Chapter 1615

It was already eight o'clock after the meal. By the time everyone returned and was ready to hit the road, it was exactly eight-thirty.

It was over five hundred kilometers from Gaize to Shiquanhe, and except for Geji County in the middle, it was basically all uninhabited area.

Today's road was different from the previous ones, and the scenery had also changed somewhat.

The undulating mountain peaks in the distance were still covered in white snow, but the mountain bodies revealed different colors.

Brown, pink, green, and so on—it was a typical Danxia landform, and the scenery was magnificent.

After driving for more than a hundred kilometers, snow began to appear on the ground, and the vehicle speed slowed down.

The further they went, the thicker the snow on the road became. By the time they reached Dongcuo Township, the snow on the ground was three or four centimeters thick.

And because of the snow disaster, there were very few cars on this road, so the snow on the road was loose and slippery, and the speed dropped once again.

After leaving Dongcuo Township, they hadn't gone far when the convoy suddenly stopped, and immediately after, the walkie-talkie rang.

"Chairman, this is the lead car. There is a squad of soldiers ahead. They say they are from the Ali Military Sub-district and have been ordered to come and meet us."

"Received!"

Zhou Andong picked up the walkie-talkie and said, then let out a long breath.

Although he believed Jian Qiu would definitely have notified the Ali side, only now could he be completely at ease.

"Wentian, drive the car over."

Wang Wentian turned the steering wheel, drove the car out of the convoy, and slowly drove forward in the opposite lane.

Soon, he saw a Jiefang CA10 military truck and a 212 parked at the very front, with more than ten soldiers standing beside them.

The four brothers in the lead car, along with the drivers of the trucks in front, were chatting with several soldiers.

Seeing Zhou Andong's car coming, both sides stopped talking and stepped forward to greet them.

Walking in front was a young man wearing the rank of lieutenant colonel; he wasn't very tall and had a square face.

Because of the strong ultraviolet rays on the plateau and the harsh natural conditions, a layer of dry skin had formed on his face.

And his lips were cracked with several bleeding fissures, but he didn't seem to care.

Wang Wentian pulled over and stopped slowly, and Zhou Andong pushed open the car door and got out.

When the lieutenant colonel saw Zhou Andong, he grinned and pointed: "Zhou Andong!"

Zhou Andong was stunned, looking up and down at the officer in front of him.

The smile on the lieutenant colonel's face grew brighter: "You've become a big boss, don't you recognize your old classmate?"

Zhou Andong raised an eyebrow, suddenly remembering that old classmate of his who was a forensic doctor, who had mentioned him before.

Their high school classmate Qiao Hui had gotten into the National Defense University and was serving in the army in Qinghai.

(If you've forgotten, you can look back at Chapter 1422; if you don't want to, that's fine, it won't affect the plot.)

"Qiao Hui!"

Zhou Andong called out his name, which stunned Qiao Hui. From graduation to serving in the army in Qinghai, his appearance had truly changed every year.

Not to mention a classmate he hadn't seen in over a decade, he had been sent down to the troops and hadn't been home for two years since coming to Qinghai.

When he went back on leave in the third year, the neighbors didn't recognize him at all, and even his mother had almost failed to recognize him.

"You... you can actually recognize me?"

"Hahaha..." Zhou Andong laughed: "How can you say that? No one would play with you, but I spent a full three years playing with you; how could I not recognize you?"

"Don't lie to me." Qiao Hui didn't believe it at all: "When I first joined the army, I didn't go home for two years. Later, when I went home on leave, my mother almost didn't recognize me.

After high school graduation, we never saw each other again. It's been over ten years; my changes are so great, how could you possibly recognize me?"

"Believe it or not." Zhou Andong smiled and took out a cigarette, throwing one to Qiao Hui: "Aren't you in Qinghai? Why are you in Ali?"

Qiao Hui took the cigarette and took out a lighter to light Zhou Andong's cigarette first: "Changing defense, I came over last May. A few days ago, the military district leaders said that the Yugong Group was transporting a batch of disaster relief supplies to Ali and that we must clear the road.

As soon as I heard that, I wondered if you would come personally, so I volunteered to come and meet you. The snow stopped three days ago, and we arranged for more than ten engineering bulldozers to clear the snow on the road and opened it up."

Zhou Andong took a puff of his cigarette: "How did you know we would arrive today?"

"What do you think I do?" Qiao Hui said very confidently: "Which roads are hard to travel, how much we travel every day, and what time we arrive—it's all in my mind."

Zhou Andong curled his lip: "When we were in school, you were better at bragging than me. It's been over ten years, and now you're a regimental commander; hasn't that bad habit changed yet?"

"Pfft!" The few soldiers behind couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Laughing at what!" Qiao Hui roared: "You three, about-face, run back to the barracks!"

The three soldiers who had laughed felt bitter, but they still followed the order, turned around, and ran forward.

"Embarrassed into anger." Zhou Andong also couldn't help but laugh heartily: "It's wrong for you to punish soldiers like that."

"How is this punishment?" Qiao Hui snorted: "The three of them failed their armed cross-country; this is training."

After saying that, he pulled Zhou Andong and walked toward the 212: "Sit in my car, let's chat on the way."

The two got into the 212, and Qiao Hui said to the soldier driving: "Let's go!"

Zhou Andong looked at the epaulets on Qiao Hui's shoulders and sighed with emotion: "You kid are rising fast; it's only been a few years since graduation, and you're already a deputy regimental commander."

"I graduated from the National Defense University; I had a rank as soon as I came out." Qiao Hui opened the car window and threw the cigarette butt out: "And because I was assigned to the Qinghai plateau region, I was promoted one level directly.

Captain rank, deputy battalion level; a year and a half later, I was promoted to battalion level. Last May Day, before the defense change, I was promoted to deputy regimental commander."

Zhou Andong took a final puff of his cigarette, also opened the car window, and threw the butt out.

"Regardless, you can consider this an exceptional promotion."

"How should I put it." Qiao Hui organized his language: "If you want to talk about exceptional promotion, there's a bit of that. If you want to talk about normal promotion, that also makes sense.

In our military sub-district, there are only three people with the same educational background as me; one is in the administrative office, one is in logistics, and only I am in the frontline troops. Of course, people like our division commander, who have studied at the National Defense University, don't count."

Zhou Andong tilted his head and looked at Qiao Hui: "Your division commander studied at the National Defense University; doesn't that mean you and your division commander are alumni?"

Qiao Hui smiled without a word. Zhou Andong understood and couldn't help but sigh at this kid's good luck.

Of course, even if he were alumni with the division commander, if he hadn't fought in the frontline troops, he probably wouldn't be where he was today.

"Before the New Year, I ran into Sun Xiaohui; she was the one who told me about you."

Qiao Hui was enlightened: "I was just wondering, how could you possibly recognize me."

Zhou Andong asked: "Are you married?"

"My child is already three years old." Qiao Hui laughed: "It's a boy. How about you?"

"A daughter, over two years old." Zhou Andong said: "The second one is about to be born, probably in August."

"Second child?" Qiao Hui widened his eyes: "Aren't you afraid... right, you don't have a public position, and you're a big tycoon, so a little fine doesn't matter."

Zhou Andong asked: "Can you ask for leave in October?"

Qiao Hui said, not understanding: "Something up?"

"I'm getting married."

"I'm getting married"—these four words were said lightly, but to Qiao Hui's ears, they sounded like a rolling thunder, and his eyes widened even more than before.

"You already have two kids, what are you getting married for?"