Chapter 5 chapter Five

The first feeling of the army is: water.Looking at the frontier guards with the eyes trained by the first-class division of the field army is like looking at imitation famous brands with eyes accustomed to seeing famous brands. difference. On his first day in office, Wei Mingkun discovered that the cotton hats of the cadres of the military sub-district were not well-known.According to regulations, fur hats are all distributed in alpine regions.But ordinary leather hats are not good-looking, like old dog fur, not to mention the dark coat color, and the appearance is also useless, not as smooth, shiny, and upright as the school officer's fur hat.The lower-level officers were naturally unwilling to make themselves black and blind, so those who were capable tried to find a school officer's leather hat to wear on their heads, and those who were not able had to wear an old dog's fur.If it's just this, it's not a big deal, after all, they are all wearing leather hats, which is not beyond the scope of the dress code, the key is that some people wear fleece hats.Fleece caps are provided to troops in general cold regions, but the frontier guards have never been issued ones, and they still wear them if they are not issued. This hat is too shameless.But the hall of fame is here.You think, in fact, leather hats in alpine regions are more practical than velvet hats, but why do some people have to work hard to find velvet hats?This is because the tufted hat looks more prestigious and "pretty" in their eyes.The velvet cap has status because the cadres of large institutions such as the provincial military region and the military region all wear velvet caps.Border guards all have this experience. When you go to a higher-level organization for meetings or work, as long as the velvet hats catch a glimpse of the leather hat on your head, there will be many complicated contents about the old and the young and the poor in their eyes.In front of those decent and confident tufted hats, it is difficult for leather hats to shake off the rustic inferiority complex, and inexplicably produce an alternative feeling.Therefore, those who often go to higher-level organizations for meetings and work came up with a way to get the best of both worlds: to get a tufted hat for preparation, to wear a tufted hat when going to higher-level agencies, and to still wear their own leather hats after returning to the frontier defense.Both goods are available, each has its own use, but they also complement each other.That feeling is very strange to say, although it is just a velvet hat, it can make you find a solid sense of belonging in front of those velvet hats, make you feel that you are the same kind as others, and make you feel in the midst of identification. Find confidence.It felt good, and gradually people began to follow suit, and gradually more and more people had tufted hats.Even in the end, anyone who has the ability has to find a way to get a planted hat, and it is not enough to wear it outside, but also to bring back the confidence and wear it back to the camp to show off.

Facing the pile of hats of different styles in front of him, Wei Mingkun was very annoyed.What he hates the most is that soldiers dress casually, and he hates individual people disrupting the uniform of uniforms in the troops.In recent years, the dress of the troops has become more and more disorganized, and the same uniform can make many differences.The most obvious is the summer dress, the same style but with various fabrics, some people wear what kind of yarn, and some people wear what kind of silk.Those military uniforms made of yarn and silk do look much more upscale and chic than ordinary military uniforms, which has attracted many people to poach and spend money to wear them.Wei Mingkun wondered, how could the military supplies department be so casual, how could they make military uniforms with fabrics different from the standard uniforms and sell them to the troops?What made him even more puzzled was that most of the heads above the division level wore this kind of sand or silk summer clothes, and rarely wore ordinary summer clothes!This made it fashionable not to wear ordinary military uniforms in the army.When he was the chief of staff of the division, once, the quartermaster sent him a summer suit of French silk.It is said that this kind of summer suit was specially made by the military supply department for the deputy chief and his entourage when the deputy chief came to inspect the military region. Only a few dozen sets were made in total, and it took a lot of effort to dig out one set.Wei Mingkun left the military uniform without saying a word.Not long after, Wei Mingkun took out the military uniform at the cadre meeting of the division. While fiddling with the smooth fabric, he asked everyone with emotion, is this military uniform good?It is said that this is called French silk, and it costs 380 yuan a set.You said, is wearing this suit more energetic than the one wearing hair?After getting an affirmative answer, Wei Mingkun's face changed suddenly, and he said word by word: But I don't think it looks like, military, pretending at all!Seeing that everyone was a bit dazed, Wei Mingkun took a breath and asked with a smile, everyone here has worn more than one set of military uniforms, right? Who can tell what a military uniform is?Seeing that no one said anything, he asked himself and answered, military uniforms are the outer packaging of soldiers, the outer packaging of the army, and the essence of this packaging is unity.Soldiers first experience unity through dressing, learn self-discipline in a unified form, and accumulate strength in self-discipline.Therefore, unification under coercion is an important means to maintain and improve the combat effectiveness of troops.After Wei Mingkun looked around, he suddenly threw away the military uniform in his hand and said in a raised voice, therefore, we must maintain the uniform of the troops!I can't control the affairs above, and I can't control other people's affairs, but I have the final say on my own three-acre land.Today, I am here to make my words clear. From now on, our division will never wear military uniforms indiscriminately. Anyone who wears special military uniforms will be punished, and division leaders are no exception!This set of clothes, Wei Mingkun glanced contemptuously at the set of clothes thrown aside and said, it will be recycled by the military!Break up the meeting!After all, he threw down the three hundred and eighty yuan he had prepared in advance, turned around and left.

This time, Wei Mingkun repeated his old trick.After meeting with all the cadres, Wei Mingkun immediately said cheerfully to everyone that the weather outside is fine today. I think there are too many of us, and it is boring to be crowded in the room. Let's all go outside, shall we?After finishing speaking, he immediately took the lead and walked quickly to the yard. The snow has just stopped, and the sunlight is extraordinarily bright under the reflection of the snow, giving people an illusion of warmth. It was actually very cold, Wei Mingkun felt it as soon as he went out, his eye hairs and nostrils were sticky, half of his face went numb immediately like a needle prick.Satisfied, he pulled down the ears of his hat and tightly covered his face and neck.

All came out.Everyone followed each other and stood on the cold snow, looking suspiciously at the new division commander.Wei Mingkun smiled at everyone and said, I suddenly want to do a cold test to see if it is necessary to distribute fur hats in our alpine region.If it is not necessary, I am responsible for reporting to the superiors and requesting a replacement of the fleece cap.However, Wei Mingkun paused for a moment, scanned everyone with sharp eyes and said, if it is necessary, please dress strictly according to the requirements! The crowd was in a commotion, Wei Mingkun pretended not to notice, and suddenly shouted, everyone pay attention, take it easy!stand at attention--!

All the people stood alive in the snow for an hour. An hour later, Wei Mingkun announced the end of the experiment in a clear voice, and said kindly, those comrades wearing fleece caps must write down their experience of the cold experiment and give it to him.As a result, Wei Mingkun received more than a dozen review papers that day.From then on, no one dared to wear a fleece hat in front of Wei Mingkun in the camp area. I didn't see Zhou Dongjin.This made Wei Mingkun, who had been tense all the time, a little disappointed and a little relieved.To be honest, when he came to the border defense, the person Wei Mingkun wanted to see the most was Zhou Dongjin, and the person he didn't want to see the most was Zhou Dongjin.

When the political commissar introduced the situation, he obviously appreciated the work of Zhou Dongjin and his regiment. It seemed that this kid was doing a good job.Wei Mingkun believed that Zhou Dongjin would do a good job, and he never doubted Zhou Dongjin's military command ability.But Wei Mingkun didn't show his acquaintance with Zhou Dongjin in front of the political commissar at all, and he didn't even ask about Zhou Dongjin's situation when the political commissar introduced him.The political commissar said with some regret that it was a pity that the head of the regiment Zhou was not in the regiment. His father suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and was rescued. The military area asked for leave for him. He is now on his way home.

Wei Mingkun was stunned when he heard the news of Zhou Han's rescue, and the image of a tall and burly old soldier immediately appeared in his mind.This is a character who will always be held above his head by his father Wei Tuozi to show off and show off, and has stood tall in his heart since he was a child.He never thought that this person would also be old, sick, and collapsed one day. Wei Tuozi is a shoemaker, and the shoemaker's stand opposite the military compound has a history of decades.Wei Tuozi's palm shoe craftsmanship is well-known in this area, and his palm shoe stall is also the most enduring scenery in this area.

Every day, no matter in spring, summer, autumn or winter, as soon as the sky is bright, Wei Tuozi will walk out of the alley with his back arched like a ridge, pushing the squeaking car, until he walks to the opposite side of the military compound.An oilcloth was spread on the ground, and another piece of oilcloth was tied to a tree. He laid out a chisel, hammer, and nails one by one as if he were playing with a baby. He put an oil-stained canvas on his knees, and carefully put on a pair of reading glasses with one leg. The hunchback's shoe stand opened. There was a lot of work in the early years.The early years refer to the era when people mainly wore cloth shoes, and children mainly wore cloth shoes made by themselves.Guarding a military compound, Wei Tuozi couldn't finish his work.While familiarizing himself with the shoes in the military compound, Wei Tuozi also familiarized himself with the people in the military compound.

Deputy Political Commissar Huang's family was particular about their shoes, no matter how broken the shoes were, they were always clean inside and out.People are particular about mending shoes, and Wei Tuozi is also extraordinarily particular about mending shoes. Every time he finishes mending, he has to wrap them in a piece of cloth and put them aside for fear of being spoiled by others. Commander Liu's family was in a hurry, as if each person only had one pair of shoes, and if they didn't make up for it quickly, they would have to go out barefoot.Therefore, no matter how busy Wei Tuozi was, as soon as Commander Liu's guards showed up, he immediately put down his work and tried his best to grab this job.

Political commissar Du was careful, and Wei Tuozi would always press down when counting money, hoping that everyone would be happy and he would be prosperous. Chief of Staff Shao is from Shandong, and his shoes are all made and brought from his hometown in Shandong. The shoes are made solidly, with the heels flying off and the soles are still hard.Every time he patched the Shao family's shoes, Wei Tuozi kept praising him. The most despicable thing is the shoes of Deputy Commander Zhou's house.The Zhou family had many children, and every once in a while, the guards had to carry half a sack of broken shoes to Wei Tuozi to mend.Those shoes are almost unrecognizable, the tops are worn out, the soles are dropped, and it’s nothing to be worn out. The smell is unbearable. Once you open the sack, you can smell half the street alive.

Wei Tuozi doesn't dislike it, but if he dislikes it, he can't do this job.Wei Tuozi's rough hands seem to be born to play with this stuff, no matter how worn out the shoes are, he can make a shape under his hands.He loves this line of work, and it can even be said that he is obsessed with this line of work.Raising a family is one aspect, but the most important thing is that this job is suitable for him.A natural hunchback, he can't straighten his waist for anything, but he doesn't need to straighten his waist when doing shoes.Wei Tuozi, carrying a hunchback like a ridge on his back, leaned over the shoe stall for many years, using his rough hands to support a sick wife who was lying in bed all the year round, and a son whose stomach was bigger than a swill tank. Son Kunzi grew up beside the shoe stall.Since I was a child, I liked to use nails and hammers as toys, and I followed my father's example to jingle and knock.People passing by saw it and were happy for Wei Tuozi, saying that you have a helper, Tuozi, I think Kunzi is good, and he will be able to support this shoe stall for you in the future.Wei Tuozi loved to hear this, and when he heard this, he laughed happily, until Luo Guo'er was bouncing on his back. The son started to distance himself from the shoe stall after going to school.Once, Wei Tuozi saw his son talking and laughing with a group of classmates coming here from a distance, so he shouted loudly, Kunzi, come here!Kunzi seemed to be taken aback for a moment, but quickly turned his face away and continued joking with his classmates.Wei Tuozi thought his son hadn't heard, so he shouted again, Kun... As a result, as soon as he opened his mouth, Kunzi slid into a nearby alley.Wei Tuozi didn't care, he didn't have much trouble at first, but after seeing his son, he suddenly thought of asking his son to send Zhou's shoes to him.The shoes were repaired a long time ago, but the Zhou family never came to pick them up.In fact, just wait for the Zhou family to pick it up by themselves, there is no need to rush to deliver it, but Wei Tuozi is happy to see his son, and wants to let the whole world know that Wei Tuozi can also create a straight eldest son, so I want to use the style of Lao Tzu to dispatch my son. The son slipped away quietly.Later, Wei Tuozi sent the half sack of shoes to Zhou's house by himself.Just this time, Wei Tuozi met Zhou Han. When Wei Tuozi came to Zhou's house with half a sack of shoes on his back, Zhou Han was busy building a cucumber shelf in the courtyard.There are no flowers or plants in the yard of Zhou Han's house, all crops and vegetables are planted.The courtyard of this building was originally owned by a puppet Manchukuo official. In the past, many flowers and plants were planted in the courtyard. A path paved with cobblestones meanders from the entrance of the courtyard to the front of the building.On the first day after Zhou Han moved in, he pointed to the flowers and plants in the garden and said, "Get rid of all these bourgeoisie!"The soldiers wiped out those charming and delicate bourgeois in an instant.Later, Zhou Han directed people to level the winding cobblestone path and pave a straight green brick road.The yard was immediately organized, and the ground was divided into neat tofu blocks. Where the bourgeois flowers and plants were wiped out, proletarian corn, lentils, eggplants, and peppers soon grew. Zhou Han happily flipped through them Grow a variety of crops in your yard.Working in the field has become a daily compulsory course for Zhou Han. As long as he has free time, he will dive into the field, loosen the soil, pull weeds, thin out the seedlings, and fertilize.He likes the solid feeling of his hands touching the ground.After many years of fighting, he still retains a deep affection for the land.He knew that he would never be able to return to the land, so he cherished this farming very much.Outsiders only know that Zhou Han likes to farm, and think that Zhou Han cares about the vegetables he grows, but they don’t know that he is actually using this method to express a farmer’s son’s deep feelings for the land, and to make up for his departure in this way. The psychological shortcomings of farmers who have lost their land. Zhou Han was wearing a sweaty old man's shirt and a pair of big pants. His feet in slippers were covered with mud.Wei Tuozi concluded at a glance that this person was a handyman who tended the vegetable field for the Zhou family.So, he immediately shouted at him in a rough voice: "Hey, buddy, why are you so short-eyed? Quick, come and pick it up!" Zhou Han straightened up and saw that a hunchback was struggling to carry a sack, so he quickly stepped forward to take the sack and asked, "Brother, what are you carrying?" Wei Tuozi got down quickly, wiped his sweat with Luo Guoer and said, "Shoes. I'm done." "Whose shoes?" "Can I send someone else's here?" "My family?" "Commander Zhou's." "so much?" "Is that too much? It's only half a sack, and it was more than half a sack last time. It's more than that." Zhou Han grabbed the shoes in the sack and couldn't help laughing and cursing: "These bastards, this is not wearing shoes, it's just eating shoes!" Wei Tuozi was dissatisfied when he heard it, and said, "I said buddy, don't be so rude when you work for others. Did you say this bastard?" Zhou Han was surprised: "Why can't I say it?" "Of course you can't say that. You're working at Commander Zhou's house, and you call Commander Zhou's child a bastard. Aren't you scolding Commander Zhou?" "I……" "Come on, man, take the shoes to the house, I'm waiting for the money." Zhou Han stopped arguing, and immediately shouted into the room: "Old Yu, Yu Enhua." Seeing Yu Enhua responding, Zhou Han said: "This old man has delivered all the shoes he has palmed to the door, why don't you hurry up?" Count the money for others." Yu Enhua hurriedly paid the money without saying a word.Zhou Han asked again: "Tell the guards to work harder in the future, and don't let this old man send it home. Isn't it inconvenient to see him? If I see it again, I will settle the score with you! " Wei Tuozi immediately opened his mouth into a dipper, but he couldn't close it for a long time.It never occurred to him that this handyman tending the vegetable field was the famous Zhou Han, Commander Zhou.Thinking of how loudly he was yelling just now, Wei Tuozi's heart tightened, and he was so panicked that he didn't even care about the money, so he ran out, but was stopped by Zhou Han. Zhou Han said: "Brother, what's the hurry, rest your feet and go." Wei Tuozi's face was pale and he muttered, "Zhou... Commander Zhou, what, my what..." Zhou Han was amused: "Brother, why did you change your mouth? It's easy to call the buddy, so let's call it buddy!" Wei Tuozi hurriedly said: "That's not going to happen. Those who don't know don't blame it. If you know it, you will make a mistake if you bark." Zhou Han said: "How can there be so many problems, you can speak fluently, and I can listen fluently." Wei Tuozi waved his hands like a windmill, and said again and again: "That's not going to happen, that's not going to happen, it's not messing with etiquette. Disrupting etiquette will cost your life." Seeing that Wei Tuozi raised his title to such a high level, Zhou Han could only smile and didn't insist anymore.After finally pulling Wei Tuozi to sit in the courtyard, Zhou Han wanted to have a good chat with this old man, but found that Wei Tuozi was no longer as calm as before, and responded with "Commander Zhou" like a frightened bird, what? Words are gone.Zhou Handun felt bored, and after simply asking about the situation of Wei Tuozi's house, he went down to the vegetable field to pick a big load of vegetables for Wei Tuozi, and sent Wei Tuozi away. On the way home with the vegetables in his arms, Wei Tuozi's hunchback almost straightened, and everyone he met along the way said, "Look at how well Commander Zhou grows this vegetable!" "Yes, it was given to me by Commander Zhou. This, this, he personally went to the field to pick it for me." "No, don't look at Commander Zhou being such a high-ranking official, you can speak your own words, call me brother." "I've known him for a long time! His family's shoes have been given to me to mend. It's been six or seven years at least." "That's no problem. I'll go and talk to Commander Zhou if I have anything to say." Although Wei Tuozi was blowing his tongue out at the time, he would never have imagined that his acquaintance with Zhou Han would have an immeasurable impact on the Wei family and on the future of his son Wei Mingkun. Just when Wei Tuozi was complacent because he knew Zhou Han, and was talking about Commander Zhou as bullshit all day long, his son was busy fighting Zhou Han's son. The battle took place between two gangs of children in the courtyard and the alley, and Kunzi and Dongjin were the leaders of the two gangs respectively. The children in the courtyard and the alley have always been at odds, and the reason for this is largely due to their different circumstances.The children of the Dayuan Gang are mainly raised in captivity. They live in the "August 1st School", eat lunch, wear school uniforms, and have a special car to pick them up from school every week. They have a certain aristocratic air.The children of the Hutong Gang can only be free-range.Every day, he ran up and down the street to and from school, and got in and out of the alleys in disheveled clothes.The life of most families is as difficult as that of Wei Tuozi's family. The lunch brought by the children can only be one pickle and two corn bread.Of course, the children in the alley are very envious of the children in the compound, especially the bus that takes them to school every week.Whenever the car arrives, the children run out of the alley one after another and rush to the car. The children who are watching the courtyard like watching a show line up in a neat line to get on and off the car.As soon as the children in the compound got on the bus, someone would stand up and start singing.Their favorite song is "Military Song of the Chinese People's Liberation Army".This is their school song, and only the "August 1st School" is qualified to use this powerful military song as the school song.Whenever the singing sounded in the car, the children in the alley immediately had itchy throats as if they had grown hairs. They couldn't help singing along loudly under the car.At that time, the children in the alley were still very friendly to the children in the compound.They are new and curious about everything in the compound, they envy them and are willing to approach them.Although they sometimes feel a little jealous because the other party is superior to themselves, and feel a little unfair because they feel the gap between them, they are still very friendly.After all, they have learned to calmly deal with their own and others' life attitudes from their optimistic parents. But this situation did not last long.Once, when the singing in the car stopped and the children in the alley were still yelling around the car, there was a burst of shouting in the car: "One, two! Wild children! " "One, two! Wild child!" "One, two! Wild child!" The car went dumb immediately.Like being hit by hailstones, the children in the alley were so dizzy that they couldn't breathe for a long time.They stared dumbfounded at the smug little heads behind the car windows, and really didn't understand why those little heads wanted to humiliate them, why they called them wild children. At this moment, a stone flew towards the car window accurately and hit the glass hard.With a crisp cracking sound, the glass was shattered. The sudden attack immediately caused confusion in the crowd, and there were screams of panic from inside and outside the car.Everyone looked in the direction of the flying stones, and were surprised to find that the one who hit the stones was Wei Tuozi's son Kunzi.Kunzi held a large slingshot in his hand, and stood there motionless with his back straight, with a posture of neither hiding nor hiding, and daring to act. Zhou Dongjin was the first to respond.Dong Jinfei got out of the car, jumped in front of Kunzi with a whoosh, and grabbed Kunzi by the neck.Kunzi also immediately twisted Dongjin's wrist without showing any weakness.The two immediately scuffled together without saying a word. There was a sudden chaos all around, and the bosses started to fight, what else can I say next?The children on both sides immediately made their moves and wrestled together and started a group fight.For a while, the ground was covered with dust, and the sound of cursing and crying was noisy.It wasn't until the soldiers from the guard company arrived that they forcibly pulled them away one by one. There is only one pair that cannot be separated: Dongjin and Kunzi. These two boys were so red-eyed, their hats had already been blown off, their buttons were torn off, and their clothes were torn, let alone one of their sleeves.The two people tumbled and fell to the ground, turning up one after another, and overturning the other after a while, no one could persuade them, and no one could pull them away.In the end, a few soldiers went up together and held them down.Pulling it up, one of the two boys had black and swollen eye sockets, and the other was bleeding from his nose and his face was covered with stains.Even though they looked like this, the two were still glaring at each other, struggling desperately to continue fighting. Since then, the war has started and has continued since then. Today someone spits on the other party on the road, tomorrow someone throws a big snot over; today someone is robbed of a slingshot and yolk, tomorrow someone snatches the other party's wooden gun and stabbing stick; today someone's chin There was a "cannon" on the ground, and tomorrow someone's head will be "opened"... If the children in the compound hadn't suddenly left as soldiers like a gust of wind, I don't know how long this protracted war will last. It was one afternoon when Kunzi learned that Dongjin and the others had joined the army. A few days ago, Kunzi and Dongjin decided to play a "yo-yo" in the afternoon of that day through the afternoon.In addition to the use of force, they also often engage in this kind of civil war, winning "Paji", "Liudaner", "pull the old man" and so on.On that day, Kunzi made careful preparations in advance.Kunzi knew that the glass balls on his side were not as many as the opponent's, nor were they as good as the opponent's.In order to win the opponent's good "eggs", he led everyone to make a batch of "eggs" with mud.This kind of self-made "clay egg" is light in weight, and it takes a little effort to hit the "glass egg". Kunzi only mastered the strength of playing the "clay egg" after practicing all day.Kunzi was very excited when he thought that he would win a large number of beautiful glass balls with clay balls.After lunch, Kunzi and the others came to the scheduled place early and waited. But Dongjin and the others did not come.A long time passed and Dong Jin didn't show up, and not only Dong Jin didn't show up, but none of his subordinates showed up either.This has never happened before.Some people wondered whether Dongjin and the others were afraid and did not dare to come. This guess was immediately denied by Kunzi.After fighting for a long time, they have gotten to know each other very well.Kunzi said that Zhou Dongjin didn't seem like the kind of person who didn't count or ran away, so he decided to send someone to the compound to find out the news.The inquisitors came back soon, bringing a piece of news that shocked them: Dongjin and the others went to serve as soldiers!Went secretly last night! This is the biggest defeat of the Hutong Gang since the war with the Compound Gang.Kunzi felt that he was knocked down all of a sudden, and was thrown to the ground so hard that all his organs were bleeding, and there was no pain anywhere, so painful that his whole body was about to burst. Kunzi silently took out the clay eggs in his pocket, threw them on the ground one by one, and stomped them to pieces one by one with his feet desperately.Afterwards, Kunzi bit her lip and returned home without saying a word, and fell headfirst on the bed.For a whole day and night, Kunzi didn't eat, drink, or sleep, but stared at a corner of the beam with bloodshot eyes. In the evening of the next day, Kunzi got up from the bed, walked up to Wei Tuozi, and said in an unquestionable tone that Wei Tuozi had never heard before: "Father, take me to find Commander Zhou!" "What are you doing?" Wei Tuozi widened his eyes in shock. "I want to be a soldier." "What?!" "I want to be a soldier!" "Who do you think you are? You want to be a soldier! Who do you think your father is? You want to be a soldier!" Wei Tuozi jumped up and roared viciously. "Father, don't you know Commander Zhou?" Wei Tuozi was stunned for a moment, then his voice suddenly dropped: "I know Commander Zhou, I know Commander Zhou, but...but..." Kunzi's eyes sparkled and he said, "Father, tell Commander Zhou that I will be a soldier!" Wei Tuozi asked as if he didn't understand, "Let me tell Commander Zhou that you should be a soldier?" "That's right! Dad, haven't you known Commander Zhou for a long time? Didn't he give you so many dishes? Didn't you say that you can just tell him if you have anything to do?" Kunzi shook Wei Wei excitedly. The hunchback's arm. However, Wei Tuozi pulled Kunzi's handcuff off at once, and said in a panic, "That's all... that's all..." He wanted to say that it was all bragging, how could he take bragging seriously? , but the words turned into "That's... that's all... the truth, but..." "Father," Kunzi pulled Wei Tuozi up and left, "What the hell is that, let's go find him now!" The closer Wei Tuozi got to Zhou Han's house, the more he couldn't move his legs.When approaching the door of Zhou Han's house, Wei Tuozi resolutely refused to leave. He looked at his son pitifully and said in a low voice, "Kunzi, shall we go back?" Kunzi looked at Wei Tuozi in bewilderment, not understanding why his father was doing this for a while.He leaned closer to his father, and seemed to sense something from his dodging eyes. "You're scared." Kunzi said. "Yes." Wei Tuozi squatted on the ground. "You're bragging." Kunzi said again. Wei Tuozi dodged Kunzi's gaze and lowered his head deeply. Kunzi laughed suddenly, and the laughter rolled down into the black ground, hard and cold. After laughing, Kunzi said to Wei Tuozi in a voice as hard and cold as the laughter: "It's late now, we've arrived at the door." After finishing speaking, he suddenly stretched out his hand and rang the doorbell decisively. Zhou's compound is very deep. First, a soldier interrogated through the thick door, but he didn't open the door after the interrogation. He just said please wait a moment, I will report to the chief, and they left the two of them outside the door.After waiting for a while, the soldier came back and opened the door, and ushered them in. As soon as he entered the courtyard, Kunzi was a little dazed.The yard was so big that it made people feel empty, and Kunzi couldn't help but clenched his father's hand tightly.When they followed the soldiers and walked deep into the courtyard, Kunzi's breathing suddenly became short. He saw a building, a three-story green brick western-style building.Kunzi never imagined that a family could live in such a big building!In the past, he only knew that there was a gap between himself and Dong Jin in their lives, but he never thought that the gap between them would be so big!Dongjin lived in such a big courtyard!Dongjin lived in such a big building!Kunzi felt that his chest was so constricted that he was about to explode, so he quickly opened his mouth wide.Kunzi heard his mouth wheezing, making a heavy sound like a dog panting. When going up the steps, Kunzi's legs were a little fluttering, and he managed to climb up the few steps that were not too high.Once inside the building, they were ushered into a large room filled with sofas.The soldier said to them, you can sit in the living room first, the chief is answering the phone upstairs, and he will be down in a while, then he turned and left. Kunzi turned his head to look at his father, and his father was also turning his head to look at him. Both father and son had the same panic in their eyes.They were really frightened by the set of regulations for entering Zhou's house, they had never seen such a big rule. After waiting anxiously for a long time, I heard footsteps on the stairs.Wei Tuozi hurriedly pulled Kunzi to stand up, and looked towards the door. Finally, Kunzi saw a tall soldier appearing at the door of the living room.The man stopped at the door and looked at them with blazing eyes... This is the first time Kunzi met Zhou Han.Zhou Han was very consistent with his imagined appearance, tall, burly, majestic, and a little fierce.Thinking that he was standing in front of such a big man, Kunzi was so excited that his hands trembled. Wei Tuozi was also trembling.The last time Wei Tuozi met Zhou Han was in the yard, and Zhou Han was dressed like a farmer that day, so Wei Tuozi didn't feel how different Zhou Han was from himself.But today is different. Today Zhou Han is wearing a military uniform.The military uniform made Zhou Han exude a kind of intimidating power from top to bottom, which frightened Wei Tuozi to the point where he couldn't help but shrivel up. Zhou Han's gaze paused on Wei Tuozi's face, and he seemed to be trying to remember where he had seen this person before. Wei Tuozi hurriedly cheered up, and reminded Zhou Han with a smile: "Zhou... Commander Zhou, you forgot, you even went to the field to pick vegetables for me." Zhou Han agreed twice with "oh oh", but obviously didn't remember it. Wei Tuozi continued to remind: "You also said that I would come to chat with you often when I have time." Zhou Han still agreed with an "ohhhhhh", obviously he still didn't remember it. Wei Tuozi's sweat broke out, and his mouth was too full to speak.Seeing this, Kunzi quickly took it from the side and said, "My father handles shoes across the courtyard, and he sent shoes to your house." Hearing about palm shoes and sending shoes, Zhou Han matched Wei Tuozi.There was a smile on Zhou Han's face immediately, and he said happily, "Oh, it's you, brother, look at my memory!" "It's me, it's me." Wei Tuozi nodded repeatedly. "Look at your brother, call 'dude', didn't I remember it a long time ago." "Don't dare, dare not." Wei Tuozi was so excited that his face lit up. "This is your son?" Zhou Han turned around and asked. "Yes, yes. Kunzi, hurry up and salute Commander Zhou." Kunzi immediately bowed politely and said, "Hello, Commander Zhou." "Hey, it's fine for children to be called uncle, there's no need to be so formal." Kunzi immediately changed his tune and said, "Hello, Uncle Zhou." "Okay, okay." Zhou Han responded cheerfully, turned his head and said to Wei Tuozi, "This kid is good, very smart." He then greeted enthusiastically: "Sit down, brother, sit down." After chatting for a while, Zhou Han saw that Wei Tuozi was always in a state of fear and absent-mindedness, so he asked, "Brother, what can I do for you?" Wei Tuozi suddenly became dumb, lowered his head, twisted his hands together, not knowing where to put them. Zhou Han said with a smile: "Brother, just tell me what you want. Do you want to eat the vegetables I grow again, but my vegetable field is gone." Wei Tuozi looked at Zhou Han pitifully, and it took him a long time to hold back a word: "I..." After finishing speaking, he turned his gaze to Kunzi as if asking for help. As soon as he entered Zhou's house, Kunzi confirmed his judgment: Father and Commander Zhou were not familiar with each other at all.When he was outside, his father was always very flamboyant and proud when he mentioned Commander Zhou.But in front of Zhou's family and Zhou Han, his father seemed very humble and pitiful.His father's humbleness and pity bit Kunzi's heart like a mouse, causing him to feel a deep pain deep in his heart.For a while, Kunzi almost wanted to give up.He wanted to escape from this yard, never to look back, never to let his heart ache again.But when he saw his father's eyes asking for help, he suddenly became sober.How could I escape, I finally walked into this western-style building, and finally met Commander Zhou.Such an opportunity is simply too rare for him, the son of a cobbler.He can't give up easily, he must seize this opportunity.As long as he persists, he may realize his wish, and he may wear a military uniform like Zhou Dongjin!Thinking of Zhou Dongjin, Kunzi suddenly felt his whole body vibrate, and blurted out the most difficult sentence stuck in his throat: "I want to be a soldier." Kunzi said. The smile on Zhou Han's face disappeared like a tide.He looked at Kunzi seriously, and didn't speak for a long time.After walking a few steps in silence, Zhou Han raised his head and asked Wei Tuozi, "Brother, is this why you came to me?" 魏驼子的面孔顿时歪扭起来，吸溜着鼻子发出一些莫名其妙的声音。 周汉轻轻地叹了口气说：“老哥，你这是给我出难题来了呀。” 魏驼子把头深深地埋在胸前，如果有个地缝，他肯定钻进去了。 不知道哪来的勇气，坤子突然问道：“周叔叔，周东进是不是去当兵了？” 周汉惊奇地看着坤子，没回答却反问道：“你怎么知道？” 坤子也不回答，也反问道：“周东进能当兵，我为什么不能？” 周汉更惊奇了，他走近坤子，认真地对着坤子的眼睛注视了一会儿才说：“小子，我告诉你，这是部队内部招兵，只招部队子弟。” 一直瑟缩着不吭不响的魏驼子此时突然弹了起来，尖着嗓门冲过来嚷道：“都是你这个小兔崽子！非拖上我来给周司令找麻烦！走，你给我家去，别在这丢人现眼！走！”说着，拉起坤子就往外走。 坤子没动。魏驼子使劲拽了一下，坤子仍旧没动。魏驼子急了，回过身来劈头盖脸就给了坤子一巴掌。这一巴掌正好打在了鼻子上，血立刻流了出来。 魏驼子愣了，从小到大魏驼子从未碰过儿子一下，儿子是他的心尖，是他生命的全部。看看儿子流出的血，又看看自己的手，魏驼子突然疯了似的扇起自己嘴巴子来，边扇边说：“坤子，你爹不中用，你爹不中用啊……” 坤子再一次体验到了那种深刻的心痛，他觉得自己这一回是无论如何也坚持不住了。他想逃离这里，想立刻就跟着父亲逃离这里。他沮丧地向门口走去，边走边下意识地用手背在脸上抹了一把。手背上立刻沾满了鲜血。坤子没想到自己会流这么多的血，他停下来有些惊讶地看着那些血：血是那样的鲜红，带着自己温热的体温。我流血了，坤子想。坤子突然有些激动：我流血了！我已经流血了为什么还要逃走呢？No!我决不逃走！一股悲壮的情绪猛烈地撞击着坤子，坤子被撞击得几乎站不住了。他打了个趔趄，突然回转身咕咚一声跪在了地上。 坤子语气坚决地恳求说：“周叔叔，求求你了，你就让我当兵吧！” 周汉自然与魏驼子不同，他这一生见过的血太多了，这点血是决不会让周汉心动的。让周汉心动的是坤子的眼睛。坤子的眼睛里有一种坚韧的东西，周汉喜欢那种坚韧，那是一个优秀军人所必须具备的基本素质。其实，周汉一眼就看出这小子是个军人坯子。周汉相信自己的眼光不会错，带了一辈子兵了，他凭感觉就能准确地判断出哪些人天生就该做军人。 周汉直视着坤子的眼睛说：“小子，当兵要流血，你能行？” "Row!" “当兵要舍命，你能舍？” “舍！” 周汉突然大喝一声：“那你就给我站起来！” 坤子说：“不！你不答应，我就不站起来！” 周汉勃然大怒：“小子，凭你跪在地上的这副熊样你还想当兵？你知道军人是什么吗？军人是山、是石、是树！是世上所有不能折的物件！你小子愿意跪就跪吧，跪一辈子我都不会送你这号人去当兵！你……” 周汉猛一回头，看到坤子早已站起来了。 两人默默地对视着。 周汉威严的目光罩住了坤子，目光如炬地审视着这个倔强的掌鞋匠的儿子。一般人都经受不住周汉的这一看，但坤子挺住了。虽然面色苍白，嘴唇微微颤抖着，但坤子却始终迎着周汉的目光，没把眼睛挪开。 许久，周汉终于说出了那句决定坤子命运的话：“好，我答应你！” 越野车在砂石路上跑。车轮把路面上的砂石带起来，不停地甩到车身上，甩出一路噼哩啪啦的噪音。不时有大块的砂石突然飞上车窗，砸在玻璃上发出刺耳的炸裂声，弄得人一惊一乍总以为玻璃被打碎了。 一到边防，魏明坤就发现他坐的车风挡玻璃裂了。开始他还没在意，但很快就发现这里几乎所有的车风挡玻璃上都有裂缝，有的还不止一条。直到跑了一趟砂石路，他才明白为什么所有车的玻璃上都有裂缝了。魏明坤的司机很得意地告诉他，到目前为止自己还是分区最高纪录的保持者——已经坚持四个多月没换风挡玻璃了。 边防大多是砂石路，据说，与过去的路相比，现在的砂石路已经是好得不能再好了。眼前这条砂石路直通周东进的二团驻地——南山沟。 魏明坤接到报告，说去黑山口哨所处理情况的二团政委王耀文今天下山。他二话没说，跳上车就往二团赶。其实，身为军分区司令员，实在用不着有点事就往团里跑，如果需要了解情况，只要把下面的人调上来听听汇报就行了。但魏明坤却执意要去。 魏明坤不放心。带部队最怕的就是出事。从排长、连长、营长、团长到师参谋长，魏明坤带兵都带得落下病根了——怕电话，最怕半夜来电话。只要半夜里电话铃一响，他就会紧张得心咚咚直跳，总以为部队又出什么事了。在部队当主官就是这样，你干得千好万好，只要出一丁点事，就一了百了什么都不好了。 魏明坤执意要去二团的另一个原因，就是想亲眼看看这个团到底怎么样。刚上任就出了人员伤亡这么大的事，魏明坤心里挺别扭。虽说真要追究起责任来，与他这个新上任的司令员关系不大，但毕竟事情是发生在他的任上，怎么说也是个阴影。一想到这，魏明坤就来气：周东进这个团长是怎么当的？ !军分区政委向他介绍情况时，满嘴都是二团的好。满嘴都是周东进的好。这么好，那么好，怎么他这个当团长的前脚刚走，后脚就掉链子了？ 其实，潜意识里还有一个理由促使魏明坤急着要去二团，这就是周东进不在。魏明坤想见周东进是真的。以他们两人目前的状况来看，魏明坤在周东进面前占有绝对的优势。在这种情况下，他没有理由不想见昔日的老对手，没有理由不想在老对手面前展示自己。但魏明坤不想见周东进也是真的。他还把握不准以自己现在的身份该怎样与周东进交往。他想趁周东进不在的时候多了解一些情况，以决定如何把握两人之间的关系。毕竟在以前的那些年里，他们之间发生了太多的纠葛。毕竟在今后的若干年间，他们又要在一起共事。想起这些来，连魏明坤自己都感到奇怪，为什么他俩几乎所有的事情都会无端地纠缠在一起？周东进被发配到边防以后，魏明坤安静了好些年。他以为他俩这辈子再也不会在一起打交道了。但如今，一纸调令就又把他和周东进重新拴在了一起。从接到调令的那天起，魏明坤的脑袋里就常冒出那句老话——冤家路窄。 二团的团部坐落在南山沟。这处地点是周汉早年任省军区司令时亲自选定的。据说，周汉当时站在南山头上，左手叉腰，右手往南山沟方向这么一划拉，说，团部就设在这吧。这条沟四面环山，敌人的炮弹打不进来，而且只有一条路通到山外，难攻易守。我看就这么定了！当时没任何异议，就这么定下来了。异议是在以后才出现的。按说，周汉的选择绝对符合他那个年代的打仗标准。但在经历了太久的和平岁月，在武器和战争方式都发生了巨大变化的今天，这个选择就越来越为后代军人所不理解了。南山沟太偏僻了。过去打仗，指挥机关的驻地总是越隐蔽越好，就得选择南山沟这样很难被敌人发现，即使发现了也很难袭击的地方。But now it's different.现在的监测手段和武器都先进得不得了，不论你在哪，都能精确地测定出你的位置，不管你藏多深，都能准确地对你实施远距离打击。再像过去那样钻山沟，已经变得没有多少实际意义了。而一旦没有了打仗这个实际意义的支撑，南山沟的偏僻在后代军人的眼里就只剩下了种种的缺点：首先是进出太不方便。从南山沟出来得走十多里路才能走上通车的大道。生活不便倒在其次，关键是老婆们不愿意来。有工作的老婆坚决不来，因为来了就等于放弃了工作，而且再也别想工作了。没工作的老婆也不愿意来，因为进了这条沟就彻底失去了就业的希望。最成问题的还是孩子上学。孩子们得翻山越岭到山那边的一个乡村学校去上学。远近且不说，那所学校多少年也没一个孩子考上高中。所以，二团机关最大的一个特点就是随军家属少，准光棍儿多。偌大的山沟里，几乎是清一色的单身男人在这里独守寂寞。 寂寞难耐时，就有人把南山沟的种种缺点编排成顺口溜挂在嘴上宣泄。说南山沟有“四大难”：出沟难，进沟难，老婆工作难，孩子上学难。还说南山沟有“四大费”：费脚、费鞋、费车、费油。“四大省”：省工、省人、省炮、省弹。每当说到“四大省”的时候，准光棍儿们就把脸上的笑容弄得很有内容，外人哪怕一时听不懂也大多能从那一脸的诡秘中看出这不是什么好话。 常有后来的人愤愤地问，当初谁选的这个地方？就会有人回答，听说是个姓周的司令，刚打完仗，还没钻够山沟，一眼就看上这条南山沟了。那老头儿就站在那个山头上，拿一根手指头这么一圈弄，就把咱们团给圈弄进来了。问的和答的显然都对那根圈弄他们的手指头怀着一肚子的不满和无奈。 车拐进南山沟，魏明坤眼前一亮。 路上的积雪清理得干干净净，路两旁用雪堆砌出城墙的造型，蜿蜒着一直通向营区。车子行驶在这条路上，就仿佛行驶在白色的长城之上。在这独特的长城引导下向前行进的过程中，人便于不知不觉间生出了一种庄严的肃穆感。 令魏明坤没想到的是，在二团团部门口，卫兵竟把他的车拦住了。按说，军分区范围内没有人不认识司令员的车，这辆车在所属部队走到哪都应该是通行无阻的。但二团的卫兵却似乎看不出这辆车的来头，毫不客气地把车拦在了门外。 “请首长出示证件。”卫兵恭恭敬敬地敬了个礼。 魏明坤下意识地摸了一下兜，没摸到，这才记起自己身上根本没带证件。已经很多年没被人检查过证件了，魏明坤早已养成了谁都认识自己，自己这张脸就是证件的首长意识。像今天这种情况，他还从没遇见过。有点滑稽，有点尴尬，当然也有点让他感到不太舒服。他想，也许这是因为事先没通知二团自己要来团里的缘故。其实他是有意不让通知二团的。他想乘机看看二团的常态，他历来认为从日常状态中最能看出一支部队的基本素质。 司机见魏明坤没带证件，就赶紧抻头对卫兵说：“小吴，这是分区新来的魏司令，你向团里通报一下吧。” “是。”卫兵答了一声，转身就去打电话了。 “你们认识？”魏明坤问。 "know." “这么说，他知道这辆车是分区的喽。” “知道。全分区哪有不认识这辆车的？” 魏明坤的脸就有点颜色了。见魏明坤半天没吭声，司机赶紧解释起来，说二团历来是只认证件不认车，不认人。在二团，不管你是谁，不管认识的还是不认识的，只要进营区都得检查证件。据说，有一次周团长没带证件，被卫兵拦在了门口，后来是卫兵向军务股报告后，由军务股长来把周团长领进去的。周团长当时就宣布给了这个卫兵一个通报嘉奖。魏明坤听着心中似有所动，脸色也略略和缓下来。 卫兵打完电话，跑步过来说了句：“请首长稍等。”就回到哨位上去了。 没办法，只好等。魏明坤干脆下车踱起了步。 山沟里的雪似乎格外的厚，厚雪绵软地覆盖着山体，无声地遮掩了山的坚硬和棱角，把远近的山峦变成了一式的柔和曲线。一切都显得格外单纯简洁，像一幅大面积留白的画作，没有一丝杂色，没有一点杂音。人在其间，不由自主地就拥有了一份远离尘嚣的安宁，心境如净化般豁然清明起来。 魏明坤深深地吸了一口气，清冽的冷气直入胸肺，激得浑身一震，禁不住脱口说了句：好舒服！ “报告！” 背后突然传来声音。魏明坤猛然回头。一个身材高大的上校军官目光炯炯地看定他，用膛音很重的声音一字一句地说：“二团团长周东进请魏司令员进入营区。” 周东进！魏明坤不由愣住了。