Chapter 49 The Feelings of an Old Soldier

  "Ding-dong——"

  At 9:00 am, Qu Mingjun tidied up his clothes and stood in front of the door of Director Yuan's house.

  "Who's there?" came the voice of Yuan Lao's beloved from afar.

  "It's me, Xia Qu, Auntie is good."

  "Oh dear, Xiao Qu has arrived, great!"

  The door opened soon.

  "Xiao Qu, you've come at just the right time. Auntie just went out for a trip and there's no one else home today except for old man. I was worried too. Now that you're here, don't leave anymore, okay? You can have lunch with us at home." Yuan Ayi rattled off a whole bunch of words as soon as she started talking.

  "Ah, oh. Alright. But I won't be able to eat lunch, I still have to go back to the team." Qu Mingjun said with a smile.

  "Go back? Oh, I'm afraid the team will say something. Never mind, never mind, let me make a phone call to you and that's it. It's easy to come home for once, at least have a meal." Yuan Aunt said as she led Qu Mingjun into the house.

  "Oh dear, old man, stop reading those tattered books of yours. Look who's here." Aunt Yuan rushed into the house and loudly called out as she headed towards the study.

  "Huh? What's going on, I'm telling you to be more steady at your age?" Director Yuan poked his head out of the study with a look of dissatisfaction. "Ah, Xiao Qu has arrived, come in, come in, take a seat."

  "This old man is dead." Aunt Yuan turned around and went into the house to get clothes and things, and said as she walked, "Little Qu, don't leave at noon, you see this old man, usually he doesn't even let me in his study room. Today, just accompany him well. I told the old man, I'm going out, and I'll come back at noon to cook for both of you."

  "Alright, alright! I told you to leave earlier, but you didn't listen and insisted on bothering me at home. Hurry up and go, hurry up and go!" Director Yuan was getting impatient.

  "Die, old thing! If you're not sick, why bother me?" Aunt Yuan put on her outerwear and came out to mutter in the main room, "Little Qu, I'm leaving first, take care of the old man and don't let him get too tired."

  "Hey, Auntie, don't worry." Qu Mingjun smiled and hung his hat on the coat rack by the door.

  "Hmm, Xiao Qu, what would you like to drink?" Director Yuan let out a long sigh after seeing Auntie Yuan leave, as if he had been relieved of a burden, causing Qu Mingjun to stifle a laugh.

  "Here I come, Director." Qu Mingjun stood up and walked to a row of bookshelves against the wall, took out a box of top-grade Tieguanyin from the third door, turned around and took out a set of Gongfu tea utensils from under the tea table.

  Qu Mingjun took a kettle of boiling water, sat down at the tea table, and began to wash the cup, drop the tea, rinse the tea, scrape off the foam, pour the tea, and infuse the tea. Then he invited Yuan Lao, who was sitting aside enjoying Qu Mingjun's craftsmanship, to come over and appreciate the tea together.

  "A white crane takes a bath, a black dragon enters the palace, a hanging pot is high and urgent, spring breeze brushes against the face, General Guan patrols the city, Han Xin reviews his troops, appreciating the beauty and fragrance, savoring the sweet dew. Ah, little song, it's only when you're here that I can truly enjoy myself." Old Yuan, holding a teacup, shook his head and said, "Don't look at all the good tea leaves and tea sets I have, but I just can't drink them. Ever since you came and made this one trip, oh dear, drinking your aunt's brewed tea is no longer enjoyable. If only I could make it according to your method myself, but somehow it never tastes right."

  "Dean Lao, you're overpraising me." Qu Mingjun smiled slightly.

  "That's not possible, really not." Director Yuan leaned forward slightly and sat up straight, speaking seriously. "Xiao Qu, your grandfather is a remarkable person. The way you play chess and drink tea shows that you have a strong classical influence. I truly hope to find an opportunity to meet him someday."

  Sweat, Qu Mingjun thought in his heart, my grandfathers are so many, Third Grandfather is good at tea ceremony, Sixth Grandfather is good at chess, Ninth Grandfather is good at martial arts, you can still recognize them one by one.

  "By the way, how did you have time to come today? Don't you need to train?" Director Yuan put down his teacup and asked.

  "Uh, I'm taking a rest today." Qu Mingjun simply tidied up the things on the tea table and said, "The military training has basically been practiced enough, now it's mainly just consolidating our physical strength and skills. Moreover, we're leaving tomorrow afternoon, so I came to bid farewell to you, Dean. I'm afraid I won't be able to come back here to accompany you before I return."

  "Oh." Dean Yuan looked at the time on the large calendar next to him and suddenly realized, "It's almost time for the big martial arts competition. Hey, I've been in these mountains for so long, I didn't even notice how fast the days are passing. But that's not right either, there's still over a week before the big competition."

  "It's also a gathering of the requirements mentioned above. Instructor Fan also said it's just right to go and get used to the venue first." Qu Mingjun explained.

  Yuan Lao laughed self-deprecatingly and asked: "Which college is hosting this martial arts competition?"

  "None of them." Qu Mingjun thought for a moment and said, "I heard Instructor Fan say that this time the martial arts competition is not set in any particular college, but rather in a training base. This training base directly belongs to the General Staff, and no one knows the specific situation. Now Instructor Fan and others are still trying to find out about the situation of that base through various connections."

  "Oh?" Dean Yuan furrowed his brow, "Where is this base?"

  "It is at the border of Qinghai and Gansu. I think it should be in the Qilian Mountains area."

  Director Yuan stood up and took down a Chinese atlas from the bookshelf, flipping to the page of Qilian Mountain. "Hmm, it seems that this place has everything, plateau, primitive forest, grassland, lake, what a great place for military training."

  "Yes, so Instructor Fan and the others calculated that it's better to arrive early than late. As soon as we receive the order, we'll set off immediately and take the opportunity to adapt to the highland and mountain environment over there."

  "This is what should be. When soldiers fight, they need to consider the terrain and timing, so this advantage must be taken into account." Director Yuan put away the map book, smiling and asking, "How about it, can you bring back a first place for our hospital this time?"

  Qu Mingjun scratched his head in embarrassment, "Old Dean, you overestimate me. Not to mention the elite soldiers from other hospitals, just look at our own hospital's district team leader Feng Shaojun and class leader Guo Xiangyang, they are all top-notch experts. I don't have much confidence."

  "Hehe, don't be so modest, I also asked Xiao Fan about you, and his evaluation of you is quite high."

  "That's Instructor Fan praising him."

  "Go ahead, just keep this attitude, don't be arrogant or impatient, do your best. But also need to have some confidence."

  "Don't worry, Dean, I will definitely try my best to achieve a good result."

  "Hmm, that's right, you have to prove yourself and represent the training standards of our college." Dean Yuan took out a Go board and placed it on the tea table, inviting Qu Mingjun to start playing.

  ……

  "This time, in this mountainous plateau's grand martial arts competition, I think you should pay attention to Chun City Lu Institute and Chang'an Lu Institute. One is located in the mountains, the other on the plateau, they must have emphasized training for these environments during peacetime. The other Lu Institutes, their training conditions are similar to ours, shouldn't be too big of a threat." Yuan Old Institute Head analyzed while playing chess.

  "Hmm." Qu Mingjun listened attentively.

  "In previous years, the eight major academies held military competitions, and the host always had an advantage. This year, it was unexpectedly moved to the training base of the General Staff Headquarters, which is a good idea." Old Director Yuan played with a white piece in his hand, "However, I'm not afraid, after all, there have only been three competitions so far, this is the fourth one. In the past three competitions, except for the second one where Spring City Academy took the championship, the other two were won by our Shimen Academy. Hmph, even the second one was because Spring City Academy had an advantage on their home turf. This year, everyone starts from the same starting line, so there's no need to be afraid. Do your best, Xiao Qu, we can't lose the reputation of being the strongest in East China."

  "Yes!" Qu Mingjun looked at Yuan Lao's sudden burst of grand ambition and couldn't help but be infected, standing up straight.

  "Ha, sit down. Look at me, I've got the old habit again, playing chess and not discussing official business." Director Yuan was taken aback for a moment, then immediately reacted, "Sigh, everyone has retired, but still thinking about this and that all day, it's no wonder your aunt always scolds me."

  One dish killed, and Yuan Lao was slightly better off in the end.

  Director Yuan was delighted and said, "Little Qu, I still figured it out. You little rascal is still letting me win."

  "What's going on? Dean Liu, you're wronging me!" Qu Mingjun's face turned red with sweat.

  "What's wrong with you, you stinky little brat? You don't even have a bit of competitive spirit!" Old Director Yuan pretended to be indignant.

  "There really isn't. You see I'm still leading with black." Qu Mingjun retorted.

  "Alright, I may be old but my brain is still sharp." Director Yuan looked at Qu Mingjun who was about to say something else and waved his hand, "Don't say anything more, I understand what's on your mind. You're probably worried that I'm overthinking things and it'll affect my health. Little Qu, you're a good kid."

  "Hehe." Besides smiling foolishly, Qu Mingjun didn't know what else to say.

  "Oh, it's already past 11 o'clock. Why hasn't your aunt come back yet?" Director Yuan looked at his watch.

  "Ah?" Qu Mingjun hastily looked at his watch and stood up, saying, "Old Director, I should head back. I still need to return to the team at noon."

  "Hmm? Didn't your aunt say so, just have lunch here?" said Director Yuan. "Are you afraid of being criticized? Otherwise, I'll give Little Fan a call and let him come over for a simple meal too."

  "No, no, Dean, we may have another meeting after lunch, supposedly to analyze the subjects that might be tested."

  "Oh, I see. Well, you can go back then. There's no time for idle chatter, so I won't keep you any longer."

  "Yes." Qu Mingjun stood up and respectfully bowed to Dean Yuan.

  "Alright." Dean Yuan picked up two books from the table and threw them to Qu Mingjun, "Take these two books back and take a good look. I think they're well-written. It's just right for you to learn something new on your way and in your free time. If one doesn't learn every day, he'll fall behind."

  Qiu Mingjun looked down and saw that both books were written by the National Defense University, the highest military academy of our army. One was "Modern High-Tech Local War Theory" and the other was "The Revelation of the Gulf War".

  "We can't just rely on physical strength now, we need to rely on technology and brains." Old Director Yuan seemed to be filled with emotion.

  "I will study these two books seriously." Qu Mingjun put away the two books and bid farewell to the old principal with a bow.

  "What? What, Xiao Qu? You old man, how did you let Xiao Qu leave?" Director Yuan stood at the door and saw Qu Mingjun off. At this time, Auntie Yuan was carrying a bag back, and as soon as she looked up, she saw Qu Mingjun turning a corner in the distance.

  "What's with all the fuss? Go back inside and talk about it..."

  "You..."

  Qu Mingjun walked on the road, unaware of when he left, and suddenly became so sentimental. He casually took out a book "The Gulf War Revelation" and flipped through it. A paragraph with red pen markings caught his attention.

  "This war heralds a new military revolution that is taking place, marking the arrival of a new type of warfare characterized by high technology, since World War II..."

  Qu Mingjun involuntarily flipped through the book as he walked, which not only introduced some situations of the Gulf War but also expressed deep concerns and ideas for improvement about our army's current training and some systems. On the margins of the book, there were many notes and annotations by Yuan Lao.

  Director Yuan has already retired, but he still loves the army and national defense education so much. After his retirement, he still pays attention to domestic and international military hotspots, pays attention to the forefront of military scientific research, and is still diligent in writing and studying hard. This is admirable and touching.

  Qiu Mingjun saw in the annotations of the book not only a new military world, but also an old soldier's deep affection for China's national defense.

  All the way onto the train, Qu Mingjun was still holding these two books and reading them, occasionally taking out a pen to take some notes, which even got Fan Shaoxiao to come over and borrow one of the books to read. The two of them would get off the train and from time to time engage in an exchange, the entire training team including the two instructors and one liaison officer were all either actively or passively drawn into this discussion about military transformation.

  The destination of the military showdown is getting closer and closer...

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  I salute all the veterans, soldiers and their families who are fighting on the military defense line! The prototype of President Yuan in the above article is someone I've seen too many times. There are many older professors in our unit who are more diligent than us young people when it comes to studying and researching, not to mention their knowledge and insight. By the way, I'd like to recommend this article one last time, haha.

  Note: Gongfu Cha Steps

  1) White Crane Bathing (Rinsing Cup): Use boiling water to rinse the tea cup and raise the internal temperature of the tea cup.

  2) Wulong into the palace (Luocha): According to the ratio of tea and water 1:20, also can be adjusted according to individual taste preferences.

  3) High-pouring (rinsing tea): Hold the kettle high, with a strong flow of water, pour into the teapot, making the tea leaves rotate.

  4) Spring breeze sweeps across (removing foam): Use the lid of a covered bowl to skim off the foam floating on the surface of the tea soup.

  5) Guan Gong Xun Cheng (Pouring Tea): After steeping for one to two minutes, pour the tea water into each small teacup in sequence.

  Han Xin points tea: when the tea water is poured to a small amount, it drips into each cup one by one, making the concentration even.

  7) Appreciate the color and aroma (observe the tea): Observe the color of the tea water in the cup, smell the fragrance of the tea (smell the lid of the cup instead of smelling the tea, called smelling the fragrance).

  8) Savoring sweet dew (drinking tea): First smell its fragrance, then taste its flavor. Sipping and smelling alternately, shallow cup and delicate drinking.

  In short, the key to brewing Tieguanyin lies in using three parts tea and seven parts water, with a clear and refreshing taste: clear water body, clear water quality, sweet and mellow flavor, and boiling water temperature.