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nChapter 408: Laughing and Crying

nTranslator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

nWang Ye returned to the Iron Bones Hero Regiment, and on that day, he was warmly welcomed.

nHe hadn’t even had a chance to put his things in the barracks when the regiment headquarters called.

nThe regiment commander wanted Wang Ye to come over.

nLater, after Wang Ye returned from the regiment headquarters, the company commander also came.

nThese scenes left others sighing, and many couldn’t help but exclaim.

n“That’s Wang Ye for you!”

nIt wasn’t until nearly five o’clock that Wang Ye finally returned to his squad.

n“Brother Wang, you are really busy!” Inside the dormitory, as Wang Ye entered, Peng Yuhang hurriedly greeted him with a smile.

n“Well, you know, that’s how it is in the regiment!”

n“Tsk tsk, if I could have that kind of treatment, I’d be willing to give up ten years of my life!” Wei Qinghai chimed in with a cheerful tone.

nThen, the next moment, Meng Wenbin looked over, “If you don’t retire, maybe you could use your ten years to practice, but now, go back and work hard!”

n“Platoon leader!”

nAt this point, Wang Ye also came to him and saluted him crisply.

nMeng Wenbin no longer had the insignia of a cadet on his shoulder, unlike before.

nA year had passed, and he had already been promoted to the rank of Second Lieutenant.

nHowever, as he looked at Wang Ye saluting him, there was a hint of helplessness on his face.

n“You, oh my, it’s really awkward for you to salute me in that uniform now!”

nHe was speaking from the heart, even though he knew he couldn’t compare to Wang Ye.

nBut seeing Wang Ye standing in front of him with the rank of Second Lieutenant, and wearing that service ribbon, it was too conspicuous.

nHe looked down at himself; he had been in the military for six years, including his time at the military academy, yet both of them had the same rank.

n“Hehe, Platoon leader, you’ll always be my Platoon leader!” Wang Ye replied with a smile.

nThis made Meng Wenbin smile too.

n“That’s right, even if your rank is higher than mine in the future, you still have to salute me when you see me!”

n“Brother Wang!”

nSuddenly, a familiar voice came from behind.

nWang Ye turned around.

n“All, Ping’an!” Wang Ye greeted with surprise.

nApproaching, Wang Ye gave Zhang Ping’an a hug.

n“Haha, you’ve gained some weight again! It feels like there’s an extra layer of flesh under your chin!” After letting go, Wang Ye teased Zhang Ping’an, looking him up and down.

n“Hehe~!” Zhang Ping’an chuckled, a bit embarrassed.

nHe had indeed put on some weight.

nThe kitchen staff was too good at feeding people.

n“Brothers, let’s go!” Suddenly, from the direction of the other squads outside, there was a burst of shouting.

nIn the next moment, soldiers from the other squads rushed out of their barracks.

n“Charge!”

n“Get him!”

nWang Ye was dumbfounded.

nWhat the heck was going on?

nOf course, Wang Ye didn’t waste any time and turned to run.

nBut he was at the door of the dormitory now.

nWang Ye stepped back, and there was nowhere else to run inside the dormitory.

nUnless he jumped out of the window.

nBut that was definitely not an option.

n“Hey, hey, guys, calm down, calm down!” Wang Ye raised his hand, trying to call for a halt.

nCornered against the dormitory wall, he felt his scalp tingling as he looked at the dormitory full of people rushing in.

n“Haha, Wang Ye, go ahead and shout. Shouting your lungs out won’t help today!” A veteran from the fourth squad grinned.

nMeanwhile, others beside him shouted with a smile, “Don’t waste time talking to him, watch out for the company commander and the others coming up, hurry up, go!”

nThe next moment, these guys swarmed in.

nWang Ye was instantly engulfed by people.

nOf course, they weren’t attacking Wang Ye.

nThey just swarmed around him, one by one, pouncing on Wang Ye.

nHuman pyramid; Wang Ye was at the bottom, crushed beneath a pile of people.

nA heap of bodies, all swarming in.

nAt this moment, Wang Ye felt like he was almost about to be squeezed flat.

n“All, don’t squish me!”

n“Oh my, I can’t take it, don’t pile up, don’t pile up!”

nIt wasn’t Wang Ye shouting; it was the soldiers who were on top of him, yelling.

nNow that others were joining in, they too were getting squished underneath.

n“Alright, we’ve had our fun, get down, get down, don’t squash him!”

nAt this point, after a bit of commotion, Meng Wenbin in the eighth squad smiled and spoke, and he began pulling people off.

nHe stopped those who still wanted to join in and also started separating those who were squishing others.

nOf course, this wasn’t very efficient. After about two minutes, Wang Ye, who had been thoroughly crushed, finally crawled up from the ground with a bright red face.

n“Haha, Wang Ye, this is our revenge for what you did last time!”

n“Hehe, we finally waited for you to come back before we left.”

nThe dormitory in the eighth squad was now crowded with soldiers from other squads.

nOne by one, the guys were now laughing, which indicated the reason why they did this.

nOf course, they didn’t need to say it; Wang Ye knew why.

nWhen he saw them charging towards him just now, Wang Ye had guessed.

n“Alright, we’re even now!”

nRubbing his waist, Wang Ye looked at them with a wry smile.

n“No way, it’s not that easy. Come on, Old Wang, you’ve been promoted to Second Lieutenant, so you must treat us to drinks today. Otherwise, we’ll all gang up and strip you naked on the parade ground later!”

n“Yeah, what about Hua Zi? Hua Zi owes us!”

nWith their numbers, they truly embodied the phrase “strength in numbers.” Wang Ye, even if he was strong, could only lie down when facing dozens of people together.

n“Okay, okay, I’ll treat you all!

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nWang Ye reluctantly agreed.

nIf he didn’t agree today, who knows what they would do to him later.

nIt was tough!

nThe company commander was angry with him for what he did, but Wu Jianfeng didn’t do much to him.

nWhen he saw the battalion commander today, the battalion commander wanted to kick him in the butt when he was leaving, but Wang Ye managed to escape.

nEven the company commander, when he was at the hospital, only gave Wang Ye a pat on the shoulder.

nBut when he returned to the fourth company, he suffered a loss.

nThese guys must have planned it in advance. Not only did they almost squeeze the life out of Wang Ye in that pile, but now they were also extorting drinks and cigarettes from him.

nOf course, Wang Ye couldn’t possibly hold a grudge against them.

nIt was all in good fun.

nCigarettes and drinks were just small matters.

nIn the following days, there was still no sign of farewell emotions within the company.

nEveryone was still playful and cheerful.

nIt continued until the evening of the 29th.

nDuring dinner that night, even though it wasn’t a special occasion, the tables were filled with sumptuous dishes and bottles of liquor.

nThe smiles on everyone’s faces abruptly disappeared.

nThe aroma of the food and wine, like a gentle breeze, swept away the smiles on everyone’s faces and brought out the hidden sadness in their hearts.

nIn the entire dining hall, the food remained untouched, but the sound of sobbing began to echo.

nAnd this sobbing sound quickly spread to others.

nWu Jianfeng stood up.

n“It’s that special time again!”

nLooking around at everyone, Wu Jianfeng had a wistful expression on his face.

n“Year after year, I’ve seen off many batches. Although 1 don’t want to go through this, it’s inevitable for an old soldier.”

nHe paused and suddenly forced a somewhat awkward smile, “Actually, I know that some of you have been looking forward to retiring for a long time. Even though you feel sad now, it’s not because you’re sad about leaving the army but because you’re sad about saying goodbye to your comrades.

nOf course, that doesn’t matter.

nThe most beautiful thing in life is the meeting, and the rarest thing is the reunion.

nMaybe after we part tomorrow, we may never see each other again in this lifetime.

nBut remember, we are comrades for a day, comrades for a lifetime…”

nWu Jianfeng’s words made some who were quietly shedding tears burst into loud sobs on the spot.

nThis included Wei Qinghai and Luo Yang from the eighth squad.

nIn reality, who joins the military thinking about retirement on their first day?

nWho doesn’t initially aspire to make a career and excel in the military?

nBut reality erodes the enthusiasm and original intentions of those young recruits.

nWang Ye also felt a bit teary-eyed.

nIn this kind of environment, surrounded by familiar comrades, tomorrow morning, there would be a lot fewer people here.

nAnd these people, without any surprises, ninety percent of them might never see each other again in this lifetime.

nThe country was vast, and they came from all corners of the nation.

nGathering was like a bonfire, dispersing was like stars filling the sky.

nIn the vast sea of humanity, once they took off their uniforms and left this military camp, they would be separated by a great distance.

nThis distance wasn’t just physical; it also included family bonds, social ties…

nDuring this meal, alcohol was served without restriction for those about to retire.

nThey ended up drinking to the point of being completely inebriated.

nAt the same time, each of them was basically sobbing loudly in the arms of their comrades.

n“Actually… actually, I once wanted to be a soldier for a long time too. 1 really wanted to be a soldier for my whole life…” Wei Qinghai, drunk and holding a wine glass in one hand, with tears streaming down his face, confessed to Wang Ye.

nAfter drinking too much, he let go of his male toughness, crying loudly, and couldn’t suppress some of the inner words anymore.

nAnd this was not an isolated case.

n“Phew!”

nAt night, after lights out, Wang Ye went up to the rooftop alone to smoke.

nLooking at the countless stars in the sky and the waning moon, Wang Ye felt a sense of unease in his heart.

nThis was the first time he had experienced such a scene.

n“I knew you’d be here!”

nSuddenly, footsteps came from behind.

nWang Ye turned to look, and it was Kang Hua.

n“Instructor!” He greeted with a somewhat unattractive smile.

n“Hmm!” Kang Hua nodded. After coming to Wang Ye’s side, he turned and said, “Where’s Hua Zi? Give me one!”

nWang Ye immediately reached for a cigarette and a lighter.

nKang Hua lit one up.

nUnlike those guys like Wu Jianfeng, Kang Hua returned the cigarette pack and lighter to Wang Ye.

nTaking a deep breath, Kang Hua, like Wang Ye, looked at the sky and began to speak, “Every soldier goes through this kind of thing. It’s not a big deal, and you’ll get used to it after a few times. Although sometimes we miss our former comrades, it’s easy to stay in touch now. Chat on the internet, make a phone call; it’s not that difficult!”

nKang Hua, in his role as an instructor, offered words of encouragement to Wang Ye.

nWang Ye nodded while looking at him. “Hmm… it’s not too bad, just felt a bit stuffy in the chest, so I came up here to get some fresh air. But let’s not talk about that. Instructor, how are things going with your job change?”

n“What job change?”

n“Your assignment change! Any news?”

nWang Ye’s question made Kang Hua hesitate for a moment. But in the end, he smiled and glanced at the corridor behind him before looking back at Wang Ye. “It’s not confirmed yet, but it looks likely!”

nWang Ye smiled too. “That’s good, Instructor, congratulations!”

n“Yes! Congratulations are in order!” Kang Hua had a clear smile on his face. But then he looked at Wang Ye again and added, “But the promotion in rank will have to wait until next June, which is unfortunate!”

nWang Ye was momentarily speechless.

nHe knew what Kang Hua meant.

nHaving the same rank as himself made him feel a bit uncomfortable.

n“In fact, it’s not just me; our company benefited from your efforts. We removed the influence of Deng Hai and showed great performance. So this time, the company commander will also get a promotion.”

nAfter a pause, he added, “Well… apart from the company commander, Zheng Ke might also get a promotion because of the company commander’s position change!”

nWang Ye’s eyes widened in surprise.

nOld Wu is also getting promoted?

nWell, this guy didn’t say a word to me about it in the past few days!

n“What about the Instructor?” Wang Ye asked again.

nKang Hua naturally knew who he was talking about, not himself but the one above him.

n“He hasn’t served long enough, so he won’t be moving!”

n“Then you…” Wang Ye was puzzled.

nIf the instructor wasn’t moving, he definitely couldn’t stay as the instructor of the fourth company.

n“Well… there’s a good chance I’ll be going to the higher headquarters. The Deng

nHai incident actually had some impact on me!”

nWang Ye was speechless.

nIndeed, the Deng Hai incident had the most significant impact on him. After all, he was the instructor of the new recruits company at the time, and the one responsible for ideological work was him..

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