Extracting iron from ore (3)

  About Chen Pai's illness, Chen Pai told me to keep it a secret. The first discipline we learned in the army was secrecy and the serious consequences of leaking secrets. I still remember the principle and consequences of keeping secrets vividly. For example, after all these years, only one of my girlfriends knows that I used to be a special forces soldier in the "Wolf Tooth" Special Forces Brigade - and that was when I was extremely excited and poured out my heart to her. But she didn't even want to listen to me talk about those special forces, just sat there and said: "Let's talk about fashion instead." It made me laugh and cry at the same time, and I thought about banging my head against the wall. The fact that I told her such an important thing proved that my trust in her was not ordinary, and I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. But she had a very disdainful attitude. So later on, when I got a new girlfriend, I didn't want to talk about it anymore, just said I used to be a soldier. It's not just about keeping secrets, to be honest, the whole world knows what special forces do, and after all these years, things have developed and changed. The thing in my brain is probably no longer worth taking so seriously, and most importantly, I think girls nowadays don't even want to listen to that kind of stuff.

  Or rather, Chen Pai's matter, I didn't say it in the end either.

  The formal competition began on the second day, lasting for 7 days and divided into 4 major categories with over 20 sub-items. The judges were the Minister of Intelligence of the Military Region and his staff officers, while the Deputy Commander of the Military Region personally oversaw the event, so many Major Generals also attended. This was my first time witnessing such a grand scene, and I was extremely excited. Armed helicopters and transport helicopters flew in the sky, large and small speedboats ran on the water, and on land, there were various vehicles: first came three-wheeled motorcycles with white steel helmets, followed by Red Flag, Audi, Santana, Mitsubishi Jeep, Beijing Jeep, and a Chinese-made Pajero Jeep that had changed its name.

  The security personnel at the venue were over 1.85 meters tall, handsome and majestic, wearing woolen military uniforms, red shoulder badges, white gloves, and black leather shoes, with expressionless faces that seemed to be looking down on us like a group of noble German Shepherds. We, on the other hand, were dressed in worn-out camouflage uniforms, which we preferred because they were soft and comfortable, unlike the new ones which were too hard and would chafe our skin after getting wet. The atmosphere at the venue was electric, with slogans being shouted that seemed to shake the heavens and move the gods. Although it was still the same old slogans - "Use me for the first battle", "Use me throughout", "Victory is mine" - even the militia were shouting them, but their voices were hoarse from shouting. The venue was packed with people as far as the eye could see, with a sea of faces stretching out in every direction. It was an enormous area, and it was our stage. The organization at the venue was impeccable, with everyone standing still as statues during the leader's speech, their faces stern, solemn, and youthful under their steel helmets.

  I stood beside Chen Pai, I could see our company's formation was just beside the rostrum, standing upright and dressed neatly. All the low-ranking officers below battalion level were staring at their own troops with eager eyes, hoping to make a good impression for themselves. I couldn't see Chen Pai's face, but I could hear his heavy breathing.

  The national anthem was played, the flag was raised, and the head of state finished speaking. Then all the spectators sat down, and the sound of brushing against the small stools was surprisingly uniform. I had never seen the chief officer of this reconnaissance unit so disciplined before. The concept of people having two sides to their nature is something I've truly seen in action for the first time. Of course, this is meant as a joke, not derogatory.

  Then the competition started, and we were immediately armed with a splash. We quacked like ducks as the judge's starting gun rushed us into the water to swim towards the small island on the other side. Although I had swum through this process countless times before, I was still nervous to death, because there were several generals behind me, although I knew they saw just a few hundred camouflage ducks - at that time, I had already been hammered into a thorough and thorough private, although my personality was still unruly but much more honest, especially after serving as the chief of staff for a long time, the feeling of respect for superiors increased.

  This process is relatively easy, because everyone knows when to make an effort and when to sprint. Moreover, it's just the beginning, and the hard part is yet to come - getting ashore is not the end, there are subjects waiting for you. These laborious subjects are even more difficult than Ironman once they are linked together.

  I won't go into details about the events on shore, they were all highly technical small events. Anyway, I was in a state of tension from the first day. My performance was average to above average, and my ranking was around 30th place. I'm relatively satisfied with this result. Because my strongest events haven't come out yet, which are the 10,000-meter armed cross-country and rapid-fire rifle shooting. In these two events, I am the absolute ace of the training team. If I get first or second place, plus the rock climbing event where I received Miao Lian's careful guidance, I estimate that I can be in the top three. As for the other events, as long as I perform at this level, my overall score can guarantee a ranking within the top 20. Because no one is perfect in every aspect, and getting into the top 20 gives you the qualification to join the "Wolf Tooth" team's training - of course, on a voluntary basis. But I'm not willing to do that, I just don't want to lose face for Miao Lian, even if I get first place, I still want to go back to my reconnaissance company and be my clerk. Like all competitions, we also have a coach, who is Miao Lian, he has prepared a detailed competition plan for us, and from time to time goes to other teams to gather intelligence. Miao Lian is very familiar with this. However, at this point, the leaders of each reconnaissance company are all secretly competing with each other, although we usually train together and everyone knows each other's strengths, but who to use against whom, who to suppress whom, that's a top-secret military plan - the team's competitive mentality is extremely strong, even in singing songs and shouting slogans, they want to compete. What more can be said about this being a military competition?

  The first day is over, Chen Pai's performance wasn't great, but he's still in 35th place, which means there are still opportunities ahead. I heard that last year was even worse for him, his legs gave out during the swimming event. Previously, I thought it was just a cramp, but this time I analyzed it and think it's due to his leg condition. Tomorrow is the 10,000-meter cross-country event. Given that I now know Chen Pai has a leg problem (I previously thought it was just his legs), I've decided to run with him tomorrow, leading the way in front of him, and if he's struggling at critical moments, I'll give my brother a pull - even if I don't come in first or second, I want to help Chen Pai's performance not fall behind. Because I know his dream is to join the "Wolf Tooth" team, and even if I can't make it into the top 20, I'll do what I can to help Chen Pai.

  The next day, we started early and did some warm-up exercises. This time, it wasn't a 5am start with a 10,000-meter run. The team leader had to get up and watch too. We just ran 1,000 meters at a slow pace to loosen our legs and shoulders. I helped Chen Pai stretch his shoulders and noticed he didn't look well. I asked him if everything was okay, and he shook his head with a bitter smile: "I'm fine."

  I didn't dare to tell him not to run, if I said that, I believe this slap would have been inevitable. I understand Chen Pai, although he doesn't hit soldiers, but when he slaps me, it's not because I'm a soldier, it's because I'm his brother.

  Then it began. At the beginning, Chen Pai and I were in the middle of the second echelon, neither of us was running in the first echelon. We both knew that there were not a few battalion commanders who were intentionally trying to exhaust the seeded players by putting them in the first echelon, which would be completely exhausted after 5000 meters, that was the bait. Our plan was to start accelerating from 5000 meters and try to get to the middle of the first echelon, and then make a final spurt in the last 3000 meters. When it came to the last 1000 meters, the gap was a bit big, Chen Pai and I both estimated that we could be among the top three, if not, at least the top five was a must.

  I was with Chen Pai, he ran behind me, all I could hear was the sound of sneakers pounding and heavy even panting, as well as the impact sounds of metal parts of guns and gun belts.

  When I reached 5000 meters, I started to accelerate, but after running for a short distance, I found that Chen Pai hadn't caught up. This had nothing to do with others, it was just his aura, he had been running behind me for so long that I knew whether he was there or not without looking back. As I ran and looked back, I saw that Chen Pai's speed still hadn't picked up, so I shouted: "Chen Pai! Catch up!" I didn't increase my speed either, at this time another strong runner from the reconnaissance battalion of a certain division had already passed me by. During our pre-race meeting, we mentioned that the 10000 meter opponent we feared most was him, but now I couldn't care less, because Chen Pai hadn't caught up yet.

  I shouted again, but Chen Pai not only didn't catch up, but also slowed down. I was anxious and shouted several times. Chen Pai's speed picked up a bit, but then slowed down again. Several more people passed by. Chen Pai waved his hand at me, meaning he couldn't care about so much, hurry up and go. Although I can be considered a soldier now, my sense of honor for the troops is not that strong, in my eyes, brotherly feelings come first - later on, I didn't completely obey Miao Lian's orders because he was my company commander, but because I really admired him.

  How can I abandon my own brother? I ran back quickly, Chen shouted loudly: "What are you coming back for?! Hurry up and follow!" I grabbed his ammunition belt: "I'll take you with me to run!" Chen: "Damn it! Let's go!" I didn't care about him, pulling him forward to run desperately. As a result, when we were climbing the previous 60-degree slope, I was suddenly pulled down. I got up and saw that Chen had fallen down, clutching his right leg.

  I was stunned at the time, would Chen Paiwei fall down?!!

  Will our booth collapse?!

  No way?!

  I ran over to pull him, this time he didn't refuse me, and stretched out his hand to me. I pulled hard, but he got up and fell down again. This time, no matter how hard I pulled, I couldn't get him up. I hurriedly tried to carry him on my back, but was pushed away by Chen Pai with a gun: "Hurry up! You've already fallen behind! Catch up!" I was so anxious that I cried: "I'll carry you to the medical team!" Chen Pai: "You hurry up! Don't worry about me! The score! The whole company's score!" I didn't leave, and Chen Pai got angry, hitting me with his gun: "Get out! Hurry up and get out!" I couldn't get close to him, and cried as I circled around him.

  Chen shouted loudly: "If this were a battlefield, I'd shoot you dead!" As he spoke, he cocked his gun and aimed it at me.

  I was taken aback this time, because I knew it was packed with live ammunition, and the next item was to shoot multiple rounds. It's those damned staff officers who are playing tricks on us, not letting us fire until we're almost unable to hold our guns steady, because normally there's no difference in shooting, everyone is a master. Chen Pai's eyes told me he was serious, that kind of fury I've never seen anywhere else, not even on TV.

  I had no choice, first taking three steps forward and then looking back, he glared at me: "Get out of here!" I didn't dare hesitate, took a step and rushed forward. Chen Pai was left far behind by me.

  I was 23rd in this subject, and when I reached the end point, I didn't have time to hesitate because there were subjects waiting for me immediately, and Miao Lian was staring at me with a fierce expression! Fortunately, I shot steadily and got first place, which made up for some of the points.

  When we were navigating through the complex waters, I saw a camouflaged Mi-8 helicopter with a prominent red cross emblem flying over our heads towards the provincial capital.

  I know it won't be anyone else, only Chen Pai.