Chapter 41 Story

  In the swaying military jeep, Chen Yang nervously looked at Sun Erpao who was lying in the back through the mirror. At this time, Sun Erpao's convulsions had stopped, as if he was sleeping soundly, and the person leaning against Sun Erpao's body was precisely the culprit who shot Sun Erpao with one bullet.

  The car had been bumping for about fifteen minutes before turning onto a still somewhat bumpy asphalt road, and it finally stabilized. Although the many turns on the road made it impossible to speed up too quickly, it was also a good start for Chen Yang. In the midst of the trembling engine sounds, the young general driving said to Chen Yang, who kept glancing in the rearview mirror: "Kid, do you know how big of a mess you've gotten yourself into?"

  Chen Yang cautiously pointed his gun at the lieutenant general: "Hurry up and open it, don't talk nonsense."

  The lieutenant smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'm also on the car, can't you see that I won't fly away? However, it seems like you're not clear about the consequences of your actions. Never mind, since you don't understand, I don't want to talk to you much either. But have you thought about why you took such drastic action? Do you really think we would ignore the lives of our soldiers?"

  Chen Yang ignored him.

  "Rest assured, I guarantee your friend will be fine. There's a small town less than thirty kilometers ahead where we can take him to the hospital directly. But I'm curious, even if you weren't aware of the consequences of your actions, shouldn't you have had some basic common sense? Was what you did worth it?"

  The headlights of the Jeep illuminated far into the darkness, and behind the roadside trees were patches of dry fields. Looking at the road ahead that was lit up by the car lights, Chen Yang's eyes dimmed, and he fell silent for a long time. Chen Yang seemed to have thought of something, and with a somewhat distracted expression, asked: "Do you think, when people die, is there really a heaven?"

  Junior General was shocked.

  The question really made the lieutenant general unable to answer, and Chen Yang's eyes made the lieutenant general even more confused. Chen Yang said: "Actually, I know the consequences of what I'm doing." "Then why are you still doing this?" The lieutenant general's curiosity grew stronger. Silent Chen Yang seemed to have not heard the lieutenant general's question at all, his eyes tightly fixed on the dry fields by the side of the road, as if muttering to himself: "He said he would take me to his hometown to play, take me up the mountain to catch wild rabbits, go to the riverbank to roast corn..."

  The lieutenant general looked at Sun Erpao, who was lying on the back, with some confusion in the mirror. However, he didn't interrupt Chen Yang's words because he knew that if he interrupted Chen Yang now, perhaps Chen Yang would never speak again. Indeed, after a moment of silence, Chen Yang seemed to have come back to his senses and forced a smile at the lieutenant general, but the smile was really ugly: "It's okay, I'll tell you too, just in case no one else will know if I don't say it now. Do you know why I joined the army?"

  "Shao Jiang said with a smile: 'Why?'"

  Chen Yang said, "Because my dad was afraid I'd go and kill people." As soon as Chen Yang said this, the young general almost drove the car into the roadside ditch. What kind of reason is that? Afraid he'll kill people so you send him to the army? Chen Yang glanced at Sun Erpao who had fallen behind, then turned back and said, "I used to be really fierce in school. Really, really fierce."

  The lieutenant had already been thoroughly defeated by Chen Yang's way of speaking, but for a while he couldn't find the right words to respond, so he could only let Chen Yang continue. Chen Yang said: "At that time, when people in school mentioned me, almost no one didn't admire me, fighting, there was no one in the whole school who was my opponent, but... I had no friends, not a single one, later a classmate named Wang Gang transferred to our class, he became my only friend."

  The lieutenant said: "Continue."

  "Later he died." Chen Yang said calmly: "I got drunk for our school flower, and had a conflict with the people in society. He protected me and was stabbed seven times. And this Sun Erpao behind him looks like him very much, I don't want him to die."

  "Is that all?"

  Chen Yang said: "It's just that simple, my dad was afraid I would go kill those people, so he sent me to join the army."

  "Did those people get caught?"

  Chen Yang nodded: "All were caught, but none of them were sentenced to death."

  The general listened to Chen Yang's words, and his heart was filled with a strange taste. The general suddenly said: "When you decided to do this, did you think about yourself? This will ruin your life." Chen Yang smiled: "What is there to think about, my friend can give his life for me, what else do I have to hesitate about? If something happens to me, I believe Sun Erpao will be more anxious than me."

  He was speechless, but from Chen Yang's words, he could feel Chen Yang's heart. Perhaps Chen Yang was clever in other ways, but it was clear that he didn't understand human relationships at all, and thought everything was a given. If he were in society, someone like him would be easily taken advantage of. But precisely this lack of understanding had deeply attracted Shao Jiang. Indeed, the young man's temperament was passionate and somewhat reckless, doing things without considering the consequences - these were all flaws. However, from another perspective, such a person could be trusted as a friend or brother.

  The jeep fell silent, and for a long time, neither of the two spoke. Ma Fugang, who was leaning on Sun Erpao's body, suddenly woke up and let out a groan. In an instant, General Shao's sensitive eyes caught a glimpse of a murderous intent on Chen Yang's face.

  "Chen Yang, tell me about your family." The lieutenant was trying to make small talk. But Chen Yang didn't take the bait, instead gazing at the heavily injured Ma Fugang in the mirror and saying coldly: "If anything happens to Sun Erpao, I'll definitely kill him, even if the Jade Emperor himself came down from heaven, he couldn't stop me!"

  That resolute tone, that icy gaze, for a moment it stirred up the waves in my heart. How many years has it been since I've seen such an expression and heard such words?! I remember back then, I used to say things like that too, at that time equally young, equally passionate, equally impulsive, only to have the edges worn off by the passage of time without me even realizing it.

  Is the army short of men? Not short? Short? The country recruits soldiers, many people come, but those who come are contaminated with many social habits, some walk through the back door, some give gifts, and some calculate carefully. In the background of peaceful times, is the hot blood of soldiers still boiling?

  At this moment, he had deeply remembered the young man sitting next to him, who was somewhat impulsive and reckless, but full of hot blood. A person who could rush forward with a gun for his comrades, he is Chen Yang!