Chapter 257: Earning Merit in the Military—Is It Really That Easy?

"Help, gurgle..."

"I can't, gurgle..."

Lu Yang sometimes feels that he still has a real talent for acting.

Even an Oscar Best Actor showing up for this drowning scene wouldn't necessarily act as convincingly as he does.

Especially when struggling and calling for help, his body bobbing up and down in the water, his arms flailing constantly, and his panicked little eyes—it really looks like he's about to drown.

Soon, Zhou Kaidong swam over with all his might, grabbed Lu Yang, and Kang Changyi on the shore hurriedly pulled the rope.

With enthusiastic bystanders helping, it only took a moment to pull the two back to the shore.

When Lu Yang was hauled ashore, he had already fallen into a coma, unconscious.

"Quick, give him artificial respiration; I'm going back down to rescue others!"

After getting Lu Yang onto the shore, Zhou Kaidong put a life buoy back on and jumped into the water again.

He didn't know the condition of the other people trapped in the car, but a soldier's duty tells him he must pull people out first.

Kang Changyi was frantic like an ant on a hot pan; seeing Lu Yang collapsed on the shore, all the first‑aid knowledge he had learned was completely forgotten.

That's also his biggest flaw: he forgets things when nervous, and gets overly excited he loses his head.

During a previous drill, his overexcitement made him forget all the tactical theory he had learned at the military academy.

So he got caught like a dumpling, resulting in an entire Platoon being wiped out.

Only when someone nearby reminded him did he hurriedly kneel beside Lu Yang and begin chest compressions.

After pressing seven or eight times in a row, he lifted Lu Yang's chin, closed his eyes, and was about to kiss him.

But just as he was about to steal Lu Yang's first kiss, water was sprayed all over his face.

Lu Yang turned into a little artificial fountain, spouting a lot of water.

Then he rolled over, lay on the ground, and kept dry heaving.

He's not faking it; he really drank too much.

The river water smelled foul, making him nauseous—it was a normal physiological reaction.

"You, are you okay? Lu Yang, are you okay?"

"No, I'm fine."

He acted the whole routine; Lu Yang waved his hand weakly.

Kang Changyi jumped in fright: "You, why is your whole body covered in blood, where did these wounds come from?"

Two damn spies. After I discovered them, they kept driving and even dared to flee; I chased them and got into a fight with them.

"WTF, there really were spies?!"

Kang Changyi was both shocked and delighted, not even having time to hear Lu Yang finish his explanation.

In a second, he shed his skin, stripped his clothes, and leapt into the water.

At that moment, he even forgot that he couldn't swim.

He didn't even need a life buoy, just dog‑paddling straight over.

The young soldier's thirst for merit far outweighed his fear of water.

Zhou Kaidong was laboriously dragging the two out of the car one by one, and when he saw Kang Changyi also coming over, he was startled.

He stood with his foot on the car roof, barely steadying himself: "How did you get over here? You came, what about Lu Yang, who will pull me back?"

Kang Changyi, without hesitation, just blurted "Take it, will you?", forcibly lightening Zhou Kaidong's load.

"Lu Yang's fine now; he's already awake. The rope is in the hands of the enthusiastic bystanders; they'll pull us back in a moment."

"Hehe, really a foreigner, this time it's booming, booming!"

Zhou Kaidong wore a puzzled expression, not understanding at all what he was saying.

But at this moment he couldn't linger in the water, so he called for help from the shore, trying to pull himself up first.

Then, like throwing an iron pole, he hurled the life buoy forcefully toward Kang Changyi in the river, pulling him and the remaining foreigner up.

There originally were no life buoys along this Hu Cheng He, but after an accident last year, a few hard rubber buoys were placed on the railing to prevent future incidents.

"Good, good, good!"

As everyone was rescued to the shore.

A burst of enthusiastic applause rang out.

Everyone praised Zhou Kaidong's bravery, as well as Kang Changyi's final leap.

An ambulance (120) arrived at that moment, and medical staff were working hard to treat the two drowning foreigners.

After Zhou Kaidong vomited the dirty water from his stomach, he also noticed Lu Yang's injuries and hurriedly asked about them.

Lu Yang then gave a concise account of what happened; when Zhou Kaidong learned that the two foreigners were actually spies, his head buzzed instantly.

"Are you sure these two are spies?"

"Hundred percent sure; otherwise I wouldn't have been dragged by the car all the way and ended up with these injuries."

"......"

Zhou Kaidong gasped heavily, his mind a blank.

Maybe because he choked on water too much, or maybe he was a bit exhausted.

In short, his brain is in a stalled state, not turning.

"Old Zhou, you can stay in the unit, you can stay!"

Kang Changyi lunged forward, passionately hugging Zhou Kaidong.

Only then did Zhou Kaidong, as if waking from a great dream, break into a goofy grin.

Although Lu Yang discovered and subdued them, he still indirectly participated in the capture.

Espionage is a serious crime domestically, especially now during the military reforms and the crucial strengthening of Navy forces, where security and secrecy are of utmost importance.

Moreover, these are two foreign spies, so the impact and severity of the incident are a level higher.

Zhou Kaidong looked at Lu Yang and laughed foolishly: "What luck, we actually get to run into this, haha."

Lu Yang also laughed: "Squad Leader, you clearly can't swim, yet you jumped into the water to save me?"

Zhou Kaidong chuckled, scratching his head: "I knew you were trapped in the car, my mind went hot, and I didn't think it through before jumping down. Fortunately, everyone's fine; it's just these two spies—I'm not sure they can be saved......"

As soon as the words finished, the two spies coughed violently one after another, spitting out a large amount of dirty water.

The police arrived at that moment, and coincidentally those two were the same ones who had responded earlier.

"How come it's you?"

"What a coincidence, isn't it?"

"What on earth is going on? Our street reported a dangerous driver who drove the car into Hu Cheng He......"

Lu Yang recounted the process again, then pulled a storage card from his pocket: "Camera Storage Card, I pulled it out; all the evidence is on it. If that's not enough, there should be more in the car."

"Otherwise, if we hoist these two up for interrogation, we'll definitely get a lot of information."

The two Police Officers turned their heads toward the half‑dead foreigners, eyes full of excitement.

They only dealt with a female food‑delivery scam at noon, and by evening they had caught the two spies.

The performance assessment for this month is guaranteed to be excellent!

"What's that wound on you?"

"Those two spies caused it; they had knives."

"Damn it, they fled, drove dangerously, attacked active‑duty soldiers, and even polluted Hu Cheng He's water quality!"

The Silver Bracelet clanged down, and the two spies' fate was almost predictable.

Lu Yang was also helped by Zhou Kaidong and the medical staff, and was escorted toward the Ambulance.

During the earlier fight, adrenaline was at work, so he felt no pain; now every part of his body aches.

Some wounds still need stitches at the hospital, otherwise there's a risk of infection, since the river's bacteria are still abundant.

Just as Lu Yang's front foot was about to step onto the Ambulance, he saw a familiar face stepping out of a nearby Fire Engine.

"Hey, Zhang Wenbin, Zhang Wenbin!"

"Who's calling me?"

The young Firefighter, shielding his hat, scanned the crowd and soon spotted Lu Yang sitting in the Ambulance.

His eyes lit up, he greeted the Captain, and hurried over.

Their first meeting was when they helped extinguish a mountain fire.

Although the time together was brief, they could be considered comrades‑in‑arms.

When the fire was put out and they were leaving, he even brought a case of cola for Lu Yang and the others.

Zhang Wenbin, shocked, said: "How are you here? My god, how did it come to this? You can't possibly be the one involved, can you?"

Lu Yang bowed his hand to him, proudly clasping his fist: "It's indeed me!"

Zhang Wenbin asked curiously: "What exactly happened, why did you drive the car into the ditch?"

Lu Yang said it was hard to explain in one word, and he didn't want to elaborate any longer, saying he was exhausted: "I won't tell you the specifics, so as not to upset you. I'm done talking; you still have to salvage the car, and I have to go to the hospital for stitches."

"Bye~"

Zhou Kaidong and the other person climbed onto the Ambulance together.

The door closed, the Ambulance slowly drove away, and Zhang Wenbin wore a puzzled expression.

Then the Captain ran over, gave him a tap, and told him to quickly fetch a Hook and attach it inside the vehicle.

"The Crane will arrive shortly; we must pull the car out of the river quickly, the police said there's crucial evidence inside."

"What evidence?"

"It's said a soldier caught the two foreign spies."

"My god, Lu Yang earned merit again?!"

Zhang Wenbin stomped his foot hard, pounding his chest and stamping his feet.

If only I'd known earlier that earning merit was this easy.

Back then he just spent money, pulled connections, and still had to join the troops!