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Chapter 12: Pay it forward

The sentry and his companion looked at each other, and the other nodded slightly. The young sentry then left the post with his gun on his back and motioned for Xie Hushan to follow him: "Comrade, follow me."

The sentry personally took Xie Hushan into the military camp. Xie Hushan followed the sentry with his hands on his stomach, quietly looking around the size of the camp. When the sentry brought him to the toilet, Xie Hushan immediately became excited. The toilet in front of him was bigger than the one in the county hospital, and there were two of them. How much feces could be stored there!
He walked quickly into the toilet, but he didn't expect the sentry to follow him in. It was obvious that he wanted to watch him go to the toilet. There was no other way. Xie Hushan wanted to go back to the village and then use the manure from his own toilet. In the end, under the sentry's watchful eyes, he stayed in the barracks and could only comfort himself in his heart:
"It's okay. We can't lose it here. We can just harness it and transport it back to the team!"

After going to the toilet and returning to the gate of the military camp, Xie Hushan said thank you and then turned to the main topic: "Comrade, this is the case. I am the non-staff counselor of military training at Zhongping Primary School. Our principal wants me to ask if we can bring the children of the school to visit the military camp for half a day in order to let the children understand the importance of patriotism, support the army and learn from Lei Feng, and improve their enthusiasm for physical fitness and hard training. They don't need to meet any high-ranking leaders or too many people. It would be fine if the PLA uncles from a class could meet them, let them talk to the PLA uncles, play games, and see how the PLA uncles are trained. They can help the military camp do good things and do voluntary labor. At that time, the school is willing to make a silk banner for the military camp and send it to it with gongs and drums. You don't need anything, just write a few letters of praise to the children and take a photo together."

The sentry looked at his companion again, thought for a moment, and said to Xie Hushan, "Comrade, after we change shifts, I can report what you said to your superiors. Come back this afternoon or tomorrow and ask. I will then let you know whether your superiors agree to hold a military academy social event. Is that okay with you?"

"Hey! Thank you, thank you PLA comrades!" Xie Hushan thanked the sentry profusely, pushed the bike for more than ten meters, and then rode on it. When the military camp was completely out of sight behind him, he stopped and greeted a middle-aged woman who was drinking water from a large can in a cornfield not far away:

"Auntie, when was the military camp built here? I'm from Zhongping Village. I passed by here a few years ago, but I never saw it! If I were to join the army in the future, I'd be assigned here. I could do shooting training during the day, and I could go home at night if I took leave!"

He believed that no matter what kind of military camp it was, he could definitely get some information by asking the villagers living near the camp, not to mention that he was not asking about any important secrets.

The woman might have heard Xie Hushan's accent didn't sound like a stranger, and she also wanted to take the opportunity to straighten her back and take a breath, so after drinking the water she said: "I came here after the earthquake, and it has been two years. I came here to repair the bridge and dam that collapsed during the earthquake. I tell you, if you want to be a soldier, you can't come here. I heard the PLA boys themselves say that they are called engineers, a second-line unit, and the food and meritorious service qualifications are far behind those of the first-line units! They can't go out to shoot and target, and they are taken out to work by car every day. Once I sent them some rice dumplings, and I heard the boys complaining, saying that they are all soldiers, but how can they fight in the war and get meritorious service, while they dig soil and repair bridges all day long, and they are covered in dust and don't look like soldiers. They feel embarrassed to eat the rice dumplings I sent them."

"The barracks looks quite large. How many people are there?"

"I don't know the exact number, but probably a few hundred people. They say it's a temporary camp for the engineering battalion, but how would I know how many people there are? Besides, they're not our troops. They came here temporarily to support us because of the earthquake. They said they'll have less than a year to finish repairing the bridges and roads in our county, and then they'll move back to their old unit."

"Thank you, auntie." Xie Hushan got the information he wanted and said thank you.

Then he put his hand on his forehead and looked up at the sky. The sun was now at the middle of the sky and slightly west, so it might be around noon. He wanted to meet up with Han Hongbing first and then come back here to get information in the afternoon. After walking a few steps, thinking about what the aunt said about these soldiers coming from other places to support the post-earthquake reconstruction of Yaoshan, he finally turned around and pushed his bicycle back to the military camp:
"Damn it, one hundred and fifty yuan. I'd rather buy popsicles for the PLA comrades who came all the way to Yaoshan to help with the earthquake relief work, rather than give it to the dung scoopers who control the price of dung!"

This time he did not go near the military camp. He parked his bicycle far away on the roadside. Then he squatted on the side of the road, letting the midday sun scorch him, his eyes fixed on the two sentries on duty.

The sentry also saw him coming and going, but Xie Hushan did not go over to say hello, and the sentry naturally would not take the initiative to communicate with him. The two sides just stared at each other from a distance of more than ten meters. It was the end of summer and noon, and the heat was unbearable. After a while, Xie Hushan's body was tanned and greasy. He wiped the sweat from his face with a vest over and over again, but even though his skin was burning and painful, he did not move.

He was just gambling, gambling on the sympathy of the PLA comrades, gambling that they would not bear to see their peasant brother exposed to the scorching sun, so they went in to report in advance, which was supposed to be done in the afternoon when they changed shifts.

This way he could save a lot of time. The two sentinels might have seen Xie Hushan's determination. This young militia platoon leader from the countryside was clearly prepared to wait here until the afternoon when they changed shifts to help him inquire and get accurate information before leaving.

Sure enough, twenty or thirty minutes later, seeing that Xie Hushan had no intention of moving, one of the sentries stepped out of the post again, looked at Xie Hushan deeply, turned around and walked towards the camp.

Xie Hushan's eyelids had become heavy from the sun, and when he saw the sentry move, he immediately raised his hand and slapped himself on the face twice, staring straight at the camp.

Soon, the sentry came back, but this time he did not return to his post, but walked directly towards him. Xie Hushan quickly stood up and looked at him expectantly.

The sentry saluted him, and Xie Hushan also quickly straightened his chest and raised his hand to salute.

"Comrade militia platoon leader, my company commander has been leading his team out on a mission and has not returned. I asked the instructor on duty for instructions. The instructor said that in principle he agrees and supports local school teachers and students to carry out patriotic and military support education and friendship activities with our department. However, before the local school teachers and students can have the friendship, the local commune armed forces department must contact our department in advance, and when the teachers, students and local comrades come, they must hold a contact letter issued by the head of the commune armed forces department before our department will allow them to receive them." The sentry slowly relayed to Xie Hushan what his instructor had taught him.

Xie Hushan swallowed and stared at the other person. He was a little dazed by the sun and his brain worked a little slower than usual.

"What didn't you understand?" The sentry thought that Xie Hushan didn't understand.

Xie Hushan nodded, "I understand. I will go back to find the head of our commune's armed forces department and ask him to call the head of your battalion headquarters to tell him that the students will come to the party tomorrow. Tell him how many people will come. Then when the children come tomorrow, they can bring the contact letter signed and sealed by him."

The sentry nodded, then unscrewed the lid of the military water bottle he was carrying, handed it to Xie Hushan, and said with a smile: "Drink some water. I'm really worried that you will faint at the gate of our battalion headquarters if you continue to be exposed to the sun. If that gets out, it will be more serious than falling asleep on guard duty in the middle of the night and waking up wearing the battalion commander's coat."

Xie Hushan took the water and drank half of it, then returned it to the sentry and wiped his mouth: "Thank you, PLA comrades, I won't drink this water for nothing. Tomorrow I will treat you to popsicles and help you clean the barracks. Don't worry, we country people are honest and we promise to clean even the toilets for you. I keep my word!"

The sentry grinned and said nothing. He just raised his hand to salute again, then walked back to his post in standard steps.

Looking at the gate of the military camp, Xie Hushan let out a long sigh and said with a sense of relief: "This time I finally paid for it."

(End of this chapter)