Even so, the leaders of Peng Fei's unit at the time wanted to cover it up for him, saying that the drug dealers were killed in the resistance. Peng Fei himself wrote a report and submitted it directly to his superiors.
People are aware of things like this, and as long as it's not said outright, no one will bring it up. But once it's put in writing, the truth can't be hidden anymore.
Given Peng Fei's irrationality during the mission and the dire consequences it caused, he didn't even get a chance to be demobilized. An officer who was about to be promoted to captain ended up being discharged like a regular soldier.
The so-called irrationality actually stemmed from the leaders' disappointment and frustration with Peng Fei's report after completing the task. They felt that if Peng Fei had tried harder, the punishment might have been changed to a major demerit or something similar.
However, at that time, Peng Fei only wanted to go home to take care of his younger sister, so this result can be considered as getting what he wanted.
"Instructor, you haven't switched careers to sell medicinal herbs, have you? What's the point of going through customs? Just take it, I can handle this..."
Li Xiao kicked the backpack on the ground and said with a smile, but in fact he was quite suspicious. Smuggling these valuable medicinal herbs was not a serious crime. If caught, he would only be fined a little money. It was nothing like drug trafficking. It was understandable that Peng Fei would go home and do some business to make money.
However, Li Xiao's words were a test for Peng Fei. No one knew better than him how much harm someone like Peng Fei could cause to society if he went astray after returning to his hometown. If Peng Fei followed his advice and took these things today, Li Xiao would immediately report the matter.
"Buddha, stop with the nonsense. If I wanted to smuggle, would you have caught me? Besides, why would I need to deal with this stuff? Making money from a few kilograms of powder is much faster than this..."
Peng Fei looked at Buddha with a half-smile, but what he said made Li Xiao feel a little embarrassed. However, since he was born with a smiling face, it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
"Hehe, you're a true instructor, you even saw through my little scheme. To be honest, I absolutely trust your character, Instructor. But things are complicated here right now, so please don't get..."
Li Xiaoxiao stopped talking at this point, but looked at Zhuang Rui. What he meant was that society and the military were two completely different environments. Peng Fei, don't be fooled by some people with ulterior motives. And those people with ulterior motives were naturally referring to Zhuang Rui.
"Forget it, Master, I've seen all kinds of people, you don't need to tell me this..."
Peng Fei walked up to Li Xiao and whispered a few words in his ear. Li Xiao's Buddha-like face showed astonishment, but he still appeared to be smiling.
"No way, that old man is over 90, right? He needs this? I doubt this will even work..."
"Pfft, oh, I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to..."
Zhuang Rui spat out the mouthful of tea he had just taken a sip of, spraying it squarely onto the Buddha's face, which was beaming like a chrysanthemum.
"You...you deserve it..."
Peng Fei also pointed at the Buddha and laughed and cursed. He told Li Xiao Zhuang Rui's maternal grandfather's name just to show that Zhuang Rui wouldn't be greedy for such a small amount of money. Who knew that Li Xiao had such a vivid imagination, looking at these tiger penises and bones, he actually thought of that matter.
"Alright, I deserve it, I deserve it, hehe, instructor, you're not leaving now that you're on my turf. I admit I can't beat you in military skills, but when it comes to drinking, I've never lost. Let's have a good drink tonight..."
Although Zhuang Rui sprayed tea all over his face, Li Xiao felt relieved. It was better that the instructor hadn't gone astray. In our line of work, what we fear most is seeing former comrades become enemies. That kind of heartache is something outsiders can't understand.
"Liang Yi, you son of a bitch, come in here. I knew you hadn't gone far..."
Li Xiao walked to the door, opened it, and called out to Liang Yi, who was guarding outside, "Go, take this package to customs. Also, book a table and food at the usual place..."
"Captain, they're not smuggling..."
"That's bullshit, that's my instructor, he used to come from here..."
Li Xiao gestured to the lieutenant and said with a laugh, "Hurry up and go. If the instructor wants to cross the border, there's nowhere he can't get out along this 100-kilometer border."
"Okay, I'll go right now..."
Lieutenant Liang Yi's eyes lit up when he saw the gesture Buddha made. He knew that his loss earlier was not unjust; losing to those legendary figures was not shameful at all. He excitedly ran into the house, picked up Peng Fei's backpack, and went to handle the customs procedures.
"Master, we still need to get back to Beijing, so... let's skip the drinking..."
Peng Fei glanced at Zhuang Rui, knowing that Zhuang Rui was taking the postgraduate entrance exam the day after tomorrow and was in a tight schedule.
Li Xiao's eyes widened, and he said, "Nonsense, if we're on my turf and I don't entertain you, Instructor, those bastards will talk behind my back. Besides, there are no flights to Beijing today. Tomorrow morning, I'll arrange a car to take you to Mangshi Airport..."
"Peng Fei, if you can't leave tonight, then stay the night..."
From the words of the lieutenant colonel, Zhuang Rui could feel the deep camaraderie among the soldiers.
After a while, Liang Yi returned with his bag and handed Zhuang Rui a bill for taxes. Zhuang Rui followed the lieutenant to the tax office, paid the money, and then the group headed to the restaurant.
Besides Liang Yi, who had the lowest rank, Li Xiao also invited two majors to accompany him.
"Come on, Instructor, let me, Li Xiao, toast you. Whether you're still in the army or not, you'll always be my instructor, Li Xiao!"
In the military, there's no such thing as urging someone to drink. After the drinks were poured, Li Xiao raised his glass and toasted Peng Fei. Without waiting for Peng Fei to drink or not, he tilted his head back and drank the rest of his glass.
"Okay, drink!"
To Zhuang Rui's surprise, Peng Fei, who always never drank alcohol when he was with him, actually downed his drink today without uttering a single word.
Moreover, Peng Fei had a remarkable capacity for alcohol. In the end, he even got the "Feast Buddha" drunk and passed out on the table. Even the other guests were all quite drunk and staggering.
Although Peng Fei had a good alcohol tolerance, he couldn't withstand being attacked by three or four people at once. He was quite drunk and was slurring military songs. However, Zhuang Rui noticed that tears were welling up in Peng Fei's eyes. Clearly, the olive green uniform he once wore was not so easily forgotten.
The next morning, after sobering up, Buddha arranged for a military vehicle to take Zhuang Rui and Peng Fei to Mangshi Airport. Around 9 a.m., there happened to be a flight to Beijing.
We arrived in Beijing a little after 1 p.m. Beijing had just had a heavy snowfall a few days ago, and from the plane preparing to land, we could see that the entire city was covered in a layer of silver.
Zhuang Rui didn't notify Hao Long to pick him up at the airport. After collecting his luggage, he and Peng Fei took a taxi to their own courtyard house.
Having spent nearly a month abroad, Zhuang Rui felt a sense of warmth and familiarity listening to the taxi driver's Beijing accent.
Chapter 508 Don't move, I'll handle it.
"Oh, bosses, you're back! Why didn't you call me? I could have picked you up from the airport..."
Hao Long opened the door when he heard the doorbell ring and was greeted by Zhuang Rui and Peng Fei, who was carrying a large bag. He was taken aback, especially when he saw Zhuang Rui's arm in a sling. He quickly asked, "Boss, what happened? Peng Fei, didn't I tell you to take good care of Boss Zhuang...?"
"Brother Hao, it's nothing, just a little accident. It's not Peng Fei's fault. Hey... White Lion, stop fooling around..."
As Zhuang Rui was speaking, a white shadow suddenly darted out from inside the door, pushing Peng Fei and Hao Long aside. The white lion pinned Zhuang Rui to the ground with its two large paws and licked his face affectionately with its blood-red tongue. However, the white lion seemed to know that Zhuang Rui's left hand was uncomfortable, so it did not touch that side.
In fact, Zhuang Rui's left arm injury had almost completely healed, but it was too severe when it was injured. He was afraid that removing the bandage now would look too abrupt, and since the fracture hadn't fully healed, he had kept it in a sling. At this moment, he could only reach out his right hand to hug the white lion's thick neck.
"White Lion, did you miss me?"
Zhuang Rui could feel the deep affection the white lion had for him. After lying on the ground and playing with the white lion for a while, he stood up while holding the white lion.
The white lion was covered in snow-white fur, so it was fine in the snow. Zhuang Rui, on the other hand, was covered in snow, even his head was white. Fortunately, the weather was cold and the snow hadn't melted yet, otherwise, his clothes would probably be soaked through in no time.
"Waaah..."
The white lion growled and angrily rubbed the snow off its head all over Zhuang Rui's body.
The first creature the white lion saw when it opened its eyes was Zhuang Rui. In the white lion's heart, it had long regarded Zhuang Rui as its parent. Moreover, the white lion's body had been refined by Zhuang Rui's spiritual energy for a long time, so its spirituality was incomparable to that of ordinary animals.
"From now on, whenever we go out, as long as we don't take a plane, I'll take you with me..."
Zhuang Rui is no different. He raised the white lion from a tiny cub to its current size, and the bond between them is extremely deep.
"Boss, the white lion has been lying here at the gate every day, just waiting for you to come back..."
Hao Long took Peng Fei's backpack, opened all the doors, and let Zhuang Rui and Peng Fei into the house.
"Mom, you don't live in Yuquan Mountain?"
Zhuang Rui looked up and saw Ouyang Wan, dressed in a red silk cotton-padded jacket, standing at the door, her eyes fixed on his sling arm.
Since resolving the conflict between herself and her elderly father and settling in Beijing, Ouyang Wan's complexion has improved dramatically. At first glance, she looks like she's in her forties, despite being over 50.
"You child, you don't know how to take care of yourself at all. Why didn't you tell your mother about this happening..."
Although Ouyang Wan never interfered with Zhuang Rui's life, it didn't mean she didn't care about him. When she saw the thick bandages wrapped around her son's arm, Ouyang Wan's eyes welled up with tears.
"Mom, I'm sorry. It's my fault. I was just afraid you'd worry. I promise it won't happen again..."
Zhuang Rui released the white lion, walked to his mother, and put his right arm around her shoulder. He and Zhuang Min had always been most afraid of their mother crying, but now they were flustered.
"Sigh, you're all grown up now. You need to know what you should and shouldn't do. Just don't always make your mother worry..."
Ouyang Wan looked helplessly at her tall and strong son, turned around and walked into the yard, saying, "You didn't even tell me you were coming back. Xuanbing and your mother-in-law went to town and will be back in a bit. You and Xiao Peng haven't eaten yet, have you? I'll go make you something..."
As she turned away, Ouyang Wan quietly wiped away a tear from the corner of her eye. How could a mother not worry when she saw her son injured?
"Brother, Brother Zhuang, Uncle, bad Uncle..."
As soon as they entered the front yard, two exquisitely beautiful girls rushed towards Zhuang Rui and Peng Fei. The older and taller one was Ya Ya, while the younger one was Zhuang Rui's older sister's precious princess, Nan Nan.
Ya Ya's complexion is much healthier than before, and her eyes are full of light. Although her brother has been gone for more than 20 days, it seems that she has already integrated into the family life. With this little girl clinging to her, there's no time to be unhappy even if she wanted to.
"Brother, I've started school! My teachers and classmates are so nice to me. Oh, and I can recite Tang poems now! I'll recite one for you later..."
"Uncle, look at the snowman that Nannan and Sister Yaya built! And the bad white lion won't play with us..."
The two little girls each grabbed Zhuang Rui and Peng Fei and started showing off. Nannan didn't forget to complain about Bai Shi, who knew that Bai Shi usually ignored everyone except Zhuang Rui.
The white lion following behind Zhuang Rui let out a low growl, as if warning the little girl who was tattling, but the girl ignored it and went up to hug the white lion's neck and started swinging on it, making a ruckus.
"Alright, little girl, your uncle isn't feeling well. Go do your homework with Yaya..."
After sending her granddaughter back to her room, Ouyang Wan hurriedly went into the kitchen to prepare some delicious food to nourish her son.
“Aunt Zhang, Aunt Li, you two look really festive in these clothes…”
Hearing the noise in the courtyard, Zhang Ma and Li Sao came out of their rooms. They were wearing the same clothes as Ouyang Wan, and Zhuang Rui knew that his mother must have bought several of them at once.
"Boss, what happened to your arm? Are you alright?"
When Zhang Ma and Li Sao saw Zhuang Rui's appearance, they were also taken aback, which made Zhuang Rui explain again.
Although he'd practically worn his lips out from talking so much since he walked in, Zhuang Rui felt really comfortable. This feeling of being cared for was truly... nice!
When Zhang Ma and Li Sao heard that Ouyang Wan had gone to the kitchen, they rushed over to help Zhuang's mother cook. Zhuang Rui called out to Peng Fei and Hao Long, and the group went to the dining room to wait.
With the New Year approaching, Ouyang Wan and Zhang Ma tidied up the courtyard during their free time. They hung two large red lanterns at the entrance of each room and pasted upside-down "Fu" and "Xi" characters on them. The latter was for Zhuang Rui's engagement. Of course, Hao Long was in charge of all these tasks.
"Brother Hao, put the bag down. Go to the market later, buy a big jar, and a few dozen bottles of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor). Pick out a couple of tiger bones to soak in it, and then move it to the basement..."
After sitting down in the restaurant, Zhuang Rui gave Hao Long an instruction.
Hu Rong had told Zhuang Rui that soaking tiger bone in alcohol with Eucommia ulmoides, Morinda officinalis, Paeonia lactiflora, Ligusticum chuanxiong, Gentiana macrophylla, Loranthus parasiticus, and Angelica pubescens could treat rheumatism and strengthen the waist and knees. People over fifty years old could drink a little every day, which would be very beneficial to their health.
As for tiger penis wine, there's no need to say more; every man understands it. Although Zhuang Rui doesn't need it now, Song Jun, Fatty Ma, and others are all middle-aged, and his cousins Ouyang Lei might need it someday. As the saying goes, it's never wrong to give a generous gift, and men won't refuse such a gift.
Hu Rong had specifically instructed Zhuang Rui that this medicinal wine needed to be soaked in strong liquor and, after being sealed, needed to be left for at least a year to allow the medicinal effects to fully develop. Therefore, Zhuang Rui had barely sat down when he instructed Hao Long to go buy the wine. To be honest, Zhuang Rui was also somewhat curious about tiger penis wine.
Hao Long agreed and turned to go out to buy things. Not long after, Zhuang's mother, Zhang Ma, and others also brought the food into the dining room. Seeing her son wolfing down his food, Zhuang's mother smiled.
"Hey, Xuanbing, the ground is slippery, slow down..."
Just after finishing his meal, Zhuang Rui heard his mother-in-law's voice coming from the courtyard, followed by a red figure appearing at the restaurant entrance.
I wonder how many of those festive red cotton-padded jackets that Mrs. Zhuang bought. Qin Xuanbing was wearing one of them at the moment.
However, the cotton-padded coat could not hide Qin Xuanbing's stunning figure. Her slender waist and perky chest, combined with this uniquely Chinese-style clothing, made her appear even more charming and alluring.
Upon seeing Zhuang Rui's injured arm, Qin Xuanbing burst into tears, which Zhuang Rui had to comfort her with great effort.