Li Ling reached out and grasped Xiao Ying's hand; their fingers intertwined inside and outside the car window.
As the car started moving, the two people's clasped hands eventually had to separate.
They waved goodbye to each other, and in the afterglow of the setting sun, Li Ling watched the departing car for a long time.
The afterglow of the setting sun shone on Li Ling's tall and straight figure, casting his shadow far away, as if he were chasing after the girl who had gone far away.
At that moment, watching the car drive away, Li Ling vowed never to let the tragedy in the original drama repeat itself.
...
Time flies, and Li Ling has been in this world for a full year and a half.
It's springtime again, and the annual combat exercise codenamed "Spring Thunder" is here as scheduled. This time, Wolf Fang's opponent is Lei Keming's Black Tiger Special Forces Brigade.
The background of the Spring Thunder Exercise was that the enemy's powerful naval, land, and air forces landed in the coastal areas of the Red Army, forcing the Red Army to launch a homeland defense operation.
This was a sudden war of aggression. The Blue Army's powerful mixed landing force, consisting of land, sea, and air forces, launched a surprise attack on the Red Army one morning.
To prevent the Blue Army special forces from conducting ubiquitous reconnaissance, the Wolf Fang Special Forces Brigade did not use any means of transportation to enter the war zone, but instead chose to advance on foot.
The Black Tiger Special Forces were indeed formidable. Before the battle even officially began, they had already located several Red Army troop assembly points, reported the coordinates to the Air Force, and dispatched a formation of attack aircraft to bomb the Red Army assembly points.
The Red Army suffered heavy losses at the very beginning; a quarter of its troops were wiped out before they even left the camp.
In a jungle behind the Blue Army's lines, Lone Wolf Team B discovered a Blue Army armored unit assembly point, but unfortunately, they could only watch helplessly.
Because their air force was the first to be located by the Black Tiger Special Forces, it was wiped out in the first wave of air attacks.
Ultimately, Lone Wolf Team B decided to break up into smaller groups and operate independently. They split into two-person teams, disguised themselves, and targeted the Blue Army's communications command centers and logistics centers at the division level or above.
Li Ling and Chen Pai disguised themselves as college student backpackers. Chen Pai attended the Nanjing Army Command Academy, making him a legitimate college student.
The two of them shouldered their travel bags and swaggered onto the main road, heading towards the city. Occasionally, they encountered Blue Army troops along the way, but they completely ignored them. If anyone came up to question them, they simply showed their student IDs, and everything was fine; they didn't even need to be checked.
"Hey, Xiao Zhuang, have you memorized the location of the logistics center?"
"Don't worry! I remember it perfectly."
Chen Pai nodded, and as they walked, he suddenly asked, "Xiao Zhuang, what are your plans for the future? Are you going to finish your three years of compulsory military service and then retire, or will you become a non-commissioned officer and continue serving?"
Li Ling paused for a moment upon hearing this before saying, "I haven't thought about it yet. I really enjoy being with my brothers, but the military... it's too stifling for my personality. Actually, I'm not really suited to be a soldier... Oh well, I'll see when the time comes! What about you?"
Li Ling sighed inwardly. He wished he could stay in this world as a soldier for the rest of his life, but he knew it was just wishful thinking. To this world, he was ultimately just a passerby.
“I also want to be a soldier for life, but you know about my illness…”
Chen Pai was having trouble continuing. Although Li Ling often reminded him and Shi Dafan frequently massaged him to help him recover, he knew that his body couldn't hold on for long under such high-intensity training.
“Chen Pai…” Li Ling wanted to comfort Chen Pai, but hesitated to speak.
"Actually, no matter what happens in the future, at least we've experienced it, and that's enough."
Chen Pai patted Li Ling on the shoulder and changed the subject, saying, "After you retire from the army, I'm really looking forward to the day you become a great director!"
“After I retire from the military and the confidentiality period is over, I’ll write about our experiences in the army into a novel and then make it into a TV series. It’s sure to be a hit,” Li Ling said.
Chen Pai's eyes lit up, and he agreed, "Your idea is good. Then the theme song for your TV series must be one of your two compositions, 'Brothers with One Life' and 'Eternal Warrior'."
"Of course, I'll definitely cast a tall and handsome actor to play Chen Pai, so that the masses can see your glorious and heroic deeds," Li Ling said with a smile.
"Ha ha ha ha……"
The two chatted and laughed as they walked, appearing completely carefree. It was precisely this attitude, coupled with their youthful appearances—one nineteen and the other twenty-four—that made them look more like two young people on a trip. When they encountered the passing Blue Army troops, they even questioned them less.
Yes, Chen Pai was only twenty-four at that time.
After walking for an unknown distance, the two turned onto a dirt road next to a highway. As they rounded a bend, Li Ling narrowed his eyes, for a scene he recognized very well appeared ahead.
A Toyota Land Cruiser is currently stranded on the side of the road.
The hood opened, and a stylish and beautiful woman was bending over, fiddling with something under the hood. A thin, slightly fair-skinned, and somewhat handsome man was standing beside her, chattering incessantly.
"Can you please not touch that?"
Upon hearing this, the woman turned her head and said coldly, "Why don't you come and fix it?"
"How would I know how to fix a car?" the man said somewhat embarrassedly.
"If you can't fix it, shut up." The woman said rudely.
"I told you not to drive yourself out, but you wouldn't listen," the man continued nagging.
"Shut up!"
Seeing this, Li Ling gave Chen Pai a wink, and Chen Pai nodded in tacit agreement. The two of them walked towards the car together.
As the two approached the car, the man who had been chattering looked up and saw them. Seeing that they were looking at the car, he immediately said arrogantly, "Hey, who are you? What are you doing here?"
Li Ling said calmly, "It's nothing. We're just passing hikers. You fix yours, it's your car, not the road. Why should you care what I'm doing?"
"Look, look, what are you looking at? Have you ever seen such a nice car before? You poor wretch."
After hearing the man's words, Li Ling took a few steps forward, stood in front of him, stared intently at him, and said nothing.
The man involuntarily took a step back, so frightened by the fierce aura emanating from Li Ling that he dared not utter another word.
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Chapter 61 In our line of work, the worst thing is to let emotions get the better of you.