1978: A Literary Giant Who Began His Military Service

Chapter 20 Gong Xue
Liu Jia took the manuscript and went back into the house.

That night, she was alone in her room reading a novel.

She turned on her desk lamp and watched for a short time before finishing "The Battle at Lake Changjin." After finishing, Liu Jia looked at the clock hanging in her room.
It's already 3 a.m.!
The drama troupe requires us to assemble at eight o'clock!
She fell headfirst into the water, her mind still preoccupied with the novel, mainly because Zhou Xu's writing was quite vivid and interesting.

It took Liu Jia quite a while to come out of that state.

the next morning.

Liu's mother came into the bedroom and started calling Liu Jia to get up: "Get up! Get up! Still sleeping? You have to go to work after you eat breakfast."

Liu Jia was wearing clothes.

Staying up too late at night definitely takes a toll on one's mental state, and that's exactly the state Liu Jia is in right now.

"Okay, I'll get up right away." Liu Jia wiggled her slender waist.

Actually, you can tell by watching the movie "Youth". The female soldiers in the cultural troupe have particularly good figures because they dance often. They have slender arms and legs and are very soft and delicate...

This is why many actors come from performing arts troupes.

Liu Jia got up and drank some porridge.

"You'll be returning his things later, so take this bowl of porridge with you!"

Liu Jia asked in surprise, "Mom, why are you being so good to him? You must have ulterior motives, right?"

Mrs. Liu smiled slightly: "Young, handsome, talented, an honest boy from the countryside...aren't all of these advantages?"

"..."

This is the standard for choosing a son-in-law in families within the system. They can be compatible with families with slightly worse financial conditions, but the son must be clean and honest.

Liu Jia sighed, "Mom...you really are something!"

"Mom is just giving advice. Besides, you're already twenty-five! If you don't find a partner, what will become of you?"

"I'm seven or eight years older than him!"

Madam Liu shook her head: "A woman three years older is like a gold brick, a woman five years older is like a tiger... You just don't understand. Alright, alright, I won't force you. Just remember to send the things over, and return the manuscript while you're at it!"

Liu Jia ate her food and nodded silently.

She didn't really have those kinds of thoughts about Zhou Xu; at most, she was just interested. But when her parents mentioned it, she only became a little more curious about Zhou Xu, and had no other intentions.

morning.

Liu Jia knocked on Zhou Xu's door.

Zhou Xu opened the door.

She gave Zhou Xu the manuscript and breakfast: "These are your things. The novel is really well written. This is breakfast prepared by my mother!"

"Thank you!"

Zhou Xu nodded.

Liu Jia handed the things to Zhou Xu, and then hurriedly rode his old bicycle towards the General Political Department Drama Troupe.

Although the cultural troupe members are also soldiers, the control they face is much lighter than that of soldiers in a company. They can leave on holidays, and most of the creative members don't even have to go to work!
This was also Zhou Xu's dream. Wouldn't he be incredibly bored if he spent three years in the company?
……

Liu Jia entered the house.

The other comrades have already changed their clothes.

She saw a woman in front of her.

Wearing military uniform.

Wearing a hat and simple cloth shoes, he had a well-proportioned figure and was a little over 1.6 meters tall.

She was truly one of the most outstanding members of the drama troupe. If Gong Xue wasn't exceptional, she wouldn't be one of the few who frequently went out to perform. She had a small, delicate face, and her hat pulled down her shoulder-length hair, which was actually a bit curly. The way her hair covered her head gave her a youthful look, even though she was already twenty-five or twenty-six.

Her face was oval, with the feel of a young girl from Jiangnan; otherwise, how could she be called Nan Gongxue? Her eyebrows were curved, and her lips were delicate and slender.

My teeth aren't very pretty; they're straight but protrude a little bit, but you can't tell when I smile.

"Liu Jia!"

Gong Xue walked towards Liu Jia.

The two had a good relationship within the troupe, but their promotion strategies differed. Liu Jia's father worked for the General Political Department, so she wanted to move up the ranks, while Gong Xue had always wanted to pursue a career in the performing arts.

Gong Xue, born in 73, played an inconspicuous supporting role in "Rolling Wheels".

In 77, Gong Xue played a female soldier in the film "Ten Thousand Waters and Thousand Mountains," directed by Yan Jizhou. She then gained attention.

She became a sensation after starring in "Sacrifice to the Red" in 79.

It's amazing, really. In the 21st century, apart from web dramas and short dramas, you never see a female actress who played two extras before getting a lead role.

After all, the casting standard these days is resemblance.

"What's wrong with you today? You're not in the right state of mind during training. You seem lifeless!" Gong Xue asked curiously, noticing that Liu Jia's unusual behavior.

Liu Jia sighed and said, "I read a new novel last night. It was so good that I didn't go to sleep until 3 a.m. Now I have no energy at all!"

Gong Xue smiled slightly: "What novel is it? You seem so engrossed in it. Don't you dislike reading novels?"

Liu Jia seemed quite interested in this topic.

"I can't tell you this!"

Gong Xue remembered Liu Jia's family.

Her father worked for the PLA Literature and Art Publishing House, so most of her articles were submitted to internal publications.

You can read these articles, but if they leak secrets, you'll be in big trouble.

Gong Xue asked, "Is it a novel published by your father's magazine?"

"Ok!"

Liu Jia nodded, and stopped talking about the novel. She continued, "This author is amazing! He started writing novels at eighteen! He just enlisted this year and was transferred to the General Political Department. I bet he'll be transferred there soon!"

"Eighteen years old? So young and already writing novels!" Gong Xue covered her mouth slightly.

Liu Jia continued introducing him to Gong Xue: "He's tall and handsome, and my mom wanted to introduce him to me, but when I think about how I'm seven years older than him, I just can't bring myself to do it!"

Gong Xue covered her mouth and laughed: "When you said he was eighteen, I didn't really feel it, but when you said he was seven years younger than you, I did feel it! Indeed, he wasn't even born when I was in school! Was he a soldier?"

"My dad told me that he was a new recruit transferred from Hubei. He hadn't even been assigned to his unit yet! He was transferred here!"

"Wow!"

After graduating from Chengdu Middle School in Shanghai in 70, Gong Xue was sent to Yichun, Jiangxi Province as an educated youth to work as a farmer for three years. In 1973, Gong Xue became a dancer in the military's cultural troupe, and in 1974 she was transferred to the General Political Department Drama Troupe.

Her path to advancement wasn't easy, but listening to Liu Jia's description, she felt that this man named Zhou Xu was definitely going to have a bright future.

"Ahem! Training time, training time! Comrades, stop chattering amongst yourselves, it's training time!"

The playwright of the drama troupe stepped forward and began training the group.

The General Political Department Drama Troupe and the General Political Department Song and Dance Troupe are actually cultural troupes of the People's Liberation Army military regions, and they are required to perform for the troops in those regions.

Of course, they are also responsible for many performances related to major national events.

Even if Gong Xue didn't act, if she stayed in the army for ten years, she might actually be able to get a clerical job!
(End of this chapter)