Chapter 57 What Else Is There to Say

The next day, Li Yousi headed to the General Political Cultural Department.

Before entering, he presented the pass mailed to him by the General Political Department. The General Political Department compound was a military-restricted zone, governed by the same strict administrative regulations as the Song and Dance Ensemble.

The compound was divided into East and West sections. The East section housed Building Number One, an older structure that originally served as the dormitory building for the General Political Cultural Department. The East section featured an open-air swimming pool, an indoor natatorium, a public bathhouse, multiple cafeterias, and the General Political Department Kindergarten—the very same frontline kindergarten depicted in the film "Ah, Cradle".

The West section contained the training grounds for the August First Sports Team, alongside several Western-style buildings. Among them was a gray brick building housing the clinic, built in a European classical brick-and-wood architectural style with arcades, brick carvings, and pilasters, standing as the former site of the Imperial University of Peking's branch colleges.

Beyond these, the compound was dotted with numerous single-story barracks arranged in neat rows, each housing about a dozen families behind red brick walls and green doors.

True to its status as the headquarters, this level of accommodations far outstripped that of the War Flag Troupe.

Li Yousi glanced at a passing senior officer (the military rank system had only been reinstated in 1988). One must never underestimate the General Political Department; the highest ranks here reached full general!

Noticing the man's exceptional bearing, Li Yousi snapped a salute.

Only then did he continue on his way.

After inquiring with a few soldiers, he arrived at the General Political Cultural Department.

Upon entering, the comrade at the entrance recognized Li Yousi's name and immediately led him toward the offices.

Two people were seated inside! One was an elderly man with snow-white hair, looking to be in his sixties or seventies; the other was a younger middle-aged man in his forties or fifties.

Before coming here, the troupe leader had briefed him.

The elderly man was Liu Baiying, Minister of the General Political Department and a veteran revolutionary, who also served as Vice Chairman of the Chinese Writers Association.

This elder was an accomplished essayist, reportage writer, and novelist, with representative works including "Three Days on the Yangtze River", "Sunrise", "The Second Sun", and "The Victory of the Chinese People". He was a recipient of the Mao Dun Literature Prize and held considerable seniority in both literary and military circles.

The other man was Wang Chuanhong, the Literary Arts Section Chief of the Cultural Department, who had originally been put in charge of handling Li Yousi's novel.

In a professional setting, one addressed superiors by their titles, so Li Yousi called out, "Chief Liu! Section Chief Wang!"

Liu Baiying nodded and extended his hand to shake Li Yousi's.

"What a coincidence. I happened to have some business at the General Political Department today and ran into you. I was just hoping to chat with you about your novel."

Wang Chuanhong nodded, holding up a stack of papers. "Here is the manuscript of your novel."

Liu Baiying waved his hand first, halting Wang Chuanhong, who had no choice but to pull his hand back and lower the manuscript.

"Have a seat first. As a writer of traditional literature, what made you suddenly write a military novel?"

Logically speaking, military novels were somewhat looked down upon.

Li Yousi sat down and replied, "I am a soldier in the Song and Dance Ensemble. Every time I went down to the grassroots military camps, I was deeply moved by the soldiers. Later, by a stroke of luck, I was assigned to the Literary Arts Section of the Ensemble, and so I simply tried my hand at writing."

"Oh? How interesting. You're from the War Flag Troupe?"

"Yes."

Liu Baiying picked up Li Yousi's personal file. Impeccable background! Every detail, from his enlistment date to his submission history, was crystal clear.

"I see your background is in music! That is quite a dramatic career shift!"

Li Yousi replied, "Chief Liu, that is a bit of a prejudice. Ah Cheng is a painter, after all!"

Although Ah Cheng had not achieved overnight literary stardom quite like Li Yousi, he was already a fairly well-known name among emerging writers.

"Would you be interested in joining the General Political Department?"

"Huh?" Li Yousi was momentarily stunned; the old chief changed topics rather quickly.

"The Cultural Department of the General Political Department could transfer you here to write full-time! Wouldn't that be better than staying at War Flag?"

Li Yousi replied, "Never abandon, never give up!"

Liu Baiying's smile deepened. At first, he had thought teasing a young man was amusing, but now he saw it was truly delightful!

"Very well, I won't press you. Young writers need proper tempering to eventually achieve greatness! When I was dining with Zhang Guangnian last time, I heard him mention you."

Zhang Guangnian was the current Secretary of the Chinese Writers Association, though severe illness in recent years had forced him to step back from his work at *People's Literature*. His most classic contribution was undoubtedly the lyric-writing for "The Yellow River Cantata".

"Guangnian has also read this book. He said you have an exceptional grasp of character development. The novel records observations made along a journey home, yet every single character leaves a distinct impression! Above all, the lingering sense of fatalism upon returning home is remarkably intense. He even mentioned planning to visit Hubei in a few days!"

How could a debut novel—one practically guaranteed to enter the annals of modern literary history—fail to arouse the eager anticipation of these veteran literary figures? More importantly, Li Yousi shared the same pristine, revolutionary military background as Liu Baiying.

Since Liu Baiying insisted on meandering through these topics, Wang Chuanhong had no choice but to endure it. There was nothing to be done; the man was a senior leader after all!

After a lengthy conversation, Liu Baiying finally steered the discussion back to the main point. "Let's talk about the new novel, *My Chief, My Regiment*. I've finished reading it. The character portrayals are exceptionally distinct, which must be your strong suit; every character is fleshed out with blood and bone."

"Of course, you must know that your work was held up by the headquarters for a month and a half, right?"

Li Yousi nodded. "Section Chief Wang mentioned it to me. I figured it was likely due to those kinds of sensitivities."

"Mmm." Liu Baiying flipped through the manuscript, wearing an expression that invited him to continue.

Li Yousi made an educated guess about what the older man wanted to hear, then said, "Military novels in recent years have become far too rigidly formulaic..."

Before he could finish, Wang Chuanhong frowned and interrupted, "Are you saying that the rest of us write poorly?"

Li Yousi remained utterly calm. "I didn't mean that at all. It's simply that I wanted to write something unconventional—consider it my own eccentric path. After all, everyone's perspective and creative ideas are different."

"Go on," Liu Baiying nodded.

"What else should I say?"

"..." Liu Baiying prompted, "Why did you write this novel? Even with that old Sichuan leader speaking up on your behalf, your novel wasn't guaranteed to pass censorship."

"Ah!" Li Yousi realized the old chief was interrogating him about his underlying motivations.

"The initial idea came to me while I was eating with my comrades in the military camp—specifically, the inspiration came from that scene involving pork and Chinese cabbage stewed with vermicelli! At the time, they suggested I write a military novel!"

"I looked through the historical records, and most accounts of the War of Resistance in our Sichuan region focused on the National Revolutionary Army, so I wrote about the Nationalist forces!"

"First, during those years, the Nationalist army served as the main battlefield and made enormous contributions; I believe they deserve to be recorded. However, the leadership of the Nationalist forces was corrupt, and that must be recorded as well. Everything must be viewed dialectically—that is what Chairman Mao taught us!"

"Second, the novel I wrote strives for realism. Whether it is Fan La or Milong, they are realistic depictions of the Sichuan Army and the Northeast Army being beaten to the point of utter collapse. Of course, that is just my perspective."

"Third, the soldiers who fought the War of Resistance were all great; the Nationalist soldiers and the Communist soldiers were fundamentally the same! Therefore, I depicted their moments of cooperation on the Burma battlefield. Furthermore, soldiers yearn for victory—that is the origin of Long Wenzhang, and also the origin of the final defense of Nantianmen."

"I dislike carving out protagonist archetypes molded after rigid, idealized model operas. I believe soldiers are ordinary people to begin with, and they shouldn't be deified! What are ordinary people like? They are afraid to die! They want to go home!"