Chapter 49: Misunderstandings and Miscommunications

  "Woof! Woof!" Suddenly a black shadow rushed onto the plank bridge.

  It turned out that Lin Xue's sharp cry had scared the general, thinking that Lin Xue was threatened or something big had happened. But when it rushed to Lin Xue's side, it didn't find anything and felt very confused. It could only rub against her pant leg, looking at her in confusion.

  "General, Xiao Ye is gone..." Lin Xue hugged its head, still crying out loud.

  Suddenly, in the middle of the river, a small black dot burst out. Upon closer inspection, it was a person's dark head, swimming vigorously towards the two people who had fallen into the water, and then all three drifted downstream together.

  The general first recognized Yu Songyuan, who broke free from Lin Xue's hand without even asking for permission, and with a beautiful leap, he jumped from the high pier into the rushing river water.

  Good heavens, it's Yu Ge!

  Lin Xue stopped crying, opened her eyes wide, and her small mouth formed an "O" shape. She couldn't imagine that Yu Song was in such a rapid river, taking a big dive so far away, it was too unbelievable. She even dared not to believe that the robust general, after floating up from the water, could actually swim towards Yu Song like an arrow.

  Lin Xue woke up with a start and only then did she react. She threw away the book, picked up Yu Songyuan's clothes and shoes, and followed them along the riverbank to downstream.

  Yu Songyuan's swimming skills were excellent, and he quickly swam up to the two of them.

  At this time, Liu Gan was struggling to free himself from the woman's tight embrace while in the water, but his legs started cramping and shrinking together. His physical strength was gradually failing, and he had swallowed a lot of muddy water, making him feel dizzy. His arms were sore as if they were carrying heavy lead blocks, but with the spirit of loving the people, he mechanically lifted the woman's head out of the water, drifting with the current.

  Deep down, Liu Gan was almost certain that he would end up in Northern Jiangsu this time.

  Yu Songyuan quickly reached out and pulled the young woman over, lifting her head above water. At the same time, he lay flat on the water's surface, using his other hand to grab Liu Gan's shoulder, also holding up his head. The three of them floated rapidly downstream with the current.

  After a short rest, Liu's arms gradually regained sensation, but his legs were still curled up in pain. Yu Songyuan encouraged him, "You have cramps in your legs and can't struggle. Lie flat on the water surface with your head raised out of the water. Conserve your strength, as long as you don't sink, it's okay. When we reach a place where the current is slower, I'll rescue you to safety."

  "Thank... thank you!" Liu Gan Shi did the same, and indeed it was much easier. Turning his head to look, he saw Yu Song Yuan with one hand on either side of him and the young woman's heads, lifting them out of the water, while he himself had his eyes closed, his head resting on the waves, looking very comfortable, breathing evenly, drifting downstream.

  "Heavens, your swimming skills are amazing!" With just this one move, Liu Gan was convinced.

  Just then, General swam over like an arrow. Seeing Yu Songyuan grasping two drowning people, he immediately came forward to help. He wanted to hold the young woman in his mouth, but Yu Songyuan said, "General, you go to the left and hold Liu Gan's arm." So, General swam from the right side to the left side, holding Liu Gan's arm in his mouth, following Yu Songyuan, drifting downstream with ease.

  Liu Gan finally relaxed his arms and said to Yu Songyuan, "It's really a well-trained good dog, let it release me, it's too tired for it to swim like this, let's swim together towards the shore."

  Yu Songyuan patiently said, "The water flow is too rapid here, we can't force our way through. Let's wait until the river opens up further ahead. Grab onto the big fish's tail and let it take you along, that'll save energy."

  Then Liu Gan held onto the general's tail, Yu Songyuan supported the young woman's head, and the four of them drifted downstream in the middle of the river for seven or eight kilometers.

  The surface of the water in Guanhe suddenly opened up, and the current also slowed down a lot. Yu Songyuan prepared to rush towards the shore. He said to Liu Ganshi: "Hold on to the tail of the big general, use force evenly, and keep your strength." Liu Ganshi followed his words and tightly grasped the tail of the big general, also slowly exerting force.

  Yu Songyuan himself lifted the young woman's head with one hand, and with a sidestroke, he swam vigorously towards the southern shore. Da Jiang followed Yu Songyuan, also swimming with all his might towards the shore. Finally, when his foot touched the soft mud at the bottom of the water, Yu Songyuan felt a surge of joy, and his heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally relaxed.

  He first carried the young woman to the top of the river embankment, and then helped General Liu to drag Da Jiang to the top of the river embankment.

  The young woman was still in a coma, and Liu Gan was so exhausted that he collapsed to the ground, his legs curled up in agony. Yu Songyuan first patted the general's head and said, "Good boy, you saved everyone's life, it wasn't in vain for me to spoil you." Then he laid Liu Gan flat, using force to straighten his legs, and sat on top of him, pressing down hard. The general also came over to help.

  At this time, a jeep and more than ten bicycles came flying from behind. When they arrived in front of them, they saw three people lying on the ground, and everyone was frightened.

  The director of the armed forces department, Lü, gave a tearful order to quickly send them to the hospital for emergency treatment. The crowd rushed over and wanted to lift the two onto the car, but Yu Songyuan stopped them, "Don't move around, this woman is fine, she didn't swallow much water, she just fainted from fear, she'll wake up soon. This naval officer is even better, he just has a muscle cramp, everyone quickly help press his leg."

  Lü didn't believe it, but Liu's eyes were wide open, gritting his teeth in pain. "You big man crying for nothing, I'm dying of pain here, hurry up and help me press my leg!" Only then did the group follow Yu Songyuan's instructions and pressed down on Liu's legs with all their might. It wasn't until about five or six minutes later that Liu slowly came to, allowing others to support him as he stood up.

  At this time, the young woman slowly woke up. She sat up from the ground and asked inexplicably, "What happened to me? Where is this place..." Before she finished speaking, she suddenly remembered something and burst into loud crying.

  Yu Songyuan quickly walked to her side, gently supporting her back and said, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. You fell into the water just now, but you've been rescued and are safe now. It was this naval officer who saved you."

  Liu Gan Shi hastily said, "It was this young comrade and this big wolf dog that saved the two of us." The woman heard this, and immediately hugged Yu Song Yuan, crying even more violently.

  At this time, another bicycle came quickly along the river embankment. Lin Xue jumped down from the back seat of the car and rushed over to Yu Song, who was still okay, but she burst into loud sobs as soon as she hugged him. Da Jiang also walked over to Lin Xue's side and sat down, licking his fur.

  Two women both hugged Yu Song and cried loudly, leaving him at a loss for what to do, unsure of how to comfort either one.

  The next day, Liu Gan Shi, Director Lu of the Armed Department, a young woman and her husband, four people, brought silk flags and bought a large package of food for General Da, specially came to school to express their gratitude to Yu Songyuan and General Da. Yu Songyuan was in class and was called out by the teacher, only met with them briefly before returning to class.

  At noon, the school's broadcast announced Yu Songyuan's heroic deeds of saving people in the water.

  It should have ended like this, because for the school, it's not a big deal. The upcoming college entrance exam is what really matters to the school's ranking and even its survival.

  A few days later, Liu Gan Shi and the head of the armed forces department, Lu, came to find Yu Song Yuan again in plain clothes. Coincidentally, due to the teacher's schedule adjustment, the class was rescheduled for the next two evenings, and the entire afternoon was self-study time, with only a few classmates studying in the supplementary class.

  But the classmates didn't know where Yu Songyuan lived, Li Yun led them to the vegetable field behind the school, "He walks towards the back of the residential area every day after school, he must live somewhere behind the forest, you go find him."

  The three thanked Li Yun and walked along the small path in the middle of the vegetable field, passing through dense forests, reed marshes, and streams, until they saw a row of dilapidated dormitories under the big embankment. Although they had secretly visited the school before, what they saw along the way still made the three men feel shocked.

  Upon hearing the noise, a majestic wolf dog had already emerged from the dormitory and was pacing back and forth in front of the door, vigilantly eyeing the approaching individuals. As they drew near, the wolf dog neither barked wildly nor attacked them; instead, it walked up to the battalion commander and affectionately rubbed against his pant leg. The commander understood that this was a well-trained military canine, so he patted the general's head.

  Yu Songyuan was studying in his dormitory when he saw them arrive and stood up to welcome the three into the room.

  The two sat down, and Liu Gan Shi introduced, "This is my lifesaving benefactor, Little Hero Xiao Yu. This is also my lifesaving benefactor, a divine dog. This is Zhang Ying of the Reception Battalion, and this is Lu Bu of the Armed Forces Department."

  Liu Gan touched the general's neck, although the general was his lifesaver, but the general was not friendly to him. He glared at Liu Gan with dissatisfaction, let out a low hum, and walked alone to sit down in front of the door.

  "Why, I came to thank you for saving my life, why are you being so arrogant towards me!" Liu Gan was very wronged and puzzled.

  "Can't you see? This is clearly the army's military dog. They have a natural ability to discern danger, and its relationship with Xiaoyu is not ordinary. You want to separate them, it sensed it. Just now it was probably begging me to spare Xiaoyu, now it may be hating us for having the intention of taking away what it loves." Captain Zhang said with a chuckle.

  "Are you saying it already knows our intention? How is this possible?" Minister Lü asked in surprise.

  "That's right. It must be our comrade-in-arms, you all should treat it with courtesy!" Captain Zhang said affirmatively.

  "Good heavens, Xiao Yu, you're really something else! Where did you get that treasure from?" Seeing Xiu Songyuan hum and haw, not wanting to say more, Liu Gan Shi then said to Xiu Songyuan, "We've reported your situation to the troops, and the leader is very interested. If you're willing to join the army and completely meet our conditions, we can specially recruit you."

  Yu Songyuan felt a sudden jolt, and at the same time, he didn't want them to discover that he was living with Lin Xue. So he said, "This is too sudden, I never thought of it. How about this, let's go for a walk along the riverbank while we talk, the scenery there is particularly good."

  Actually, Liu Gan's affairs had already been figured out by the girl from upstairs and Lin Xue's earth-shattering cry that day. So he deliberately smiled slyly and said, "Hehe, I think it's fine to talk about it here."

  The captain looked to be around thirty-three or four years old. Yu Songyuan could tell at a glance that he was an experienced practitioner. The captain asked straightforwardly, "Has Little Yu received professional swimming training?"

  Yu Songyuan said, "No. In the poor and remote rural areas, there is no regular training. When I was young, I played with my friends in the Nanchao River every day, and naturally became proficient over time."

  "What you call diving here is called 'zamengzi', how far can you dive with one zamengzi?"

  "Haven't tried it, should be very far."

  Just then, there was a basin of clear water in the room. The instructor said, "Alright, let's use this basin to test how long you can hold your breath underwater."

  "Okay."

  Then, Yu Songyuan took a deep breath and put his face into the clear water, and the instructor started timing. The result was eleven minutes. The instructor looked at Liu Ganshi and Lü Buzhang with excitement, and asked Yu Songyuan, "Have you ever thought of becoming a soldier?"

  "I've thought about it, of course I have. Being a soldier was my childhood dream. But being a soldier in a big city is boring, I don't want to be that kind of soldier. If I'm going to be one, I want to be the kind that can go into battle, defend our country and kill enemies with honor."

  "It's getting interesting, I'm very interested, can you tell me the reason?"