to what had happened at the foxholes—soldiers had secretly come together.

To make matters worse, the protagonist, Shunhua, developed an identity conflict during his research. He was Vietnamese in nationality, but the more he researched, the more he felt that he was culturally no different from the Chinese.

He seemed to always hear a voice saying: Your Vietnamese identity is fake; you actually have Chinese blood.

He gradually uncovered the truth of the case, but his mental state began to deteriorate...

Holy crap! That's me!
Isn't the voice ringing in the protagonist's ears also Yu Qie's? Or is it that "Chang Zheng" comrade in Hanoi?
These bigwigs are controlling me from afar, sometimes seemingly ready to fight, sometimes singing songs of peace... the winds of change are unpredictable.

People like me are really unlucky! If I make even the slightest mistake, given the incredibly intense PUBG matches in Vietnam right now, I could be beheaded and my family would be implicated as well.

Pei Hue was drenched in sweat from the ordeal. His Romanian jeep was already quite shaky, and it took him a full afternoon to reach the Vietnamese frontline troops. After some searching, he located several Vietnamese soldiers who had participated in the final battles. These men were from a company of the 356th Division, led by Division Commander Nguyen Van Duc. This unit had long been Vietnam's elite force, and therefore possessed good discipline. Amidst the wave of passive resistance from the Vietnamese at the front, the 356th Division had persevered to the very end.

The men from the 356th Division asked him, "What do you want with those people?"

"I'm going to take them to the other side of the valley."

"Aren't there Chinese people on the other side of the valley?"

"Yes, that's right. They were invited to visit. Yu Qie, one of China's most popular writers, wanted to meet them and personally give them his novels."

Upon hearing this, the men of the 356th Division exchanged bewildered glances. One of them, who had participated in the battle, told Pei Shunhua, "Now everyone is in contact with the Chinese, and there are countless people who admire the writer Yu! But these few are different; sending them won't work!"

“What’s different?” Pei Shunhua asked.

"They will never come into contact with Chinese people."

Bui Hue quickly figured out the reason: it turned out that in the "final battle" that took place at both sides' outposts, both sides suffered casualties, but the Vietnamese died more.

Vietnamese soldiers also have backbone. If no one had died, it would have been fine. They could have gone to Yu Qie to apologize and appease him—after all, he was called a "peace expert" and "an old friend of the Vietnamese people" by the Vietnamese mouthpiece, the People's Daily, and was also praised internationally for his efforts in peace.

However, even the best impression cannot outweigh the death of one's own people.

These Vietnamese soldiers probably hate Yu Qie to death.

Pei Hue found the Vietnamese soldiers and told them about the Chinese demands—which were, as expected, rejected.

No matter what Bui Hue said, they were unwilling to go. Moreover, they brought up something that embarrassed Bui Hue: because the Chinese were still intermittently bombing Laoshan (which did not end until the end of 88), the Vietnamese soldiers who had died earlier were still in the valley area, and their bodies were probably already rotting.

They hate Chinese people to the core; why would they attend a farewell ceremony?
However, what if things go wrong and Yu Qie writes "The Love Story of Ho Chi Minh"? That would be an even bigger problem!
These Vietnamese soldiers lacked any sense of the bigger picture and had no idea how terrifying intellectuals could be. The saintly image of Ho Chi Minh, the founding father of the nation, was related to Vietnam's national identity! Comrade Chang Zheng repeatedly instructed that Comrade Ho's reputation must not be damaged.

Pei Hue had no choice but to contact the division commander, Nguyen Van Duc, and the message was passed up the chain of command.

While waiting, Pei Shunhua picked up a book again to read:

The plot of "Joint Security Area" has reached its climax! Soldiers from two different camps have developed a brotherhood. They meet regularly through the unfathomable foxholes, bringing fine wine and food, and exchanging novels to read... These people all speak Zhuang languages, which allows them to communicate almost without barriers. They are also deeply influenced by Chinese culture and share the same values.

What particularly moved Bui Hue was that, through the dialogue of the novel's characters, Nguyen Thiet expressed the sentiments of many Vietnamese people: the more I interacted with these northern neighbors, the more I doubted that I was actually part of them.

Is it not?
Even Pei Shunhua himself was bewildered: Who am I? How am I different from the Chinese?
Why should I resist them?
This book doesn't preach; instead, it uses the protagonist's experience to examine the whole event from an objective perspective. Once readers think this way, they will come to the same conclusion: I am them.

Pei Shunhua was utterly horrified! This book will definitely be banned, perhaps not now, but certainly in the future!
It fundamentally denies Vietnam's national identity. Through the investigation of a Rashomon-like tragedy, it concludes that, from a cultural perspective, Vietnam is simply part of the North, and the government has merely constructed an imagined community through propaganda—a community reinforced by hate education and slogans like "The Boy Who Cried Wolf."

Once they have actually interacted with each other, that imagined community will be replaced by genuine feelings.

At this moment, Pei Shunhua was filled with unprecedented anxiety: Yes!

Vietnam has fought far more difficult battles than this, so why did widespread passive resistance only occur during the border skirmishes? Frontline soldiers smoothly raised white flags, eagerly announcing their unit numbers and battle plans, with almost no moral burden... It seems like the Chinese were too powerful, and they couldn't defeat them, but in reality, the specter of cultural identity was at work!

Cultural identity, seemingly useless, is nonetheless incredibly important.

What would happen if Ho Chi Minh's "statue" were to break at this time?
Bui Hue wrote a report and sent it to Hanoi, asking how to resolve the issue. At this time, Nguyen Van Duc, the commander of the 356th Division, also received the news and sent the Vietnamese soldiers to Bui Hue.

"Comrade Pei, take them to the meeting across the street. The Chinese people's demands cannot be delayed."

"Very good, you've convinced them?"

“I convinced them to prioritize the overall situation, because the current circumstances are beyond their control.”

That evening, Pei Shunhua contacted Yu Qie via radio: "I have found the people you needed and persuaded them. Because the mountain roads are dangerous at night, I will be traveling through the valley in a Romanian jeep tomorrow morning. Please do not fire."

On the other end of the radio, Yu Qie's slightly hoarse voice came through:
"They are active-duty combat soldiers, not civilian personnel. Please raise a white flag to indicate that they are not hostile, so as to avoid misjudgment by our outposts."

"Hanging a white flag? That's not proper etiquette!"

"Go ask your colleagues at the front lines of the cat-ear tunnels who are begging for food with white flags and empty cans... I don't think there's anything wrong with that. After the armistice, there were so many of you begging for food with white flags that we couldn't even keep up with the reports."

Pei Shunhua blushed with embarrassment and immediately agreed.

The following morning, the Romanian jeep indeed came down the mountain, but the atmosphere was very strange. The three Vietnamese soldiers had all their weapons confiscated, and they kept blaming "Yu Che" for killing our comrades!
He added, "The government above never cares about ordinary soldiers. When they need to fight, they'll fight even without food or water! But when they can't win, they'll force them to negotiate peace and suffer humiliation!"

In the end, it all boils down to one sentence: Those in power in Vietnam never cared about the lives of ordinary soldiers.
Yes! After experiencing this survey, Pei Shunhua also felt very sad.

(End of this chapter)