There is a kind of victory called retreat.

  Luo Yi brought the people back to the Shihao Inn when Yuan Jing and others had already returned. Zhou Xiying saw Yuan Jing and excitedly shouted: "Xiao Jing, I killed a devil today."

  Luo Yi patted Zhou Xi's head and said: "You're so young but you have a big personality, is Little Jing also someone you can call? You should call her Sister Little Jing."

  Zhou Xi'er shook her head in discontent: "Why? She's not much older than me. I've killed devils, she hasn't. So she's not greater than me."

  Luo Yi was taken aback and lost his smile. He was about to say that Yuan Jing had also fought in battles, but then he thought again, Yuan Jing really hadn't killed any devils before. It seems that letting Zhou Xi execute Matsumoto today did have some effect after all. This kid has gained a bit of manliness from this incident.

  "Ruo Zi, what's wrong? You guys got into a fight with the Japanese?" Yuan Jing didn't have the heart to bicker with Zhou Xi, she just casually patted him on the butt like he was her little brother. She was worried about how Ruo Yi and the others had gotten into conflict with the Japanese army.

  Luo Yi briefly introduced the situation to Yuan Jing and others, and Le Jialin anxiously asked: "Luo Zi, we've had a fight with the Japanese, will there be any trouble?"

  Luo Yi said: "I blocked the news and burned down Zhoupu Village, I guess nothing will happen. On this Shanghai beach, who can find us? How's what you did today?"

  Yuan Jing said: "I and Jialin, Shan'er today turned around the surroundings, looked at several houses, all in the concession area, the price is not expensive, can be bought or rented, just waiting for tomorrow to take you together to see."

  Luo Yi said, "Alright. We've got a lot on our plate these days. Zhoupu Village has been occupied by the Japanese army and hundreds of villagers have nowhere to go. I promised to arrange for their livelihoods in the future. This matter we'll also need to discuss later. I think I'll recruit two people to your intelligence station, they're quite familiar with Shanghai, so you won't be strangers in a strange land."

  Jiu brought the men to unload the captured goods from the truck and transport them back to the room. In addition to guns and ammunition, the Japanese military uniforms, helmets, canteens, etc. also became spoils of war. Luo Yi had specifically instructed that in the future, all things that could be captured during battles would be collected, and nothing was useless. Su Xiao Feng and other soldiers who participated in the battle were excitedly telling Le Jia Lin and others about the entire combat process. Yuan Jing heard that the Japanese officer killed by Zhou Xi was already caught and tied up, and couldn't help but mock Zhou Xi a few more times. Zhou Xi's face turned bright red as he declared: "You just wait and see, I will personally kill 100 devils on the battlefield for you to see."

  Ruo Yi finally returned to his own room after a busy and tiring day, only to hear a sudden knock on the door while he was washing up. He subconsciously grabbed his gun and asked, "Who is it?"

  "Luozige, it's me!"

  Luo Yi recognized the voice as Yuan Jing's, so he put away his gun and opened the door. Yuan Jing stepped inside in one stride, slammed the door shut behind her, and stared blankly at Luo Yi with a face as white as a ghost.

  "Xiao Jing, what's wrong?" Luo Yi asked in surprise.

  Yuan Jing didn't wait for him to speak, and big drops of tears fell down: "Luo Zige, the Red Army... is gone!"

  Luo Yi suddenly understood what was going on, and his heart actually calmed down. He took a newspaper from Yuan Jing's hand and saw the headline in large font: The National Army recaptured Ruijin yesterday, *defeated and fled in disarray, fleeing west...

  For Luo Yi, who had traveled through time from a later generation, this news was not surprising at all. The Red Army abandoned Ruijin and embarked on the Long March. History was unfolding along its original trajectory, and Luo Yi's intervention did not and could not have any impact on it. He clearly remembered what happened later: the bloody battle of Xiangjiang, the Zunyi Conference, the four crossings of the Chishui River, the capture of the Luding Bridge... The Red Army paid a heavy price but got rid of the ultra-left leadership and the pursuit by hundreds of thousands of Nationalist soldiers.

  "Xiao Jing, don't cry. This is something that was expected to happen. You remember what I told you before, the leadership of the Red Army has problems, it's only a matter of time before the Central Red Army suffers this kind of loss..."

  "It's all your fault! It's all your fault!" Yuan Jing rushed forward, clenched her fists and pounded them against Luo Yi's chest, as if the loss of the Soviet area was really Luo Yi's fault.

  Lu Yi clenched his teeth and endured Yuan Jing's outburst. With his current skills, if he were to muster up his energy to protect himself, Yuan Jing would only be hitting a hard rock. But Lu Yi knew he couldn't do that; all he could do was let Yuan Jing hit him until she felt satisfied.

  "Luozige..." Yuan Jing punched more than a dozen times, and the pain that had been accumulating in her heart finally poured out. Seeing Luo Yi motionless and accepting her blows, she could no longer control herself, and with a loud cry, she flung herself into Luo Yi's arms, tightly embracing him and bursting into tears.

  This was the first intimate contact between Yuan Jing and Luo Yi. Yuan Jing, who had always maintained a reserved demeanor, completely collapsed spiritually at this moment. The Red Army was gone, her spiritual pillar had collapsed, and now the only one she could rely on was Luo Yi.

  "Luózi gē, hóngjūn méi le, nǐ bù yào lí kāi wǒ, nǐ bù yào lí kāi wǒ."

  Translation:

  "Luo Zige, the Red Army is gone, don't leave me, don't leave me."

  "Xiao Jing, don't worry, I won't leave you. The Red Army's defeat is only temporary, the Red Army will regain victory." Luo Yi wrapped one arm around Yuan Jing's back and stroked her head with the other hand.

  Yuan Jing raised her head, looking at Luo Yi with expectant eyes, and asked: "Luo Zige, you said before that the Red Army was only experiencing setbacks, and the Red Army would not collapse, is that right?"

  "Yes, Xiaojing, I'm telling you, a philosopher once said: There's a kind of victory called retreat, and there's a kind of defeat called occupation. The Red Army is only temporarily withdrawing from the Central Soviet Area, they will gain an even broader space."

  "So where will the Red Army withdraw to?"

  Luo Yi Xin said, "I do know, but can I tell you?" He hesitated for a moment and then said: "Actually, the enemy currently occupies only the Central Soviet Area. In western Hunan, He Long and Xiao Ke's Red 26th Army Corps has already opened up a new base area. In the Sichuan-Shaanxi region, Zhang Guotao's Fourth Front Red Army has also reached a scale of one hundred thousand people, occupying a large territory. I think the Central Red Army should consider meeting with one of them."

  "Really? How far is it?"

  "It's nothing, the Red Army is all iron-clad, the Red Army's specialty is mobile warfare, annihilating the enemy in motion. You yourself have fought in the Red Army troops, don't you know this principle?"

  Ruo Yi explained the overall situation to Yuan Jing in a manner that seemed like a great immortal, and Yuan Jing's emotions gradually calmed down. In fact, she was also only hard to accept this fact at first, but as a Red Army soldier, transfer and abandonment were experiences she had gone through. The Central Soviet Area was just a concept for her, since Ruo Yi said that there were still so many Red Armies and so many bases nationwide, perhaps the abandonment of the Soviet Area was not a particularly big setback either.

  She was thinking about these things in her mind, and unknowingly fell asleep in Luo Yi's arms.

  Luo Yi heard the even breathing sound emitted by Yuan Jing, knowing that this heart-wrenching girl had calmed down. He sat on the edge of the bed with his arms around Yuan Jing, looking at her tear-stained face, and couldn't help but feel a desire to protect her.

  "Bang bang." The door was knocked lightly again. Luo Yi didn't dare let go of Yuan Jing, and he carried her to the side of the door, asking softly: "Who?"

  "Older brother Luo..."

  Luo Yi secretly sighed, and Zeng Shan also arrived.

  He pulled open the door, and Zeng Shan, wearing a single garment for sleeping, flashed in. Seeing Luo Yi holding Yuan Jing, he was slightly stunned: "You... what's wrong with Little Jing?"

  "Shh..." Luo Yi said softly. He gently picked up Yuan Jing and put her on the bed, pulling the quilt over her, then turned to Zeng Shan and said: "Xiao Jing has been shocked, I just coaxed her to sleep."

  "What's wrong with her?" Zeng Shan asked, "She was reading the newspaper she bought today in the room, and suddenly ran out. She hasn't come back for half a day, I guess she'll be at your place."

  Luo Rui said: "The Red Army in southern Jiangxi was defeated, and the central city of Ruijin in the Soviet area was occupied by the Nationalist army."

  Zeng Shan nodded: "No wonder." In her heart, she didn't have a special understanding of what the Soviet area was all about, and her feelings for the Red Army were limited to some concepts. However, she still sympathized with Yuan Jing's pain.

  "Just now you were holding her all along?" Zeng Shan sighed and then started to get jealous.

  "That... she kept crying, I had no choice..." Luo Yi said hesitantly.

  "I also want..." Zeng Shan said, biting her lower lip.

  "What do you want?"

  "Hug."

  Lu Yi looked at Zeng Shan's expectant expression and her youthful body under the thin clothes, his heart warmed up, and he pulled Zeng Shan into his arms. Zeng Shan let out a soft cry, and obediently pressed her body against Lu Yi's.

  "Shan Er."

  "Huh?"

  "Look up?"

  "What's going on?" Zeng Shan originally had her head buried in Luo Yi's chest, but when she heard Luo Yi's words, she looked up at him in surprise. Luo Yi suddenly lowered his head and kissed Zeng Shan's red lips. Zeng Shan subconsciously struggled for a moment, but couldn't break free. She suddenly felt dizzy with emotion, her hands tightening around Luo Yi's waist as they passionately kissed.

  It took a long time for the two people's lips to part, and Zeng Shan's face was bright red, unsure if it was shyness or excitement. She stole a glance at Yuan Jing, who was sleeping soundly on the bed, and said with a hint of resentment: "Little Jing is still here, aren't you afraid she'll wake up?"

  "What's there to be afraid of? I didn't do anything wrong."

  "This isn't a bad thing, is it?" Zeng Shan protested in a low voice, then asked timidly: "Did you just kiss her too?"

  "No."

  "Really?"

  "There really isn't."

  "Have you kissed her before?"

  "Me..." Luo Yi thought for a moment, in this life or the previous one, it seemed that Xiang Shan was indeed his first girl, "No one has ever kissed me before, you are the first."

  "Really?"

  "Really."

  "I still want..."

  Luo Yi: "What the...!"

  The two of them were both savoring the taste of their first kiss, and this entwined embrace went on for who knows how long. Finally, with great reluctance, they parted ways, and Luo Yi said to Zeng Shan: "Alright, go back to sleep now, don't catch a chill."

  "What about her?"

  "She... might as well be here."

  "No way. You can't live with her."

  "Or else, I'll go back to your place and sleep?"

  Zeng Shan scolded: "You're shameless! Before getting married, how can you sleep together?"

  "Then let's get married tonight."

  "How can that be?" Zeng Shan said. After finishing, a hint of expectation appeared in her eyes, and she took out the red scarf that Luo Yi had bought for her in Nanjing from somewhere on her body, put it on her head, and asked Luo Yi: "Does it look good?"

  "Good looking."

  "When we get married, I'll be wearing it."

  "You're wearing it now, does it count?"

  "Not...help...!" Zeng Shan exclaimed in an exaggerated whisper as Luo Yi pounced on her again and hugged her.

  Finally, Zeng Shan didn't leave and Yuan Jing also didn't leave. The two women slept together on Luo Yi's bed. In the end, Luo Yi still couldn't get his way with Zeng Shan, so he sulkily pulled a quilt over himself and went to sleep on the sofa.

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  I have a meeting tomorrow that will last until 10 pm, so I can only update once tomorrow. Sorry.

  ;