Chapter 916: Returning Again

The New Year is always lively, but it was really too monotonous at this time; there was nowhere to go. After wandering outside for two days, there was no thought of going out to play.

Whenever you go out to play, you have to spend money. The art troupe's treatment is good, but it can't withstand the expenses. So after the lively New Year, except for doing some daily homework and ensuring physical condition in preparation for the performance after the New Year, there was nothing else to do the rest of the time. Occasionally go out for a stroll, or nest in the dormitory to read books, chat, blow smoke, knit sweaters...

Wang Yan was different; he still went to the rehearsal room to practice musical instruments. Originally, he intended to practice all the musical instruments, but storytelling became popular, writing articles made him famous, and "creating" songs received a lot of praise. This led to him being too busy all year to have much time to practice. When he rested, he had nothing to do, so besides reading books, he was left with fiddling with musical instruments to entertain himself.

In the large rehearsal room, Wang Yan sat in front of the piano, his slender fingers tapping the keys, and the beautiful melody echoed in the room.

Xiao Suizi stood on the stage, a standard smile she had practiced thousands of times on her face, dancing on the stage with the beautiful melody. Even though she was wearing winter clothes, it couldn't stop the beauty of her dance and the charm of her figure.

Wang Yan sang softly along with the piano music he played.

"A great river, the waves are wide"

"The wind blows the fragrance of rice flowers on both banks..."

Hao Shuwen leaned against the piano, eating the canned food in her hand happily.

The sunlight passed through the windows of the rehearsal room and sprinkled on the solid wood floor, also shining on the three of them, accompanied by music, singing, and dancing, very peaceful...

After the song, Hao Shuwen, who had been busy eating, put down the can and applauded: "Suizi's dance is really good."

Xiao Suizi walked over with a smile, picked up her water cup, and looked at Wang Yan while drinking water: "Your piano playing is the best, and I heard your singing seems to have improved?"

"Normal. I sing every day when I perform outside. It's not like I haven't seen how Old Liao guides people. If I pay attention myself and sing more, won't I improve?"

"You've improved, but the soldiers' ears have suffered." Hao Shuwen curled her lips.

"If you want to curse me, just say it. You know what the soldiers' singing is like—it's all emotion, singing so happily at the top of their lungs. Are they complaining about me?"

Hao Shuwen chuckled: "Used to it, used to it, you endure it."

"Look at that, is there anyone like this?" Wang Yan shrugged, looking at Xiao Suizi with helplessness.

"Who told you to say that about me before? I hold grudges."

Xiao Suizi smiled: "He Xiaoping is quite good now. Although everyone looks at her with displeasure, they don't target her anymore. Especially with the matter between her and Liu Feng—although it's still just rumors, everyone has received Liu Feng's help more or less, so they are embarrassed to bully He Xiaoping."

Wang Yan nodded: "Not bad, I thought everyone treated Liu Feng as a joke."

"Who would be embarrassed?" Hao Shuwen sighed. "I saw it; Liu Feng isn't swarming around Lin Dingding anymore, and she seems quite disappointed."

"I saw it too. You say she's really interesting. Liu Feng swarmed around her, but she didn't show anything and was flirting with others. Now Liu Feng ignores her, and she's sad. This is truly an eye-opener; it's the first time in my life I've seen such a person."

"Hey, I noticed Lin Dingding doesn't seem to be flirting with Wang Yan recently."

Wang Yan waved his hands: "Look at what you're saying, why is it so ugly? What do you mean flirting? That's deep affection placed on me, admiration for my charm, conquered by my charm."

"Hey, are you getting carried away?" Hao Shuwen didn't say a word and went straight to action.

"Alright, alright, how old are you? Fighting and making trouble all day, does it look like anything?" Xiao Suizi advised the two of them to stop being shameless.

Wang Yan smiled: "Lin Dingding talks to me more, and you two say this and that about her. Now there's no movement, and you two are still studying her. Lin Dingding is quite difficult."

Hao Shuwen hummed: "I feel she's not harboring good intentions."

"I have the same feeling; she doesn't look like someone who gives up easily."

A woman's intuition is still very accurate. Although Lin Dingding didn't talk to Wang Yan much, it was mainly because Wang Yan sat at the male soldiers' table and she had no opportunity. If she were to push forward again, that wouldn't be right. Even so, her seductive eyes hadn't changed.

Every time Wang Yan met eyes with Lin Dingding, Lin Dingding always used her watery eyes to pour all kinds of information to Wang Yan.

Wang Yan keenly sensed that Lin Dingding had changed her strategy very quickly, from bright to dark. The more she couldn't get, the more she wanted; Lin Dingding hadn't given up yet. Hao Shuwen and Xiao Suizi were dissatisfied with Lin Dingding, and she was equally dissatisfied with the two of them, but she didn't show it; she just secretly competed with them and continued to launch an offensive against Wang Yan.

To a certain extent, Wang Yan was no longer Wang Yan; he was a unique item. Those who wanted it wanted it, and those who didn't want it now wanted it too. No way, he, Wang Mou, has dominated the world, and he is so popular wherever he goes...

"Don't talk about Lin Dingding." Wang Yan waved his hands and turned to say, "Tell you a piece of good news."

"What?"

"Braised pork for dinner tonight."

"Our food is quite good now. Although there isn't much meat, we haven't forgotten the meal on the 30th. Why not wait a bit longer? Have you bought the meat?" Xiao Suizi said.

Hao Shuwen said: "Eat it, meat can't wait. If it's left for a while, it'll go bad."

"Actually, it's nothing. Because it's New Year, meat is quite expensive now, and selling it won't lose money." Wang Yan smiled. "But if you wait longer, you'll have to wait until May."

Xiao Suizi didn't understand: "Why?"

"We're leaving for the 11th Corps tomorrow, just like the previous 14th Corps. Two shows per regiment; this trip will be another three months."

"So sudden?"

Wang Yan shook his head with a smile: "What's so sudden about this? We do this; obey orders and listen to commands. My performance tasks for this year have already been set: two trips each to the 11th Corps and the 14th Corps. Aren't you the same? Resuming training tomorrow, starting performances in two days, and preparing for the performance on the 15th—everyone is busy."

Hao Shuwen asked: "Didn't you perform one trip before and rest for two days in between?"

"There is one this time too, it's just too far, and you can't come back in a day or two. But after performing for three months, there's a half-month holiday, and you can stay in the regiment."

"You say, why did you become a storyteller? You have the most performances in our regiment." Xiao Suizi felt injustice for Wang Yan.

"Didn't I have no work at all in the year before? In Hao Shuwen's words, I was mixed into the props group."

After receiving a small punch from Hao Shuwen, Wang Yan chuckled. "The Political Commissar said this work can only be done by me and cannot be cultivated in others. If I talk nonsense, it will harm others and myself. He also said that there will definitely be benefits for me in the future."

"That's what he says, but this is too busy; I haven't rested for a few days all year."

"Actually, it's not that busy; most of the time is spent on the road. Besides, isn't it good to be busy? This shows that I have value and that the soldiers need me. Also, if I go out more, I'll have ideas in my head. How do you think I wrote those songs and articles? It's by chatting more with the soldiers and chatting more with officers at all levels. Many of them were heard from their mouths, and then I organized them."

Xiao Suizi wondered: "Listening to you say this, do you have ideas again?"

"I don't have any ideas for songs yet, but I have some for writing books. Since we are in the 11th Corps and the 14th Corps, I'm thinking of summarizing the history of the army and the heroic figures in it. In the past, they were all single heroic figures; this time, I'm writing them separately, one book per corps. When the time comes, I hope you can be polite when talking to me, especially you, Comrade Hao Shuwen."

"Go to hell, I think you're looking for a beating." Hao Shuwen rolled her eyes.

Xiao Suizi also smiled; Wang Yan was joking here.

"Then are we eating tonight or not? If not, I'll go sell the meat."

"Must eat, it's been half a year, just waiting for this bite." Hao Shuwen said angrily.

"Alright, so it's decided. Just like last time, we'll go to the kitchen to open a small stove when it gets dark." Wang Yan slid his fingertips across the piano keys casually, knocking out a string of notes. "Although we ate meat during the New Year, there are so many people in the whole regiment, and everyone only had a few bites; it wasn't satisfying."

This statement was recognized by Xiao Suizi: "Who says it isn't?"

"Hey, Wang Yan, do you have time to take us to the black market to see?" Hao Shuwen was only so polite when asking for help.

Wang Yan glanced at her and shook his head: "Can't go."

"Why?"

"Because you are too beautiful and your targets are too obvious. If you two beauties go with me, people will see that I am so ordinary and will easily think messily. Once they think this way, they will remember you two. If there is any accident, won't we be finished? Not only buying and selling, but also messing around with men and women. When the time comes, won't your dad shoot me?"

"Get out, get out, get out, who is messing around with men and women with you."

Xiao Suizi also slapped Wang Yan on the shoulder angrily.

"Yes, yes, yes, not messing around, not messing around. Anyway, that's the meaning. You two can't go. I can run at any time, but if you two go, the three of us will be finished."

Wang Yan said with a smile, "Actually, there is nothing to be curious about. It's just exchange, using what you have to exchange for what you lack. For example, some people want to go to other places, but they only have local grain coupons and no national grain coupons, so they come to exchange them."

Xiao Suizi asked curiously: "Then how do you make money?"

"Mainly by exchanging coupons. The market situation here is..." Wang Yan told the two about the business scriptures with a smile. He was familiar with this; after all, he had done it several times. It's just that the scale of his work this time was relatively small, enough for him to eat and drink.

To be honest, he didn't exchange it step by step this time; after all, he didn't have that much time. No matter how great the ability is, it still has to develop slowly. This time, he went to the market to observe for two days, found the biggest one who was flipping coupons, found their boss, and reached a series of cooperation through friendly negotiation...

"It's really not easy. I thought buying and selling was very profitable. Is it hard-earned money?" Hao Shuwen looked down on it.

"What do you think? Like the landlord in the old days? The landlord's family has no surplus grain. Actually, if you do it big, you can still eat fish and meat, and eat fine grain every meal. It's just that our identity is not suitable, and it's enough for us to eat and drink."

Hearing Wang Yan say this, Hao Shuwen leaned closer and whispered: "Hey, tell us, how much money do you have now?"

"What's the matter? Want to keep accounts for me?"

"Can you be serious?" Xiao Suizi didn't want to do it many times, but she had to do it.

"Tell the truth?"

"Then can you tell a lie?"

"Really not much, just a few hundred yuan, and some miscellaneous coupons. If you exchange them all for money, can you have a thousand yuan together?"

"So much?"

"It was hard-earned money just now, and it's more now?" Wang Yan shook his head with amusement, sighed, "This is all the wife money earned with life."

"You have so much money, why are you still saving wife money? If Lin Dingding knows, she can crawl into your quilt in the middle of the night."

"Hey, look at you, if I don't say it, you keep mentioning it. If I say it, you're still moving your hands and feet with me."

"Get out, beat you to death."

Xiao Suizi shook her head helplessly: "You too, why keep mentioning Lin Dingding."

"Who told her to be so shameless..."

Talking and talking, it went back. Actually, it's quite good for the three of them to stay together. Hao Shuwen and Xiao Suizi are pretending to be heartless here, and he is watching the fun on the side, full of flowers, communicating feelings.

Especially since the venue is large today, Wang Yan is playing the piano here, Xiao Suizi is dancing there, and Hao Shuwen is commenting and chattering there, with quite a bit of artistic atmosphere, and more of it is mutual affection...

Just like last time, Hao Shuwen and Xiao Suizi had no appetite for dinner today. Even if the food today was considered a festival on weekdays, they had no appetite. After eating half, they went to the utility room and waited.

Meeting Wang Yan, the three of them talked messily in the small room. When it got dark, the three of them ran to the kitchen sneakily again, lit a fire and burned meat...

"It's the second time, why did you two come back so late again? You wouldn't be wandering outside again, would you? I tell you two, we specifically looked for Dingding, but we didn't see you. Hurry, tell the truth."

Little Xiao Balei asked Hao Shuwen and Xiao Suizi who had just returned.

"Then can't it be that we just found a place to rest when you were looking?" Xiao Suizi turned on the flashlight, busy changing clothes, pouring hot water to wash her feet, etc.

Hao Shuwen echoed: "That's right, do we have to report to you?"

Lin Dingding's giggling sounded: "I say, you two didn't go on a date with Wang Yan, did you?"

"Look at what you said, Lin Dingding, we two went on a date with Wang Yan? Is your brain rusted?" Hao Shuwen didn't even stutter, naturally following the words.

Zhuoma on the upper bunk couldn't help but complain: "That's right, Lin Dingding, what are you thinking? Two people are called a date, what kind of date are three people?"

"Who stipulated it? A date must be one man and one woman? Two women, two men, two women and one man, two men and one woman, aren't these all possible?"

"Shut up. If these words get out, you'll have good fruit to eat." Xiao Suizi couldn't stand it. What kind of tiger and wolf words did Lin Dingding say?

"I'm just saying, you won't take it seriously, will you?"

Lin Dingding's tone was very annoying, and Hao Shuwen was very annoyed. She waved her hands: "Alright, whether we take it seriously or not, you said the words. You'd better pay attention, otherwise you can't bear the consequences."

"Oh, I was wrong, I was wrong, why be so serious? Just saying it casually. I said it, you heard it." Lin Dingding begged for mercy quickly.

Little Xiao Balei changed the subject: "Hey, speaking of Wang Yan, Wang Yan hasn't come to our table to eat recently."

Passerby A took the conversation: "Maybe it's because he's afraid of bad influence. He has rumors with Hao Shuwen, Xiao Suizi, and Lin Dingding. He must pay attention to the influence. If he really takes it seriously, it will easily affect his future."

"I want to say she's afraid of Lin Dingding. Didn't you see? Every time Lin Dingding talks to him, her eyes seem to drip water. That's called affectionate, and her speech is also delicate. Who can stand this? Where has Wang Yan seen this? He must be confused."

After Zhuoma finished speaking, everyone laughed, laughing at Wang Yan and Lin Dingding.

"Indeed." Hao Shuwen echoed with a smile, "Otherwise, why are there so many men around Dingding."

"Hey, look at what you said, if I really have what you said, then why doesn't Wang Yan swarm around?"

Little Xiao Balei took the conversation, and she said: "Wang Yan is after all without father or mother, without relatives and friends. I think what he wants is to live a stable life. It's not that I'm saying, Lin Dingding, if I were a man, I would have to stay far away from you. Mainly because there are too many men around you, which is easy to make people misunderstand. And you are delicate, and you are picky about eating and drinking. Now that we are all so difficult, who dares to live with you."

She spoke very straightforwardly, opening her mouth to say it.

Lin Dingding was not angry, or rather, she didn't show it if she was unhappy? In short, she still smiled: "What you said might be right, then I'll be like this. I haven't suffered or been tired since I was a child. Coming to our art troupe has exhausted me. Look, every time we go out for training and performances, I have to get several big blisters on my feet, and you don't."

"Yes, yes, yes, you are the only one who is smooth and tender. Before, there was Liu..." Zhuoma closed her mouth wisely halfway through, changed the subject, "Hey, Dingding, how do you feel about Wang Yan? Do you like him?"

"What like or dislike? It's just a scandal caused by a temporary misunderstanding. Look at how I talk to Wang Yan, but I'm usually like that, right? It's not special to him. It's just that he's interesting to talk to, I didn't notice it before, just chatting."

"You guys, this is really boring all day long. Who has something to do with whom after talking a few words? Hao Shuwen and Xiao Suizi, how close are they to Wang Yan? Watching them make trouble every day, then say they have something? Is it possible?"

"Hey, Lin Dingding is right, you guys are really boring all day long. It's not that I'm saying, you guys hurry up and see who is suitable, and get married early. The conditions of our art troupe are not bad, many of them are cadre children. Once this village is passed, there will be no such shop."

Xiao Suizi took the conversation with a smile.

Zhuoma said: "I'm only twenty, what's the rush?"

"You're not in a hurry, you're in a hurry for others every day?"

"Watching the fun, otherwise how boring this day would be, right, Little Xiao Balei?"

"That's for sure."

"Okay, you guys wait, it's not that it's not reported, the time hasn't come yet."

The female dormitory was harmonious, a piece of warblers and swallows, no less than the Pan Si Cave...

The next day, people only knew at breakfast that Wang Yan was going to perform in the 14th Corps. It was Liu Feng who said it. He also saw Wang Yan packing his bags and tidying up his things in the morning, so he knew that Wang Yan was going to perform in the 14th Corps. So when eating, he chattered about various matters to Wang Yan, and people knew that Wang Yan was going to start a busy year.

It was still the enthusiastic farewell of comrades-in-arms. Hao Shuwen and Xiao Suizi watched silently, and Lin Dingding stood on the side, her shining eyes full of reluctance...

Wang Yan was actually a member of the 14th Corps art troupe. This time going to the 11th Corps could be considered a secondment.

The Kunming Military Region at that time had jurisdiction over the 11th Corps and the 14th Corps, and had jurisdiction over the Yunnan and Guizhou provincial military regions. The organs were all in Yunnan Province, and most of the main forces were also in Yunnan Province, mainly defending the border areas of Yunnan Province. So Wang Yan was still wandering around in Yunnan Province, climbing mountains and crossing ridges. After all, the army station was very remote and very critical...

The 11th Corps could be said to have heard of Wang Yan's name for a long time. In fact, in the entire military system, Wang Yan was also quite famous. Even if the song was made famous by the singer and people didn't pay attention to the name behind it, Wang Yan also wrote a lot of heroic figures. The "Chinese Hero" column of the People's Liberation Army Literature and Art was very successful, not only affirmed by the Military Commission and Beijing, but also welcomed by the vast number of soldiers.

Of course, even to this step, the soldiers didn't know Wang Yan as a person. But from the upper level to the lower level, the soldiers knew little by little that Wang Yan was from the art troupe, not only wrote well, but spoke even better. The songs they sang every day were also written by Wang Yan. Some things about Wang Yan would also spread.

So this led to Wang Yan having high popularity in the army. For the soldiers of the Kunming Military Region, it was naturally even more so. So the soldiers of the 14th Corps had great expectations for Wang Yan's arrival.

Wang Yan never disappointed people, including the driver and assistant who had been following him to many places. He had followed him from the beginning to the present, and he had never heard a repeated story from Wang Yan. There was everything from ancient times to the present. Of course, there was repeated content, and that was the big environment Wang Yan talked about. After all, the battlefield situation, environment, etc., he would talk about it every time he went to a place...

Just like this, Wang Yan started his performance in the 14th Corps. The harvest was naturally the same, all kinds of cans, Zhonghua cigarettes, tea, etc. In this year, these things were hard currency everywhere.

Of course, Wang Yan didn't forget what he said to Hao Shuwen and Xiao Suizi before. He wanted to take "Army" as the theme and write from the beginning to the present. This kind of work was for the Military Commission, but they focused on recording history and various adjustments of the army. Master Wang was different; he was singing praises, and there was artistic processing. Of course, he was not randomly adapting history, but not flatly narrating in writing techniques.

So Wang Yan chatted less with the soldiers this time because they were young and didn't know many stories. It was mainly chatting with leaders everywhere to understand the history they knew. After all, he contacted leaders who were relatively high, and the lowest were regiment-level people.

Especially regiment commanders, political commissars, staff officers, etc., many of them came from the time of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. At the division level, many people participated in the War of Liberation. At the corps level, they were all old qualifications, mostly from fighting foreigners.

How many people Wang Yan attracted! Although he was an art soldier, he had beaten all the people who could fight in the troops everywhere. This almost became a reserved program. And he had achievements, wrote songs for soldiers, which added 20 points of favorability before meeting in the army, and he wrote many heroic articles, many of which were heroes of the army, adding another 20 points of favorability. Coupled with his own affinity, and most importantly, his speech, he had to add another 20 points.

So many leaders were fake polite at first, but after listening to his storytelling from beginning to end, they really valued him. Otherwise, how did he get so many cans and cigarettes?

Not to mention that he wanted to write a book for a corps, many people's names were to be in it, and they all chatted with Wang Yan quite happily. Especially seeing Wang Yan holding a pen and paper, like a student, writing down, and what was even more excessive was that he could answer every time he spoke, and every time he asked a question, he could ask the itchy point. Where was there such a good soldier?

Leaders at all levels everywhere were full of desire to share. No one understood them before, but now there was, and his name was Wang Yan...

At the same time, there was another thing that Wang Yan didn't forget, and that was to write another song. Old Liao asked him when he saw him, how is the new song written? Fang Hongmin also came to join in the fun, inquiring about the new song, whether he could sing it, etc.

A song cannot be achieved overnight. A book cannot be finished in a day. Everyone knew Wang Yan's idea: to write a book for the 11th Corps and the 14th Corps, and to write a song for the Chinese people...

Time passed in a hurry, Wang Yan enjoyed the scenery of the border, and was covered in dust. After walking back and forth in the 14th Corps, he returned to the regiment once. But at that time, Hao Shuwen and others were performing outside, very far away, lasting more than ten days, so Wang Yan didn't see them.

But this time the Political Commissar told him good news: the manuscript he sent to Beijing Literature and Art before the New Year had been published, and the People's Literature Publishing House was even more straightforward, having already published a 200,000-word book and sent him one. As for royalties, there were none at all.

At the same time, the "Motherland Will Not Forget" he wrote before the New Year was recorded again by the General Political Song and Dance Troupe by Old Liao and Fang Hongmin. When he came back, it was already being promoted nationwide...

By the time he toured the 14th Corps again and returned to the art troupe station in Mencius, it was already half a year later.

"The two of us can be considered to have returned." The driver and assistant looked at the gate of the art troupe and sighed.

Wang Yan sat in the passenger seat of the truck and smiled when he heard this: "Is it better to return or to go out?"

"It's stable and easy in the regiment, and there is meat to eat and Zhonghua to smoke outside. Both are good, both are good!"

"It made me misunderstand. I was thinking about whether to tell the Political Commissar to change someone."

"Brother, you are my own brother, don't change."

"Teasing you." Wang Yan shook his head with amusement. Going out with him could be called "even if you give a god, you won't change it," it's just tiring, and you are on the road every day.

But there is one good thing: it's summer now, and it's relatively convenient to take a bath and wash clothes, and it's no longer dirty and smelly.

The truck drove into the art troupe with a "tu tu tu" sound, all the way to the warehouse where the equipment was placed. The two worked together to take down the generator, speakers, etc. Only then did the driver drive directly to the dormitory building, each taking their own equipment, as well as a large bag for each person. It was a three-month trip, one regiment went twice, one regiment gave things twice, and they saved a lot. Later, they couldn't want it, and they couldn't fit it.

Wang Yan carried his luggage to the dormitory, which was naturally empty. He asked at the gate just now, and there was no task in the regiment. He thought it was that the rehearsal hadn't ended yet.

He tidied up his luggage silently. On the table, he found a book that had been flipped through, named "Chinese Hero · Two". This was the first one that was quite good, and the second one came out.

He picked it up and flipped through it. Like the previous one, it was also more than 200,000 words. Wang Yan lifted the mattress, and sure enough, there was an unopened envelope on the bed board. He opened it and went through it. It was sent by People's Literature, explaining the publication, reprinting, and the publication of the second volume.

Wang Yan smiled, put away the letters, and continued to tidy up his luggage. After fiddling like this, he carried the basin to the water room on the floor. He poured two basins of cold water, used soap to take a bath, and began to wash clothes diligently.

By the time he came out shirtless, he bumped into Liu Feng and others who had returned.

"I knew you were back when I saw the car parked downstairs." Liu Feng was quite enthusiastic, walked up and hammered Wang Yan's chest with his fist. "This is half a year, is everything going well?"

"Do I look like I'm not going well? Must be going well." Wang Yan laughed and raised his head to greet other comrades.

"Your performance this time is really long enough. Oh, right, not accurate, it's that we had a task when you came back, so we didn't catch up. We all saw the cans and cigarettes you put on the bed, and everyone is very grateful to you."

Guan Dongming took the conversation: "I was moved. After being exhausted for half a month outside, I saw a can of beef on the bed when I came back. At that moment, you were my reborn parents."

"Get out, if you want to eat cans, just say it." Wang Yan smiled and returned to the dormitory with them, and it was another can of cans and a box of cigarettes for each person.

Liu Feng didn't lack cigarettes to smoke. Wang Yan gave him quite a few when he left, all Zhonghua. Now Liu Feng was becoming more and more proficient in smoking, with the meaning of an old smoker.

At the same time, downstairs, a group of female soldiers looked at the truck parked downstairs in the male dormitory building.

Hao Shuwen and Xiao Suizi looked at each other. They knew that Wang Yan was back.

Lin Dingding, who was playing with Little Xiao Balei and others a few steps behind, also had a flash of understanding in her eyes... ===== CHAPTER 917 =====