Chapter Twenty-Two: A New Beginning

  Tong Meng panted heavily, staring at Ma Tong with a sense of defeat and unwillingness: originally, he was supposed to take over as the team leader as the deputy team leader, but who would have thought that such an unimpressive-looking yet incredibly skilled guy would suddenly appear? But he had no way out, because he knew that what Ma Tong could do, he couldn't.

  "I want to have a shooting match with you!" Tong Meng said abruptly, he didn't believe that the guy in front of him could outshoot himself, a special forces sniper!

  "I won't use a gun, except for the few shots I fired during military training in college. Otherwise, I haven't even had the chance to touch a gun!" Ma Tong said honestly: "And to be honest, I didn't think about competing with any of you for this group leader position. I just wanted to join your team and earn some more money to support my family."

  The words made the crowd look at Ma Tong with a lot more goodwill, firstly because of Ma Tong's sincerity and secondly because Ma Tong revealed his own weaknesses, making them no longer feel that they were much inferior to him.

  It's just human nature that when you think someone is inferior to you in some ways, it's easier to become friends with them.

  Tong Meng let out a sigh of relief and gave Ma Tong a grateful glance, extending his hand: "No problem, I'll teach you. Welcome to the team, Ma Tong!"

  Ma Tong stretched out his hand and shook hands with Tong Meng, then turned around and asked An Lao: "An Lao, did I pass the assessment?"

  An Lao smiled like an old fox at this time: "Does everyone agree that Ma Tong join you?"

  Everyone's eyes turned towards Ma Tong were filled with kindness, and they said in unison: "Agreed!"

  He An Lao walked out of the training room with a smile, and everyone gathered around, praising Ma Tong's incredible kick. Xiao Fei, who was previously knocked flying by Ma Tong while helping him with his sandbag training, sincerely said: "Brother Ma, your previous kick was too powerful! I think even if I used all my strength, I would still be kicked flying!"

  Ma Tong was delighted in his heart, but humbly said: "Everyone is overpraising me, actually I still have a lot to learn!"

  At this time, Tong Meng said with a bit of embarrassment: "Ma Ge, brother I am straightforward, just thought you were here to compete with me for the group leader position, so I was a bit rude to you, don't mind it!"

  Ma Tong smiled and said: "Nothing, if I were you, I'd probably be even more impolite than you!"

  "Haha!" Everyone thought that Ma Tong was quite good and very much to their taste, a group of rough people, and suddenly they all burst out laughing together.

  Ma Tong resolved Tóng Méng's embarrassment with one sentence, and Tóng Méng gratefully said: "Brother Ma, let's go, I'll take you to get your equipment. Once you learn how to use a gun, I'll even help you get a gun license!"

  Ma Tong exclaimed in surprise: "Aren't we just security guards? Why are we equipped with guns?"

  "Hey, Ma Ge, you don't know that our special duty squad isn't just any ordinary security personnel. We're all registered with the police department and only do training and get paid when there's nothing going on. But once the company or government needs us, we have to be ready to move out at any time. Our tasks include providing outer security for celebrities and dignitaries, armed escort of valuable goods, assisting the police in executing warning tasks... how can you do it without a gun? Do your job well, Ma Ge, with your skills, maybe one day you'll get chosen by the high-ups to be their personal bodyguard! Sigh, I wish I could get chosen too, it's tens of thousands per month, way more than what we're making now!"

  Tong Meng nodded and said, "Yes, Ma Ge, our original team leader Zhao Xiong was poached by Young Master Ling to be his bodyguard. I heard he earns over 800,000 yuan a month, and at the end of the year, he can even enjoy the group's dividend distribution. That's a lot of money!"

  Zhao Xiong?

  Ma Tong was speechless: This world is really small!

  After going through the formalities with Tong Meng in the personnel department and receiving their uniforms and basic equipment, Ma Tong followed him to the shooting range located on the third underground floor of the company. After completing the strict procedures, Tong Meng and Ma Tong each received a brand new 92-style military pistol and a box of bullets. Then, the two began training, with one teaching and the other learning.

  Tong Meng was a special forces sniper, and as a shooting coach, he was more than enough. His eyesight was also surprisingly high. Even so, Ma Tong's talent still made him somewhat surprised, originally in Tong Meng simply told him some key points, the first time using a handgun to shoot at 50 meters target, Ma Tong relied on his super strong eyesight at this time, stable and accurate shooting posture, the first shot was six rings, and the score of each subsequent shot was improving, seven rings, eight rings... After a box of bullets was fired, his score basically remained between nine rings and ten rings!

  "Ma Ge, you're a genius at shooting!" Tong Meng exclaimed in surprise. To think that he had achieved this result after intense training for half a month!

  "How can I not keep getting a bullseye?" Ma Tong was somewhat dissatisfied with himself, because the target paper 50 meters away seemed to be right in front of him, and he had clearly maintained his body posture and all that very well, and had also done the three points and one line, so why couldn't he do it?

  Tong Meng's forehead suddenly sprouted three black lines, and he thought to himself, "The first time I touch a gun, I can achieve such results. You're not even satisfied with yourself, are you going to let others live?"

  Monster! Tong Meng thought angrily.

  "Tong Zu, can you teach me again?" Ma Tong asked Tong Meng with great humility.

  Tong Meng didn't hide his true thoughts and said seriously, "This, I think Ma Ge has done a good job in all aspects, but there's one thing, shooting requires coordination with breathing. One or two seconds before firing, you should stop breathing, and when firing, you must consciously pull the trigger, not unconsciously fire! However, Ma Ge's current score is already very good. A godly shooter is nurtured by bullets, so just keep practicing slowly in the future!"

  That's right! I was too impatient myself!

  Ma Tong said with a hint of lingering regret: "Hmm, I understand, thank you Tóng zǔ. In the future, I'll practice hard and won't bring shame to our group!"

  Coming from a military background, Tong Meng didn't hide his high opinion of Ma Tong at all: "Lose face? Impossible! I think Brother Ma will definitely become the pride of our special task force!"

  Ma Tong deeply agreed in his heart, but on the surface, he showed a humble and cautious appearance: "Tong Zu, you're too kind to your brother!"

  What Tong Meng and Ma Tong did not expect was that Tong Meng's words would soon become a harsh reality!

  After a day of business learning and training, Ma Tong learned a lot of things besides shooting, such as tactical gestures that he had only seen on TV before, group coordination, anti-terrorism drills and so on. It was thrilling for him who had never been a soldier before. Every man has had the childhood dream of joining the army and fighting against enemies, but he didn't have the chance to fulfill it before. This time, his dream finally came true!

  He was deeply grateful to Ling Wanqing for helping him achieve his dreams. After work, he thought about it again and again, and finally took out his phone and dialed Ling Wanqing's number.

  The person who answered the phone was a woman with an unfamiliar voice: "Is that Mr. Ma? I'm Assistant Lin, and Director Ling is in a meeting right now. Is there anything you'd like me to pass on?"

  Ma Tong hastily said: "Ah, nothing much, I just wanted to thank Director Ling. My interview this afternoon was successful and I've joined the Special Duty Squad. I'm already on duty now!"

  Lin's assistant said: "I know about this matter, General An has already called me, I will convey your thanks for you!"

  "Alright, thank you! See you later!"

  "Goodbye!"

  After hanging up the phone, Ma Tong couldn't help but feel a sense of melancholy: he and Ling Wanqing were indeed people from different worlds. He had finished work, while she was still busy, probably studying some major plan.

  Hundreds of millions, tens of billions?

  "It seems I need to work harder!"

  Ma Tong rushed home to tell Zheng Lirong the good news that he had found a new job with a monthly salary of 8,000 yuan. Zheng Lirong was overjoyed and cooked a big feast, also inviting Lv Dahai's family to come over. Everyone ate happily together, and when it was time to leave, Lv Dahai patted Ma Tong on the shoulder and said sincerely: "Brother, you've finally turned your luck around! You must work hard and show those who look down on us!"

  At night, Ma Tong received a congratulatory call from Ling Wanqing before going to bed. However, Ling Wanqing's voice sounded very tired, so Ma Tong, who had planned to chat with her for a while, couldn't bear it and hung up the phone after a few sentences.