Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 562 Returning like an arrow
Wang Wenyuan had already said goodbye to Xiao Chen. Xiao Chen was in a bad mood, with his head down, lingering at the door and unwilling to leave. Wang Wenyuan had to be serious and shouted, "Chen Zhiyong, stand at attention! At ease! Stand at attention! Turn right! Target, return to the team. Run!"

Comrade Xiao Chen followed the instructions and did everything, then ran out of the hospital in tears. Wang Wenyuan leaned outside the door of his ward, took out a cigarette, lit it with a kerosene lighter, and stared blankly at the end of the corridor.

Only then did he realize that he was the only patient on the sixth floor. The entire floor was empty and there was no sound at all. Only the sunlight shone through the windows onto the floor of the corridor.

On the upper floor of a Russian-style building on Beichizi Street, Minister Li was smoking a cigarette and looking at Wang Wenyuan standing in front of him with a somewhat complicated expression.

Yesterday, this person swore that he was fully recovered and would return to the army. Today, when I told him about Wang Wenyuan's future arrangements, Wang Wenyuan actually said that he was seriously ill and wanted to rest for a while. I don't know what's in this scoundrel's head and whether he has any organizational concept.

Minister Li pushed the file bag in front of him towards Wang Wenyuan and said, "You guys have been enlisted since you entered school. You are now discharged. As for you, because you have made great contributions but are still young, the organization will give you a second-class merit. As I just told you, you go to the street office to handle the employment procedures. Wenyuan, you may not know that if you don't have a job, that's not allowed, you know. We don't support idle people, but you can discuss with the unit you are joining to see if you can rest for a while."

Wang Wenyuan was standing in front of his desk, thinking. His brain was almost running out of ideas. Finally, he decided to compromise and said, "I will obey the leader's arrangement!"

"Get out, get out of my room right now. If it weren't for your Camel cigarettes, I wouldn't bother to waste my breath on this." Minister Li immediately turned hostile.

Wang Wenyuan showed a strange expression, took the file bag, turned around and left the office. Secretary Zhang walked in and asked, "Minister Li, why are you so angry?"

Minister Li pointed in the direction of Wang Wenyuan who was walking out and shouted angrily: "He is a street urchin who has no ambition to make progress. He wants a job that only pays wages but does not work. He also said that he is seriously ill. Bah, if there is a job like that, I would still want to go."

Suddenly, the office fell silent. Minister Li realized that he had said something out of turn and quickly coughed twice to cover it up. Secretary Zhang was also a little embarrassed and quickly took the kettle out, pretending to go get some water. As for the half-full of water in the kettle, it should have been cold, but if it wasn't cold, they would just pretend it was cold.

Wang Wenyuan was wearing a military belt, with a military shoulder bag slung across his left side, a military water bottle on his right side, and a military canvas bag in his hand. He walked slowly on the road, along Beichizi Street, towards Jingshan East Street, through several alleys, and directly to the street office in Yuer Hutong. At this time, there was no military control committee, and a street office was established in each area, which was under the jurisdiction of the district-level government.

When Wang Wenyuan arrived at the door of the street office, he saw the familiar old man. Wang Wenyuan stood at the window and threw a box of cigarettes to him. The old man took it in a panic and said, "Wow, they are all foreign-style cigarettes. What kind of cigarettes are these?"

Wang Wenyuan said, "American cigarettes, captured on the battlefield, called Camel. Sir, what's your name? I've known you for so long and I still don't know your name."

"My last name is Zhang. Good boy, not bad. You came from the battlefield?" The old man said happily while unpacking a cigarette.

"Yes, I just came back. I'm here to report to Deputy Director Zhang." Wang Wenyuan said as he lit a cigarette himself.

Uncle Zhang also lit up a cigarette, took a puff, and said slowly, "You are no longer Deputy Director Zhang. Captain Li has been transferred, and now you are Director Zhang. Go, hurry up, it will be lunchtime soon."

Wang Wenyuan walked into the street office, a place he was familiar with, and went straight to the backyard, to the room where Captain Li’s office used to be. He knocked on the door and shouted, “Report.”

"Come in!" Director Wang's voice came from inside. Wang Wenyuan walked in and said with a smile: "Auntie Wang, long time no see. I didn't expect you to be promoted?"

"Oh, you little bastard, how could you run to the battlefield? That damn Qi Mengjun will be killed when he comes back. Oh, my child." Director Wang jumped up from the chair, ran over and hugged Wang Wenyuan, tears streaming down his face uncontrollably.

Director Wang's true feelings touched Wang Wenyuan deeply. In Director Wang's heart, Wang Wenyuan was not only the orphan of a comrade-in-arms, but also the orphan of her only good friend. If anything happened to this boy, how could she have the face to see her best friend after a hundred years.

Wang Wenyuan comforted Director Wang and said, "Auntie Wang, I am back safe and sound. I am sorry to have made you worry."

Director Wang took a while to recover. He carefully checked Wang Wenyuan's body and saw that he was indeed fine. Then he said fiercely: "It's all because of Qi Mengjun. It's not just me who will wait for him to come back. Many people will not forgive him."

Wang Wenyuan sighed and said, "Aunt Wang, forget it. He can't come back. Don't be angry. I can't come back unless there are special circumstances."

Director Wang was stunned when she heard this. She had no news at all. She looked at Wang Wenyuan and asked, "What's going on?"

"Captain Qi has died. I guess he never planned to come back. I, I..." Wang Wenyuan had just said that he was fine, and now he didn't know how to explain his retirement.

Director Wang fell silent, took out a handkerchief, turned her back and wiped her tears silently. She was commemorating Qi Mengjun, because they used to be in the same team, but later separated. The news of Captain Qi's sacrifice had not yet reached here, and no one knew about it.

Wang Wenyuan stood there, and he missed his old company commander a little. Although he and his comrades had prayed silently for him countless times after getting drunk, he still remembered that annoying face today.

In the morning, under Director Wang's torture, Wang Wenyuan confessed his experiences of the past few years. Of course, the bloody and stormy scenes were omitted. Director Wang also knew that Wang Wenyuan was hiding something, otherwise he would not have been awarded the second-class merit. Now, those who have served in the military are very clear about what a second-class merit means.

Finally, when Director Wang received the retirement assignment notice from the Armed Forces Department, Director Wang looked at Wang Wenyuan with a strange look and asked, "Are you going to work or taking a break from work?"

Wang Wenyuan didn't waste any words. He took out the hospital certificate from his schoolbag and handed it to Director Wang. Only then did Director Wang know how this child got the second-class merit.

Director Wang sighed and said, "Okay, I'm not familiar with the people at the Dongcheng Public Security Bureau. It's a good thing for you to take a break for a while, but you still need to start working. Okay, I'll do it for you right away, and you can change your file yourself."

After that, Director Wang took his things and walked out of the office. Not long after, he came back and handed a new file bag to Wang Wenyuan, saying, "Go ahead, go and handle the formalities first. I'll come to see you when I have time, and I can also visit your grandma."

Wang Wenyuan thanked Director Wang, took the file bag, and walked out of the neighborhood office. When he reached the street, he remembered that he had no idea where the Dongcheng Public Security Bureau was. After thinking about it and checking the time, he decided to go home first. He hadn't seen his family for a long time and was eager to return home.

(End of this chapter)