Real Men

Real Men is a realistic novel by the web novelist Liangjian Zhanchang, serialized on Qidian. The story centers on Zhong Huai, eldest son of the Zhong family in Jiangcheng. He was born into a military family: his father, Zhong Dajun, is a division-level officer who transferred to civilian work and took over a machinery plant; his mother is a surgeon at the city hospital; his elder sister, Zhong Yang, works as a technician at the plant; and his younger sister, Zhong Liu, is still in school. In high school, Zhong Huai idled about, skipped class, got into fights, and did no proper work, until his father, in a rage, sent him into the army. In the recruit company of the reconnaissance battalion, his former slovenly manner is brought under control by Squad Leader Gao Pan, and from then on he gains a firm footing in the army step by step, rising from squad leader to platoon leader and finally to commander of the reconnaissance battalion. In that particular era, Zhong Huai volunteers to transfer to civilian work and is assigned to his father's machinery plant. By then the plant is no longer what it was: products cannot be sold, and wages cannot be paid. He wants to walk away, but one night his father calls him back, and a conversation between father and son stirs up many emotions in him. After that, with a soldier's spirit and courage, he and the old and young men of the plant carve out a path of their own in the great tide of reform and opening up. The novel portrays both the confrontation and reconciliation of two generations, father and son, and the stubbornness and dignity of a group of ordinary workers in a time of transition. The book runs to about thirteen chapters, with the main text having advanced past chapter sixty, and it is still being serialized.