In the village of Paibu River, Guanyang County, Guilin City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, an extra set of bowls and chopsticks is placed on the dining table at Yao A Ma Farmhouse for every meal. "We set a place for the Red Army to come back and eat," says the owner, Jiang Shuming, in a calm tone, as if describing a long-practiced daily ritual. During festivals, when red tourism tour groups visit, he even organizes a ceremony to "invite the Red Army heroes home for the New Year," which includes slaughtering a pig and making rice cakes, "imagining their triumphant return." He knows full well that those people will never come back, but this ritual cannot be broken.

More than 90 years ago, the Red Army's Long March Xiangjiang Campaign unfolded across Guanyang, Quanzhou, and Xing'an in Guangxi. The Central Red Army shrank dramatically from over 86,000 troops at the start to just over 30,000, and most of those who fell did so without ever leaving behind a name. Jiang's connection to this red history begins with his grandfather, who joined the army at age 26 to fight the Japanese in the north and never returned. When Jiang was a child, his grandmother repeatedly urged him: "Study hard and someday write a book telling your grandfather's story." Jiang later pursued art instead, so the book was never written, but he has always kept his grandmother's wish in his heart.

Over a decade ago, he opened a farmhouse restaurant in Paibu River Village, not far from the Zhongshan battlefield site of the Xinxu Blocking Action, and named it Yao A Ma Farmhouse. At the same time, he began doing something that many considered unprofitable—self-funding the production of short red-themed videos that narrate the stories of both the famous and anonymous heroes of the Xiangjiang Campaign. Zhongshan was the frontline position of the Xinxu Blocking Action. In November 1934, to cover the main force's advance toward the Xiang River, the 15th Regiment fortified the Zhongshan position, holding off a numerically superior enemy with a vastly smaller force, making it one of the most fiercely contested battlefields. The division commander of the Red Third Army Corps' Fifth Division at that time, Li Tianyou, was only 20 years old. Jiang reflects with emotion that under the command of a 20-year-old division commander, "all the soldiers were teenagers who feared nothing and just fought with everything they had."

What troubles Jiang most is that even many local residents in Guanyang County today are unaware that such a crucial battle once took place at Zhongshan. "Without these defensive lines, how could the Central Column have safely crossed the Xiang River? Such a tremendous sacrifice bought us today's happy life, yet no one remembers them." He decided to put this history on stage. This past summer, the red-themed landscape drama "Remembering Zhongshan," co-created and choreographed by Jiang and two Guanyang County high school students, premiered at Yao A Ma Farmhouse, drawing hundreds of local villagers and tourists as spectators. There was no professional theater; the stage was set up in a field beside a pond. More than 40 villagers and middle school students performed voluntarily, and all costumes and props were paid for by the villagers themselves.

The production draws on local red history tales, including the martyrdom of Red Army soldiers at the Jiuhaijing site in Guanyang, the Zhongshan Blocking Action, and the story of three generations of a family in Fengshu Jiao Village guarding the Red Army battle flag. Against the natural backdrop of the hillside and pond, the villagers vividly reenacted the wartime era of the Red Army's bloody resistance and heroic defense against the enemy. Without elaborate lighting or stagecraft, the surrounding landscape served as the natural set. Some visiting central media reporters praised it, saying, "This is exactly the effect we wanted." Jiang agrees wholeheartedly: "That's how war really was. There's no need for something flashy and polished, as those images would only lose authenticity." The cast's oldest member is 75, while the youngest are primary and secondary students, all performing for free without payment. "They find it meaningful and come to perform on weekends or holidays when a tour group arrives." Many parents also deliberately bring their children for the experience. "At home they'd just play video games and not show filial respect. Here they do farm work and take part in red education, letting them write their own scripts and learn the lessons themselves." Since rehearsals began this year, "Remembering Zhongshan" has been performed dozens of times, drawing widespread acclaim.

Short videos serve as Jiang's other platform. His main Douyin account, "Ziming Brother Jun," boasts over 700,000 followers and more than 6.6 million total likes, with a pinned video reaching 714,000 likes alone. Combined with his matrix accounts on Kuaishou and WeChat Channels, his total followers across all media platforms approach one million. Jiang is not surprised that he achieved such reach in less than a year of operation. "Many people watch and end up in tears, which shows there are still plenty of patriots. It also awakens a lot of awareness. Without it, people might forget—especially the younger generation. If no one films or speaks up about these events, they'll have even less sense of how today's happy life was earned."

Jiang admits that one person's effort alone is far from enough and that more people need to get involved. His next step is very practical: he hopes to continue spreading awareness through short videos and performances, while also finding ways to accumulate funds to gradually improve the roads, safety facilities, and scenery around the farmhouse. The area currently retains its original natural state, with few signs of human intervention. Jiang says the county propaganda department has always offered guidance and support, and the most important thing is to "keep the direction right and avoid making mistakes." He also encourages every visiting tourist to pull out their phones and record and share what they see. "We can't do it alone. Only when everyone spreads the word can the publicity move faster and reach a wider audience."

As the interview drew to a close, Jiang brought up the extra set of bowls and chopsticks once more. More than ninety years have passed, and the people he waits for will never return, but he believes that as long as someone remembers, that is enough.