Restarting life in Siheyuan

Chapter 468: War in the South

"What did you say?"

Zhu Xuefeng, Lin Na and the others were surprised by the sudden news when they returned to the compound after school.

"That's right. Guo Junjie's mother brought him with her. They both turned themselves in this morning."

Zhu Xuefeng was convinced. "This is a case of cutting off the tail to survive and sacrificing the car to save the king. There should be no problem with this case."

"I guess they've reported the case over there. We'll know when we go over to treat them later."

"Yes, he threatened to cause trouble to our two families this morning, but within an hour, he turned himself in."

Zhou's father was also filled with emotion. As expected, he was right. These were all paper tigers. If you were strong, they would be weak. If he had not been able to hold on at that time, the situation would have been completely different.

Without the threat from Zheng Xiaojun, the witnesses have expressed their willingness to attend on time. The two cases have been merged for investigation as required. This farce came and went quickly. Now everything should be calm. We just need to verify the evidence and open the court again. There should be no surprises in the final result of the trial.

At the repeated insistence of Zhou's father, the few of them had dinner together at Zhou's house. Zhou Tangyun's condition was obviously improving, which gave the Zhou family hope.

"Xiao Zhu, thank you again for your great kindness..."

Zhu Xuefeng quickly helped Zhou's father up. Zhu Xuefeng could not bear to see this stubborn father bow to a younger generation.

"I will continue the treatment. Her physical condition is very good. Now that she can drink some liquid food, she will definitely be able to stand up one day. Don't worry."

Father Zhou wiped away his tears and said, "Don't worry, we have nothing to worry about. It is a blessing for Xiaoyun to have such good friends like you. Xiaohong, thank you so much."

Xia Yuhong quickly comforted him, "Uncle, Xiaoyun and I are childhood friends. It's too polite for you to say that. Let her take good care of her, and then I will send the murderer to jail myself."

After leaving the Zhou family, the friends were filled with emotion. This accident had a great impact on everyone and was also a great challenge.

"Xiaoyu, Minghui, you two should be more careful at work and don't get too close to Deputy Director Chen."

"Well, don't worry, Senior Brother. We both guessed that he was the one who leaked the information. We asked Brother Dong, and he said that he had shown the confession at that time to Chief Chen."

"That's right. He was the leader on duty at that time. There was no one else except him." Zhou Xiaoyu added.

"Just be careful. According to my estimation, he shouldn't be involved in this case. You two will still be under his jurisdiction in the future. Just pretend you don't know for now."

After explaining things to the two of them, Zhu Xuefeng finally let the matter go, and all that was left was to wait.

"I heard that Guo Junjie's father sent him and his mother to prison. It shouldn't have anything to do with you. Don't forget the cultural performance tomorrow night. I'll come find you then and we can go together."

As soon as he arrived at school, he met Xie Junjie who had come to the dormitory. Zhu Xuefeng ran out of excuses. "Okay, I'll wait for you in the dormitory when the time comes. Is there any more time? Let Lin Na and Xiao Xia go together."

Xie Junjie scolded with a smile, "Do you think this opportunity is so easy to get? No, you have to beg for this qualification, and my sister didn't even care about it. Let's go, don't forget to dress smartly, but don't wear a suit, just be clean and tidy."

Xie Junjie hurried to class. Zhu Xuefeng felt very sorry. The two girls would definitely like this kind of cultural performance, but unfortunately they couldn't get tickets.

Zhu Xuefeng rushed to the library to continue studying. He had already received a hint that he would graduate early and start construction work as soon as possible. He had been studying senior courses intensively and was now studying the fourth-year courses. Thanks to the improvement of his intelligence and the accumulation of his previous life, he was doing well in learning. In just one year, he had finished more than two years of courses, which was not easy.

"You're here early. Move over and give me a seat."

A schoolbag was placed in front of him and Lin Na's voice rang in his ears. Zhu Xuefeng moved a little further away and Lin Na sat down next to him. Zhu Xuefeng clearly felt that the tranquility of the library was broken and he felt hot because someone was staring at him from behind.

"Can't you keep some distance? It's not a good influence here."

Zhu Xuefeng didn't dare to look up and reminded quietly that he didn't need to look to know that there were definitely a lot of people looking at this side, it was because Lin Na was too dazzling.

Lin Na smiled slightly and listened to the advice, moving a little to the side. The two of them barely left half a person's space. They took out a few borrowed books and started studying. The library became quiet again.

Zhu Xuefeng said in a low voice when he felt that all the attention on him had disappeared.

"Why are you interested in economics? There's no need. Just study whatever you want. Don't force yourself."

"I just like this. The more I learn about it, the more interesting it becomes. Let's read the book first and talk about it when we have something to do."

Zhu Xuefeng had no choice but to shut up and continue studying.

Time passed quickly. Zhu Xuefeng looked at his watch, stood up and whispered something.

"I have to go to class. See you in the cafeteria at noon. Remember to get me lunch."

Lin Na didn't look up, but just nodded slightly. She knew that Zhu Xuefeng was going to attend the senior class.

Zhu Xuefeng had no choice. It was not easy to graduate early. Some things could not be mastered quickly by self-study. Some courses required guidance and explanation from professors. Now the professors in the Department of Physics were very impressed by this student who often asked for advice after class. Jingcheng University was very good in this regard. It treated students who took the initiative to audit the class equally and answered all their questions. Although it was not clear that Zhu Xuefeng was forced to graduate early, the professors were supportive and encouraging towards students who loved to learn.

"Thank you, Professor Huang. I'm sorry to have delayed your meal."

Professor Huang looked relieved. "It's okay. I'll go home to eat. It doesn't matter if it's early or late. If you have any other questions, you can come to my office. I heard that you have visited many professors in their offices."

"I will. I have just started your course, so I will definitely need your help in the future."

Looking at Zhu Xuefeng's back as he walked away, Professor Huang sighed. Today's students are really amazing. She knew this student. Director Jiang had greeted her and asked her to pay more attention to him. She didn't expect that a second-year student could learn fourth-year courses to this level.

"The young are formidable!" Zhu Xuefeng just asked several strange questions, two of which were also the areas she had been concentrating on researching. This student obviously did not have much professional accumulation in this area, but she accurately proposed the direction of development. It was really amazing.

Zhu Xuefeng didn't expect that Professor Huang would pay attention to him just after he briefly discussed the future development direction. He was eating his meal in a hurry.

"Eat slowly. Xiaohong made these for you. She said these are your favorite foods."

There were two dishes in Zhu Xuefeng's rice bowl, one meat and one vegetable, both of which were of very high quality. One was shredded pork with green peppers. Although there was not much meat, it tasted good. The other was roasted eggplant, which looked appetizing.

"Well, I liked to eat these dishes when I was in middle school, but I could never afford shredded pork with green peppers, so she always bought them for me."

"You are indeed childhood sweethearts, Xiaofeng. I really envy you two."

Xie Junjie was laughing secretly on the side. In front of his friends, Zhu Xuefeng was thick-skinned and acted as if it was a matter of course.

"What's the matter? Are you not convinced? If you are not convinced, then hurry up. Student life is fleeting. If you don't hurry up, it will be over. But don't worry about it, Xiaohong. This one has been assigned."

Xia Yuhong blushed all of a sudden, "Just eat your food honestly, two dishes won't be enough to fill your mouth."

Lin Na felt a little jealous. These two were not being shy at all. This was the cafeteria and many people were watching, so she had no choice but to interrupt them.

"You just said you have something to do tomorrow night?"

"Well, I'm going to go out with this kid to meet his friends. I'll have to trouble you two to help my brother and sister with their lessons in the evening."

Lin Na burst out laughing, luckily she finished eating early, Xie Junjie said unhappily.

"They are all my childhood friends, not just any bad friends. They are all decent people, not someone like Guo Junjie who is not presentable."

Zhu Xuefeng smiled and put his arm around Xie Junjie's shoulders. "Look at us now. Do we look like bad friends? This is not a derogatory term. It depends on the context. You are so stupid. Now that we have finished eating, let's go."

"You are such a talkative person. OK, I give up."

Looking at the two girls who were bent over with joy, Xie Junjie did not have any temper.

"Sixth brother, you are becoming more and more mysterious. I haven't seen you participate in the debate competition for a while, and you are actually starting to learn fourth-grade courses? Are you still human?"

Fang Jiaming flipped through Zhu Xuefeng's textbook and felt a little jealous.

"It can't be helped. Don't tell anyone. The same goes for you. It's good to learn more when you have time."

"Sixth brother, are you planning to apply for early graduation? But you don't need to take the fourth-year courses. Have you finished the third-year courses?" "Almost."

Zhu Xuefeng put away his textbooks, but he didn't expect to be found by Fang Jiaming in the library.

"No wonder I don't see you around when I don't have classes. It's really annoying to compare yourself with others. You don't go to the Materials Research Institute much these days. You don't know that the Materials Research Institute has a new project, and the results were released not long ago. Several of us participated in it, so we have made contributions."

Zhu Xuefeng quickly stopped Fang Jiaming from continuing to be proud.

"I know about this project. It's confidential. Don't talk about it outside."

Fang Jiaming then realized that he was too proud and stuck out his tongue.

"Thank you for the reminder, Sixth Brother. It seems that we have to work harder. We finally made a contribution, but you are trying to graduate early. It's really boring."

Zhu Xuefeng smiled and hugged Fang Jiaming, whispering.

"I'm telling you, I heard the wind..."

The next day, Xie Junjie arrived as promised and excitedly took Zhu Xuefeng out of the south gate of the campus. A military jeep was parked across the street.

"Let's go. We can't get in without taking this car."

Zhu Xuefeng got on the jeep out of curiosity. The jeep turned around and headed west. After a while, it arrived at the gate of a large compound. The soldier with a gun saluted and let him pass.

"He recognizes the car but not the person!"

"Why are you saying so many sour words? This place is not accessible to ordinary people. We are lucky to be here. If it weren't for the order from above, I wouldn't have had the chance."

Zhu Xuefeng didn't understand, so he didn't think about it. He had been to this courtyard before in his later life. A big sedan was pulled directly to the door of the auditorium. He was attending a celebration party for a certain model, which was also in the form of a cultural performance. He remembered that he was wearing a white shirt, a black suit and a tie. But after he came in, he found that everyone was looking at the people in his unit as if they were fools.

At that time, the unit attached great importance to it and notified that everyone had to wear formal attire. As a result, when everyone got off the car, they found that they were wearing the same clothes as the security and staff at the venue. It was extremely embarrassing. Thinking back to that embarrassing moment, Zhu Xuefeng couldn't help but smile.

"What are you so happy about? See? This auditorium can seat more than 800 people, but this time, they said that only less than 600 people were allowed in. Just think about it, is it easy to get in?"

The auditorium is not big, its doors are closed, and it is very solemn. Its appearance is no different from that of later generations, the only difference is that the red flag relief above the auditorium is still very bright.

The jeep stopped at the square in front of the auditorium. The square was surrounded by tall banyan trees. The ground was paved with red bricks and was very clean. There were lines marked with white lime all around. Patrolling soldiers passed by from time to time.

There were already quite a few jeeps and cars parked in the square. Many people had gotten out of the cars and were gathering in groups of three or five under the shade of the trees to chat. It seemed that they were all quite excited.

"Li Bin and the others should be here. They said they would be waiting at the door. We need to hurry over there."

Xie Junjie led the way in front, and greeted some young people from time to time. There were already nearly a hundred young men and women gathered in the square, many of them were wearing military uniforms, including navy, army and air force. It could be seen that they were all children of large military compounds. Those who were not wearing military uniforms were all very neat and simple, with only a few girls wearing blouses.

"all these are…?"

"They are all from the same compound. I have known many of them since childhood. We went to elementary school together. As we grew up, we played separately and formed many small groups. It is not as interesting as when we were children. Look over there..."

Not far away, seven or eight young men and women were gathered together, chatting animatedly. A tall and thin young man was surrounded in the middle, very handsome, and dressed simply. He was responding to everyone's greetings in a friendly manner.

Looking at that face, Zhu Xuefeng's mind was in a trance. This young man had a unique temperament, a friendly smile yet seemed a little unattainable, and an easy-going attitude yet gave people a feeling of standing out from the crowd.

"That's Brother Guoping. He's the one of those people..."

Xie Junjie made a gesture and Zhu Xuefeng understood it immediately.

"Aren't you going to say hello?"

"No, we're not in the same circle. It's boring to get close to them. Let's go. Look at the group of girls on the right. The one in the middle is Sister Minmin. Let's stop watching and go meet up with them..."

Among the group of girls on the right, a girl who looks very ordinary is also repeating the story in the circle over there. The girl is dressed in student clothes, the kind that would be hard to find if thrown into the campus.

"There are so many young people. It seems like today is a very lively day."

"Of course not. Yesterday's performance was for the senior leaders, and today's performance is for other leaders. We have a chance to be a part of it, and everyone from all the major courtyards is here."

"Good boy, it's really hard to invite you. Come on, let me introduce you." Li Bin, Xu Mingchuan, Huang Yuanshan, and Xiao Donghai, four young men from the big courtyard, were chatting and laughing with a few girls. When they saw Zhu Xuefeng and Xie Junjie coming over, they hurriedly stood up to greet them. They had been interacting with each other for more than a year and were quite familiar with each other.

"Thanks to you guys, I'm here to enjoy it. It's not open yet, right?"

Xu Mingchuan grabbed Zhu Xuefeng's hand. This kid really likes playing with cars now, and Zhu Xuefeng has also taught him a few tricks.

"Why are you in such a hurry? The stage is being set up inside. The door will open in a while. Come, let me introduce you to some female classmates..."

The five girls all seemed to be from wealthy families. They were all very graceful and smiling. They even took the initiative to shake hands, which made Zhu Xuefeng seem a little shy.

"What are you talking about? Xuefeng and I saw you guys chatting animatedly from a distance."

"What else can we talk about? Isn't this the war in Monkey Country? We are analyzing the situation, looking at the direction of the war and the attitude of the country."

Last year, the Bald Eagle planned to establish the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, placing the Monkey Kingdom and two other neighboring countries under its "protection", supporting a puppet regime in the south, providing economic and military assistance, sending military advisers to train the army, and dispatching special forces to launch a war in which the Bald Eagle's special forces and support forces directly participated.

In order to protest the persecution, the southern part of the Monkey Kingdom launched a large-scale anti-dictatorship struggle. With the support of the north, the southern people's liberation armed forces took the initiative to attack and directly fought against the puppet army commanded by the Bald Eagle.

"I told them that the north would definitely attack us, but they didn't believe me and insisted that without our help, the outcome would be a draw at best. It's a good opportunity that you two are here, let's see whose analysis makes more sense."

The second generation of this era was extremely interested in the military. As they talked, several of them squatted on the ground and started to demonstrate with small branches. It seemed that they had been influenced a lot at home and knew a lot about the terrain over there. In addition, they had heard a lot of intelligence, so they analyzed it in an orderly and logical manner.

"Once the people on both sides are mobilized, the South will be nothing more than a paper tiger, and the puppet army will surely be defeated."

"It's hard to say. Bald Eagle has dispatched special forces and ground forces. The armed forces in the south are too poorly armed and difficult to resist. They may be wiped out before the support from the north arrives. The forces in the north are not strong either. Without the support of the people in the south, it should be difficult to push through."

"Xuefeng, tell me, who among us is right?"

Zhu Xuefeng originally just wanted to listen and learn more about the surrounding environment, but he didn't expect to be dragged into it by Xu Mingchuan.

"This is something that your family has learned. I'm not good at it, but it all sounds reasonable."

Several girls covered their mouths and laughed. These brothers often discussed battle examples on weekdays, always holding their own opinions and arguing fiercely. They didn't expect that there was an exception here.

Xu Mingchuan said dissatisfiedly, "You are trying to smooth things over. This is not your character. We are all family. What are you afraid of if you talk about it..."

Since he couldn't get rid of it, Zhu Xuefeng had no choice but to speak.

"After listening to you for a while, I feel that neither the North nor the South has the absolute power to change the situation. It is likely to remain deadlocked for a while, and then we will see how much support the external forces can provide."

This war lasted for many years in later generations, and both sides suffered heavy losses. This place became the graveyard and nightmare of the Bald Eagle soldiers, and the Monkey Kingdom was also shattered and in ruins.

"This is also a possibility. Who knows."

Xiao Donghai was the first to express his support. "The Bald Eagles are not weak. It is too difficult to repel them in one fell swoop. Of course, we can still mobilize the masses on both sides to resist together and we will definitely win. However, the southern resistance forces are not powerful enough, so I also think it will soon become a stalemate."

"Then let's have the War of Nations all over again, so that the bald eagle will remember this lesson!"

Li Bin also threw down the branch in his hand and stood up.

"Well said. We must give the warmongerer Bald Eagle another blow. We must teach him a lesson if he keeps hanging around us."

A voice joined the small group's discussion.

(End of this chapter)