Chapter 286: What the Armed Police can handle, we will; what they can't, we will still handle!

"Comrade, the ground is cool, get up first."

From the towering military region gate emerged a lieutenant general with hair half black, half white, a kindly face, and two wheat‑ear stars slung over his shoulders.

He bent down and slowly helped the woman kneeling on the ground, as well as the little girl wearing a hat, up from the floor.

"My surname is Gu, I am the Political Commissar of the military region. What difficulty have you run into?"

"Leader, please save my daughter's life!" The woman, tears streaming, looked at her daughter's pallid face.

"Her father died early, leaving me alone to raise the child. Not long ago the child was diagnosed with leukemia, and the treatment costs have exhausted the entire family fortune."

"If, if it weren't for the father's savings being swindled away, we wouldn't have ended up in this situation, nor resorted to this desperate measure."

Gu, the Political Commissar, stared at the plaque of the first‑class hero's family, his eyes flashing with murderous intent: "You mean someone stole the father's pension?!"

The woman sobbed and nodded: "Actually, it's also my fault; after the child's father died, I trusted a friend's advice and deposited the money into an investment firm called Yuanbao Liquor Co."

"The firm had appeared in local newspaper reports many times and even won an Excellent Enterprise award, so we thought it was reliable."

"We didn't expect a sudden collapse not long ago, wiping out the deposits of countless civilians; there are more than one military families like mine who were duped."

"We reported it to the police, but they said hope was slim; I don't expect to get the money back—it's my own foolishness, my own greed. I only ask the troops to save my child; she's still young, only eight years old!"

Gu seemed to have heard of this Yuanbao Liquor matter before.

Guangling is right nearby; the incident caused a stir and even made it into the Jinling Evening News.

But he never imagined that among the victims there were so many military families, even the widows of martyrs.

These damned swindlers usually investigate the victims' family circumstances and personnel composition before the fraud.

Knowing the target is a martyr's widow and still daring to do this is a flagrant provocation of the army's bottom line!

The first‑class hero plaque is not only a symbol of honor, but also a talisman capable of repelling petty scoundrels and malevolent spirits.

Gu suppressed his inner fury and said gravely: "You need not worry about the child's medical expenses; we will find the best hospital, the best specialists, until the child is cured."

"We will also retrieve the swindled money! Your husband was a martyr; anyone who dares to bully a martyr's family is going against the troops, against all soldiers!"

"Thank you, thank you, Leader, thank you!"

The woman's eyes brimmed with hot tears, and she knelt again on both knees.

Even though they urged her hard, the woman's head kept banging against the ground, making a thudding 'bang—bang' sound.

All these years she raised the child alone, laboring and enduring to care for both sets of parents; she thought her husband had been gone for years and that the troops had long forgotten his contributions.

Even after Lu Yang told her this solution, she hesitated and tangled with herself for a long time, wondering whether it would work or just be her one‑sided wish.

But facts prove that a soldier's honor does not fade with time, and the unit always remembers each soldier's dedication.

After much effort lifting the woman from the ground, Gu crouched down, gently looking at the girl as big as his own granddaughter.

"Little girl, what's your name?"

"Grandpa, I'm Sun Junjun; my mother said that when I was still in her womb, father gave me the name—boys get the character 'jun' for soldier, girls get the 'wang' radical; father hoped I could join the troops and become a soldier someday."

"Good name, good daughter, you have suffered, suffered!"

Gu looked at the needle mark on the girl's wrist and the clearly visible veins beneath her skin, feeling pangs of heartache.

"Grandpa."

Junjun suddenly spoke: "May I make a request?"

Gu gently touched her little cheek and nodded kindly: "Of course, would you like a doll, or to become a little princess from a fairy tale?"

Junjun shook her head, pointing at the plaque, and said: "I don't want this plaque; can the troops give my father back to me? I'm afraid if I leave, only Mom will be left, and she's afraid of the dark."

Seeing the girl, clearly gravely ill yet so sensible, Gu felt his heart clenched by an invisible giant hand, pain choking his breath.

Spectators like Xiong Yao, Colonel Luo and others also felt an inexplicable pang of sorrow.

They swindled families like this, even the martyr's pension.

Those swindlers truly deserve death, should be torn to pieces.

Xiong Yao hated that he couldn't just make a phone call to the Zhencha Daitui.

He wanted the whole team dispatched, capture the culprits, tie them to a target, unleash a barrage of heavy‑caliber machine‑gun fire, then blast them with rocket launchers until their ashes are scattered!

The woman and child were temporarily placed in a guesthouse, with a dedicated liaison contacting Gulou Hospital to discuss the girl's subsequent treatment plan.

Treatment costs, nutrition fees, board and lodging, even the living allowance for the mother accompanying treatment, were all covered by the unit.

Although at this point they learned that the child's father had been a People's Armed Police soldier, a hero who died in flood‑relief rescue.

But the Armed Police, as an early PLA formation, are also soldiers, upholding the lofty principle of serving the people.

Therefore, the Eastern Theater Command must see this through to the end, investigate fully, and give the swindled martyr families and local civilians an answer.

"All those with stars on their shoulders, come in with me!"

He closed the door, and Gu's previously amiable demeanor turned harsh, his gaze becoming fierce.

As the Political Commissar of the military region, his rank is comparable to the Commander, and he too rose from the battlefield, from piles of dead.

He is older and holds a higher post, but that doesn't mean a soldier's fiery spirit has been ground away.

Below him, including Colonel Luo and other senior division‑level generals, all wore solemn expressions.

"You have all seen and understood the whole affair!"

"I have only one request: what the Armed Police cannot handle, the Army can; what the Armed Police can handle, we will also handle!"

"After you go out, use your contacts and intelligence network to dig up the truth about that Yuanbao Liquor!"

"I don't care who is behind this, how many networks, what backgrounds; I only want a result, only justice!"

"In the earlier meeting you kept arguing over next year's budget and the Navy‑Army development balance. Now I can tell you plainly: whoever solves the problem first, who restores justice for the martyr's widow, will see next year's budget increase by twenty percent!"

Colonel Luo and the others' eyes flashed with brilliance, their whole beings becoming exhilarated.

A clever housewife cannot cook without rice; the amount of military funding directly affects this unit's weapons procurement, logistics reserves, and soldiers' allowances and benefits.

Not to mention a twenty‑percent rise; even a ten‑percent increase is enough to make them fight tooth and nail.

"If there is any news, any progress, call my desk phone immediately; then we will reward you accordingly!"

Yes!

After finishing the work assignments, Commissioner Gu let them leave.

Division Commander Luo stayed behind voluntarily and made a report alone.

Reporting to the Commissioner, I heard that not long ago, in the neighboring city, a gang openly assaulted active-duty army personnel in broad daylight; it's said the victim was an officer who had just earned merit and returned home injured to visit family. Should we investigate this together?

Investigate—I demand a thorough investigation to the end!

Commissioner Gu slammed the table in uncontrollable anger.

I had thought the earlier incident was merely an isolated case.

But I never expected that various bad situations would keep happening one after another.

If we don't clear it up, if we don't punish severely, where is the army's prestige?

Soldiers who sacrifice their lives to defend the homeland must have their rights safeguarded!

Division Commander Luo took his leave after receiving orders, and Xiong Yao waited for him at the stairwell: "How is it, how is it, what did the chief say?"

Division Commander Luo gave a brief rundown of the situation, his eyes icy: "Those scum have enjoyed their good days; they've forgotten that from ancient times to now, the two words 'army' are synonymous with violence and slaughter!"

A twenty percent hike in military spending? I'd personally take up a rifle and rush to the front—I'd gladly do it!

Xiong Yao clicked his tongue: "I hope those guys are strong enough to hold out a little longer."

Division Commander Luo laughed: "Hold out? Do you know what the chief was doing when I left?"

What?

Making a phone call.

Who are you calling?

To the provincial office.

Xiong Yao broke out in a cold sweat, feeling awful.

This is the pace of a special rectification, sweeping away corruption and evil!

"Commander, do you think the chief will call the armed police corps?"

"Hehe, you know Commissioner Gu's temperament—he's always at odds with the armed police; at last year's Military Games, those armed police guys made our army lose face, and the chief hasn't had a chance to regain it."

"Then it's over; they'll surely be so angry they'll vomit blood; the widow of a first-class merit recipient of the armed police, carrying a plaque and kneeling before the army—if that gets out, they'll have no face to show anyone."

"So we need to hurry; the more perfectly we settle our matter, the harder we slap their faces."

In the evening, a fierce wind rose, swaying the grasses and trees.

The sky outside turned dark just like that, as if covered with a gray cloth.

Lu Yang stood in his hallway with his hands in his pockets, watching the sky continually press down above him, excitement hidden in his eyes.

"The storm is coming!"