Carrying a Jurassic on me
Chapter 1374 - 668 Old Pan Treats Disabled Soldiers_2

Chapter 1374: Chapter 668 Old Pan Treats Disabled Soldiers_2

Fatigue was just the basics, and danger was ever-present. Pan Chengguang had led his men to carry sandbags for a whole day and night and was then ordered to urgently rescue a small village submerged by water.

As everyone braved the heavy rain and waded through the water, moving the rescued villagers, Pan Chengguang, exhausted and holding a child, failed to see a wooden stake being swept down by the rapid current from upstream.

At that moment, the two comrades closest to him saw what was happening. One of them was also holding a child like Pan Chengguang and instantly handed the child to Pan Chengguang, then, with the other comrade, rushed to meet the wooden stake head-on – not only were their comrades in the line of danger, but so were many of the villagers. If they let the stake crash down, a terrible accident was bound to happen.

The raging current already made it difficult to stand, let alone the size of the wooden stake. After the comrade in front was knocked aside, the one following threw himself onto it...

There were other comrades covering from behind, and without hesitation, they pushed forward. Eventually, they successfully stopped the wooden stake.

Old Pan relayed the story lightly, but those who had seen such devastating floods could imagine the peril involved, including the gruesomeness and tragedy of the event. In the end, it was good news that the two soldiers who first leapt at the wooden stake were rescued by their comrades.

The bad news was that both men were left disabled, with serious injuries. The one who rushed up first didn’t have time to adjust his posture, and his arm, along with his shoulder, was shattered by the impact. The other one not only had arm injuries, but he had countless broken ribs — they survived only because of the medical team’s timely treatment, which had been fighting alongside them the whole time.

In cases like this, when the two men were discharged from the military, the troops’ subsidies and resettlement were quite adequate. However, Pan Chengguang felt that the wooden stake had been headed for him, and if the two men hadn’t rushed forward in time, regardless of the others, at the very least, he would have been finished.

He felt it was his fault as team leader for not arranging more sentinels. Moreover, with a child in his arms at that time, facing the swiftly approaching wooden stake with no way to avoid it, he would definitely have had to throw the child to a comrade first, and with that delay, he would have had no chance to evade.

Even though the two comrades were already settled in their hometown, Pan Chengguang still blamed himself and felt remorse, believing he owed compensation to his two comrades — yes, now they had houses, subsidies, and a job that didn’t require much effort. But no effort meant a low salary, and although that was acceptable for now, what about the future? After all, the two men were not highly educated and had become disabled, which meant they had no chances for advancement.

So Pan Chengguang did his best to mobilize contacts everywhere to ensure his comrades would have a more secure and better life in the future, considering they were still young.

Eventually, he approached Old Pan, who was also a veteran. Hearing about the situation, Old Pan also felt he could help. However, his influence was limited, and even if he managed to use his contacts to find work for the two men, the jobs might not be better than what they currently had.

Yan Fei had understood and began to pick up his chopsticks with a smile, "Okay, now I can finally eat in peace. Uncle Pan, you want to bring those two here to work for me, right?"

"Yes!" Old Pan’s anxiety eased as he saw Yan Fei’s agreeable attitude, but he still asked another question, "You agree?"

"How could I not? I’m already eating your food!" Yan Fei joked. "They already have jobs, but if they’re not comfortable, they can always request leave without pay before coming over. You know we need people for the new site in the west; you introduced a few just the other day, didn’t you? A couple more won’t make a difference, and if they can’t do heavy lifting, there are lighter tasks available. They can even learn something new — our place is equipped for that. This is simple; was there really a need for such a big fuss?"

"I was just thinking since those two veterans aren’t from our Sancha River area," Old Pan chuckled as he explained.

"It doesn’t matter if they aren’t, as long as they don’t mind the distance. The salary might be a bit lower than for others who exert more physical effort or have technical skills, but the benefits are the same — that you can count on," Yan Fei assured him with a smile.

"That’s great, that’s great. No, I must pour you a drink; I wouldn’t feel right otherwise," Old Pan said, feeling suddenly lighter. Everyone in Sancha River knew that to get into Boss Yan’s workshop, where the salary was just the beginning and the benefits were truly enviable.

"Suit yourself, pour as many as you like. If you still feel bad about it, just the amount of liquor you’ve prepared, I’ll drink it all before I go." Yan Fei didn’t stand on ceremony with him.

Their friendship hadn’t developed overnight. Friendship, after all, isn’t about how much someone helps you, but whether they are truly sincere. Old Pan was undeniably genuine in this respect—despite being well into his fifties, he embodied the younger generation’s definition of ’loyalty’ and ’being a true friend.’

Old Pan glanced at the time after a few sips and said, "No, I need to call Da Pan right away, let him know this good news. And also notify those two comrades-in-arms, see if they’re really coming or not."

While eating, Yan Fei added, "Make sure you tell him clearly, not to worry about coming here to idle because of disabilities, I’ve got a disabled veteran here who has seen combat, and he is the chief quartermaster in my place!"

Now that the place was bustling with people and everyone had matured, Old Cheng was naturally involved less. Back when it was a group of young people, Old Cheng had his hands full with worries and chores—reminding everyone, looking after houses, and patching up leaks. Calling him a chief quartermaster really wasn’t an exaggeration.

Old Pan nodded his head happily in agreement, "Don’t worry, those two might not handle heavy labor, but they can move better than your chief quartermaster. I guess they could even manage to patrol with a dog without a problem."

After Old Pan made the call and came back, both men chatted for a while longer, then Yan Fei hurried back to the grounds—school was out at the high school, and Xu Xiaoyan in Provincial City was out too; the evening was when the two of them had their chat time, better not to delay if possible.

During their evening chat, Yan Fei reported the matter to his wife, and the lady praised him profusely before suggesting that maybe they should inquire locally if there were similar retired soldiers who could be recruited too!

Disabled or not, those who are willing to step up when it counts are always admirable. And to speak selfishly, such people’s character is assuredly reliable—those who run far away at the sight of danger are much less likely to end up wounded or disabled, right?

Yan Fei always heeded his wife’s advice. The distant ones were beyond his reach, but he could always look after those from his own township. So without a second thought, he summoned Xiaojiang and put him in charge of this matter.

Xiaojiang, whose real name was Jiang Lianjian, was one of the retired soldiers recommended by Old Pan last year. With over half a year’s interaction, he had proven himself quite exceptional and thoughtful in his considerations.

And as for the team captain, Old Gao, better not mention it—Yan Fei felt embarrassed about bothering him at this moment. Ever since Old Gao’s wedding plans with Lin Yumei picked up pace, he’s been grinning like a fool day in and day out, a fierce man who could run a horse down his arm, now frightening people with his constant toothy smile—a true embodiment of the phrase, ’an old house on fire catches fast!’

After briefing Xiaojiang on the matter, he added, "Besides patrolling, cut down on some other tasks if possible, and spend the time learning new skills. As our operations expand, we can’t have you guys patrolling forever. Also, for this matter, go see Uncle Pan, I’ll give him a call in a bit, he should have some information."

Once Xiaojiang left, Yan Fei called Old Pan, and then he started chatting with his wife again, tap-tap-tapping away on the keyboard.

The chatting went on without regard for the time. Miss Xu Xiaoyan on the other end was full of energy too, and it wasn’t until the wee hours that the two reluctantly bid each other farewell, taking over half an hour just to finally log off.

Looking at the dimmed computer screen, Yan Fei sat there for a long while, reminiscing in front of the black screen. It was only after savoring the moment that he, still not quite ready to part with the night, entered the dinosaur world to look over the day’s research findings that the grunts had prepared...