September 30th, the day before National Day, 6 PM.
Following the crowd, Li Chu and his group slowly walked out of the Great Hall of the People.
Everyone around him was excitedly discussing the various programs that had just been performed, but his face remained completely expressionless.
At this moment, he was inwardly cursing: I really shouldn't have had any expectations for the gala of this era, especially when there were leaders sitting in the audience.
Ding Qiunan kept turning her head to look at her husband as she walked beside him.
"What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"
"There's nothing there, but I noticed you seem sleepy."
Hearing what she said, Li Chu turned his head to look around, then lowered his voice and said, "It really is making me sleepy, it's so boring."
"No, I think the shows are all great."
Haha, as long as you like it! What else can he say?
Li Chu shrugged helplessly.
It wasn't until he was in the car that he started complaining: "This year's Spring Festival Gala featured skits, so why didn't this gala include a few?"
"And another thing, apart from Qiaoyun's song, the rest are all old songs. What's the point of repeating them over and over again? This is supposed to be a party, but it feels more like a report meeting to me."
And look at the host's serious demeanor and deep voice. If you didn't know he was hosting a party, you'd think he was reading a eulogy.
Aside from group singing and solo performances, there's only one dance performance, but the main act is still singing. Sigh, I can sing all these songs backwards.
Small Bookstore
Look how funny Chen Xiaoer and his partner's skit was on this year's Spring Festival Gala! It was hilarious! But the gala, the gala, it wasn't fun at all! The director of this gala should send him home to sell sweet potatoes, so as not to waste resources..."
Sitting in the passenger seat, Li Chu chattered incessantly like an old lady, while the three women in the back were laughing so hard they were practically falling over. Li Wenxuan, who was driving, was struggling to suppress the urge to laugh and trying his best to keep a firm grip on the steering wheel.
After arriving home and parking the car, Li Wenxuan finally couldn't hold back any longer and leaned on the steering wheel, his shoulders shaking uncontrollably.
Li Chu finally stopped his spittle-flecked rant, swallowed hard, then opened the car door and headed home. He was incredibly thirsty after talking for so long.
The three beautiful women in the back row, who had already stopped laughing, started a second round of goose-like honking when they saw his expression.
When the four of them returned home, clutching their stomachs, Li Chu was already sprawled out on a deck chair in the yard like an old man, eyes closed, humming: "Back in the day, when my team first started, we only had a dozen or so men and seven or eight guns..."
Ding Qiunan rolled her eyes at her husband and walked straight into the living room.
October 1st National Day
Around 3 a.m., everyone at Li Chu's house, Li Qin's house next door, and Ding Ma's house next door were already up.
Wang Jiadong and Cao Xiaojuan are in a rather unfortunate situation today, as they both have to go back to the bureau for their shifts.
Those who got up ate something at home, and then everyone headed towards the square together.
Walking through the alley, I didn't notice anything unusual, but as soon as I reached the main road, the number of pedestrians suddenly increased. Everyone was in groups of three or five, all heading to the square to watch the flag-raising ceremony.
The sentries on the main road were already in place, one every three steps and one every five steps, each carrying a Type 56 submachine gun, their bayonets gleaming coldly under the streetlights.
Every now and then, a police car would speed by with its lights flashing.
The people who were talking loudly earlier seemed to be infected by the atmosphere once they reached the main road, and their voices became much quieter.
A large number of people had already arrived in the square, and from the air, the dark mass of people continued to converge here from all directions.
Li Chu didn't know if this was the first time the national flag was raised, since he had never heard of it before. He also didn't know if there would be another one in the future. In his memory, the national flag raising was a regular occurrence until the 1990s.
Furthermore, there will be two separate states in the future: holidays and weekdays. There will be a military band on holidays, but not on weekdays.
Moreover, the time for raising the flag is different every day.
To be honest, he didn't even know what time the flag-raising ceremony would be today. He only knew that there would be a flag-raising ceremony in the morning, followed by a clearing of the area, and then a military parade.
After the flag-raising ceremony, his whole family will go to the viewing platform over there. He had to find several people to get enough tickets for all of them, which is more than ten people.
The wait was long; I don't know how much time passed, but it was already bright daylight before the flag-raising ceremony officially began.
As the national flag rose, the crowd sang the national anthem together, even drowning out the sound of the military band.
As the national flag slowly rose to the top, the people in the square erupted in heartfelt cheers.
Soon, the people gathered in the square began to disperse. The square remained exactly as it had been when they arrived, with not a single piece of trash on the ground.
Soldiers had already started placing benches in the square, and many people would be sitting there to watch the parade.
The tickets Li Chu gave to Duan Jianing and Liu Ziqiang would allow them to sit here.
Walking to the roadside and looking east, one can see tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, armored vehicles, various artillery pieces, command vehicles, transport vehicles, and missile launchers all lined up neatly, waiting to be inspected in a while.
A number of people were already seated on the viewing platform. With the help of the staff, Li Chu and his group finally got up there.
At 9:40 a.m., the leaders, along with representatives from all walks of life and foreign guests, ascended the city tower.
At 10:00 AM sharp, the grand ceremony commemorating the 35th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China commenced with the national anthem and a 28-gun salute.
After the commander-in-chief inspected the troops in an open-top parade vehicle and delivered a speech from the city tower, the parade officially began.
"Li Chu, Li Chu," Ding Qiunan called softly from the viewing platform.
"What's wrong?"
"Why are their uniforms different from ours?" She pointed to the first group of soldiers who had begun to march in their direction, the Guard of Honor.
"These are the new Type 85 military uniforms; we'll change into them soon too."
Li Chu had no expectations about whether or not to change his uniform, because the uniform had only been in existence for a short time. It was originally designed to match military ranks, but the reinstatement of military ranks was postponed until 1988, and then the Type 87 uniform was introduced.
"This material looks better than the one we're wearing."
"Yes, we should be able to wear them in six months at most."
At this point, many people also noticed the issue of military uniforms, and everyone was whispering among themselves.
This is where a classic scene unfolded: the uniforms worn by the officers and soldiers of the troops being reviewed below were different from those worn by the leaders on the Tiananmen Rostrum.
This also reflects, from another perspective, the transformation that China is undergoing.
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