Chapter 202: Encounter
Song Yuanchao was stunned and subconsciously took two steps back.
An unfamiliar 212 bus stopped in front of him in the middle of the night, and at the Chuncheng Railway Station where he was unfamiliar with the place, which made Song Yuanchao alert.
For a moment, Song Yuanchao was even ready to run away. The direction he would run to was naturally the train station. There were staff and security personnel there, and he could ask them for help.
But at this moment, the window of the 212 was rolled down, and a middle-aged man stuck his head out and asked Song Yuanchao, "Excuse me, are you Comrade Song Yuanchao from Yanjing?"
"I am, you are...?" Song Yuanchao was stunned. Could it be that Lin Daoyuan used his connections to pick him up? But he hadn't heard Lin Daoyuan mention it before he left.
"My last name is Kang, you can just call me Lao Kang. It's late now, you just arrived and you're not familiar with this place, and it's not safe outside at night, so Secretary Wang specifically asked me to pick you up and take you to the guesthouse."
"Secretary Wang?" Song Yuanchao was stunned, and immediately thought of Comrade Wang who had always been with Elder Jiang. He couldn't help but ask tentatively: "The Secretary Wang you are talking about is the one next to Elder Jiang...?"
"Yes, it's Secretary Wang, Secretary Jiang's secretary." Lao Kang nodded, and Song Yuanchao felt relieved. Since it was arranged by Comrade Wang, it must be Lao Jiang's intention. From Lao Kang's words, it seemed that Lao Jiang was still some secretary. However, Song Yuanchao didn't care. Who the other party was and what position he held had nothing to do with him.
After saying thank you, Song Yuanchao got into the car carrying his luggage. After he sat down, Lao Kang stepped on the accelerator and drove into the darkness. About ten minutes later, the 212 drove into a gate, followed the road inside the gate and drove forward for a hundred meters to a guesthouse. This guesthouse looked a little different from ordinary guesthouses, but it was dark and Song Yuanchao could not see the sign hanging outside.
Lao Kang parked the car at the door, helped Song Yuanchao carry his luggage and walked him to the guesthouse. The person on duty at the guesthouse knew Lao Kang, and when he heard the footsteps, he looked up and saw it was him and hurried forward to greet him. Lao Kang went forward and said a few words to the other party, who smiled and nodded, and then did not ask Song Yuanchao for a letter of introduction or anything, and directly opened a room for him.
Song Yuanchao's room was at the east end of the corridor on the second floor. Facing south, the room had a one-bedroom and one-living room layout. Although the interior layout was not as high-end as that of star-rated hotels in later generations, it was very generous and clean.
More importantly, the room not only had a telephone and a TV, but also independent bathroom facilities, which is extremely rare in ordinary guesthouses. After entering the room, the people at the guesthouse asked Song Yuanchao if he was satisfied with the room. Of course Song Yuanchao was very satisfied, and took the initiative to thank the other party. At the same time, he asked the other party's name and position. Only then did he know that this unremarkable man was Director Jiao of the guesthouse.
Two bottles of hot water were delivered to Song Yuanchao. Director Jiao asked Song Yuanchao if he needed anything else. If he was hungry, there was a small kitchen in the guesthouse. Although the chef had gone off work, it would not be a problem to make Song Yuanchao a bowl of noodles and an egg.
In response, Song Yuanchao expressed his gratitude and rejected the other party's kindness. All this was beyond his expectations. Receptions with such conditions were rare in Shanghai and Yanjing.
After seeing off the driver, Lao Kang, and Director Jiao, Song Yuanchao took a quick shower and fell asleep in bed in a few moments. He was exhausted on the journey, and the key was that he was too tired to chat with Mr. Jiang. Now that he was at the guesthouse, he snored a few seconds after his head touched the pillow.
The next day, Song Yuanchao woke up to the sunshine and the sound of birds singing. When he opened his eyes, he saw the sunlight outside the window shining on his body. It was green outside, and many birds were singing happily in the woods, making it very lively.
Looking at the time, it is already seven o'clock in the morning. After a dreamless night, my young body has regained its vitality.
Song Yuanchao got up, washed, opened the door and went downstairs. When he got downstairs, he happened to run into Director Jiao whom he had met last night.
"Comrade Song, good morning. Are you up? Did you sleep well?" Director Jiao greeted Song Yuanchao with a smile.
"Head, you're busy so early. I remember you were on duty last night, right?"
"Haha, that's how we do it in service jobs. We're used to it." Director Jiao said with a smile, and then added, "By the way, Comrade Song, this used to be a small restaurant. There's breakfast there now. You can go over there and have something to eat."
"Thank you. By the way, I came late yesterday and I haven't registered yet. Also, the room fee and deposit..." Without waiting for Song Yuanchao to finish his words, Director Jiao waved his hand and said with a smile, "Comrade Song, you don't need these. You are a distinguished guest sent by Lao Kang, and Lao Kang told me that Secretary Wang specifically instructed you to stay here, so you can stay. Let me tell you about the three meal times in our guesthouse. Breakfast time is from 6 to 8 in the morning, lunch time is from 11 to 12:30, and dinner starts at 6 and ends at 8 in the evening."
"During these time periods, you can eat at the small restaurant or go out to eat by yourself. If you need a banquet, you can tell me in advance and I will arrange it. However, the cost of the banquet cannot be waived, so you have to pay for it yourself..."
After thanking Director Jiao, Song Yuanchao still insisted on paying for the accommodation. He, Mr. Jiang, and Secretary Wang were just casual acquaintances on the road. Although he guessed that Mr. Jiang was not a simple person, Song Yuanchao did not like to owe favors to others. Besides, the other party had already helped a lot by arranging him in this guesthouse. It was not Song Yuanchao's character to stay there for free.
Besides, Song Yuanchao was not short of money. Considering that he might have to live here for quite a while, it would be more appropriate for him to pay for it himself.
Seeing Song Yuanchao's insistence, Director Jiao stopped forcing him and personally took him to register and collected the deposit for accommodation. After completing the formalities, Director Jiao took him directly to the small restaurant for dinner.
Song Yuanchao had a simple breakfast in the small restaurant. After breakfast, he went back upstairs to get some things. By the way, he called Lin Yan in the room to tell her that he had arrived.
After a brief conversation on the phone and hanging up, Song Yuanchao went downstairs to ask Director Jiao for directions, and then left the guesthouse.
After leaving the guesthouse, Song Yuanchao noticed the guesthouse sign that he didn't see clearly last night. Only then did he see that there was a sign outside the guesthouse that said "Provincial Party Committee Guesthouse". Seeing this sign, Song Yuanchao was slightly stunned.
Before going out, Song Yuanchao specifically asked Director Jiao for a map of Chuncheng. Song Yuanchao had been to Chuncheng in later generations, but the Chuncheng now is very different from the Chuncheng in later generations. Except for some old alleys and streets, many places are different.
As the capital of Southwest Province, Chuncheng is naturally a big city, but it is still inferior to cities like Shanghai and Yanjing.
In addition, due to the current war in the southwest, many soldiers in military uniforms and military vehicles can be seen passing by in Chuncheng. In addition, there are also ordinary people and ordinary people wearing ethnic minority costumes on the road.
The military hospital was some distance away from the guesthouse. After leaving the guesthouse, Song Yuanchao took a bus at the bus stop opposite, changed buses halfway, and it took him nearly an hour to find the place.
When they arrived at the place, they could see the military hospital building not far away. Song Yuanchao walked towards that place quickly, but was stopped by the guards as soon as he reached the door.
"Comrade, please show your ID!" The guard was a very young soldier, carrying a Type 56 automatic rifle. He had an immature look on his face and it looked like he had not been in the army for long.
Song Yuanchao stopped and took out his student ID and letter of introduction from his pocket and handed them over, explaining, "Hello, comrade. I am here to visit a patient. I came from Yanjing. Here are my ID and letter of introduction."
The guard took the student ID and letter of introduction and began to look at them. He first looked at the student ID and was slightly surprised to see that it was from Yenching University. Then he carefully opened it and checked the photo and seal, as well as Song Yuanchao's appearance.
After verifying everything, the guard looked at the letter of introduction, the stamp on it, and the issuing unit. After finding all of these were OK, the guard raised his hand and signaled to Song Yuanchao: "Please come with me over here to register."
"Okay, thank you." Song Yuanchao thanked him and followed the young guard to the guard room to register. After registering, he took back his student ID and letter of introduction, asked for the direction of the ward building, thanked the other party again and walked towards the inside of the hospital.
The military hospital is quite large, with a main building and four subsidiary buildings, in addition to some ancillary buildings.
Walking along the hospital, there were many soldiers in military uniforms, or doctors and nurses wearing white coats over their uniforms. Song Yuanchao arrived in front of the second auxiliary building. He came over to ask someone. If he was right, Lin Yuhang should be in this building. After entering the building, Song Yuanchao looked at the situation on the first floor. He did not see the familiar service desk in later generations. There were only a few doctors, nurses and patients walking around in the building. Song Yuanchao thought about it and walked straight to the stairs. Just as he turned the corner in front of him, he almost bumped into a person who was walking in a hurry.
This came without warning, and scared Song Yuanchao. He quickly dodged to the side, luckily he didn't get hit directly.
"Why is it you?"
When he looked closely, he realized that the person he almost bumped into was someone he knew, and that person was Luo Yang's sister Luo Lin.
The Rowling standing in front of him looked a lot darker and thinner than the last time they met. She was wearing a military uniform with four pockets and a military cap. Her long hair was tied up under the brim of the hat. She was holding an enamel basin in her hand with a few clothes in it, as if she was going to wash them. Her slightly haggard face was filled with worry.
"Who are you...?" Rowling didn't recognize Song Yuanchao at first. After all, they had only met once. But she felt that Song Yuanchao looked very familiar.
"Song Yuanchao, Yan Zi's boyfriend, we met once at Lao Mo."
"Ah! I remember it!" Rowling was a little surprised.
"Why are you here?"
"I've been in Chuncheng for a long time. Our group came to the front line to express our condolences after we met at Lao Mo last time."
"It's been more than half a year since the last time. Have you been here all this time?"
"Of course not. We are at the front most of the time. Chuncheng is the rear area. We just came back to Chuncheng a few days ago to rest with the group. We will be back soon after staying in Chuncheng for a few days. Comrades from other military art troupes will take over our work, so our mission this time is considered completed."
So that's what it is. Song Yuanchao suddenly realized. No wonder Luo Lin became much darker and thinner. It seems that the hard work at the front line is indeed hard, even for artists like them.
"Song Yuanchao, are you here alone?"
"Yes, I just arrived yesterday." Song Yuanchao nodded, and then asked Luo Lin: "You are here... Is your comrade in the hospital?"
"No, a friend of mine is in the hospital. I have time to come and take care of him these few days..." At this point, Luo Lin suddenly seemed to remember something, and looked at Song Yuanchao with wide eyes. After a moment, she asked in confusion: "Song Yuanchao, you are not here to visit Lin Yuhang this time, are you?"
