"Another kind of mutual support?"
Qin Qinghuai was stunned. Mutual benefit?
I simply assumed he disapproved, and offered one explanation.
"Leaving aside the troops stationed here, I'd guess that most of the troops are just uneducated common soldiers, right?"
That's true. After all, the war only ended a little over a decade ago. The surviving veterans were all conscripts sent to the battlefield back then, and most of the current soldiers come from rural areas. It's good enough if they don't starve to death; going to school is a real luxury.
"Then they only have one path: to retire and be discharged when they reach the required age. They have no contact with the outside world and are out of touch with society during their years in the military. Isn't that normal?"
He was uneducated to begin with, and even after leaving the army, he was still a roughneck. Even if he was given a job, it would be based on his abilities. Tell me, wouldn't uneducated veterans be assigned physically demanding jobs? Gatekeeper? Security guard? Or something else?
So what did they get in the army? A monthly allowance of about twenty yuan, then another demobilization payment, and a job.
In the future, when people talk about him, they'll say, "Oh, that guy, he came from the army, he had some martial arts skills, but he didn't know anything else, all he could do was help out."
This kind of thing probably happens quite often, but you may not see it frequently.
To put it bluntly, those who return home after military service are fine if they are physically healthy and can still do some physical work. But there's also the possibility that some of them were disabled or became ill in accidents. What can they do when they go back? Just sit around and wait to die?
Also, what would you do if you had a son who was disabled after being discharged from the military but had a job and was still a bachelor, and a son who had been by your side for decades?
It's not uncommon for people to have their jobs taken away and then be kicked out by their families, right?
Unfamiliar parents and siblings, unfamiliar rural life, unfamiliar farm work, unfamiliar hometown—how were they supposed to cope?
Qin Qinghuai swallowed with difficulty, and suddenly felt that he had really been blind and mindless in the past few years. He hadn't thought of these things that were not profound at all, even though he had always been doing administrative and logistical work.
The old lady next to her sat there, also in a daze.
"No wonder, no wonder! He was all right when he was discharged from the army, but he just disappeared after he got back."
"you mean?"
"I don't mean anything by it. Maybe it's because I'm an outsider, so my perspective is different from yours. People join the army to protect their country, but what does the army give them in return?"
Besides faith, besides these slogans, these passionate fervors, these honors, and these medals, what else can they take back? What is truly their own?
Once you leave the military, you have to return to real life. Most of you are just ordinary people. Faith can only be kept in your heart. Slogans, passion, and medals of honor are things of the past, things of history.
Even the demobilization pay will eventually run out.
They face the mundane realities of daily life, the trivialities of everyday existence. What will they rely on to ensure a good life after leaving the military?
"Skills, only your own skills truly belong to you."
The old lady muttered to herself.
"Yes, once they leave the army, they have nothing, absolutely nothing."
The driver listened in silence, his eyes welling up with tears, and couldn't help but interject with a comment.
"Girl, you're absolutely right."
A friend of mine returned from military service a few years ago. He was doing relatively well; he got married and had a child who was several years old. But, as you said, when he came back, he only had one leg left. His comrades assigned him jobs in the Public Security Bureau, the Armed Forces Department, or at the very least, factories. He was assigned to the factory canteen.
It's not that the canteen is bad; in fact, he's quite easygoing. He doesn't read much, but luckily he's worked in the mess hall before, so he can accept working in the kitchen.
Although his parents were disappointed, they didn't say anything. However, his wife's family was not happy. His father-in-law repeatedly caused trouble, forcing him to give up his job to his brother-in-law. He thought that it wasn't easy for his wife to take care of her parents and children, so he gradually gave in.
He later learned that during the years he was away from home, his wife had been having an affair. She had originally hoped that he would simply die out there, so that they could receive the compensation and go from hiding to being together openly, which would be a happy ending for everyone.
Who knew that if he went back like this, he would lose his pension and barely earn any wages, so they would just bleed him dry, like they wanted to suck the marrow out of him.
In the end, he was driven to the brink of divorce by those people.
You tell me, what about his life? I asked him, "Do you regret joining the army back then?"
I said, if you don't join the army and stay home, the farm work might be a bit harder, but you'll still have a wife, kids, and a warm bed. All these troubles won't happen.
He remained silent.
But I know he doesn't regret it. He's talked about it many times: the brotherhood, the sense of accomplishment and pride in repelling each invading enemy, sharing a bite to eat in the trenches. I remember that every time he talked about it, no matter what it was, he was always nostalgic.
However, if I had known beforehand that it would end this way,
He shook his head.
"He probably won't regret it, but he definitely won't get married."
After a long pause, the old woman finally spoke in a hoarse voice.
“Daughter-in-law, what are you thinking? Go on,”
After a brief thought, she realized that there were many measures in later generations for the resettlement of veterans and their families. She had heard of them, but didn't know the specifics. However, she didn't need any of them now.
"Mom, I don't really understand this either. It's just that my brother, my second uncle, and my youngest uncle all work in Qinghuaihe. I've met with the families of martyrs before with my youngest uncle, so I've been thinking about it a bit too much."
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