Chapter 650 - 320: You Have Your Connections, I Have My Uncle Zhao!

Under the starry eyebrows and sword-like eyes, there was a trace of sadness, with the red bloodshot eyes clearly visible.

Could it be influenced by that remittance receipt?

Just as Kangle was thinking this, Zhao Yimeng unexpectedly spoke first:

"I heard your accent, are you from Shandong too?"

Kangle echoed with a smile: "Yes, I’m also from Shandong, in Shanyin County."

"Oh, then it’s not far from Yimeng. I grew up in the Yimeng Mountain."

Perhaps it was the familiarity of the hometown accent, Zhao Yimeng spoke more.

The atmosphere in the office became even more harmonious.

"Before I came, a senior mentioned to me that Commander Zhao had received a remittance slip?"

The atmosphere that had been harmonious abruptly came to a halt at this moment.

Commander Zhao returned to his reticent self, while Kangle tactfully sipped his tea.

Just as Kangle was about to finish a pot of tea, Zhao Yimeng finally spoke.

"Since we are fellow townsmen and you’re a journalist in the army, you should take a look at this..."

He took a letter out from the drawer and handed it to Kangle.

Kangle glanced at the envelope address, the remittance slip was sent from a county in Shanxi.

Opening the envelope, there were a few very short lines:

Munzi, why did you send money to Auntie again? Auntie has money, don’t worry about it.

"This money was sent to my comrade’s mother, but every time I send it, it gets returned, not once has it been accepted..."

Zhao Yimeng’s voice was low, the blame and pain in his words made the listener’s heart ache.

Another moment of silence.

Zhao Yimeng, having adjusted his mood, looked at Kangle and showed a weary smile: "I wonder if you’d be interested in hearing a story from me."

Kangle eagerly nodded: "Of course, please go ahead."

He felt a surge of excitement inside!

The always hard-to-interview Commander Zhao, now he managed to succeed!

Not to mention, the first-hand information he gained from the interview, and it’s from Commander Zhao, is enough to add a golden touch to his resume!

Commander Zhao slowly got up, and Kangle followed him to the southeast corner of the office.

On that wall hung two old, somewhat yellowed photos.

Zhao Yimeng showed a hint of reminiscence in his eyes and pointed to the photo on the left:

"The story I’m about to tell has a half protagonist, which is him."

"His name is Wang Wenxi, originally from a small town in Shanxi Jinnan, he was the platoon leader of our second platoon, and later sacrificed on the battlefield. At that time, I was the advisor of our company."

Before Kangle could examine this photo closely, Zhao Yimeng pointed to the photo on the right:

"This photo was taken by his family in front of his martyr’s tombstone. The kindly old person is his mother, the young one beside her is his wife, and the two somewhat childish-looking children in front are his daughter and son."

Hmm?

But before Kangle could think further, Zhao Yimeng began narrating the story smoothly.

——

You probably know a little, I come from a red family.

At that time, I graduated from the military academy, and like you, worked in the propaganda department of a certain army.

Later, at the strong request of my mother, I was assigned to the third company as an advisor.

To be honest, I was very reluctant to go at that time.

At that time, I was a photographer in the propaganda department, which was a wonderful job.

But I was restless then and did not perform well in my duties, and I didn’t handle relationships with colleagues well.

So everyone knew that I was leaving the propaganda department, and while their faces remained calm, they were quite happy inside.

I took the train to the southernmost city.

At the first sight of it, I was deeply afraid.

It was a small city, and even the residents couldn’t use tap water.

But I realized my fear was premature.

At that time, all military vehicles were requisitioned due to tense border relations.

The squad leader urged us to quickly pack up our luggage, as we still needed to catch the tractor later.

Otherwise, if it got late and the local farmer took the tractor back to the village, we would have to trek cross-country.

By the time the tractor arrived, my legs were numb, and I stood up shakily, thinking that I could finally rest.

But the squad leader blew the assembly whistle again.

Thirsty and exhausted, we rode the ox cart with the sunset and finally made it to the company.

Desolate mountains and wild lands, with no sign of people.

At that time, although the third company was not close to the border, it was about a hundred miles from the living area.

Amidst the desolation, I had only one thought, I was fortunate that I didn’t bring the camera with me, or else I wouldn’t have lasted until the company.

Before departing, I gave most of my luggage to logistics, so they would help bring it back to the third company.

I carried a small suitcase with me, which contained a large piece of soft Chinese tobacco and a few bottles of foreign wine.

Carrying the small suitcase, I met the company commander, Liang Erxi.

Company commander Liang Erxi held my hand tightly, extremely excited:

"Welcome! The company has always hoped that the higher-ups would assign a counselor to us, and today it finally happened!"

My first impression of Liang Erxi was that he was an honest farmer.

His face was dark, his body tightly strung, about 1.7 meters tall. His eyes were small, but his lips were thick, pressed into a line.

With just one look, I knew that he must have joined the army with a sorghum wreath around his head.

"Counselor, you look like you’re only twenty-four or five."

"Oh no, I’m already thirty-two."

"So, we’re the same age, both born in the year of the rat." He smiled sincerely: "But you look seven or eight years younger than me."

"Alright, alright, for the rat, you’re just a field mouse at best."

Hearing this voice, Liang Erxi laughed and introduced me: "This is our company’s drama actor, artillery platoon leader Wang Wenxi."

Then, Liang Erxi introduced the other platoon leaders in the company to me.

As the emergency assembly signal sounded, I realized they wanted me to show my face in the company.

"Comrades!"

Liang Erxi’s mouth kept twitching upward, as if something extremely joyous had happened: "This is our new advisor."

Thunderous applause erupted, and everyone looked at me expectantly.

"Comrades, Advisor Zhao volunteered to be assigned to our second company! He came from a major organization in the provincial capital, and has fairly rich work experience."

He looked around the company, unlike his earlier joy, now he spoke with a serious tone:

"Comrades, you must not have any misunderstandings! Advisor Zhao is not here for training or to experience life; he is officially appointed by the higher-ups as our second company’s advisor!"

"His complete profile, including organizational documents, has been transferred over, and from today on, seek his guidance in case of issues and strictly follow the advisor’s instructions!"

"Advisor, please speak!"

Again, thunderous applause.

"Comrades! I... am inexperienced, but I... am willing to work with everyone to do well in our company."

"I... I’m done."

In fact, I was usually a talkative person, but that day, I really couldn’t express much.

I just felt my face burning and my heart beating fast.

Perhaps it was because of that sentence from the company commander: "Advisor Zhao is not here for training or to experience life; he is officially appointed by the higher-ups as the advisor."

As I said at the beginning, I come from a red family.

My assignment to the company was actually to complete a "curved employment" after serving in the military.

At that time, I rarely saw my wife, and things couldn’t continue that way.

My mother came up with the idea, asking me to first exercise at the grassroots for a few months. Once I had this experience, I could rightfully be transferred back.

And the army I went to, the commander had the nickname "Thunder God."

He was resolute and decisive, implementing rectification both in the military and the agencies, disregarding anyone’s accounts.

I was worried that after going there, I might not be transferred back in a few months.

But my mother reassured me, saying she had once saved "Thunder God" from death, so he would give her this favor.

Therefore, through connections, I become the company advisor in the second company prestigiously.

Of course, this was all unbeknownst to everyone, from company commander Liang Erxi to the ordinary soldiers.

——

Kangle nodded in understanding, and then asked a crucial question:

"So, were you eventually transferred back?"