"Husband, why are you unhappy?" Pang Zi's wife took Pang Zi's hand and asked gently. Not many People's Party cadres were married, and Pang Zi was one of them. The station was close to the construction site, so Pang Zi occasionally went home to eat with his wife.

"Nothing." Although Pang Zi felt a bit better, he was still angry, and his answer was very stiff.

Pang Zi's wife carefully watched Pang Zi eating with a dark face. After a while, she tentatively asked, "Husband, did you have a conflict with Big Brother Wu?"

Hearing this, Pang Zi slapped his chopsticks on the table with a *pa*. "Who said I had a conflict with Commander Wu? What do you women know? Don't talk if you have nothing to do."

If Pang Zi didn't deny it, his wife wouldn't be sure. But seeing him get so angry, she roughly guessed part of the matter. She smiled apologetically and said, "Husband, just listen to the higher-ups. The arm can't twist the thigh. You're so angry, don't ruin your health."

Pang Zi was furious. He shouted at his wife, "What arm can't twist the thigh! If you don't speak, no one will treat you as a mute!"

If it was really "the arm can't twist the thigh," Pang Zi would have accepted it. But right now, it was him, a division commander, who couldn't twist a regimental political commissar. His wife's words not only failed to comfort him but made his anger explode. Seeing his wife lower her head and not dare to make a sound, Pang Zi burned with rage. He stood up abruptly, put on his military greatcoat, and strode out of his house.

The cold air outside gave Pang Zi a burst of coolness, but the fire in his heart didn't go out; instead, it burned even hotter. Pang Zi was extremely dissatisfied with the Military Commission's recent attitude. The people led by Chen Ke were too unkind to the meritorious officials. Pang Zi himself didn't want to go to the Engineering Corps or the Railway Corps; he didn't understand those things and liked digging even less. But Pang Zi wanted to plant a few people into the Engineering Corps. Pang Zi asked himself, and this really wasn't out of selfishness. The brothers who followed Pang Zi from the Taihang Mountains considered themselves Pang Zi's confidants. Relying on Pang Zi's reputation, they were insubordinate and dissatisfied with everything. They had established a little merit, but their appetite for becoming officials was huge. These guys were now company commanders, and they all felt their talents were being wasted. They had pestered Fatty [Pang Zi] many times, actually wanting to be regimental commanders. Now that discipline was strict, these guys had been reprimanded by the political commissar several times. In the cavalry unit, they were already despised by everyone. Pang Zi had long reached the limit of his patience with these people. Sending them away early would give him peace of mind.

Regardless of why others wanted to go to the Engineering Corps, Pang Zi purely wanted to get rid of trouble. However, to send them to the Engineering Corps troops, it had to be done beautifully. Promoting them by one level and then sending them to the Engineering Corps troops—Pang Zi would have done his utmost duty. As for how the Engineering Corps troops managed and dealt with them, as long as those guys weren't in the cavalry unit, it wasn't Pang Zi's responsibility.

But the current situation greatly exceeded Pang Zi's control. The newly established Engineering Corps troops didn't accept lateral transfers at all. If they were transferred laterally as company commanders, those few confidants certainly wouldn't agree. Let alone being demoted.

Moreover, during the day today, Gu Lu's firm attitude and clever response methods greatly exceeded Pang Zi's expectations. Pang Zi felt that he had underestimated Gu Lu before. This "little platoon leader" from not long ago was far from being a guy who could be easily manipulated. Pang Zi had to annoyingly admit that someone Chen Ke had his eyes on was definitely not an ordinary person.

Pang Zi didn't intend to put effort into dealing with Gu Lu. For one, he didn't like that kind of guy who played conspiracies behind people's backs. For another, without Wu Xingchen's support, Pang Zi indeed didn't dare to make a move on Gu Lu. This was also the real reason why Pang Zi flew into a rage after hearing his wife say "the arm can't twist the thigh." It wasn't that his wife said anything wrong; it was precisely because she was right, making Pang Zi clearly realize his own powerlessness, that it stimulated Pang Zi's nerves even more.

Thinking about what to do, Pang Zi unknowingly returned to the division headquarters. As soon as he entered, Pang Zi saw Chu Deli actually waiting for him. "Division Commander Pang, you're back? I've been waiting here for a long time," Chu Deli welcomed him warmly.

"Regimental Commander Chu, what is it?" Pang Zi's attitude wasn't enthusiastic at all.

"Division Commander Pang, what I actually wanted to say during the day today was, since Regimental Commander Lu caused such a big incident, can the 44072 Regiment not participate in the merit evaluation? It turned out I didn't make it clear. I saw that Division Commander Pang's meaning was similar to mine. I wonder if Division Commander Pang has any ideas? This isn't about doing something to the 4407 Division. I went back and thought about it for a while. For the division-level assessment, how much the 44072 Regiment did should still be calculated into the division's statistics. I wonder what Division Commander Pang thinks?"

Pang Zi was annoyed by these words from Chu Deli. "You should talk to your division commander about this. What's the use of finding me? Our Cavalry Division has few people to begin with. How to evaluate our troops is still a problem."

"I've already looked for our Division Commander Zhou. Our Division Commander Zhou said to let us go around and discuss with brother units to see everyone's opinion," Chu Deli hurriedly explained.

Pang Zi felt even more disgusted hearing this. He had intended to say a few nasty words. Wasn't this kind of thing obvious? Chairman Chen Ke valued Gu Lu very highly, and Chai Qingguo seized the opportunity to promote Gu Lu. What is meant by "acting"? It means that after working for a period, if Gu Lu performs well, he can be formally appointed. Since Gu Lu hasn't had any problems so far, his request to reformulate the merit evaluation standards is also very reasonable. Pang Zi had no reason to deal with Gu Lu at all.

But on second thought, Pang Zi felt that this might not be a bad opportunity. Since Chu Deli, and Chu Deli's division commander Zhou Zhentao, still wanted to do this, then why not let them take the lead? Pang Zi immediately laughed: "Since you said to look at the views of other troops, if you want to ask me what my view is, my view is to listen to Commander-in-Chief Chai. I support whatever decision Commander-in-Chief Chai makes. What are your views?"

Chu Deli stared at Pang Zi for a moment after hearing this before saying, "This is what I think. Since we want to set rules, it's impossible for such a big incident to happen every time, and it's also impossible to say that such things will absolutely not happen in the future. No matter what, let's disqualify this regiment from the merit evaluation first. Evaluate the regiments that didn't have accidents first. Of course, we can't say that the soldiers of this regiment shouldn't be rewarded for their labor. We can specifically discuss the rewards for this regiment again. What does Division Commander Pang think?"

Hearing Chu Deli's suggestion, Pang Zi could be sure that this idea was definitely not something Chu Deli came up with himself. Just from what he saw during the day, Chu Deli wouldn't have this kind of insight. The 4406 Division Commander Zhou Zhentao and Division Political Commissar Yang Deshui were definitely plotting behind the scenes. This suggestion was reasonable and fair. It solved the problem of evaluating the advanced units and also got rid of the problem of unfair treatment of soldiers. If Chu Deli had taken out this plan during the day, it probably would have passed right then. Originally, Pang Zi wanted to hear what "trick" Chu Deli had. Now Pang Zi even felt that this plan had little to do with a conspiracy.

Pang Zi didn't want to state his position directly either. He dealt with him by saying, "I know. Let's talk about it at the discussion meeting."

After Chu Deli left, Pang Zi thought over the plan Chu Deli brought several times. The more he thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. The cavalry troops always felt they were a cut above the rest, and Pang Zi wasn't too close with Zhou Zhentao normally. Now he suddenly felt that if Zhou Zhentao could give him some ideas, maybe he could even throw those few hot potatoes into the Engineering Corps troops. But it wasn't appropriate to say this kind of thing now. The two weren't close normally anyway. At any rate, he had to wait until Gu Lu's matter was finished, and Pang Zi clearly supported Zhou Zhentao. After Zhou Zhentao owed him this favor, then they could talk about that matter.

After the meeting convened the next day, what surprised Pang Zi a bit was that the person who came out to speak wasn't Chu Deli, but Zhou Zhentao. As soon as he proposed the suggestion of "special handling for special cases," it immediately received a lot of support. This could also be considered an improvement of the system. By adding special clauses to bring matters up for separate discussion, it took care of both the existing assessment standards and sudden events.

When the comrades were discussing spiritedly and the situation was very favorable to Zhou Zhentao, Zhou Zhentao didn't have the intention of pursuing victory. "Regarding the work of the soldiers of the 44072 Regiment, I think it shouldn't be negated. During the special discussion, I think it should be considered. We can't treat the soldiers unfairly."

Pang Zi thought the matter was almost certain. In such a situation, Gu Lu basically couldn't have any chance. Now as long as someone expressed support, and after another vote, the final Party organization resolution could be reached. Pang Zi wanted to express support immediately. Since he had already thought about getting closer to Zhou Zhentao yesterday, if he didn't support immediately, it wouldn't be justifiable no matter what. But Pang Zi had seen many things after all, and he kept a sharp eye out. Gu Lu hadn't spoken yet. Who knew what indication Gu Lu would give at the final moment? Moreover, no matter what, Chai Qingguo hadn't spoken either. As the host of this Party committee meeting, Chai Qingguo was the controller of the process. Sure enough, after Zhou Zhentao finished speaking, Gu Lu stood up to speak.

"I oppose doing this." Gu Lu went straight to the point. "What I want to ask is, is this merit evaluation activity evaluating the merit of the soldiers or the merit of the commanders? If it were on the battlefield, and a commander fled in the face of battle, then needless to say, the unit would definitely not have any good war exploits. But in this matter, even if the commander made a huge mistake, he didn't flee in the face of battle. Regimental Commander Lu even wanted to do the work better. If our merit evaluation is evaluating the commander's merit, then needless to say, our regiment has nothing to say. But this merit evaluation is evaluating the troops' contribution. I think what you said is completely wrong."

After Gu Lu finished speaking, the comrades at the meeting immediately fell silent. This question was really sharp enough. Generally speaking, unit merit evaluation was the commander's merit. And Gu Lu's meaning completely transcended this concept. In Gu Lu's meaning, the troops' contribution was the contribution of the soldiers participating in labor, and the commander's influence in it was greatly reduced. This was no longer a question of merit evaluation, but a question of who was higher and lower between the commanders and soldiers in the troops.

No one answered immediately, because no one dared to speak lightly on this issue.