The commemorative medal Jiang Encheng received was probably awarded to Yue Huasheng after the Vietnam War. He forwarded it to Jiang Encheng just to fool him that this medal indeed belonged to Jiang Encheng.

Now that the people were gone, what was the use of talking about it anymore?

Yue Huasheng heard his hidden sarcasm but did not care about his rudeness: “I have done too many wrong things in my life, and they are irreversible. I just think it is a pity that you, a junior, have to end your career like this.”

“I think it’s just right here.”

Jiang Xiaochuan picked up a chess piece and vaulted the horse.

His journey was completed quickly, just right.

A game of chess was already coming to an end.

“You were a general and had seen life and death on the battlefield; I was an official and had seen all the intrigues in the officialdom. You have rich experience and can easily see through a person, so please take a good look at me. What kind of person do you think I am?”

“A person whose heart is filled with despair.” Yue Huasheng looked at his chess move and moved his pawn closer.

It was originally an unfinished chess game, but it seemed to come to life again because of Jiang Xiaochuan’s risky vault move.

Young people were always very courageous, but they were also too impulsive.

However, he could not see any excitement in Jiang Xiaochuan’s eyes, which was different from Jiang Xiaochuan’s peers he had seen before. This pair of eyes was very unlike what he should have had at his age and experience.

His eyes were too calm, like stagnant water.

That was why he said that his heart was filled with despair.

Jiang Xiaochuan was now carefree and alone. He had originally thought that his faith would always be a great restriction, but when they forced him to a dead end, he discovered that he had previously been hesitant about his faith. It was the only thing that could accompany him forever. “Since you discovered that I am a despairing person, isn’t it normal for a despairing person to do these things?”

“No, there is another word called resurgence.” Yue Huasheng took advantage of him, his eyes drooped, and his gaze looked a bit old. “You haven’t given up yet, because you suddenly have a strange feeling like resurgence. Is it called Xue Yan? Faith is sometimes a kind of poison.”

People were likely to lose their lives for their beliefs.

What would Jiang Xiaochuan do for his beliefs?

In fact, in his past life, when he saw that piece of paper, faith had already returned to him. Even after he was reborn, he was forced to get back into the quagmire due to worldly affairs, and the light in his heart was sometimes weak, even suppressed by the increasingly huge and dense darkness. But it had not been extinguished.

Looking back several times, he thought that his heart must be empty and dark, but every time he looked, there was still a faint light. The light in his heart never went out.

The heart was as gray as death, which was “as,” not “is.”

Naturally, a resurgence was out of the question.

Jiang Xiaochuan was in danger now. Only he knew whether the file was still in his hands, but if others suspected him, there was no guarantee that he would not be the next Qian Qiming.

“The older you get, the more you worry.”

If faith was poison, Lian Cheng would have died countless times.

To the weak-minded, it was poison; to the strong-minded, it was a weapon.

For Jiang Xiaochuan, it might be both.

Yue Huasheng stopped talking. He just sat at the chessboard, recalling the old times between himself and his old comrades. ‘Jiang Encheng, had you ever complained about him over the years?’

What kind of life had he lived, and what kind of life had Jiang Encheng lived?

Maybe if he had said one more word back then, Jiang Encheng would not have ended up like today. Maybe Jiang Xiaochuan…

It was all maybe.

.

In the entire living room, the only sound was of chess pieces falling.

An endgame was played, and in the end, it turned into an endgame again.

“In the final analysis, this is a draw.” Yue Huasheng hesitated for a long time and finally put down the chess pieces.

“It’s a lose-lose situation.”

Jiang Xiaochuan stopped playing and sat up straight, looking at the chess game in front of him.

It was rare for chess to result in a draw.

A draw and a lose-lose situation.

It was indeed the same.

Yue Huasheng said sadly, “Compared with your father’s, your chess skills are exactly the same.”

Jiang Xiaochuan stood up and said, “I’m just good at chess. I don’t have the ability to beat you. The older you are, if nothing goes wrong, you can go find a younger player.”

“It’s okay, you can go.”

Jiang Xiaochuan left the living room, leaving behind what was originally an endgame.

Yue Qingci had been waiting for him by the garden in the corridor for a long time. When he saw him coming out, he asked, “You played chess with the old man. How was it?”

“Tie.” When he arrived in front of Yue Qingci, he did not say that both sides would lose.

Yue Qingci was silent for a long time, then stood under the stone pillar in the corridor and said, “You are very good at chess.”

Jiang Xiaochuan shook his head, “I’m only good at calculations.”

Yue Qingci said: “Because you know how to calculate people.”

Jiang Xiaochuan said again: “I thought you are very calculating too.”

The two were relatively speechless.

Yue Qingci took him to the guest room, and Jiang Xiaochuan did not refuse. It seemed that he could not find a place to live now. The municipal compound was not a place for him anymore.

He just didn’t know if Lian Cheng would be able to discover what he left behind.

.

At night, he laid on a strange bed, sleeping in a strange place, and some strange thoughts seemed to run through his mind.

He used the phone in the room to call Qiao Yusheng to confirm Xue Yan’s condition, but Qiao Yusheng asked him on the phone, “Is it convenient for you to come to the provincial hospital tonight?”

“What?” He didn’t know what Qiao Yusheng wanted to do.

Qiao Yusheng, over there, looked at a modified May 4th-style pistol and a shiny scalpel on his desk and narrowed his eyes. “There is a good show.”

Rong Shaobai had been very kind to Qiao Yusheng. Although he disobeyed Rong Shaobai in some matters, the debt of favor was the most difficult debt to repay in the world.

“Mayor Jiang, come and take a look.”

Standing under the lamp, Jiang Xiaochuan silently put down the phone.