At the end of August, Conway was discharged from the hospital.
After he recovered, he was first seconded by the Beijing Military Region to the Group Army in Hebei for elite training as a training instructor. He stayed there for two months and did not even go home during the National Day. Later, the northernmost part of the Beijing Military Region, the farthest away from the leadership, suffered heavy snow every year.
The Yimuhe Border Guard Company, which had been isolated from the outside world for the longest time, requested from its superiors to send an instructor with excellent military skills to the company for six months of training. After Conway learned of the news, he volunteered to join the border guard.
Considering his health, the military leaders did not approve his report.
Conway was not convinced, so he found He Tuan and went to the military area to reason with him. He promised to complete the mission, and the leader reluctantly agreed.
"You and your lover will discuss it again. If she agrees, the military region will have no objection."
The leader put down his words, and Conway had no choice but to bite the bullet and find Gu Mengmeng, who had just returned from an interview in the northwest, to ask her for her opinion.
"I don't agree." Gu Mengmeng stood with him under the sycamore tree in the late autumn of the newspaper office, with no emotion or anger in her dark eyes.
Conway was a little surprised, then he rubbed her hair and said with a smile: "Why, you can't bear to leave your husband?"
"Anyway, I don't agree." She couldn't express her inner feelings. She felt that Conway had changed since he returned to the army. He was more desperate than before. He felt like a boxer who was afraid of being eliminated.
You have to work hard to be noticed by the world.
This feeling is very bad.
She didn't want him to turn into someone eager for quick success and unbalanced after losing his dazzling aura.
"Then I'll stay with you for the rest first, okay? After the vacation is over, I'll go to the border guard again. After the New Year, I'll come back and report to He Tuan to make you feel at ease." Kangwei wanted to hug her, but was ignored.
Mengmeng was blocked.
She asked in confusion: "Why do you have to go? Your achievements are meager but not inferior to this one. You and I both know the harsh environment of Yimu River. You are a patient who has had brain surgery. Going there is more dangerous than
It's several times higher in the Mainland. Do you want me to stay in Beijing and have trouble sleeping and eating, unable to work and live normally, and worrying about your health every day?!"
Gu Mengmeng spoke quickly and urgently, pouring out her emotions like beans, and then leaned against the edge of the flower pond, panting and staring at him.
Conway was left speechless.
As the cold wind of late autumn passed by, he looked at the falling sycamore leaves around him, raised his hand, then slowly put it down, and finally explained to his angry wife in a calm voice: "Mengmeng, there is a reason for going to the Yimu River."
"What's the reason? You'd better explain it to me!"
He sighed slightly, slowly sat next to Gu Mengmeng, stared at her and said, "The reason is very simple. I want to go over and fulfill the old company commander's wish."
Gu Mengmeng asked confusedly: "Old company commander? When did you become the old company commander?"
A trace of deep pain flashed in Conway's eyes. He tore off the holly leaves beside him and looked at the courtyard under the sunset.
"Before I tell you, let me admit that I have hidden something from you. I'm sorry, Mengmeng, because it has been hidden in my heart for too long, so I can't bear to bring it out again and cause more pain."
Gu Mengmeng's expression relaxed a little. It seemed that this was a past event that Conway had buried in his heart for many years. He had never mentioned it to himself. I'm afraid it was really hard to tell.
"I once stayed at the border guard in Yimu River for a year. It was when I had just graduated from the military academy and was assigned to the special brigade of the military region. Because I was young, energetic, willful and arrogant, I had a physical collision with a sharpshooter in the team and died.
I was punished for injuring others and was sent to the Yimu River Border Defense Company in the northernmost part of the military region for re-education. It was there that I met the most admirable man in my life, the old company commander you just confused, Han Zhongxing. He was from Henan
After he joined the army from his hometown, he never returned to the fertile land where he was born and raised..."
"Why? The officers and soldiers of the border defense company also have family leave."
Conway's eyes darkened when he heard this, and he remained silent for a long time. Through the open branches of autumn branches, she saw the deep sadness on Conway's face.
"Old company commander, he died just when I was about to leave the Yimu River."
Gu Mengmeng was stunned. She intuitively felt that this matter had something to do with him. Otherwise, Conway would not have regarded his experience in Yimu River as a taboo and buried it deeply in his heart. Even she did not know about it.
"Does it have anything to do with you?" She asked him in as gentle a tone as possible.
Conway nodded heavily. His eyes were fixed, and his mind went back to that windy and snowy night a few years ago.
"The company has new recruits reporting every year, but the soldiers that year are particularly difficult to manage. My military skills are the best among the veterans in the company. In addition, I was awarded the rank of lieutenant as soon as I left the military academy, so I lead the training."
The old company commander gave me the task of recruiting new soldiers. Out of respect for the character of the old company commander, I agreed. What I didn’t expect was that there was a deserter among the new soldiers. When that boy saw the Yimuhe border guard
The harsh environment, coupled with the double psychological and physical pressure during training, instigated five or six recruits to run away on a snowy night."
Gu Mengmeng was shocked. She knew that if the deserters were captured, not only would she be punished, but her leaders would also be implicated... One of them was serious enough to be notified, let alone a group.
"The old company commander became anxious immediately. He is a responsible soldier who has led troops for many years and has never had such a major incident. He urgently gathered a platoon of people and chased them in the direction where they might escape.
The old company commander and I walked together on the most difficult and dangerous section of the mountain road. The wind and snow that night were so heavy that people had to follow the footwells stepped by the previous person. Even though their faces were covered, the snow particles were still there.
It was like an ice knife cutting my eyes and it hurt. I was careless and didn't realize that the old company commander couldn't hold on until he was halfway there. He had serious pulmonary heart disease. He submitted his job transfer report for three years, but he didn't.
I was willing to replace him as a cadre. Later, I noticed something strange about him and wanted to carry him on my back, but he refused with a tigerish face. I don’t know what kind of perseverance it took to support him and I who had difficulty breathing.
In the middle of the night, we finally found a few frozen recruits at the foot of a cliff. They clung to each other to stay warm all night long. Fortunately, they were all fine."