Literary Master 1983

Chapter 428 First Class Merit
Yu Qieze put it more bluntly: the reason why military literature exploded in the 1980s was partly because the state intentionally provided resources; and partly because military literature was too restricted in the past, and could not be written in many directions, and its propaganda attributes were emphasized one-sidedly... Now that it has been opened up, it has naturally allowed creators to enter a free kingdom.

Let's not even talk about anything else. Just look at the national short story awards. Without exception, there are two or more military-themed stories in every single one of them. Obviously, this is completely disproportionate to the number of military-themed stories being written.

"Wreaths at the Foot of the Mountain" and "Anecdotes from the Western Front" are certainly good articles, but how did "War and Man" manage to win the Mao Dun Literature Prize?
Is it really that powerful?
This was the era of the previous generations of top-tier competition!
In this article, he wrote: "Compared with the innovation of contemporary literature, military literature seems to lag behind. At the turn of the 1970s and 1980s, although there were famous works such as 'Anecdotes of the Western Front' and 'Female Soldiers Chasing the Troops' by Xu Huaizhong, Deng Youmei, etc., they were still individual works and could not form a cohesive force!"

"The real explosion of military literature was marked by Li Cunbao's 'Wreath at the Foot of the Mountain' and Zhu Sujin's 'Shooting the Wolf' in 1982! 'Wreath at the Foot of the Mountain' in particular won the short story award that year, pioneering a shift of public attention to the real lives of soldiers in 'contemporary warfare'! After that, a large number of writers showed their talents, and military literature entered its golden age!"

So, where does the pinnacle of military literature lie?
There's no need for me to boast; in today's literary circles, "The Fiancée's Letter" and "The Battle of Laoshan" are widely recognized as two peaks in military literature. The excellent reception of "Joint Security Area" makes it the third such peak.

That's actually the case.

As soon as Yu Qie's commentary was published, the theorists who were willing to advocate for him immediately crowned him with glory.

Chen Dongjie of October submitted a research paper titled "Why Literature Is Beginning to Decline" to Beijing Literature, in which he wrote: "I think the enormous influence that serious literature has had on Chinese soil over the past decade is incredible and unprecedented in any other country! Literature has essentially acquired a news effect. Writers are not only novelists, but also investigative journalists, philosophers, social activists... They have taken on too many responsibilities!"

Chen Dongjie's article is written in a roundabout way, and then suddenly takes a turn at the end: "Let's take a look at who has had a huge social influence in the past, and who is qualified to be the number one person in the literary world!"

Su Tong of Zhongshan magazine also frankly stated in his self-criticism regarding the "South China Sea Writers' Association": "Our writers' association not only includes me, but also mature and experienced writers like Shi Tiesheng. Why can't we write a single article about the military?"

"Judging from Yu Qie's experience, the answer is clear. We eat hot pot, drink wine, and dream of writing a war novel about iron and fire. Of course, that's just wishful thinking! We will never reach the kingdom of freedom."

Li Cunbao and others mentioned in Yu Qie's commentary reciprocated, acknowledging his "peak" status. This is because Yu Qie stated in his article that Li Cunbao was one of the founders!
Since he's so savvy, what's wrong with you praising him?
However, none of these professional commentators, or even those who made a living as commentators, were as well-known as the later German, Kohl.

Helmut Kohl, whose full name is Helmut Kohl, is currently the Chancellor of Germany. Earlier this year, he was surprised to learn that Yuche and German sinologist Wolfgang Kubin had given impromptu speeches at the airport, causing at least a third of the passengers to willingly miss their flights.

Cole then knew that Yuche's achievements were genuine, and he truly represented "Eastern wisdom" in the eyes of Westerners at that time.

Germans are strange. On the one hand, there is widespread racial discrimination and hooligans everywhere, but on the other hand, they worship those great figures and sincerely follow those geniuses. They are spiritually empty and behave very hypocritically.

Cole knew the character of his people.

In an interview, to demonstrate his erudition, Cole spoke about the world-shaking reconciliation between China and Vietnam: "Ten years ago, I was shocked to hear that they were at war; ten years later, I am no longer shocked that they have shaken hands and made peace again!"

The German host with the high nose asked him, "Why aren't you shocked?"
Cole said, "Because I'm no longer a greenhorn; I've grown a lot over the years. There's nothing in this world that can't be discussed, it just depends on whether you can afford the price!"

"Have you read 'Joint Security Area'? This is exactly what we should read. It's a romantic story about how shared cultural traditions transcend national boundaries, leading frontline soldiers to give up resistance. I'll say it again, although China is very young, this is something we Germans should definitely read."

"Being young is not a mistake."

Tens of millions of viewers across Germany immediately burst into laughter.

Here's a joke about Kohl: Kohl was the youngest governor and the youngest chancellor in West German history. He was only 43 years old when he took office as chancellor in 1982. Because he benefited from the no-confidence vote against former German Chancellor Schmidt, the German media questioned whether he was too young and had won the position by default.

After that, Cole often joked about being too young.

Kohl was also adept at winning people's hearts and was skilled at "putting on a show." In 84, when he visited the Terracotta Army site in China, the administrators only allowed him to have close contact with the terracotta warriors and did not allow any more German officials to go down. Kohl immediately made a gesture of standing with all Germans.

He was allowed to meet several other German officials working on the Terracotta Army, and from then on, they were completely devoted to him.

His various acts of eating Chinese food and exclaiming things like "Chinese food is so delicious" and "Chinese ham is more authentic than German ham" have earned him even more favor from the media.

Therefore, the interview with the German Chancellor affected the reputation of "Joint Security Area"! CCTV seized on this opportunity, cutting out Kohl's political remarks and leaving only the words "Yuch's story...is worth watching for us Germans."

Chinese novels are famous overseas!
After ten years of back-and-forth battles, this round has won both substance and face!

Foreign liquor is still the best. The celebration party, originally scheduled for the end of June, was postponed because of this interview and will have to wait until Yu Qie returns to Chengdu.

Even the German Chancellor can humbly seek advice, so why can't you wait for Comrade Yu at your victory celebration?

The celebration party was postponed to July 4th, which was the date Yu returned to Chengdu.

That day, many artists who had participated in the慰问 (comfort/visit) activities at the Laoshan front gathered at the Rongcheng Military Region. They took a group photo, each holding a copy of "Joint Garrison Area." Gu Yue took Yu Qie's hand and said:
"I don't know if your novel can be made into a movie, but I hope that I can play myself in your movie."

Who do you want to play?

"Myself!" Gu Yue said with a smile. "Because I've been to the Laoshan front several times, and I came as Gu Yue!"

Making movies is probably not easy. In the past few years, major film studios produced all kinds of cult films in order to make money, which has made the censorship quite strict now.

The current situation is that the novel is far more explicit than the film. Writing "Wreath at the Foot of the Mountain" faced few obstacles, but adapting it into a movie was a huge undertaking!

But Gu Yue wanted to be himself, so why would Yu Qie be disappointed?
He promised, "If the novel gets adapted into a film, no one can take away the role from Gu Yue."

Gu Yue smiled and said, "I know it's difficult, but I'm very happy that you agreed!"

In the afternoon, the Rongcheng Military Region awarded collective first-class merits to all comrades, with the General Political Department Song and Dance Troupe, Writers Association, Television Station, and the film studio where Gong Xue worked being awarded merits separately.

Gong Xue was overjoyed that the Shanghai Film Studio, where she worked, produced only a few people like her, and she was able to win a collective first-class merit award.

"Teacher Yu, I thought we would receive a third-class merit, or at most a second-class merit. I never expected it to be the highest!"

“I didn’t expect this either!” Gu Yue said. “As far as I can remember, this is the first time a first-class merit has been awarded! To be honest, Yu Qie has worked hard and made great contributions, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he got a first-class merit… What I didn’t expect was that we all got it!”

why?
Yu Qie thought to himself: Because the ten-year-long war of rotation has finally come to an end.

The cultural workers had little information and assumed it was just another ordinary, lengthy visit to comfort and support the troops. In the past three or four years, such visits had been held many times a year; since there hadn't been any major battles since 85, it could be considered a "gilding" trip.

Every year, every quarter, artists and cultural workers make a wish for "eternal peace." This time, however, it's for real.

By this time, the Vietnamese had probably already secretly arrived in the capital, coming to apologize with thorns on their backs.

"Today, with the utmost respect, we award the military region's collective first-class merit to the literary and art workers who participated in the summer of 88's Laoshan frontline comfort activities!"

The award citation is playing!
The Rongcheng Military Region sent a beautiful young woman who said in a melodious voice, "The moment you set foot on the front line of Laoshan, you will no longer be ordinary writers, actors, or reporters, but comrades-in-arms fighting alongside the soldiers on the front line."

Everyone understood immediately; there was an order to it. Writers were first-class, followed by actors and journalists.

This first-class merit award was mainly due to Yu Qie's influence. He was on the front lines the longest and even donated a considerable amount of money out of his own pocket.

As for going to the Vietnamese positions for research—that's something most people wouldn't dare to do.

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, Yu Qie was the first person to dare to go to enemy positions to spread propaganda. Not only did he go, but he also wrote a novel called "Joint Security Area".

The military newspaper enthusiastically praised it, saying, "This is a spiritual atomic bomb that has shattered the prejudices that have been building up in people's hearts and stripped away the enemy's false propaganda completely!"

Yu Qie gradually became immersed in his memories. "You crossed the artillery fire blockade, went deep into the foxholes and the front lines, measured the heroic land with your footsteps, and recorded the soldiers' loyalty with your words."

"The poems written in the trenches, the stories told by candlelight, have become the bullets in the gun barrels and the flags on the battlefield..."

How wonderful!
He couldn't help but sigh.

Suddenly he heard the rumble of artillery fire, and a dazzling flash exploded in front of him. A treacherous river valley lay silent in the darkness. He felt an immense emptiness between heaven and earth, yet also a sense that he could shrink the world to an inch. He only needed to reach out his hand to touch the crown of military literature!
In his past life, Yu Qie always chatted and posted online, and now he is deeply involved in this matter.

This weighty First-Class Merit Medal is undoubtedly the best reward for Yu Qie.

That night, as expected, Yu got drunk.

Everyone started playing the "Toast to our Comrade Yu Qie" game, and Yu Qie accepted everyone's toasts; he rarely seemed this happy. Although he had an exceptional capacity for alcohol, he quickly passed out drunk at the table.

"Teacher Yu is drunk!" Gu Yue shouted.

Several female comrades volunteered to help Yu Qie rest. As soon as they entered the room, Gong Xue took off Yu Qie's coat without hesitation, wiped him down with a towel, and covered him with a thin blanket.

Her gaze lingered on Yu Qie's face.

At the Shanghai Film Studio, it was an open secret that actress Gong Xue had a crush on writer Yu. On the front lines in Laoshan, everyone who had been there noticed.

That's not surprising!
If Yu Qie hadn't written an article to speak up for her, Gong Xue's acting career would have ended, and it would have also implicated her parents and sister.

Viewers who believed the rumors threw paint at Gong Xue's house, pointed fingers at her, and sent her abusive letters... Gong Xue, with her strong personality, almost resolutely left Shanghai and China...

It was Yu Qie who encouraged her to step out of her shell and provided her with substantial help.

Who wouldn't like someone like that?

But as Yu Qie's fame grew, he got married, and now he even has a child... these expectations gradually faded away.

Ugh!
Life is full of disappointments, and Yu Qie said he wanted to bring it up with his wife—but if she suddenly changed her mind and didn't want to talk about it anymore, Gong Xue felt she could understand.

At least on the Laoshan side, Yu Qie was definitely sincere when he said that.

The next day, the comrades bid farewell. Gong Xue said to Yu Qie, "The perfect Yu Qie shouldn't be dragged down by me. If it's for the sake of reputation... I can accept it. After all, Yu Qie doesn't just belong to you, he's a spirit! I'll just be a stone! Silent and taciturn, watching from afar. I've gotten used to it over the years."

As she spoke, she burst into tears again. Clearly, these words had been a long struggle for her.

Gong Xue probably doesn't know about Yu Qie and Chen Xiaoxu's relationship.

I thought to myself: I should have known this day would come. Once there is one, there will be two, and once there are two, there will be three.

His feelings for Gong Xue were far less profound than his feelings for Zhang Li, and perhaps even less so than for Chen Xiaoxu. But if Gong Xue were to actually marry her Chinese cousin, Yu Qie would be in a real bind.

This is driven by a possessiveness, a sense of self-satisfaction from admiring and saving others' fates.

After all, neither Chen Xiaoxu nor Gong Xue had a happy ending in history; their fates were, in fact, quite tragic. Now, he could only console himself with these words.

"Now that we've had our business out in the open, there's nothing to be afraid of. However, my situation is special, so you should think it through carefully!"

Gong Xue was surprised that Yu Qie did not follow her words and burst into tears of joy.

The two embraced tightly before parting ways.
-
In Beijing, the secret negotiations between China and Vietnam have concluded.

The Vietnamese side was about to return home and announce the results to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam. The success of these negotiations was partly due to the unification of thought within the Communist Party of Vietnam, but the novel also played a role.

The late leader, Chang Zheng, was an artistic person. Hours before his death, he had his personal secretary read him the story of "Joint Security Area." Then he passed away peacefully.

This has aroused considerable interest within Vietnam. The book explores such fascinating ideas that it points out the fact that "culture is sometimes greater than the nation-state," and according to its logic, Vietnam, overestimating its own strength, will ultimately destroy itself.

Is this too exaggerated?
Vo Nguyen Giap picked up a book and flipped through it repeatedly; unsurprisingly, it was "Joint Security Area." He said to the Vietnamese people accompanying him, "This book is very well written. I want to sincerely apologize to the Chinese; we have made many mistakes in our history."

“I have Chinese blood flowing in my veins. Ultimately, the reason I was moved by this story is because I share the same way of thinking.”

(End of this chapter)