Chapter Thirteen: Receiving Education

  Zhang Quanyi returned home to find his wife had not yet come back, and just as he picked up the phone to ask about it, he saw Yan Xiufang leading a blood-stained Zhang Peng back in, her eyes red from crying.

  "What's wrong? Is Zhang Peng injured?" Zhang Quanyi was startled.

  "Zhang Peng was beaten!" Yan Xiufang said angrily.

  "Is your injury serious?" Zhang Quanyi pulled over Zhang Peng to examine him from head to toe.

  Someone hit me on the arm with a shovel and my mom stitched it up for me, it's much better now," said Zhang Peng.

  "Why did you hit him?" Zhang Quanyi asked again.

  "Why, why, just know why, the big officials bully the small ones, that's why!" Yan Xiufang said angrily.

  "What's going on, you tell me." Zhang Quanyi was scolded by his wife for a few sentences and was still bewildered.

  Yan Xiufang then told Wu Shilong, who had asked her to see his son in the hospital, about Zhang Peng's fight and injury. She also recounted what she saw and heard at the reconnaissance camp, as well as Zhang Peng's conversation with the camp leader, word for word.

  "Pengpeng has been away from home since he was young, and now that he's finally with us for a few days, he gets bullied like this. It would have been better if he had stayed in the countryside, so we wouldn't have to suffer along with him." Yan Xiufang said, tears streaming down her face.

  Zhang Peng helped his mother wipe away her tears, and leaned into Yan Xiufang's arms. Zhang Quanyi lit a cigarette, with a black line on his face, stood up and sat down again, saying: "Let Zhang Peng rest for two days, I'll understand the situation first, then decide." After finishing, he made a phone call to the duty room.

  In the afternoon, Zhang Quanyi received a survey report from his secretary. The report objectively reflected the problem, and the incident was indeed triggered by Qian Kang and three others provoking Zhang Peng, who defended himself, resulting in four people being injured. In the handling process, the reconnaissance battalion's first company handled it improperly, and the leader only sent Qian Kang and three others to the hospital, but did not send the injured Zhang Peng to the hospital in time, instead locking him in a confinement room. However, Zhang Peng refused to listen to advice, chased and beat Wu Quan, and even fought with the company commander. The problems he reflected on the company commander and instructor were legitimate means of training work, and there was no corporal punishment or provocation. After reading the report, Zhang Quanyi smiled and thought: This kid is afraid of being scolded, avoiding the main issue and trying to escape punishment, putting a "hat" on the company commander and instructor each.

  In the evening, Zhang Quanyi severely criticized Zhang Peng, but Zhang Peng couldn't understand and was so angry that he didn't even eat dinner. Yan Xiufang was also unhappy, but under her husband's persuasion, she still went to the hospital with her husband to visit Qian Kang and others.

  After returning from the hospital, Zhang Quanyi personally cooked a meal for Zhang Peng and brought it to him. He didn't scold him again, but instead told him about two personal experiences: one was about a comrade who had conflicts with him during the War of Resistance against Japan, who sacrificed himself to save Zhang's life in battle; the other was about how he led a rear guard battalion to cover the retreat of troops during the Korean War, knowing it was a suicidal mission, but the soldiers resolutely carried out the orders without hesitation. Many new recruits had joined the army for less than a month and sacrificed themselves, and when they completed their task and returned, only 32 people were left in the entire battalion, not even enough to form a platoon. Finally, he said: "Zhang Peng, Dad knows you've been wronged, but look at all those old generals who have suffered unjust treatment, yet they continue to work selflessly. Don't they feel wronged? They understand what it means to be a soldier and know the responsibility of a military man, and cherish the honor of being a soldier!!"

  The next day, Qian Kang and several others, led by their parents, went to Zhang Peng's house to visit him and apologize. The children couldn't bear the boredom for long, and before long, they forgot that they were still fighting yesterday and played together again. Zhang Quanyi and several parents called the learning team and reconnaissance camp, asking them not to have ideological burdens, not to care about their faces, and to deal with Zhang Peng as they should, and the storm passed quickly.

  Zhang Peng stayed at home for a few days. After his arm was removed from the cast, he returned to the training team. The results of their handling were soon announced: make a self-criticism.

  Liu Dayong has packed up Zhang Peng's belongings, and he officially took over as class monitor. Hebei veteran Zhao Hai was appointed deputy class monitor. Zhang Peng returned to Class 6, where Liu Dayong and several veterans surrounded him.

  "Zhang Peng, are you all right? I didn't take good care of you!" Liu Dayong said with a hint of apology.

  "Anyone who dares to bully our Class 6 will be taught a lesson next time." said Zhang Peng's fellow villager, Zhou Liang.

  "Zhang Peng, a triple strike, and also brought along the company commander, that's awesome! Didn't lose face for the Sixth Company." said veteran Wang Hongliang.

  ……

  Zhang Peng listened to the veterans' greetings, jokingly, with a warm feeling in his heart, indicating that Class 6 had already accepted him as one of their own, and the old soldiers had accepted him from the bottom of their hearts.

  "This afternoon I will still be reviewing my work," Zhang Peng said.

  "Time for self-reflection, you should reflect on yourself." Lian Zhang walked in with a swagger.

  "Attention! Reporting to Platoon Leader, Sixth Squad is arranging internal affairs, please instruct!" Liu Dayong hastily reported.

  "Take a break, just sit down casually." Zhang Peng quickly brought over a stool for Lian Chang to sit on.

  "Zhang Peng, you little scamp scared the coach so much that he didn't eat well for three days, and kicked my arm so hard it hurt for two days. By rights, you should be thoroughly self-critical. But if you accompany me to practice one day, I'll let you off." That day they hadn't decided who was better, and Lian Chang's heart still felt itchy.

  "It's just a line, but you're yielding to me." Zhang Peng felt a little guilty.

  "It's settled then!" The company commander patted his buttocks and left.

  In the afternoon, Zhang Peng, Qian Kang, Li Weiguo and Wu Quan stood in front of the chairman's portrait for inspection. Then they accepted criticism and education from the students. No one gave them any face. Many of the students had been Red Guards before and were very experienced at this. With excitement and nostalgia, they took turns criticizing and denouncing, venting their grievances and grudges. It seemed that Qian Kang and the others had offended many people in the past. After more than an hour of chaos, everyone was finally satisfied and let them off. The students looked like they were having a party, treating the criticism meeting as a reunion.

  Zhang Peng returned to his seat with a face full of saliva, and Li Ye didn't 'disdain' him. She comforted him in a soft and slow tone, even wanting to roll up his sleeves to take a look at the wound. Zhang Peng hesitated for a moment, then blushed and 'obeyed'.

  "I heard you didn't get anesthetized when they stitched your wound, is that true?" Li Ye said, touching his scar.

  "Yes." Li Ye's soft little hand touched the newly grown tender flesh on the wound, feeling a slight itch.

  "That must have hurt?" Li Ye's face was full of admiration.

  "It's okay, didn't cry." Zhang Peng was pleased with Li Ye's appearance.

  "If it were me, I would have fainted. You're really brave." Li Ye pulled on Zhang Peng's arm with a silly expression.

  "The teacher is here!" Zhang Peng whispered to Li Ye, ending their flirtation.

  After class, Li Ye stayed behind to help Zhang Peng make up for the lessons he had missed in the past few days, and didn't return to the dormitory until dinner time.

  New recruits are coming down tomorrow, Sun Li has been transferred to the third row, Zhang Peng and the old soldiers have been busy moving boxes and cabinets, the glass on the table is wiped clean so that flies can't land on it, the floor is polished to a mirror finish, the barracks area is filled with welcome signs for new comrades, the red flag at the gate is fluttering in the wind, the big sign "Raise Vigilance, Defend the Motherland" has also been repainted. The drums and gongs don't need to be prepared, those things are always ready, because no one knows when the "Highest Directive" will be issued, once it's issued, whether day or night, they must be used, better maintained than guns, if they can't make a sound at that time, it becomes a political problem.

  In the evening, the company held a meeting. The company commander and instructor took turns speaking, repeatedly emphasizing that each class should do a good job in receiving new recruits and the cooking class should provide good food. This year's new recruits were allocated by the company as a whole, and it was not possible to pull them into their own classes like in previous years when they saw someone who was smart and physically strong. To ensure fairness, they drew lots tonight, and no one had seen the new recruits before, so they didn't know if they were good or bad. The instructor prepared the lots and put them in a basin, while the company commander supervised from the side. A group of class leaders came forward to draw the lots, and then handed them over to the clerk to record and make a list. The soldiers were thus allocated.

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