Arrival

In a certain military base, four burly men in casual clothes stood in a straight line, eyes fixed straight ahead.

Yuan Jingsong looked with satisfaction at his four subordinates. Originally, these four still had two months until discharge, but for this mission, they had been specially approved for early discharge.

"Who the hell are you making those sour faces at, huh?"

"I'm telling you, for these four good gigs, I, Old Yuan, had my face practically ground into the dirt!"

"And you guys still aren't happy!"

"The client is a legitimate genius scientist, and he said the treatment would be excellent."

"Do you know what 'excellent treatment' means?"

Yuan Jingsong slammed his palm on the table with a crack.

"That guy made ten billion in ten seconds! A full ten billion!"

"Once you get there, things like social insurance and housing fund—that's small potatoes."

Seeing the four unmoved, Yuan Jingsong looked helpless.

"I'm telling you, this opportunity is really rare. Why didn't I give it to someone else, but to you four? It's not just recognition—it's looking out for you. Have you thought about it? If you wait two months to discharge, what will you do then? Work as a security guard at a factory? Or deliver food delivery?"

"Even if you don't think for yourselves, think for your families."

The four standing rigid finally showed some emotional fluctuation.

Seeing that his persuasion had worked, Yuan Jingsong pulled out his ultimate trump card!

He whipped the red cloth off the desk, revealing a black tray underneath, on which lay four handguns, each with ten rounds of ammunition!

Seeing this, the four standing men didn't move their bodies, but their pupils contracted sharply.

Sidearms!!!

This time, Yuan Jingsong stood up very seriously and shouted at them, "Can you do it!"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!"

The four shouted in unison.

"I'm telling you, even though you're discharged, you're still soldiers. If something happens during the protection mission, even if you die, the target cannot die!"

Yuan Jingsong glared. "Got it!"

"Understood!"

"Good. Arm yourselves!"

As soon as Yuan Jingsong finished speaking, the four rushed like people grabbing vegetables at a market, snatching their respective weapons and caressing them carefully.

"Get lost! Grab your luggage and board the plane now."

"Hehe, squad leader, love you, mwah!"

Seeing them like this, Yuan Jingsong felt a wave of disgust.

"Scram, scram, scram!"

"Got it, squad leader."

"Wait, come back!"

Just as Zhou Song and the other three stepped out the door, Yuan Jingsong called them back.

"What's up, squad leader? You're not backing out, are you?"

Looking at these four shameless bastards, how had he never noticed this side of them before?

"Give this to your boss," Yuan Jingsong said, tossing a stainless steel plaque to Zhou Song, who was leading the group.

Zhou Song caught the flying object with one hand.

The four glanced at the stainless steel plaque. Good grief, it had four red characters reading "Military Unit," with smaller red text on the lower right showing today's date, and a serial number on the upper left.

Then Yuan Jingsong let out a cold laugh.

"Take the stuff and get going. Your boss is meeting a lot of people tomorrow. If the security isn't up to par, be careful—my old man might come after you personally."

At the mention of the old man, Zhou Song and the others' faces changed, and they sprinted toward the airport, clutching the stainless steel plaque.

Watching them disappear, Yuan Jingsong sighed.

"As their squad leader, this is all I can do for you. Not every discharged soldier gets this lucky."

Shaking his head, Yuan Jingsong turned off the office light.

Time to sleep!

The next day, Li Zhou had just gotten up and was brushing his teeth in front of his yard when he heard a screech of brakes.

Then... as Li Zhou stared dumbly, four bald, burly men got out of the car, dragging four large black suitcases.

After dropping them off, the car did a U-turn in Li Zhou's yard and drove off.

Li Zhou slowly brushed his teeth, one stroke at a time, eyes wide as he stared at the four.

Zhou Song pulled out a photo, compared it to the young man in front of him, then put the photo away.

"Boss!"

"Boss!"

"Boss!"

"Boss!"

When Li Zhou saw the four bald heads, he had already guessed what was going on. He just hadn't expected Old Yuan's efficiency to be this high.

Li Zhou nodded at the four men, then took a sip of water to rinse his mouth.

"Have you eaten? I didn't think Old Yuan would be this fast—you guys got here so quickly."

Just then, hearing the commotion, Li Zhou's dad and mom came out.

Seeing his mom, Li Zhou introduced the four men.

"Mom, these four are all retired special forces—the really tough kind. They'll be staying at our place from now on."

"Oh, right, I don't even know your names yet."

"Zhou Song."

"Tang Bao."

"Xiao Zhu."

"Pan Jie."

Looking at the four burly bald men, Li Zhou's mom pulled him aside and asked in a low voice.

"Son, what's going on here? Your dad and I didn't hear a thing about this."

Li Zhou glanced at Zhou Song and the others. "Mom, the stuff I've developed now is way too impressive. There are some things I have to guard against. Besides, with all the money our family has, hiring a few people for protection is only natural."

Even so, Li Zhou's mom still looked worried.

"Mom, just relax. Your son has the country backing him up!"

Li Zhou patted his mom's hand reassuringly, then walked over to the four men.

"Did that guy Yuan Jingsong have you bring anything? Like a plaque or something?"

As he spoke, Li Zhou made a square frame gesture with his hands.

Though Zhou Song and the others' faces twitched uncontrollably at Li Zhou calling their squad leader "that guy," Zhou Song still opened his carry-on suitcase and pulled out a stainless steel plaque.

"Boss, the chief told us to bring this."

Seeing the simple, unadorned yet high-end stainless steel plaque, Li Zhou's grin nearly split his face.

"Not bad, not bad. Mom, see? We've got backing now."

Sure enough, after Li Zhou's dad and mom saw that simple plaque, their faces lit up with many more smiles.

"Come on, Old Zhou, while it's still fresh, let's get it hung up!"

Li Zhou's dad thought that made sense and quickly fetched a hammer and steel nails.

"A little more to the right..."

"A bit higher—people will see it as soon as they look up when they come in."

"Hey! Don't move! Right there."

Once Zhou Song and the others had fixed the plaque in place, Li Zhou nodded in satisfaction.

Now this is what I'm talking about. Placed on the right side of the main door, anyone who entered would see that stainless steel plaque right away.

With this thing around, no matter who showed up from now on, their momentum would be three points weaker!