Chapter 408: Laughing and Crying
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Wang Ye returned to the Iron Bones Hero Regiment, and on that day, he was warmly welcomed.
He hadn’t even had a chance to put his things in the barracks when the regiment headquarters called.
The regiment commander wanted Wang Ye to come over.
Later, after Wang Ye returned from the regiment headquarters, the company commander also came.
These scenes left others sighing, and many couldn’t help but exclaim.
“That’s Wang Ye for you!”
It wasn’t until nearly five o’clock that Wang Ye finally returned to his squad.
“Brother Wang, you are really busy!” Inside the dormitory, as Wang Ye entered, Peng Yuhang hurriedly greeted him with a smile.
“Well, you know, that’s how it is in the regiment!”
“Tsk tsk, if I could have that kind of treatment, I’d be willing to give up ten years of my life!” Wei Qinghai chimed in with a cheerful tone.
Then, the next moment, Meng Wenbin looked over, “If you don’t retire, maybe you could use your ten years to practice, but now, go back and work hard!”
“Platoon leader!”
At this point, Wang Ye also came to him and saluted him crisply.
Meng Wenbin no longer had the insignia of a cadet on his shoulder, unlike before.
A year had passed, and he had already been promoted to the rank of Second Lieutenant.
However, as he looked at Wang Ye saluting him, there was a hint of helplessness on his face.
“You, oh my, it’s really awkward for you to salute me in that uniform now!”
He was speaking from the heart, even though he knew he couldn’t compare to Wang Ye.
But seeing Wang Ye standing in front of him with the rank of Second Lieutenant, and wearing that service ribbon, it was too conspicuous.
He looked down at himself; he had been in the military for six years, including his time at the military academy, yet both of them had the same rank.
“Hehe, Platoon leader, you’ll always be my Platoon leader!” Wang Ye replied with a smile.
This made Meng Wenbin smile too.
“That’s right, even if your rank is higher than mine in the future, you still have to salute me when you see me!”
“Brother Wang!”
Suddenly, a familiar voice came from behind.
Wang Ye turned around.
“All, Ping’an!” Wang Ye greeted with surprise.
Approaching, Wang Ye gave Zhang Ping’an a hug.
“Haha, you’ve gained some weight again! It feels like there’s an extra layer of flesh under your chin!” After letting go, Wang Ye teased Zhang Ping’an, looking him up and down.
“Hehe~!” Zhang Ping’an chuckled, a bit embarrassed.
He had indeed put on some weight.
The kitchen staff was too good at feeding people.
“Brothers, let’s go!” Suddenly, from the direction of the other squads outside, there was a burst of shouting.
In the next moment, soldiers from the other squads rushed out of their barracks.
“Charge!”
“Get him!”
Wang Ye was dumbfounded.
What the heck was going on?
Of course, Wang Ye didn’t waste any time and turned to run.
But he was at the door of the dormitory now.
Wang Ye stepped back, and there was nowhere else to run inside the dormitory.
Unless he jumped out of the window.
But that was definitely not an option.
“Hey, hey, guys, calm down, calm down!” Wang Ye raised his hand, trying to call for a halt.
Cornered against the dormitory wall, he felt his scalp tingling as he looked at the dormitory full of people rushing in.
“Haha, Wang Ye, go ahead and shout. Shouting your lungs out won’t help today!” A veteran from the fourth squad grinned.
Meanwhile, others beside him shouted with a smile, “Don’t waste time talking to him, watch out for the company commander and the others coming up, hurry up, go!”
The next moment, these guys swarmed in.
Wang Ye was instantly engulfed by people.
Of course, they weren’t attacking Wang Ye.
They just swarmed around him, one by one, pouncing on Wang Ye.
Human pyramid; Wang Ye was at the bottom, crushed beneath a pile of people.
A heap of bodies, all swarming in.
At this moment, Wang Ye felt like he was almost about to be squeezed flat.
“All, don’t squish me!”
“Oh my, I can’t take it, don’t pile up, don’t pile up!”
It wasn’t Wang Ye shouting; it was the soldiers who were on top of him, yelling.
Now that others were joining in, they too were getting squished underneath.
“Alright, we’ve had our fun, get down, get down, don’t squash him!”
At this point, after a bit of commotion, Meng Wenbin in the eighth squad smiled and spoke, and he began pulling people off.
He stopped those who still wanted to join in and also started separating those who were squishing others.
Of course, this wasn’t very efficient. After about two minutes, Wang Ye, who had been thoroughly crushed, finally crawled up from the ground with a bright red face.
“Haha, Wang Ye, this is our revenge for what you did last time!”
“Hehe, we finally waited for you to come back before we left.”
The dormitory in the eighth squad was now crowded with soldiers from other squads.
One by one, the guys were now laughing, which indicated the reason why they did this.
Of course, they didn’t need to say it; Wang Ye knew why.
When he saw them charging towards him just now, Wang Ye had guessed.
“Alright, we’re even now!”
Rubbing his waist, Wang Ye looked at them with a wry smile.
“No way, it’s not that easy. Come on, Old Wang, you’ve been promoted to Second Lieutenant, so you must treat us to drinks today. Otherwise, we’ll all gang up and strip you naked on the parade ground later!”
“Yeah, what about Hua Zi? Hua Zi owes us!”
With their numbers, they truly embodied the phrase “strength in numbers.” Wang Ye, even if he was strong, could only lie down when facing dozens of people together.
“Okay, okay, I’ll treat you all!
it
Wang Ye reluctantly agreed.
If he didn’t agree today, who knows what they would do to him later.
It was tough!
The company commander was angry with him for what he did, but Wu Jianfeng didn’t do much to him.
When he saw the battalion commander today, the battalion commander wanted to kick him in the butt when he was leaving, but Wang Ye managed to escape.
Even the company commander, when he was at the hospital, only gave Wang Ye a pat on the shoulder.
But when he returned to the fourth company, he suffered a loss.
These guys must have planned it in advance. Not only did they almost squeeze the life out of Wang Ye in that pile, but now they were also extorting drinks and cigarettes from him.
Of course, Wang Ye couldn’t possibly hold a grudge against them.
It was all in good fun.
Cigarettes and drinks were just small matters.
In the following days, there was still no sign of farewell emotions within the company.
Everyone was still playful and cheerful.
It continued until the evening of the 29th.
During dinner that night, even though it wasn’t a special occasion, the tables were filled with sumptuous dishes and bottles of liquor.
The smiles on everyone’s faces abruptly disappeared.
The aroma of the food and wine, like a gentle breeze, swept away the smiles on everyone’s faces and brought out the hidden sadness in their hearts.
In the entire dining hall, the food remained untouched, but the sound of sobbing began to echo.
And this sobbing sound quickly spread to others.
Wu Jianfeng stood up.
“It’s that special time again!”
Looking around at everyone, Wu Jianfeng had a wistful expression on his face.
“Year after year, I’ve seen off many batches. Although 1 don’t want to go through this, it’s inevitable for an old soldier.”
He paused and suddenly forced a somewhat awkward smile, “Actually, I know that some of you have been looking forward to retiring for a long time. Even though you feel sad now, it’s not because you’re sad about leaving the army but because you’re sad about saying goodbye to your comrades.
Of course, that doesn’t matter.
The most beautiful thing in life is the meeting, and the rarest thing is the reunion.
Maybe after we part tomorrow, we may never see each other again in this lifetime.
But remember, we are comrades for a day, comrades for a lifetime…”
Wu Jianfeng’s words made some who were quietly shedding tears burst into loud sobs on the spot.
This included Wei Qinghai and Luo Yang from the eighth squad.
In reality, who joins the military thinking about retirement on their first day?
Who doesn’t initially aspire to make a career and excel in the military?
But reality erodes the enthusiasm and original intentions of those young recruits.
Wang Ye also felt a bit teary-eyed.
In this kind of environment, surrounded by familiar comrades, tomorrow morning, there would be a lot fewer people here.
And these people, without any surprises, ninety percent of them might never see each other again in this lifetime.
The country was vast, and they came from all corners of the nation.
Gathering was like a bonfire, dispersing was like stars filling the sky.
In the vast sea of humanity, once they took off their uniforms and left this military camp, they would be separated by a great distance.
This distance wasn’t just physical; it also included family bonds, social ties…
During this meal, alcohol was served without restriction for those about to retire.
They ended up drinking to the point of being completely inebriated.
At the same time, each of them was basically sobbing loudly in the arms of their comrades.
“Actually… actually, I once wanted to be a soldier for a long time too. 1 really wanted to be a soldier for my whole life…” Wei Qinghai, drunk and holding a wine glass in one hand, with tears streaming down his face, confessed to Wang Ye.
After drinking too much, he let go of his male toughness, crying loudly, and couldn’t suppress some of the inner words anymore.
And this was not an isolated case.
“Phew!”
At night, after lights out, Wang Ye went up to the rooftop alone to smoke.
Looking at the countless stars in the sky and the waning moon, Wang Ye felt a sense of unease in his heart.
This was the first time he had experienced such a scene.
“I knew you’d be here!”
Suddenly, footsteps came from behind.
Wang Ye turned to look, and it was Kang Hua.
“Instructor!” He greeted with a somewhat unattractive smile.
“Hmm!” Kang Hua nodded. After coming to Wang Ye’s side, he turned and said, “Where’s Hua Zi? Give me one!”
Wang Ye immediately reached for a cigarette and a lighter.
Kang Hua lit one up.
Unlike those guys like Wu Jianfeng, Kang Hua returned the cigarette pack and lighter to Wang Ye.
Taking a deep breath, Kang Hua, like Wang Ye, looked at the sky and began to speak, “Every soldier goes through this kind of thing. It’s not a big deal, and you’ll get used to it after a few times. Although sometimes we miss our former comrades, it’s easy to stay in touch now. Chat on the internet, make a phone call; it’s not that difficult!”
Kang Hua, in his role as an instructor, offered words of encouragement to Wang Ye.
Wang Ye nodded while looking at him. “Hmm… it’s not too bad, just felt a bit stuffy in the chest, so I came up here to get some fresh air. But let’s not talk about that. Instructor, how are things going with your job change?”
“What job change?”
“Your assignment change! Any news?”
Wang Ye’s question made Kang Hua hesitate for a moment. But in the end, he smiled and glanced at the corridor behind him before looking back at Wang Ye. “It’s not confirmed yet, but it looks likely!”
Wang Ye smiled too. “That’s good, Instructor, congratulations!”
“Yes! Congratulations are in order!” Kang Hua had a clear smile on his face. But then he looked at Wang Ye again and added, “But the promotion in rank will have to wait until next June, which is unfortunate!”
Wang Ye was momentarily speechless.
He knew what Kang Hua meant.
Having the same rank as himself made him feel a bit uncomfortable.
“In fact, it’s not just me; our company benefited from your efforts. We removed the influence of Deng Hai and showed great performance. So this time, the company commander will also get a promotion.”
After a pause, he added, “Well… apart from the company commander, Zheng Ke might also get a promotion because of the company commander’s position change!”
Wang Ye’s eyes widened in surprise.
Old Wu is also getting promoted?
Well, this guy didn’t say a word to me about it in the past few days!
“What about the Instructor?” Wang Ye asked again.
Kang Hua naturally knew who he was talking about, not himself but the one above him.
“He hasn’t served long enough, so he won’t be moving!”
“Then you…” Wang Ye was puzzled.
If the instructor wasn’t moving, he definitely couldn’t stay as the instructor of the fourth company.
“Well… there’s a good chance I’ll be going to the higher headquarters. The Deng
Hai incident actually had some impact on me!”
Wang Ye was speechless.
Indeed, the Deng Hai incident had the most significant impact on him. After all, he was the instructor of the new recruits company at the time, and the one responsible for ideological work was him..