Chapter 154 Aftermath

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"Yu Shunzhou, wanna join the army or not?"

Yu Shunzhou didn't answer Gao Yuan's question, but turned around and said to Nie Erlong, "Nien ren, wanna enlist or not?"

Gao Yuan was stunned for a moment and said, "What? What does that mean?"

Yu Shunzhou replied indifferently, "Oh, just asking if he's going to join the army."

"No, I mean the sentence before that."

"Nien ren, it's like... a bit nien ren, dialect, means a bit silly, not exactly right, like a bit simple, a bit naïve, you just need to get the gist."

Gao Yuan looked at Nie Erlong with surprise. Nie Erlong seemed pretty normal to him, albeit not very talkative. With his square face, he looked rather honest, so you couldn't really say he was a... nien ren.

Although Gao Yuan still couldn't quite grasp what nien ren meant exactly, he knew it definitely wasn't anything good.

"Don't ask him, I'm asking you. You joining the army or not?"

Yu Shunzhou glanced at Gao Yuan and said, "Isn't that a dumb question, do I even need to ask? Am I also going to Da Hong Third Company? Tell me if I can be a company commander."

"Should I slap you a few times, you jerk?"

After cursing Yu Shunzhou twice without good humor, Gao Yuan turned to Nie Erlong and said, "Er Long, you... gonna join the army or not?"

Nie Erlong nodded without any hesitation, then said with a face full of helplessness to Gao Yuan, "Just don't put me in the same dorm as this jerk; I'm about to die from his aggravation."

Yu Shunzhou wasn't offended at all; he just laughed heartily and then teasingly said, "Nien ren, be under my command, and I'll make sure you don't die."

Nie Erlong sighed and said to Gao Yuan, "See, this guy's mouth is so nasty."

Gao Yuan frowned and said, "Fatso, be serious for a moment, I'm talking business here. If you want to join up, you have to endure training, and the same goes for Er Long. Yeah, watch your mouth a bit, don't spout nonsense all the time."

Yu Shunzhou retorted quickly, "This kid really is a nien ren, don't be fooled by his innocent look. Actually, this guy's no good, I've figured him out over the past few days."

Nie Erlong wasn't angry either, just expressed his annoyance, "Beat it, you're the nien ren, you jerk."

Gao Yuan got tired of listening to Yu Shunzhou and Nie Erlong bicker; he said urgently, "I have to go find Uncle Xiang; you two better think it over, there's no turning back on this."

Yu Shunzhou continued smiling and said, "All right, it's settled then, you hurry off."

Nie Erlong also nodded and said, "It's settled, I want to join the army. There's no point going on like this. You go ahead with your busy things; we've both signed up."

In just a few words, two new recruits were inducted. No, not just inducted, but Da Hong Third Company had just gained two more soldiers. However, these two didn't seem like they were going to make good soldiers, and they might even turn into troublemakers.

But Gao Yuan figured that if handed to Wei Guo for some proper training, Yu Shunzhou and Nie Erlong should turn out fine, right?

Wei Guo lived close to Yu Shunzhou and Nie Erlong. As soon as Gao Yuan left their dorm, he quickly reached Wei Guo's place.

He knocked on the door, entered Wei Guo's room, and found Wei Guo busy writing something.

"Uncle Xiang, you busy?"

"Hmm, go ahead."

"I need a favor from you, to pick out a few new recruits."

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Xiang Weiguo looked up at Gao Yuan and said, "You don't want me to go to the Fierce Tiger Brigade?"

"Of course I do, that's exactly what I'm suggesting, that you join the Fierce Tiger Brigade."

Xiang Weiguo sighed and said, "I'd like to, but unfortunately, it's no longer possible."

"What do you mean, 'no longer possible'?"

Xiang Weiguo put down the pen in his hand and said with a serious face, "I've been re-enlisted, and now, I have to be responsible for training new recruits at the base."

"What?"

Xiang Weiguo exhaled and said, "I was thinking about whether to join the Fierce Tiger Brigade, but sadly, stop thinking about it now. It's impossible for me; the orders have been issued."

"That's not okay, Uncle Xiang, you can't just leave me behind."

Xiang Weiguo replied helplessly, "Do you think this is child's play? You want me to go wherever you wish? Of course, I have to obey orders. Besides, I have experience in training troops, and now the base needs to develop a batch of new soldiers. So what else can I do? I must follow orders."

Gao Yuan thought for a moment, then said, "So what do we do? Once you've trained some new soldiers, you can secretly tell me which ones are the good seeds, right? I'll ask the higher-ups for personnel; surely they have to help me out with that."

"That's no problem; I'll keep an eye out for you. Just ask for them in advance."

"Yu Shunzhou and Nie Erlong are definitely with me. I just talked to them. Uncle Xiang, give them some training."

Xiang Weiguo smiled kindly and said, "Sure, I'll call them over as soon as I finish the work plan. Let them train with the new recruits. Hmm, I'll train them well."

"Push them hard; as long as they don't die, it's fine."

Xiang Weiguo laughed again and said, "Do you even need to teach me that?"

"Uncle Xiang, where else can I find more people? I want to quickly make up a squad, then build up a platoon, and then a company. But I can't always wait for the new recruits to join the company, can I? Distant waters can't extinguish a nearby fire."

After thinking for a moment, Xiang Weiguo said, "Try to bring in Jia Weidong by any means. He's a promising candidate. Aside from Jia Weidong... you can only look slowly. When I train the new recruits, I'll impress upon them the glorious deeds of Da Hong Third Company, let them voluntarily apply to join you."

"Okay, just don't forget about me, Uncle Xiang. I've still got a lot to do here, so I'll be going now."

Although Xiang Weiguo agreed to all of Gao Yuan's requests, Gao Yuan still felt a sense of loss, feeling like his people were being taken away. But no matter how close his relationship with Xiang Weiguo was, it obviously was not possible to compete with the state for personnel.

Leaving Xiang Weiguo's office, Gao Yuan sighed heavily.

He now only had two half-baked soldiers, and Yu Shunzhou and Nie Erlong didn't seem like good material, but Gao Yuan had no choice but to rely on these two. He couldn't afford to be picky anymore.

Watching Gao Yuan sigh deeply once again, Song Qian said, "Squad leader Gao, where to next?"

Gao Yuan looked at Song Qian and then whispered, "Let me ask you... Squad leader Song, would you consider joining Da Hong Third Company? If you come over, I'll give you..."

Give what? Officers weren't cabbages that could be distributed at will, nor could Gao Yuan casually make promises. Panxin and Li Jingang were already at a certain level; if they decided to join Da Hong Third Company, they could immediately become leading officers. But for Song Qian, coming over, he would still just be a squad leader.

"Would you be willing to be a squad leader in our Da Hong Third Company? Although Da Hong Third Company only has one squad at the moment, that doesn't matter, you'd still be a squad leader. I'll be under your command, and it's definitely easier to get promoted."

Song Qian hesitated for a moment and then laughed, "I'll think about it. Let's discuss it later. It's no use talking about it now. Where are we going now?"

Gao Yuan sighed and said, "I have to meet with those scientists; they're waiting for me. Song Qian, think it over carefully, the prospects of joining Da Hong Third Company are very bright!"