Chapter 173 will make Zhao Wenchang leave this place.

He leaned against the door frame, a cigarette dangling from his lips, watching the bunch of little devils jumping around in his room, pasting the big red "囍" character crookedly, a smile on his face that he himself didn't even realize.

"Alright, alright, all of you, be careful!" he scolded, pulling a handful of fruit candies from his pocket and scattering them on the table. "Eat yours, and then get your work done!"

"Oh! Thank you, Battalion Commander! Thank you, Sister-in-law!"

A group of people cheered and pounced on it, the noise of grabbing the candy almost lifting the roof off.

...

The office of the military region commander was filled with smoke.

Chief Le leaned back in his chair, a "Great Production" brand cigarette between his fingers, the ash already quite long.

He squinted at the file on the table about Zhao Wenchang and slowly exhaled a bluish-white smoke ring.

"When will the people sent down from above arrive?" he asked his deputy.

The deputy beside him, a bespectacled, middle-aged man who looked refined, immediately replied, "The telegram says it's already on its way, probably by the day after tomorrow at the latest."

Chief Le grunted in acknowledgment, stubbed out his cigarette in the glass ashtray on the table, and lit another one.

"The Cui family in Beijing is probably getting impatient," he said slowly. "Zhao Wenchang has done a great service this time. It's time for him to be promoted from battalion commander. Once the higher-ups have taken care of things, we'll join forces with the Cui family to write a letter of recommendation to the Central Committee and, taking advantage of this favorable wind, send him to Beijing."

Upon hearing this, the deputy adjusted his glasses and hesitated, "Sir, Zhao Wenchang is a sharp blade in our military region. Isn't it a waste to let him go like this?"

"What a pity?" Chief Le smiled. "If he stays here, at best he'll only be in my position. The ceiling is too low; it's a waste of his talent."

He stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the soldiers training on the parade ground: "Beijing is such a big place. There are many opportunities, but the waters run deep, and there's a lot of room for maneuver. Young people should go out and explore the big rivers and lakes. How much can they achieve by staying cooped up in our little corner of the world?"

"Knock knock knock".

There was a knock on the office door.

"Come in."

Xiao Wang, the life clerk, carried a large, army-green thermos and walked in with his head down, ready to refill the hot water for the people in the room.

Commander Le, with his sharp eyes, immediately noticed a small red plastic ribbon stuck to the shoulder insignia of Xiao Wang's uniform, swaying back and forth with his movements.

"Xiao Wang," Chief Le asked, "what are you wearing? Are you getting ready to perform in a traditional opera?"

Xiao Wang was startled and quickly looked down.

He frantically tore off the ribbon, clutched it in his hand, and stammered, "Report...reporting to the commander! No! It's...it's because Battalion Commander Zhao Wenchang is getting married soon, and everyone is helping to decorate the bridal chamber. It accidentally got stuck on!"

Chief Le suddenly realized and smiled, "Oh, right, look at my memory. I've been so busy with his meritorious service and awards these past few days that I forgot about his most important event: getting married."

The deputy frowned slightly upon hearing this: "Sir, I've also heard about Battalion Commander Zhao's wedding. The logistics department is helping out. This... making such a big fuss about it at this crucial moment of his promotion, isn't it a bit inappropriate? It's easy to cause gossip."

"I gave it my special approval a few days ago." Commander Le waved his hand, sat back in his chair, and said calmly, "If we don't let him have a good time now, he'll be under the watchful eyes of everyone once he becomes the regimental commander, and he won't be able to do it even if he wants to. A young person's wedding is a joyous occasion, what kind of behavior is it to block the celebration? Let them do it."

The deputy nodded and said no more: "The commander is very thoughtful."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the office door was slammed open from the outside with a loud bang!

A young officer stumbled in, his face pale and his lips trembling, unable to utter a complete sentence.

Chief Le's face darkened, and he slammed his hand on the table: "What a panic! What kind of behavior is this!"

The officer seemed terrified, panting heavily, his eyes filled with horror, and he managed to squeeze out a single sentence with all his might:

"Commander...Commander! Something terrible has happened!"

"Zhou Jianguo... Battalion Commander Zhou... He... He... He committed suicide by burning charcoal at home!"

As if struck by lightning, Chief Le sprang up from his chair with a sudden, violent movement, causing the chair to slide backward a great distance and crash heavily into the wall.

"What did you say?!"

His eyes were wide open, and his voice was trembling. The cigarette butt he had just lit fell from his fingers and landed on the back of his hand.

After being scalded and drawing a breath of cold air, Chief Le said again, "Say it again, who?!"

This was discovered safely.

Jiang Wanqiu was squatting on the ground, packing the fruit candies, melon seeds, and peanuts that Zhao Wenchang had bought into small cloth bags, one by one, in preparation to deliver them to several families in the courtyard with whom she had a good relationship.

She picked up a piece of orange candy wrapped in cellophane with her slender fingers, and was about to put it in a bag when she stopped.

"Wenchang, about Battalion Commander Zhou... should we still send him off?" She looked up and asked, somewhat uncertainly.

The news that He Xiaoman had run away with Du Wenxiu had spread throughout the military compound. Zhou Jianguo was completely distraught afterward, his spirit broken. At this time, with his own family celebrating a joyous occasion, rushing to deliver wedding candy felt like rubbing salt into someone's wounds—utterly inconsiderate.

Ping An was sitting on a small stool, carefully knocking the dirt off the peanuts. Hearing this, he looked up and said, "Mom, I think we should send them."

Jiang Wanqiu and Zhao Wenchang both looked at him.

The little guy said earnestly, "If everyone in the yard receives one except Uncle Zhou, wouldn't he feel even worse? He'd think everyone is laughing at him and avoiding him."

Zhao Wenchang was leaning against the table fiddling with something when he heard this and chuckled.

"Did you hear that? Even a child understands reason better than you." He walked over to Jiang Wanqiu and rubbed his son's head. "His wife ran away, but it wasn't you who abducted her. What are you feeling guilty about? Ping An is right, we should send her over! Send her over openly and honestly."

As he spoke, he grabbed a handful of melon seeds and peanuts, and stuffed in several candies, making the cloth bag bulge.

“Go on, son, take this to your Uncle Zhou. Tell him that your mother and I will invite him over for drinks.”

"Okay!" Ping An replied crisply, took the heavy cloth bag, and ran out.

Zhou Jianguo's dormitory was not far away, just on the other side.

Ping An found the place with practiced ease and stood in front of the familiar door, knocking "knock knock knock".

"Uncle Zhou? Uncle Zhou, are you home? My dad asked me to bring you some wedding candy!"

The room was quiet, without a sound.

Ping An thought he hadn't heard her, so she knocked harder, making a loud "bang bang" sound on the door.

"Uncle Zhou!"

Still, no one answered.

Ping An felt something was strange. Uncle Zhou hadn't been doing morning exercises or going out much these past few days, so he should be at home right now.

He peered through the crack in the door, trying to see if anyone was inside, but all he could smell was an indescribable, pungent odor.

It smelled like burning firewood, but with a strange odor of charcoal that wasn't fully burned, making him back away and almost bringing tears to his eyes.

Something's not right!

Ping An's heart skipped a beat. He stood on tiptoe and peered through the window.

The windowpane was covered with a layer of dust, making it blurry, but he could still see clearly that the room was not bright at all, but rather filled with a layer of hazy smoke, like a thick fog, making it impossible to even see the tables and chairs.

Oh no, something's happened!

"dad--!!"

Ping An screamed at the top of his lungs and scrambled towards his house, yelling, "Dad! Something terrible has happened! Uncle Zhou's house is smoking!!"

Zhao Wenchang was chatting and laughing with Jiang Wanqiu inside the house when he heard his son's scream and immediately stood up.

He ran out of the house and caught his son, who almost fell: "What happened?!"

“Uncle Zhou’s house…it’s full of smoke! No one answers the door!” Ping An said hurriedly, pointing to Zhou Jianguo’s house.

Zhao Wenchang immediately realized something was wrong upon hearing this.

Without saying a word, he took long strides and rushed to Zhou Jianguo's door in three steps at a time.

"Everyone, stand back!"

He yelled at Jiang Wanqiu and Ping An, who had followed him, then suddenly raised his foot and kicked the door lock with all his might!

"Bang--!"

With a loud crash, he kicked open the wooden door, along with splinters of wood from the frame.

A thick, grayish-black smoke billowed out from inside the door, choking people and making it hard to breathe.

"Cough cough...!" Jiang Wanqiu instinctively covered her mouth and nose, and was forced to back away by the fumes.

Zhao Wenchang reacted quickly, grabbing his collar to cover his mouth before plunging headfirst into the thick smoke.

The room was dimly lit with extremely low visibility. He squinted and immediately saw the charcoal brazier on the floor, the half-burnt charcoal still glowing with dark red embers. Beside it, Zhou Jianguo lay stiffly on the cold cement floor, motionless.

"Zhou Jianguo!"

Zhao Wenchang rushed over, squatted down, and reached out to check his breath.

There was still a faint breath left!

"Damn it!" Zhao Wenchang cursed under his breath. He didn't care about anything else, bent down and slung the tall man, who was over 1.8 meters tall, onto his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and then turned and rushed out.

"Let's go to the military hospital first!" He shouted at Jiang Wanqiu, who was staring in disbelief at the door, and then carried her away.

Jiang Wanqiu quickly pulled Ping An along and followed.

In the emergency department of the military hospital, the doctors and nurses were chatting when they suddenly saw Zhao Wenchang carrying someone and rushing in.

"Doctor! Quick! Help! Carbon monoxide poisoning!"

When the doctors saw Zhou Jianguo's ashen face, they were immediately startled. A group of people hurriedly took him from Zhao Wenchang and placed him on the emergency bed.

Pushing the bed, putting on oxygen, preparing for gastric lavage... the emergency room instantly descended into chaos.

Zhao Wenchang stood at the door of the emergency room, reeking of cigarette ash, his handsome face so black it looked like it could drip water. He irritably wiped his face and slammed his fist against the wall.

"Damn it!" he cursed through gritted teeth. "Why did he have to choose to die on my big day of celebration?! Isn't he just deliberately trying to ruin my life?!"

"You can't say that!" Jiang Wanqiu said hurriedly. "No matter what, saving lives is the most important thing!"

The officer's suicide was a serious incident, and the hospital immediately reported it to its superiors, who in turn immediately reported it to their leader.

A moment later, Commander Le, accompanied by his deputy, rushed over like a gust of wind, his military cap askew.

"Zhao Wenchang! What exactly happened?!"

Zhao Wenchang was furious at the moment and spoke without restraint: "What else could it be? That bastard is tired of living and is in a hurry to be reborn as my son!"

"Zhao Wenchang!" Jiang Wanqiu was afraid that Zhao Wenchang would offend someone with his words, so she quickly pinched him hard. "What nonsense are you talking about!"

Chief Cola and his deputy seemed to be used to his reckless behavior and completely ignored his nonsense.

Chief Le grabbed a doctor in a white coat and pulled him over, his eyes wide like saucers.

"Listen up! No matter what method you use or what cost you pay, you must snatch this person back from the clutches of the King of Hell!"

"If anyone dies, I'll hold you all accountable!"

"Yes! Yes! Don't worry, sir! We will do our best! We definitely will!"

The commander gave the order, and the group of people naturally risked their lives to save the person. After a night, they finally brought the person back to life.

A doctor wearing a mask came out, looking exhausted, his forehead covered in fine beads of sweat. He took off his mask, revealing a face marked with red welts, and let out a long breath.

Commander Yue rushed over and asked, "How is it? Where is he?!"

"Sir," the doctor breathed a sigh of relief, "...we've managed to save him; he's out of immediate danger."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the corridor breathed a sigh of relief.

Upon hearing this, Chief Le's face, which was as black as the bottom of a pot, finally softened a bit.

"Good, good...well done!" He patted the doctor on the shoulder. "You're all great!"

Zhou Jianguo was wheeled out by the nurses and moved into a private room next door.

He lay on the white hospital bed, wearing an oxygen mask, his face pale and his lips bloodless.

Chief Le waved his hand, signaling his deputy and the doctors and nurses to leave first, leaving only Zhao Wenchang and Jiang Wanqiu behind.

The ward fell silent, with only the bubbling sound of the oxygen cylinders filling the air.

Chief Le moved a chair and sat down beside the hospital bed.

Looking at his lifeless subordinate on the bed, his anger had long been replaced by fear and heartache. He rubbed his weathered face, trying to soften his voice.

“Jianguo,” he began, “what…what are you trying to achieve? If you’re having trouble thinking about something, talk to the organization, talk to me! What could be more important than your life?”

Zhou Jianguo's eyelids twitched, and he slowly opened them.

He rolled his eyes, looked at Chief Le, then at Zhao Wenchang standing to the side, his lips moved a few times, but no sound came out.

"What hurdle can't you overcome?" Seeing his reaction, Commander Le leaned forward and coaxed him gently, "She's gone, so be it! There are plenty of women in the world, the army will introduce you to someone better! You'd risk your life for a woman? Who are you being fair to?!"

“…No, sir…” Zhou Jianguo said with some difficulty upon hearing this, “I’m sorry to the organization…I failed to complete the mission assigned to me by the organization…I messed it up…”

“I’m not a good husband. I couldn’t keep my wife. She ran off with someone else. The whole military region is laughing at me…”

"I...I'm not even a man anymore...What am I anyway!"

For a moment, Chief Le didn't know how to offer words of comfort.

Zhao Wenchang also frowned. He roughly understood why Zhou Jianguo wanted to commit suicide. He looked at the distraught man on the bed with mixed feelings.

Jiang Wanqiu, who was standing to the side, suddenly said, "Who said you're not a man? How can you give up without even thinking about a solution?"

Seeing Zhou Jianjun looking at her, Jiang Wanqiu continued, "I have a way to cure your illness."