Chapter 1 (5) Is it PTSD?

  It's been two months since Peng Sichen returned to work after a blink of an eye. The continuous cold waves have plunged the southern city of Guining into icy rain, and the old man at home has urged Peng Sichen several times to hurry up and settle his work matters. However, he neither opposed nor agreed with the old man's arrangements, dragging his feet and making excuses, often not returning home at night. As the special police recruitment deadline approached, Peng Sixiang had no choice but to help his brother handle various procedures. Fortunately, he was also a member of the police system, so whether it was submitting materials or moving files, everything went relatively smoothly. However, this took up a lot of his time, and his frequent requests for leave made Captain Cheng Teli somewhat dissatisfied. On this day, Peng Sixiang took out his file bag to request leave again and rushed out, but was stopped by Cheng Teli at the police station gate: "Peng Sixiang, what does your brother mean?"

  "Squad leader... this... I'm in a hurry." Cheng Te Li had asked him many times why Peng Si Cheng never came to the police station, and every time Peng Si Zhe made up different excuses, now he really couldn't think of any more.

  "I said, Peng Sichen thinks he's too big for us, our special police team is too small to hold him or what?" Cheng Te Li was also in a bad mood today, looking at the situation, if he didn't give an explanation, Peng Sichen wouldn't be able to leave this place.

  "It's not what you think, Squad Leader, listen to me... my brother just retired from the army and has many comrades coming to visit him one after another. I'm helping him arrange his schedule, so when he comes to the Special Police Unit, you'll have plenty of time to chat with him."

  Cheng Te Li was also a special police officer who transferred from the armed police, thinking about it, retired soldiers are indeed like this, finally being released from that military camp is like just getting out of prison, so it's normal to celebrate and have fun, but this celebration has gone on for too long, since Peng Si Zhe said so, he can't hinder others from doing their proper business.

  "I'm telling you, if your brother doesn't want to come, I won't force him. Without Zhang the butcher, Old Cheng can still eat mixed-breed pigs!" Saying this, he had already stepped aside.

  "That's it, that's it, Squad Leader, I'll go take care of something first."

  ……

  After completing the formalities, Peng Sixi hurried back and forth, but still arrived more than an hour late. He couldn't avoid being scolded by Cheng Te again. When he returned to the dormitory, Gao Shuai was already preparing for bed. Peng Sixi felt a bit downhearted. Gao Shuai asked, "Did you go to take care of your brother's work again?"

  "Uh-huh."

  "What's wrong with your brother? He appears and disappears like a dragon."

  "I don't know either, I just got back and I'm not used to it yet," Peng Sizhe said truthfully. His brother had changed a lot this time he came back, the originally passionate and enthusiastic brother had become very indifferent, becoming increasingly perfunctory towards his family and girlfriend.

  "I heard it's called post-traumatic stress disorder, will your brother be like that too?"

  "What's 'Post-Service Syndrome'?" Peng Sizhe heard this term for the first time.

  "Have you heard of PTSD? Post-traumatic stress disorder?" Captain Gao put on an expert air.

  "Never heard of it"

  "Many American soldiers, after transitioning from a battlefield environment to a normal social environment, feel a sense of loss and neglect, specifically manifesting as apathy, suspicion, militarized thinking, and difficulty communicating with ordinary people. If they encounter obstacles everywhere, they may also develop twisted psychology such as misanthropy and revenge against society..."

  Peng Sizhe hastily interrupted him, saying that if he continued, his brother would become a nervous wreck: "Alright! My brother is now just making friends everywhere, none of the nonsense you mentioned!"

  "Oh? It's not that serious, from an elite troop back to society, eager to prove oneself is also an elite in society... took a big step forward... made others feel a bit uncomfortable..."

  "I'm just worried about these friends he's made."

  "What was that Hong Kong boss you mentioned?" Commander Gao is indeed a tapeworm in Peng Sizhe's belly.

  "Yes, he's been going to see that boss a lot lately, I always feel something is off."

  "Could it be that he wants to hire your brother as a bodyguard? Many newly rich people do this, hiring a bodyguard makes them feel like they have face." Commander Gao chimed in with his analysis.

  The so-called bodyguards of bosses are often just for show, but many wealthy bosses feel good after hiring bodyguards and think they can deal with any trouble that comes their way. However, not a few bodyguards end up becoming the boss's thugs. Peng Sizhe clearly remembers his first case when he was part of the special police force - at the time, Peng Sizhe was just following along to gain experience. A wealthy boss had hired a martial arts instructor from a military school as his bodyguard, and in a nightclub, a minor dispute led to the bodyguard beating up someone else. However, the other party wasn't easy to mess with either, and within 10 minutes, seven or eight luxury cars, including Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Range Rover, arrived at the nightclub and surrounded them. The wealthy boss then called in social personnel to counter-surround them, and even after the police arrived to handle the situation, they still didn't disperse. Instead, they attacked the police officers who were trying to handle the situation, injuring several of them. In the end, it became a massive group incident involving hundreds of people, and it wasn't until the riot police and special police force were deployed that the situation was brought under control. During the interrogation, the wealthy boss still said nonchalantly, "I just couldn't stand that arrogant guy, I had to teach him a lesson so he'd know his place!"

  The bodyguard thought: "Whatever the boss tells me to do, I'll do it. The boss said so, and even if someone gets killed, he can afford to pay for it!"

  Thinking of this, Peng Sizhe couldn't help but worry about his brother.

  "But I think... your brother's personality... the boss can't control him... You see, after all, he came back from the troops, and the special police team is half a troop... He's more used to this kind of life... It's just that he hasn't calmed down yet..." Commander Gao said with a glance at Peng Siche's expression.

  After saying that, Peng Sixhe felt a little more at ease. He hoped that his brother was still in the social adaptation period and wanted to play for a while longer. After joining the special police force, everything would be fine.

  "But... if someone can offer a high price... it's hard to say whether we can resist the temptation... how much does a special police officer make in a month? I heard that bodyguards start at 15,000 yuan a month..." Commander Gao suddenly said this, unsure if he was talking to himself or reminding Peng Sixhe.

  What was supposed to be a comforting phrase ended up being completely ruined by that last sentence. Before Peng Sizhe could even open his mouth, the quick-witted Gao Commander chimed in again: "Hey, Sizhe, let me tell you, if there's a boss who asks me to be their bodyguard and offers this kind of money..." He held up three fingers: "I might not be able to guarantee that I wouldn't quit my job to do it... Of course, after being trained by the party and country for so many years, I definitely wouldn't go work as his thug! But rather to supervise him in following legal and moral standards..." Seeing Peng Sizhe's growing anger, Gao Commander quickly changed the subject and dodged a bullet.

  "For three thousand, you can even sell yourself!"

  "What nonsense! At least 30,000 yuan a month!"

  "Others are paying you 30,000 yuan a month to supervise him and ensure he follows laws and moral standards!"

  "Just kidding, I'm going to take a bath first..." Commander Gao saw that Peng Sixhe was really angry and quickly ended the topic.

  Gao escaped from the dormitory, Peng thought for a moment, what Gao said was not reasonable. In the face of financial temptation, how many people can resist? Even if you become a deputy team leader, your monthly income is only around 6,000 yuan. The special police force is a semi-military management unit, with strict control and harsh training, low security guarantees, and even going out on dates is difficult. Liu Chao, who took the police civil service exam together, was assigned to an agency, working from 9 to 5, and recently got married after being introduced to his girlfriend. The special police force is a clean government unit, even if you want to make some extra money, you don't know where to start. The only thing that unites everyone is the sense of honor, but in reality, which police force is not maintaining social order? The sense of honor seems so pale and powerless in the face of life pressure, who doesn't hope for a comfortable and stress-free life?

  Peng Sizhe was thinking, when his mobile phone rang, he picked it up and saw that it was his brother's phone number.

  "Si Zhe, are you free tomorrow?"

  "What's wrong?" Peng Siche asked with some surprise.

  "Come with me to a place and give some advice. I've also called Jingzhen." Peng Sichen's tone was somewhat excited.

  "Brother, I just asked for leave today..." Peng Si Zhe's words were cut off: "Then ask for another day!"

  "Brother..."

  "Tomorrow morning at 9 o'clock, I and Jingqian will come to pick you up, it's settled!" Peng Sichen hung up the phone with some impatience.

  Although the two brothers sometimes spoke like this before, such a commanding tone still made Peng Siche's heart somewhat uncomfortable.

  The next morning, a Lexus LS stopped in front of the SWAT team's gate. Peng Sizhe hastily asked for leave and ran to the bus station. The window of the Lexus rolled down: "Where are you running? Get in!"

  Peng Sizhe stared at Peng Sixian in shock...

  In the same car, apart from Luo Jingjuan, there was also a driver. Peng Sixian introduced him as Xiao Wu, who was Old Lang's driver. Xiao Wu didn't say much and always addressed Peng Sixian as "Big Brother".

  "Brother, where are we going?" Peng Sizhe was a bit restless, having been used to the plastic seats of buses and commuter trains, his butt wasn't quite compatible with the genuine leather seats of luxury cars.

  "Buy a car," said Peng Sichen.

  "Buy a car?!" Peng Sizhe and Luo Jingjuan were startled!

  Luo Jingjian hadn't even opened his mouth to ask how he suddenly decided to buy a car, when Xiao Wu spoke up: "Big brother, have you thought about what kind of car to buy?"

  "Go take a walk first." Peng Sichen replied.

  "Sedan or SUV?"

  "The mountain road is bumpy, buy an off-road vehicle."

  "Shall we go to Toyota first and take a look? The Prado's off-road performance is quite good, the Land Cruiser is also pretty good..." suggested Xiao Wu.

  Prado... Land Rover, a car worth tens or hundreds of millions, how much money did Peng Si Cheng get after retiring from the army? Can he afford such a luxury car?

  "Not considering Japanese cars..."

  "What does Porsche or BMW think?" Little Wu proposed again.

  "Brother... where did you get so much money?" Peng Si Zhe said.

  "The boss said it's okay, don't worry about the money, as long as Big Brother is satisfied." Little Wu replied on behalf of Peng Sichen.

  "Go see the horse herder." Peng Sixian did not respond to Peng Sizhe's words.

  "Alright, big brother!" Xiao Wu replied respectfully and drove the car directly to the 4S store of the horseman.

  On the road, Peng Sixian and Xiao Wu were discussing cars, as if Luo Jingju and Peng Sizhe didn't exist. When they arrived at the 4S store, Luo Jingju and Peng Sizhe were restless, while Peng Sixian listened intently to the salesperson's explanation. During the test drive, he called Luo Jingju and Peng Sizhe, but they both expressed no interest. Peng Sixian didn't force them, leaving Xiao Wu to accompany them at the 4S store, and drove out with the salesperson.

  Peng Sizhe thought he should ask Xiao Wu about the situation, or rather, "interrogate" would be more fitting.

  After spending some time chatting and roughly understanding Xiao Wu's situation, Peng Si Zhe directly cut to the point: "Why did Boss Lang give my brother so much money?"

  "Boss Lang likes making friends." Little Wu seemed unaware that Peng Si Zhe was "interrogating" him and answered casually.

  "Has my brother been going to Xianglong Club recently? Who does he know there?"

  "They're all just business acquaintances, I heard that the boss introduced your brother to many important people." Little Wu answered every question.

  "More specifically..."

  "I don't know the specifics, I'm just a driver, responsible for driving and picking up the boss. The boss has so many business friends, how can I possibly know them all?" At this point, Xiao Wu seemed to realize that Peng Si Zhe wasn't just making small talk with him.

  Peng Sizhe regretted being too impatient, and now it's hard to get any valuable information out of Xiao Wu's mouth.

  Peng Sizhe was thinking about how to get more information out of Xiao Wu when Peng Sichen returned from the test drive. The salesperson's face turned pale as he got out of the car, and after recovering, he repeatedly praised Peng Sichen's driving skills, saying that in all his years of selling cars, this was the first time he had experienced drifting in a Jeep, and Peng Sichen enjoyed the praise, putting on sunglasses and saying "This is it!"

  It's not every day that you get such a generous customer. The salesperson suppressed his excitement: "Sir, will you be paying by card or cash?"

  Peng Sicheng pulled out a bank card from his bag: "Swipe it!"

  The salesperson hastily took the bank card and went to open the bill, holding the POS machine and jogging over: "Sir, please enter your password." Afraid that Peng Sicheng would change his mind at the last minute.

  The POS machine spits out the bank receipt, signed, and the most important procedure is completed. The salesperson let out a sigh of relief: "We have a dedicated staff to handle the registration and insurance procedures for you. You can either follow them to the vehicle management office or wait here. There are refreshments prepared in the VIP room..."

  "I'll come back tomorrow to handle it, I'll drive away first." Peng Sicheng ignored the salesperson's enthusiasm.

  "That... sir, drive slowly, you don't have a license plate and insurance, the insurance company won't accept claims." The salesperson kindly reminded Peng Sixian.