Chapter 55

  Early in the morning, I received a report that Wang Qifu had repeatedly requested to meet with me. I smiled and ordered him to be brought over. I met him in my office, where he walked in looking haggard. After Chas poured him a cup of tea and left, closing the door behind him, I deliberately asked: "Director Wang, it seems you're not used to sleeping here?"

  Wang Qifu sighed and said: "Commander Tang, I have no choice. Who doesn't want to sleep in their own familiar bed?! That's the only way to sleep soundly!"

  I also chimed in and said: "Hehe, everyone's here now. If you want to sleep soundly, why not just change beds?"

  Wang Qifu took a sip of tea and said: "I wanted to find one, but no one would give me or sell me a bed. I had no choice!"

  I said with a relaxed expression: "We've always been good to our own people here, as long as you say so, there will be a bed for you to sleep soundly."

  "Wang Qifu nodded and said, 'Yes, I just thought of it last night. Look, I came to find you, Commander Tang, early this morning. I'm troubling you to help me find it. With your help, Commander Tang, I can sleep soundly every day!'"

  "Now it's a new society, everything you buy needs to be paid for."

  Wang Qifu said: "Ah, how much does that bed cost? Can Director Tang afford it?"

  I said: "It's very cheap here, of course, on condition that you are from Xizang Province. Outsiders can spend as much money as they want but still can't buy it."

  Wang Qifu said: "With your help, Commander Tang, I can rest assured. That's all I have to say. Now I'll go get the money." After finishing speaking, he stood up and walked out.

  I sat smiling and said: "Director Wang, take it easy! Don't rush, it's still early before dark."

  Wang Qifu stopped, turned around and smiled: "The sooner the better, the sooner the easier!" After that, he left.

  I smiled and picked up the teacup, slowly taking a sip of tea.

  Wang Qifu arrived at the reception house and went straight to his room, locked the door from inside, took out a small notebook with passwords for radio communication from the hidden compartment of his luggage, put it in his pocket, then opened the door and left.

  I took over the password book without even looking at it and said, "Is that all?"

  Wang Qifu said: "This is just a part of it, I have more!"

  I listened with great interest and said: "What else?"

  Wang Qifu calmly said: "I can get on your boat, you also need me to cooperate with your work, and you also hope that there is only one voice in Xizhou Province."

  "You think too highly of yourself. I am a soldier, a son of the people's army. What did you just say? Killing you would not be excessive."

  Wang Qifu said: "When you deal with me, you have already taken this path. With my help, you will save a lot of effort."

  "What road? I'm just protecting the fruits of labor earned with the blood of our warriors!"

  Wang Qifu burst out laughing and said, "Is it that we came just to destroy this place? This is an excuse to cover up your ambition. If I were you, I would do the same. At 22 years old, being a provincial military commander with nearly 160,000 troops under your command is impressive! But have you thought about it, your rise has already blocked some people's line of sight. You're still so young, will those above trust you? I was sent here, to be frank, as your touchstone. If something happens to me, those above will immediately take action against you. So we can cooperate."

  I shook my head and said: "Believe it or not, I'm done with you now. Even if something happens to me, at most I'll never use it again, but what about you? Hehe."

  "So, for the sake of stability in the border regions, you can only follow my leadership. And I dare to say that your committee is currently doing nothing. Once Chairman Mao is no longer around, the day will come when you will be held accountable for your mistakes. Are there not many wrong things you have done? Is there anything that brings great joy to the people? Take advantage of this opportunity to rein in at the edge of the cliff and continue to serve the country and the people from now on."

  Wang Qifu slowly sat down and said with a desolate expression: "Can you guarantee my future then?"

  "As long as I am here for a day, I will protect you for a day."

  Wang Qifu stood up and said, "Alright, I believe you! Tell me what to do!" After talking with Wang Qifu for a long time, he finally left. After he left, Chase asked, "Commander, aren't you afraid that he will betray you again?"

  "As long as he starts doing it, he is on the same boat with us and can only go through thick and thin together!"

  Wang Qifu thought on his way back: I didn't expect it, I Wang Qifu would end up like this! This can't be blamed on me, you forced me to do this, letting me go send myself to death? Then I won't wait for death either!

  It wasn't until the afternoon that I learned that Xu Feng of the 25th Army and Zhou Kai of the 40th Army would arrive tomorrow. I asked again if the people below had tidied up their offices and kept them clean, and the answer was affirmative. Now, Zhang Zhengwei is in charge of conducting necessary personnel reviews for the four armies stationed in Xizang, and he is currently reviewing the soldiers' files; Lao Lan is summarizing the situation of various troops stationed in Xizang Province and the local military control committee, which will be handed over to me for review; Lao Pang goes to the 7th or 107th Army every day to inspect the troops' rest and reorganization as well as their current combat effectiveness; Die Luo is busy building an internal affairs team, selecting soldiers, and establishing an intelligence network; Lao Han is also doing preliminary work on building an intelligence network in the staff department, waiting for the chief of staff to arrive before making specific arrangements. Everyone is working with great enthusiasm, presenting a scene of great momentum.

  Time flew by and it was already the end of the year. After some deliberation, I finally proposed to my boss, who agreed readily and quickly set a wedding date on New Year's Eve. My original plan was to have a simple wedding, but things didn't go as planned. The chairman found out and said, "This is a big happy event! Our young and excellent leader is getting married, we should make it lively! We should invite all our old comrades to come together, it's been a long time since we've had a drink together." Vice Chairman Lin insisted on being my best man, saying that I was his subordinate and he was my superior, and also my husband's family member. At first, I was hesitant, but after getting my boss's approval, I agreed. With the chairman, my boss, and Vice Chairman Lin attending my wedding, it couldn't be simple anymore. The toasting ceremony, which I had hoped to escape, still happened, and I ended up falling asleep under the table halfway through the banquet. This story has been circulating in the military for a long time, and several times I was teased by my boss and Zhu Yan, leaving me speechless. As an orphan, I have always lived with my boss's family, and our new home is also there. The Military Commission had allocated a four-bedroom house for us, but considering I had no relatives and was worried that Zhu Yan might not be used to the new environment, we decided to live with my boss's family instead. After our honeymoon, I brought Zhu Yan, who was now a propaganda officer in the provincial military district's political department, back to Xilong, the capital of West Zhong Province, where the military district headquarters is located.