Guo Fei strode over with his head held high and chest out.
“Instructor,” the young soldier said. Seeing Guo Fei, he was like a child who’d been bullied outside and finally saw his parent—the tears he’d been holding back suddenly streamed down.
Guo Fei patted him on the shoulder. Though he didn’t say a word, his heart ached with worry.
This eighteen-year-old soldier, who’d only enlisted last year, had never shed a single tear in training no matter how badly he was injured. Yet today, he was crying buckets in public. The kid’s heart was full of grievance.
“Pfft, how old are you and still crying? And you call yourself a soldier? Go home and suck on your mother’s teat.” Li Xue curled her lip and sneered.
Hearing this, Guo Fei’s gaze turned sharp and he stared hard at Li Xue.
“What are you looking at? You’re his superior, right? He doesn’t know any better—don’t tell me you don’t either? Hurry up and get out of the way.” Li Xue was utterly arrogant.
“Do you know about the earthquake this March?” Guo Fei suddenly spoke up.
“Earthquake?” Li Xue was taken aback, not understanding what Guo Fei meant.
“During the earthquake, this young soldier had only been enlisted for a little over three months. At one order from above, he went with his unit to the disaster relief site and fought for seven days and nights without leaving the front line.” Guo Fei spoke quietly.
“Hmph, that’s what you’re supposed to do. Otherwise, why would the country feed you?” A hint of unease suddenly flickered across Li Xue’s face.
Guo Fei ignored her and continued, word by word.
“The local people were both heartbroken for him and grateful to him. They called him a good son of the people. But no one knew that his home was only five kilometers from where he was doing rescue work.”
“Hmph, no wonder he was so eager to do disaster relief—turns out he was saving people right outside his own doorstep.” Li Xue curled her lip and snorted coldly.
Guo Fei’s eyebrows shot up, fury filling his heart. His voice trembling, he pointed at the young soldier and continued.
“He was the only son in his family, deeply devoted to his parents. But to save the people, even knowing his parents were just five kilometers away, he never once left the main unit. Only after the rescue mission was complete did he request leave to go those five kilometers and see his parents.” Guo Fei’s voice suddenly grew choked.
“But when he got home, what he saw was a field of rubble. The parents who had loved and cherished him were gone forever.”
“Even in that situation, he didn’t even have time to bury his parents. The next day, he set out with the main unit—because in another area, there were more disaster victims waiting for him to save them. He kept his tears in his heart and set off without hesitation, as duty demanded.”
Listening from the side, Lin Hai felt a faint ache in his heart, and at the same time, a deep respect for this young soldier rose within him.
Our soldiers—the people’s army—are the most lovable people!
“Such a lovable, respectable young soldier—today he was just earnestly performing his duty, and you insulted him, hit him, cursed him. I really want to ask you—has your conscience been eaten by dogs?” Guo Fei’s voice suddenly turned fierce.
Li Xue’s expression changed abruptly.
“He’s just doing what he’s supposed to do. He takes the taxpayers’ money, so he should serve the people. What’s there to say about it?” Li Xue said with a twisted expression.
“All right, all right. Since you put it that way, I won’t waste my breath.” Guo Fei nodded in anger, pulled several hundred yuan from his pocket, and slapped it onto Li Xue’s face.
“Ah! What are you doing!” Li Xue shrieked in fright.
“This is six hundred yuan—this young soldier’s monthly allowance. I’m giving you this six hundred now. I won’t ask you to do disaster relief—I’ll just ask you to stand guard here for a bit. Would you freaking do it?”
“Don’t think everyone is like you. A lot of things aren’t done for money—they’re done out of responsibility, out of caring for the people! Without them standing guard, could you enjoy today’s life in peace? Can’t you show a little more respect for these soldiers who guard your peace?”
“Stop lecturing me!” Li Xue suddenly snarled. “I’m asking you right now—are you getting out of the way or not!”
“Undergo inspection, or you’re not getting in!” Guo Fei’s gaze sharpened as he spoke coldly.
“You—” Li Xue’s chest heaved with rage as she glared at Guo Fei.
Guo Fei didn’t back down an inch, meeting her gaze with a cold, stern face.
“Hmph, give him the bag. Let him search it, let him look!” Li Xue saw the determination in Guo Fei’s eyes and knew there was no way around the inspection. She angrily shouted at the assistant behind her, then turned her head away.
“Tch, showing off.” The assistant muttered disdainfully and sourly handed over the bag.
“Xiao Jiang, inspect it!” Guo Fei ordered the young soldier.
“Yes, sir!” Xiao Jiang answered, took the bag.
“Hey, that’s a [brand name], if you break it you can’t afford to pay for it.” Li Xue suddenly turned back and said contemptuously.
Xiao Jiang ignored her, opened the bag, carefully checked everything, and returned it to the assistant.
“Everything’s normal. No prohibited items.”
The assistant snatched the bag back.
“What a waste of time. Now can we go in?” Li Xue said with disgust.
“Go in?” Guo Fei suddenly smiled—a brilliant smile.
“Official business is done. Now let’s talk about personal business.”
“Personal business?” Li Xue was stunned for a moment, then curled her lip. “You’re just a lowly soldier. If you weren’t here being a watchdog, you wouldn’t even be qualified to see me. What personal business could I possibly have with you? Don’t tell me you want an autograph?”
“Watchdog? Watch this, you—” Guo Fei suddenly spoke.
“You lowly soldier, how dare you curse at me!” Li Xue immediately flew into a rage.
“Curse? I’ll freaking hit you too!” Guo Fei said, and suddenly ripped the three-star, one-bar insignia off his shoulder.
“Instructor!” Xiao Jiang cried out in alarm.
He knew what that rank meant in the military.
Guo Fei raised his hand and tossed the insignia to Xiao Jiang.
“Daring to hit my soldier, daring to insult the guardians of our country—even if I have to take off this uniform, I’m going to slap that filthy mouth of yours raw!”
Guo Fei said, and smacked Li Xue hard across the face!
“Ah!” Li Xue was sent spinning in place, completely stunned.
“You—you—you lowly soldier, how dare you lay a hand on me!” The assistant beside her was scared stiff.
The two bodyguards exchanged a glance and lunged forward.
Guo Fei snorted. One punch, one kick—he took down both bodyguards without even trying.
“I’ll sue him! I’m going to sue him!” Li Xue came to her senses, covered her face, and screamed at the top of her lungs.
“Who are you trying to mess with, Li Xue? If you want to mess around, just sneak off in the middle of the night and do it. What are you yelling about here?” A snarky voice suddenly sounded from behind.
Hearing this, Li Xue quickly turned around, then with a wail, she burst into tears and threw herself at the speaker.
“Young Master Meng, you have to stand up for me! This lowly soldier hit me!” Li Xue threw herself into Meng Xu’s arms and started crying.
“Holy shit, a soldier dared to hit you? He must have eaten bear hearts and leopard gall! Come with me, young master—I’ll strip that uniform right off him!” Meng Xu swaggered in, full of arrogance.
“Whose skin are you going to strip?” A voice suddenly rang out.
“I’m going to freaking strip—” Meng Xu got halfway through his sentence and abruptly stopped short, a jolt of alarm shooting through his heart.
