The Red Era: Living in Seclusion in a Siheyuan as a Boss

Chapter 522: Veterans and New Soldiers!!!

In the late autumn six years ago, Nie Yuan was only 17 years old. He had not yet finished high school, but he signed up to join the army.

As a rural boy from the foot of Taihang Mountain who has loved military green since childhood, Nie Yuan and a few of his good friends have been wearing ill-fitting green military uniforms since they were teenagers.

Although the military uniforms didn't fit him well at that time, Nie Yuan was influenced by the times and always had a dream of becoming a soldier when he grew up.

Finally, in the late autumn of that year, Nie Yuan put on a real military uniform and officially joined the army.

The unit that Nie Yuan belonged to was an old New Fourth Army unit with a Red Army background, which produced many heroes, such as the famous "Yang Gensi Company".

After joining this unit, Nie Yuan felt very proud and trained hard, striving to be like the heroes.

The following year, Nie Yuan won multiple awards from the battalion and company for his outstanding performance in military skills.

Because Nie Yuan is a high school student, the company pays special attention to him.

The instructor asked Nie Yuan to write a press release for the regiment's radio room to report on the good people and good deeds in the company.

Nie Yuan, who loved writing since childhood, became the backbone of the group's news reporting.

What made Nie Yuan even more proud was that his two articles were published in the military region’s “Battle Newspaper”.

At the beginning of the second year, Nie Yuan was transferred to the company headquarters as a clerk.

Although Nie Yuan did not finish high school, he always wanted to apply to a military academy.

However, during the qualification review, Nie Yuan lost his eligibility to apply because he did not have a high school diploma.

In early November of the previous year, Nie Yuan had to retire from the army and return home.

Nie Yuan's Niejiazhuang is quite big. It is a natural village under a new street office in the Liujiazhuang Development Zone in western Beijing. Three soldiers returned from military service this year.

The brigade attaches great importance to these veterans. They would call them to the brigade headquarters to sit when they have nothing to do, and ask them to run errands, call someone, or submit some materials to the street office.

One time, Nie Yuan went to the armed forces department of the subdistrict office to deliver some materials, but he was "sent" to the district armed forces department instead and became a temporary worker.

It was a day in September last year. Nie Yuan rode the militia company commander's bicycle to the armed forces department of the street office to deliver the registration form for the youth of appropriate age.

He didn't know that the brigade would report this kind of form before. Later, he heard from the militia company commander that this practice had only been implemented for two years.

Coincidentally, the district’s armed forces minister Liu Fusheng also came to the subdistrict office to conduct inspection work that day.

There was only one office in the armed forces department of the street office. Nie Yuan pushed the door open and found several people chatting in the room.

When Nie Yuan saw them talking, he quickly put the form on the table and said, "Hello, leaders. I'm here to deliver the form." After saying that, he wanted to leave.

At this time, Liu Fusheng glanced at Nie Yuan, his eyes lit up, and asked him to stop: "Which brigade are you from?"

Nie Yuan smiled and said, "I'm from Xigou Village, Niejiazhuang Brigade."

Liu Fusheng then asked: "You look like you have been a soldier?"

When Nie Yuan saw that the other party knew his situation, he immediately stood at attention and replied, "Yes, I was discharged from the army last year. My name is Nie Yuan."

Minister Geng of the armed forces department of the subdistrict office knew Nie Yuan, so he briefly introduced his situation.

Minister Geng told Nie Yuan that this was Minister Liu from our district’s armed forces department, and he came to our street to inspect the work... Nie Yuan didn’t know what to say, so he just stood there quietly.

Later, seeing that Liu Fusheng did not ask him any more questions, Minister Geng said, "We have received the form. Thank you for your hard work in delivering it. It's okay now. You can leave now!"

Then Nie Yuan left the armed forces department of the street office.

Later, Nie Yuan heard that he was standing in the room without saying a word and in an orderly manner. Minister Liu Fusheng of the district armed forces department felt that Nie Yuan, as a retired soldier, was standing in a decent manner, neither humble nor arrogant, and demonstrated good military qualities. That's why he came up with the idea of ​​letting him work as a temporary worker in the armed forces department.

On the third day after returning to the brigade, the militia company commander ran to Nie Yuan's home and said to him, Director Geng of the armed forces department of the street office wants to see you urgently and asks you to go there now.

Upon hearing this, Nie Yuan immediately rode a borrowed bicycle to the street office.

As soon as he entered the office of the armed forces department, Minister Geng said to Nie Yuan happily: "Xiao Nie, I have good news to tell you. The district armed forces department called and they hope you can come to the district armed forces department to help for a few days... You have to perform well!"

Nie Yuan was stunned when he heard this. He didn't know anyone in the district armed forces department except Minister Liu, whom he had only met once...

But as a veteran, the habit of obeying orders is ingrained in me.

Besides, there was nothing to do after returning home, so Nie Yuan readily agreed.

Minister Geng said, you should report to Chief Zhou at the District Armed Forces and Political Work Section tomorrow morning.

After Nie Yuan returned home in the evening, he told his parents that the district armed forces department had asked him to help.

His father was very happy and said, "You have nothing to do after you are discharged from the army. The Armed Forces Department asked you to help. This is a good thing. You should prepare tomorrow, go there early, and work hard."

His mother was a little hesitant: "They asked you to help, but it's not a formal job. Is it worth going?

In my opinion, we might as well use our connections to find a good job in a factory in the development zone!"

Nie Yuan's father glared at his mother and said, "Everything has a process. Some things cannot be rushed."

After hearing what his father said, Nie Yuan also felt that going to the district armed forces department to help was indeed a good opportunity for the leaders to get to know him.

So he quickly found a few short articles that he had published in the "Battle Newspaper" before and stuffed them into his bag.

At around ten o'clock the next morning, Nie Yuan arrived at Liujiazhuang Development Zone.

When he found the large courtyard of the district armed forces department, he discovered that it was bustling with people coming and going.

Nie Yuan walked up to the second floor and found the office of the head of the political department. He stood outside the door and shouted loudly: "Report!"

After hearing the response "Come in" from inside the room, Nie Yuan pushed open the door and saw three people inside discussing work.

Nie Yuan hesitated for a moment, then reported: "I am Nie Yuan, a veteran from Niejiazhuang. Minister Liu asked me to come here to report to Section Chief Zhou!"

At this time, a middle-aged man in his 30s wearing glasses walked over from the table. He first looked Nie Yuan up and down.

Then he said, "You are Comrade Nie Yuan. I am the section chief. Please follow me."

So Nie Yuan followed Section Chief Zhou out of the office, went up to the third floor, and stopped in front of a room with a sign that read "Minister's Office".

After two light knocks on the door, no one responded.

After a while, a man came out, and then another man walked to the door.

Nie Yuan took a look and found that this man was Minister Liu whom he had met at the township armed forces department the day before yesterday.

When Liu Fusheng saw that it was Nie Yuan, he warmly invited them into the house.

After entering the room, Liu Fusheng asked Nie Yuan and the others to sit down, and then asked Nie Yuan to report in detail his experience and expertise in the army.

So, Nie Yuan told Liu Fusheng about the awards he had won in the army, his experience as a company clerk, and how his works were accepted by the military newspaper. He also took out the "Battle News" from his backpack and showed it to Liu Fusheng.

Liu Fusheng flipped through the newspaper and said to him, "I have learned about your basic situation from the side and I think that you are still young and it is a good time for you to do things.

Now our district’s armed forces department is preparing for conscription. We don’t have enough manpower but a lot of things to do, so we would like to ask you to come and help for a while.

Do you have any ideas? "

Nie Yuan smiled and replied: "I am a soldier and I will always follow the instructions of my superiors."

After hearing my answer, Liu Fusheng said to Section Chief Zhou with satisfaction: "You go and arrange his work, meals and accommodation, and let him work in his department first."

Afterwards, Liu Fusheng politely escorted Nie Yuan and the other person out of the room.

The two of them left Minister Liu's office, and Section Chief Zhou took Nie Yuan to the Political Work Section's office.

The place was a mess, with documents piled high on the table and things all over the floor.

Section Chief Zhou pointed to a table in the corner and said, "Just sit there and get familiar with the others first..."

At noon, Section Chief Zhou took Nie Yuan to the cafeteria for lunch, and after lunch he took him to the innermost room on the third floor.

There was a made bed in the room, and he said, "You can rest here for a few days..."

Although the conscription work has not officially started yet, the department's work has entered a "war preparation state."

The leaders of the armed forces meet almost every day, either going to the district for meetings or visiting the various street offices to check on the preparations before conscription.

The Political Work Section is mainly responsible for conscription propaganda, such as formulating propaganda slogans, contacting the district radio station and various streets and towns, and arranging and inspecting propaganda work...

After Nie Yuan arrived at the office, Section Chief Zhou asked him to learn the job responsibilities of the political work department and the conscription propaganda policy while he was working. He said this was called "learning on the job."

Since Nie Yuan came, he either followed the section chief to various streets or delivered reporting materials to the district committee. He was busy every day and often worked overtime in the office at night to copy materials...

One day, Nie Yuan was copying materials in the office when Political Commissar Song came to see Section Chief Zhou.

He stood behind Nie Yuan and watched for a long time, but Nie Yuan didn't notice it because he was too focused.

Unexpectedly, Political Commissar Song praised me before he left: "Well, Xiao Nie, your handwriting is pretty good."

Hearing this, Nie Yuan felt very happy.

When he was working as a clerk in the company, whenever he had free time, Nie Yuan would lie on the table and practice calligraphy.

He practiced for a whole year, pressing the calligraphy copybook on thin paper.

On November 11 last year, Liujiazhuang Development Zone was about to send off new recruits.

Nie Yuan's Political Work Department arranged a gong and drum team at the train station in advance.

But what a coincidence, after the gong and drum team arrived, the master who played the big drum suddenly collapsed due to cerebral hemorrhage.

As a result, the gong and drum team lost a main force, and another relative also accompanied him to the hospital.

When Section Chief Zhou heard the news, he was overwhelmed. What should he do?
How can there be a festive atmosphere without the sound of gongs and drums?
At this time, Nie Yuan volunteered to run to the gong and drum team, picked up the drumstick and started beating the big drum.

Section Chief Zhou looked at it and opened his mouth wide: "Can you play drums?"

In fact, Section Chief Zhou didn't know that every year when Nie Yuan was in the army, a ceremony would be held for new recruits and veterans to retire, and he, as a clerk, had already learned the drum music.

Later, Minister Liu Fusheng and Political Commissar Song saw Nie Yuan beating the drum hard in the square, and they both laughed.

Later, at a meeting in the department, Liu Fusheng specially praised Nie Yuan, saying: "Although Nie Yuan is a temporary worker, he has a strong sense of ownership.

Although beating the drum is not our department's job, it is closely related to the festive farewell atmosphere.

At this time, he can take the initiative to step forward. This is to help the opponent. This is the combat awareness of the soldiers! "

After working in the Political Work Section for less than a year, Nie Yuan passed the assessment of the Development Zone’s labor and personnel department, became a regular cadre, and was appointed as the political officer of the Political Work Section.

The tasks are numerous and diverse, mainly including the meetings of the Party Committee of the Security Department, and being responsible for the department's organizational construction, education and training, personnel management, etc.

Later, the three work reports written by Nie Yuan for the district armed forces department were forwarded by the "Work Briefing" of the Yanjing Garrison District...

However, this year, Nie Yuan and his colleagues have become busier. Every time conscription season comes, they have to go down to do mobilization work.

Liujiazhuang Development Zone is different from other places. The economic conditions here are so good that young people prefer to work in factories in the zone.

In the past two years, recruitment slogans such as "One person serves in the army, the whole family is honored" and "One heart, two hands are prepared, and enthusiastically accept the selection of the motherland!" have been posted on the mud walls outside the brigade headquarters in the rural areas below.

Unlike previous years when young people enthusiastically joined the army, in the past two years, township cadres and militia company commanders under the development zone have to go door to door to mobilize young people of military age.

However, Nie Yuan was squatting on the street below, but there was no scene like in previous years when young people rushed to sign up.

There are even cases where some young people of marriageable age are forced by their parents to work outside and are not allowed to return.

It turns out that since the counterattack that broke out the year before last, the "rabbits" have acted decisively and dealt a heavy blow to the "ungrateful wolves" who have been constantly stirring up trouble.

This battle demonstrated the country's and the army's might, but casualties were also inevitable.

At the end of March, Nie Jiaxiang's father and elder brother were taken to the army and attended the memorial service for his elder brother Nie Jiafu.

After they left home, Nie Yuan's mother often came to their home to accompany Nie Jiaxiang's mother.

And help them take care of the crops in the fields, including watering their fields.

Although Nie Jiaxiang's family received a 500 yuan pension afterwards, they were poor and Nie Jiaxiang's grandfather was seriously ill in bed.

But none of them was willing to use the pension until Nie Jiaxiang's grandfather passed away, and then they were forced to take out part of the money to bury the old man.

When the army recruited soldiers in December this year, many parents were worried that their children would go to the battlefield and that they would end up in a situation like Nie Jiaxiang's family.

This selfishness of parents is completely understandable, and it does not mean that they are afraid of death.

So, when the army was recruiting soldiers that year, there were situations where some people did not want their children to sign up.

As the day of conscription physical examination is approaching, there are only a few people who sign up, far from meeting the requirement.

Minister Geng was now anxious. If the conscription target was not met, there would be big problems.

Therefore, the armed forces department of the subdistrict office held a meeting overnight to study solutions to the problem, and at the same time urgently reported to the district.

Soon, the district realized the problem and introduced rewards and incentives.

Not only are financial subsidies provided according to the law, but it is also stipulated that every conscript who joins the army can be given priority in choosing a better homestead and enjoy preferential treatment from organizations at all levels...

Early that morning, the village committee director Zhang Xun personally accompanied the district armed officer Nie Yuan to Zhang Peng's home to persuade his parents.

Zhang Xun obviously knew that there were many boys in the Zhang family and that Zhang Peng met the conscription requirements.

Zhang Xun said: "You have many children in your family. Letting one of them join the army will not only reduce the burden on the family, but also give the child a promising future.

Look at Cadre Nie, didn’t he become a cadre because he served in the army? "

He also told Zhang Peng's family to choose a good residential plot first, and promised that if the family had any difficulties in the future, the street office would definitely help solve them.

Nie Yuan knew that it was his turn, so he smiled and said to Zhang Peng and his parents, "Director Zhang is right. I'm from Niejiazhuang. You can go ask around. If the army hadn't trained me, I wouldn't have had the chance to become a cadre in the district, and I might still be farming at home right now!"

Zhang Peng's parents, who have been honest farmers all their lives, never expected that district officials would come to their home to recruit their son into the army.

In fact, Zhang Peng’s parents are also honest people.

They are also grateful for the leadership of the Party, which enables everyone to live a better life day by day.

They also understand that it is not only appropriate but also necessary for their children to serve in the military and fulfill their obligations.

It’s just that they don’t want to be the first to take the lead, and they are afraid that others will accuse them of being fake positive.

Now that the district leaders have personally come to persuade their children to join the army, and there are also some preferential policies and regulations, Zhang Peng's parents support their child to sign up.

So, Zhang Peng went to the armed forces department of the street office that afternoon.

When Zhang Peng arrived at the row of houses near the Armed Forces Department, some young people of his age had already gathered there.

We arrived at the Liujiazhuang military hospital at the time notified. The conditions at this hospital were relatively good.

Military conscription physical examinations in Liujiazhuang area are generally conducted here.

The physical examination that day went smoothly and Zhang Peng passed all the examinations smoothly.

The leader of the recruiting unit and Nie Yuan, an officer of the district armed forces department, and his group of three came to visit the Zhang family. In front of his comrades in the army, Zhang's father expressed his support for Zhang Peng to join the army.

On this day, the village militia company commander notified Zhang Peng to go to the armed forces department to receive his enlistment notice.

At the same time, Zhang Peng also received the green military uniform he had long envied.

When Zhang Peng brought his new military uniform and backpack home, their home was as lively as if it were New Year's Day.

Zhang Peng finally passed the military examination and realized his childhood dream. At that moment, his mother was the only one who hid away.

It was time to leave my hometown. On the morning of the 15th, the outside of the armed forces department of the subdistrict office was decorated with lights and the sound of gongs and drums. The three large buses rented by the subdistrict office were parked in a row on the roadside outside the subdistrict office.

The young men in brand new military uniforms, surrounded by their families, arrived at the gathering place one after another.

A little after 9 o'clock, comrades from the Armed Forces Department gathered Zhang Peng and others together.

They said it was time to assemble and all the new recruits were asked to get on the bus. Zhang Peng and his colleagues lined up and got on the bus.

The bus started slowly, with firecrackers and gongs and drums blasting. Zhang Peng saw his mother frequently wiping her eyes with her sleeves, and his father and his brothers and sisters waving goodbye to him.

At around 11 o'clock, they arrived at the district armed forces department. Without taking a rest after lunch, the bus carrying them left the development zone and headed for Yanjing Railway Station.

The next night, Zhang Peng finally reached the unit he had dreamed of.

After three months of recruit training, Zhang Peng was assigned to the third company of the division's chemical defense battalion and became a chemical defense soldier.

To be honest, before joining the company, Zhang Peng knew almost nothing about chemical defense troops.

The only chemical defense knowledge he had in his mind was limited to the "smoke bombs" and "pig noses" worn on the head that appeared in war movies. He knew nothing else.

After joining the company, the company's chemical defense major was relatively complete. Zhang Peng not only had to learn professional knowledge, but also had to repeatedly practice the operation skills of the weapons in his hands, and even the wearing of chemical protective clothing had to be repeatedly practiced.

When Zhang Peng saw the protective suit for the first time, he felt that it was not only large, heavy, and ugly, but also had an unpleasant rubber smell. After putting on the mask, he really looked like Zhu Bajie, which was extremely funny.

During the training, the squad leader reminded Zhang Peng that in order to put on and fold protective clothing quickly and well, he had to practice putting on and folding clothes at least a thousand times!

Zhang Peng asked him for the trick of wearing protective clothing, but the squad leader said there was no trick and he could only practice hard and practice makes perfect.

(End of this chapter)