Chapter 3: Refining 17. Autumn is dense, in my dream there is a red leaf

  You know that every autumn, there will be red leaves falling. But you don't know if next year's autumn, the same red leaf will fall in the same place. In philosophy, this is impossible. In reality, it's even more impossible. But in my dreams, it's possible. Every autumn, when the sky is filled with falling red leaves, in my dream, there is always the same fallen leaf that falls on my face and covers my eyes. And then I see a vibrant world.

  It's not blood, but a pure heart.

  And my fiery youth.

  Actually, on the second day, we didn't set off immediately. You don't understand our Dog Head Brigade's He Dui, if he doesn't give you a hard time, it's absolutely not He Dui. For example, when it comes to setting off, in ordinary troops, this is something that needs to be prepared for many days in advance, but he has to make it complicated and turn it into a war readiness alert to harass you once. Without telling you the specific time, of course, the training plan is known, but do you know which specific day he will set off during the scheduled departure time? And not even allowing you to prepare, if you're caught secretly preparing, you'll be punished. At most, everyone has a string in their mind, and when playing football, they also grow an ear, afraid of the war readiness alert sounding, so we were all nervous, even when going to the toilet, we were nervous. Really afraid of the war readiness alert, this thing sounds like a timer counting down time. On the second day, we trained nervously, and during lunch break, we didn't dare sleep soundly. It just passed like that. The third day was a rest day, but we were still nervous, holding brooms and dustpans to sweep the sanitation area in front of the command building, and unexpectedly, something unexpected happened. I reckon nobody knows what level of combat alert this is.

  A green sedan with a military license plate drove in. At first, I thought it was another department organizing a delegation to play shooting games, so no one paid attention. But when I looked at the car window, oh my god! All the brothers were shocked! A whole car of female soldiers!

  We were all stunned, not knowing whether to cry or laugh. Comrades! The Dog Head Brigade had never seen so many young and beautiful female soldiers in all these years! The female soldiers poked their heads out of the windows like green sparrows chirping away. We stood on the ground staring blankly like camouflage quails, completely bewildered. Even the brigade commander and political commissar went to welcome them, with a big show.

  "Black monkey! Black monkey!" You all know who shouted this, but at that time I really didn't think of it. I was still staring blankly with my mouth agape when a girl jumped in front of me and slapped me: "What's wrong? Are you daydreaming?" With a tone of rebuke, even if I was foolish, I knew who it was and couldn't help but laugh.

  The brothers all smiled knowingly, aware that it was my partner who had arrived. Xiao Ying just laughed: "Haven't we met before?"

  "I've only seen your photos." Ma Da chuckled. "That day I forgot what you looked like, the brothers were all excited."

  Xiao Ying was delighted. The brothers all chuckled in unison, their expressions and voices perfectly synchronized, showcasing their excellent military bearing. I pulled Xiao Ying aside: "How did you get here?"

  "Our female soldiers from headquarters are organizing a trip here to play shooting games today," said Xiao Ying, "I didn't call you because I wanted to surprise you!"

  I was taken aback when I saw that the leader of the team was only a lieutenant colonel, so why did our battalion commander and political commissar come to greet him? It's just that the medical unit sent a deputy chief, but two people came together?! What kind of lieutenant colonel is this?! When I looked again, it wasn't like that. The battalion commander and political commissar were not very enthusiastic about the lieutenant colonel, just a normal comrade meeting. But they were very enthusiastic about Little Phi, calling her "Uncle He" and "Uncle He" in unison. Battalion Commander He even chatted with her and told jokes, what kind of situation is this?!

  "See?" Xiao Ying smiled, "I told you earlier not to mess with her, but you still had to go and provoke her!"

  I stared at Xiaoying foolishly: "What kind of person is this?"

  "The granddaughter of our military region's deputy commander!"

  I spat out my tongue, oh my god, the granddaughter of a lieutenant general! I just realized why she said she would take care of it herself that day. This shooting is not something big, and as the granddaughter of the lieutenant general, it's just a matter of one phone call from her grandfather. Just like our relationship between Captain He and Deputy Commander, even if we are superiors, we still need to make arrangements. How could he, the lieutenant general, entrust such a thing?!

  Dozens of female soldiers stood in front of our command building, looking around and chattering, gesturing with their hands.

  Dozens of male soldiers stood stupidly on both sides holding brooms and dustpans, not knowing which one to look at, absolutely dazzled.

  I stood with Xiaoying in the middle, looking like two football team captains meeting before a match.

  Xiao Fei said something to the captain and the political commissar, then swaggered over with his military cap: "Hey! University student special forces soldier! You didn't believe me when I said you weren't good at physical activity? How about it? Did I succeed?"

  "Wow, you're amazing!" I exclaimed sincerely. Xiao Ying pulled my hand and I quickly let go, if not it would be too late, this is the Dog Head Squad, a special forces unit, not that place in their hospital. Xiao Fei laughed: "Hehe! You're really honest with us! What about our dorm?"

  The brothers behind me were amused. Xiaofei also laughed and walked over very casually: "Comrades, you've worked hard!"

  "Serving the people, serving the people!" The brothers didn't know what to say and didn't dare stand up straight, the squad leaders were all there, just chuckling and talking over there. Xiaofei suddenly laughed: "Later you guys will take us to shoot targets!"

  "Right!" The dark faces of the brothers all cracked into smiles.

  "We still have to sweep the sanitary area this morning!" I reminded Xiaofei. Xiaofei blinked: "Cut! Watch me!"

  She turned around and ran towards the battalion commander and political commissar who were entering the building, calling out to her uncle He. Our battalion commander said something and pointed at me and Xiao Ying. Battalion Commander He smiled and waved his hand, and an aide ran over. I watched nervously, then the aide turned around and ran away. Little Phi looked at us and continued talking to our battalion commander and political commissar, saying something I didn't know, but Little Phi was laughing so hard she was doubled over. Our battalion commander was also laughing so hard he was doubled over, and the political commissar was even more so - it was the first time I'd ever seen this normally stern-faced cadre laugh like that, and I never saw him do it again. It's not like they were being sycophantic or anything, anyone would have done the same thing. The deputy commander of the military region is a respected superior, and his granddaughter coming to visit for a couple of days is no big deal. Accompanying her and chatting with her for a bit is also no big deal. If anyone wants to comment on this as an example of officialdom, I think it's meaningless - this isn't officialdom, it's just basic politeness.

  In a little while, I saw a group of young brothers gathering to run over, holding brooms and dustpans in their hands, with eyes full of hatred towards us. They were still wearing short-sleeved shirts, shorts, and sneakers, looking sweaty as if they had just been called over from the football field; that hateful look made it clear that you guys are lucky to have female soldiers shooting targets for you, and even Grandpa has to sweep the sanitary area for you, what good things do you get to enjoy?! This is exactly what the army is like, whatever they say goes, there's no room for your own reasoning, otherwise why would it be called an army?

  We were replaced.

  Xiao Ying and her unit also gathered, she smiled at me again, but it wasn't just me smiling back at her, all the brothers were grinning. The female soldiers all laughed, absolutely laughing together, we were still silly smiling. Today Dog Head High School team is on duty at the battalion command post, so they can't take us, a small lieutenant colonel took us, and the battalion commander specifically assigned our Second Middle School Special Duty Squad to be in charge of security.

  We rushed back to change our clothes, and the brothers found out the latest and cleanest camouflage uniforms. The boots were polished extremely brightly. I want to say something unpleasant about my brothers, but some of them didn't even have time to take out a shoe brush, so they used their pillowcases to wipe down their boots, which was particularly excessive. They were just a few short hairs, but they still dared to apply wax, and the smell was exceptionally fragrant. We changed our clothes, took our guns, and received bullets. The adjutant led us in a run to start the car. It was beautiful beyond words, and the result was that the numbering was absolutely good. I lifted my head and saw that all the windows on the barracks were filled with heads, as if we had won the jackpot. At that moment, I remembered the famous saying of Salomon from the game "Monopoly": "Be envious!"

  We set out in an assault vehicle, fully armed and led the way, with a large sedan car full of female soldiers following behind. The brothers were absolutely spirited and energetic, feeling like they were special forces elites, hurrying to sit up straight, never seen these guys sitting in an assault vehicle so neatly and upright, all of them wishing they could lie down and say we're tired from training! This time it's really seeing what is called military quality and what is called special forces bravery.

  I turned around to look at the big sedan following closely behind. I saw Xiaoying sitting in front of the car window staring at me blankly. Xiaofei was beside her, sometimes looking at me too. The two chattered away. Even when Xiaoying spoke, she kept looking at me. I just stared back at her.

  Do you know what happiness is? I think it's just this.