The project to adapt the Sanhuo series into an animated film began in 1982, but the process was not smooth.

The reason was not that the adaptation itself was difficult, but that several reforms in Shanghai and the United States in recent years had affected the progress of the project. In addition, funds were tight, so the film was not completed in 1984 before it began to be broadcast on TV.

Although the show received good response after it was aired, it was criticized by experts and was forced to stop broadcasting after two episodes. It was not until the beginning of last year that the project was restarted.

After the restart the process was not smooth.

In recent years, it is not only the house prices that have risen, but also the wages and prices of goods. In 1982, the salary for animation workers in Shanghai-Mei Factory was 70 or 80 yuan. By the end of the 1980s, it had risen to 200 or 300 yuan.

But for the entire industry, this income is still not high. If they jump to an animation outsourcing company, the salary is calculated by piece. They don't need to be very creative, but as long as they are quick, their monthly income can double to thousands of yuan.

As a result, a large number of young employees have resigned from Shanghai Mei in the past two years, resulting in a lack of young talents within the company.

The rise in prices has led to a continuous increase in the cost of animation production. Something that could be done with 10,000 yuan may now cost 10,000 yuan.

The "Three Fires" project did not have sufficient funding three years ago, and it was stopped after two episodes were aired on TV. The Shanghai and American leaders wanted to continue the project, but were afraid of investing too much money and ending up with nothing.

Therefore, after restarting the project, Li Bin not only had to cut costs, but also had to open up new sources and find ways to attract investment. Su Ting, the original author, was brainwashed by him and invested more than 10,000 yuan in it.

But more than 10,000 yuan is a lot for ordinary people. A household with a salary of 10,000 yuan is still something to be admired, but for animation production, it is a drop in the bucket.

Fortunately, the group of people who stayed up late to watch Sanhuo have gradually grown up, and many of them have achieved success in their careers and have feelings for this story. In addition, Su Ting proposed the concept of advertising placement, so many people are willing to invest in this project.

But Li Bin is a person who strives for perfection in everything he does. When he had no money, he had to make do with many things. But when he had money, he started to make it. He remade the first two episodes, which were made a bit roughly due to rushing the progress.

Originally, the project could have been completed at the beginning of the year, but he dragged it to the middle of the year. Then, it was sent for review, and after a series of procedures, the broadcast time was pushed back to New Year's Day in 1979.

Although the process was a bit tortuous, it is always a good thing that the animation can be completed and broadcast smoothly.

After hanging up the phone, Su Ting was in a very happy mood and even hummed a song while preparing dinner.

The first thing He Dongchuan did after returning home was usually to put his hat and bag in the master bedroom. But this day, when he passed the dining room, he heard singing coming from the kitchen. He couldn't help but walk to the kitchen door and asked, "What happy event happened?"

Hearing the sound, Su Ting, who was singing with great concentration, came to her senses and looked a little embarrassed.

Her singing is not bad, but it is not very good either. She can't reach the high notes or the low notes, so she doesn't sing often. It's just that when people are in a particularly good mood, they will inevitably want to hum a few songs to amuse themselves.

But she didn't expect that He Dongchuan would hear it, and she couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed.

However, this mood did not last long. After all, they were already an old married couple. No matter how embarrassed they were, Su Ting calmed down and asked, "Why did you come back so early today?"

"Is it early? It's already 6:10." He Dongchuan saw that she forgot to flip the food in the pot, so he reached out to take the spatula and spoke again, "Are you in a good mood because I heard you humming a song?"

Su Ting pushed it aside and hummed, "It's okay."

"What makes you feel so good?"

"Three Fires" is going to be broadcast on TV."

He Dongchuan raised his eyebrows: "Is the time confirmed?"

"Yes, it will be broadcast on January 1st next year at 6pm sharp."

"Will one or two episodes be rerun?"

"Of course it has to be re-broadcasted. After several years, the audience has long forgotten what the first two episodes were about. If it is not re-broadcasted, the audience will definitely not be able to watch the whole thing. Moreover, the first two episodes have been re-made, it would be a shame not to re-broadcast it."

Speaking of the replay, Su Ting's excitement faded a little: "I hope it can be broadcast smoothly this time."

Because the Great Movement had not yet ended when Su Ting painted the Three Fires series, she paid great attention to the communication of ideological values ​​and did not dare to cross the line.

There are seven stories in this series, and only the theme of preventing abduction is a bit cruel, but the overall trend is still very positive, and the final ending is that good will be rewarded with good and evil will be punished with evil.

So she really didn't expect that after the story was adapted into an animated film, it would be criticized by experts for lacking national characteristics, leading to the need to stop broadcasting. [1]

Over the years, Su Ting racked her brains but still couldn't figure out what the experts meant by national characteristics, and what was missing from the Sanhuo series.

Because of the previous setbacks, Su Ting did not have high expectations for the "Three Fires" animation, and she just hoped that it would be broadcast safely.

He Dongchuan comforted him: "Of course you can."

He believes that the reason why "Three Fires" was criticized by experts was not because of the story itself, but because it was the first to be criticized. After all, it was the first animated series in the country and it was broadcast well, so naturally there were many people who were dissatisfied with it.

In the past two years, there have been a number of long animated films broadcast, and they have been very popular. If "Three Fires" had been broadcast at this time, it would not have been considered a thorn in the eyes even if it performed well.

After thinking about it, Su Ting felt that what He Dongchuan said made sense, and her mood brightened again.

…

Upon learning that the "Three Fires" animation was about to be aired, the most excited person in the family was not the original author Su Ting, nor He Yan, who was the prototype of the first protagonist, but Man Man.

After hearing about this from Su Ting, she went to visit her good friends' homes one by one, told them the good news, and made an agreement with them to remember to watch the premiere on TV on New Year's Day.

Ji Yi was embarrassed when she heard this: "But...what if I don't have a TV at home?"

Although it has become more and more convenient to buy a TV in recent years, and the price of black and white TVs does not seem that expensive compared to color TVs, there are not many people in the Navy compound who can buy a TV without blinking an eye.

But gradually I didn't think it was a problem. If I didn't have a TV at home, I could go to someone else's house to watch it. I patted my chest and said, "It's okay. I have a TV at home. You can all come over and watch it."

Gradually, she not only said this to Ji Yi, but also to other friends who were willing to watch the first broadcast of "Three Fires". In just one afternoon, she invited more than 20 children to her house to watch TV at 6 pm on New Year's Day.

After everyone was invited, she returned home and slowly realized that she had forgotten the most important thing: she had not discussed it with her mother.

Although there are more families with televisions in the compound than you can count on two hands, not all parents welcome their children to bring friends home to watch TV.

It would be fine if you only bring two or three, but if you bring too many, a mother with a good temper might greet you with a smile, but a mother with a bad temper might drive you away with a cold face.

Su Ting has never chased anyone away, but she told Man Man a long time ago that if she brought back more than three friends, she must tell her first.

If the reason is sufficient and not too frequent, she will nod in agreement; but if you bring a bunch of friends back to watch TV every now and then for no reason, she will get angry.

This was not because Su Ting had a bad temper, but because they lived in an apartment building, and on the second floor at that, and it was inconvenient to move the TV to the yard. If children came to their house to watch TV, they could only arrange for them to stay in the living room.

Before they moved into their current house, they renovated the house and laid tiles on the floor. Footprints were very obvious on them, so they prepared slippers in the shoe cabinet at the door.

If there are few people coming, she can find slippers for them to wear. But if there are too many people, that becomes impossible. She can only let them put on their shoes and go into the house, one by one. The children are happily watching TV, but it is not easy for the adults to clean up.

This is still considered good. There are also children who are fidgety and touch and talk about things after sitting down. There is a drawer on their coffee table that was broken by the children who came to watch TV.

Moreover, when there are many children, quarrels are likely to occur. If a quarrel or even a fight breaks out while the children are watching TV at the host's house, the host will not be held responsible, but it is easy for the host to be embarrassed by both parties.

The best way to avoid these troubles is to not let your children bring so many friends over.

Therefore, unless it was a special situation, such as a birthday or the finale of her favorite TV series or animation, Su Ting would not agree to let her bring so many people home.

Gradually I learned that the Three Fires series was drawn by her mother and was based on their family. The Three Fires animated series is a very special work for their family.

So she thought that her mother would not object to her inviting friends to her home to watch TV on such an important day as the launch of "Three Fires".

What made her increasingly nervous was that in the past, she had only brought seven or eight friends to her house to watch TV, but this time, without her noticing, she had invited more than twenty people.

It seems a bit over the limit.

Because I was nervous, I gradually felt a little lacking in confidence when I talked about this with Su Ting.

Su Ting saw that Man Man was not confident enough, so she did not agree immediately and asked, "Why do you want to invite friends to your house to watch TV that day?"

He slowly explained, "Because "Three Fires" has just started airing, I found everyone I know and wanted them to come and watch the premiere. Some people have TVs at home and agreed directly, but some people don't have TVs at home, so I asked them to come to our house to watch."

Su Ting could understand slowly, but... she had a bad feeling in her heart: "How many people did you invite?"

He blinked slowly, trying to get away with it.

But Su Ting was not so easy to fool. She looked at her with a smile on her face. Gradually, she realized that she could not fool her anymore, so she had to hold up two fingers.

"Two people?" Su Ting was surprised.

There were only about ten households in the compound that had televisions, and these families might not even have children of similar age. So, all in all, only seven of the children she knew had televisions at home.

As for how many children she gradually got to know, considering her age, there were at least 30 or 40. Even if she was not so familiar with some of them, she was embarrassed to invite them. In the end, there must have been 20 people invited, minus the seven who had TVs at home.

Only two of the dozen people showed up.

Su Ting thinks that her popularity with women isn't that bad, right?

No, if there were only two of us, there would be no need to discuss this with her so long in advance. We could just bring the person back on the same day.

Seeing that Manman was avoiding the question and just laughing, a bad feeling came over her again. Su Ting asked, "You didn't... invite twenty people, did you?"

"Twenty-three people."

Su Ting: “…”

Should she say that she is popular with ladies, or should she say that she can find things for herself?

Seeing that Su Ting didn't say anything, he slowly sat down beside her, hugged her arm and started to act coquettishly: "Mom, can I invite them home then? Mom, please agree to it. I really want them to be the first to see "Three Fires"..."

Three in a row...

Su Ting felt the anticipation slowly building up, rubbed her forehead and said, "Okay, okay, you take me there."

Slowly, he was so excited that he kissed Su Ting on the cheek: "Thank you, Mom!"

…

Before going to bed at night, Su Ting talked about this matter with He Dongchuan, deliberately leaving it a secret and asking, "Do you know how many points she scored?"

"twenty."

Su Ting was surprised: "How do you know?"

"Two hundred is unlikely. We don't have that many kids of Manman's age in our compound," He Dongchuan analyzed. "But if it was two, you definitely wouldn't keep it a secret."

"I knew this kind of question wouldn't be difficult for you," Su Ting sighed, and then asked, "How many people do you think came to our house to watch TV that day?"

He Dongchuan fell into deep thought, and after a long while he gave a half-hearted guess: "Maybe there are really two hundred."

Although only twenty-seven children were invited, everyone in the compound knew that the prototype of the Three Fires series was their family. After hearing this, there must have been many people who came to join in the fun that day.

Every year, people move into their compound, and some move out due to job changes. But because the base is expanding, overall there are more people moving in.

As for the younger generation, some went out to explore society, while others settled down and had children in the compound. Overall, it was still the excess of the new population that left.

Today, their compound has thousands of people, not to mention the number of people there. Excluding those with higher ranks, those who are proud of their status, those who have family problems, and those who don't like to join in the fun...

He Dongchuan felt that the estimate of 200 people might have been an underestimation.

Su Ting: "...I don't think so. Even if 200 people come, we can't accommodate them at home."

"If there's not enough room at home, there's always room in the yard downstairs." He Dongchuan offered a solution, then changed the subject and said, "But it's not certain. Maybe there aren't that many people in the compound who are willing to join in the hustle and bustle."

"maybe."

In fact, there are quite a few people in their compound who are willing to join in the excitement.

The next day, when Su Ting went to buy groceries, a military wife asked her about the rerun of "Three Fires" and inquired, "Are you going to play the "Three Fires" cartoon on New Year's Day? Is there any room left?"

While they were buying food, the number of people who came to their house to watch the premiere of "Three Fires" on New Year's Day increased from 27 to 43. By the time He Dongchuan came back in the evening, the number of spectators had increased to 86.

…

On New Year's Day, He Dongchuan and Man Man both had a day off.

If it were any other time, the couple would definitely take the children out to play for a day, but "Three Fires" started airing today, and they were afraid that if they went out, they would not be able to return after 6 o'clock in the evening, so the whole family did not go out.

The meal at noon was quite rich. People's living standards have generally improved a lot in the past ten years. People in remote rural areas may not feel it, but in a big city like Shanghai, the feeling is very obvious.

Ten years ago, if you wanted to have a good meal, they would calculate that once the meat coupons were used up, you would have to eat vegetarian food for the rest of the month.

Nowadays, as long as you are willing to spend money, you can have all the delicious food you want.

After lunch, I slowly went into the study to do my homework.

Although there were three days off for New Year's Day, there were too many subjects in junior high school, and even if each teacher only assigned one test paper, it would be enough for her to finish.

What's more, the teachers of different subjects are not so in tune with each other. The teachers of the three main subjects assign homework on a daily basis, one test paper per day, and at the end they will add: "It takes one and a half hours to finish a test paper. Is the remaining time enough for you to play?"

Teachers think they are very kind and assign very little homework, but the reality is that students are busier after returning home than during school.

Su Ting and He Dongchuan strolled out. The sun was shining brightly outside after lunch, perfect for a walk.

Because it was a holiday, the compound was livelier than usual. Several military wives were sunbathing downstairs in a building. When they saw the couple coming down, they smiled and asked about their plans for the evening.

Su Ting knew that the other party was asking about watching TV in the evening, and said, "I have discussed with Dongchuan that it will start at five o'clock. If it's too late, we won't be able to catch the show, and if it's too early, we won't have time to finish dinner. The location is downstairs, and we will move the TV downstairs at that time."

"That's a good atmosphere, it's lively and lively." A military wife said with a smile.

Some people also curiously asked: "How many people are there in the evening? If there are many people, I will come early and grab a good seat."

Su Ting was not sure how many people there were, but according to the current statistics, there were definitely about 200 people. She said, "It might be a bit too many people. We plan to let the children sit in the front. You can sit anywhere else in the rest of the seats. You can also come early to reserve a seat."

"Okay, I'll come over after dinner."

"Me too."

…

That evening, everyone who wanted to come to He's house to watch TV ate early, and just after five o'clock, the downstairs building became lively.

Su Ting and her friends hadn't finished their meal yet when the wives of soldiers who had arrived earlier started to urge them to move on. They came up to them every once in a while to ask when they could start and when the TV would be moved downstairs.

Su Ting had no choice but to finish her meal in a hurry and let He Dongchuan carry the TV downstairs.

They didn't buy the TV early. Color TVs were already popular at that time, and the 18-inch screen was the most popular, so they bought the popular model at that time.

Color TVs at that time were all big and bulky, weighing as much as 40 or 50 kilograms each.

It was not difficult for He Dongchuan to carry something weighing forty or fifty kilograms, but the color TV was square and not easy to carry, so when He Dongchuan went downstairs, Su Ting followed behind to support him.

The table for the TV had been set up downstairs, so He Dongchuan carried the TV directly and placed it there. Su Ting returned upstairs, put down the power strip, and then adjusted the signal.

During this period, many people came with their families to the bottom of a building and sat in a row starting from one meter away from the table and moving towards the back.

The people in the back row discovered the problem soon after they sat down: the TV was placed too low and their view was blocked by the front row, so they couldn't see it.

So after adjusting the signal, they had to adjust the position. The residents of Room 102 contributed a shorter and smaller dining table, which was placed directly on the high table. He Dongchuan then worked with others to lift the TV up.

The adjustment was completed and the people in the back were satisfied, but the children in the front row felt it was a bit high, so the audience as a whole moved back.

By the time the signal, height and distance were all adjusted, it was almost six o'clock. There was not enough time to wash the dishes, so Sui Tang simply went upstairs, closed the door, took a stool, and joined the crowd waiting for the cartoon to start with her husband and children.

Before sitting down, Su Ting glanced at the crowd. There were about two hundred people who had told her in advance that they would come to watch the cartoon, but at this glance, she suspected there were more than three hundred people.

In addition to those who came to join in the fun and watch cartoons, there were also many military wives who saw business opportunities and took the opportunity to set up stalls.

They sell all kinds of things at their stalls, including melon seeds, peanuts, spicy strips, candies, fried potatoes, and anything that tastes good but has no nutritional value.

The person setting up the stall to sell fried skewers was none other than Meng Xiuzhen, who brought two employees from the store with her.

The employee is also a military wife. She works very efficiently, frying skewers one by one and packing them one by one. They work very well together, while Meng Xiuzhen is in charge of collecting the money.

It's not that Meng Xiuzhen is proud of her status and feels it is too embarrassing for a big boss like her to fry skewers for others herself. But after the business grew bigger, she took turns running several stores and had little time to fry skewers. Over time, her skills became rusty, and the taste of the skewers she fried was not necessarily better than that of her employees.

And among all the stalls tonight, the one with the best business is undoubtedly Meng Xiuzhen's fried skewers stall. After all, the aroma is overbearing, and not only children are greedy, but adults can't resist the temptation either.

Just after Su Ting sat down for less than ten minutes, she couldn't help but say to He Dongchuan, "I'm going to buy some skewers." She stood up and walked to the skewers stall.

Man Man, who was sitting among a group of children, saw Su Ting's movement route out of the corner of her eye and immediately stood up. She also liked skewers!

Because of the division of labor, there were quite a few people standing in front of the fried skewers stand, but they were all waiting for skewers. There were not many people queuing in front of Meng Xiuzhen. She spotted the mother and daughter at the first sight and asked with a smile: "What do you want to eat? I'll treat you."

"No, that's embarrassing."

"What's there to be embarrassed about? We are not related. Let alone a few skewers, even if you clear out all the skewers on my stall, it's fine. Just order whatever you want."

As soon as these words came out, before the mother and daughter could reply, the military wife in the queue next to them joked, "Meng, we all live in the same compound, you can't be partial to one over the other!"

The other military wives echoed: "That's right, it's not enough to just invite Su Ting!"

Meng Xiuzhen smiled and said, "Okay, okay, I'll treat you all, but you can only order one skewer each. I'm a small business, and I can't afford so many of you to eat as much as you want."

Everyone can understand what she said. There are nearly three hundred people coming to join in the fun tonight. If she really lets everyone eat to their heart's content, she might have worked for nothing this month.

One skewer per person was not too few, at least the atmosphere at the scene was completely livened up, and people lined up to order skewers.

Some people were curious about why Meng Xiuzhen was so generous all of a sudden, and asked her with a smile while waiting in line. She smiled and said, "I'm happy. The original author and the prototype of the main character of the cartoon we are going to watch tonight are all in our compound. So, we are also involved, right?"

The people in the queue were stunned when they heard this. How could they round up the numbers like this? But thinking about it, they were actually a little excited!

Su Ting had been exposed in the compound a long time ago, so most people knew what Meng Xiuzhen was talking about as soon as they heard it, but the children who were young at the time or had not been born at all did not know these things.

So when she slowly returned to the children, she heard some of them asking who the original author and prototype were. As one of the prototypes, she felt it was necessary for her to explain the facts to her friends.

So he slowly stood up, put the bowl of fried skewers on the table, clapped his hands and said, "Everyone stop for a moment. Before the cartoon starts, I want to tell you something..."

…

When I slowly heard my friends asking about the prototype of the cartoon, He Yan had just got off the bus with his suitcase.

He came back this time to discuss business. Due to time constraints, he had no intention of going home, so he did not call his family to talk about this matter. It was even more sad that he passed by his home but could not come back.

But at lunch, a middle-aged couple with their children sat at the table next to him. Listening to their conversation, He Yan knew that this was the first time their family had eaten in a hotel. The reason was that their son had just started working and had just received his salary.

Perhaps for this reason, the middle-aged couple enjoyed the meal very much. During the meal, they kept praising the chef for his good cooking skills. The son was also very happy to hear that, but at the same time he also said that in his heart, the most delicious food would always be cooked by his mother.

As he listened, He Yan suddenly felt homesick.

He felt that he was wrong. As long as he was with his family, even if it was just enough time for a meal, it would be fine. Moreover, his upcoming work schedule was not impossible to adjust. If he moved around a little, maybe he could get some sleep at home.

He wanted to spend the first day of the new year with his family.

After thinking it through, He Yan asked his assistant to change his ticket to tomorrow, and called the company to adjust his subsequent work to a later date.

So, after the cooperation was negotiated in the afternoon, He Yan politely declined the partner's dinner invitation and went straight back to the hotel to pack his luggage and go home.

Due to time constraints, he did not call his parents to tell them about this, which also gave his family a surprise.

As soon as he entered the Marine compound, He Yan discovered that there seemed to be some activity in the compound tonight, and the noise came from downstairs in his house.

With curiosity in mind, He Yan walked briskly around the Military Family Resettlement Office and the Women's Federation Office and walked along the side. But before he reached the corner, he heard a slow voice:

"Tonight we are going to watch the cartoon "Three Fires". The comic strip was written by my mother, the prototype of Three Fires is my brother, the mother of Three Fires is my mother, the father of Three Fires is my father, and I am the younger sister of Three Waters! So what you are watching is the story of our family!"

He Yan stopped, swallowed, and started to move backwards. He felt that he could go home anytime and eat anytime, so there was really no need to rush on this day.

But before He Yan could take two steps back, he was spotted by someone, who asked in surprise, "Sanhuo, you're back?"

When the people waiting for the cartoon to start downstairs heard this, they left their seats and ran out, talking at once:

"Oh my, it's really Sanhuo! Did you rush back just because you knew the cartoon was going to be aired?"

"So many of us have gathered here just to watch your cartoons!"

"Come on, come on, everyone make way, the hero is back, everyone make way!"

As they were talking, Su Ting, He Dongchuan, and Man Man all squeezed out of the crowd, stood in front of He Yan, and asked in surprise: "Why did you come back so suddenly?"

In response to the questions from his parents and sister, He Yan smiled and said, "Yeah, why did I come back so suddenly?"

…

Five minutes later, surrounded by more than 300 people, He Yan, who was watching TV with no desire for life, understood two things:

Is he back today for a family reunion? No, actually, for a public execution.

Is that a cartoon on TV? No, that's his dark history.