An old general comes out of the mountains

  "To be honest, I don't know what Mr. Zhang used to do in the past, I just heard that you are more familiar with mining, so I came to visit you. Just now, from Mr. Zhang's attitude towards this piece of ore, I am sure that you must be a very professional person. So, now I would like to invite Mr. Zhang to come out and work as a senior technical personnel in my mine, if possible, it would be best to serve as the mine manager first." Luo Yi said.

  "I'm already a disabled person, what else can I do?" Zhang Tianyou said.

  "It doesn't matter, I don't need you to do any actual work, just your knowledge and experience. We stumbled upon this gold mine by chance, but we have no idea how to excavate it. That's why we especially need a professional like Mr. Zhang to guide us. With skills like yours buried in this small mountain village, isn't that a waste?"

  Zhang Tianyou shook his head and said, "I have made up my mind to retire. I want to preserve my life in this chaotic world and do not seek fame among the princes. What you are talking about has nothing to do with me."

  Lu Yi was slightly surprised. This was obviously a dedicated professional, so why would he say something about retiring? He asked urgently: "Can you tell me why?"

  "The ancients said: The fields and gardens are overgrown with weeds, why not return? Since one's heart is already weary of the burdens of life, what use is it to be melancholy and sorrowful alone..."

  "I'm telling you, old man, can't you just speak Chinese?!" Luo Yi was completely exasperated. His buddy had barely passed the language section of the college entrance exam, and now he's pulling out all this classical stuff on him.

  "Me..." Zhang Tianyou was apparently unaccustomed to this 21st-century grammar, stuttering: "I... I'm speaking Chinese, yeah."

  "I'm saying, Mr. Zhang, with your temperament, you didn't grow up reading ancient books, did you? I dare say you've been to university, and are probably one of those who believe in saving the country through industry? You must have studied English, German, and other subjects like that, and can definitely speak several languages fluently. Don't pretend to be an old scholar with me, come on, show some modern style!" Luo Yi started being unreasonable.

  Zhang Tianyou was taken aback, then burst out laughing: "Haha, haha, I was just speaking from the heart. Captain Luo's last few words were quite interesting... Degulevich, several countries' English, haha, it seems Captain Luo is also a clever person."

  Luo Yi smiled and said, "I'm not a wonderful person, I just made your classical Chinese come out with a problem. Let's speak in a way that everyone can understand. I've figured it out, you must be from a mining background, hiding in this mountain valley, isn't that a waste of resources? Come to my place and be a mine manager, the salary is up to you."

  "Captain Luo, let's not beat around the bush. You can already mine for ore now, what else do you need me for?"

  "The yield is too low and I don't understand refining technology. The production scale can't be increased."

  "With your current excavation method, producing this much ore in a day is already enough to make you a wealthy man. How much more output do you want to increase? I don't think Captain Luo seems like a greedy person either."

  "This amount of money, if given to one person to spend, would be more than enough. It's even enough to buy a house in Shanghai. The problem is, I need this money to support my troops. Do you know how much it costs to maintain an army?" Luo Yi said frankly. Zhang Tianyou had a kind of traditional intellectual integrity that made Luo Yi feel at ease.

  "It's indeed for raising troops, I didn't guess wrong." Zhang Tianyou revealed a dejected expression, he waved his hand and said: "I don't participate in politics, forgive me for not being able to serve. You all leave now. Su Fen, see them off."

  See the guests off? No way, Luo Yi thought to himself. He had seen through Zhang Tianyou's pretentiousness and knew that this old man wasn't really going to see them off; otherwise, given his previous cautiousness, he wouldn't have been so rude to two armed men.

  "Mr. Zhang, I must have a word with you about this. Why can others do it but not us when it comes to maintaining troops?"

  Zhang Tianyou slammed his cane on the ground and said excitedly: "I am a Chinese, with such a vast territory and rich resources, why should we fall behind the powerful countries? It's because of people like you, who control national resources, hold power in their own hands, occupy a region, and use up all these precious mineral deposits for internal strife. Alas, I, Zhang, have been harboring a desire to serve my country, and after crossing oceans and seas to learn exploration and mining techniques, I ended up becoming an accomplice to warlords. You are so young, just a small security team leader, yet you have such thoughts, it's truly disappointing! If you dare to mention mining and raising troops in front of me again today, I'll stake my life on it, and use this cane to teach you a lesson!"

  Mrs. Zhang saw that Zhang Tianyou was angry and hurried over to mediate, on the one hand persuading Zhang Tianyou, and on the other hand apologizing to Luo Yi. Le Jialin saw that Luo Yi was at a disadvantage and his hand had already touched the rifle. If Zhang Tianyou really dared to take action, Le Jialin estimated that he wouldn't even need bullets, and would directly knock him down with the gun butt.

  Luo Yi saw the look on Le Jialin's face, stretched out his hand and made a blocking motion, telling Le Jialin not to be impulsive. After listening to Zhang Tianyou's roar, he burst out laughing, leaving everyone in the room bewildered.

  "What's so funny?" Zhang Tianyou asked.

  "Old man, you're used to seeing flowers bloom and wither, hearing the wind rise and fall. Do you have such a big temper? Pretend, keep pretending. Wanting to probe my thoughts, no need to be so exaggerated. Your IQ, I admire it. But your EQ, not so much. The previous set, was it made up to frame me?"

  Zhang Tianyou was speechless for a moment. In fact, he had already developed some good feelings towards Luo Yi from the beginning of their contact, especially the ore that Luo Yi brought, which had a strong attraction to him. He deeply hated the warlords' infighting in the country, but still had a glimmer of hope in his heart, thinking that Luo Yi might not be that kind of person. This remark was indeed meant to trick Luo Yi. If he really thought Luo Yi was an ambitious warlord, how dare he be so presumptuous?

  Lu Yi saw that Zhang Tianyou was silent, and he secretly felt pleased. He didn't even look at who I am, a person from the 21st century who crossed over here. If you can't see through this little trick, wouldn't it be an insult to the entire crossing tribe? He paused for a moment, then said to Zhang Tianyou: "Mr. Zhang, you used a term earlier called 'internal consumption'. I think it has great depth. From this term, it seems that you don't oppose raising soldiers, what you oppose is internal war. If my purpose in raising soldiers isn't for internal war, would you support me?"

  "What's the point of keeping soldiers if you don't fight wars?"

  "Let me show you something."

  Luo Yi stretched out his left arm in front of Zhang Tianyou, letting him see a badge sewn on his uniform, which was specially designed by Luo Yi and made by the tailor in the county town. The badge was two crossed guns with a map of China as its background.

  "What does this mean?" Zhang Tianyou asked.

  "This is the emblem of our army and our motto. With guns in hand, we will defend this land, resist Japan and save the country, protect our homes and defend our nation."

  "Anti-Japanese salvation?" Zhang Tianyou asked in a disbelieving tone, "You? Anti-Japanese?"

  "Arise! Ye who refuse to be slaves! With our flesh and blood, let us build a new Great Wall! The Chinese nation has reached the most critical moment. Everyone is forced to make their last roar." Luo Yi recited the lyrics of the national anthem from memory. To know that Tian Han had not yet started writing these lyrics at this time. Luo Yi really didn't have any talent for stirring emotions, but he had memorized the national anthem and would recite it to move the old man.

  "Let our flesh and blood build a new Great Wall for us!" The old man muttered to himself, then looked up at Luo Yi and said: "You are the security team of Tongzhou, even the Chairman doesn't care about resisting Japan, what can you do?"

  "Mr. Zhang, the rise and fall of a nation is the responsibility of every individual, why can't I resist Japan? You are a man of great talent, at this critical moment, you should see things more clearly than us students. Japan has already occupied the three northeastern provinces and is now extending its influence to North China. After January 28th, Shanghai has been under Japanese control, if they use Shanghai as their base for further advancement, sailing up the Yangtze River, directly attacking our country's heartland, Tongzhou will not be able to avoid the war either. I dare say that within five years, a full-scale war between China and Japan is inevitable. Sir, at this critical moment of national survival, can you really just sit back and indulge in drinking?"

  Luo Yi spoke eloquently, leaving Zhang Tianyou stunned for a long time before asking a silly question: "Captain Luo, are you serious?"

  "Of course it's true."

  "Are you really raising troops to resist Japan?"

  "Old master, why don't you look at my actions?" Luo Yi said. "When the gold mine generates stable income, I will first take out a sum of money to improve the lives of all the people in the Ma Tieling area, establish schools, and let all the children of farming families study for free. Provide basic living guarantees for all villagers. Secondly, I will recruit new soldiers, purchase equipment, and conduct modern military training. At the same time, I will instill the concept of anti-Japanese salvation into the soldiers. At that time, old master can come to guide us in person, and I welcome old master to be our soldiers' political instructor."

  "Haha, I'm not good at talking about politics." Zhang Tianyou was moved by Luo Yi's words and his tone changed. "If it can really be like that, then it would be a blessing for my China. Captain Luo, I apologize for the offense earlier."

  "So you're willing to come out of retirement?" Luo Yi was overjoyed.

  Zhang Tianyou smiled and didn't say a word, turning his head to look at Mrs. Zhang instead. Mrs. Zhang said with a half-scolding and half-delighted tone, "Actually, when Captain Luo took out that gold ore earlier, I knew he would be moved. This person, the mine is more important than his life."

  Luo Yi stood up, bowed respectfully to Zhang Tianyou, then took two large foreign bills from Le Jialin's hand and handed them over to Zhang Tianyou, saying: "Thank you, Mr. Zhang, for your help. These 200 yuan are our relocation fees for Mr. Zhang. We'll discuss the specific compensation in detail at the mine later."

  Zhang Tianyou didn't stand on ceremony either, letting his wife take the money and standing up with the help of his crutch. "Let's go," he said. "I'll trouble Captain Luo to hire a sedan chair for me. As a disabled person, I won't be able to walk on mountain roads. Let's set off now."