Xu Jianguo walked out of the grove, confirmed his direction through the map in his mind, and then walked towards the Xinhua Bookstore not far away.
A few hours later, Xu Jianguo and his family returned to Fu'an County.
Li Mancang, who got up early, found the envelope on his windowsill. When he saw the words "From Uncle Mancang", he had a bad feeling in his heart.
Li Mancang quickly opened the envelope and used his index and middle fingers to pull out the letter. Along with the letter, two large black notes and a dozen tickets were also pulled out.
Li Mancang ignored the money and tickets that fell on the ground, but opened the letter and started reading.
"Uncle Mancang, I'm leaving! Don't even think of scolding me. I really hate the feeling of separation, so I can only choose this method! I don't have anything to leave you. Take the money and tickets, and take care of yourself. Our troops will be rotating next year, and we don't know where we'll be rotating to yet. I'll write to you after I'm settled here. I've also left letters for Grandpa Dashan and Uncle Erniu. If they want to deal with me later, you have to help persuade them..."
Looking at the concern and reluctance expressed between the lines of Xu Jianguo's words, Li Mancang's eyes gradually turned red.
After putting away the letter and picking up the money and bills that fell on the ground, Li Mancang turned his head to look in the direction of Xu Jianguo's old house halfway up the mountain in the distance, sighed heavily, his eyes full of reluctance and loneliness.
After thinking about it, Li Mancang left home and walked towards Li Dashan's house.
…
Not long after Xu Jianguo left, he arrived at the entrance of Xinhua Bookstore. He looked at the familiar plaque in front of him and thought of his first meeting with Yan Wenhua. The corners of his mouth curled up involuntarily.
When I pushed open the door and walked into the bookstore, I was greeted by the counter. However, the person sitting at the counter was not Yan Wenhua, but a woman who looked to be in her thirties.
"Hello, comrade, what book would you like to buy?" The woman was stunned when she saw Xu Jianguo come in and asked.
Xu Jianguo came back to his senses and asked, "Hello, I'd like to ask, is Yan Wenhua still working here?"
"Who are you to him?" the woman asked.
"I am one of his juniors. I haven't been back for two years. This time I came back to visit relatives and see him," said Xu Jianguo.
Since Xu Jianguo was wearing a military uniform, the woman didn't doubt what he said. She said, "Comrade Yan Wenhua has been transferred. I heard he became the director of the Provincial Xinhua Bookstore."
"When was he transferred?" Xu Jianguo continued to ask.
“It seems to be April!”
"Do you have his phone number or address?"
"I don't have a phone number, I'll write you the address!"
"Okay, thank you!"
A moment later, Xu Jianguo left with the note given to him by the woman with the address of the Provincial Xinhua Bookstore written on it, and walked towards the Public Security Bureau of the Administrative Office.
Following the route on the map in his mind, Xu Jianguo arrived at the Public Security Bureau of the Administrative Office in more than 20 minutes.
I knocked on the glass of the reception room at the main entrance. A moment later, an old man in his sixties or seventies opened the window and asked, "Comrade, who are you looking for?"
"Hello, uncle. I'm looking for Lin Xiangdong."
"Looking for Captain Lin, what do you want from him?"
"He's my uncle. I came to see him. Here are my ID and letter of introduction."
The old man took the item Xu Jianguo handed over, looked at it, and said, "Okay, wait a moment, I'll make a phone call and ask."
After he finished speaking, the old man closed the glass window. A moment later, the window opened again and the old man's voice came from inside: "Comrade, Captain Lin is in a meeting. You can go in directly. Turn right and go to the third room on the second floor of the office building."
"Okay, thank you, sir!" Xu Jianguo took his ID and letter of introduction, thanked the old man, and walked in.
Following the route given to him by the security guard, Xu Jianguo arrived at the door of an office. He glanced at the sign of "Criminal Investigation Detachment" hanging on the door frame and thought to himself that Uncle Lin was quite capable and was now Captain Lin.
“Boom boom boom!”
"Come in!"
Xu Jianguo pushed the door open and saw an office the size of an ordinary classroom with more than a dozen desks.
There were not many people in the office at this time, only a young man sitting at a table near the door.
"Comrade, are you looking for Captain Lin?"
"right!"
"Captain Lin is in a meeting. You may have to wait a while."
"Okay, thank you!"
After Xu Jianguo agreed, he found an empty chair and sat down, waiting quietly for Lin Xiangdong to come back.
After waiting for about half an hour, just when Xu Jianguo was about to lose his patience, footsteps were heard in the corridor outside the door.
After a while, the office door was pushed open from the outside, and Li Xiangdong, wearing a white police uniform, walked in. He originally wanted to say something to the young man sitting at the door, but he saw Xu Jianguo at a glance, his eyes widened immediately, and then a happy expression appeared on his face.
"Jianguo!" Lin Xiangdong shouted and walked over quickly.
Xu Jianguo quickly stood up and said with a smile, "Uncle Lin!"
"Good boy, when did you come back?" Lin Xiangdong punched Xu Jianguo on the chest and asked.
"I've been back for more than a week. I had planned to visit you on the day I came back, but when I asked at the county bureau, I found out that you had been transferred to the administrative office. Now that I'm about to return, I hurried over to see you!" Xu Jianguo said.
"What, you're going back today?"
"Yeah, it took quite a while to get out, plus we had to spend quite a bit of time on the road, so it's almost done."
"You came back by yourself? Where's Funiu?"
"How could that be possible? The whole family is back, but they didn't come. My son is too young, so it's not convenient."
"Wow, that's great. After not seeing you for two years, you've become a father. Not bad, really not bad!" Lin Xiangdong said with a smile, but the expression on his face froze as he smiled.
"Uncle, what's wrong with you?"
Lin Xiangdong came back to his senses and whispered in Xu Jianguo's ear: "Jianguo, tell me the truth, is your epaulette real or fake?"
Xu Jianguo smiled wryly, thinking to himself, "Here we go again!"
But this time he didn't even bother to explain. He simply reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his officer ID card, placed it in Lin Xiangdong's hand, and said, "It's genuine, guaranteed to be authentic!"
Lin Xiangdong opened the certificate with a look of suspicion. When he saw Xu Jianguo's photo and seal on it, as well as the rank of colonel, he took a breath.
"Oh my goodness, what have you been doing these past two years? Your promotion is too fast!"
"Hahaha, maybe the leader likes me!" Xu Jianguo said perfunctorily.
When Lin Xiangdong heard Xu Jianguo say this, he thought that this involved a confidentiality agreement, so he did not investigate further and returned the officer's certificate to him.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
