Chapter 28 Down to Company 2

  After seeing Lian Chang and Lei Ganbei, Zhang Nan also filled up his wine glass and came to Lian Chang's side. However, he wasn't as strong as Lei, and he choked back tears, saying: "Lian Chang! I...I don't know what to say either. Honestly, when I first arrived here, I really hated you, but now...now..." Zhang Nan spoke for a long time, unable to express his inner feelings, but tears fell down unconsciously.

  Lian Chang is also feeling unwell in his heart, he doesn't want to part with these soldiers either. Seeing Zhang Nan's tears, his eyes are about to fall too. To cover up his emotions, Lian Chang shouted at Zhang Nan: "You damn crybaby, what are you crying for? Come on, let's get drunk!", after saying that, Lian Chang raised his cup and took a drink, and took the opportunity to wipe away his own tears.

  When Lian Zhang finished drinking the wine, he found that everyone had stood up. Although there was no crying sound, their tears were clearly falling down. Everyone choked and said: "Lian Zhang......", but nothing else came out of their mouths. They just picked up their tea cups and drank the wine in one gulp.

  That night, no one returned to the dormitory to sleep. The dining hall was in disarray, with people falling left and right, regardless of their drinking capacity. Everyone had passed out on the floor. The next day, they were woken up by the people who came to pick them up. They were assigned to different platoons within the army, even if they were assigned to the same regiment, they couldn't be in the same battalion. Lei Meng sent off his brothers one by one as they left, he was so eager to leave first, that way he wouldn't have to say goodbye to everyone multiple times. However, after all the new recruits had left, Lei still hadn't been taken away. He sat alone in the empty dormitory, looking at the rows of beds, thinking about the faces of his comrades.

  With a creak, the door was pushed open and, with steady footsteps, Lian Chang appeared before Lei. Lei hastily stood up and saluted: "Commander Lian!"

  Lian Chang slowly took Lei's hand down, turned around and swept a glance at the empty room, and said softly to Lei: "I just received a call, the person who came to pick you up had a car breakdown on the way, so they won't be able to arrive until this afternoon. It seems that you will have to wait until tomorrow to leave here."

  Tomorrow? Lei took another look around the room, it seemed he still had to face these scenes for one more day.

  Lian Chang knew Lei was feeling down, so he smiled and said: "Want to come out with me for a bit?"

  Lei raised his head and looked at Lian Chang for a moment before slowly nodding and asking: "Where are you going?"

  Lian Chang smiled and said, "The person who's picking you up has arrived, we should at least invite them to dinner, now let's go to the mountain and catch a pheasant, tonight I'll let you taste my culinary skills."

  Lei looked at Lianzhang with a suspicious gaze and asked in a low voice: "Lianzhang, can you really cook?"

  As soon as Lian Chang saw Lei's eyes, he pretended to be angry and said: "Since you don't believe in my cooking skills, then you can't eat dinner!" After finishing speaking, Lian Chang turned around and walked out the door.

  Lei immediately heard that there was no dinner, and hurriedly chased after Lian Zhang, shouting: "Don't! Don't be like this! Lian Zhang, when did I ever say I didn't believe in your cooking skills? Can't I accompany you?"

  In such a cold winter, it's really easy to catch a pheasant. Just sweep out a patch of empty land in the snow on the mountain, find a slightly larger basin and prop it up with a wooden stick, tie one end of a long rope to the top of the stick and hold the other end in your hand, then sprinkle some rice under the basin. Hide yourself and wait for the pheasant to fall into the trap. This method was invented by someone unknown, although it's very ancient, but it works every time, these stupid pheasants don't know why they always fall into the same trap.

  Lei was holding the thread at this time, and he and Lian Zhang were crouching behind a hillside, staring at their own trap. The pheasants didn't know how they discovered that there was food here, and already four or five of them were pecking at it, but none of them had drilled under the bowl. Lei stared at the pheasant's every move, but suddenly said to Lian Zhang, "Thank you, Lian Zhang."

  "What am I being thanked for?" The squad leader's tone was somewhat surprised, but his gaze didn't leave the pheasants because tonight's culinary skills still had to rely on these pheasants.

  "Oh, nothing." Lei Chong smiled slightly and then turned his face back to the pheasant. In fact, Lei was very clear in his heart that Lian Chang had brought him here to catch pheasants because he didn't want him to be alone in the house feeling sad. Although Lian Chang seemed cold on the surface, after three months of getting along, Lei knew that Lian Chang cared a lot about these new recruits.

  Lian Chang saw the pheasants approaching and stopped talking, instead saying in a low voice, "Lei, if in the future..." He trailed off as two pheasants walked towards the basket at the same time. Lian Chang took the rope from Lei's hand and waited until the pheasants were completely inside before pulling it tight with a loud "slam". The pheasants let out mournful cries from under the basket, while the other pheasants fled in fright. Lian Chang jumped up excitedly like a child and rushed towards his prey, shouting "Ah ha! I finally caught you!"

  Lei followed closely behind Lian Chang's buttocks and rushed over. Lian Chang stretched out his hand to grab the pheasants from under the basin, and the rope in his hand was skillfully tied to the legs of the two pheasants. Lian Chang turned the pheasants upside down and smiled at Lei, saying: "Look, these two guys are so fat, you'll have a great meal tonight."

  Lei looked at the pheasant struggling in mid-air, but couldn't bring himself to feel happy. Maybe it was because he would be parting ways with Lian Zhang soon. Lei raised his head and slowly asked, "Lian Zhang, what did you mean by 'what's next' earlier? Can I still serve under your command in the future?"

  “Huh.” Lian Chang glanced at Lei, then tossed the pheasant to the ground and sat down on a nearby stool. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and offered one to Lei. Lei waved it off and sat down beside Lian Chang, waiting for an answer. It was as if he had followed this devilish Lian Chang. Lian Chang lit a cigarette, took a light drag, and blew out a smoke ring into the air. The ring slowly grew larger and thinner until it completely disappeared. Only then did Lian Chang speak in a low voice, “Lei, life is just like that smoke ring. At first, everyone gathers together, but eventually, there will be a day when they disperse.”

  Lei nodded slightly and said slowly: "I understand, Lian Chang."

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