"Look over at your mothers, I'll count to three, and we'll all shout 'cheese' together."

"One, two, three, eggplant!"

As the flash went off, four big smiling faces were captured in the camera.

After putting down the three children, Li Chu went over and took the camera from his wife's hands.

"You three hug your mother, and I'll take a picture of you."

With the last photo of the whole family, including the seven dogs, taken, the roll of film in the camera finally came to an end.

"Give it to Wenxuan. Tomorrow, take it to Old Cai at the alley entrance and have him develop the photos."

"Okay, Dad."

"Alright, if you're not going to play cards, then go back to your rooms and go to sleep."

...

When Li Chu arrived at headquarters on Monday morning, he realized that it wasn't a meeting at all, but rather an announcement that the drug trials for the group of foreigners could begin.

"Boss, do you mean you've assigned me a team to assist me?"

"Actually, it's not really a team. There's a translator and a few assistants who help you handle things here. They won't interfere with your other normal work."

Upon hearing this, Li Chu nodded. That was fine. If a group of people followed him around every day, wouldn't that be incredibly annoying?

Given his rank, he should have had at least one assistant long ago, but he found it too troublesome and never agreed. Now, Tian Jun handles some of the trivial matters for him, or he does them himself.

"Sir, have all the temporary premises for those foreign pharmaceutical companies been set up?"

"It's all set. The equipment they brought over themselves has already been tested. In their words, it's ready to start anytime."

Another reason I called you here today is to confirm with you again whether there's any possibility that the people following you while you were taking the medication might have learned how to use it.

Since the leader asked so seriously, Li Chu didn't answer immediately. Instead, he thought for a while before saying, "Unless I teach them step by step, the chances of them learning are zero."

For foreigners, even if I wanted to teach them step by step, the first thing they need to do is know Chinese. And by "know Chinese," I don't mean simply listening, speaking, and writing, but understanding the meaning behind the words.

Just like in ancient times, when people received an article they had never read before, to understand its meaning, they not only needed to recognize the words, but more importantly, they needed to be able to punctuate it. If they couldn't even punctuate, their understanding might be completely different from what the original author intended to express.

His explanation made the leader understand.

"Comrade Li, no matter what, when testing drugs on those foreigners, we must be careful and guard against any China experts among them, especially those from small countries."

"Yes, sir!"

"Also, one of the ingredients in your prescription is a century-old wild ginseng, right?"

"That's right."

"I don't know where they got those foreigners this time, I heard there are quite a few, hmm..."

"I know, sir, that it's normal for medicinal herbs to be damaged or lost."

Seeing that Li Chu quickly understood his meaning, the leader smiled with satisfaction. It was so easy to talk to a smart person.

"Comrade Xiao Li, go find Director Liu in a bit. The translator and assistant assigned to you are with him. You need to explain your work schedule to those assistants and make sure they coordinate their schedules. Don't let things over there interfere with other work."

"I understand, sir. Don't worry."

"Hmm," the leader nodded, then suddenly asked, "How has the old commander's health been lately?"

When the leader asked this question, Li Chu was taken aback for a moment before he realized that the leader was asking about the old man at the nursing home.

It's normal for this leader to have followed the old man for quite some time and be concerned about his health.

"The old commander is in good health and can still have a drink occasionally."

"That's good, that's good. The old commander is getting on in years, so we must take good care of him."

“I go there at least once a week.”

"Good, Comrade Li, keep up the good work. We've seen everything you've done. Just like on the southwestern front, the country will not let you down."

"Leader, as a soldier, I believe that in that situation, anyone would have made the same choice as me; those were our duties."

The leader smiled and shook his head: "That's true, but your duty isn't on the battlefield. You don't know, but after your application to join the rescue team was reported back from the front-line command, my office phone was almost ringing off the hook."

Leaders at all levels gave me a severe dressing-down, saying I hadn't even understood my job responsibilities before sending me to the southwest as a logistics observer. That period was extremely difficult for me.

"Boss, I'm so sorry. I didn't expect my willfulness to cause you so much trouble."

To be honest, Li Chu felt somewhat guilty. The leader had kindly sent him there so that he could gain more experience and increase his chances of being promoted to a full-fledged position later.

But I never expected to run into that kind of thing.

If he remembered correctly, the war in the southwest lasted for ten years, and the highest-ranking person to be killed in China was a regimental commander.

Although he almost lost his life in the southwest, Li Chu didn't regret it at all, because with his involvement, at least some things changed.

Small Bookstore

The leader waved his hand: "It was indeed a bit troublesome at the time, but didn't I turn out to be a blessing in disguise later?"

Yes, it's a blessing in disguise. He was able to enjoy the benefits of a full-time position so easily this time, without any resistance. One reason is because of Elder Shen, and another is because he dared to work so hard.

The leaders above me now all came from the battlefields of the War of Resistance against Japan and the Liberation War. My volunteering that time left a deep impression on them.

However, it really hurts when a bullet hits you!

"Comrade Li, I heard you've taken your son on as an apprentice and are teaching him medicine, is that right?"

"Ah," Li Chu was completely bewildered by his leader's rambling and disjointed way of speaking.

"Oh, that's true. He's currently studying the theory, but I plan to bring him along for this drug trial with the foreigners."

"Hmm, that's a good idea. It can give children more experience."

"Yes, that's what I think too."

"Let's let our child join the army after he graduates."

Li Chu, who had just picked up his teacup and taken a sip, almost spat out the tea.