Siheyuan: Happy life of veteran drivers

All good things must come to an end. Under the urging of the Soviet high-level officials, Drolev and his party finally set out on their return journey.

At the Air Force camp, several people were queuing up to say their final goodbyes to Wang Hongtao.

"Wang, my good brother, although I have only known you for four months, you are my best friend in Dragon Country and my true good brother!"

"This is my closest companion. It has saved my life many times. Now I give it to you."

After saying this, Drolev took out a black pistol from his inseparable backpack and handed it to Wang Hongtao solemnly.

"Makarov, what a great gun!" Wang Hongtao said in surprise.

"Brother De, I accept your gift. I also have a gift for you."

Wang Hongtao took two bottles of Fenjiu and handed them to Drolev: "This is the favorite wine of our Long country people. You, take it back."

Then Andrei, Yevgeny, Vasily, and Alexei, who was the most hostile to Wang Hongtao at the beginning, said goodbye to Wang Hongtao and exchanged gifts with each other.

"Wang, yes!" Alexei said in broken Mandarin.

Wang Hongtao smiled, punched his chest with his right fist, and waved to them.

……

The Soviet aid team left, but Wang Hongtao's corresponding task was not over. He had to sort out his gains during these days and give back to the Air Force Training Department.

Another month passed by the time all this was over.

Ministry of Air Education.

General Xu looked at Wang Hongtao with a smile and asked softly, "Are you really not going to continue working in the army?"

"If you are willing, leave everything else to me. With your contribution, you can stay in the army for a few years. You will definitely be promoted to a colonel."

Wang Hongtao shook his head in embarrassment: "I'm sorry, Chief, you know, my brother and my unmarried wife are still waiting for me at home, so..."

The mission was over, and the other drivers had already been sent back to their original units. Only Wang Hongtao was called in for a talk by General Xu, and his words seemed to try to keep him.

The two talked a lot, and Wang Hongtao did not reveal too much. He only shared all his experiences and insights about Fighting No. 21. But even so, General Xu felt a sense of appreciation for his talent.

Seeing that Wang Hongtao showed no sign of changing the dock, General Xu could only say with regret: "Since you don't want to, I won't force you. I believe you can make contributions in other places as well."

"Besides, our Air Force Department will not break its promise to you. You were a 21st-level cadre before, right? After this, we will promote you to 18th level."

"It's not that your merits are only enough to raise you to level 18, but because of your age and this special experience, it's not convenient to announce it. Do you understand what I mean?"

"I totally understand. Besides, I am already very satisfied with reaching level 18."

General Xu's statement that this experience was not convenient to make public was actually exactly what Wang Hongtao wanted.

Since he traveled to this era, he never thought about how fast or how high he should climb. All he thought about was one word - survive, and he would survive as long as he could.

As for his behavior during this period, firstly, he was directly recruited by the military and could not be refused;

Then there is the "atonement" mentality. It may not be appropriate to say "atonement", but this is generally what it means. For example, the more ill-gotten gains a person makes, the more enthusiastic he will be about charity, releasing animals, and confessing his sins in Buddhist temples.

This is similar to the character Lu Bingkun in All or Nothing.

With the same mentality, Wang Hongtao also felt that he had enjoyed something that did not belong to him and should do something to make up for it.

Not seeking achievement, just peace of mind.

After completing the mission of the Air Force Training Department, Wang Hongtao felt much more at ease. Peace of mind was his greatest gain from this trip. He would not mind even if General Xu did not give him any reward and just erased the record of this trip.

Wang Hongtao sometimes wondered, General Xu let the other seven pilots go early and kept him alone. Could it be that he saw something else besides his contributions?

Cao Cao was suspicious by nature. Wang Hongtao believed that he had inherited not only the prime minister's peculiar habits, but also his suspicious character.

However, during these five months, I basically lived within the sight of the Air Force Education Department, including the conversations with the Soviet aid personnel, which were accompanied by Director Zhang throughout, so I think there should be no problems.

Next, Wang Hongtao spent another half a day saying goodbye to Director Zhang, Officer Jiang, and the members of the G-21 fighter crew of the Air Force Training Department, and signed a confidentiality agreement. He was then taken back to the steel rolling mill by a military vehicle.

……

Steel rolling mill, logistics department, small warehouse.

Li Huaide smoked his cigarette with a satisfied look on his face, thinking in his mind:

Xiao Wang is really considerate. In such an emergency, he still thought of leaving enough pills for me. Where can I find such a good driver? !

But touching the empty porcelain bottle in his pocket, Li Huaide fell into melancholy again:

Even if I use it diligently, the pills will eventually run out. What should I do in the future?

The happy mood suddenly turned into sadness.

It is said that it is easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. The same is true for men. After living a wealthy life for a long time, Li Huaide feels extremely uncomfortable when he wants to go back to his previous frugality.

"Director Li, I'm going back first?" Liu Lan greeted with a smile.

In the past six months, Director Li has been inconsistent and ineffective, which has made Liu Lan in a state of limbo. Fortunately, her condition seems to have improved in the past two days, and her hard work has not been in vain.

"Let me rest for a while." Li Huaide gritted his teeth.

……

At ten o'clock in the morning, Secretary Nie suddenly called Li Huaide and Yang Weimin to a meeting in the conference room.

"Do you remember that Lao Li's driver was transferred by the military a few months ago? Now the dismissal order has been issued, and he has been promoted to the 18th-level cadre. I called you two here today to discuss what position to assign him."

"What? Xiao Wang is coming back?" The person who said this was Li Huaide.

Yang Weimin was shocked: "Secretary Nie, you're back now, why did you get promoted to level 18? Isn't this a bit against the rules?"

Secretary Nie answered Li Huaide first: "Well, the military department just contacted me this morning and said that the mission has been successfully completed. Comrade Wang Hongtao performed excellently and will be returning soon. Let us prepare to receive him."

"As for his rank, don't speculate, Old Yang. This was decided after careful discussion by the military. According to sources, if it weren't for his age and the confidentiality of the mission, his rank would have been raised further."

"What we need to discuss now is what kind of job to assign to him when he returns. The previous position of transport team leader is obviously no longer suitable for him."

Level eighteen is truly a leadership level. Deputy workshop directors, instructors, and deputy section chiefs of powerful departments are all level eighteen cadres. If it is a smaller department, such as the medical department or the financial department, level eighteen cadres can become section chiefs.

"There are several positions suitable for him: the chief of the Transportation Department, the Propaganda Department, the Procurement Department, or the deputy chief of the Security Department and the Labor and Capital Department (equivalent to the current personnel department, the personnel department at that time was only responsible for cadres). Which position do you think is more suitable?"

"But Secretary Nie, weren't these positions done well before? If you change them rashly, I'm afraid..."

Yang Weimin also reacted quickly and raised questions immediately.

After listening to this, Secretary Nie said seriously: "Director Yang, do you mean to let Comrade Wang Hongtao continue to be the leader of the Transportation Department with the title of Level 18?"

"The military's instructions are for us to properly arrange the treatment of Comrade Wang Hongtao. How can the military be satisfied if we do it in such a perfunctory way?"

“This…” Yang Weimin was immediately stunned and felt extremely regretful.

If he had known that Wang Hongtao could complete the task so well, he would never have recommended Wang Hongtao to sign up for the draft.

"Okay, back to the previous question, which position do you think is suitable for him?"

"I think Comrade Wang Hongtao can be assigned to the Labor and Personnel Department." Li Huaide said after thinking about it.

"No!" Yang Weimin blurted out!