This night, both Lu Shenghua and Pei Tian drank a lot of wine.
Perhaps it was because they were drunk. The two men, who were usually not good at talking, talked a lot to Jiang Suchu.
They carefully asked Jiang Suichu about his life in these years. After hearing Jiang Suichu talk about his experiences in these years, they both fell silent.
Lu Shenghua raised his wine glass and looked at the empty seat on the table, saying with a painful expression: "Zhiwei, I'm sorry for you, I'm sorry for Suisui."
"I punish myself with a drink."
After saying that, he raised his head and drank the wine in the transparent cup in one gulp. He drank too quickly, accidentally choked his throat, and coughed until his face turned red.
Shu Yuan on the side patted his back. She understood her husband's distress and did not advise him to drink less. She just silently handed him a glass of warm water.
Pei Tian also poured a full glass and raised it to the empty bowl and chopsticks in the same way. He opened his mouth several times without saying a word, and finally drank the glass of wine in silence with red eyes.
Lu Zhinian and Pei Shuo sat quietly next to Jiang Suchu.
Jiang Suchu knew the inner pain of the two uncles. She looked at the empty seat opposite and smiled.
Dad, look, Uncle Lu and Uncle Pei still remember you.
"Uncle Lu, Uncle Pei, don't be like this. I know dad's matter has nothing to do with you." She looked at Lu Shenghua and Pei Tian and said, "I believe dad doesn't want to see you blaming yourself like this."
Lu Shenghua and Pei Tian both looked at the empty seat, their eyes gradually dimming.
This matter has always been a thorn in the hearts of both of them.
That year, their bureau received a report from the reporter who claimed that there was a drug hiding place in a residential building in Yun City. After investigating the authenticity of the report, the bureau immediately organized police forces in an attempt to eliminate this group of drug dealers.
Lu Shenghua and Pei Tian were both on the list for that operation. Because Jiang Zhiwei had already taken leave and planned to accompany Li Liyun and Jiang Suichu back to Xuancheng to visit relatives, Jiang Zhiwei was not originally involved in that mission.
Pei Tian has been at odds with his wife all year round due to work reasons and they live in two places. On the day he left for work, his wife filed for divorce out of frustration and asked him to go to the Civil Affairs Bureau to go through the divorce procedures.
Pei Tian knew that his wife had been frightened every day because of his work over the years and had been under a lot of pressure. She wanted a stable life, and there was no reason for him to tie her up.
He discussed with his wife and hoped to divorce her after returning from the mission. But his wife looked at him indifferently and said, "Pei Tian, I don't want to have to wait in fear even for divorce procedures."
He has nothing to say.
Yes, going on a mission means life or death. If he really didn't come back safely, wouldn't he have made her a widow.
However, action was imminent and he had to obey orders from his superiors.
Later, Jiang Zhiwei learned about this from nowhere. He took the initiative to cancel his leave and return to the team, taking Pei Tian's place.
He told Pei Tian to treat it as a shift change, and Pei Tian would change with him later when he had something to do.
But later, he didn't give him a chance to change shifts.
That operation was led by Lu Shenghua and went deep into the drug hiding place.
The den is in a dilapidated old community with intricate corridors, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack. At first they thought it was just a gathering of drug addicts to take drugs, but when they arrived, they discovered that things were far from as simple as they imagined.
They discovered that this was completely a drug trafficking den. The drug dealers hid their dens in dilapidated old communities and used blind massage parlors as cover to sell drugs to drug users.
In this community, more than half of the people living there are customers here.
When Lu Shenghua led his men into the massage parlor, there were about twenty or thirty people taking drugs in the innermost cubicle. They are distracted and immersed in the pleasure brought by drugs.
They say drug dealers are cruel and inhumane.
That day, Lu Shenghua and Jiang Zhiwei destroyed the drug trafficking den in one fell swoop. Just when they were about to close the net, they discovered that there was a secret door in the room. Apparently, the person inside was the real manipulator behind the scenes.
Those people all had guns in their hands, and they started a desperate struggle with them like desperadoes. When Lu Shenghua was entangled by a drug dealer and unable to escape, another drug dealer took out a pistol and pulled the trigger on Lu Shenghua's head.
From the corner of his eye, Jiang Zhiwei saw that before anyone could react, he rushed forward and stood in front of Lu Shenghua without any hesitation.
Lu Shenghua was pushed to the ground by Jiang Zhiwei, and then he heard a deafening gunshot. He saw Jiang Zhiwei falling straight in front of him with his eyes open.
Blood flowed from his heart, and the smell of blood instantly filled the entire room.
Just when the drug dealer raised his gun and pulled the trigger for the second time, Lu Shenghua quickly took out his pistol and lay on his back on the ground, pointing it directly between his eyebrows.
boom! boom!
Two gunshots rang out at the same time.
The drug dealer fell to the ground and Lu Shenghua was shot in the right shoulder.
The scene fell into chaos for a time, and several drug dealers escaped in the chaos.
Lu Shenghua endured the pain and crawled to Jiang Zhiwei's side, shaking him vigorously with one hand. His voice was trembling. He pressed his bleeding chest with his hands and shouted his name over and over again: "Zhiwei! Don't sleep! Don't sleep!"
Jiang Zhiwei wanted to say something, but when he opened his mouth, there was no sound. Lu Shenghua lay down and put his ear to his mouth, trying hard to hear his words clearly.
He cried, choked, and trembled, his head pressed against his lips: "Speak slowly, speak slowly."
But no, he couldn't hear anything except heavy breathing.
Finally, there was no gasping sound.
During that operation, Lu Shenghua's right arm was injured and he could no longer hold the gun. And he suffered from severe post-traumatic stress disorder because he watched Jiang Zhiwei fall in front of him. He realized that he could no longer be a qualified anti-narcotics police officer, so he resigned from the police department.
In the first few years, he needed to rely on medicine to fall asleep. Even when he fell asleep, he often dreamed of Jiang Zhiwei falling.
Every time he woke up from his dream in the middle of the night, he was so painful that he wanted to get rid of it. It was Shu Yuan who stayed with him and encouraged him. It was also with Shu Yuan's encouragement that he began to pick himself up again and learn to do business from scratch.
Pei Tian was not much better. He often blamed himself that if Jiang Zhiwei did not go on a mission for him, he would not sacrifice himself.
That bullet should have been shot in his body.
Over the years, he has worked very hard, handling both large and small cases personally. He just wanted to take Jiang Zhiwei's mission and complete it for him.
Lu Shenghua and Pei Tian were both drunk.
Lu Shenghua looked at Jiang Suichu and cried. He said, "Suisui, your father died because he took a bullet for me. I...I'm sorry for you..."
Pei Tian shook his head, grabbed Lu Shenghua's arm, and said, "No, blame me. Zhiwei went on a mission for me, and I should be the one who deserves to die."
Jiang Suchu also cried. With tears in her eyes, she shook her head, "Uncle Lu, Uncle Pei, this matter is not your fault."
"I remember my father told me before. He said that since he wears this uniform, he must be worthy of this mission; he said that all the pain of being a police officer is an honor for him."
"You will die for the country and the people. This is my father's motto. He sacrificed himself in the position he loved most. I believe he has no regrets in his heart."
Jiang Suchu wiped away his tears and smiled innocently at Lu Shenghua and Pei Tian, "Uncle Lu and Pei Tian, please stop blaming yourself. I believe dad doesn't want to see you like this."
"We...all have to look forward."
Pei Tian and Lu Shenghua were stunned by Jiang Suchu's words. Lu Shenghua choked with sobs and nodded, saying: "Yes... yes... look forward."
"Lao Pei, we...all have to look forward." He looked at Pei Tian and picked up the wine glass.
Pei Tian picked up his wine glass and clinked it with him, then raised his glass to the empty seat and said, "Jing Zhiwei."
Lu Shenghua also raised his glass to the empty seat and repeated: "Jing Zhiwei."
Shu Yuan turned away and wiped her tears, then stood up and walked to Jiang Suichu, stretched out her hand to take her into her arms, and touched her head lovingly, "...Suibao, good boy."
Jiang Suchu smiled, held Shu Yuan's hand and said nothing.
Lu Zhinian and Pei Shuo looked at each other and lowered their eyes. This matter is not a secret in the compound, everyone knows the whole story.
Even if everyone says that this matter is beyond their control, it is fate. Only they knew in their hearts that they both owed Jiang Suichu everything in their lives.
