August 7, 2024, the beginning of autumn.

This year's hot summer in Beijing has begun to bring a hint of coolness in the mornings and evenings.

During the day on August 8, it was still hot.

Around ten in the morning, Pan Jun took a stroll around the Temple of Heaven near his home.

Even at noon after the beginning of autumn, it was still so hot. He hadn't visited the Temple of Heaven in the past two months while traveling domestically by car, and he didn't expect there to be so many tourists that day.

Entering from the north gate, he saw many tour guides holding small flags, hurriedly leading groups of tourists out. Seeing so many visitors, Pan Jun decided not to go to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests to add to the chaos and quickly walked along the inner wall towards the east gate, thinking it was better to head home.

Pan Jun's exit from the east gate was just opposite to the incoming tour groups, and he encountered a throng of tourists led by their guides.

Watching those tourists shielding themselves from the sun with umbrellas under the blazing sun, Pan Jun muttered to himself that there were indeed many visitors at the Temple of Heaven during the summer vacation, marking the peak of tourism.

In fact, the Temple of Heaven has always been a hotspot for tourism in Beijing. In previous years, due to the pandemic, the number of visitors had decreased significantly, but since last year, the number of tour groups during summer and winter vacations has surged again.

Suddenly, a voice called out from among the tourists: "Pan Gan Shi, are you Pan Gan Shi?"

Pan Jun realized it was directed at him.

It was a long-lost title, one that his comrades had called him forty years ago when he was a propaganda officer in the army.

In 1981, Pan Jun left the creative team of the military region's art troupe to work as a propaganda officer in the political department of a certain field army's X division, where he served for four years, including the year he was sent to the front lines at Laoshan in late 1984. After returning from the front lines, he was transferred to a certain field hospital in the military region as deputy political commissar. Because he worked in the propaganda department, he interacted with many people, and many officers and soldiers in the division knew him.

With that shout, Pan Jun looked up to see a slender woman in her fifties waving at him from the group of tourists.

Having left the army and returned to Beijing for nearly 30 years, he felt a sense of familiarity with her but couldn't confirm it.

What a coincidence, Pan Gan Shi, I ran into you here. I am Xiao Xue, your old comrade Dong Xiao Xue.

Hearing her introduction, Pan Jun suddenly remembered that she was the Dong Xiao Xue who danced in the propaganda team of the political department back in the day.

Yes, yes, it’s me.

Pan Jun responded while quickly approaching her, and the two tightly shook hands.

This unexpected encounter drew the attention of nearby tourists.

Pan Jun and Dong Xiao Xue were quite familiar in the army because her brother, Dong Xiao Wei, had worked with Pan Jun in the creative team of the military region. In 1982, Dong Xiao Xue was specially recruited from the local song and dance troupe to join the propaganda team of Pan Jun's division.

Due to her relationship with Dong Xiao Wei, Pan Jun received the news as soon as she joined the army. Her brother had called to ask Pan Jun to take good care of his sister.

One worked in the political department's propaganda section, while the other danced in the propaganda team; they both participated in the rotation to the front lines at Laoshan in 1984.

In the mid-1990s, Dong Xiao Wei tragically lost his life in a mudslide car accident while experiencing life in a grassroots unit.

At that time, Pan Jun had already been back in Beijing for more than two years. Hearing about the death of his old comrade in the line of duty was heartbreaking. He learned that Dong Xiao Xue had also returned to civilian life and later heard from other comrades that she had gone to work in her husband's hometown in Guangdong. Communication was not as convenient as it is now, and thus he lost contact with Dong Xiao Xue.

Now, the two old comrades unexpectedly met at the Temple of Heaven, feeling very excited.

Dong Xiao Xue pulled over two men and women in their thirties and a boy of about ten, introducing them as she said: "Quickly call him Uncle Pan, he is your uncle and your mom's old comrade. Little Ding Ding, quickly call him Grandpa Pan!"

She continued: "These two are my daughter and son-in-law, and this little guy is my grandson. They came with me to Beijing for tourism, and it’s such a coincidence to run into you here at the Temple of Heaven."

She added: "I’ve known you were in Beijing for a long time, but I didn’t have your contact information."

At this moment, Pan Jun and Dong Xiao Xue were overjoyed, especially Dong Xiao Xue, who seemed even more excited.

Dong Xiao Xue told her daughter: "You guys hurry and go with the tour guide to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. I’ve been to the Temple of Heaven three times before when I came to Beijing, and I’ve seen everything. Ding Ding is here for the first time, so you two take him. I’ll chat with Uncle Pan on the bench under the shade of the trees; it’s cooler here."

She added: "Take your time and don’t rush. After you finish, call me when the tour guide says where to meet, and let Uncle Pan take me to find you."

Pan Jun replied: "Yes, yes, with me here, don’t worry!"

The two old comrades had not seen each other for forty years and had a lot to talk about.

Pan Jun's chance encounter with Dong Xiao Xue rekindled their friendship that had been lost for forty years.

The two chatted on a bench in the Temple of Heaven for two hours.

They reminisced about many past events and the past and present of their mutual comrades.

In particular, Xiao Xue recounted some details about her brother Dong Xiao Wei's tragic accident that Pan Jun was not very clear about.

Xiao Xue shared her current situation.

Pan Jun knew that when Xiao Xue was specially recruited from the local song and dance troupe, she was already in her twenties. After joining the army, she enjoyed the treatment of a cultural cadre. At the end of 1984, before the army was sent to the front lines in Yunnan, she held a wedding with her long-time boyfriend from the local song and dance troupe.

Not long after the army returned from the front lines, Pan Jun was promoted and transferred to a certain field hospital in the military region as political commissar, leaving the political department of the division. Xiao Xue also returned to civilian life a year later.

When Xiao Xue transitioned, her husband went from being a director at the city song and dance troupe to the head of the troupe, and later he was transferred to the provincial cultural department as a director. Xiao Xue was assigned to the old cadre section of the provincial party committee's organization department as a principal staff member.

Xiao Xue's parents were both old cadres who participated in the revolution during the early days of the Anti-Japanese War and stayed in this provincial capital city after the liberation of Southwest China. Xiao Xue's father passed away in the early 1960s due to illness while in the army, and her mother transitioned from military service to work as a party secretary at the city grain bureau in the 1950s. Relying on connections from old comrades in the army, Xiao Xue's mother sent her son and daughter to the army in the 1970s and 1980s.

Pan Jun had a rough idea of Xiao Xue's family situation from his comrade Dong Xiao Wei back in the day.

Now that Xiao Xue saw her old brother and comrade Pan Jun, it felt like meeting a family member, and she shared more details about her and her family's situation.