Sitting on the tour bus heading home with a group of enthusiastic military visitors, watching the familiar scenery pass by outside the window, Pei Yan fell into deep thought. The events of the past half-day gave him a feeling as if he had lived a lifetime.
He looked down at his phone, at the photos he had taken with the soldiers and visitors. He even wondered if he had really attended a military camp exhibition day or if everything in the big warehouse was just a figment of his imagination.
It wasn't until he swiped to the photo of himself with the female soldier in uniform, seeing her cheerful smile in the picture, that he realized it was all real and remembered the name she introduced herself with—Xia Yu—and the numerous reminders she gave him.
Thinking of this, Pei Yan took out a small bag containing a stack of notes and began to read them carefully. They detailed every aspect of his visit to the military camp, some of which were specially marked as things to casually mention to his family.
After memorizing what was written on the notes, Pei Yan tore them into pieces and discarded them in a trash bin after getting off the bus. He sat downstairs in his community for a full hour, calming his emotions. It was close to five in the afternoon when he finally returned home.
Contrary to his expectations of being bombarded with questions upon returning home, his parents showed no interest in where he had been all day. It made sense; they were not aware of his situation. Plus, it was a summer break after the college entrance exams, and he had been out late before, with his mother only offering mild scoldings.
Returning at this time was earlier than usual, leaving Pei Yan, who had been preparing himself emotionally, feeling like he had thrown a punch into the air with nowhere to begin his story.
As he was pondering, his dad, sitting on the sofa watching TV, glanced at him with a puzzled frown and asked, "Where did you go today? Where did you get that army cap?"
Pei Yan touched the camo cap on his head and grinned as he flopped onto the sofa. "Oh, I got a ticket to a military camp observation day when I went out the other day. I went for a tour today, and it was nice. There are even souvenirs! I won them at the event." As he spoke, Pei Yan opened the bag and showed the items.
"Oh, since when did you become interested in the military? With your physique, how could you win anything?" Dad tossed the remote aside, teased him, and sat cross-legged on the sofa, curiously fiddling with the souvenirs Pei Yan brought back—a canteen, a notebook, a pen. After flipping them over a couple of times, he placed the pen and notebook in front of himself, saying unceremoniously, "I'll take these two."
"I won those! You're taking them by force!" Pei Yan feigned a snatch.
Dad slapped Pei Yan's hand away and shoved the two items under the coffee table, ending his hopes. "They'd be wasted on you. What would you do with them?"
"What would I do? They're proof of honor! Dad, let me show you the photos I took in the military camp. See if I look at all like a soldier!" Pei Yan seized the chance to open his phone and hand it to his father.
Dad took the phone, glanced at it, and continued to mock him. "Soldier-like? Look at those People's Liberation Army soldiers; they're about your age. Look how straight they stand, all neat and tidy. Then look at you, slouching around like a mess every day."
"No way! The army leaders there said I have potential to be a good soldier! They even took a picture with me; if you don't believe me, I'll show you." Pei Yan took back the phone, scrolled to a picture of himself with a middle-aged officer, and intentionally asked his dad, "What rank do you think he is, Dad? I'm not familiar with these things."
Dad squinted at the photo and stared at it for a while. "That's a major, probably the battalion commander, right? Did he really say that to you?"
"Yeah, he said I was a rare good recruit!"
"He was just being polite. You took it seriously. Go wash up and get ready for dinner." Dad tossed the phone back into Pei Yan's lap, stood up, patted his behind, and swaggered into the kitchen.
Pei Yan shrugged, tucked the phone into his pocket. He had said everything he needed to; any more would have been overdone. Everything else was up to Officer Hu and the others.
Just like usual, after dinner, Pei Yan returned to his room. Aside from his mom asking a few questions during dinner, both parents quickly dismissed the subject. They had no idea this was just the beginning of the plan to take Pei Yan away.
Lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, Pei Yan's mind raced like a carriage replaying the day's events. He couldn't help but wonder whether it was a coincidence that Hu Wenjun took him there because they were hosting a military camp exhibition day, or if they had organized it especially for him?
If it were the latter, did it mean he was important? Thinking of this, Pei Yan couldn't help but feel a little pleased with himself.
But the smugness didn't last long. Pei Yan turned down invitations from classmates for three days, like a well-behaved child, staying home with an anxious heart, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the staff Officer Hu had mentioned.
It's funny, really. Pei Yan now felt like a bride-to-be awaiting the wedding car after a successful matchmaker meeting. Initially full of reluctance and complaints, now growing impatient for the ceremony that seemed never to arrive.
Thankfully, the wedding car, this time the Otherworld Investigation Bureau's, didn't keep Pei Yan waiting too long. On the afternoon of the third day, just when Pei Yan thought it would be another wasted day, someone knocked on the Pei family's door.
Faced with the unexpected recruitment personnel, Mr. Pei's first reaction wasn't joy but shock. He glanced at his son, peering nervously in his basketball jersey, and then at the eager faces of the recruitment office personnel, secretly dialing the police.
He couldn't believe anyone would come to recruit his son as a soldier in person!
Nowadays, one has to go to the military registration office, sign up themselves, and pass various inspections before becoming a soldier. This walking recruitment during the recruitment season? He had never encountered or heard of it! And with a bunch of offered benefits? Mr. Pei coldly laughed, completely convinced that these three were fraudsters posing as recruiters. He wondered how they learned of his son's visit to the military camp and now had come to deceive him!
Old Pei patiently calmed the visitors, secretly signaling his wife to go downstairs for help, and shoved his son back into his room. About five or six minutes later, rapid footsteps came from downstairs, the door was yanked open, and Mrs. Pei, leading reinforcements, triumphantly pointed at the three uniformed people in the room, shouting, "It's them! They're impersonating soldiers to scam us!!!"