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墨書 Inktalez
This time, the two of us surprisingly agreed on something. After leaving the bar, we hailed a cab by the roadside, and Old Bi tugged at me, saying, "Hey, look over there at that girl who’s acting all high and mighty. She just got into a BMW."
I casually glanced over and indeed saw Qiqi opening the door of a BMW sports car and getting in.
Ah, the world of the wealthy. I couldn't help but sigh.
After dropping Jing off, Old Bi and I returned to the base. We sneaked into Unit and collapsed onto our beds, falling asleep immediately.
The second time I woke up, it was Old Tang shaking me awake. He looked anxious. "Old Wang, we need to talk."
"What is it?" I asked, still groggy.
"The Instructor checked on us last night and found you missing. It's already been reported to higher-ups!"
"What!?" I was taken aback. In fact, sometimes the officers in various Units would stay out overnight, but usually no one pursued it too rigorously. However, according to regulations, this was indeed a serious dereliction of duty.
"The Instructor reported directly to the Political Commissar. After the Company Commander found out, he went to see the Political Commissar. Apparently, the Political Commissar is very angry and plans to announce severe consequences at the handover meeting. The Company Commander went to see the Commander as well. I'm here to give you a heads-up so you can prepare yourself mentally."
Old Tang looked a bit guilty. "I slept so soundly last night that I didn’t even notice when the Instructor came by. Otherwise, I would have called you to come back."
"This isn't your fault; even if you had called, the situation would still be what it is." My feelings were quite complicated. Such matters could escalate quickly; once someone made a big deal out of it, it could become troublesome.
Honestly, this was my first encounter with such a situation, and I felt somewhat lost.
Call the Commander? To be honest, I hesitated—partly because I didn't want to face him directly and partly because I feared that bringing up trouble would make him less inclined to help.
"You should just go to the Commander's house; the Company Commander should be there too. It’s not even 7 AM yet; there's still time before the handover meeting," Old Tang suggested.
I looked at Old Tang. I knew that with this incident happening now, any chance of receiving a Third-Class Merit was out of the question. However, if it affected our collective Third-Class Merit due to my actions, that wouldn’t be fair to everyone else.
In this world, there are many things one is reluctant to do but must do nonetheless.
After thinking it over, I realized there was no way out. I reluctantly put on my clothes and walked out of the Unit.
As I made my way to the building where the Commander lived, my legs felt as heavy as lead, and I was struggling internally. But to eliminate any negative repercussions, I had no choice but to proceed.
Unexpectedly, halfway there, I ran into the Company Commander.
With a stern expression, the Company Commander approached me, and my heart sank. This was bad.
Upon seeing me, the Company Commander immediately launched into a tirade about my poor political awareness and lack of sensitivity. At a time like this, why did I have to go out on Thursday night? Thursday was a workday; if it had been the weekend, it would have been easier to cover up. Now it looked like I had deserted during a state of readiness, and if it escalated further, it could be seen as violating military discipline or abandoning my post by frequenting unhealthy entertainment venues.
The more I listened, the paler my face became. Honestly, I never expected such serious accusations to be thrown at me; the more I thought about it, the more frightened I became.
I grimaced and decided to interrupt the Company Commander. "Are you suggesting that I'm being pushed out at the end of the year? I've prepared myself for that."
The Company Commander paused, sighed, and frowned. "It's not that serious. I just spoke with the Commander. After he learned about this, he communicated with the Political Commissar. I'm here to inform you of the handling opinion: we will strive for the lightest punishment possible—an announcement at the handover meeting and criticism during the Entire Unit cadre meeting where you will have to stand up and reflect on your actions. Oh, by the way, your Third-Class Merit is definitely gone, but the collective Third-Class Merit is still intact. The Commander had quite an argument with the Political Commissar over this; collective Third-Class Merit isn't just one person's honor and shouldn't be revoked because of one Comrade's mistake. You can rest assured about that."
Hearing this made me feel extremely dejected. Losing my Third-Class Merit was one thing—I hadn't anticipated this outcome—but almost losing the collective Third-Class Merit because of me was terrifying. I wasn't afraid for myself; I was afraid of letting down my comrades.
The thought of having to reflect on my actions during a meeting was something I truly couldn't accept. I'm someone who values face; this would mean I'd become a topic of discussion for a long time.
The Company Commander patted me on the shoulder. "Old Zou went a bit too far with this matter. Whatever happens should be handled within the battalion; even if it means arguing or shouting behind closed doors, there's no need to escalate it upwards. I'll talk to him again when I get back. But you must acknowledge that you were in the wrong here; you need to learn from this experience. I'll communicate with the team again to see if we can avoid having you stand up for a reflection."
My mind was in chaos; I didn't even register what the Commander was saying. I just felt disheartened—no matter how well you perform, any small mistake will be magnified by others.
I was confused; just a moment ago, I had been basking in the joy of returning from Drill, enjoying everyone's envy and feeling accomplished, believing everything in my military career would go smoothly from then on. Now, however, it felt like I had been thrown back down to earth—no, worse than that—I felt utterly humiliated.
No wonder Old Tang always warned me to remain humble and cautious in the military. Sighing inwardly, all my grand ambitions seemed to evaporate in an instant.
"Come back with me; take some time to rest," said the Company Commander.
"Company Commander, I'd like to take leave instead. Since I haven't used any leave this year, I'll just stay here and rest without going home," I replied quietly.
"What's up? Got any thoughts?" the Company Commander asked, tilting his head.
"No, I just want to calm my mind. This situation has really thrown me off," I replied.
"I see. Well, write a report, and I'll approve a week off for you. I'll submit it to the regiment later. Just take a good rest," the Company Commander suggested after a moment of consideration.
"Thank you so much. If I really have to write a self-reflection, then I guess I'll go," I expressed my heartfelt gratitude. A leave of absence meant that I was still in the area but not bound by military discipline. I could choose to stay at home or live outside. It wasn't that I was slacking off; it was just that after everything that had happened, expecting me to maintain the same mindset and spirit towards training and work was unrealistic.
I needed some quiet time (not silence).
"And also, don't call the Commander for now. There's no need to bother the Leader with this; he knows what's going on," the Company Commander added as he walked a few steps away.
I understood that the Company Commander was reminding me about my closer relationship with the Commander.
I nodded silently and followed the Company Commander back to the Unit.
As they say, good news travels slowly while bad news spreads like wildfire. By noon, I had received several inquiry calls, likely due to early reports from the Agency's shift meeting.
The last call was from Old Bi. "Brothers, I'm sorry. It's my fault for dragging you into this," Old Bi said with some guilt.
"It’s not your fault; this was bound to happen," I reassured him.
Indeed, every cause has its effect. My relationship with the Instructor had always been mediocre, and during this drill, the Instructor felt embarrassed about losing face, so naturally, he would keep a close eye on me. My lack of caution made it inevitable that I'd be caught eventually. I had sorted through all of this in my mind, but my mood still wouldn’t improve.
"I called my uncle. Don't worry; it'll blow over eventually since it's not exactly a good situation," Old Bi comforted me.
"Look at that! Haha, I never wanted to leave my fate in someone else's hands, yet here I am being controlled by others," I said helplessly.
Old Bi was momentarily speechless. "Alright then, Brothers. I've taken a week off; it's a legitimate excuse for me to go out and have some fun. You just hang in there. After this incident, things will probably be stricter around here. Just stay honest."
By afternoon, my leave was approved. I briefed Old Tang about taking a week off and asked him to keep an eye on things without leaking any information to the Unit. After changing into civilian clothes, I stepped out of the camp gate.
I haven't decided where to go yet, but anywhere is fine as long as it's not Unit.
Sitting on the bus to the city center, my phone rang. Oh, it's Jing! Shouldn't she be in class right now?
I answered, "Hello, Jing?"
"It's me. Can you come to the police station?" Jing's voice trembled a bit.
"Go to the police station? What for?! Did something happen?"
"No, no. I was just called in to give a statement, but I'm all alone and really nervous. Can you come keep me company?"
I thought about it; I had nothing else to do and hadn't seen Ah Huang in a while, so why not? "Sure, I'll come find you." After confirming the address, I got off at the next stop and hailed a taxi to head straight there.
As luck would have it, it was indeed where Ah Huang worked. Later, I learned from Ah Huang that every municipal police station has a criminal investigation team, and each district branch has its own criminal investigation squad. Each district is assigned a responsibility area, meaning every detective has their own designated area.
Ah Huang is a Vice Captain in one of the district's criminal investigation teams, which is probably equivalent to a deputy section chief. By comparison, a regular officer transitioning would be equivalent to a second-level staff member, while a Vice Platoon leader would be a first-level staff member. My rank corresponds to that of a deputy section chief, so Ah Huang and I are on the same level.
I hadn't been in touch with him for some time and had no idea how he was doing. Lost in thought, I arrived at Jing's criminal investigation team.
Upon entering, I glanced at the office layout map on the wall and headed straight for the fourth floor Vice Captain's office.
The door was open, and when I peeked in, sure enough, there was Huang, looking down and writing something.
"Vice Captain Huang!" I called out deliberately.
"Hey?" Ah Huang looked up.
Seeing me, Ah Huang quickly stood up with a surprised expression. "What brings you here, Brother?"
I chuckled. "I missed you, so I came!"
Everyone sat down and chatted for a while. I felt my mood lift significantly; it was nice to relax with my brothers.
Noticing the time, I quickly asked about Jing, "Oh, wait, let me find out where she is." Ah Huang made a call, asked a few questions, and then hung up. "Your friend is indeed here to give a statement. She's in the recording room on the right side of the second-floor stairs. Hey, don't leave just yet; let's all have dinner together. It's on me! You can tell me about your drill!"
"Sure, if you're treating, I'll stay. But I need to check on my friend first. You take care of your business."
After saying goodbye to Ah Huang, I hurried toward the recording room where Jing was waiting.
As soon as I pushed the door open, there she was, sitting anxiously and looking a bit restless.
"Jing, what are you doing here?"
"They... there was a guy who went out with Qiqi before he disappeared. They called Qiqi in for questioning, and she asked me to vouch for her," Jing said, her face tense.
(To be continued, more exciting content tomorrow!)
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