Chapter 144: The Guard Officer

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When Gao Yuan and his group stepped outside, a sergeant in military uniform was waiting for them.

"Greetings, Commander."

It wasn't exactly a shock, but Gao Yuan still felt extremely awkward when a person in uniform saluted him.

Xiang Weiguo returned the salute, then, after giving it some thought, Gao Yuan saluted as well.

"Reporting, Commander, I am Song Qian, squad leader of the 10709th Infantry Division's Guard Company, First Platoon, Second Squad, ordered to protect the Commander's safety and daily life. Please give your instructions."

Gao Yuan looked at the squad leader in front of him, then pointed to his own nose, expressing his surprise, "You are calling me 'Commander'?"

"Yes!"

"But I am not a commander..."

Song Qian spoke loudly, "The base commander arranged it this way; I must obey orders."

Gao Yuan looked at Xiang Weiguo imploringly. After pondering for a moment, Xiang Weiguo nodded, "It must have been arranged by General Xu, I guess."

Gao Yuan had a special identity. According to his own thinking, he was a soldier of the Da Hong Third Company, but this soldier had no military rank. To say if he counts as a private or a non-commissioned officer, as for an officer, he was definitely not one.

If Gao Yuan were to be treated as an ordinary person, that wouldn't quite seem right either. All in all, Gao Yuan's current status was very ambiguous, but no matter how you put it, having a squad leader address him as 'Commander' was certainly going too far.

Even Gao Yuan himself thought it was too much, so he spoke in a low voice, "Well, Squad Leader Song, you don't need to call me 'Commander.' Just call me Xiao Gao. Although I may need your assistance these days, there really is no need to address me as 'Commander.' I can't accept that."

Song Qian thought for a moment, then spoke softly, "The base commander said your identity is special."

"Even if my identity is special, don't call me 'Commander.' Just call me Xiao Gao, please? If that doesn't work, you can call me Gao Yuan. I really can't bear the term 'Commander.'"

Song Qian replied softly, "The Commander said you are the sole representative of the 332588 Troop, the only one, nothing else matters. Just because you are the sole representative of the 332588 Troop, we must treat you as a commander."

Xiang Weiguo thought for a moment and then said, "It's indeed inappropriate to call you 'Commander,' but using your first name doesn't seem fitting either. Hmm, why don't the two of you just address each other as 'Squad Leader'."

Gao Yuan immediately said, "Right, right, you call me 'Squad Leader,' and I'll call you 'Squad Leader.' Can we treat each other as equals?"

After some thought, Song Qian replied, "Alright then, Squad Leader Gao, where would you like to go?"

"I need to go... to where Mr. Luo is staying."

"Very well, please follow me."

Song Qian made a welcoming gesture, then raised his hand and waved. Shortly after, an electric vehicle drove over.

There were three soldiers on the electric vehicle, a driver in the front and two soldiers sitting at the back. Once the vehicle pulled up in front of Gao Yuan and the others, the driver remained seated, but the soldiers at the back got down, saluted Gao Yuan and his party, took their rifles crosswise across their chests, and stood at the rear end of the vehicle.

Song Qian said to Gao Yuan, "Please get on the vehicle."

Gao Yuan was quite astonished, "I thought there would only be you... protecting me."

Song Qian replied very seriously, "Our squad is on orders to protect your safety around the clock, in shifts."

"A whole squad?"

Gao Yuan looked at Xiang Weiguo again. Xiang Weiguo nodded, "Considering your special situation, although it's very safe inside the base, it's still necessary to eliminate all risk. This arrangement is understandable. Get in."

Song Qian sat in the passenger seat of the electric vehicle, while Gao Yuan and Xiang Weiguo took the second row. Luo Guodong and Luo Xingyu sat in the third row, and the two soldiers took the last row.

The electric vehicle started moving. There were soldiers on duty inside the base as well. Entry to some special places, like the ammunition depot and other vital locations, was forbidden to unauthorized personnel – not even allowed to approach them.

The electric vehicle drove for about ten minutes from the factory area to a concentrated residential district. This place resembled the interior of a ship cabin, with a long corridor flanked by rooms on both sides, each of them carved directly out of the rock.

This residential district was clearly intended for those with important positions. There was a guard at the entrance, but upon seeing the credentials presented by Song Qian, he immediately saluted and let them through.

Luo Guodong had not spoken much all this while, but he expressed his surprise, "Even General Xu gets off outside and walks in. How come we're allowed to drive straight in?"

Looking back, Song Qian replied, "Mr. Luo, Squad Leader Gao has a special status. Please understand."

"Oh, uh, understood, understood."

The space carved out from the rock, as you might expect, wasn't very large. The corridor wasn't particularly wide, though it did have a height of about five meters, at least enough to avoid bumping one's head upon standing up.

The electric vehicle stopped in front of a door. From the outside, the place looked no different from the interior of a regular building.

Luo Guodong got off the electric vehicle and pressed his hand on the doorknob, saying, "This is a fingerprint lock. We'll add your fingerprint later on. Oh, and Squad Leader Song, please come in too."

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Song Qian hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Luo, but according to the security regulations, I need to quickly check your residence. Please understand."

Luo Guodong was somewhat startled again, but then he nodded and said, "Oh, okay, by all means."

Song Qian was the first one to enter Luo Guodong's room. He looked around outside before opening a door inside the room. After peering into it, he came out, saluted, and said, "All is well, commander, Mr. Luo, you can have your chat. It's now two in the morning, please remember to rest."

After speaking, Song Qian said to Gao Yuan, "I will be outside the door; call me if you need anything."

This was Luo Guodong's home, and Gao Yuan felt it wasn't his place to say much. Luo Guodong smiled and said, "Why go out? Just take a seat here for a while."

"That's not necessary, Mr. Luo. And Squad Leader Gao, there's no need for courtesies with me. This is my duty. Just pretend I'm not here. I'll head out now. Goodbye."

Song Qian left, and Gao Yuan didn't know what to say, so he gave a wry smile and said, "Song Qian, sending money, that's a pretty good name, heh heh..."

Luo Guodong also smiled, then said to Xiang Weiguo and Gao Yuan, "Feel free to look around. There are just two rooms. The bedroom is inside."

The living room was not large but was still considered spacious for the bunker, being about twenty square meters. There were two armchairs, a coffee table, and amazingly, there was a TV hanging on the wall opposite the coffee table, flanked by two potted plants.

The bedroom was about the same size, with two single beds and a desk with a chair in between them.

The walls were made of reinforced concrete and had been painted white.

"Oh, I see."

"This place seems quite difficult to maintain."

Luo Guodong appeared very interested as he pointed at one of the beds and said, "Xiaoyu, you sleep here. We'll move one bed outside, and dad will sleep outside. That way it's more convenient. The bathroom is over here, and you can take a shower. We get two hours of hot water every day, but we need to conserve water."

The bathroom door was inside the bedroom. Luo Guodong opened it to let Luo Xingyu have a look, then said, "Our bathroom is inside here, and the one next door is accessible from the living room. It's a better use of space this way."

After closing the bathroom door, Luo Guodong spoke with a sense of pathos, "This place is made of sandstone formation, which makes it easier to build tunnels and large underground spaces. Some areas have soil and gravel structures, which we generally avoid. If we can't avoid them, we reinforce them entirely with concrete. Our location is one of the safest geological structures. You can rest assured about that. It's just that living underground all the time can be stifling, even though there is an air exchange system. Still, it's not the same as being outside."

Gao Yuan, out of curiosity, asked, "What if the air exchange system breaks down? Or if the electricity goes out?"

Luo Guodong answered without hesitation, "Then we're screwed. Our underground space is too large, and there are too many people living here. Normal air exchange would not be possible. Besides, this place was built to the highest standards of an underground nuclear bunker; there's practically no natural ventilation. However, the air exchange system is unlikely to break; it has multiple backups. You can also rest assured on that point. The air exchange system for Base No. 12 was done by our company, and the military representatives supervised the whole process. The quality is absolutely guaranteed."

Xiang Weiguo expressed sincerely, "Mr. Luo, you have indeed made a significant contribution."

Luo Guodong sighed and said, "I participated in the entire construction process of this base. I'm in real estate and have considerable strength in this province. Only two private enterprises, including mine, took part in the construction of the base. Sigh, I have signed a confidentiality agreement. This place is too important. We were under surveillance during the whole construction process, and our communications were monitored, so..."

Luo Guodong glanced at Xiaoyu with a helpless expression, "I never expected that this place would truly come in handy. Your mom... I..."

Luo Guodong was on the verge of crying again, and Luo Xingyu's heart was also heavy. So she gently shook Luo Guodong's hand and said, "Dad, let's not talk about this. Mom knows that we're together now, and she must be happy."

Luo Guodong gave a bitter smile, waved his hand, and then, looking at Xiang Weiguo and the others, said, "I put up twenty-six billion for this place, and the payment for the project was to be made after it passed inspection. The state is prompt with payments. I earned about ten billion here, but what's the use of money now? What use is it? I would rather not have taken on this project and just stayed with them."

Xiang Weiguo said softly, "Mr. Luo, this..."

Luo Xingyu shook her father's hand again and said, "Dad, let's not talk about this. Look at your beard. Do you have a razor? Go shave."

"Oh, right, shave. It's gotten so long. I'll shave later, later."

At that moment, Luo Xingyu pointed to the two potted plants and said, "Dad, where did these come from? They look quite nice. It's so hard to see any green in this base."

Luo Guodong's face immediately lit up with a smile as he said, "I was bored during the mountain construction, but since I needed to keep an eye on things here—the project is too important to ignore—I would wander in the nearby mountains and look for suitable bonsais. This one is an old root of a hackberry tree, pretty, isn't it? And this is a pine tree that I got from the cliffside, which was not easy. Isn't it beautiful, doesn't it look like the welcoming guest pine? I made about thirty or so, but only six survived. These two are the most beautiful; I even gave one to your Uncle Zhang and one to General Xu. The less attractive ones went to the factory office."

Talking about his bonsais, Luo Guodong became endlessly enthusiastic, and a smile finally appeared on his face.

After introducing his proud creations, Luo Guodong turned to Xiang Weiguo and Gao Yuan and said, "Come, have a seat. I'll get the electric stove and boil some water. Let me tell you, I have some great stuff here."

With a mysteriously joyful look, Luo Guodong chuckled and said, "I've got half a pound of Dragon Well tea here. This is the genuine Dragon Well Tea from Lion Peak, excellent stuff. Do you like green tea, Mr. Xiang? I'll pack it all up for you later. Let's have a taste now."

Luo Guodong took out a tea caddy enthusiastically, but as he opened the tea caddy, there was a knock at the door.

Instinctively, Luo Guodong hid the tea behind his back, then loudly asked, "Who is it?"

"It's Song Qian. Please open the door."

Gao Yuan stepped forward to open the door. After entering, Song Qian didn't go straight to business; first, he closed the door, then saluted and said in a low voice, "Squad Leader, the commander has sent an urgent message asking for you and Mr. Xiang to go see him immediately. There might be an issue at Base 10 that requires your immediate attention."

"Do you know what it is?"

"No, I don't."

Gao Yuan let out a sigh and, looking at Luo Xingyu, said, "Xiaoyu, you rest for a bit. I'll come back after there's nothing left to sort out."