Special forces soldier demobilization: Starting from the county government compound, a meteoric rise

The air in that conference room, which symbolized supreme power, was as heavy as mercury.

Around the enormous oval conference table sat the true leaders of this country. Each of their faces bore an unprecedented solemnity and inner turmoil.

In the center of the table lay a top-secret file on Zheng Desheng's treason case, compiled overnight by Liu Ming and the special task force. Every shocking piece of evidence on it was like a red-hot iron, searing the nerves of everyone present.

The old man sitting at the head of the table slowly closed the file, gently pressing his temples with his fingers, his voice revealing a deep weariness.

"Have you all finished watching? Tell us your thoughts."

silence.

A long, suffocating silence.

No one dared to speak first. Everyone knew that today's discussion wasn't about an ordinary corrupt official, but about a monument that had once stood tall on the altar of the Republic. To touch him would have far-reaching consequences, potentially even shaking the very foundations of the nation.

Let me say a few words first.

An elderly leader with gray hair, in charge of ideology, was the first to break the silence. His name was Chen Wang, an old partner who had emerged from the flames of war with Zheng Desheng.

"The nature of Old Zheng's matter is indeed extremely heinous, and the evidence is... also quite conclusive." Chen Wang's wording was unusually cautious. "However, comrades, we must also consider the special circumstances of this matter."

"Mr. Zheng was, after all, a founding father who made outstanding contributions to our country's industrialization. His name is written in textbooks. If we publicly punish him now, what will the people think? What will the international community think? The prestige we've built up over decades could very well be destroyed in an instant."

He paused, his tone becoming earnest.

"Therefore, I suggest that we handle this internally. Let him retire with dignity, confiscate all his illegal gains, and as for those charges... let's not make them public anymore. Let's preserve the last bit of dignity for the country and for this meritorious official."

These remarks about "considering the overall situation" immediately garnered support from many conservative officials present.

"Old Chen is right, stability is paramount!"

"Yes, this is a critical period in our struggle against the West, and we cannot afford to lose our composure."

"We could let him go to Xishan to recuperate under the pretext of 'health reasons,' which would have the least impact."

For a time, the voice advocating "cooling off" gradually gained the upper hand.

Liu Ming, who was attending the meeting, did not utter a single word from beginning to end. He simply sat quietly in the corner, his eyes as cold as ice. Looking at those elderly people who kept talking about "the big picture" and "dignity," an indescribable sorrow welled up in his heart.

In this country, can merit truly offset the crime of treason?

Just as the atmosphere in the meeting room was about to definitively decide whether to "digest it internally"...

"Squeak—"

The heavy mahogany door, a symbol of power, was slowly pushed open from the outside.

Everyone's attention was instantly drawn to it.

A young guard pushed a wheelchair slowly into the venue.

Sitting in the wheelchair was none other than Lin Zhentian, the pillar of the military who had long ago announced that he would no longer participate in any meetings due to illness—Old Lin!

The old man wore a faded, worn military uniform, devoid of any medals. His body was thin, his face etched with deep wrinkles, and his once sharp, hawk-like eyes now appeared somewhat cloudy. He looked like an ordinary old man nearing the end of his life.

But everyone present stood up from their seats the moment they saw him appear, their expressions solemn.

"Commander Lin... what brings you here?" The elderly man sitting at the head of the table quickly stood up to greet him.

Old Lin ignored everyone else; he spoke to the guards behind him in an extremely faint but undeniable voice.

"Help me up."

The guard hesitated for a moment, a troubled look on his face. "Sir, your leg..."

"I told you to help me up!"

Old Lin's voice suddenly rose, and the iron-blooded killing intent forged from mountains of corpses and seas of blood instantly enveloped the entire conference room!

The guard dared not say anything more and quickly went forward with another companion to carefully help Old Lin up from his wheelchair.

Old Lin's legs trembled violently due to old injuries. Almost all of his weight was on his black pear wood cane. He stood with great difficulty, as if he might collapse at any moment.

But he stood up straight, stubbornly and shakily!

His cloudy gaze slowly swept across the faces of everyone present, finally landing on Chen Wang, who advocated "internal digestion."

"Chen Wang, I heard everything from outside."

Old Lin's voice was hoarse, like two rusty iron pieces rubbing against each other, yet it carried an aura of majesty that no army could shake.

"You mean, we should preserve some dignity for that traitor Zheng Desheng?"

Chen Wang's expression changed slightly, and he said in a low voice, "Commander Lin, I'm doing this for the sake of the bigger picture..."

"What a load of rubbish about the big picture!"

Old Lin slammed his cane on the ground with a deafening thud! A near-mad, volcanic eruption of fury instantly erupted from his withered body!

"Back in Korea, in the snow where temperatures dropped to minus forty degrees Celsius, soldiers couldn't even get a bite of fried noodles and froze to death on the battlefield. Did they have any dignity?"

"Back when they were developing the atomic bomb, those scientists couldn't even get enough to eat. They used abacuses to create this national treasure, and when they finally died from exhaustion in the Gobi Desert, did they have any dignity?"

"And you! Chen Wang! Have you forgotten how you broke your leg? It was from enemy artillery fire, done to cover the main force's retreat! Have you forgotten the brothers who charged with you, and in the end, didn't even bring back their remains?"

Old Lin's voice grew louder and more shrill with each word!

His fingers trembled as he pointed at the dossier filled with evidence of crimes, his cloudy old eyes already brimming with hot tears!

"The reason we old fogies can still sit here peacefully drinking tea is because we paid for it with the lives of countless good young men!"

"But what about Zheng Desheng?"

"He received the highest honor bestowed upon him by this country and its people, yet he turned around and became a dog of foreigners! For a pittance of blood-stained money, he strangled our own child with his own hands! This isn't just a disgrace in his later years; this is treason! This is betrayal!"

"Now, you're actually going to talk about the 'big picture' and 'decency' for the sake of such a scoundrel?"

Old Lin's chest heaved violently as he gripped his cane tightly, as if pouring all his life force into it.

He surveyed the entire room, and finally, in a voice that was almost tearful with grief, he let out his final roar.

"If we don't even have this much backbone, how can we face the martyrs who sacrificed their lives?"