The troop carrier swayed and shook.
This vehicle ran from the Southwest to the North, traveling back and forth on the road, covering a distance far greater than the training class, and its condition was clearly not as it was before.
Several tactical instructors in their jeeps parted ways with everyone midway, having imparted two thousand kiloters’ worth of knowledge, and everyone saw them back ho.
On this trip into BJ City, Hu Peizhou took the initiative to give Fang Huai a seat, and the two chatted all the way.
"The leadership has already said that once you’re at Kunzhi, you can take leave if necessary, but you were specifically selected by Leader Liu for promotion. You must score full marks in the joint exam before your rank and position are confird, or else, you won’t graduate."
Fang Huai turned his head, his eyes wide: "Full marks? How many subjects?"
Hu Peizhou looked down and patted his leg, remaining quite calm, "Physical ability subjects, skills, written tests, just dozens of subjects."
Fang Huai looked ahead, but his eyes lacked focus, seemingly lost in thought:
"...The training was originally just two sesters. The leadership can’t possibly intend for to complete a full four years..."
He had asked before. For promotion, you go in at the end of August and co out in June, getting your rank along with the Military Academy students, ten months at most, including a holiday break, so about eight months of actual school ti.
Eight months, dozens of subjects... Full marks?!
"Impossible." Hu Peizhou scoffed:
"That’s like a higher vocational education. Even if you were to complete it, it’s only three years. Three years would be enough; others graduate as junior lieutenants, but you, as a promoted student, would be a lieutenant without even having to take the entrance exam. It’s too worthwhile."
Fang Huai offered a forced smile.
"Heh, heh, heh... Thank you for comforting ."
As if recalling sothing, Hu Peizhou added:
"Also, don’t divulge your situation to anyone yet. Once it’s confird by the eting, there will be a one-week public notice period on the internal network. The Detachnt level notice boards might even post announcents. During that period, if soone reports you, it could get ssy. Bragging about it could spoil things.
There have been precedents before. There was a student who was promoted and sent to the Military Academy, whose family even held a big celebration banquet, sent invitations to comrades, and took red envelopes. Back then, there was no internal network system, and two complaint letters were sent directly to the bureau. A promising future was ruined.
Now... with the internal network and an electronic public mailbox for reports, ruining soone’s future is even more convenient. So keep a low profile during the public notice."
Fang Huai raised an eyebrow at this.
There were probably quite a few who couldn’t stand him; his first-year promotion could indeed leave so talking points behind.
After a while, Fang Huai said leisurely:
"Thanks for the heads-up. I’ll be careful."
As they talked, Fang Huai noticed the file bag in Hu Peizhou’s hand.
That bag most likely contained the security plan for the Olympics.
Gathering his thoughts, he pointed at the file bag and said:
"Can I take a look at it now?"
Hu Peizhou glanced down at it and then handed it over to him.
"Be careful with it, don’t damage it."
The Olympics, the top priority of the year.
Anything related to the Olympics, even a few pages of paper, could make soone extrely cautious.
Even soone of Hu Peizhou’s rank was insignificant in its presence.
Fang Huai carefully opened it.
The first docunt was surprisingly a letter.
In the upper right corner of the letter, a red stamp indicated the copying departnt and the number of copies made.
Tsk, tsk, so very cautious.
Advice for the Olympic security:
Fish Hook and Spear
—Written four weeks before the Beijing Olympic Gas.
The beginning is a preamble and an explanation of the origins of the article.
It presents views developed after discussions between the dean of the law school at Southern thodist University in the United States and the author, Gao Zhikai, with the date of the letter marked as July 12.
The main text states that during the Beijing Olympic Gas, all sorts of global forces will surely make trouble.
There are two types of trouble-making behavior, referred to as the Fish Hook and the Spear.
The Fish Hook involves actions like displaying foreign flags in important venues, carrying banners, chanting slogans, etc., designed to provoke security personnel into enforcent and arrests. These actions have no aggressive intent but aim to hook the Chinese side. The purpose is to tarnish China’s international image through decontextualized photos and videos.
The Spear refers to destructive activities like explosions, hijackings, hostage-taking, murder, arson, poisoning, etc. Such activities must be resolutely combatted, and the international community must be inford of the truth promptly to avoid misunderstandings.
As an event with so many years of history, it’s normal for things to happen during the Olympics wherever they are held. As long as these matters are handled according to international norms, they can be understood; hoping that nothing goes wrong is just wishful thinking.
Don’t carry a burden of thought.
The international community often sympathizes with the underdog. If China uses heavy-handed asures, it can easily be seen as the villain. On the other hand, if China shows openness and tolerance during the Olympics, even if it faces so unfair incidents, it will still be regarded as the victim.
In summary, avoid overreacting.
This article appeared in the file bag, clearly indicating its adoption.
However, there is another docunt in the file bag, dated June, detailing over eighty rules about how to remain on high alert and prevent any problems during the security period.
It’s impressively extensive.
Fang Huai was about to pick it up for a closer look when Hu Peizhou pressed his hand and said:
"This docunt has been invalidated. When the ti cos, return it to Command along with everything else. Put it back carefully."
Fang Huai smiled to himself.
He saw, in the two carefully preserved docunts held by Hu Peizhou, a clear collision between two sets of upper-level thoughts.
In the end, as a wise and powerful country facing complex situations, they had ultimately chosen a pragmatic approach.
Certain provocative activities are impossible to prevent; his own country’s people, 500,000 of them, could be arrested and sentenced.
But abroad, ha, the laughable slogan of freedom of speech.
Quite free when it cos to others’ speech, marching down the street with words written on their underwear is no problem, but for themselves?
Support for Palestine, even if you’re just a Havard student, Wall Street would demand lists from the school administration, to ensure they can’t find work in the future.
Faced with such double-standard freedom, there’s a line in the letter.
"Don’t let the Fish Hook catch your energy, concentrate on fighting the Spear."
Fish Hook and Spear, that’s probably the main the of the security work.
Fang Huai flipped through the docunts again.
He had barely glanced at them when his eyes widened in surprise.
"We’re responsible for the security inside the venue? Damn, what are we firefighters doing inside there?"
Hu Peizhou’s expression was sowhat speechless, "Why call us if it’s about the fire trucks? Doesn’t the Beijing command unit have enough vehicles? If we don’t go inside, who will use the indoor firefighting facilities? If soone gets stuck or sprained, or even if there’s a problem with the steel structure, who will rescue them from inside?"
"Hey," Fang Huai slapped his forehead, feeling a little embarrassed, "Got a bit carried away, I was all thinking about guns and cannons."
Hu Peizhou’s expression beca much more serious now:
"I’m telling you, I plan to assign you to the main venue, the Bird’s Nest! The steel structure there is very similar to the roof structure of the terminal at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris that collapsed in 2004 due to architectural issues!
Because of this concern, the retractable roof of the Bird’s Nest was canceled, reducing the amount of steel used!
Being part of the security team, you have to consider the possibility of all disasters happening, and you must ensure absolute safety!"
"I... go to the Bird’s Nest? This, this..." Inside, Fang Huai was overjoyed.
What a great benefactor!
He secured a spot for at the Military Academy and now he’s getting a position at the Bird’s Nest!
However, Hu Peizhou chuckled lightly.
"Happy? Just wait."
...
Hu Peizhou was constantly confirming addresses on the phone, from Tianann Square’s nearby run-down, densely packed Tsong shop hutong all the way to the relatively newer North Fifth Ring on Chaoyang Kehui Road, wandering around and seeing both the flourish and decay of the capital, by the ti he arrived, it had already beco dark.
The capital is really not that pretty.
Streets are filled with old houses, with the old far outnumbering the new.
And it’s not the ancient old like in Xi’an, but the modern kind that’s decaying.
There was a Beijinger on the bus chatting away in the back canopy: many people here spend their sumrs on a bench with a fan, blowing copious amounts of hot air all day long.
You can’t tell them they do nothing all day either, or else they’d eagerly explain to you the deep-seated logic between the situation in Iraq and the pair of socks sold across the street now costing four yuan, to justify the legitimacy of their daily brooding over national worries from sunless alleys.
"Let tell ya! I predict, within three years, the newly developed W76-2 nuclear warhead by the Aricans will definitely be dropped right here on us! Why modify from 10 thousand tons to 50 million tons, huh? See! Didn’t think of that, did you? It’s specifically to breach our ’Moat Project’!"
A soldier vividly described the scene of an elder boasting in the sumr of 2000, which made everyone laugh out loud.
"Ha-ha, three years? It’s been eight years and still no bombing, right?"
"Hahaha... Isn’t the Moat Project that one for controlling the mobile criminal population? How does that protect against nuclear bombs?"
The soldier spread his hands: "Hey, just blowing smoke! Everyone’s a strategic expert! Listening to a few old guys brag is like stepping into a national defense eting!"
Laughter ensued, and they had reached their destination.
Everyone got off the bus.
The street here was very quiet but also crowded.
A small gray building, downstairs a non-commissioned officer in first-period green camouflage stood on duty with hands behind his back. Along the nearby road, military vehicles with the prefix WJ were parked bumper to bumper.
The group headed towards the small building and, upon closer inspection, saw that so of the vehicles were marked with passes from firefighting units.
"Attention! Stand at ease!"
With a loud command from Hu Peizhou, everyone stood still on the sidewalk in front of the gray building.
Hu Peizhou walked up to the soldier on duty, showed his credentials for inspection, and then entered the small building amidst the soldier’s salute.
Soon, laughter ca down from upstairs.
"Hahaha... Now that you’re here, I feel at ease. We have a fireworks rehearsal today, and all my n are out — we were short-handed! Thank you for coming to support the front-line command!"
"It’s our honor to be here, Director Li," soone replied.
A few people ca downstairs talking.
Walking side by side with Hu Peizhou was a colonel, followed by several younger cadres.
When the colonel saw them, the smile on his face beca even brighter, though his gestures were not very strict, swaying from side to side, even standing on tiptoe to get a better look.
"You’ve got... about forty to fifty people here? All key soldiers from the Southwest region?"
"An overstatent, Director Li."
Everyone straightened their posture a bit more.
Hearing Hu Peizhou call him "Director Li", everyone understood that this was a leader from the BJ Team, but they felt the "Director Li" and the colonel in front of them with his grounded and sowhat comical gestures didn’t seem to match up.
Tsk tsk, this leader doesn’t put on any airs at all.
The BJ Team, a deputy military-level unit, no less!
But it made sense, considering the nearby Olympic venues where a colonel might not seem like much of an official.
In the capital city, even officials don’t seem that important.
At that mont, the colonel, with his hands behind his back, said, "You guys... just station yourselves in the sunken garden. It’s right next to the Olympic Center and right beside the National Sports Field, plus there’s a People’s Ard Police Special Service Squadron about the sa size as yours there. Though the conditions are rather simple, please bear with us."
Hu Peizhou nodded earnestly:
"Conditions are the least of our concerns!"
(Chapter 2 before two o’clock is half-finished; I will definitely complete it today, haha)
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