Chapter Three: The Bottom Line

  Entering Lewei's office, Xiao Shuai sat down in the chair by himself.

  At this time, Lei Wei's face no longer had a smile, becoming serious and his sharp eyes stared tightly at Xie Xiaoshuai, as if he wanted to see through everything about Xie Xiaoshuai.

  "Alright, Old Lei, stop looking at me with that gaze. It may work on the new recruits, but it's useless on me." Xie Xiao-Shuai said slowly, propping up his leg.

  "You little brat, what secret are you hiding? I'm really curious now, I really want to dissect you and see what kind of monster you are!" Lei Wei's temper was gone.

  "I said Old Lei, you're from that place, right? I just don't get it, with your abilities, how did you end up as a dogshit new recruit platoon leader?" When Xie Xiaoshuai spoke, Lei Wei's mind was really shocked. As for his background, only two people in the whole regiment knew: the Regimental Commander and the Political Commissar.

  "Which place?" Lei Wei's mind was shocked, but his face didn't show any expression.

  "Special forces, don't tell me you're an ordinary troop, go tell that to a ghost." Xie Xiao-shuai still had that sloppy look on his face, and his legs were still shaking.

  "How did you know that? My file is top-secret, there's no way you could have seen it." Lei Wei's face was somewhat discomfited. His training scores in disguise and infiltration were among the best. But a new recruit who had just enlisted for a month was able to reveal his background with one sentence, which made him feel utterly humiliated.

  "Just by looking at your tiger's mouth, I can tell that you're a seasoned veteran of robbery. The distribution of calluses on your tiger's mouth indicates that you've been using firearms for a long time. Although the dead skin on your fists has fallen off, the old calluses are still there, indicating years of combat training. But what's most important is the murderous aura in your eyes and the atmosphere around you, which can only be forged through years of blood and fire. And looking at your age, you're probably no more than 24 or 25, yet you're already a lieutenant colonel - I'm afraid you've made quite a few contributions to get there." Xie Xiaoshuai was still as nonchalant as ever, getting up to pour himself a glass of water.

  "Alas!! I didn't expect to lose to a rookie like you. You little brat, what kind of monster are you?" Lei Wei sat down in the chair, staring at Xie Xiao Shuai who was blowing and drinking water at the same time.

  "Lao Lei, don't lose heart either. Not everyone can see these things like I do." Xie Xiao Shuai continued to drink his water with effort.

  "I'm really curious, what exactly did you go through in the past? I've seen your file, your dad was a commander of an artillery regiment. Even if you grew up in the army, you shouldn't have been exposed to these things." Lei Wei's curiosity was also very strong, and he decided to dig deeper into Xie Xiaoshuai's past.

  "Alright, I'll satisfy your curiosity today. Yes, I grew up in the army, watching those soldiers train since I was a kid. Since I was 14, I haven't had any holidays, my old man threw me into his reconnaissance unit to train with the soldiers. From then on, I've been an unofficial scout. You don't know how strict my old man's requirements were for me - at 14, I had to complete all the training courses and get excellent grades, or else I'd get beaten up... When school was out, I'd do homework and then train physically, starting with a 10km run without equipment, later carrying 25kg packs for 10km. Every day, 1000 push-ups, 1000 sit-ups, until I enlisted. With this experience, can I take these rookie training sessions seriously? Don't look at my one-month enlistment age, my actual military age is not short, and Lu Zhongming thinks he's qualified to be my squad leader and train me?" Xiao Shuai took a sip of water, moistening his throat.

  "Don't look at me as an old man who was the commander of an artillery regiment, that's a real veteran of the battlefield. During the Southern Xinjiang War, I was the captain of the reconnaissance company, if you've read military history, you might know its name: Bald Eagle. You should know what it means for a reconnaissance company to have a name. It was he who led his soldiers on a long-distance raid of 500 kilometers and obtained the key intelligence that decided the outcome of that battle. In that operation, 108 people from his company participated, but less than 20 returned, with 10 being awarded first-class combat merits. Finally, the headquarters commander personally named his reconnaissance company. And now, the special forces battalion in the Southwest Military Region is also called: Bald Eagle. The name of the first battalion commander doesn't need to be mentioned, does it?" Xiao Shuai said, finishing a mouthful of water from his cup.

  "I'm going to go. The first captain of the Bald Eagles, Xie Pingyang, was a legend, you're not telling me he's your old man, are you?" Lei Wei no longer had his serious expression and showed off the characteristics of a sunny youth.

  "Haha! It's exactly what my old man said."

  "But he's a special forces battalion commander, how can he go to an artillery regiment as its commander?"

  "That's still not his fault, it's because of his stubborn and hard-headed personality! You know that the special forces battalion has more promotion opportunities for officers than other units. So many people come to find him to get in through the back door, hoping to advance their careers. Although the recommended people are all capable, he insists on his own selection program and rejects everyone. In the end, he directly submitted a notice saying something about refusing to accept relationships and backdoor dealings, which offended many people. And then, for some reason, he directly clashed with the military district chief and was exiled by the chief. The reason is that after self-reflection, when the chief thinks he's okay, he'll be called back. Now, even the commander of the Eagle Battalion is still a political commissar. Actually, the chief likes him very much, but feels that he's too arrogant. He's just been tempered by his experiences, and this is how leaders train him." Speaking of his own father, Xie Xiaoshuai also felt some helplessness.

  "You're really a strange old man, too honest. I like it." Lei Wei felt more and more comfortable chatting with Xie Xiaoshuai, and his words became more and more casual.

  "He's quite peculiar. Do you know why he trains me like this?"

  "I don't know."

  "That was preparation for joining the special forces later, all training was conducted according to the standards of special forces personnel. Although he didn't say it, I knew he hoped I could take his place in the future. In fact, he didn't know that since I was sensible, he had been my idol, my pride, and I aspired to be like him." Xie Xiaoshuai sighed.

  "Alright, I know you're capable, kid. I finally understand why you could tell what I was doing at a glance. My curiosity is satisfied, so scram and go back to training. And give Lü Zhōngmíng some face, after all he's also an old squad leader." Lei Wei said with a smile, this time it was a genuine smile, no longer that formulaic one.