RPAGF Chapter 0059: Gao Cheng's Shock
Chapter 0059: Gao Cheng's Shock
The exercise ended, a time for the soldiers to relax. Many soldiers in the vehicles opened their hatches, sticking most of their bodies out to enjoy the breeze.
A field fuel pump truck is parked next to the fuel pipeline, supplying fuel to the tanks.
This is a common scene in 702, but for a group of soldiers who came from a forgotten corner, it is an unprecedented scene.
Old Ma, along with Li Meng and the others, were walking through the scene. Although they were all wearing military uniforms, they looked like country bumpkins.
"Is it the 7th Company?"
Li Meng kept asking questions, and the soldiers who were asked all shook their heads. Finally, Old Wei simply shouted:
"Who's from the 7th Company?"
Cheng Cai and his 7th Platoon's vehicle happened to be parked not far away, and the soldiers in the vehicle immediately shouted, "We're from the Steel 7th Company!"
That's how the soldiers of the Seventh Company are; they can always proudly say that they are the Steel Seventh Company, not just the Seventh Company.
Upon hearing the reply, Lao Ma and the others excitedly ran over.
"Do you know Xu Sanduo?" Xue Lin asked. "He's the Xu Sanduo who just joined your company not long ago."
Upon hearing the name, the soldier being asked gave a strange smile. Xu Sanduo, who doesn't know him? Which squad isn't glad they didn't do anything bad and didn't end up with a soldier like him!
The soldier, grinning strangely, turned to Cheng Cai and said, "Cheng Cai, isn't Xu Sanduo from your hometown?"
"I guess so..." Cheng Cai didn't really want to respond—at first he was excited, but as time went on, he felt ashamed to have such a fellow villager.
Old Ma and the others immediately perked up and pestered Cheng Cai: "Has Xu Sanduo arrived? Which car is he in?"
Before Cheng Cai could even reply, an excited voice came from behind: "Squad Leader Ma?"
When Lao Ma and the others turned around, they saw Zheng Yingqi and Xu Sanduo. Zheng Yingqi had his arm around Xu Sanduo's shoulder, a gesture that was not in accordance with military regulations, but no one said anything to them because the soldier's name was Zheng Yingqi.
"Squad leader? Squad leader!" Xu Sanduo exclaimed in surprise, broke free from Zheng Yingqi's arm around his shoulder, and rushed over.
It was only then that he remembered that the place where the exercise was being held was very close to the place where he used to live.
Zheng Yingqi smiled inwardly as he watched this scene. In the original story, Xu Sanduo missed this moment, and the last time he saw Lao Ma was on the train they parted ways.
"Does this guy from your class know anyone here?" A soldier from Cheng Cai's class asked Zheng Yingqi with a puzzled look.
"Do you know where there is?" Zheng Yingqi pointed to a place not far away—but actually, it was still quite a few kilometers away.
"It looks like a maintenance station."
"Yes, that's the maintenance station. Xu Sanduo was in the fifth squad at the maintenance station before he came to our company." Zheng Yingqi said it casually, but the soldiers who heard it gasped. From the maintenance station to the seventh company, that's too big a leap.
Simply put, it's the distance from logistical units to top-tier combat units.
"Let him relax a bit!" Zheng Yingqi shook his head, deciding to leave Xu Sanduo behind for now, because he saw his company commander enjoying the breeze not far away.
He decided to fool the company commander.
"Stop right there, you little brat, stop right there!" When Gao Cheng was about ten meters away, Gao Cheng, enjoying the breeze, shouted at Zheng Yingqi, "You're all smiles, you're definitely up to no good. Stay away from me!"
Gao Cheng's wary demeanor left Zheng Yingqi speechless. He said, feeling wronged, "Company Commander, isn't this a bit much?"
Gao Cheng smiled, and when Zheng Yingqi came over, he patted Zheng Yingqi on the shoulder and said sincerely:
"I just asked, and if heat sources like eggs aren't treated, they'll be detected and listed as suspected heat sources, so... thank you for today, you saved the honor of our Steel Seventh Company from your fellow villager."
"That kid meant well, but he always manages to do more harm than good." Zheng Yingqi cautiously probed first, and Gao Cheng immediately became wary: "Is it related to him?"
Zheng Yingqi was stunned by their strong sense of vigilance.
Kid, you're still too green, aren't you?
Gao Cheng smiled inwardly.
Helpless, Zheng Yingqi could only point to the distance and say, "Over there, at the maintenance station. His former comrades came to see him. Want to give them some face? And maybe ask for a drink of water while you're at the maintenance station?"
"Maintenance station..." Gao Cheng looked at it and said, "Not to mention giving Xu Sanduo any face, just for the soldiers at the maintenance station staying in that godforsaken place, they deserve to be sent away! I really admire them for being able to squat in that place day and night."
Zheng Yingqi was secretly pleased. No matter how cunning you are, Company Commander, you were still fooled by me.
"I'll see them off!" Gao Cheng climbed into the jeep, and Zheng Yingqi followed without a word. Gao Cheng grumbled, "Go, go, what are you doing up here?"
"I visited Xu Sanduo there before, so I thought I'd take a ride with you, Company Commander, to revisit the place," Zheng Yingqi said ingratiatingly.
Gao Cheng shook his head; there was nothing he could do when this kid became shameless.
Xu Sanduo was excitedly talking to Lao Ma and the others when the jeep suddenly stopped in front of them.
"Company...Company Commander!" Upon seeing the people in the jeep, Xu Sanduo instinctively stood at attention and stammered a greeting.
Old Ma and the others had met Gao Cheng before—at the entrance of the regimental commander's office. Back then, Gao Cheng was incredibly fierce, so seeing him here made them feel uneasy.
This is a place for soldiers, but they are like country bumpkins dressed in military uniforms.
"Get on the bus!"
Gao Cheng pointed to the car, and Lao Ma and the others looked completely bewildered, as did Xu Sanduo.
"It's quite far there. I'll take you back, and when it's time to leave, I'll pull him along," Gao Cheng said.
At that moment, Xu Sanduo was overjoyed, as if struck by lightning, and Lao Ma and the others were also pleasantly surprised.
And so, an overloaded jeep carrying several people, kicking up a long cloud of dust, sped toward the forgotten corner, carrying a few soldiers who had been sitting in a forgotten corner.
"I'm truly impressed by you guys. I'm impressed that you can stay in this place. I'm impressed that you can keep this 702 iron block fueled in this deserted place instead of turning it into scrap metal. I'm impressed by you both personally and in terms of reason."
As Gao Cheng spoke, much of his voice was carried away by the whistling wind, but it still reached the few people huddled in the car.
For the first time, Lao Ma and his team felt a sense of recognition.
The jeep stopped at the maintenance station. Gao Cheng looked at the maintenance station and said, "I've been here before. Later, Lao San told us to avoid this place as much as possible. I asked him why, and he said, 'Don't go here to provoke you.'"
"However, I think what the third brother said is utter nonsense!"
Gao Cheng started cursing because he saw the five-pointed star pattern inside the maintenance station, and also the blooming flowers. He seemed to see tenacious warriors fighting loneliness, so he said:
"From now on, even if it's dozens of kilometers away for field training, I'll bring the team here to spend the night!"
Gao Cheng was filled with emotion. In this forgotten corner, a group of forgotten soldiers did not give up on themselves, but instead created such a beautiful scene!
These are real soldiers!
This is Zheng Yingqi's goal: what's the best way to reduce Gao Cheng's resistance to Xu Sanduo? Of course, it's to make Gao Cheng accept him as a soldier—nothing is easier to gain acceptance than having achievements to show for it!
After hearing Gao Cheng's words, Zheng Yingqi immediately said, "Hey, Squad Leader Ma, this pattern wasn't here when Squad Leader Wu and I came last time."
Old Ma said with a mixture of pride and shame:
"Xu Sanduo did this all by himself, we..."
Old Ma was proud because, in the final years of his military career, he had trained a soldier he could be proud of. He was ashamed because, when this soldier was persisting in something, he, as the squad leader, did not become an ally, but rather an obstacle.
He slowly recounted what Officer Zhang had told the regimental commander, and the story of a simple-minded soldier's stubbornness.
Gao Cheng listened blankly, and some things finally became connected.
Why did Uncle Wang transfer Xu Sanduo from here to the 7th Company? Why did Uncle Wang give Xu Sanduo that beloved model? He remembered clearly that Uncle Wang had said before that when he was the platoon leader, he wanted to lead the whole platoon to repair a road.
Then, what a platoon couldn't accomplish, a single soldier did!
One soldier built a road.
One soldier improved a forgotten corner!
Gao Cheng glanced at Xu Sanduo again. Xu Sanduo was still in that dazed state, now with a slightly shy smile. This time, Gao Cheng's gaze was devoid of discrimination and indifference, only filled with inquiry.
Zheng Yingqi's reaction was also strong. He had watched the TV series many times, but it was still not as real as seeing the road with his own eyes. He wondered what kind of perseverance a soldier must have to carry stones from afar to build this road!
"He's a tiger at heart, just a bear raised by humans!"
Zheng Yingqi and Gao Cheng both remembered this sentence, but their thoughts were completely different. Gao Cheng admitted for the first time that he had misjudged Xu Sanduo, while Zheng Yingqi smiled bitterly. He had spoken this sentence as a prophet, but he had never truly faced Xu Sanduo's fierce nature in his heart.
Damn it, that's a wolf killer!
He sighed inwardly and secretly glanced at Xu Sanduo, wondering if this kid would deal with him, the monkey, once he became the invincible Tiger King.
Gao Cheng slowly circled the five-pointed star and arrived at the clean and tidy guard post. Looking at the clean post, he naturally knew it was due to regular cleaning, and regular cleaning meant someone was on guard duty. He sighed again:
"You guys actually kept standing guard the whole time—I'm truly impressed!"
The word "服了" here is an absolute compliment.
Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Old Ma said sheepishly:
"We don't have the habit of standing guard here. It was only after this kid came that he stood guard without fail according to the basic training company's habits. When he left, these guys missed him and tidied things up, and that's how it ended up like this."
Gao Cheng was stunned again.
He couldn't help but recall the saying: "Old ginger is spicier."
Uncle Wang's ability to oversee troops is better than his own—Gao Cheng would never admit that Zheng Yingqi, that little brat, is better at overseeing troops than he is.