50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 221 Childhood Dreams

"Then why is he starting to resurface again?" Commander An asked, pointing to the note on the coffee table. (Continued from the previous chapter, still not counted in the word count, and this will not be repeated hereafter.)
"Old An, didn't you notice? He's already made arrangements for the whole family."

"My sister got married, has a child, and is very happy in her family. Her husband also has a bright future."

"My wife is all set up too. I heard that their old director, Mr. Wang, is pushing his wife towards the director's position. We also have children, a son and a daughter."

"I guess he's been lying low for decades and can no longer suppress his passion."

"When an awl is placed in a bag, its tip will soon be visible; this is a case of him putting himself inside."

"That's not right. Isn't he worried about future troubles? Given his cautious nature, that's unusual."

The two looked at each other, and simultaneously had the same idea.

"Could it be that he judged there was no fatal danger behind him? But now..." Commander An was interrupted by Director Xu raising his hand halfway through his sentence.

“What’s the use of just guessing? Why don’t we just ask him directly? It just so happens that a lot of things on this piece of paper are too brief, and I also want to understand his thoughts in detail.”

"Is he still with you?" Director Xu asked.

"Yes, they are currently conducting chemical defense training. He only showed interest in three things from my courses: chemical defense, first aid, and hand-to-hand combat."

"Hehe, interesting. Let's go find him now."

Both of them were action-oriented; once they made a decision, they would act on it immediately. Regardless of the fact that it was almost dinner time, they called a driver and set off right away.

At the training base, Sun Zhiwei is learning about protective measures from an instructor.

To defend, you must first understand.

He must first know where the danger comes from before he can learn how to protect himself.

Biochemistry refers to biology and chemistry, which actually involves some knowledge of pharmacology, but it is not comprehensive.

With the aim of learning as much as possible, he diligently absorbed this knowledge.

The content wasn't actually that much; the instructor only explained it once and he memorized it all, which saved the instructor a lot of trouble.

Having the knowledge is one thing, but we also need the equipment. We don't have much advanced protective gear right now.

After learning how to wear and use the limited number of protective gear items, the instructor began to teach him how to make temporary emergency gear using materials found on the spot.

Among the available materials, the instructors listed what items could be used to make protective gear in the wild and in cities.

How should these temporary materials be processed and combined to achieve the greatest defensive effect?

This knowledge is very useful. Although you are unlikely to encounter it in daily life, if it comes in handy at a critical moment, it will almost always save your life.

Because Sun Zhiwei absorbs knowledge very quickly, and the instructor teaches very effectively, the two of them teach and learn at the same time, and by the time the lesson was over, it was already dark.

To thank his instructor for his dedicated teaching, Sun Zhiwei decided to treat him to a nice meal, paying for several good dishes at the cafeteria.

This place truly lives up to its reputation as a key classified unit; the canteen has a full range of ingredients, and one of the chefs is an expert at roasting duck. Since there was some on hand, Sun Zhiwei didn't hesitate and ordered two.

Just as the dishes were served and the two were about to start eating, the door to the private room was opened.

"Wow, roast duck. Better late than never, Lao Xu, we're in for a treat."

"Comrade Sun Zhiwei, would you mind if we were given two more pairs of chopsticks?"

Upon seeing the regimental commander enter, the instructor immediately stood up and saluted. Although he didn't recognize the person who came in first, seeing the instructor salute made him realize that this was a high-ranking officer. Furthermore, seeing Director Xu enter afterward, he understood everything.

Sun Zhiwei quickly stood up and saluted: "We are too busy welcoming you to do us the honor of having you grace us with your presence."

Soon, the waiter brought over two sets of tableware, and Sun Zhiwei quickly ordered two more ducks, as the first two ducks were not enough for four people.

Feeling uneasy under the battalion commander's gaze, the instructor fidgeted, unsure where to put his chopsticks. Sun Zhiwei noticed his discomfort and promptly stood up to apologize.

"Instructor, I'm so sorry, it just so happens that the commander wants to see me today. Why don't you take two ducks home to eat? I'll treat you to it next time."

"That's great, no need, one duck is enough." The instructor felt like he had been granted a pardon, quickly grabbed a duck, saluted the two leaders, and ran off.

The remaining three were much more at ease. Sun Zhiwei was also a regimental-level officer, and the section chief was an acquaintance, so they weren't as reserved. At this point, they were all hungry, so they didn't rush to talk and started eating.

The three of them devoured the duck, each finishing off a whole duck. Only when they were no longer hungry did they slowly and methodically begin using chopsticks.

"Zhiwei, let me introduce you. This is Commander An from the base."

Sun Zhiwei was about to put down his chopsticks and get up when Commander An stopped him: "Let's not be polite. You're a commander too, so let's eat and talk."

"You wrote this note, didn't you?" Xu Yimin took the note out of his pocket and placed it on the table.

Sun Zhiwei glanced at it, and replied while eating, "Yes, I wrote it."

"Logically speaking, you shouldn't be able to write this on your resume."

Sun Zhiwei then slowed down his chopsticks, his gaze gradually becoming distant.

"I knew what my parents did when I was very young."

"Although I don't know why, back then people believed in the importance of children following in their fathers' footsteps, so I often fantasized about how I would do the same job in the future and what I would need to learn."

"As time went by, suddenly, the two of them left me and my sister behind."

"From then on, I lived carefully and tried to live safely, raising my younger sister gradually, and then I had my own lover and children."

"Over the years, I have never mentioned my thoughts from back then, but without realizing it, I still pay attention to accumulating and learning some knowledge that is unrelated to kindergarten in my daily life."

“I had already decided that I would retire in the kindergarten, just like the old ladies there.”

"As a result, I ended up here with you by chance. When I received the military uniform from you that day, my childhood dream resurfaced once again."

"At that time, I thought, should I cheer up and live for my childhood self again?"

"During the days I spent looking at documents in the archives, seeing this magnificent world only strengthened my resolve."

"The knowledge I had learned before came flooding back into my mind. I dug out the materials I had prepared when I was a child and combined them with the new knowledge I had learned and heard since then, and that's how this piece of paper came about."

He stopped there and continued eating.

Commander An couldn't help but press further: "So now you're not worried about safety anymore?"

Sun Zhiwei glanced back at the two of them, then suddenly said with a grin, "What do you mean by safe or not safe? Commander An, what are you talking about? Aren't we always safe in China?"

Commander An was about to ask another question when Director Xu grabbed him.

Director Xu shook his head at him, then changed the subject, saying, "Zhiwei, the things you wrote on this note are too brief. Could you explain them to us in detail?"

(End of this chapter)