Chapter 41: Cold Skies, Burning Heart

  Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, it's already mid-November. The weather has turned cold, and the soldiers in the military camp have changed out of their summer uniforms and into winter gear. Almost every day is overcast, with winds growing colder by the day, and there's a chance that this year's first snowfall could come at any moment. In contrast to the increasingly chilly weather, the military camp in the southern city remains bustling with activity, with soldiers training with undiminished enthusiasm, unaffected by the cold. Their high morale is evident in their daily routine of three meals, carefully planned to provide them with ample nutrition and help them build up their strength. The results are already showing: all one hundred soldiers under his command now have rosy complexions, a far cry from their initial pale and emaciated appearance. Although they can't compare to the robust physiques of He Lanxiong's attendants, they've at least become lean and toned.

  The soldiers usually cherish the new clothes they have just received and are reluctant to wear them during training, preferring to go shirtless, but what delights Gao Yuan is that on their chests and arms, he finally sees some muscles.

  This is the embodiment of power.

  Sun Xiao and Yan Haibo have been able to toss around in the sandbag array for over half an hour, and others are no longer going in and out, they can all hold on for a while inside.

  The archery skills of the infantry and his nine companions were also steadily improving, but Gao Yuan set them a new challenge: first, moving targets, then shooting while running, and thirdly, shooting at people. Compared to the previous two projects, this third training project was the most difficult for the infantry, because Gao Yuan had made a rotating wheel with colored wooden boards of different colors, each representing a different person, such as red for his own companions, black for the Eastern Hu people, and yellow for civilians. He required them to accurately hit the black targets within thirty steps, which was completely impossible in the infantry's opinion, relying solely on luck. They had been practicing for several days, but every time they practiced, they ended up killing many innocent people.

  He expressed his disagreement to Gao Yuan, but Gao Yuan was unmoved and simply told him to practice more, use his heart and brain, and he would be convinced. The infantry captain was left speechless with anger, but Gao Yuan was the army's logistics officer, while he was just a squad leader, who was also appointed by Gao Yuan himself. Gao Yuan then transferred ten archers to form a new archery team, with the infantry captain as its leader.

  Since Gao Bing said it was feasible, the infantry gritted their teeth and trained hard, not wanting to be looked down upon by Gao Yuan with that condescending gaze, which meant that just because you can't do it doesn't mean others can't either.

  The changes in this hundred-man team are visible to Gao Yuan's eyes and delightful to his heart. He can proudly say that since his arrival, the army has undergone a tremendous transformation and can now be considered a real army. All they need is to experience one more war, let them see blood, and this army will perfectly complete their metamorphosis.

  As the team gradually took shape, Gaoyuan's returns also became more frequent, of course, every time he returned was at night, because only at night did he have the opportunity to find time alone with Yecao'er. Usually, Ye Shi's wife kept a close eye on him.

  As long as they went back, whether it was a clear moonlit night or a cold and windy winter's night, he and Ye Jing'er would be in two windows, one inside and one outside, seemingly always having endless topics to talk about, talking for half the night until dawn was near, before Gao Yuan would leave.

  The feelings of the two people also quickly warmed up to a sticky point, only to feel sorry that by now, he and Ye Jing'er were just holding hands.

  Every time he saw Ye Jing'er's delicate face, Gao Yuan had the urge to go up and peck her on the cheek. Every time this happened, Ye Jing'er would look very frightened, with a startled expression in her eyes that made Gao Yuan feel even more tender towards her. He always managed to hold himself back at the last moment. It couldn't be denied that Ye's mother had been very successful in her teachings, which left Gao Yuan feeling quite helpless.

  Last night, unable to hold back his thoughts of Ye Jing'er, Gao Yuan ran back to the military camp, and when it was late at night, he snuck under Ye Jing'er's window again, whispering sweet nothings through the window, exchanging endless private words.

  The sky was already very cold, Gao Yuan's head was poking in through the window, holding Ye Qinger's small hands, but his buttocks were still hanging outside the window. Even when Cui'er had specially put a thick woolen hat on him that she had just made for Gao Yuan, it couldn't withstand the long time, and his two legs were still numb from the cold. He didn't dare to stomp his feet, fearing that Ye's wife would hear him, which would be disastrous.

  However, Gaoyuan, who was passionate at the time, endured it and when he really couldn't take it anymore, he hung his two legs in the air and kicked them around for a while.

  Time flies quickly, in the blink of an eye, a loud crowing sound came from the big rooster next door, and then it seemed to be infectious, one after another, the big roosters in the city started crowing.

  Yè Jīng'er was startled and said, "Gāo Dàgē (older brother Gao), the rooster has crowed three times, you should leave."

  Gao Yuan was reluctant to part with Ye Tong'er, tightly grasping her hand and fiercely saying: "That damned rooster, once we get back I'll have Zhang Yi slaughter it and make a soup out of it. Let's see if it still dares to crow wildly!"

  Yè Jīng'er burst out laughing, "Gāo Dàgē (older brother Gao), it's time for the chicken to crow. Even if you stewed your own chicken, others' chickens would still crow."

  "Then I'll take them all down!" Gaoyuan gritted his teeth.

  Yè Jīng'er's face was red, "Gāo Dàgē, we have a long time ahead of us, let's go quickly. When the rooster crows for the first time, my mother will get up."

  "No way!" Gaoyuan shook his head firmly.

  "Big brother!" Ye Jing'er urged: "Hurry up and leave, or else my mother will scold me."

  Looking at Ye Jing's red face, Gao Yuan couldn't help but feel a surge of romantic feelings. "Give me a kiss and I'll leave."

  After hearing Gao Yuan's words, Ye Jing'er suddenly became greatly embarrassed, lowered her head and firmly shook it, "No way!"

  "You won't kiss me? Then I'm not leaving!" Gaoyuan acted like a rascal: "I'm not afraid of your mother scolding me."

  "You're so bad."

  "Men are not bad, women just don't love them!"

  "I don't like bad people!"

  "Am I a bad person?"

  "You're not, you're a good person!"

  "I don't care, if you don't kiss me once, I won't leave!" Gao Yuan said with a smile, lingering outside.

  Ye Jing'er couldn't help but look at the distant and mischievous smile, lightly tapping her foot, several times wanting to speak but stopping herself, when she heard the second crowing of the rooster, from another room, came the sound of Ye Shi getting out of bed rustling around, suddenly urgent, "Close your eyes!" she said with a mix of shyness and annoyance.

  Gao Yuan closed his eyes, and suddenly a slapping sound came from his face. Ye Jing'er had given him a quick peck on the cheek, then quickly withdrew, her head lowered, even her ears reddening, feeling her face burning intensely.

  Gao Yuan smiled and let go of his hand, "Jing Er, I'm leaving, I'll come back to see you in a few days!" As soon as his feet touched the ground, he felt a numbness and almost fell over, causing Ye Jing Er to be shocked and almost scream out loud. But she quickly realized what was happening and covered her mouth tightly with both hands, only staring at Gao Yuan with concern in her eyes.

  "It's nothing, just numbness!" Gaoyuan said in a low voice, rubbing his hands a few times, crouching down and quickly leaving Ye Jing'er's home.

  When he walked out of the Gaofu Gate, Gao Yuan only felt that his whole body was full of energy, looking up at the sky with his head held high, but he felt a piece of ice on his face, and when he looked carefully, it had started snowing.

  "Oh dear heavens, you're really not treating me badly!" Gaoyuan laughed loudly, it's unknown whether he was thanking the heavens for giving him a second chance at life or thanking the snow for falling at this time, if it had fallen earlier, last night he definitely wouldn't have been able to hold on for so long and wouldn't have gotten Ye Jing'er's kiss.

  He touched his face and smiled extremely satisfactorily. When he went out, he refused the hot washing water brought by Cui Er. He had to let him keep it for a few days, after all, this was his thought for several days.