Chapter 54: Summary
Miao Lian cheerfully brought the three great contributors—Chang Ning, Xiao Zhuang, and Chen Pai—who had made the Reconnaissance Company shine in front of superiors into the tent.
The four sat around the table. Miao Lian had them recount the process. Although he had information from Regiment Headquarters, it wasn’t as detailed as hearing it directly from the people involved.
Seeing that Miao Lian wanted to hear this, Xiao Zhuang and Chen Guotao both looked at Chang Ning.
After all, Chang Ning had led all four operations, while Chen Guotao had only given the orders.
Chang Ning couldn’t refuse this favor.
To put it bluntly, if something went wrong, Chen Guotao would take the blame, but if it succeeded in the evaluation, Chang Ning would get the biggest share.
Chen Guotao had taken such a big risk because he believed in him, so how could Chang Ning not appreciate it.
So Chang Ning thought that showing off in front of Miao Lian should be left to Chen Guotao; he would just stay low-key.
“Miao Lian, you know me, I’m not good at talking. It’d be dry and boring if I told it, so let Chen Pai do it.”
Everyone present was smart and immediately understood the implication in Chang Ning’s words.
Chen Pai laughed and cursed: “You bastard, how am I supposed to tell it?
I wasn’t there when you eliminated Gao Zhong Dui and the sniper from Wolf Fang. How am I supposed to tell it, make it up?”
Hearing Chen Pai say this, Chang Ning realized he had indeed been thoughtless and put the man in a difficult spot.
Fortunately, Chen Guotao was understanding and didn’t misunderstand him.
“This was my oversight, Chen Pai, sorry about that.”
Chang Ning touched his buzz cut, feeling a bit embarrassed.
“Alright, you boy, tell it quick. Miao Lian is still waiting.
I’m curious too about what you went through at the end. Don’t dawdle.”
Among the four, half were officers, and only Chang Ning and Xiao Zhuang were privates, with Chang Ning doing the explaining, so naturally Xiao Zhuang took on the job of serving tea and water.
Xiao Zhuang didn’t resist this much; what he did in the company was herding sheep—whether one or a flock, it was all the same, just a casual task.
Of course, these were Xiao Zhuang’s private thoughts. If Miao Lian knew he was thinking this way about him, Xiao Zhuang felt he wouldn’t have good days ahead!
Seeing Miao Lian looking at him expectantly, Chang Ning’s eyes became dazed as he recalled the scene at the time.
“At that time, Gao Zhong Dui…”
This time, Chang Ning didn’t add any personal flair and honestly recounted his experiences in the exercise to Miao Lian.
“Overall, Chang Ning, you did well. Although using Xiao Zhuang as cover was indeed not proper, the situation was urgent and unavoidable, so it’s excusable.”
After carefully listening to Chang Ning’s experiences, Miao Lian smacked his lips, feeling it was truly thrilling.
Honestly, if he put himself in that situation, he wasn’t sure he could do better than Chang Ning, or might even do worse.
Through the essence of Chang Ning using Xiao Zhuang as cover, Miao Lian saw Chang Ning’s decisiveness and calmness in the face of trouble.
‘This kid will definitely achieve great things in the future if nothing unexpected happens!
The young are formidable!’
Miao Lian sighed inwardly. Looking at Chang Ning’s youthful face, he suddenly felt like he had gotten old.
“Chang Ning, don’t be discouraged. Wolf Fang’s assassin is no simple character.”
Learning from Chang Ning that the one who eliminated him was the assassin, Miao Lian suddenly understood.
Then he secretly cursed He Da Dui for being unfair, actually sending the assassin over.
The codename “assassin” was also a long tradition of Wolf Fang. Every soldier who got the codename “assassin” was without exception one of the best snipers in Wolf Fang.
Considering that Wolf Fang was now directly under the Military Region, the current assassin was the best among all snipers in the entire Military Region.
Sending such a person specifically to deal with Chang Ning gave He Da Dui the suspicion of bullying the weak with strength.
“Company Commander, you know the ‘assassin’?”
Chang Ning looked at Miao Lian, his eyes full of curiosity.
“I know, but I can’t tell you.”
Seeing that Chang Ning wanted to inquire about the assassin, Miao Lian firmly refused to provide any intelligence to Chang Ning.
If it were before, saying it wouldn’t matter, but now Wolf Fang was Special Forces, and most things inside were highly classified.
If he told Chang Ning intelligence about the assassin’s codename, it would violate the Secrecy Order.
“Alright.”
Chang Ning indicated that it was fine if Miao Lian didn’t tell him about the assassin-related information; anyway, if he went to Wolf Fang, there would be plenty of opportunities to meet the assassin.
Special Forces involved the Secrecy Order, and Chang Ning hadn’t been a soldier in his previous life, but these things were also depicted in films and TV dramas.
Thinking of this, Chang Ning felt that asking Miao Lian such a question made him seem a bit foolish.
However, with his current persona, asking such a question was perfectly reasonable. After all, it was only 2006, not the information explosion era of later years where all sorts of strange knowledge was available online.
“Clashing with the assassin this time is a good opportunity. You need to sum up your shortcomings.
Learning to use a sniper rifle doesn’t mean you’re a sniper. You still have a long way to go.”
Miao Lian said earnestly, fearing that Chang Ning had been too stimulated by the assassin and might self-destruct, which would be trouble.
“Miao Lian, to be honest with you, on the way back I really summed up a few of my shortcomings.”
“Tell us. Xiao Zhuang, you sit down and listen too. This is all extremely valuable experience.”
Miao Lian called Xiao Zhuang to sit and listen to Chang Ning’s summary. It wouldn’t help him, but for Xiao Zhuang, who was also a new recruit, it was valuable experience.
Even if Xiao Zhuang wasn’t a sniper, no one could say for sure when his opponent might be a sniper.
“First, my skills aren’t mastered yet.
Later, I carefully recalled the situation and discovered that the assassin’s shooting speed was faster than mine, but we both used the 85-style sniper rifle.”
Learning of the assassin’s strength from Chang Ning, Miao Lian had a look of “of course,” as this wasn’t anything special—he’d seen even more perverted ones.
“I originally thought you, Chang Ning, were perverted enough, but unexpectedly there’s someone even more awesome than you!”
Xiao Zhuang no longer dared to hope to surpass Chang Ning. He had let it go—competing with such a pervert would only cause him greater harm.
“This isn’t anything. Our army has millions of people; there are bound to be a few geniuses who stand out.
Chang Ning, continue.”
Chen Pai spoke from feeling. Back in his military academy days, he had also encountered a pervert. He still clearly remembered that small figure, who unfailingly hugged a notebook in the library every day, writing and drawing.
Her age seemed about the same as Chang Ning’s. They hadn’t been in touch since graduation.
“We’re all gun users, so I believe everyone knows what this means, so I won’t elaborate.
Second, I lack combat experience. I was too nervous at the time and didn’t see the backpack the assassin threw, falling for his trick and getting eliminated.”
After clashing with the assassin, Chang Ning’s understanding of himself became clearer.
Simply put, with Chang Ning’s current strength, he was an elite even in frontline troops, but to say he was at the absolute top of the pyramid, he wasn’t qualified yet.
The only skills Chang Ning could boast about were his physical fitness and his marksmanship with the 95-style assault rifle.
His other individual combat skills were about the same as Xiao Zhuang’s; after all, they had been in service for less than a year—what could they learn?
“Turn shame into courage. Chang Ning, you’re still young and have plenty of time to grow stronger.”
Finally, after summarizing this “experience sharing session,” Miao Lian chased the three out of the tent and told them to go eat.
The cookhouse was adding extra meals today, funded from the officers’ allowances—no wasting it.
Arriving at the cookhouse, Chang Ning felt like he was home. Seeing him, everyone beamed with joy and came up to ask about his disruption in the Blue Team.
Chang Ning’s story had now spread throughout the entire Night Tiger Reconnaissance Company.
“Chang Ning, you’re back. When you have time, tell us in detail about what happened.
This exercise, thanks to you, our Reconnaissance Company really shone.”
Squad Leader Old Ma saw Chang Ning and grinned ear to ear—this was talent from their squad.
“Squad Leader Old Ma, you can’t say it that way. Our Reconnaissance Company shining isn’t my achievement alone; it’s the result of everyone’s joint efforts.”
Hearing Squad Leader Old Ma’s words, Chang Ning smiled bitterly inside—the squad leader was still the same, digging pits for him at every turn.
He couldn’t take this; such a big achievement was too much for him alone.
“Squad Leader, is there food? I’m hungry. The meals on the Blue Team side didn’t suit my taste.”
Chang Ning changed the subject, then turned his gaze to the neatly arranged dishes in the tent.
“Company Commander said to add extra meals today, guaranteed to let you eat your fill.
Boy, when you’re free, come help chop vegetables or go play with your comrades.”
Squad Leader Old Ma started chasing him away. Adding extra meals meant more work; he had no time to chat with Chang Ning.
Just say a couple things— the soldiers were still waiting to eat.
“Squad Leader, you busy yourself. I’m off.”
Helping in the kitchen was impossible. Chang Ning felt like his whole body was falling apart, sore and aching.
What he wanted to do most wasn’t eat, but find a place to sleep till the world went dark!
ps: There’s another chapter at ten o’clock tonight.
