Goodbye Zhang Jun

  The next day, No. 7 announced the results of this selection to everyone, and all personnel returned to their current unit. The results after the selection have been issued to each company, and they will receive their own order book after returning. At that time, report directly according to the order book, and it will not be publicly announced here. According to No. 7's instructions, no one is allowed to mention anything about this task to anyone, nor can a single word be leaked, as if nothing had happened. Everything that happened during this selection period, including all the people seen and everything heard, must not be disclosed.

  We are all very clear about the confidentiality rules of the troops and no one will leak a single word. Our arrangement is to apply for retirement as soon as we return, and No. 7 will also help us with the arrangements. I believe it won't take long before it's approved. As for our records in the army, they will probably be eliminated too. I don't know what relationship No. 7 has, but from now on, we have nothing to do with the Chinese Army anymore and we will become ordinary civilians.

  It wasn't until later that I realized everything was just a play, and we were all pawns. From the moment we crossed national borders, everything had already been arranged for us. There's no wall without cracks in this world; it's just that everyone has taken an attitude of turning a blind eye.

  After leaving the training camp, I returned to my cooking class. I didn't see Zhang Jun, but Xiao Song told me that after I left, Zhang Jun took on all the responsibilities by himself and then applied for retirement. He has now returned to his hometown and opened a small supermarket. When Xiao Song and the others saw me, they were all very excited. Seeing them also made me happy, after all, we had been comrades-in-arms for so long. Our deputy class leader had become the head, but he was still the same person, and our cooking class was still as harmonious as ever, filled with laughter and chatter.

  After returning to the cooking class, I continued my old profession - raising pigs. After about a week, my discharge papers were already down, and I left immediately. On the day I left, Little Song came to the station to see me off. I saw him crying, and I didn't know how good this silly guy's feelings for me were. But seeing him cry made me want to cry too. I held back tears and said to Little Song: "Little Song, be happy, brother is going to find his future, I'm going to find my dream."

  "Hao Ge, after you become rich in the future, remember to come back and find me. I'll be waiting for you, don't forget about me!" Little Song yelled at me from the entrance of the train station.

  "It's nothing, none of that matters. I'll make a fortune and come back to find you, we'll be brothers forever." I yelled out behind me at Little Song, not looking back as I left his line of sight, afraid that I wouldn't be able to hold back my tears.

  So I boarded the train to Xi'an, I'm going to find Zhang Jun, my old class monitor, the one who beat me up for not participating in special selection, the one who got drunk and cried bitterly at night, the one who took care of me like a brother.

  The train station in Xi'an is terrible. When I walked into the station, I suddenly felt that this ancient capital of a thousand years ago was so rotten. The exterior looks luxurious, but the station itself is terrible and somewhat pitiful, it's simply an insult to the reputation of the ancient city of Xi'an, I don't even want

  Don't bother with these things anymore.

  Zhang Jun's home was in a small town in Weinan. I held the paper with Zhang Jun's address and after asking countless times, I finally found Zhang Jun's small supermarket. It was said that he started doing business after returning home. I stood at the entrance of the supermarket and looked up at the sign "Longhao Supermarket".

  I walked into the supermarket and looked around. The supermarket was not big, but business was good. It was probably about 50 square meters in size, with many types of goods on offer. I didn't see Zhang Jun, but I saw a young girl of around 12 or 13 years old leaning over the computer to ring up sales. I wandered around the supermarket for a while, and after a bit, I guess she wasn't busy anymore, the little girl also noticed that I had been wandering around the supermarket for half a day without picking up anything.

  "Hey, uncle, are you buying something? You look like a thief to me." He and Zhang Jun had the same heavy accent and dialect.

  "I'm not here to buy things, I'm here to find someone!"

  "What are you doing here in the supermarket looking for someone? Are you telling me that the person you're looking for is Oreo?" The little girl said with a pout.

  I looked at him with a bit of amusement and hastily explained: "I'm looking for Zhang Jun."

  "Mom, someone's looking for Dad." The little girl yelled and then went back to playing games on the computer.

  "Who is it? You don't have to shout so loudly, even if someone is looking for you!" Just as the voice fell silent, a woman in her thirties came down from upstairs. She was very pretty and had a great figure. I couldn't help but slap myself on the mouth, after all, she's my sister-in-law, how could I think that way?

  The young woman came down and looked at the little girl, asking: "Xiaofeng, where is he?"

  "That's him, the idiot next to you." Little Feng pointed at me.

  "Hello, don't mind him, this kid is always like that, never showing respect for his elders." He said, slapping Xiaofeng on the back of the head.

  "What nonsense is this, he's just an idiot! I saw him slap himself in the face earlier, hitting himself, either he's an idiot or a fool!" Xiaofeng said discontentedly.

  "Look at you, kid, what are you saying? Wait and see how your dad deals with you when he gets back." After scolding the child, she looked at me and said, "Zhang Jun just went out, I think he'll be back soon. You go ahead and do something for now. By the way, what's your name?" As she spoke, she handed me a cup of Coke.

  "Sister-in-law, don't be polite, I'm Zhang Hao, I'm Zhang Jun's brother."

  "It's you! I've always heard Zhang Jun mention you, didn't expect you'd still come back. Little Feng, quickly call your dad and tell him to hurry up."

  "Got it, mom." Xiaofeng impatiently dialed the number. "Mom, Dad's dead."

  I was startled at first, but quickly realized it was just a hung-up phone call, not someone hanging up on me. This kid! Just as I was thinking that, a familiar voice came from the doorway, "What's going on? You're already home, why are you still making calls? Can't you talk about things when you get home? You can't even wait for a minute, and who knows how much the phone bill will be? Always making random calls, what a spendthrift!"

  "It was my mom who told me to hit you, and it's also because you married a wife who is ruining our family."

  "You little scoundrel, are you asking for a beating?" The speaker raised his hand, ready to strike...

  "Zhang Jun, that's enough, there are guests at home, aren't you afraid of being laughed at by the guests."

  "Who dares to laugh at me? No one can stop me from educating my daughter!" Zhang Jun said, turning his head to look this way...

  I looked at Zhang Jun and smiled, Zhang Jun was also stunned for a moment, then laughed too, and didn't scold his daughter anymore, forgetting everything. "Damn it, why did you come to see me so late? Don't you know how much I miss you? I thought you were dead!"

  ，