Walking out of the Lin family compound in the Beijing Military Region compound, Mr. Cheng looked at his own home not far away, remembering his wife's expectant eyes. If he went in, he would probably be disappointed again. He resolutely turned around and got in the car, "Let's go, let's go to the unit first."
After returning to the office, Mr. Cheng dismissed his colleagues and went over his thoughts from beginning to end. He went over his thoughts in his mind again. Seeing that it was the last step, he always believed in his intuition.
"You are stupid! Your wife is furious, and you still don't go find her. She is either at her brother's or sister's house. Go quickly and coax your wife back."
Loud laughter and scolding came from not far away. An idea suddenly occurred to Old Cheng. He slammed the table and stood up, "Xiao Chen, come in quickly."
Xiao Chen quickly pushed the door open and came in. "Chief, what do you want?"
"Go and check Zhou Jiaren's files quickly to see which of his former batchmates are still in the military region or in Beijing. Focus on those with contact numbers first. Go quickly." Old Cheng ordered impatiently.
Watching Xiao Chen leave, Old Cheng patted his forehead and laughed to himself, "I'm really getting confused. I'm really old."
Less than an hour later, Xiao Chen came in with a file bag and placed it on the desk. "Chief, it's all in here. Zhou Jiaren's information is very simple, not very detailed. I retrieved the unit number he was in at the time and checked for those who had been discharged after meritorious service, as well as those who had been transferred. I found quite a few. Some are in critical departments and have contact numbers. For the rest, I only have contact addresses. Take a look first."
"Well, prepare lunch first. We'll probably be out soon. I'll make a phone call first." After saying that, Mr. Cheng picked up the file bag and poured out the documents. Seeing the big red words "Top Secret" on it, he secretly felt lucky that he had some ability to use his privilege to read it.
Old Cheng dug out the contact number and hurriedly started dialing. He made several calls, but no one said they had any recollection. He only remembered that there was indeed a comrade whose wife was a doctor. He wasn't very clear about the details; they didn't interact with each other regularly, and their relationship wasn't very good. Back then, apart from the soldiers in his own company and squad, no one else remembered him. And with so many decades having passed, he only had a vague impression.
After lunch, Mr. Cheng looked at the time, picked up a few files that had detailed contact addresses but no contact numbers, wrote down the names and addresses, and then took Xiao Chen out to visit.
During lunch breaks, except for those on duty, they would go home. Xiao Chen drove Mr. Cheng around Beijing, and whenever he saw an address on the slip, he would go to their door to inquire. He went to three houses in succession, and except for one family who had just passed away and was in the hospital, he went to every family he could find in Beijing, but they either couldn't remember or didn't have any impression of such a person.
Old Cheng was furious, secretly cursing Zhou Jiaren, that useless piece of shit, a mere freeloader, a mere passerby. Even a dozen veterans in the same regiment claimed to have no memory of him. You know, a regiment with so many surviving veterans must be incredibly proud. He'd led so many regiments, each one falling, only to be replaced by another. Who wouldn't come down from the battlefield and hug each other, encouraging each other? He had no idea if this loser had ever been on the battlefield, or what he did for a living. He was increasingly convinced that Zhou Xiao was the child he was looking for; that loser wouldn't be able to have one.
The last person smiled and shook his head, saying he really had no recollection and might have found the wrong number. Old Cheng didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so he said goodbye to the old comrade and got in the car immediately.
Xiao Chen started the car and looked at Old Cheng who was rubbing his temples. "Commander, where are we going next?"
Mr. Cheng sighed and said, "There are still two people who left work early in the morning. Let's go back and call to see if those two are at work."
Back at the army, sitting at his desk, looking over the last two documents, the atheist Old Cheng closed his eyes and silently prayed for Zhou Jinyu and Gu Mingzhu to appear and help him find his child quickly. The military plane bound for Northeast China was leaving in a few hours tonight, and he needed evidence and witnesses. Waiting for news from the south was too slow. How could Zhou Xiaozheng have the long vacation time to confront Zhou Jiaren after returning from Northeast China? He was worried that he would die without evidence. His wife said she would go find the clan leader. He suspected that the clan leader must have met with an accident, otherwise Zhou Xiaozheng would come to him. Even if the clan leader gave him a hint, Zhou Xiaozheng would be able to find the truth with his ability. If the clan leader was dead, and Zhou Jinyu and Gu Mingzhu were gone, how could Zhou Jiaren give up such a wonderful adopted son? He would hide his granddaughter from returning to Beijing for such a small fortune, but what did Zhou Xiaozheng represent? It was endless glory and endless alimony. For his own sake, how could he admit it without irrefutable evidence? But they really didn't have the time to waste.
Taking a deep breath, Mr. Cheng picked up the phone and made his first call of the afternoon. Hearing the voice on the other end, he could hardly control his anxiety. "Hello, I called this morning, looking for *** at your company. Is he at work now? I have something urgent to talk to him about. Could you please put him on the line? Thank you for your help."
Every second of waiting felt like a year, so Mr. Cheng held the phone tightly, listening to the clear shouts and responses from the other end of the phone, and he breathed a sigh of relief. When the other party picked up the phone, Mr. Cheng directly explained his purpose.
Seeing the other party on the phone hesitantly, he asked who he was. Cheng Lao was overjoyed and immediately said, "Don't worry, I'm a soldier too. If you don't believe me, ask the operator. I'm from the military district. I'm Cheng Zhixun. I can assure you I won't harm anyone. This matter is of great importance, and it won't be clear over the phone. I'll come to you. I'll bring my ID to convince you that I really have no ill intentions."
The other party immediately said, "You don't have to come to me. You've said that, why don't I believe you? I'll tell you straight out. Are you that child's relative? Now that you've found the child, you want to claim him? Zhou Jiaren's wife was pregnant back then, but she miscarried before the fifth month. We all know about it, there's no need to hide it. Even if they had another son later, the age wouldn't match. You can go to the household registration office. He was a soldier at the time, and there's a record of whether the child was registered before or after he was discharged. Others might not tell you, but why am I telling you? Because I suffered at his hands. He's definitely not a good person, and having a child in his hands is also suffering. If he doesn't admit it, just say that I testified and told you personally. Ask him to produce a birth certificate from within the past three years."
Old Cheng laughed heartily. "You're quite straightforward. Thank you very much. We have the child's birth certificate, but no evidence. I've never done this before, and I thought the household registration files would have been lost after so many decades and dynasties. If you hadn't reminded me, I would have forgotten that he was a veteran and had a household registration file. Comrade, thank you very much, thank you."
"It's okay. I'll hang up now. If you have any problems, call this number. If he insists that I step in, call me and I'll take time off to help you." After saying that, he hung up the phone.
Old Cheng smiled and shook his head, then immediately took Xiao Chen to the archives room, asked someone to retrieve Zhou Jiaren's file, got a certificate, and went to several departments to get clear evidence. He carefully wrapped it up and put it in his underwear pocket, holding it tightly with both hands.
Old Cheng happily took Xiao Chen home. He wanted to tell his wife the good news that Zhou Xiaozheng was really their nephew, and it was really that child. They really found him, and they could take the child to meet his sister and brother-in-law.
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