Chapter 27 Down to the Company

  The enemy command center was only twenty meters away from the restaurant where Lei and his comrades were initially stationed. When the three old soldiers were also shot, their position was only two meters away from the command center. However, the main gate of the command center was on the other side of Lei's group. The company commander suddenly pulled out a military knife from his leg and rushed towards the enemy command center. With a "zi" sound, a crack over two meters long appeared on the canvas, accompanied by the sound of gunfire. At the same time, the company commander was also hit by more than ten bullets. He turned his head and shouted loudly to Lei: "Quickly get up!"

  After sacrificing so many brothers, Lei finally created an opportunity for himself. He couldn't afford to think twice and jumped out of the encirclement of three old soldiers, lightly tapping on the company commander's body before flying into the tent. After entering the tent, Lei found that except for a large map and several instruments, there was only one communication officer left behind. Perhaps others had also gone out to celebrate earlier. Instinctively, Lei picked up his gun and aimed at the communication officer. "Bang!" With the sound of the gunshot, Lei felt as if the entire world had quieted down.

  The communications officer stared at Lei in surprise, still not understanding what was going on. Lei also stared back at the communications officer with both eyes, unsure if they had won this match or not, and didn't know what to do next.

  After more than a dozen seconds, Lei's body finally started moving again. He walked out of the crack where he had entered and gazed at Lian Chang, who was still lying on the ground. In a low voice, he asked: "Lian Chang, did we... win?"

  The surroundings had really quieted down, making Lei's question seem so loud that all eyes were fixed on him. At this time, the tent had completely burned out, and Bai Mian Shu Sheng was still sitting in the same chair as before, with the cigarette almost burning to the butt. Bai Mian Shu Sheng took a deep breath of the last mouthful of smoke, threw the cigarette butt to the ground and stepped on it hard, he raised his hand to look at his watch, let out a light sigh, and slowly stood up from the chair, with the enemy's gaze once again concentrated on Bai Mian Shu Sheng.

  "Clang, clang", the white-faced scholar walked step by step to Lei's front and stopped. Lei shifted his gaze to the white-faced scholar, not knowing what he wanted to do. The white-faced scholar stretched out his hand and touched Lei's head, chuckling: "You won."

  Lei's expression was slightly surprised, and he shifted his gaze back to Lian Changroutian, muttering: "Lianchang, did we really win?"

  Lu Tian finally stood up from the ground, he stretched out his arms and hugged Lei tightly, excitedly shouting: "We won! Lei, we won, this game is ours!"

  "Oh! We won! We won!", the people of Lei's team all threw their guns to the ground and rushed towards Lei, the victorious cries echoing continuously on the mountain, everyone lifted Lei up, throwing him into the air again and again.

  Compared to Lei's excitement, the white-faced bookworms on this side looked so heavy-hearted. To put it bluntly, there were over a thousand people on their side, and nearly a third of them were veterans, yet they lost to around fifty new recruits. The only feeling left for them was probably just shame.

  "Cheers!"

  With a loud shout, everyone picked up their mugs and started drinking wildly. After finishing in one gulp, Zhang Nan shouted: "Lian Chang! Where did you get this beer from? It's really great! I've been in the army for three months now, and this is the first time I've had beer - it's almost starving me to death!"

  This was the second day back from Chicken Coop Mountain, and to celebrate their victory in this competition, Commander Lian somehow managed to get several dozen cases of Qingdao beer. Although drinking beer wasn't exactly suitable for such cold weather, for these new recruits who hadn't tasted alcohol in three months, it was like a divine elixir. Because there were no cups in the cafeteria, everyone used their own toothbrush holders to drink from, which added a unique flavor to the experience. After placing his tea holder on the table, Commander Lian shouted at Zhang Nan: "You sick cat, if you've got something to drink then drink it! What's with all the nonsense? I think we should change your nickname from Sick Cat to Greedy Cat!"

  Zhang Nan suddenly felt that "Furry Cat" didn't sound as good as "Sick Cat", so he shook his hand and said, "No, no, you'd better still call me Sick Cat."

  Lian Zhang laughed and picked up the wine bottle, pouring it directly into his tea cup. He shouted to everyone else, "All of you, fill your cups to the brim! Today, we won't leave until we're drunk. If anyone can leave this room sober, then I, Lian Zhang, am incompetent!" After finishing pouring the wine, Lian Zhang suddenly stood up from his chair and raised his tea cup, shouting, "Come on! Let's drink again!"

  "Cheers, cheers, cheers", everyone stood up, they raised their wine cups and shouted "Dry!", no extra words were needed, only the sound of "gulp, gulp" was heard in the air, soon a full cup of wine went straight into their stomachs.

  If you look closely, you can see that they are not just happy today, but also have a hint of sadness hidden in their happiness, because tomorrow everyone will go their separate ways. Although the company commander hasn't said it yet, every person in their heart understands that tomorrow they will be assigned to different companies, and no one knows where they will end up or if they'll ever meet again. Three months isn't a long time, but for this group of brothers who have been through thick and thin together, it's so precious. Lei refilled his cup with wine, came to the company commander's front, and loudly shouted: "Company Commander! Thank you, thank you for your training, I don't know what to say, I just want to toast you a glass!"

  Lian Chang looked at Lei, this was the first new squad leader he had acknowledged. This squad leader did not disappoint him until the end. He stood up and patted Lei's shoulder, shouting: "Damn it, we're all big men, since we don't know what to say, then let's not say anything, come on! Let's do it!"

  "Clang", with a crash of the teacups colliding, Lian Chang downed the wine in his cup in one gulp.

  For some reason, Lei suddenly felt very down and inexplicably wanted to cry. He hadn't cried in so long that he couldn't even remember the last time, but now tears seemed to be swirling around his eyes, ready to fall at any moment. To avoid letting Lian Zhang discover his sadness, to avoid being called a coward by Lian Zhang, Lei downed his drink and hastily turned back to his seat.