Chapter 61 Dust Settles

  "Officer, please show your pass and identification!"

  "I don't have a pass for your base, but I have documents!"

  "Attention!" The sentry who was in charge of checking the documents took over the handed-over documents, looked at them for a few moments and immediately stood up straight with his chest out and shouted loudly. The several armed soldiers behind the iron fence also quickly stood up straight, raised their heads, and held their guns close to their chests, which was not convenient for making gestures but this action also showed respect.

  "Attention!" The lieutenant colonel quickly returned a salute and ordered, "There are two people in the car, including the driver. Do they need to be checked?" He put away his own documents and politely asked the sentry.

  "Report to the superior officer, anyone entering or leaving the base must undergo inspection!" The soldier in charge of checking documents still stood tall with his chest out, answering Yan Ran's words with great momentum.

  "Alright, please do!" As he spoke, he pressed a button and the front and rear windows all came down. Everything inside the car was now in full view of the crowd. Their commander-in-chief was currently leaning his head to one side, fast asleep. The driver was wearing white gloves and smiling as he saluted the soldiers on guard duty.

  A soldier saluted Zhang Yu and then cautiously stuck his head into the car to take a closer look at Zhang Yu's sleeping face. He then pulled out an ID card from the left breast pocket of his shirt, verified it, and put it back. The other soldiers had already finished checking the underside of the car with a mirror, opening the trunk, etc. Everyone nodded in agreement, and they all saluted again. Of course, the iron gate that was blocking the car was also removed, and more importantly, the muzzle of the machine gun inside the steel-reinforced bunker was no longer aimed at this sedan.

  The whole process took less than three minutes, and after two years, Zhang Yu arrived at a certain military base in Baise again, which is the old nest of the First Division of the People's Army. After entering the base, the road was no longer as spacious as outside, and the double-lane road surface could not be said to be narrow, but when the left lane was occupied by one green military vehicle after another with canvas covers, one lane was a bit too narrow.

  Far, far away in some place, the sound of gunfire came faintly, with the rattling sound of machine guns, the rapid firing sound of pistols, and of course, the shooting sound of rifles mixed in between. There were also the shouts of soldiers. In the green military camp, the most distinctive sounds of the army were these chaotic but metallic sounds, accompanied by training grounds, barracks, warehouses, etc.

  The base of the First Division has several, but the one Zhang Yu came to today is obviously the largest. The main force of the First Division is currently thousands of kilometers away in Xinjiang, and this empty place has become a training ground for militia reservists. Of course, schools will also organize students to come and receive military training courses. Row upon row of military trucks are those of the militiamen.

  "Alright, you go and get Wang Leiping, the deputy commander of the First Division, I want to have a word with him!"

  After wandering around the office of the commander of the First Division, Tang Renhui, except for a bookshelf opposite the door with some military books from various countries and a pot of snake plant on the floor, everything else was spotless. There were no hangings or stickers on the wall, and there was nothing on the desk, not even the three telephones of different colors that used to be there. The bare table was very clean.

  "This house is swept every day, including the entire base, clean and tidy. It can be seen that you are very careful and hardworking......" Through the window, Zhang Yu saw the soldiers who were conducting melee training on the muddy training ground, their dark green uniforms had been replaced by light red mud, their clean faces and short hair, everywhere was muddy, but the warriors were passionately fighting each other, knocking down and getting up again, those who got up might not fall again. Wang Le Ping had just arrived at the door when Zhang Yu said this.

  "Commander, our First Division has always been an obedient and fearless fighting force..."

  "Stop fooling around! Come in and talk, and bring the door with you!" Zhang Yu's first half of the sentence was directed at Wang Le Ping, while the second half was directed at Yu Ran, who was standing next to Wang Le Ping. Of course, both were clever people, and soon Yu Ran closed the door, leaving a private space for Zhang Yu and Wang Le Ping.

  He pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, lit one for himself first, then tossed the lighter and cigarette box to Wang Leiping, who was standing at attention. Savoring the smoke with half-closed eyes, he said: "Sit down, take Tang's seat, anyway he's not here."

  So, Wang Leiping sat down in the chair, while Zhang Yu directly sat on Tang Renhui's desk, but he kept looking out of the window or at the cigarette in his hand. Neither of them spoke a word until they had both finished smoking their cigarettes.

  Looking at the cigarette butt that was about to burn out, Zhang Yu stared intently at the spark slowly approaching the hand holding it, furrowing his brow and asking Wang Leiping behind him: "Do you know why I wanted to give Pangzi half a cigarette that day? And do you know why Tang Renhui has this quirk of setting up his office in such a place close to the training ground, where even talking would be disrupted by the noise of training?"

  "Commander, I don't understand!"

  "What do you know, huh? Do you know how much the cigarettes I gave you cost per pack? You smoke so comfortably, people who don't know would think you're some kind of wealthy landlord. But take a look at what you're wearing - military uniform! It's the highest honor and greatest symbol of a soldier dedicating himself to serving the people wholeheartedly. Are you ashamed?"

  Zhang Yu let out all the words that had been suppressed in his heart, but at this time, the cigarette butt also burned to his hand. The sudden pain almost made him want to shout out loud, but he didn't. Instead, he slowly pinched it off with his hand. "The more miserable your past is, the better your present will be. Wang Leiping, you damn well tell me, am I telling the truth?"

  "At first, you were miserable in the US, have you forgotten? At the first meal after entering Asia, your eyes were dizzy when you saw white rice. Have you forgotten that your feet were still wearing no shoes at that time? Who gave you what you have now? Is the two-star and three-star military uniform not better than the tattered sweatshirt you used to wear? Are the shiny leather shoes and combat boots not more comfortable than your bare feet? If you really have opinions about me, the party, and the government, then be a man and shoot me dead!"

  "With a 'click' sound, followed by a 'ding' sound, Zhang Yu opened the safety of the Colt 1911 pistol he was carrying and threw it directly in front of Wang Leiping. "This gun's firepower is strong enough, with your marksmanship, the 11.43mm caliber bullet hitting me will not cause any pain. Give me a quick death, give yourself a quick death too, I know you especially like days that are over quickly!" Zhang Yu stared at Wang Leiping with dead eyes, but Wang Leiping's head was bowed down, his only movement being the trembling of his hand holding the cigarette."

  "You've forgotten how we came this far, through wind and rain for so many years, from being spirited in New York to working hard with our heads down in Liuzhou, from boldly striking back to bitterly building... Many of you may have forgotten what it's like to be hungry and not picky about food, cold and not picky about clothes. You've forgotten that we still have goals and dreams, and even more, forgotten the mission and responsibility on your shoulders, and even forgotten the solemn oaths and tears from yesterday? No worries, if you're willing to take off this military uniform, I won't blame you!"

  "Commander, I..."

  The man had tears but didn't shed them easily, only because he hadn't reached the point of heartbreak yet. Perhaps at this moment, Wang Leiping's tears were or weren't due to his excessive heartache, but Zhang Yu's original hint of sympathy completely disappeared. Putting away the old-fashioned handgun that was meant for killing, Zhang Yu cocked it, put it back in his waistband, patted his butt and prepared to leave.

  "Commander, can I have another chance to reform myself?"

  "Opportunities are created by oneself, the thriving situation of the autonomous region is an opportunity for everyone, but it's those who commit crimes and are lazy who have no opportunities, they themselves ruined their own good prospects. Of course, I'm not someone who privately metes out punishment, aren't we currently vigorously building a rule of law? The military is the same, what awaits you will definitely be the most just verdict."

  The room has returned to its usual harmony, and it is not changed by the two unexpected guests today. Wang Leiping, who was as still as a wooden chicken, Zhang Yu, who slowly walked out of the room, and Yu Ran, who grasped the door handle and stared at the people sitting in a daze, were all still there, along with the oppressive atmosphere. The room is still the same, but perhaps the people inside are no longer the same as they used to be.

  "If you can, be a martyr!" Just as his heel was about to step out of the door, Zhang Yu turned around and said to Wang Leiping who sat stupidly in the chair.

  A few minutes later, the sedan drove slowly over that narrow road and slowly left the base to return to the highway.

  Gazing quietly at the scenery outside the car window, everything that flashed by seemed like fleeting clouds, but Zhang Yu's eyes couldn't shake off that green hue - the green of Wang Le Ping's military uniform, the green of the sentry's uniform, and the green of this vast land. "Head back to Nanning directly!" After a long while, Zhang Yu finally spoke up with these words, his current state of mind more complicated than ever before, a reflection on human nature or an introspection of himself.

  "Perhaps it's me, including my brother, we were wrong!" Suddenly, Zhang Yu's mind popped out with this sentence, followed by more and more. "We shouldn't have interfered with the progress of this world, we shouldn't have changed people's lives, we shouldn't have given new life to more groups of people, we shouldn't have come to this dirty world... We have too many, too many things that are wrong: humanity's greed and laziness, the loss and degeneration of social morality and culture, the sadness and decline of national spirit..."

  On the vast highway, the speed of the sedan is extremely fast. The cars that whizz by can always bring up the fallen leaves on the road. As the car's shadow gradually moves further and further away, those leaves still linger in the air, reluctant to fall. However, the earth's gravity does not allow such floating to continue. Even if the leaves are proud and have no desires, they will eventually fall back to the ground and return to dust.

  "Commander, we've arrived at Pingguo, do you need to stop for a bit?"

  Following Zhang Yu for many years, Yu Ran naturally knew what Zhang Yu was doing. Even if he didn't know exactly what had happened, but the clever him could infer from Zhang Yu's unusual behavior in these days that something was going to happen to someone. When the car arrived at a place where something was about to happen, Yu Ran naturally wanted to remind Zhang Yu, who was sleeping soundly, and the driver also slowed down, waiting for orders.

  "Let's go back to that restaurant where we had lunch and get a room to rest. It's too uncomfortable in the car..."

  The car quickly turned on the left turn signal and slowly entered the exclusive avenue of the aluminum company. As soon as they got on the avenue, Yu Ran tapped the driver's shoulder, and the car quickly flashed its headlights at a certain frequency. Under the evening night sky, it was enough to make the security guard at the gate of the aluminum company feel suspicious.

  At 7:15 in the evening, Zhang Yu and Yu Ran, along with the driver, were having dinner when Yu Youfu arrived. Of course, Yu Ran and the driver, who were eating at the same table, immediately understood and left the table.

  "Now that you're here, sit down and have a meal! You look like you haven't been eating or sleeping well for the past two days!"

  Zhang Yu beckoned to Yu Youfu to sit down, but looking around, there were only three sets of bowls and chopsticks on the table, all of which had been used and didn't have a share for Yu Youfu. So he very neatly broke two pairs of chopsticks into two sections, turning one pair into two, using the already used end himself, and handing the other "chopstick" to Yu Youfu.

  "I heard your brothers are all quite good at drinking? When can I also experience it?" Zhang Yu used the chopsticks that were half a length shorter to eat various vegetables vigorously, but didn't forget to chat with Yu Youfu who was sitting next to him, trembling and not daring to pick up a mouthful of food for half a day. "Why aren't you eating? Take a good look, this is the best fish in the six! A top-notch dish, don't waste it... And you still haven't answered my question? You're especially good at taking care of people, filling every gap, how's the person you took care of doing?"

  Zhang Yu took Li Si Guang to the oil field for a stroll and then sent him back to Pingguo. He naturally rushed to Baise, working with the inspection team for several days. He also visited the Hongshui River Cascade Utilization Plan's first and second-level power station construction site. Afterwards, he went straight to a military base in Baise to meet Wang Leiping. After that, he arrived here. It can be said that Zhang Yu, Yu Ran, and the driver had been jostled about for several days, otherwise how could they have arrived at the reception center to order a table of good food to treat their stomachs? Of course, Zhang Yu was worried that there wouldn't be enough dishes for everyone to eat, especially with the unexpected guests who joined halfway.

  "Was he intentionally reminding you or did the receptionist call you?" Sheng ladled a bowl of white vegetable soup, and Zhang Yu's whirlwind on the dinner table had come to an end. "By the way, I gave your brother a gun today, letting him take me down directly? But he cried like a woman instead, originally wanted to give him a chance, looks like can only become a martyr! And you? Do you also want me to provide you with a similar weapon?"

  "Director..."

  Yu Youfu almost cried out the two words, and immediately put down his chopsticks with a loud clang, kowtowing to the ground. The sound was extremely loud, and the waiters outside the private room were about to go in to see what had happened, but they were all blocked by Yu Ran and retreated at least ten meters.

  "You're kneeling now? What's the use? Do you think a simple kneel can solve the problem? Can the dead come back to life?"

  Zhang Yu finally couldn't bear the excitement in his heart and stood up, grabbing the collar of Yu Youfu's clothes with one hand, his eyes wide open as if they were about to burst. He stared at Yu Youfu's pale face, the red glow that had once filled his face now gone without a trace. Perhaps it was after Zhang Yu spoke to him in the grand hall of the reception building that day that he began to lose everything. All this was just making him admit to himself, giving him every opportunity to speak for himself, but he didn't want to say anything, nor did he dare to say anything. Perhaps it was because he was afraid, afraid of losing everything: wealth, status, power, and most importantly, that dignity, the dignity of a veteran revolutionary party member, the transformation from yesterday's hero to today's sinner in an autonomous region.

  "It wasn't you who committed the crime, I've known the truth of the matter for a long time. Your little brother-in-law has already confessed everything! Of course, what interests me is not how you escaped and covered up the whole thing, but how you all became so united and in sync with each other? Come on, tell me, it's like singing an opera - as long as you sing well, don't worry that I won't give you face?"

  Zhang Yu released the hand that had been tightly grasping his collar, and the face of Yu Fuzi, who had been choked until he turned from pale to red and then to a dull greyish purple, finally spoke out all his guilt after a fit of dry coughing:

  "This year's Spring Festival is approaching, and the company's revenue is not bad. The group has unanimously decided to distribute a larger scale of bonuses compared to previous years. Of course, I will have to represent the Aluminum Company to hold a year-end meeting in Baise, bringing back the harvest of the whole company to reward every employee, including myself..."

  "Can't you just get to the point? I don't want to listen to this nonsense!"

  "I was so excited at the time, I thought of my brothers from the past when I was in the US, including Wang Leiping. So I took advantage of my business trip to find a restaurant and use my bonus to have a good gathering with my brothers. It wasn't until then that I knew he had a Spring Festival family visit leave, so we quickly agreed that after he handed over his duties at the troop and started his official vacation, I would go pick up my younger brother-in-law who was working as a team leader at an electric power plant construction site, and the three of us would head back to Pingguo for the holiday..."

  "What's next?" Zhang Yu pulled out his cigarette box and was about to light up, but seeing Yu Youfu kneeling in front of him talking, he felt a bit awkward. "You can sit down while talking, it's not like you're the one who made a big mistake. And what did you do with that half cigarette I gave you?"

  "After I came back, my work in the company was also completed smoothly, and the company soon officially started its long vacation." As he spoke, Yu Youfu fumbled out his cigarette case, handed half a cigarette to Zhang Yu, and continued: "During the long vacation, everyone was very happy, and the company's performance was also very good. So I invited several important department heads and my relatives to go out for a nice dinner. But unexpectedly, everyone got drunk at the dinner table, and my younger brother-in-law was eager to try driving a sedan. In high spirits, I handed him the car keys and asked him to slowly send my brother back first, while I still had some matters to discuss with several department heads..."

  "As a result, he got into an accident while driving drunk! You clearly know that your uncle is just a foreman on a construction site. Having a driver's license means he can drive a car, but it doesn't mean he can drive after drinking..."

  "I... I only found out later that they had been involved in a fatal accident not long after they left, but I never thought things would turn out like this!" Yu Youfu said, visibly getting agitated.

  "You should know that harboring a criminal and bribing officials are serious offenses, but you still did it without hesitation. Is it the great commonality of Chinese people or the power of your personal relationships? Have you ever thought about the victim and what kind of Spring Festival her family will have? What's inside your pig head, is it knowledge of science and engineering or just a bunch of tofu dregs?"

  It was clear later on, and anyone could guess all that had happened and the details.

  Yu Youfu's younger brother-in-law was driving drunk on Nanbai Highway and hit a female cyclist at extremely high speed, killing her instantly. Neither he nor Wang Leiping knew how fast they were going as they were both drunk and disoriented. After running over the cyclist, they felt a huge jolt and realized something was wrong, so they stopped the car to see what had happened. Wang Leiping, who was sitting in the passenger seat, got out of the car first and saw that the girl was not dead but was gasping for breath, lying on the highway waving her hand for help, surrounded by a large pool of blood and a mangled bicycle.

  It happened suddenly, Wang Leiping advocated for immediate rescue, but Yu Youfu's nephew did not think so, pulling him to drive away quickly. However, someone saw everything and couldn't forget the intimidating military uniform and the conspicuous license plate number. The incident was soon known to Yu Youfu, including those close to him. Standing in front of family affection and public reason, after enduring his wife's constant persuasion and rational torture, he finally went to the other side.

  Then, the good show of officials shielding each other gradually began to unfold. The case was quickly suppressed, and eyewitnesses soon shut their mouths under the joint operation of sugar-coated bullets and terrorist intimidation, continuing to spend the Spring Festival comfortably, while the victim's family naturally fell into a deep winter, with no one dead but not getting the due statement, let alone treatment, but instead being constantly persecuted.

  "This matter, logically speaking, should have been handled perfectly by you. In fact, in this era, such things are just a small matter, and the landlords and wealthy families of the past would kill many people every year, but who can ask about it? Who dares to ask about it? Who will ask about it? Who can guarantee the outcome of asking about it? But you probably didn't expect that your younger brother-in-law killed an overweight girl who loves snacks, did you? You probably don't know that this girl is actually a teacher, do you?"

  "Of course, you should know the girl's relatives and friends, with your strength, have already isolated them from the rest of the world, cutting off all relationships to prevent any accidents. Legally, they can't even get past the court, and when they report to the government or police, they're asked if the case is true or not? Besides being controlled by you, there's another result: they can't investigate at all, everything has been cleaned up by you, and they have no way of investigating. After 48 hours, it can only be treated as a missing person case, but they can't accuse anyone of wrongdoing!"

  Zhang Yu looked at Yu Youfu's small belly and shook his head, continuing to say: "This matter is just that the victim's family members have taken it all the way to the Supreme Court, but they can't do anything about it. But I didn't expect that this deceased person actually had a sister who loved to cause trouble, and this powerful person happened to get in touch with a special someone, and fearlessly stirred up trouble here. This is really stirring up a huge hornet's nest, too big!"

  "Zhang Yusheng is not a person who can bear loneliness, and his curiosity is so great that it's frightening. Especially when it comes to a blood letter, the stench of which you are not accustomed to smelling, but each word is like a knife carving into your heart..." Zhang Yu said, taking out the handgun and staring at it quietly, quietly.

  "I cannot deny your approach, for the sake of loved ones and family members, you may think it's worth doing so. But in front of the law, in front of morality, in front of social fairness and justice. I ask you, Yu Youfu, can you really put your mind at ease? Fortunately, the perpetrator is only your nephew, if it were your child, I reckon you would not hesitate to take care of the whole family!"

  "I won't mention how you live up to your party membership, nor how you face me as the Prime Minister. Let alone living up to the trust given by the masses of people, which gave you such a good position. Perhaps it's because the position you're in is too good, the company's efficiency is too good, and the direct result is that the relationship network is so dense that it's impermeable, from the People's Congress to the traffic police, your influence is enormous, of course, it must have cost a lot to smooth out all this, otherwise you wouldn't have dragged Wang Leiping down."

  Here is the translation:

  "By saying this, Zhang Yu handed half a cigarette to Yu Youfu and lit a new one himself. 'The People's Autonomous Government has an overly advanced financial auditing system and enterprises under control also have excellent accounting settlement procedures. You may not be able to find ways to obtain funds through connections, but Wang Leiping, who is worried about his nephew going to jail, naturally wants to help out. But do you have to go to such extremes?'"

  After the People's Army changed its equipment, a large number of weapons and equipment were eliminated. The large number of weapons that were sealed up naturally became Wang Leiping's target. "As long as you get out of the warehouse, you have enough means to sell the weapons, Hunan, Guangdong, or even more distant forces, they like the weapons you take out, right? In fact, you still have better ways to make money, but you will never use them!"

  "I knew that the group that came to the company that day was not an inspection team, but a mobilization team. The leader would rather put on a big show, even using his rare smoking performance to divert my attention, including the conversation in the stairwell, and leaving Mr. Li Si Guang here as evidence of your trust in me."

  Here is the translation:

  "Now, Yu Youfu lit up that half cigarette, and after exhaling a mouthful of smoke, he continued to say: 'Everything is just to let me and you waste some time together, making me think that no one knows about all this. Let some members of the inspection team persuade some important members of the company, and then wait for your formal order to come, my position will be officially abolished, of course, the Bai Se Group headquarters also needs to be handled. So everything is ready, just waiting for your return, according to your plan, the company must make some trouble next, so I can decently take responsibility and resign, and then accept punishment, my brother will also be honorably discharged due to injury on duty, and the bribed officials and those involved will all be dealt with...'"

  "You guessed it and went through all the processes, and anticipated the outcome, but a minute ago this was not the result in your mind. Getting such an alternative reasoning result should be my sudden return to make you understand everything, or that day I left here 'hint' to you. No matter how you think, your ability is worth affirming, after accepting the investigation and handling, I hope you can reform and strive to be a good person in the future, the autonomous government needs pure people..."

  "I admit my mistakes, but I also appreciate the director's appreciation." Zhang Yu left the room before, Yu Youfu knocked a loud head, but he still had one sentence that was not spoken out, "If there is still a next life..."

  If someone could predict history, he would certainly know what would happen next: On October 24, 1919, a transportation company of the First Division of the People's Army was carrying out a certain task when an accident occurred to a car, causing a serious accident that killed the driver on duty. After verification, it turned out that the driver was actually a high-ranking military officer in the army... On November 5th, an accident occurred in a workshop of Pingguo Aluminum Industry Company of China Minmetals Group, fortunately without any casualties, but after investigation, the accident...

  PS: Thanks for everyone's support, recently there have been many things happening, even the most rational person would be affected. But I, Xiaozhi, guarantee daily updates, just hope that everyone can also treat everyday problems rationally, haha!