Chapter 142: The County Party Secretary

Crossing Over: Riding the Tide

“Hmm? What made you think of joining the army? Aren’t you still in school?” Wei Hua asked in surprise.

“Uncle! My grades at school aren’t good. There’s no way I’ll get into high school, and technical school is even more out of the question. My mother and the others don’t care either. They say that at worst I can just go home and farm. They say they never went to school in their entire lives and still managed to farm. But I don’t want to go back to the countryside and farm. I want to move to the city. I’ve heard that after joining the army, I might be commissioned as an officer and be able to stay in the city. Even if I don’t become an officer, I can be transferred back to the city and become a worker.”

Wei Hua gave a bitter laugh inwardly. This was the mindset of people in the 1980s. An urban household registration was something countless people yearned for. But by the twenty-first century, it would be practically worthless. By then, people would be dreaming of moving to the countryside because there was less pollution and the environment was better.

His nephew was still far too naive. He did not know that rural recruits who were discharged from the army generally still had to return to the countryside. Without connections, staying in the city was simply impossible.

“Do you really want to go to the city that badly? How about I take you to Hong Kong? Hong Kong is a major city,” Wei Hua asked.

“I’m not going to Hong Kong. I heard it’s a place full of foreigners, and I wouldn’t understand what they say. Besides, I only want to join the army so I can return to the city and become a worker. I don’t want to live too far away from my parents,” Shitou said.

Shitou was the nickname of the eldest son of Wei Hua’s sixth older sister. Wei Hua was feeling rather depressed. He had so many nieces and nephews, yet not one of them had expressed any willingness to follow him to Hong Kong.

“Since you don’t want to come to Hong Kong with me, joining the army is still a decent path. But are you sure you can get in? I know the political screening and medical examination for army recruits are extremely strict. Besides, you don’t seem to be old enough,” Wei Hua said.

“I graduated from junior high school just a few days ago. The idea of joining the army was mine. Recently, I’ve always seen soldiers coming to bring things to you, Uncle. I figured you must have connections with the military, so I wanted to ask you to help me get into the army,” Shitou said, seeming a little embarrassed.

“You little rascal! You’re young, but you’ve already got plenty of schemes. All right, then. With your own abilities, getting into the army would be nearly impossible. But with me stepping in, I don’t think it’ll be a problem. What kind of soldier do you want to be? I’ll find someone to help. At worst, I’ll give those fellows a few benefits.”

Shitou understood “giving them a few benefits” to mean sending gifts. At that time, giving gifts to get things done was extremely common. But that was not what Wei Hua had in mind.

Shitou was fairly clever; he simply had not been using his intelligence in the right place. Sending him into the army would be a good thing. The military could educate him properly and broaden his horizons by letting him see the outside world. Perhaps after a few years, he would no longer want to return to their small county town. By then, Wei Hua’s suggestion that he go to Hong Kong would probably meet with no resistance.

The benefits Wei Hua had mentioned were not as simple as gifts. He intended to provide the military with technology they urgently needed—satellite positioning technology, for example. If he did that, arranging for Shitou to join the army should not be difficult. Letting Shitou choose what kind of soldier he wanted to be should not be a problem either.

“Uncle! If you need to give gifts too, then forget it! It isn’t worth giving gifts just to become some ordinary soldier,” Shitou said.

“Get out of here! What do you know, you little brat? The benefits I mentioned have nothing to do with the gifts you’re talking about. Your uncle doesn’t need to give anyone gifts. Come on, tell me what kind of soldier you want to be so I can put in a word for you!”

“I want to join the navy! I’ve heard the sea is vast, blue, and deep. I want to see the ocean. I want to be a sailor,” Shitou said.

“Then a sailor you shall be,” Wei Hua said firmly.

The next morning, Wei Hua told Ding Peng that he wanted to exchange satellite positioning technology for a place in the navy. He also gave Ding Peng a detailed explanation of what satellite positioning technology was.

After hearing Wei Hua’s explanation, Ding Peng leaped into a jeep and sped away.

When he returned that afternoon, he came back with two other vehicles. After getting out, Ding Peng introduced the three people who had climbed out of the other two jeeps.

“Mr. Wei, this is Secretary Chen, the county Party secretary. This is Minister Ma of the County People’s Armed Forces Department. And this is Colonel Jiang, commander of a regiment stationed nearby.”

“Hello, Mr. Wei! Welcome back to your hometown! I’ve been extremely busy lately and haven’t had time to visit you, so I had to wait until today. I hope you won’t take offense,” Secretary Chen said first.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Secretary Chen. You’re too kind. You’re the chief official of our county—how could I possibly deserve such words?” Wei Hua replied politely.

“That isn’t quite right, Mr. Wei. We aren’t the people’s parents. We are servants of the people, here to work for the common folk!” Secretary Chen said after hearing Wei Hua’s remark.

Minister Ma of the People’s Armed Forces Department then said to Wei Hua, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Wei. Welcome home.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Minister Ma,” Wei Hua replied politely.

“Mr. Wei, I was ordered to come and meet you. The military region has instructed us to ask that you stay at our barracks for a while. I’m here to discuss the matter with you,” Colonel Jiang said.

“All right, everyone, let’s not stand outside. We should go in and talk,” Ding Peng said from the side.

Secretary Chen, Minister Ma, and Colonel Jiang all knew that Ding Peng’s position was unusual, so they followed his suggestion and entered Wei Hua’s courtyard. Everyone sat down there. After Ding Peng brought out several cups of tea, he sat down as well and said,

“Secretary Chen, why don’t you go first with your business? Once Mr. Wei has made his decision, you can return home. Colonel Jiang, Mr. Wei, and I have more important matters to discuss, so please be brief.”

“Mr. Wei, we’ve already had someone prepare the budget for building a first-class highway from the county seat to this place. The entire project will require approximately forty million yuan. If we make every possible reduction, we should be able to complete the highway for thirty-five million,” Secretary Chen said.

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