Chapter 24: The Magnifying Glass (Part 2)

It wasn’t until Chen Yufeng greeted, “Good evening, Commander Xu,” that he turned around—only to find Commander Xu staring at him.

Stealing a bite of meat might have been excusable, but stealing pickled greens? The look on his superior’s face was enough to freeze him in place.

“Are you getting used to the kitchen?” Commander Xu asked in a mild tone.

“Yes, I am,” Chen Yufeng replied.

Commander Xu’s demeanor shifted to a sterner one. “Commander Ma and Commander Luo will be here soon. Xiao Qin, go and greet them.”

Now was obviously not the time to bring up serious matters, but Chen Yufeng was only here to cook. Once she was done, she would have to leave. It was unlikely she would get another opportunity to speak privately with Commander Xu.

So, the moment Xiao Qin stepped out, she spoke up. “Commander Xu, I don’t have a job right now.”

Commander Xu had been about to leave but turned back. “I’ll push logistics to arrange something for you.”

But that was impossible. The logistics department’s personnel affairs were handled by Zhang Yanli’s older sister, Zhang Aixia. Since Chen Yufeng had recently offended Zhang Yanli, Zhang Aixia wouldn’t even assign her a janitorial position.

Not that Chen Yufeng actually wanted a job. She continued, “Commander Xu, in our residential area, next to the preschool class, there’s a restaurant—”

The military operated with one defining trait—efficiency.

Before she could finish her sentence, the guests had already arrived, forcing her to swallow the rest of her words.

Even before seeing them, she could hear them. One of the guests joked, “Now this is a surprise! Commander Xu’s house never has the stove going, and today it’s Yunnan cuisine?”

Commander Xu responded, “If the food weren’t good enough, I wouldn’t dare trouble you two. Please, take a seat, Commander Luo, Commander Ma.”

So they really were high-ranking officers—Commander Luo and Commander Ma, two of the top leaders in the military district.

Commander Ma chuckled. “Trouble? What trouble? We once huddled together on the same bamboo bed, shivering in the cold. We shared a single hot potato, taking turns biting into it. We dipped into the same bowl of spicy sauce. If you weren’t so shamelessly protective of Han Chao—spoiling and indulging him—Commander Luo wouldn’t be giving you the cold shoulder right now.”

Chen Yufeng had only come to cook. She never expected to hear her husband’s name mentioned in the conversation between these top-ranking officers.

The layout of the house was open-concept—the kitchen led into the dining room, which connected to the living room. There was no partition. She stole a glance from afar: Commander Luo was the shorter, thinner one, while Commander Ma was the slightly heavier man with graying hair. These were the two most powerful men in the district.

Commander Xu said, “Ma Shangbei may have achieved numerous ‘remarkable feats,’ but Han Chao has a point. Before he arrived, the camp was stable—no accidents, no disturbances. Yet, as soon as he showed up, incidents started piling up. Maybe he’s a good man, or maybe, as Han Chao suspects, he’s deliberately creating ‘opportunities’ for himself to gain recognition. Leaders, as the saying goes, you can’t judge a matter from just one perspective. Could you grant Han Chao just one or two more days?”

Commander Luo picked up his teacup, scraped the rim with his fingers, and looked at Commander Xu. “Commander Xu, I watched Ma Shangbei grow up. I know both of his fathers very well. His mother made some mistakes recently, but that has nothing to do with him. As for Han Chao, he comes from a delinquent background. The reason he’s good in battle is that he’s naturally inclined to fight. But he has always fought alone—I have yet to see his ability to lead soldiers, so naturally, I don’t acknowledge it. Now, he has no proof and no legitimate reason to detain Ma Shangbei. I even have reason to suspect that it’s his own mismanagement of the camp that’s led to trouble, and he’s trying to frame Ma Shangbei for it!”

Commander Ma added, “Commander Xu, we know you’ve lost your son, and it’s rare to find a refined and well-mannered soldier in the ranks. You treat him like your own, but you can’t be too biased toward Han Chao. He may look scholarly, but he’s not a gentleman at all. He was once the top single-combat killer on the Vietnam battlefield. Yes, killing a lot of enemies proves he’s capable, but you can’t deny that soldiers returning from war often have psychological issues. We’ve given Han Chao opportunities, even sent him to counseling, but as far as I know, he hasn’t gone even once!”

Meanwhile, Chen Yufeng was preparing the dipping sauce for the braised vegetables—crushed chili peppers with salt, some cilantro, and a ladle of the braising broth.

Hearing the high-ranking officers talk about her husband this way, her hands trembled slightly.

She finished preparing one dish, and Xiao Qin served it to the table. In no time, all the food was laid out.

Commander Xu then said, “Let’s not talk about this anymore. Dinner is ready—let’s eat.”

The dishes included stir-fried air-dried vegetables with pork, plum pork meatballs with radish, a dish of lean pork stir-fried with sour chili, a bowl of braised vegetables with meat, another with braised vegetables without meat, and a large bowl of steamed meat rice for each person. It was a simple yet abundant Yunnan-Guizhou-style meal.

Finally, there was a fruit platter. Chen Yufeng was peeling the fruit when Commander Xu asked Commander Luo, “How does it taste?”

Commander Luo nodded repeatedly. “This chili dipping sauce is excellent—so fragrant!”

Commander Ma, on the other hand, said, “I prefer the millet chili sauce. I don’t like the intense heat of crushed chili.”

Commander Luo picked up a piece of potato from the vegetable dish and sighed, “I used to hate Mengzi, hated the ’57 Cadre School,’ and wished I could return to Beijing immediately. But now, what I miss most is actually Mengzi—those days of being hungry and cold, roasting potatoes and dipping them in crushed chili.”

Commander Ma chuckled, “All we had were potatoes and chili, while Commander Xu had the luxury of cured meat.”

“He was young and handsome,” Commander Luo said, his tone laced with mock jealousy. “A bunch of young girls fought over him so much they nearly cracked their heads open.”

They seemed to want to joke a bit more but, mindful of an outsider’s presence, decided against it.

Chen Yufeng finished cutting the watermelon. She remembered how her mother-in-law always added toothpicks when serving fruit, so she started looking around for them. Just then, Commander Xu spoke again.

“Commander Luo, you’ve always had a bias against Han Chao. You think he only fights with reckless courage and can’t lead troops. You gave him the most unruly troublemakers, hoping to force him out. But it’s been nearly three months, and he’s done a great job leading them. As for Ma Shangbei, I’m asking you to give him a little more time—let Han Chao get to the bottom of this, alright?”

Commander Luo let out a heavy grunt. “Let’s stop talking about work and eat.”

At that moment, Chen Yufeng suddenly realized something.

In the book, Han Chao’s promotions were described as smooth and effortless, but no reason was given.

Han Chao had a bad temper—impulsive, hot-headed, and unwilling to flatter his superiors.

Logically speaking, a man like that wouldn’t go far in the military hierarchy.

The only explanation for his success must be that Commander Xu had been protecting him all along.

And tonight’s dinner?

It was clear now—Han Chao had angered the high-ranking officers, and Commander Xu was hosting them to make amends.

With that realization, Chen Yufeng suddenly felt guilty. How could she accept money from Commander Xu?

She finished arranging the fruit platter and was about to leave when the phone rang. Xiao Qin went to answer it, so she had to wait.

After taking the call, Xiao Qin returned and handed Chen Yufeng fifty yuan, giving her a thumbs-up. “The pickled vegetables were delicious.”

“I saved some for you.” She lifted a bowl, revealing three pieces of braised pork, with a generous layer of pickled vegetables underneath. She also handed him a small bowl of plum pork meatballs with radish—mild but flavorful, especially when dipped in the sauce.

“Sis-in-law, thank you!” Xiao Qin was beyond excited—not for the meat, but for the pickled vegetables!

He loved those little pickles—loved them to death!

Chen Yufeng took the money and was just about to leave when she noticed a black-and-white photo hanging in the living room.

There was someone in the picture who looked incredibly familiar.

She took a few extra glances. But just as she was about to step away, there was a knock at the door.

Who would be knocking during dinner?

Xiao Qin gestured for her to wait, then went to open the door. Moments later, two people walked in.

“Good evening, sir!”

“Good evening, sir!”

The voices startled Chen Yufeng. One of them was actually Han Chao!

What a coincidence—if she had left a moment earlier, she wouldn’t have run into him.

Han Chao had come with Wang Shuya.

Wang Shuya saluted the officers before saying, “Commanders, we have found evidence. The one responsible for the firearm accident in our battalion was Ma Shangbei. We request the security department to immediately arrest him and bring him to a military court.”

The officers had not finished eating, but they all put down their chopsticks at once.

Chen Yufeng had overheard some of their conversation and knew the gist of the case.

Han Chao had suspected Ma Shangbei all along, but the higher-ups didn’t believe him and had been waiting for evidence.

In the book, it was written that it would take two more years before Han Chao managed to put Ma Shangbei in prison.

Hearing Wang Shuya say they already had proof, she was surprised—this wasn’t how it happened in the book.

But just moments ago, the commanders had been harshly criticizing Han Chao. Now, they weren’t willing to accept his claim so easily.

Commander Luo’s tone was sharp. “Wang Shuya, what did Ma Shangbei use? A lighter? Matches? Some other flammable object? Han Chao has a history of mistreating prisoners on the battlefield. I have every reason to suspect that, since we were about to release Ma Shangbei, Han Chao tortured a confession out of him!”

Commander Ma said, “Even if it really was Ma Shangbei who did it, the recruit camp is required to be smoke-free. Matches, lighters, and other flammable or explosive items are strictly prohibited. If they appear, it means the camp commander failed to enforce regulations. Even if it’s proven that Ma Shangbei is responsible, both he and Han Chao bear the same fault. Han Chao must also be held accountable.”

One leader believed Han Chao had coerced a confession, while the other believed Han Chao was equally guilty as Ma Shangbei.

At this point, how could Chen Yufeng leave? Her heart pounded with curiosity—she had to know how this would turn out.

Wang Shuya placed the magnifying glass, which had been found hidden in Ma Shangbei’s shoe heel, onto the table and said, “Leaders, each of our camps is issued a magnifying glass for map reading during training. A while ago, the magnifying glass in our camp was accidentally broken by Ma Shangbei. The duty officer, Captain Xu, never found the broken fragments but believed Ma Shangbei wouldn’t lie as a soldier. So, he approved the request for a new magnifying glass. Today, we found the old magnifying glass hidden in Ma Shangbei’s shoe. After patient interrogation, he has confessed.”

Han Chao was present, but Commander Luo and Commander Ma did not speak directly to him. They only addressed Wang Shuya.

Seeing the magnifying glass, Commander Ma was puzzled and finally asked Han Chao directly, “Han Chao, what’s going on?”

Han Chao slid the magnifying glass toward Commander Ma and said calmly, “I figured this out when playing with my daughter. If you focus sunlight through a magnifying glass onto the base of a bullet for a sustained period, it can alter the vacuum environment inside the bullet, making it possible to remove the casing by hand.”

Commander Luo remained silent for a long time before finally picking up the magnifying glass. “So, Ma Shangbei really did steal the magnifying glass and tamper with the bullets?”

Han Chao looked at the three commanders and said composedly, “He admitted it himself. He did it to earn a merit award so he could be transferred to the garrison in Hong Kong.”