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Chapter 227: Chapter 220: Seeking Help
"Report."
"Come in." Wu Guoqiang’s voice came through.
The young soldier pushed the door and walked in.
"What’s the matter?" Wu Guoqiang lifted his head from the documents.
"Report to the political commissar, last night an elderly man called, looking for Deputy Battalion Commander Li. He said he’s the head of Gaijiatun in Changsui County, the uncle of Deputy Battalion Commander Li, and he sounded very anxious."
"Oh?" Wu Guoqiang put down his pen, "Did he say what it was about?" He was well-acquainted with Li Hongjun and knew that Li Hongjun didn’t have an uncle, but his newlywed wife did have one, a production brigade leader. This indeed matched the story.
"No, as soon as he heard that the Deputy Battalion Commander wasn’t in the military region, he left a phone number and hung up. However, I feel like he might have encountered some difficulties." The young soldier spoke with unease, aware that disturbing the superior without clarifying the situation first was a dereliction of duty.
After a moment’s thought, Wu Guoqiang also stood up. This man was so anxious to make a call; it was very likely that something had happened to Li Hongjun’s wife. He remembered that Li Hongjun’s wife was pregnant, and it should be around six months by now.
"Let’s go, I’ll go with you to check it out." Wu Guoqiang, saying this, strode out.
The young soldier hurried to the phone, picked up the receiver, and dialed the number left by the elderly man from yesterday. Uncle Shen had been pacing around the commune all night long, occasionally picking up the phone to check if it was broken, listening to hear if there was still a dial tone. When the phone actually rang, he was startled.
"Old Shen, what are you pondering? Hurry up and answer the phone," the operator beside him reminded.
"Ah, yeah." Uncle Shen snapped back to reality and hurriedly picked up the phone with both hands. "Hello, who are you looking for? This is Shen Yeqing."
"Good day, I’m Li Hongjun’s comrade. You must be Comrade Shen Yunfang’s uncle, right?" Wu Guoqiang, hearing his last name, was even more certain that this man was a relative from Li Hongjun’s wife’s side.
"Yes, yes, yes, that’s me," Uncle Shen gripped the phone tightly, excitement in his voice.
"Haha, Uncle Shen, Hongjun is currently out on maneuvers and won’t be able to come back anytime soon. I wasn’t at the military region yesterday either. I just came back today and a soldier told me you were looking for Hongjun. Is there something the matter? You can tell me, and if it’s a small issue, let’s see if I can help resolve it. If it’s a big issue, I’ll pass the message on to Hongjun when he returns," Wu Guoqiang offered earnestly.
Uncle Shen kept nodding vigorously on the other end of the line, then realizing the other party couldn’t see, he repeatedly agreed over the phone, excitedly explaining the situation at home,
In his heart, Li Hongjun’s comrade would surely be as reliable as Hongjun himself; if Hongjun could solve the problem, so could his comrade.
Wu Guoqiang frowned as he listened to Uncle Shen’s disjointed description but finally managed to grasp a general understanding of the situation. He spoke reassuringly over the phone, "Uncle Shen, don’t worry. I’ll call J Province right now. Yunfang is an honorable military wife, she’s part of our soldiers’ family."
Upon hearing the other party’s assurance, Uncle Shen finally let go of the anxiety he’d held onto all night. He was so moved he started to choke up, "Okay, okay, I leave Yunfang’s matter entirely in your hands. May I ask your esteemed surname?"
"My surname is Wu. Uncle, I’m going to hang up now; I need to make a call to inquire about this matter," Wu Guoqiang said.
"Yes, yes, go ahead, hang up," Uncle Shen said, nodding and bowing, still talking even after the beeping tone from the other end indicated the call had ended. Only then did he reluctantly put down the receiver. He suddenly felt a weight lifted off his shoulders, and his spirit was renewed.
Meanwhile, Wang Dashuan had spent the night at the gatehouse after the gatekeeper refused to disclose Xing Team Leader’s address, so he had no choice but to stay with the gatekeeper all night, planning to catch people first thing in the morning as they entered the gate.
Around six fifty, people began trickling in for work. Wang Dashuan squatted at the gate in a corner, stretching his neck to look outside.
Finally, spotting Xing Zhonghua cycling to work, he nearly stumbled and fell over—his feet had gone numb from squatting.
"Xing... Xing Team Leader..." Wang Dashuan, fearing the person would enter and still be unreachable, shouted at the top of his lungs.
Xing Zhonghua, upon hearing the shout, quickly dismounted from his bicycle, scanning his eyes towards the source of the voice.
By this time, Wang Dashuan had already run over, "Xing Team Leader, I finally found you."
"You are?" Xing Zhonghua was certain he didn’t know this man, but it seemed the man knew him.
"I’m from Gaijiatun. I’m Yunfang’s neighbor," Wang Dashuan hurriedly explained.
As soon as Xing Zhonghua heard this, he understood, "Hello, is there something you need?"
"Xing Team Leader, here’s the thing," Wang Dashuan quickly recounted what had happened the day before. "Yunfang has been detained for a whole night now, you must help her, Xing Team Leader."
Xing Team Leader frowned as he listened and then patted Wang Dashuan’s shoulder. He admired the young man’s spirit of weathering the storm for a friend, and it was apparent that the young man had waited for him the whole night at the gate.
"Okay, I know about the situation; I’ll go and deal with it immediately," Xing Zhonghua also had a good impression of Shen Yunfang and, of course, his clear offer to help was also out of respect for Li Hongjun.
Shen Yunfang had stored the cold rice brought by Dashuan’s wife in her space and took out some warm millet porridge from the space, which she enjoyed hot, along with three big, meaty steamed buns filled with pork and cabbage.
Just after she finished eating, the main door was opened from the outside again.
The bespectacled man swaggered into the room, immediately twitching his nose and sniffing around—the scent of pork.
"Hehe, quite the spread you’ve got here," knowing someone had just delivered porridge and buns to her, and not expecting them to be pork-filled, the bespectacled man licked his lips.
Shen Yunfang silently scoffed to herself. His sense of smell was as keen as a dog’s.
"Alright, you’ve eaten your fill and had your drink. Let’s go; it’s time for business," the bespectacled man said arrogantly, lifting his chin.
Shen Yunfang thought it a waste to speak even one word to such a person, so she kept quiet and obediently walked towards the door.
Another man stood at the door; the two of them escorted Shen Yunfang out, one in front and one behind.
After turning a corner, they arrived. This room looked a bit more luxurious than the small dark room, if only because it had a small window, a table, and a few chairs.
Shen Yunfang had just settled down when a man entered, surrounded by a sort of entourage, a middle-aged man with a slight balding head.
The bespectacled man obsequiously said, "Mr. Zhao, please take a seat here," as he pulled out the chair in the center.
Could this person be Shen Yingxue’s father-in-law?
