Chapter 30

That road, which was labor-intensive but didn't hurt the treasury, was finally finished after a month.

To be precise, it was three intersecting roads.

Lao Ma specifically used red broken bricks to build a large red five-pointed star at the central meeting point.

Lao Wei carried the five-star red flag from the dormitory and hung it solemnly on the flagpole.

Calling it a flagpole, it was actually just a piece of wood that wasn't very twisted.

"From now on, our place can be considered a military unit. Look, the red flag is up." Lao Ma's face was a shade darker than a month ago, and the exhaustion on his face couldn't be hidden.

But his tone and the gleam in his eyes were exceptionally bright.

Li Meng, Lao Wei, and Xue Lin all looked up at the red flag.

Under the hot wind, the red flag fluttered in the breeze.

"Squad Leader, why do I feel a bit lost?" Li Meng lowered his head and said.

Lao Ma patted his shoulder, "Find something to do. Haven't you always planned to be a writer? The regiment is recruiting clerks recently. My face is still worth a few favors; I'll run around for you."

"Lao Wei, you'll be a conscript for two more years. You're pretty good at cooking; consider being a cook."

"Xue Lin..."

Lao Ma sighed; he really couldn't think of any strengths for Xue Lin.

"Sanduo, the Group Army assessment results might come out in the next few days. I know, you're the Soldier King who broke two army-wide records. You've seen the mess that is the Grassland Fifth Squad."

"We haven't taught you anything these past few months. I'm just asking you, for the sake of me being your Squad Leader, this is the military, everyone is a comrade-in-arms. Put down that extremely cold and high mountain in your heart."

After saying this, Lao Ma's waist sagged a bit. He gave a standard salute to the national flag and turned to walk toward the dormitory.

"Boom!"

Suddenly, in the blue sky and white clouds, a black dot emitted a trembling roar.

"Squad Leader, look, a helicopter!!" Li Meng shouted, waving his hands frantically, trying to get the plane in the sky to see this scene.

Lao Ma immediately turned back and roared, "Grassland Fifth Squad, assemble!!"

On the helicopter, the co-pilot's gaze scanned the earth like an eagle.

With a glance, he suddenly saw the five-pointed star on the ground.

"Old Wang, look below. Is that the station of the Red Third Company's Grassland Fifth Squad? Was this five-pointed star there when we came last time?"

Old Wang turned the plane around and let his line of sight fall toward the Fifth Squad, "No, it wasn't. Since when did the Red Third Company have these roads?"

"Salute!"

Lao Ma stood straight as a board, his gaze firm as he watched the helicopter in the sky.

The plane didn't leave directly as it usually did, but instead circled a few times overhead before continuing to fly forward.

"Squad Leader, they definitely saw it, right?" Li Meng asked.

Lao Ma lowered his right hand and asked with a gloomy expression, "What? You built the road so others could see it?"

After saying this, he clutched his waist and walked toward the dormitory.

"Sigh, Squad Leader, what are you going to do?" Xue Lin asked hurriedly.

"Go write my retirement application."

Everyone looked at Lao Ma's hunched back and fell into an atmosphere of gloom.

Feng Yuxiu frowned and followed him.

Lao Ma sat on a small stool, head lowered, his right hand gripping a ballpoint pen tightly.

Sensing someone had entered, he hurriedly looked up.

Only then did Feng Yuxiu see that this veteran's eyes were rimmed with red tear stains.

"Sanduo, come, sit."

Feng Yuxiu sat down and stared at Lao Ma, "What's the use of retiring in this era? Squad Leader, you're a veteran of many years; there's no good future out there."

Lao Ma lowered his head, suddenly crumpled the paper in his hand into a ball and threw it away, cursing, "The handwriting is too ugly."

Only then did he look up and wipe his tears, "Sanduo, you're not me, you don't know. I really can't bear to leave. Ever since the Instructor left, I haven't had a peaceful night's sleep. Every time I think of myself retiring wearing a big red flower, I wake up from my dreams in a fright."

"But, look at me, look at this pathetic state of mine. How could the military want me? It's not the military that abandoned me; it's me who abandoned myself."

As he spoke, Lao Ma slumped over the table and burst into loud sobs.

Outside the door, Li Meng and the other two lowered their heads, their hearts feeling sour.

"I thought building the road would give me a pursuit, but now that the road is finished, I'm lost again. The Instructor was right; I'm the one who's decadent, it's not this place's fault."

At this moment, for the first time, a strange feeling surged in Feng Yuxiu's heart—a subtle emotion called camaraderie.

That night, no one thought about being noisy.

Li Meng and the other two sat on their stools, staring numbly at the television screen filled with static.

Feng Yuxiu didn't go for a night run either; he stood straight at the doorway, looking out into the dark night.

In the deathly silent room, there was only the rustling sound of a ballpoint pen scratching against paper.

This thin, persistent sound made everyone feel inexplicably irritable.

Li Meng was the first to lose it, "Squad Leader, stop writing."

Lao Ma kept his head down, burying himself in writing his retirement application.

"Squad Leader, if you retire, the few of us won't be able to make it. When you're here, we barely act like human beings, and now we're planning to act like humans. If you leave... Squad Leader, I beg you, stop writing." Li Meng stood up, shouting and crying.

Xue Lin's eyes turned red, and he also lowered his head.

Only Lao Wei's lips trembled; he wanted to cry but couldn't.

"Don't try to persuade me. You guys act like humans and be good soldiers. I can't just hang around, can I? A few months ago, the Instructor said he was persuading me; I knew clearly in my heart that he was telling me to prepare myself mentally. That Third Class Merit, is that Third Class Merit so easy to get?"

"Rather than being kicked out by the military, I'd rather leave with dignity."

Lao Ma looked up and forced an honest smile; the grime on both sides of his cheeks made him look exceptionally weathered.

That night, no one slept soundly.

Lao Ma sat outside smoking, his face covered in tears from time to time.

Only Feng Yuxiu, standing in the guard pavilion, stood tall and straight.

He closed his eyes, his ears twitched slightly, his chest heaved powerfully, and the meridians on the surface of his body began to warm up as if they were alive.

Dawn broke, turning the sky white.

The radio static hissed slightly, "Cangjie Base, this is Lookout Number Five."

The phone in the Regimental Headquarters office began to ring.

The phone in the First Battalion headquarters began to ring.

The phone in the First Battalion Third Company headquarters began to ring.

The phone in the Red Third Company Second Platoon Fifth Squad began to ring.

Li Meng and the others watched Lao Ma in the room in the dark; Lao Ma stood at attention, respectfully answering the phone, looking extremely disheveled.

Xue Lin was a bit puzzled: "This time the Battalion headquarters is calling over our heads, asking what we're doing, how could we have alarmed the Division headquarters to call and inquire?"

Lao Wei scratched his head, not quite understanding: "Just now the Company Commander called and said the Military headquarters called the regiment directly."

Li Meng sighed, his face turning pale: "I think we've gone from extreme joy to extreme sorrow."

Lao Wei turned his head, puzzled: "We didn't do anything, did we?"

Li Meng gave a bitter smile: "Yeah, we didn't do anything, we just did this one thing."

Lao Ma finally walked out, his expression becoming exceptionally serious, "I've probably guessed it. This road is too conspicuous. We are an important base here; it might have been exposed."

The three of them were a bit terrified.

Lao Ma looked at the sky, "Anyway, I'm retiring; I'll take responsibility for this matter alone."

And so, three days later.

The truck with supplies stopped at the bottom of the slope.

This time, it wasn't the veteran squad leader from before, but Instructor He Hongtao who led the team personally, followed by a civilian veteran holding a camera.

"This time we're really screwed."