Chapter 392

In the blink of an eye, five days passed hurriedly; tomorrow is the day the new unit moves in.

These days, besides training, Lu Yang busied himself cleaning the camp thoroughly.

He mopped every dorm inside and out twice, leaving windowsills and door frames spotless; he also scrubbed the toilet squat pans and urinals repeatedly with a brush and oxalic acid.

On the drill field, beside the flower beds, at the base of the fence, one could always see a figure wearing a straw hat and work gloves, squatting alone to work.

As the sun set in the west, after a day's work, Master Lu wiped the sweat from his forehead, turned a full 360 degrees for a final check.

"There's still something missing!"

Lu Yang ran to the small warehouse, picked up a bucket of paint, and carried an A-frame ladder to the main gate.

He put on the gas mask used in past chemical‑defense training, then began painting the camp's iron gate.

While painting, he hummed: "I'm a painter, my painting skills are strong~"

In the evening, after several hours of work, Master Lu finished his task and went to take a shower.

He changed into dry clothes, came to the cafeteria, and started preparing tonight's dinner; the food left in the fridge was basically gone.

Although there were still vegetables and eggs, because he really didn't want to wash dishes, Lu Yang didn't fire up a wok; instead he pulled a small electric pot from behind the cabinet.

This was left by Zhou Kaidong; soldiers of the old Third Squad would sometimes use this little pot to cook noodles during night watch.

He tore open a pack of shrimp‑fish cake noodles, tossed the noodle cake in, and squeezed all the seasoning powder into a large bowl beside it.

Doing this avoids getting oil on the electric pot as much as possible, and also makes cleaning easier.

He threw in two stalks of greens, cracked an egg, poured both soup and noodles into a bowl prepared beforehand, and a plain, unpretentious dinner was ready.

Holding his bowl, he went to the dining hall and sat down; the huge hall was empty, only a white incandescent lamp above Lu Yang's head lit, making it feel especially desolate.

Except for the seat he occupied, all the stools on the other seats were overturned onto the table tops, and the floor was spotless.

Looking at the bowl of noodles before him, Lu Yang actually had little appetite.

His mood now was like that of someone about to leave home to go out and make his way in the world.

Here there are memories, there is youth, and above all reluctance; people have feelings, and after staying in the Sixth Company for so long, it's inevitable to feel a bit sentimental at the final moment.

Lu Yang couldn't help recalling how, before the regiment commander left, he sat in the vehicle with tears streaming down his face, full of reluctance, and Lu Yang couldn't help but sigh.

He took a lighter from his pocket, lit it, and blew a puff at the flame.

Then he picked up his chopsticks to eat the noodles, and a big light shone over from outside the cafeteria.

Lu Yang walked out holding his bowl, curious why a vehicle would arrive at this time; could it be that Zheng Chengfeng had come early?

The vehicle stopped in front of him; Ding Tengfei and Gao Feng got out one after another, carrying plenty of good wine and food.

"How did you guys come?"

"Good heavens, you're a big hero known throughout the division, and the first soldier‑immortal to be caught smoking by the military police; to celebrate your birthday so shabbily, just eating instant noodles—this is too shabby!"

Cheng Jun was the last to get out of the vehicle, holding a cake, and he waved it at Lu Yang with a smile.

"Lu Yang, happy birthday!"

Holding the bowl of noodles, Lu Yang felt a sourness in his nose, and suddenly the noodles in the bowl didn't smell fragrant anymore.

His birthday comes after Ding Tengfei's; back when he was in the armed police, he almost caused a joke.

He had thought that since the company commander and instructor were gone, no one would remember; but he hadn't expected not only that someone remembered, but that they had specially bought a cake and come over.

All the lights in the cafeteria were turned on, as bright as daytime.

The dishes weren't particularly lavish—just some common cold platters and cooked food—but Lu Yang ate happily.

After three rounds of wine and five flavors of dishes, everyone was a bit tipsy; Ding Tengfei took out a small box and gave it to Lu Yang.

"What's this?"

"It's for you, a birthday present."

Lu Yang opened it and found it was a big‑brand waterproof watch.

The hands have luminous coating, it can withstand diving to two hundred meters, and just looking at its shape and style shows it's not cheap.

"Don't overthink it; it's not that expensive—you know our family's situation, we couldn't afford something too costly."

"Besides, this watch was picked out and bought together by all of us; it's not just me giving it, it's everyone's heartfelt intention."

Lu Yang felt deeply moved; his watch had just broken not long ago.

Moreover, he was about to go to the navy soon, and he had originally been thinking of finding a chance to go out and buy one.

Standard issue equipment for regular units does not include a watch; these items are personal accessories.

Under normal circumstances, ordinary soldiers are not allowed to wear watches during daily training, except for officers.

So, for daily training Lu Yang can use this watch to tell time; the gift Ding Tengfei and the others gave him truly hit him in the heart, and its style and design are exactly the kind he likes.

"There's another gift!"

"And?"

Gao Feng mysteriously ran outside and fetched a laptop from the vehicle.

He logged into the chat software, clicked for a video call, and a window popped up shortly.

The video chat picture was very blurry, often suffering lag and stutter, but Lu Yang could still recognize at a glance that the man on the screen was Ma Qing'an.

"Hello, Lu Yang, happy birthday~"

"Yang bro, it's Yang bro, the video's connected!"

"Yang bro, I miss you to death—when are you coming over? I've been thinking of you so much I can't sleep!"

"Nonsense, you sleep every day snoring—I could tell you're not sleeping. Squad leader, when are you coming here? Everyone's waiting for you."

"Let me tell you, the food at this sea‑training base is great—better than what we ate in the Sixth Company—and every few days we can get big shrimp!"

"These days, the sky is so blue, so blue, the sea is also so blue, so blue; the beach feels like cotton, and walking on it goes squeak‑squeak—it's fun!"

"Right, right, there are coconuts here too; after training we can still drink coconut water, which is really tasty; crack it open and the flesh inside can be eaten—white and soft, but eating too much gets cloying; a couple of days ago Squad Leader Hong took it and stewed coconut chicken for us……."

Looking at the familiar faces crowded into the screen, Lu Yang's eye sockets felt hot.

Although, as the people inside moved, mosaics and lag would occasionally appear, Lu Yang could still recognize everyone inside.

Besides Zhou Kaidong, Kang Changyi, Chen Panpan of the Sixth Company; he even saw Guo Yongwen, Kong Long, and Wan Baoshan, friends from other companies.

"Seeing you all doing well there, I, I feel relieved!"

Lu Yang lifted his chin and knocked, took a strong sniff, letting snot and tears flow back, revealing a happy smile.

Zhou Kaidong: "Lu Yang, we're doing great here, our training progress is also among the fastest!"

Kang Changyi: "It's truly thanks to your land vehicle; our company's soldiers perform much better than other units that transferred in, and after getting used to the water they can swim. I even feel like I grew up by the sea, having a natural affinity!"

Chen Panpan: "The base training instructors praise me every day, saying I have talent; I swim incredibly well. I can not only paddle forward, but also paddle backward, paddle sideways—any way you want to paddle, I can do it."

He Zhen Tao pushed Chen Panpan's head aside, squeezed to the screen: "Before coming, we were worried we'd perform poorly, but we found the other units' soldiers are far worse than ours—hahaha!"

"Here, look outside—several units are still training hard, only we can rest; Old Ma, turn the camera over, turn it over!"

The camera turned outward a bit, but the resolution was too low; outside was pitch black, Lu Yang saw nothing.

But his heart was full of pride, the smile on his face about to burst out.

This proves their earlier efforts weren't wasted; the land vehicle really works.

Guo Yongwen pushed in: "Lu Yang, I heard you smashed through the reconnaissance battalion—how the hell did you get so badass! You really gave our regiment a good vent!"

"Myriad Treasure Mountain:" "I know, I know! He must have drunk our muscle-building powder, that's why he's so strong! Kong Long, Kong Long, bring the sample, bring the sample!"

Kong Long clung to the protein powder, jumping up and down in the back: "Brothers, drink protein powder, make sure it's us—our nutritional supplement is beefy, it's potent! A cripple drinking it can run, Yang Ge drinking it becomes a stud!"

"Get out of the way, you're filming a TV commercial here?"

The two filming the ad were pressed to the ground and beaten badly; Ma Qing'an stepped up to the screen to ask.

"Lu Yang, when are you coming over? Everyone misses you, they're waiting for you."

"Tomorrow, then—after handing over the camp tomorrow, I should come over with Company Commander Gao and them."

"Great, our Iron Foot can reunite again—oh yeah!"

Suddenly, the cafeteria lights went out, Ding Tengfei pushed the cake with candles inserted toward him.

Gao Feng proposed: "Come on, everyone, let's sing a birthday song for Lu Yang!"

"Good, who will start?"

"May your blessings and longevity be as vast as the heavens......"

"What are you singing? Is that how a birthday song goes? Do it again!"

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you~"

A birthday song, under Gao Feng's passionate conducting, was sung with the feel of a military march.

Warm candlelight illuminated Lu Yang's smiling face, gazing at his most familiar comrades on the screen, at these friends beside him.

Lu Yang closed his eyes in satisfaction, silently making a wish before the candle flame: "One wish, martial prosperity; two wish, country wealthy and people strong; three wish, for the readers seeing this, may their future be bright like brocade, all goes smoothly, family healthy, all wishes fulfilled."