My era, 1979!

Chapter 106 "The Unbreakable Red Silk" (5.5k)

In the evening, Lu Xiulan packed the dried sweet potatoes into a cloth bag and stuffed it into Jianjun's backpack: "Eat them when you get hungry on the road."

Xu Zhiguo squatted in the yard, carefully applying oil to Jianjun's military boots: "When you get to the army, don't tough it out. If your injury isn't fully healed, tell your superiors. Don't worry about things at home."

Xu Jianjun shook his head at the group: "Dad, Mom, don't bother, there are too many things and they're hard to carry."

"How can that be the same? The difference between what you do outside and what you do at home is huge!"

“Your mother is right, listen to your mother on this matter.”

Xu Chengjun said with a smile, "And the 'Shanghai brand' cigarettes I brought for my older brother also need to be kept by him. We can't let Dad smoke them all by himself."

"Dad, you have to take this with me. My brother brought it from Shanghai. It's very important!"

"You two brats, I've raised you for nothing!" Xu Zhiguo said, glaring and berating himself.

The whole family immediately sat together laughing, which greatly dispelled the sadness of parting.

aside,
Xiaomei put the notebook filled with clothing design sketches into her handbag; the cover read, "Shanghai, here I come."

Xu Jianjun silently packed his things, his gaze lingering on his parents' hair, which was half white.

Xu Chengjun leaned against the door frame, looking at his family in front of him.

As the smoke from the chimneys swirls around the eaves and laughter echoes over the courtyard walls, the scars left by war and the confusion etched by the times seem to slowly unfold in this atmosphere of everyday life.

Late at night, Xu Chengjun was awakened by noises outside the window.

Moonlight streamed through the window, and he saw his father squatting beside the stone mill, mending Jianjun's worn-out military socks.

My mother stood by the stove, filling a thermos with boiled eggs.

Xiaomei folded the blue cloth jacket embroidered with sunflowers and gently put it into Jianjun's backpack.

He quietly lay down, listening to the whispers in the room, and suddenly understood: what is called hometown is that no matter how far you go, there is always a door with a light on for you, and there are always people waiting for your return.

The next day, it was dawn.

Xu Jianjun then boarded a bus and headed to Bengbu.

Before leaving, he didn't say much, but just took a deep look at his father, mother, brother, and sister.

Finally, he patted Xu Chengjun on the shoulder separately: "Your novel is quite good after you finish revising it. Keep writing it and study hard in Shanghai."

"Xiaomei is so innocent, please take good care of her. I'm useless as the eldest brother, the family is counting on you."

"Don't worry, brother, don't worry about home."

"The most important thing is to take good care of yourself in the south."

Xu Jianjun burst into hearty laughter after hearing this.

"Chengjun is a real man now! I'm relieved to hear you say that."

As she spoke, she gently hugged Xu Chengjun, tossed an envelope to him, and before Xu Chengjun could react, turned and got into the car.

The bus drove away, kicking up dust, and I heard a sobbing sound beside me.

Lu Xiulan finally couldn't hold back and burst into tears while hugging Xu Zhiguo, and Xu Xiaomei, who was standing next to her, also started to sob.

Xu Chengjun opened the envelope, inside was a stack of small bills, grain coupons, and industrial coupons.

There was also a text message.

Xu Chengjun glanced at it, immediately closed the box, and quietly stuffed it into his pocket.
-
At noon, after lunch.

Xu Chengjun went back to his room and buried himself in writing his novel again.

He put a lot of effort into the narrative logic of this novel.

In 1979, most domestic war-themed novels were told from the perspective of "Chinese soldiers," presenting a one-dimensional narrative of "our side is righteous, the enemy is evil."

In this book, Xu Chengjun uses a non-linear narrative to switch perspectives and interweave time and space, incorporating diverse perspectives such as those of Vietnamese soldiers, women in the rear, and intellectuals, transforming the historical narrative of 1979 from a "monologue" into a "dialogue."

Breaking away from the logic of "linear time and space," the historical scene is reconstructed through the free flow of characters' inner thoughts, allowing "subjective memory" to replace "objective time" as the core of the narrative.

It has a narrative logic somewhat similar to that of Proust's "In Search of Lost Time" and Faulkner's "The Sound and the Fury".

He "integrated across different literary theories and schools of thought" from later generations.

Modernist stream of consciousness, Bakhtin's polyphonic theory, postmodernism, and trauma research theory.
Xu Chengjun wasn't doing this to show off his skills.

It is not about pursuing "avant-garde narrative techniques," but rather about more realistically reproducing the "historical complexity" and "human depth" of China in the 1970s and 1980s.

Taking polyphony theory as an example, the key to this theory is that "each character has independent thoughts and voices, and the author does not force a 'correct stance' on them."

Xu Chengjun uses non-linear narrative to present the perspectives of "Chinese soldiers, Vietnamese soldiers, women in the rear, and intellectuals" equally.

The same battlefield in the 1979 Lang Son campaign provided a dual perspective.

Xu Jianjun's perspective: "The clay bag wrapped in red silk cannot be lost; it represents Siyuan's sentiments."

Nguyen Van Hieu's perspective: "The gauze was stained with blood, why did we have to fire again?"

The two perspectives collide in the same time and space through the image of "red silk". Xu Chengjun does not judge "who is right and who is wrong", but allows the two voices to have a natural dialogue, which is different from the monologue-style narrative of traditional war novels.

It helps to explore human nature.

As for what Western theories should be applied?
Please, most of these theories haven't even been developed yet.

I used the dialectical and expansive thinking of the transformation of classical Chinese literary theory.
This is called the modern transformation of classical Chinese literary theory—neo-realist literature.

While Xu Chengjun was deep in thought,

Xu Xiaomei appeared beside Xu Chengjun at some point, picked up his manuscript, and began reading it page by page.

"Brother, you've already written almost 200,000 words of your novel and you're still not finished!"

"It's still early. I'm planning to write a long novel, which I estimate will be over 300,000 words."

Wow, that's amazing! Keep it up, bro!

Xu Chengjun rubbed his temples; he hadn't expected his first full-length novel to be a military-themed work.

He made significant breakthroughs in narrative structure, writing logic, and themes.

The content includes Xu Jianjun's personal account and references to numerous military-themed works from both domestic and international sources.

It incorporates elements from the film "Youth", the novels "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "And Quiet Flows the Don", and also references works such as "Garland Under the Mountain", "The Deep Zone", "Nguyen Thi Clove", and "The Sino-Vietnamese War 1979".

The aim is to highlight the brilliance of humanity amidst the grand scenes of war.

In the context of the conflict between the United States and the Monkey Kingdom, Xu Chengjun concluded with the following statement.

“When one group of people regards another group of people as irreconcilable enemies, rather than merely opponents with differing political views, and even morally denies the legitimacy of the other group, the foundation of the country has already crumbled.”

When writing about war and the future, he mentioned:
"The brutality of a war serves as a warning for the future of all humanity. Because the brutality of a war reveals the mechanism of violence. This mechanism can devour any civilization, and no one can claim to remain uninvolved forever."

When writing about the plight of ordinary people during wartime, he wrote:

"Injustice to one person is a threat to everyone. Because injustice to one person reveals the logic of the system. This logic can be applied to everyone, and no one can guarantee that they will be spared."

With a near-prophetic philosophical pause, he subtly foresaw the inevitable collapse of certain things, the inevitable rise of certain countries, and the continuation of this war.

Through the perspective of monkey soldiers, the comments of war correspondents, and the differences between eagle-feather newspapers, he subtly hinted that the "inevitability" of the rise was hidden in "never giving up".

In the novel.

The most fundamental driving force behind our rise is the symbiosis between the individual and the collective.

The "small goals" of countless ordinary people (to survive, to teach well, and to build good roads) resonate with the "grand direction" of the country (industrialization, national defense and security, and national rejuvenation).

The novel showcases this "symbiotic logic" through the "perseverance of ordinary people".

A key guarantee for the rise of China is the self-adjusting ability of its systems.

We should not shy away from problems and should learn from historical lessons.

Xu Chengjun's novel, through its reflection on the J team issue and its inquiry into the meaning of war, suggests that this practice laid the groundwork for later reform and opening up and national development.

The core support for China's rise is a complete industrial system and national self-reliance.

The Third Front construction in the novel is precisely the "foundational scene" of this system.

Through non-linear narrative, the novel creates a cross-temporal echo between the "hardship" of the Third Front construction and its later "use," implying that "the rise did not come out of thin air, but was based on the blood and sweat of a generation."

Xu Chengjun also used a lot of copying in terms of the sublimation of the inner theme.

In his writings on war and peace, he wrote:
"A steel gun can protect our homes, but it cannot protect the souls of the departed; a red ribbon can bandage wounds, but it cannot soothe the pain in our hearts. Even so, we must still hold our steel guns tight and protect the warmth and hope that the red ribbon represents."

In his account of Xu Jianjun's conversation with the children, he wrote:
"War is cruel, but the light of humanity can shine in the darkness. Every comrade who sacrificed his life became the brightest star in the night sky, illuminating our path forward."

When writing about Xu Jianjun's conversation with children after his retirement:
"The mission of soldiers is to defend the dignity of the country with their lives; and our responsibility is to ensure that future generations will always remember this history and cherish the hard-won peace."

What is peace to Xu Chengjun?

Peace means protecting our homeland and its people from being bullied.

Peace is hardship... and the past will not repeat itself.

Peace is the Nanjing Massacre, and it will forever be the sword of Damocles hanging over certain countries.

Peace is the glory of communism shining on the red land.

Don't say you weren't warned. Does that sound a bit like a great power narrative?
Fortunately, in 1979 we were still weak, which gave Xu Chengjun's writing a special meaning.

right?

Those famous works~
Xu Chengjun kept organizing his thoughts and sorting out the manuscript he had already written.

Xu Xiaomei, standing beside her, had tears in her eyes. "Brother, why didn't Gu Daqiang and Li Xiaoman end up together?"

Xu Chengjun, who was still immersed in the novel's perspective, laughed.

To be honest, the commercial films directed by the national director are really effective in this day and age!
Which girl these days wouldn't regret that Gu Daqiang and Li Xiaoman didn't end up together!
He already foresaw how many young girls of this generation would be moved to tears after the novel was published.

In Xu Chengjun's novel, the separation of Gu Daqiang and Li Xiaoman, like the missed connection between Liu Feng and He Xiaoping in "Youth," is never due to "lack of love."

Rather, under the torrent of the times, individual destinies were crushed in the shadows of "war trauma," "class divide," and "era transformation."

Their love story began with the red ribbons and military songs of the cultural troupe and ended with their discharge certificates and the neon lights of the city. Those unspoken "wait a little longer" eventually became "too late".

In the 1980s, China was in a transitional period between "reform and opening up" and "planned economy". Just like in the movie "Youth", after the art troupe was disbanded, everyone was looking for a new way out.

Li Xiaoman later joined the television station and became the host of the program "Friends of Life." Every day, she would say to the camera, "Today I'll teach you how to make scrambled eggs with tomatoes." She wore a new suit skirt imported from Guangzhou and a Shanghai brand watch on her wrist. She became a "city person," and her voice had a broadcaster's tone. She was no longer the little girl from the performing arts troupe who cried outside the catacombs.

What about Gu Daqiang? He opened a shoe repair shop at the village entrance. He bought the shoe repair machine with his demobilization pay. There was always an enamel mug on his stall, with a needle and thread stuck in it. He was still mending insoles, but he never embroidered the words "Peace" again. One autumn, he was watching TV at the town's supply and marketing cooperative when Li Xiaoman's face suddenly appeared on the screen. She smiled and said, "Next, we'll play an old song for everyone, 'Our Life is Full of Sunshine.'"

Later, someone came from the city and said that Li Xiaoman was getting married. The groom was a TV director who owned two houses. Gu Daqiang didn't say anything, but simply took the red silk insole out from the bottom of the box and placed it on the shoe repair machine. The sunlight shone on the faded red silk, and the traces of gold thread were still there, but it would never shine again.

He recalled when he was a new recruit in 1978, Li Xiaoman told him on the platform, "I'll wait for you to come back." The wind was warm then, and the train whistle sounded sweet. He thought they would be bound together forever, like a red ribbon and a steel gun.

But he forgot that times change, and people change too. Li Xiaoman found a new "youth" in the city, while he remained trapped in the 1979 cat-ear cave, guarding those unspoken words.

Their separation was never about who wronged whom, but rather the cruel truth in Xu Chengjun's book: "A person who is never treated kindly is the most capable of recognizing kindness and cherishing it the most; but when kindness meets reality, they can only say goodbye with a smile."

The red silk eventually became an old relic, and youthful beauty faded away in the wind.

Gu Daqiang later posted a newspaper on the wall of his shoe repair shop. The newspaper had a photo of Li Xiaoman hosting a program. He would glance at it every day while repairing shoes, but he never mentioned the name "Li Xiaoman" again.

There were no tears, no pleading, only the words, "We're all fine."

This creates a binary opposition between Lin Chunyan, who remained unmarried for life and devoted her entire life to guarding Siyuan Primary School, and Lin Chunyan.

It may be melodramatic, but it's reality.

Seeing Xu Xiaomei's tearful face, Xu Chengjun wanted to teach this silly girl a lesson.

So he responded with a sentence he hadn't yet written in the book: "Some love doesn't lose to a lack of love, but to the times, to those 'unavoidable' realities."

"Brother, you're the author of this novel, can't you at least make some changes?"

"It's precisely because I'm a writer that I have to write about reality~"

"You're cheating! You made up a lot of the content yourself. I know that Gu Daqiang is real, but Li Xiaoman is fictional!"

Xu Xiaomei quit.

"That's called art originating from reality, but also from life!"

What the heck!
"Hmph, you're the one who's cheating!"

Xu Xiaomei was sulking, but Xu Chengjun ignored her and continued to organize the manuscript and sort out the subsequent content.

a long time.

Xu Xiaomei sighed, "Brother, I miss our eldest brother. Mom hasn't been able to sleep these past few days, and neither have I."

She paused, then said, "I only realized how dangerous the front lines are after reading your novel."

Xu Chengjun shook his head slightly: "That was your brother's own choice. He not only has us as his family, but also his brothers and comrades in the army. I care about him just like you do. You should focus on studying for the college entrance examination now."

Xu Xiaomei stopped talking, but her already red eyes became even redder.

"What's the name of this book, bro?"

"Let's call it 'The Unbreakable Red Silk'."

The red silk is a recurring image throughout the entire piece.

When the war ended, the red ribbon transformed from a "tool to combat trauma" into a "symbol of witnessing peace," and its symbolic meaning evolved from "healing the individual" to "pointing to the future," echoing the novel's open-ended ending.

Peace is not the "end of war," but rather "a remembrance and transcendence of trauma."

Is the love story between the older brother and head nurse Zhao Lin true?

Xu Xiaomei's eyes suddenly lit up.

Xu Chengjun: "."

The Eight Trigrams can heal injuries, right?
Before we knew it, it was August 20th.

The book has already reached 28 words, and it's not far from being finished.

But when it came time for Xu Chengjun to go to Hefei to attend the Youth Entrepreneurship Conference, Su Zhong had repeatedly instructed him, and in recent days, he had sent another formal invitation.

The invitation letter's content is old-fashioned and doesn't need further explanation.

However, there was also a personal letter from Su Zhong inside, which contained only one sentence: "If you dare not come, we will start a special column in Anhui Literature to scold you!"

Xu Chengjun looked stern after reading it.

In the past few days, besides writing books and spending time with family, I also accompanied Qian Ming to Dongfeng Middle School to check his grades.

In 1979, for a educated youth who had already graduated, the simplest way to check their grades was to wait for the transcript to be mailed.

However, the process was very slow. It could take one or two months or even longer from the time of the exam to receiving the report card. Moreover, due to the limitations of postal conditions at the time, there was a risk of the report card being lost or delayed.

Therefore, the proactive Dongfeng County Education Bureau used the most intense and exciting method—publicly announcing the results.

The list does not include all candidates at once.

Instead, the list of candidates who scored above the "medical examination cutoff score" will be published. In other words, only candidates whose scores meet the minimum requirement for a medical examination that year will appear on this list.

On the day the results were posted, red flags fluttered and colorful banners waved.

Qian Ming was trembling with nervousness.

Fortunately, I was very satisfied with the results. In the crowded scene, it was easy to spot Qian Ming in third place on the leaderboard with a total score of 372.

Wow, third place!

So, which of us gets the main character treatment?

"Chengjun, what score did I get?"

"372 Ah!"

"Is 372 me?"

"Yes!"

"Really!"

"."

"Qian Jin" passed the imperial examination, right?

Xu Chengjun expressed his understanding, but he was too lazy to watch him make a fool of himself, so he simply dragged him home.

Don't think this score is low. Back then, the total score for the college entrance examination was 510, with 100 each for Chinese, Mathematics, English, Politics, History, and Geography, but English was counted as 10%.

The way to fill out college application forms is by "estimating scores". After the exam, Qian Ming felt that he did well, so he stubbornly applied to Beijing Foreign Studies University.

Fortunately, the cutoff score for liberal arts majors in Anhui Province in 1979 was 330.

This kid has a very good chance of getting into Beijing Foreign Studies University.

August 21, Hefei.

Xu Chengjun strode into the Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles' guesthouse with his little daughter, Xu Xiaomei, in tow.

Xu Xiaomei looked around curiously: "Brother, will you be having your meeting here?"

"No, I was just assigned to stay here."

In retrospect, Xu Chengjun finally enjoyed the benefits of a publicly funded business trip and accommodation, a privilege he received in 1979.
Let's once again strive to emulate the outstanding Comrade Yu Hua!
Speaking of which, Yu Hua was still a "dentist" at that time.

I am currently undergoing advanced training in the Department of Stomatology at the Second Hospital of Ningbo, and I have received advice from my fellow resident doctors not to indulge in "literary daydreams"!

"Brother, are we going to see Gu Cheng this time? The Gu Cheng who wrote 'A Generation'!"

"Yes! Yes! Yes! I've said it several times on the way here!"

"Hehe, can you get me his autograph later?"

Xu Xiaomei's eyes gleamed. Compared to her "familiar" writer brother, Gu Cheng was definitely more sophisticated!

"no!"

"I want to go myself!"

You ignored the famous poet and writer Xu Chengjun in person, so why do you care about Gu Cheng asking for his autograph?

(End of this chapter)