Chapter Seven: Secret Base

  The helicopter slowly descended onto a vacant lot on a pitch-black night, and the massive airflow blew the snow around the vacant lot into the air, wrapping the plane in a world of white mist.

  After the sound of the plane's propellers faded away, Wang Qiang and Wang Weiye walked out of the helicopter. Wang Weiye found that they had arrived in a forest, with several old houses in the distance, which seemed to be a resting place for loggers.

  Wang Qiang got off the plane and didn't say a word, striding towards a building as if he had been there many times before, without showing any interest in his surroundings.

  Wang Weiye followed behind Wang Qiang's butt, while he looked around in all directions. He couldn't tell the difference between east, south, west and north anymore. Judging by the time, this place was either the Greater Xing'an Mountains or the Lesser Xing'an Mountains primeval forest.

  On the way, Wang Qiang simply told Wang Weiye: "Xiao San, this time you're reporting to our Northeast Military Region's most mysterious unit. It only has a name, but no military designation. Teacher Long agreed to send you here because he wants to utilize your strengths. When you get there, don't cause any more trouble and give Teacher Long some face. Also, when executing tasks, be extremely careful with safety and don't show off individualism. This place is different from other units; it's a place where strength speaks."

  "Uncle Wang, don't worry, I won't cause any more trouble. If I do, my dad will definitely come running from Harbin with a submachine gun and shoot me dead. I'm not ready to die yet, those chicks outside are still waiting for me to go back."

  "You... hey. This kid is fine, it's just that... When you get there, you must change your gangster attitude for me, this is the army, not a triad society, do you understand?" Wang Qiang was already at his wit's end with Wang Weiye's gangster attitude.

  When Wang Qiang finished speaking, Wang Weiye nodded his head like a chick pecking at food, nodding non-stop. But in his heart, he was as distracted as a long grass, and he didn't hear what Wang Qiang specifically said. He is now fantasizing about holding a machine gun in his hand and charging into the enemy's camp...

  When Wang Weiye followed Wang Qiang into the house, he saw various logging tools piled up in the corner of the house. A kerosene lamp hung from the beam, emitting a faint light that made the whole house seem particularly dim. In the fireplace, there were several logs burning with crackling sounds. On the large kang (heated bed) inside the house sat two people over fifty years old, wearing sheepskin vests with the wool side out. They didn't say anything when they saw Wang Qiang and Wang Weiye come in; they just gave them a glance with their eyes.

  Wang Qiang walked over, pulled out his military ID from his breast pocket and handed it to one of the people sitting on the kang. The man took a look at Wang Qiang's ID and immediately returned it to him. Another person stretched out his hand towards Wang Qiang. Wang Qiang hastily pulled out a file bag from his briefcase and handed it over to that person. After the man received the file bag, he waved his hand at Wang Qiang, signaling for him to leave.

  Wang Weiye found it strange that the two men were in his house, but he didn't dare to be presumptuous or speak out of turn. He saw Wang Qiang hand a file bag to one of them, then turned around and patted him on the shoulder twice without saying a word before walking out of the house. Until Wang Qiang left the room, the two men hadn't said a single word from start to finish.

  When only Wang Weiye was left in the house, one of them jumped down from the kang very quickly and loudly said to Wang Weiye: "Follow me."

  When this man suddenly spoke, he startled Wang Weiye who was daydreaming. Since Wang Weiye entered the house, he hadn't heard these two people say a word, and in his heart, he secretly wondered if the two people in the secret base were mute.

  Since he let him follow, Wang Weiye didn't waste his words. Anyway, he had already come, and it was useless to say anything. He followed the principle that when a car reaches the foot of a mountain, there must be a road; when a person reaches the Yellow River, there must be a boat. Wang Weiye followed this man into another room. He found that this room had no windows, and all kinds of tools were piled up inside.

  Wang Weiye only saw this person press a spot on the wall, and the right side of the house's wall silently opened up. This sudden situation stunned Wang Weiye, he didn't think that this house had such an ingenious hidden door. After letting Wang Weiye walk in while he was standing there in a daze, and handing him the file bag left behind by Wang Qiang, he said: "There is someone inside waiting for you." Before the words even fell, the wall immediately closed up again.

  Wang Weiye was excited about these things, he felt that he had come to the right place and his heroic dreams were about to start from here.

  When the small room was opened again, Wang Weiye saw a military man in his thirties, about 175 cm tall, with a pair of wide glasses on his thin face, standing outside the door. As soon as he saw Wang Weiye, he said: "Hand over the documents in your hand, I'll take them to see the base commander."

  When the door was opened, Wang Weiye's two eyes were not enough to see. The long corridor was illuminated by the lamp and was snow-white and bright. Hearing the person standing in front of the door speak, Wang Weiye finally came to his senses and immediately handed over the documents in his hand to this person. He opened his mouth and said: "Brother, what's your surname? I've just arrived here, please take care of me from now on."

  Base training counselor Wei, he heard Wang Weiye call him "big brother" and was stunned. He looked at Wang Weiye with great curiosity in his heart, thinking: "Looking at his words and deeds, this person doesn't seem like a soldier at all, but rather like a hooligan from society." Didn't the superior leaders make a mistake? How could they send such a person here? Although Wei was curious in his heart, he still told Wang Weiye: "I'm called Wei."

  After walking through the long corridor, Wang Weiye followed a man named Yu Wei to a wall. He saw the wall slowly open, and Wang Weiye, like a curious baby, immediately ran over and measured the gate with his hands. He felt that this gate was at least 25 centimeters thick. Excitedly, he exclaimed: "Damn, how many people does it take to push this door? The design of this door is really awesome."

  Wang Weiye's foul language had reached Yu Wei's ears, further confirming his suspicions.

  This military base was started in 1963 when Sino-Soviet relations were tense and the Party Central Committee and Military Commission issued orders.

  The entire base was built fifty meters underground, and the whole mountain was hollowed out. The four walls were also cast with reinforced concrete, which can withstand atomic bomb attacks.

  As soon as Wang Weiye walked into the hall, he saw a more than ten-meter-high Chairman Mao statue standing in the center of the hall. Under the base were eight glittering golden characters: Raise vigilance and defend the motherland.

  Yu Wei led Wang Weiye, who was also speaking poorly and wearing a military uniform, to a door. He shouted loudly outside: "Report."

  The gate opened automatically, and Wang Weiye followed Yu Wei in. He saw a kind-looking old soldier with white hair, who appeared to be over 60 years old, wearing reading glasses and sitting at his desk looking at documents.

  When Wang Weiye and Yu Wei walked into the room, Base Commander Zhen Wenbin had already looked up. When he saw Wang Weiye, he couldn't help but feel a little surprised, as the difference between him and the person he imagined was too great. His superiors only told him that today they would be sending a soldier to the base, and also told him about Wang Weiye's exploits. He had managed to injure more than 20 people while surrounded by 50 or 60 special forces soldiers. Someone who could fight like that must be a young man with broad shoulders and a strong back. But he hadn't expected Wang Weiye to be a slender, slightly weak-looking pretty boy with clear eyebrows and eyes.

  "Reporting to Commander, new recruit Wang Weiye has arrived safely." After Yu Wei finished reporting, he handed the file bag in his hand to Zhan Wenbin with both hands.

  Wang Weiye stood up straight and saluted loudly after finishing his report: "Reporting for duty, Commander Comrade! New recruit Wang Weiye has arrived. Please give instructions." Ma Zhan Kui and Wang Qiang had to use a lot of effort to train Wang Weiye to pass the salute test.

  Zhan Wenbin handed over the file bag to Yu Wei, and waved his hand towards him. After Yu Wei walked out of the office, Commander Zhan stood up with a smile on his face: "Come here little guy, sit down on this sofa."

  "Yes, Commander."

  Haha... bursts of laughter echoed in the base commander's office.

  After talking to the base commander, Wang Weiye followed Yu Wei to the training hall of the base. He saw a large group of people wearing vests, conducting hand-to-hand combat training on the field. Seeing this, Wang Weiye's spirit was lifted, and his mouth couldn't stop saying: "Damn it, these guys are really fighting."

  Yu Wei was extremely annoyed by Wang Weiye's foul language, but he couldn't say anything. The commander had asked him to hand over the thug to the squad leader, and his task would be considered complete. Yu Wei made Wang Weiye stand aside, then walked onto the training grounds and whispered a few words into the ear of a tall, burly man with a buzz cut, who was 185 centimeters in height. Afterwards, he turned around with that robust man. It wasn't until then that Wang Weiye got a clear look at this towering figure - his skin was like dark bronze, with a square face, thick eyebrows and large eyes, his expression stern and unyielding.

  A tall and majestic man shouted loudly towards the training hall: "Everyone gather!" After he finished shouting, he walked together with Yu Wei towards Wang Weiye.

  Wei hasn't had time to introduce Wang Wei yet, but Wang Wei has already seen the newcomer and knows he's the leader here. He takes a step forward and grabs Li Gang's hand, saying: "Big brother, little brother has finally found his organization today! When I saw your glorious image, it was truly like finding a dragon among men, an elite in the army, and also my role model for learning. When I knew you were the captain here, big brother, my heart was filled with admiration for you, and you will be my example to learn from in the future. Little brother also wants to learn from Comrade Lei Feng and strive to become a five-good soldier...

  Li Gang almost threw up the dinner he had eaten the night before when he heard Wang Wei's flattering words. He opened his mouth as wide as possible, took a deep breath and swallowed hard, barely managing to push down the food that was already rising to his throat. His face turned bright red with embarrassment as he looked at Wang Wei, who was holding hands with Li Gang, and then turned his head to look at Yu Wei, implying: "Pal, what kind of person have you brought here? Is he an escapee from a mental hospital?"

  Yu Wei has already experienced Wang Weiye's mental torture, and now he has a certain degree of immunity. He shrugged his shoulders at Li Gang, meaning that he didn't know either.

  Li Gang quickly pulled his hand out of Wang Weiye's, and awkwardly coughed: "Uh... uh..." Li Gang was so flustered by Wang Weiye's over-the-top flattery that he had become dizzy and had forgotten the name that Yu Wei had just told him.

  Yu Wei endured the danger of being discovered and quickly said beside Li Gang: "Captain Li, this immortal is called Wang Weiye."

  "Ah, yes, Wang Weiye. I'm Li Gang, let me take you to meet the comrades in our squad." Li Gang said and quickly swallowed the saliva in his mouth, immediately turning around to face the comrades standing in line over there, he was really afraid that Wang Weiye would hit him again.

  Wang Weiye now flatters people whenever he meets them, that's the bloody lesson he has learned in the past two days. He knows this is not a place for him to show off, so he follows the principle of "playing dumb and eating the tiger", which means flattering people all the time. As the saying goes: even officials don't hit those who bring gifts.

  Li Gang walked to the front of the ranks and shouted loudly: "Comrades, our squad has a new comrade today, let's give him a warm welcome."

  The old soldiers had discovered Wang Weiye long ago, but they didn't know how this tall and handsome, thin-bodied, newly uniformed big boy would end up here. When they found out that Wang Weiye was going to be one of them, they were shocked, wondering what special talents this big boy had.

  Here is the translation:

  Just a few days into wearing military uniform, Wang Wei didn't have the habit of saluting. When he saw the old soldiers welcoming him with applause, his brain got hot and he forgot what Ma Zhan Kui and Wang Qiang had told him. He quickly stepped forward, clasped his fists together and shouted: "Respected big brothers! As the saying goes, at home one relies on parents, outside one relies on friends. I, Wang Wei, first pay my respects to you all here. Today, I'm truly honored to see your majestic presence. Your broad shoulders and sturdy waists are like mountains and peaks, with muscles that seem to shift and change as you move. If you were to tattoo a green dragon on your left arm and a white tiger on your right, it would be just like the rebirth of a king! You are truly heroes of our time, dragons among men, wise and powerful, unyielding and fierce. If you were to walk down the street with a few beautiful horses in tow, that would be child's play, and you wouldn't even need to pay for it. But I, on the other hand, feel extremely inferior in front of you all. Without my clothes, my chest is as flat as an airport runway, and apart from bones, there's no meat on my body. Even wolves outside would cry when they see me! So, my admiration for you all is deeper than the ocean and higher than the sky. From now on, I'll take care of killing men and playing with women. I'm just a brick, wherever it's needed, I'll be there. For your sake, respected big brothers, I'd gladly take a knife to my ribs!

  Wang Weiye's exaggerated and pretentious greeting had fooled these people, who had been soldiers for so many years and had never seen anything like this before. Every single one of them stood there stupidly, their mouths agape, staring straight at this big boy in their minds. But when Wang Weiye said something about killing men and playing with women, everyone was stunned. After they finally understood what he meant, they couldn't help but burst out laughing, regardless of military discipline or not. Several people ran out from the ranks towards the pool, while others sat on the ground, beating their chests and stomping their feet, using both hands to slap the ground and laugh loudly. Suddenly, the entire training hall was filled with laughter and vomiting sounds.

  Wang Weiye still wanted to continue shooting, but he didn't understand what was going on and why these people were reacting so big. When he saw a few of them with red faces, furrowed brows, and eyes wide open, wanting to tear him apart, the seven sisters were still standing there. Wang Weiye's heart skipped a beat as he thought: "Oh no, I made a mistake earlier." As soon as he thought of this, he ran over, making a bow and saying: "Ladies, ladies, I was wrong earlier, please forgive me for what I said earlier. What I meant to say was that I would take care of all the household chores, cooking, laundry, childcare, and cleaning. You ladies are like flowers in the military, phoenixes among humans, not to be trifled with. You are reincarnations of Mu Guiying and Hua Mulan. Your youth is radiant and beautiful, just like the thousand-year-old snow lotus on Mount Tian, precious and rare. From now on, I will follow you ladies everywhere, never leaving your side. My feelings for you ladies are like the vast ocean, with waves crashing against each other, just like...".

  Wang Weiye's words made the few military overlords listen with a chill, their whole body cold, and all the hairs on their body stood up.

  Those who sat on the ground laughing, just heard Wang Weiye's words and thought of several hot-tempered queens in the team, who didn't even look at them with a straight eye every day. But they didn't expect that this Wang Weiye would offend those little girls with his language and take advantage of them verbally. So they burst out laughing. Now they also want to see how the little girls in the team will deal with Wang Weiye. But unexpectedly, Wang Weiye really has a good eye for this, and this flattery is too much, almost as if he wants to offer himself up. This made them laugh even more.

  Lu Xun said it well: either one erupts in silence or dies in silence. At this time, several military queens couldn't bear it anymore, if they let this newcomer continue to speak, they would be called his wives. The eldest sister Lin Yufei stood up, pointing at Wang Weiye with a trembling hand, shouting loudly: "Shut up! Who has any relationship with you? You stinky shameless, you dare to flirt here, bootlicker..." Several military queens led by the eldest sister scolded Wang Weiye, one sentence after another, until he was cursed out.

  When Wang Weiye saw the eldest sister Lin Yufei standing up, his two eyes immediately straightened. Just now he was busy flattering and didn't take a closer look at these ladies. He didn't expect to see such a beautiful woman here. Wang Weiye is now gaping with his mouth open and drooling, making it clear that he's just a lustful pig. His ears haven't heard what the military queen and others are scolding him for, but this lustful man has begun to reveal his true nature. In his mind, he began to fantasize wildly again, thinking that if he could put the tongue in her mouth into his own, it would be extremely thrilling.

  Li Gang finally managed to get everyone in order with great difficulty, and he saw that all the team members were standing at attention. Li Gang had not expected this new recruit to make such a scene. He asked Wang Weiye: "Little Wang, how many years have you served in the army? What are your special skills?" Now Li Gang was wondering in his heart what kind of person Wang Weiye really was and why his superiors would send someone like him here.

  When Wang Weiye heard Li Gang ask him how many years he had been a soldier, he immediately felt happy in his heart. But he still pretended to be serious and stood there, starting to count on his fingers, muttering: "One... two... three... four."

  Everyone standing in the queue saw Wang Weiye counting on his fingers, while muttering to himself. When "four" reached their ears, they all thought he had been a soldier for four years and thought to themselves: "It turns out that he is still a new recruit, this kid must have been an insubordinate soldier in his previous unit."

  After Wang Weiye finished counting, people saw him with a face full of shame. They all felt strange in their hearts, what was there to be ashamed of as a four-year soldier?

  "Captain, if I say it out loud, you guys can't laugh at me." Wang Weiye and Li Ganmao are going to court.

  Li Gang didn't know what Wang Weiye was thinking in his heart, so he smiled and said: "Little Wang, what's there to be ashamed of? We all came this way."

  Wang Weiye, this rascal, his face not red or white, said to them: "If you count the time I was locked up in jail, my time as a soldier is only four... days."

  "What...?"