Chapter 403: Psychiatrist, Retiring Season
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“Hey, driver, are you heading towards the military base over there?”
At the barbecue stall, Wang Ye’s skewers were still grilling, but he had walked over to the side of the intersection to inquire about the motorbike taxi waiting there.
In this small southern town, there were plenty of motorcycle rentals.
Although it was already 11 o’clock, there were still four or five of them here right now.
“Yes, I’m going there. It’s fifteen yuan!”
Great! Wait for me while 1 grab the barbecue!”
Wang Ye wasn’t foolish enough to run all the way back.
Taking barbecue back in an hour, he couldn’t make it even if he ran on two legs.
It was not a matter of physical strength.
Barbecue takes time too!
Ordering and grilling would take at least half an hour, and then running twelve to thirteen kilometers in half an hour?
Would he risk his life like that?
He didn’t have wings.
“Hehe, sure!”
The motorbike driver agreed with a cheerful smile.
The military base was quite remote, but no one here was worried about heading there, especially with Wang Ye dressed in military uniform.
Soon, with the barbecue in hand, Wang Ye hopped onto the motorbike.
Meanwhile, at the entrance of the military base, Jiang Nan was currently standing there.
The Special Forces hasn’t returned yet.
The cleanup work won’t be done this quickly.
Temporary interrogations are one thing, but the focus is still on searching for possible escapees.
Even if the interrogations reveal how many of them there are, even if their testimonies match, it’s still necessary to examine carefully.
One can’t entirely trust the words of criminals.
What if they see a plane coming, and someone temporarily gives them a unified statement? Wouldn’t that be a mess?
Of course, the chances of that are very low.
“Old Wei, are we continuing with the confrontation?”
The exercise director, who had turned into a temporary command post, chatted with the chief of staff about what had just happened.
Then, Captain Xue suddenly said, “You want to continue, right? I don’t mind, but this time, I’d rather not have my soldiers see blood. My men aren’t like yours; most of them are experiencing bloodshed for the first time, and they’ll need some time to observe!”
The chief of staff wouldn’t let Wang Ye continue, even though he also wanted Wang Ye to get a few more.
But what if something goes wrong?
Captain Xue’s intentions were clear; he wanted to get the thermal imagers back.
Although he was a bit greedy inside and wanted to get more, he could restrain his own desires.
First, let’s get what we have and then see.
Of course, if they continued, he didn’t mind. Even though the Special Forces had little hope of winning, if someone could break through like Wang Ye and bring back a thermal imager, he would be ecstatic.
However, Captain Xue wasn’t a person who easily parted with his wealth.
If Wang Ye didn’t participate, he wouldn’t give a damn.
“Well, let’s forget it then, but that Wang Ye took our stuff!”
“Hey, Old Xue, 1 suddenly remembered something, I need to go out for a moment!” The chief of staff turned and left.
“Old Wei, this is experimental equipment, for testing!”
The chief of staff turned back with a smile. “I understand, but Wang Ye has already gone back. Here’s what we’ll do: when I return, I’ll get it from Wang Ye and give it back to you!”
Captain Xue was left speechless.
How could he not know this guy’s character?
Give it back?
Is that even possible?
Unless the sun rises from the west tomorrow morning.
With a helpless sigh, Captain Xue said, “Alright, this year I’ll take care of the soldiers here. As long as they’re not too bad, I’ll take one or two.”
“No way!” The chief of staff said with a serious expression. “The Special Forces Battalion is our military’s signature and elite unit. How can we allow any substitutions, Old Xue? Please don’t say that again!”
Deep down, the chief of staff held a strong disdain.
You’re making it sound like I have to give you my good soldiers just to get by.
Yes, having soldiers from your unit enter the Special Forces Battalion is a personal achievement for you.
But compared to thermal imagers, it’s clear that thermal imagers are more valuable.
At this moment, Captain Xue felt like challenging the chief of staff to a sparring match, just to see if his old comrade had gotten rusty over the years.
This guy was getting more shameless by the day!
“Alright, Old Xue, I’m leaving now. 1’11 find you for a drink next time. Right now, 1 need to deal with those criminals!” The chief of staff walked away confidently.
In no time, he disappeared from Captain Xue’s resigned view.
At this moment, everyone else in the exercise department was holding back laughter.
The scholar met the soldiers!
Although Captain Xue was also a soldier, not a scholar, the sight of the chief of staff in his current disgruntled state was almost too much for them to bear.
Of course, everyone in the exercise department wanted to laugh, but Black Fox, who had just arrived with the chief of staff, had a grim expression.
He had just realized that his thermal imager had been taken by Wang Ye.
The scene from their initial encounter flashed in his mind.
His teeth hurt a little.
Isn’t it funny how small the world is?
The guy who didn’t want to be a Special Forces soldier actually managed to kill his only three casualties in this confrontation.
The key point was that it was a 1V3 situation, and he even stole the thermal imager.
Now, Black Fox felt like his lungs were about to burst.
Frustration.
“What are you still standing around for? Notify everyone to assemble and prepare to go back!”
At this moment, Captain Xue looked over with a stern face, and his words forced Black Fox to lower his head in response.
Losing the thermal imager and achieving a 1:3 record, even though the overall battle loss this time was 3:22, Black Fox still knew he had embarrassed himself.
Having a thermal imager and no casualties was a huge advantage!
But he had now achieved a 1:3 record.
“Fuck!”
In his heart, Black Fox cursed Black Cat and the others once again.
Of course, this “fuck” was also directed at Wang Ye.
“Not bad, 56 minutes. I’ll consider you passed!”
At the entrance of the military base, Jiang Nan looked at Wang Ye running over and spoke with a smile as he observed the bag Wang Ye was carrying.
Wang Ye settled the bill and got off the motorcycle about a kilometer away from the base.
He even had some chicken wings on the way.
Hearing his words, Wang Ye pretended to look very tired and said with a smile, “Hehe, Captain, you’re so unfair, you’ve worn me out!”
“Bullshit, worn out my ass!”
Jiang Nan impatiently reached out and took the barbecue.
Then he looked up at Wang Ye again and asked, “So, did you take a motorcycle or a taxi back?”
“What motorcycle?” Wang Ye pretended to be clueless.
“Hehe!” Jiang Nan sneered, “Do you want me to drive you back right now? Believe me, I can supervise how long it takes for you to buy barbecue, grill it, and run back!”
11
It was a motorcycle!” Wang Ye confessed straightforwardly.
No need for any nonsense, he didn’t want to run another twelve or thirteen kilometers in the middle of the night.
“Captain, you didn’t restrict me from using transportation, did you? Besides, it’s impossible to do it in one hour, and I’m worried you didn’t have any side dishes with your drinks. 1 better get back quickly for your sake!”
Wang Ye chuckled, acting as if he was looking out for him.
This left Jiang Nan speechless. “Trust you, my foot!”
“Hehe, I’m absolutely telling the truth!” Wang Ye grinned.
Giving Wang Ye a disapproving look, Jiang Nan said, “Alright, let’s go back!”
He didn’t really intend to make Wang Ye go back again.
Of course not, Wang Ye was a hero now!
Not to mention their operation against the criminals.
Just the confrontation exercise alone.
Wang Ye’s successful 1V3 victory and the capture of the spoils meant that he wouldn’t dare to make things difficult for Wang Ye now. If Wang Ye complained to the chief of staff or the division commander when he saw them tomorrow, he would be in for a tough time. After all, he was a negative example this time, and the company commander had yet to come out of the exercise. As the platoon leader, he was the first in the queue to be criticized, and he hadn’t achieved anything significant yet. It was embarrassing!
That night, Wang Ye ended up spending another half an hour at the kitchen, drinking.
The clerk and the kitchen chief had been waiting for them.
Although they had been eating on the side the whole time, they finally waited for Wang Ye to return.
Naturally, Wang Ye didn’t escape those three glasses of white wine.
Fortunately, Wang Ye had a trick up his sleeve; otherwise, he would have been completely drunk tonight. These old-timers, especially the veterans who were still allowed to drink in the military, had a tolerance that Wang Ye couldn’t match.
What was surprising was that the Special Forces didn’t return that night.
Even the next morning, after breakfast had ended, there was no sign of them coming back.
When Jiang Nan was asked about it, he explained that the chief of staff was dissatisfied with their performance in the exercise, so the entire battalion had to run back from the training ground and were not allowed to take any vehicles.
Given this situation, they wouldn’t be able to return to the base until late at night, at the earliest.
“Wang Ye, you’re really handsome.”
In the Second Company’s dormitory after breakfast, they were greeted by someone rather unusual.
It was a psychological counselor arranged by the division headquarters, and she happened to be a woman in her thirties. She wore a military uniform but lacked the typical demeanor of a soldier. She seemed more like a friendly neighbor…
Right now, she was sitting on the bed opposite to Wang Ye.
“Hehe, thank you for the compliment, but I’m quite tanned now, and besides, being handsome can’t be a meal!” Wang Ye had a thick skin, and he wouldn’t blush or feel embarrassed just because a pretty woman praised him.
“Hehe, it might not be a meal, but it’s pleasing to the eye. Just like how you men like beautiful women, women also appreciate handsome guys. You wouldn’t disagree with that, would you?” This woman didn’t behave like a typical doctor. Instead, she seemed more like a lonely rich woman.
She was quick to judge appearances, didn’t talk about treatment methods, and kept chatting about such topics.
However, soon enough, she explained herself to Wang Ye.
In her words: “Small talk, jokes, are actually the best way to sort out emotions after a battle, especially for you men. Talking about male-female issues is the best way.”
So, Wang Ye cooperated accordingly.
Of course, during their casual conversation, she asked some targeted questions.
For instance, as the conversation shifted, she brought up the topic of killing and asked Wang Ye how he felt when he killed someone.
Wang Ye noticed that she kept staring at him while asking these questions, but he didn’t show any unusual reactions because he genuinely didn’t feel uncomfortable.
They chatted for over an hour, and finally, as she was about to leave, she smiled and gave Wang Ye her diagnosis, saying, “Wang Ye, from what I can see, you seem to be fine for now, no issues. However, it’s just temporary. I’ll come back to check on you in a week!”
“How did it go?”
After the psychological counselor left, Jiang Nan entered the platoon’s dormitory.
Wang Ye looked at him and smiled, saying, “No problem at all. Just like you said, Captain, killing them is a virtuous deed. I don’t have any psychological burden.”
Jiang Nan nodded. “That’s not a lie. Alright, as long as there are no issues. I just made a call to the hospital, and your comrade has awakened. If you want to visit him today, I can take you there.”
Wang Ye hesitated for a moment but then shook his head with a smile. “It’s fine. I know he’s been saved, so let him rest properly for now. When he’s ready to be discharged in a while, I’ll go visit him.”
“Okay,” Jiang Nan nodded. “That works. Since you’ll be on leave at the end of the month, I’ll give you a few extra days off so you can visit your comrade in your old unit!”
Little did he know that Wang Ye was actually scheduled to be transferred back at the end of the month.
Last night, they were chatting with Wang Ye, and Jiang Nan didn’t let him listen in.
Of course, Wang Ye didn’t mention it, just nodded and said, “Sure!”
He understood what Jiang Nan meant.
It was already November!
The next month would be when new recruits joined.
Naturally, with new arrivals, there would be departures as well.
In the Fourth Company, there were bound to be soldiers retiring.
Jiang Nan’s intention was for him to go back and bid farewell to some of his comrades who were retiring.
“No problem, I’ll go. You have a free day today. You can take a walk in the camp or rest in the dormitory. Just don’t leave the camp!” Jiang Nan didn’t stay long in the platoon’s dormitory. He had only come to check on Wang Ye’s results after the psychological counseling session.
“Yes, sir!” Wang Ye stood at attention and saluted.
He watched Jiang Nan leave.
Wang Ye sat back on his bed.
He looked out the window into the distance.
Reaching into his pocket, Wang Ye took out a pack of cigarettes.
He lit one.
“Inhale-”
After taking a deep breath, he exhaled a thick cloud of smoke.
The season of retirement!
In this moment of idleness, Wang Ye’s heart was also somewhat melancholic.
In the Fourth Company, he didn’t know how many soldiers he knew would be leaving this time.
He had no idea how many familiar faces would be missing once this month came to an end..