Siheyuan: Bringing Warehouses to 1959

When the list was posted, it was Monday, during working hours, so no one in the Zeng family knew about it, including Zeng Wangcai.

Zeng Wangcai, the person being conscripted, didn't even know that he had become a new recruit, so Chen Yumei naturally didn't know either.

So, when the third aunt next door came in to announce the good news, Chen Yumei still didn't believe it.

"Third Aunt, please don't say that." Chen Yumei put down the work in her hands, "Our Wangcai is already working, how can he be a soldier? I'm not saying that being a soldier is bad, but this doesn't make sense."

"Why would I lie to you? If you don't believe me, go out and look. The street has posted the list, and your child Wangcai's name is on the first one. Congratulations..." said the third aunt.

For most people, joining the army is indeed something worth congratulating, but for Zeng Wangcai, it is not necessarily the case.

Zeng Wangcai is already a clerk in the publicity department of the steel rolling mill. He has a high salary and his articles have just been published in newspapers. He has a bright future ahead of him.

This is not like other children who don't have a good job when they reach a certain age. After all, for ordinary people, joining the army is a way out. Its significance is greater than defending the country. Of course, no one says it openly.

Zeng Wangcai didn't need this way out, and there was no news about this matter at all, and it was weird everywhere.

Chen Yumei quickly washed her hands, took off her apron and went out.

After confirming that his son's name was on the list, he did not dare to delay. He went home, locked the door, and went all the way to the tailor shop where Zeng Youqian worked.

In the tailor shop, Zeng Youqian was working, his apprentice was measuring a customer, and Zhang Chunmei was chatting with the customer in a casual manner.

Seeing Chen Yumei coming, Zhang Chunmei left the customer and said, "Sister-in-law, why are you here? You are a rare guest. Come in and sit down."

This shop used to belong to the Zeng family, and now it all depends on Zeng Youqian's craftsmanship for its livelihood, so even though the owner has changed, Zhang Chunmei is still warm to Zeng Youqian and his wife.

Chen Yumei said a few polite words and pulled Zeng Youqian aside: "His father, did you know that the eldest son is going to join the army? Are you two worried that I won't agree, so you did this without telling me?"

A mother worries about her son even when he is far away. After all, being a soldier is dangerous, so Chen Yumei was worried after confirming it.

Of course, she could not imagine that she would be conscripted even if she had not applied, so she thought that her son and husband had done it without telling her.

Zeng Youqian was confused: "The boss is going to join the army? How come I didn't know?"

"Go on pretending!" Chen Yumei sneered, "It's all on the public notice board, the first one is the boss, you two just keep it a secret from me."

At this point, Chen Yumei's reluctance and grievance burst out, and her eyes turned red.

Zeng Youqian panicked: "I really don't know. So, let's go to the steel mill to find the boss and see if he did it without telling us. This bastard is living a good life..."

"Shut up! Don't you see where we are?" Chen Yumei glanced at the embarrassed Zhang Chunmei, stopping her husband from talking nonsense.

Being against conscription is no small matter.

"It's okay, Xiao Zhang is not an outsider." Zeng Youqian knew he had said something wrong, so he covered it up and asked Zhang Chunmei to look after the shop while he took Chen Yumei away to the steel rolling mill.

At this time, Zeng Wangcai was still writing big characters in the office next to the Propaganda Department. He simply loved this job. During this period of time, his calligraphy had made great progress. He thought that when his teacher Zhou Yuanbai came back from other places, he would be surprised.

At this time, a colleague came in to inform Zeng Wangcai that his parents had arrived and were standing at the factory gate.

Zeng Wangcai rushed out, and then his parents asked, "Why are you here? What happened?"

"Just pretend!" Chen Yumei saw that her son was still hiding something and wiped away the tears that she couldn't hold back. "We raised you in vain. You didn't even tell us about such a big thing. Do you still have us in your eyes?"

"What's the matter? What's wrong with me?" Zeng Wangcai was confused. "Why are you crying for no reason? Please explain clearly. We are in the factory, and there are people coming and going. How about this, let's go talk aside."

Zeng Youqian could see that his son didn't seem to be lying, and there were indeed a lot of people here, and he was crying uncontrollably.

So he said, "Go talk to the side, stop crying..."

Chen Yumei took out the handkerchief given by her son, wiped her tears, blew her nose, and went to a place where it was not in the eyes of the public.

Zeng Wangcai followed them and asked them what was going on. Zeng Youqian just told them about his military service.

"No way?" Zeng Wangcai was really shocked. "I'm on the list of new recruits? I didn't go to the army... Mom, did you see it wrong?"

"It can't be wrong. The three aunts are watching, and many neighbors have seen it." Chen Yumei said confidently, and noticed that her son was abnormal. "You don't know about this? Are you kidding me? If you don't go to the army, there's no way they can put you on the list. Do you think that everyone can be a soldier? This is not the era of conscription."

Zeng Wangcai died unjustly. He wondered if the conscription office had made a mistake, or if there was someone with the same evil name as him.

He explained that he would go ask someone so that his parents wouldn't worry, and he assured them that he had not secretly enlisted in the army.

The former couple was comforted, but still worried.

Zeng Wangcai said again: "Mom and Dad, don't be like this. Being a soldier is not a big deal. It's a good thing. If this is true, you have to laugh to avoid gossip."

"That's right, Yumei, please stop crying." Zeng Youqian nodded in agreement.

Chen Yumei wiped away her tears and asked her son who to ask.

Zeng Wangcai said: "Let's go to the factory to ask first. If I join the army, my organizational relationship will definitely be affected. After asking at the factory, I will go to the conscription office of the street office. They will definitely have an explanation."

Under his persuasion, Zeng Youqian and Chen Yumei decided not to wait here but went to the street office, while he went to the factory to take a look first.

Zeng Youqian accepted his son's advice, did not go to work, and took Chen Yumei to the street.

When I arrived at the street office, I saw that almost everyone here was busy with conscription work.

"Comrade, I want to see Director Zhang." Zeng Youqian couldn't wait for his son to come over, so he planned to ask first, so he stopped a person who was busy in the street office and asked.

"Are you Master Zeng?" The man actually knew Zeng Youqian and said politely, "Our director is in a meeting. The street office has a lot of things to do recently. Please come with me and wait in her office."

Because of Zeng Wangcai, almost no one in the street office knew about the Zeng family.

Zeng Youqian and his wife came to Director Zhang's office, and the comrade who brought them in went to pour them some water.

After waiting for about half an hour, Director Zhang came in with a notebook under his arm.

"Congratulations, Mr. Zeng. Your child Wangcai has brought honor to your family..." Director Zhang congratulated him as soon as he came in.

Zeng Youqian and Chen Yumei looked at each other and their hearts skipped a beat at the same time, knowing that it was confirmed that their son was serving in the army.

"Director Zhang, our Wangcai said that he did not apply for the job. Can you tell us what is going on?" Zeng Youqian forced a smile.