Chapter Thirty-One: Seeing Off a Fellow Soldier on His Journey of Conquest Silent and Tearful Eyes

  Zhao Erjie and Li Delu followed Chen Hong and a group of soldiers to escort several prisoners away. After they left, He Ruqiu always felt a little uneasy in her heart. As a result, at midnight, news came that the prisoners had attempted to escape during transportation after being released from their shackles. Comrade Zhao Erjie discovered it in the first place and bravely sent out an alarm to the soldiers escorting them. However, he himself was strangled by the escaped prisoner. Several soldiers killed four of the escaped prisoners on the spot, while one who was shot still jumped down into the river valley with great strength and his whereabouts are now unknown.

  The next morning, a white car from the Garrison Hospital came to take away Zhao Erjie's body. He Ruqiu and the commander of the armed police brigade led all the cadres and soldiers in paying their respects as they bid farewell to him. A week later, Zhao Erjie was posthumously recognized as a martyr, and the leaders of the garrison and the division commander personally presided over his funeral. At the age of 33, Captain Zhao Erjie, deputy commander of the company, disappeared forever from this world, leaving behind only his Uyghur wife who had no job in Shitou Village and their eight-year-old son. At a memorial ceremony organized within the prison, He Ruqiu led the way in donating 500 yuan to Zhao Erjie's widow. Other cadres also generously donated money, and later several cadres from the division also participated in the donation. Chen Hong was the most generous, as he had no family burdens and donated his entire monthly salary of 1,200 yuan. When Ye Haodong heard the news, he remembered that although Zhao Erjie had suspected him during the previous prison break incident, he still treated him with kindness afterwards. So, in accordance with "heaven's will", he found He Ruqiu and expressed his willingness to take on the responsibility of paying for the education and living expenses of Zhao Erjie's children from now on. He Ruqiu was deeply moved by this and agreed to Ye Haodong's request, reporting the matter to the higher authorities in the prison district.

  A few days later, a reporter from the prison area came to the cotton mill team with Squadron Leader Wang Qingshan. He was specifically here to interview Ye Haodong. A prisoner who was willing to take out money to help a deceased prison officer who had managed him during his sentence was a strong news story and social phenomenon in itself. It reflected the success of the prison in reforming the thoughts of prisoners, as well as the respected image of Martyr Zhao Erjie in the hearts of prisoners. Zhao Erjie, who had already been established as a model for emulation and reporting, made all related news material noteworthy. Hence this exclusive interview that was highly valued by both parties.

  Ye Haodong was very cooperative in this interview, and he didn't mention his own charitable donations too much. Instead, he talked about some touching stories from Zhao Erjie's life as a martyr. He gave several examples of how Zhao used his heart to reform prisoners, educated them with strict self-discipline, and cared for them in their daily lives. Towards the end of the interview, Ye Haodong expressed that he was willing to do this because he was inspired by the prison officers, and casually mentioned the positive influence of Captain He Ruoqiu on the officers and prisoners in the prison. Throughout the entire interview, Ye's insincere words and emotional expressions were so fake that they made people want to vomit, but the reporter listened with relish, frequently nodding his head and encouraging Ye Haodong to continue talking nonsense.

  Ye Haodong did not know that his words would later be published verbatim in the Western Frontier News. It was then reprinted by national-level newspapers and became a symbol of the significant achievements of the prison's work, showcasing democracy under socialist rule and highlighting humanized management. The direct consequence of this incident was that the cotton mill team soon welcomed another batch of interviews from national-level newspapers. He Ruqiu was even established as a living hero and an outstanding young cadre in prison management. Ye Haodong was interviewed twice during this time, and he continued to show "abnormal" cooperation, which earned him many points on his year-end work summary. At the end of that year, he received another sentence reduction, and since his original sentence had been significantly reduced, this time it was only halved to half a year.

  In the year 1999, during Chinese New Year, no one came to visit him.

  Business matters can be discussed with him over the phone, and business has been expanding rapidly. Everyone is busy now, so none of Zhu Mingyu's brothers came. Originally planned to visit him this year, Wang Lin got diabetes last year and couldn't withstand long-distance travel. Two brothers Ye Haoyun went to work at an international bank in Australia and can't come back for the New Year, while Ye Haoran has to stay home to take care of his mother, and he also just started dating a new girlfriend, this is the first time both families meet, and he still needs to visit his future father-in-law during the New Year. They all have their own reasons for not being able to come.

  What made Ye Haodong feel unexpected was Jiang Lan. This girl had been acting strangely for several months and hadn't contacted him, which was very unusual. Based on Ye Haodong's understanding of Jiang Lan, the possibility of her changing her mind was almost zero. Not having contact for such a long time, Ye Haodong randomly guessed that she must have encountered some trouble.

  Jiang Lan indeed encountered trouble. But this trouble can't be said to be good or bad.

  In October 1998, one afternoon, Jiang Lan went to class as usual. As she walked on the road, she noticed two middle-aged people who looked and dressed very revolutionary, along with Vice President Lu Xiaohua, observing her, and the man and woman pointed at her and said something.

  By the time of the last class in the afternoon, Jiang Lan was informed to go to the vice principal's office to see two people. When she arrived, it was the middle-aged man and woman who wanted to see her.

  The middle-aged man was dressed very ordinary, wearing black-rimmed glasses made him look a bit old-fashioned. Jiang Lan noticed that his gaze was sharp when he looked at people. The middle-aged man didn't speak, but silently observed Jiang Lan's every move.

  The one who asked the question was a woman wearing ordinary clothes: "Are you Jiang Lan?"

  Jiang Lan asked strangely: "What's going on? What kind of people are you and what business do you have with me?"

  The woman and man nodded to each other, then formally said to Jiang Lan: "We are from the government department responsible for recruiting special personnel. Your grades, conditions, and performance in political stance have led us to decide to conduct an organizational investigation on you. From now on, do not ask questions, I will ask and you answer, no lies allowed. Can we begin?"

  Jiang Lan's heart suddenly tensed up. She couldn't guess whether this matter was good or bad, and she asked herself if her usual performance should be considered a person with a clear political stance. What did such an investigation by the organization represent? Would what was about to happen be good or bad? With a sense of unease, Jiang Lan nodded slightly, indicating that she understood.

  Woman: "You are Jiang Lan, Han nationality, born in May or June of 1978?"

  Jiang Lan nodded: "Yes."

  Woman: "Your father, Jiang Chunsheng, went abroad over a decade ago and his current whereabouts are unknown. Your older brother, Jiang Wei, is the political commissar of the Steel City Public Security Bureau's Criminal Police Detachment. Your mother has mental health issues and is currently unemployed at home."

  "Yes."

  Woman: "You have a talent for languages, you studied both English and Russian simultaneously in high school and achieved excellent grades?"

  Jiang Lan nodded.

  The woman was very satisfied: "You submitted your application to join the party half a month ago, can you tell us why you want to join the party?"

  Jiang Lan has been reading a lot of reports about anti-flood heroes lately, and this girl's patriotic enthusiasm has never been lacking. Riding on the wave of that craze, she also submitted an application to join the party. But who would have thought it would lead to this mysterious immortal with an unknown origin?

  "Every patriotic person has a strong sense of national pride, I think at this stage if you want to do something more for the motherland, the best choice is to join the party, because the purpose of the party's cause is to make the country stronger!"

  The woman slightly felt surprised, and asked: "In your heart, which one is the first place, the country or the party? Do you think the democratic system of Western society is more advanced than the system advocated by our party?"

  Jiang Lan: "Of course it is the country. In fact, looking at the current situation of the country, there is no selective contradiction between the two. If a political party will ignore the interests of the nation and ethnicity for the sake of its own interests, then it is not a qualified political party. I think that although our party has many problems at present, its goals and fundamentals have never deviated. What the country needs now is not so-called Western-style democracy, but rather the continuous improvement of party building. As a child of China, we should hold on to the dream of a strong nation and participate in it, rather than simply advocating for the advanced nature of Western democracy and society. Doing so would be meaningless pseudo-patriotism, equivalent to 'the enemy is happy when the country is in pain'."

  The man suddenly interrupted: "What you said, is it what you think or has someone told you?"

  Jiang Lan shook her head: "Of course these words are my own inner voice, I can still be in charge of my thoughts."

  The man suddenly came out with a shocking sentence: "What do you think of your father Jiang Chunsheng?"

  Jiang Lan was taken aback by the question, thinking to herself that she had no impression of her father except for hatred. He hadn't even left a single photo behind for his mother, and this thought suddenly struck Jiang Lan - what kind of person wouldn't dare take a single photo? Was he someone who couldn't be seen in public? Were these two people from the "special institution" looking for her because of him? Could he be a spy? Jiang Lan's mind was racing with all sorts of possible answers, and finally she hesitated before responding: "He left us fourteen years ago, I've long forgotten what memories I had of him. Whatever he did has nothing to do with us."

  The middle-aged man's face suddenly revealed a rare smile, and at this moment Jiang Lan suddenly found that this revolutionary-looking man was quite handsome. The man nodded, as if acknowledging Jiang Lan's answer.

  "Are you doubting that we're looking for you because of your father?"

  "Isn't it?"

  The man replied, "Part of the reason is because of him. Without his relationship with you, we wouldn't have noticed you. But a more important reason for us to come find you is that our organization needs young people like you who possess calm thinking abilities and persistent patriotic sentiments."

  Jiang Lan asked in surprise: "Do you know my father?"

  The man seemed to be asked about a sad matter, he let out a long sigh and glanced at the woman beside him. The woman nodded: "It's been ten years, in accordance with the declassification regulations."