Aftermath of the Exercise

"Alright, go say hello to your comrades, then get some proper rest," Fan Tian Lei said before turning to Jiang Yan Hai.

"Yes!" Jiang Yan Hai immediately stood at attention and saluted. Now that the exercise was over, the two sides were naturally no longer enemies. And at the moment, he was just a recruit, while they were all colonels and majors.

Even the soldiers who had pointed their guns at Jiang Yan Hai earlier were, at the very least, commissioned officers.

Now that it was no longer an exercise, they were all his superiors. He had to salute them.

"Go on. You, take him there." Fan Tian Lei waved a hand.

Smiling, Jiang Yan Hai gathered up all his weapons and gear, then followed the soldier Fan Tian Lei had assigned as they headed deeper into the camp.

Naturally, Gong Jian and the others were no longer being held. With the exercise over, everyone was good comrades again, and they had been assigned their own quarters.

The moment they saw Jiang Yan Hai return, everyone swarmed around him.

"You brat! You're something else." From a distance, Gong Jian gave Jiang Yan Hai a thumbs-up, grinning broadly.

The other soldiers beside him all gave Jiang Yan Hai thumbs-ups as well.

"By the way, where's He Chen Guang?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.

"That kid He Chen Guang did something big this time too!" Gong Jian immediately broke into a wide grin.

From Gong Jian and the others, Jiang Yan Hai soon learned the rough sequence of events.

It was actually much the same as the original TV drama plot. The only difference was that He Chen Guang's condition had not been particularly serious this time—or rather, Fan Tian Lei's side had gone easy on him. After carrying out the sniper kill, He Chen Guang had still been in decent shape. Though he had been sent for medical treatment, it had not been serious enough to require emergency resuscitation.

Still, after receiving simple treatment, he was to be sent straight to the military district hospital. There was no danger to his life, so Fan Tian Lei and Chen Shan Ming had not gone with him.

Of course, there was another very important point: nothing had happened between He Chen Guang and Tang Xin Yi this time.

The reason was that Tang Xin Yi was still in the command room, searching for Jiang Yan Hai's trail.

This brought up something Jiang Yan Hai had to mention. When watching the TV drama, perhaps because He Chen Guang had been played by Wu Jing, he and Tang Xin Yi had seemed like a perfect match.

But thinking about it carefully, He Chen Guang had only just been about to enter university. He was eighteen!

Tang Xin Yi, meanwhile, was already a captain! Even if she had graduated from a military academy, graduates generally reached no higher than second lieutenant at first!

And she would have had to be at least twenty-two by the time she graduated, right? Then there was the promotion from second lieutenant to captain. Even conservatively, giving it a little over a year would not be excessive, would it?

Considering that she was already leading a research project and had worked in the General Staff Intelligence Department... being twenty-five or twenty-six should not have been a problem, right?

She was at least six or seven years older than He Chen Guang...

So Jiang Yan Hai could only apologize to He Chen Guang inwardly. In any case, these were not matters he could influence.

Over here, Jiang Yan Hai rested in the camp for a day before Gong Jian came looking for him.

"We're returning to our own unit this afternoon, but you're staying behind for now," Gong Jian said.

"Why?" Jiang Yan Hai asked.

"You really can't figure it out?" Gong Jian shot Jiang Yan Hai a somewhat exasperated look. Could this kid really not guess?

Though Jiang Yan Hai was only eighteen, Gong Jian interacted with him in an entirely different state than he did with the other soldiers.

"Alright, perhaps the stir I caused this time was rather big, and it concerns our military system?" Jiang Yan Hai paused before asking.

"Mm. So you do know. What happened this time has already caused a sensation throughout the entire military district." Gong Jian sighed with emotion. To accomplish something like this while still a private was not something an ordinary person could do.

"Let me put it this way: I can't get involved in this matter either. Handle it yourself, kid. Just stick to the facts and say whatever needs to be said," Gong Jian instructed seriously.

"Yes, thank you, Political Instructor."

"No need to thank me. What are you thanking me for? I should be thanking you instead. You've brought honor to our Fourth Company." Gong Jian smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "And in a few years, I might have to call you Commander when I see you."

Gong Jian meant it sincerely. Though Jiang Yan Hai had enlisted through the normal recruitment process, his academic credentials were there for all to see. A talent like him had long been marked as a key training prospect by the military district. So long as he did not have political or other problems, his rank would rise quickly.

At the very least, he would not advance more slowly than military academy graduates. Combined with his personal abilities, it was foreseeable that Jiang Yan Hai would surpass Gong Jian's rank in just a few years.

"Don't worry, Political Instructor. No matter when, you'll still be my Political Instructor," Jiang Yan Hai said with a smile.

"So you little bastard have already assumed that your rank will surpass mine, huh?" Gong Jian laughed as he scolded him.

"Well, isn't that because of whose soldier I am?" Jiang Yan Hai chuckled.

"Alright, cut the nonsense. Let's go." Gong Jian stood up with a smile.

Jiang Yan Hai immediately followed Gong Jian. The person who had come to pick them up was an ordinary soldier from the Wolf Fang Special Forces Brigade, and the man kept sizing Jiang Yan Hai up when he saw him.

Gong Jian naturally noticed and said quietly, "You're a celebrity throughout the whole military district now, kid."

"Then our Iron Fist Regiment will have something to brag about in the future," Jiang Yan Hai replied just as quietly.

"Alright, you're arrogant enough." Gong Jian was somewhat helpless. This guy had no idea how to be modest at all, and that was what worried Gong Jian most.

The main thing was that the kid had not suffered much of a setback yet. If being assigned to the regiment farm's logistics department counted, then there had only been that one time.

"Let's go," the captain across from them said.

Naturally, Jiang Yan Hai had no objections and got into the vehicle. Gong Jian would not be going.

The SUV quickly set off, but what Jiang Yan Hai had not expected was that it headed straight for the field airfield near the camp, where he was put aboard a helicopter.

There was no one else in the massive helicopter. Jiang Yan Hai could only sit in his seat. Come to think of it, this was the first time he had ridden in a helicopter while wearing his dress uniform.

Of course, he had only ridden in one twice in total.

At that moment, the mission in Jiang Yan Hai's mind had already been completed, but he had yet to claim the reward. It would not be too late to collect it after he returned to his own unit.

The helicopter flew for more than half an hour, and judging by the route, it had gone straight to the military district headquarters. Someone was waiting to receive him when he got off the aircraft—it was Chen Shan Ming.

"Gong Jian must have told you why we brought you here this time, right? So, are you nervous?" Chen Shan Ming asked with a smile.

"Why would I be nervous?" Jiang Yan Hai gave him a puzzled look.

Chen Shan Ming: "..." Fine, kid, keep talking tough. We'll see whether you get nervous when you face that kind of scene later.