Chapter 7: Coming to Settle Scores?

The next morning, the short-haired clerk from the Propaganda Department placed the manuscript on the director’s desk.

The Battle Flag Art Troupe had several thousand members, and in this era, literary-minded students were the majority. Every few days, some members with “literary dreams” would submit their pieces.

However, due to generally low educational and cultural levels, the quality varied greatly.

The short-haired clerk said, “Teacher Wang, this is a manuscript submitted by a young man from the musical instruments team. He wants to submit it to ‘Beiping Literature.’”

“Oh, leave it to me for review,” Wang Hai nodded and reached for the envelope.

Since the Art Troupe was a secretive organization, all articles had to be reviewed before publication; otherwise, with these people constantly exposed to various confidential materials, there was a risk of leaks.

But Wang Hai didn’t expect much from the manuscripts submitted by the troupe’s members. After all, not many people nationwide could get published in national-level magazines.

Moreover, after several years in the Battle Flag Propaganda Department, he had yet to see a single outstanding piece.

Wang Hai lit a cigarette and crossed one leg over the other.

After opening the envelope, he saw dozens of pages quietly lying inside.

“Tsk! That’s quite a lot,” he said with a hint of helplessness.

He had originally planned to “skim through casually.”

But upon seeing the title, “Fallen Leaves Return to Their Roots,” something caught his attention.

He continued reading the next paragraph, and the opening scene surprised him: Old Wang was dead...

The story’s structure flowed like rushing waves at its climax but suddenly left the scene suspended; the calm parts were like a gently babbling brook, yet subtly hinted at deeper foreshadowing.

This made Wang Hai instantly straighten his previously relaxed posture, his eyes fixed intently on the manuscript.

“Brilliant! Truly brilliant!”

Before he knew it, more than three hours had passed. Wang Hai was completely immersed in the story.

It wasn’t until noon that the short-haired clerk came by and called out, “Teacher Wang, lunch is ready in the canteen!”

This call finally brought Wang Hai out of his reverie. He slowly stood up, glanced at his watch, and said, “It’s twelve o’clock!”

From nine in the morning to noon — just enough time to finish reviewing the manuscript.

“Teacher?” The clerk looked at Wang Hai, who was still dazed, and tentatively asked.

Wang Hai snapped back to reality and exclaimed, “This novel is really damn good.”

“What?” The clerk looked utterly confused.

Wang Hai lit another cigarette. “The one you brought this morning! It’s at least on par with national-level magazines.”

It was clear Wang Hai had spent considerable time reading novels and magazines like “Beiping Literature,” “October,” and “People’s Literature.”

With such writing skill and strength, this piece could easily compete with many stories published in those magazines.

It was undoubtedly at the national magazine standard.

“I never expected our Art Troupe to produce such a talent,” Wang Hai sighed. “By the way, who did he say he wanted to submit it to?”

“To ‘Beiping Literature,’ if I remember correctly,” the clerk replied.

Wang Hai nodded, “After lunch, I’ll help send it out.”

Sure enough, after grabbing a quick bite at the canteen, Wang Hai took the manuscript to the Communications Department and sent Li You Si’s work to “Beiping Literature.”

…

In the afternoon, Li You Si was practicing the suona in the courtyard.

Suddenly, someone called out, “Comrade Li, someone is looking for you!”

Li You Si glanced toward Zhu Chunsheng, and after receiving the leader’s permission, stepped out of the group.

At the gate, a smiling face appeared — it was Zhang Li, who had been selected for the “Dream of the Red Chamber” troupe.

Upon seeing Li You Si, Zhang Li immediately called out, “Comrade You Si!”

“Comrade Zhang… do you need something?” Li You Si asked instinctively.

“I’m leaving today…” Zhang Li began.

For the past few days, Zhang Li had been thinking about leaving for Beiping soon, departing from the Battle Flag Art Troupe. After all, they had been friends for over a year.

Before leaving, she wanted to say something.

At first, she hesitated, wondering if approaching him directly might cause some misunderstanding.

Zhang Li was only seventeen, an age full of naive little worries.

Finally, she thought Li You Si would come to find her, so she waited over ten days — but to no avail. That was why she came to the courtyard gate.

“So soon? You’re going to perform in Beiping, right?” Li You Si asked suddenly.

“Yes,” Zhang Li lowered her head, a trace of resentment in her voice. “I’m about to leave, and you don’t want to say anything to me?”

“I heard that acting requires staying with the troupe for two or three years…”

“That’s quite likely — two or three years without a chance to meet.”

But after saying this, Zhang Li felt she might have overstepped… suddenly confronting someone like this seemed off.

Li You Si smiled, “But you never told me when you were leaving the troupe! I wanted to say goodbye but didn’t even know when.”

‘Writing novels every day, ten thousand words a day.’

‘After finishing writing, there’s suona practice and Art Troupe duties — I completely forgot about this!’

However, Li You Si was clever; since it couldn’t be his fault, he shifted the blame onto her.

“Well…” Zhang Li’s mind raced. She had been wondering whether to find him and so forgot to inform him.

Recalling her own behavior, a faint blush appeared on her cheeks.

“Oh… I forgot to tell you too. Our departure is at noon; we have to leave right after lunch.”

Li You Si explained, “These days, one of the senior troupe members left, and I’ve been helping out, so I didn’t have time to find you.”

“Mm-hmm,” Zhang Li nodded eagerly.

“By the way, last time I went out, I saw a nice toy. Do you want it?”

He took out a small wooden carving — a circular little snake. “You were born in ’65, right? That’s the Year of the Snake, so I bought this snake for you. You can hang it on you.”

Giving a gift — that should settle things, right?

Li You Si thought for a moment. After not talking to her for over ten days, it was indeed proper to offer something as an apology.

He had bought it on a recent outing.

Zhang Li gently accepted the wooden snake, feeling its warm surface. Though it was only the size of a thumb, it was precious to her.

“Thank you.”

Li You Si sighed, “It’s not like we’ll never see each other again. Why be so sad?”

“Am I sad? Do I look sad?” Zhang Li’s blush instantly spread to her ears, her voice trembling slightly.

——