Chapter 68: The Plagiarist He Yuzhu

Preparing, putting on makeup, and busy for over an hour, Master He was getting ready... to go on stage.

Looking at the big shots in the audience whom he was very familiar with from his previous life on television, He Yuzhu suppressed the excitement and admiration in his heart, and enduring the pain in his leg, he did not sit in a wheelchair, but instead stood to finish performing the entire program.

This made the few people who knew the inside story admire him so much that they bowed down to him.

"Section Chief He, how are you doing? If you can't take it, eat another painkiller." After stepping off the stage, He Yuzhu's legs went weak, covered in sweat, and he collapsed directly to the ground, which made everyone watching feel a pang of worry.

The clattering sound of him falling to the ground also attracted the attention of the audience, who began to ask questions one after another. After learning the details, they lost interest in watching the subsequent programs, and the performance ended early.

"Sigh, it was ruined after all." In the dressing room, as everyone was removing their makeup and changing clothes, Wang Bujiang of the Cultural Work Department sighed and said.

He Yuzhu also moved his lips with some shame and lowered his head. He had originally wanted to put on a good performance, but he hadn't expected his body to be unable to hold up. Because he had fallen after stepping off the stage, it had caused Wang Bujiang to be implicated.

"Section Chief He, don't worry about it, it has nothing to do with you. Today, I am already very grateful to you. Sigh, it's all our fault for not cultivating new talent in time and for having no new works appear. To be honest, I'm tired of watching them, let alone the leaders." Wang Bujiang patted his own mouth, hurriedly came to He Yuzhu's side, took his hand, and apologized.

"It's fine, Wang Bujiang, as long as you don't blame me." He Yuzhu nodded and pulled out a faint smile.

"Wang Bujiang, do you think this will work?" Suddenly, a girl wearing facial makeup next to them took a few sheets of white paper out of her desk and asked in a voice that was quite magnetic.

"Oh? Let me see." Wang Bujiang's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly took them and began to read carefully.

He Yuzhu carefully sized up the woman wearing facial makeup; although she was wearing a loose stage costume, he could still sense her fine figure.

The two made eye contact, the girl smiled slightly, her eyes squinting into thin slits, her long eyelashes blinking, and two cute dimples appearing at the corners of her mouth.

He Yuzhu's heart stirred, he nodded, and turned his head to look at Wang Bujiang's hands.

"Sigh, the subject matter is good, but it's too literary and too watery. Who wrote this? They ruined a good subject; it's just like the author of this book, trash." Wang Bujiang finished reading the pages in his hand at a glance, complained a couple of times, and casually placed them on the table next to him.

He Yuzhu hurriedly picked them up to read.

After reading for a while, he also shook his head, but when he looked up and saw the girl's tearful expression, he immediately praised and nodded, saying: "Wang Bujiang, it's not that bad. How about this, I'll help revise it, and you can take another look at it then, how about that?"

"Oh? Section Chief He also understands scripts?" Wang Bujiang said in surprise.

"Mm, I know a little. Look, this part where the regiment commander speaks, 'Follow me and charge if you aren't afraid of death,' change it to 'Brothers! When two armies meet on a narrow path, the brave one wins!' How about that? Then we can change these overly literary parts, for example, change this line 'You are really great' to 'Hey, you damn genius,' how about that?" He Yuzhu pointed to the places on the paper one by one and suggested to Wang Bujiang.

"If we change it like this, it's not impossible, but I'm afraid it won't pass the review with so much profanity..." Wang Bujiang thought for a moment, but still shook his head and said.

"Uh, so they started blocking reviews back then? I thought it was only when writing novels in later generations." He Yuzhu complained to himself, and feeling he should strike while the iron was hot, he said: "How about this, Wang Bujiang, I'll revise it when I'm free, and you can take a look after I'm done. If it's suitable, you can stage it; if not, then forget it, how about that?"

"Alright then, you write it out first and let me see. Come, Linlin, go have someone send over some Meatball Soup and Wonton; everyone must be hungry." Wang Bujiang stood up, gave instructions to the girl, and walked out of the dressing room.

"Okay." The girl agreed, gave He Yuzhu a grateful look, and ran out.

"Thanks for just now, Section Chief He." The girl carefully brought two bowls over to He Yuzhu first, then said quite gratefully.

"It's nothing, haha, hurry and wipe your face; your face is all smudged, you look like a pirate cat." He Yuzhu picked up the bowl, sniffed it, nodded, and then joked.

"Ah?" The girl was stunned, hurriedly ran to look in the mirror, and then burst into laughter at her own little flowery face.

Before long, her face, with the makeup completely removed, appeared in He Yuzhu's line of sight.

Seeing her jade-like bones, snow-white skin, lotus-like face, and willow-like posture, He Yuzhu's eyes went straight.

"Hey, what are you looking at?" Seeing He Yuzhu's fixed gaze, the girl hummed, waved her slender, fair fingers in front of He Yuzhu, and pulled his spirit back.

"Hehe, sorry, I've never seen such a beautiful girl in all my life, sorry about that." He Yuzhu hurriedly blushed and explained.

"Smooth talker, hurry and eat, or it will get cold." The girl wasn't angry; after all, she had grown up and didn't know how many times she had seen such gazes.

"Okay." He Yuzhu hurriedly lowered his head and began shoveling the Wonton into his mouth with a spoon.

"Section Chief He, um, how are you going to revise it?" While eating, He Yuzhu, who was worrying about how to strike up a conversation, felt a joy in his heart, hurriedly finished the Wonton in his bowl in a few bites, and began to talk.

After some exchange, He Yuzhu also learned the girl's name, Zhu Linlin, 20 years old this year (due to plot requirements, it was changed by a few years), a dancer at the Beijing Communication Corps Art Troupe, whose ancestral home was Jinan, and whose parents were both intellectuals, carrying a thick artistic aura.

After the time was about right, they exchanged addresses, and He Yuzhu, clutching those few pages, was pushed home by Tang Sanlang, who was also grinning from ear to ear.

As soon as he got home, He Yuzhu, as if possessed, took out a clean notebook, sat in his wheelchair, recalled the plot of *Drawing Sword*, and began to write it down stroke by stroke, very seriously.

That night, the light stayed on for a long time, and it didn't dim until the rooster crowed.

For five whole days, He Yuzhu came to the Rolling Mill, and after arranging the work for the kitchen and security, he spent all his remaining time recalling *Drawing Sword*.

"Whew." He Yuzhu let out a deep breath, put down his pen, rubbed his brow, and after reading it from beginning to end and finding no typos or anything of the sort, He Yuzhu began to copy it out again, stroke by stroke.

After finishing the copying, He Yuzhu had Yu Xiaokang buy two beautiful boxes, gently placed the Harmonica and Violin (do you brothers remember how these came about?) inside, wrapped them up, and along with the dense *Drawing Sword* script, sent them to the Art Troupe.

Then, He Yuzhu waited happily.

"Hello, comrade, I'm looking for Zhu Linlin, could you please notify her and say that Section Chief He has brought her something." Yu Xiaokang took out a pack of cigarettes, skillfully stuffed it into the guard's pocket, and looked fawning.

The guard was taken aback, his hand subconsciously touched his pocket, and then he also nodded with a face full of smiles and ran inside.

After more than half an hour, Zhu Linlin, who had finished rehearsal, ran out, gratefully took the boxes, and couldn't wait to open them to check.

With her experience, she naturally couldn't see anything else, but she just felt that what He Yuzhu wrote was really good; that brash male lead, although full of profanity, was a real man!

After reading it at a glance for a while, Zhu Linlin thanked the guard and Yu Xiaokang again, and walked back holding the boxes.

After checking the exquisite Violin and Harmonica, Zhu Linlin found a small note at the bottom of the box, which had only one simple sentence on it: Have you heard that poem about lovesickness by Wang Wei?

Suddenly, Zhu Linlin's face turned red and her ears hot as she clutched her chest, her heart pounding, as if she had drunk Lei Hua beer, and the mist in her eyes seemed about to overflow.

With a beautiful smile, Zhu Linlin put them away and continued to read He Yuzhu's script word by word.

After finishing it once, she felt a sense of loss as she took it and handed it to Wang Bujiang.

After reading it, Wang Bujiang was also immersed in it, attracted by the plot, and kept praising it.

Then he couldn't wait to take the notebook and walk out, going all the way to the place where the leaders worked, and presented the notebook.

The beaming Wang Bujiang did not expect that the notebook he thought was good would cause the leaders to fly into a rage and curse loudly after reading it.

"Bullshit! Who wrote this? Isn't this smearing us? Huh? Li Yunlong dares to snatch the common people's rations, is he a bandit? Huh? Disobeying orders on the battlefield, Old Chen would have shot him once! I think the person who wrote this has bad intentions! Intentionally smearing us!" One leader finished reading, remembered that Brigade Commander who had already passed away, and tears reddened his eyes.

"Sigh, don't be angry, don't be angry, you'll ruin your health, forget it, send it back. Wang Bujiang, don't bring this kind of thing here to be an eyesore in the future." In the room, another person hurriedly threw the notebook into the arms of the speechless Wang Bujiang and pushed him out.

The room, with only two people left, suddenly became oppressive.

"Speaking of which, it's been a while since General Chen left, how about we go see him after work?"

"Go, we must go, my heart is bitter, wuwu."

Wang Bujiang, who had been scolded, returned to the Cultural Work Department in a rage and threw the notebook "slap" in front of Zhu Linlin.

Spitting everywhere, he scolded: "The good thing you and He Yuzhu did, made me get a scolding for nothing! Hmph!"

"Ah?" Zhu Linlin's delicate mouth opened slightly, her face full of fear.

Very quickly, this matter slowly spread; because of Politics, He Yuzhu almost lost his position as Section Chief, and it was only after keeping a low profile for a long time that the matter slowly faded away.

Even Factory Director Yang came over to complain to He Yuzhu, asking why he had to write a script instead of doing his job as a proper Security Section Chief.

A violent storm of a lecture rained down, making He Yuzhu's head almost bow to the ground.

He Yuzhu had lingering fears, never expecting that a script that would be incredibly popular in later generations would almost get him killed here...

This incident also made He Yuzhu truly face up to his own low political intelligence, and he became increasingly humble and cautious.

This also formed his habit of ensuring that anything he put on paper in the future must not have a single flaw, and he must think thrice before acting.

"Speak less and make fewer mistakes, do nothing and make no mistakes; the ancients truly did not deceive me," He Yuzhu sighed, then gave a bitter smile to the somewhat embarrassed Zhu Linlin beside him.

"It was me who implicated you. I know you wanted to help me. I'm sorry," Zhu Linlin said, her face full of shame.

"Haha, it was clearly me who implicated you, why are you apologizing to me? How about this, I'll treat you to a meal, how does De Beng Quan sound?" He Yuzhu pulled a piece of Chocolate from his pocket as if performing a magic trick, placed it in Zhu Linlin's hand, and asked with an expectant look.

"This..."

"Good, then I'll come pick you up tomorrow, it's a date."

Not waiting for her to agree, He Yuzhu hurriedly shook his wheelchair and laughed as he rolled away.

"You rascal." Zhu Linlin opened the packaging, popped the Chocolate into her mouth, squinted her eyes, hummed a tune, and was full of smiles.

He Yuzhu returned home and lay comfortably on his bed, smiling one moment and frowning the next, feeling conflicted.

The smile was for the sweetness of liking someone, and the frown was because there was a ten-year age gap between them, and her parents were a professor and a doctor; he didn't know if they would look favorably upon him.

The next day, after the two finished eating, Zhu Linlin pushed He Yuzhu as they walked slowly along the moat, the two chatting casually.

"Section Chief He, do you like watching Journey to the West?" Zhu Linlin parked He Yuzhu's wheelchair, sat on the bench next to him, tucked back her long hair blown by the wind, and looked at him with admiration.

Upon learning that He Yuzhu's body was injured while protecting the factory and the machinery, Zhu Linlin's attitude became even more respectful; one must know that in this era, protecting public property made one a hero admired by everyone.

"I've told you so many times, stop calling me Section Chief He, call me Brother Zhuzi." He Yuzhu pulled a Rainbow Lollipop wrapped in transparent plastic from his pocket, carefully peeled off the wrapper, and suddenly stuffed it into Zhu Linlin's mouth just as she was about to speak, making her squint her eyes from the sweetness.

"Tell me, do you like watching Journey to the West?" Zhu Linlin happily swung her legs and urged him to answer.

"I like watching you," He Yuzhu felt a stir in his heart and blurted out.

"You have no sense of propriety, I'll beat you to death." Zhu Linlin was instantly shy, her little fists hitting He Yuzhu's chest repeatedly. He Yuzhu let out a sudden cry of pain, which gave Zhu Linlin a fright; thinking she had hit his wound, she asked anxiously, "What's wrong, what's wrong? Did I hit your wound? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, are you okay? I'll take you to the Hospital right now."

As she spoke, Zhu Linlin was about to stand up. He Yuzhu grabbed the hand in front of his chest, pulled gently, and brought her back to the chair. As soon as he showed a grinning expression, Zhu Linlin knew she had been tricked and hurriedly turned her head away while humming.

"Oh, don't be angry, my dear lady. I like it, I like Journey to the West, let's keep talking." Seeing He Yuzhu's groveling manner, Zhu Linlin suppressed her laughter and turned her head back, considering it a pardon for him.

"Then which character in Journey to the West do you like the most?"

"Zhu Bajie!" He Yuzhu answered quickly, not daring to spout nonsense again.

"Ah? Why?" Zhu Linlin was stunned.

"Because Zhu Bajie is devoted; no matter where he goes, he is always thinking of returning to Gao Village, just like how I think of you wherever I go."

"You're spouting nonsense again. If you do this again, I won't talk to you."

"Fine, fine, fine, I won't say it. Then who do you like the most?"

"Hmm, I like the Queen of the Women's Kingdom, she is so pitiful." As she spoke, Zhu Linlin showed a look of heartache.

He Yuzhu's heart stirred, and he gently took Zhu Linlin's hand and said, "Let me sing you a song, one written specifically for the Queen of the Women's Kingdom."

"You can write songs too?" Zhu Linlin's face turned red, and she pulled her hand away.

"Mandarin ducks fly in pairs, the spring scenery in the garden makes one intoxicated~" He Yuzhu didn't mind, showing a hint of sadness, and began to sing in a soft voice.

As he sang, Zhu Linlin closed her eyes beside him, nodding gently in agreement. He Yuzhu rolled his eyes, gently took her hand, and this time, she didn't pull it back...