A grand ceremony between heaven and earth is underway.
The ceremony concluded after a long while.
Xiaoying was still slightly out of breath, and Li Ling looked at the woman's youthful and beautiful face, finding her so captivating.
Gently holding the woman's hand, the woman listened quietly to the strong beating of the man's heart.
Stroking Xiaoying's slender hand, Li Ling said, "You're not feeling well these past few days, so stay at the hotel. I'll come see you every day after class. Just tell me what you want to eat, and I'll buy it for you."
"Hmm." Xiaoying didn't speak, but just hummed softly.
Li Ling continued, "Once you're better, let's go back together. I'll also register for the army as soon as possible, and then we'll join together."
Xiaoying remained silent, her gentle, large eyes fixed on Li Ling.
Li Ling looked down at Xiao Ying's big, watery eyes, then leaned down and kissed her.
"Ah, what are you doing?" the girl exclaimed.
"No, no more, um," the girl whispered.
Li Ling transformed into a hardworking ox, and the primal melody once again resounded in the room.
This is a symphony of the renewal of heaven and earth, a grand ceremony for humankind, and the fragrance of plum blossoms blooming a second time...
------------
Chapter 23: Don't be a coward, just do it!
Xiaoying stayed at the hotel for three days. During those three days, Li Ling would rush over every time he finished class to buy Xiaoying hot meals and take meticulous care of her.
For the next three days, Li Ling didn't touch Xiao Ying. He wasn't someone who didn't care about girls. Three days later, Xiao Ying recovered, and Li Ling finished preparing the paperwork for her leave of absence. After packing his things, he and Xiao Ying boarded the train back to their hometown.
After getting off the train and taking Xiaoying home, Li Ling still remembers the complicated looks in Xiaoying's parents' eyes.
No wonder, anyone who has raised a cabbage for 19 years would probably be unhappy if someone else took it!
After leaving Xiaoying's house, Li Ling touched his stiff face. Under the intense gaze of Xiaoying's parents, Li Ling felt completely frozen.
When he got home, he told his parents about joining the army. His mother had some objections, but his father was very supportive of his son getting a few years of experience. He himself had served in the military and was very supportive of his son joining.
Moreover, with the reform of the military service system, Li Ling can retain his university enrollment and continue his studies after leaving the army. After being persuaded by the father and son, Mrs. Zhuang no longer objected.
After that, Li Ling went to the recruitment office to register.
The armed forces personnel were shocked when they saw Li Ling's resume. A top student from the directing department of the Beijing Drama Academy—this kind of person wants to join the army? Are you crazy?!
When the armed forces department learned that Li Ling's school and family supported his decision to join the army, it approved his application.
Li Ling received a winter training uniform, rubber boots, a quilt, backpack straps, and many other odds and ends. He shaved his head and set off from the train station with Xiao Ying a few days later.
Because she shaved her head, this new look made Xiaoying laugh and joke for a long time.
On the train, Xiaoying was in the third carriage, and Li Ling was in the tenth carriage.
Looking around at the group of new recruits with shaved heads, Li Ling felt at ease because Xiao Ying was also on the train; they were from the same military region.
The train carried Li Ling and his pure angel to a distant place...
...
The sound of the train wheels rolling over the tracks, 'eating and strolling,' blended with the hushed conversations of the new recruits inside the carriage.
Li Ling fell into deep thought, considering the key points for completing the mission.
To save Xiaoying, one must kill Ma Yunfei. To reach Ma Yunfei, one must first infiltrate the Wolf Fang Special Forces. And how to infiltrate the special forces? One must first become a reconnaissance soldier.
Li Ling recalled the reasons why Xiao Zhuang gained the appreciation of Miao Lian and Dog Head Lao Gao in the original plot, and finally summarized it with three words: ability, high profile, and troublemaker!
Yes, these three points!
Li Ling has no shortage of ability; in fact, he is confident that with his current abilities, he can completely outclass Xiao Zhuang back then. So the key points are the latter two: being high-profile and being a troublemaker!
Li Ling remembered that Miao Lian said something like this in the original story: "How can you be a reconnaissance soldier if you don't break any rules?"
According to Chen Pai's description of Miao Lian, he was a "soldier fanatic". Miao Lian's favorite thing to do was to train unruly and rebellious soldiers into qualified soldiers.
Li Ling could roughly understand that mentality. First of all, a troublemaker, since he dared to cause trouble, must have something special about him.
In other words, troublemakers are often capable soldiers.
The more capable a person is, the more arrogant and unruly they tend to be. But the army is a disciplined force forged from steel, where obedience to orders is paramount. In such cases, a troublemaker is clearly not a qualified soldier.
Therefore, when Miao Lian successfully transformed a troublesome soldier into a qualified one, his sense of accomplishment was no less than that of winning a battle.
Most importantly, while other company commanders dared not take in troublesome soldiers, he alone did, and the more troublesome the soldier, the more he liked him.
Hey, this is pleasure!
Even those who are capable and competent, who are not usually troublemakers, will be forced to become troublemakers by Miao Lian, because this way, the soldiers he has his eye on will not be snatched away by other companies.
So, the first step is clear!
Li Ling needed to make himself known to Miao Lian while still in the recruit training camp, and spread his "bad reputation" throughout the entire army, so that he could enter the reconnaissance battalion and qualify for the special forces selection.
The next step, naturally, was to find a way to make a deep impression on Old Gao, and the opportunity for this was when the military region leaders and Old Gao went down to the company to inspect the work.
Of course, no matter what, it is essential to maintain a proper balance; as the saying goes, too much of a good thing is bad.
He couldn't keep a low profile, but he also couldn't be too high-profile. If he became too rebellious and overdid it, everyone would think he wasn't fit to be a soldier, and that would be the end of him.