Chapter 57: Heart-to-Heart Talk

  Gu Lianyun's identity was a mystery to Ouyang Yun. If it were anyone else, having such a hedgehog by his side would make him uneasy and wary of the other person's intentions. Due to his aversion to spies, Ouyang Yun started to worry that Gu Lianyun might suddenly appear with a puff of smoke at any moment. However, as they spent more time together, with their shared hometown identity revealed, driven by his desire for intelligence personnel, he decided that he must find a way to keep Gu Lianyun, this top-notch spy, by his side.

  Gu Lianyun's skills are not to be mentioned, what is rare is that he is meticulous in his thinking, has a broad knowledge base, and is also proficient in both conspiracy and strategy - really a rare military strategist of this generation!

  Gu Lianyun came to Beiping, her original mission was for that "contribution gold", but with the change of Pingjin situation, she received a new task, helping Guomindang member Xiong Bin to win over Song Zheyuan and closely monitoring Song's movements, preventing him from getting close to the Japanese. This way, she had a reason to stay by Ouyang Yun's side for both public and private reasons, and as Ouyang Yun's potential began to show, her interest in this little guy grew, giving her enough reason to stay for both public and private purposes.

  To her, Ouyang Yun is also a mystery. This kid has countless shortcomings: he's lecherous and timid, a money-grubber, and a complete city slicker; yet his merits seem to be just as numerous: upright, wise, humorous, patriotic, selfless... Sometimes she wonders how there can still be people like this in the world, who can combine so many good and bad points into one body. Ouyang Yun's parents are not simple!

  Renqiu is a place she knows, but it's just an ordinary small town, what "glory" can be said? She asked in doubt: "Is Renqiu so important?"

  Ouyang Yun smiled mysteriously and remained silent, but in his heart he was thinking: a large oil field with an annual output of tens of millions of tons, huh? As long as we have an oil refinery, then airplanes and tanks won't be just pipe dreams. Who knows, maybe we can even get our hands on a few aircraft carriers to play around with. Aircraft carriers, something the Chinese people have dreamed about for years but still haven't been able to achieve... if it really happens under my own power... With such thoughts, he fell asleep with an enigmatic smile on his face.

  Gu Lianyun waited for a while without getting his response, and only then did she notice that the little guy had fallen asleep. She felt both amused and annoyed in her heart, thinking to herself that he was now so trusting of her that he didn't even wear a poisonous mask, as if he wasn't afraid that she would use something like "bone-eroding powder" on him. Remembering his terrified expression when he mentioned "bone-eroding powder", she couldn't help but smile. She tiptoed to her bed, took off her military uniform, and pressed her hand against her chest, looking again at Ouyang Yun who had already fallen into a deep sleep. A strange feeling rose in her heart - originally, she wanted to take this opportunity to test him, to see if he was a true gentleman or just a fake one. But now, the other party had directly ignored her existence... "Was it that my charm wasn't enough?" She thought back to when he sang "The reeds are green, white dew turns into frost" when they met Pan Mei at the hospital, and she felt an inexplicable sense of loss in her heart.

  The second evening, at the Lianxiang Theater in Beiping City, a "Symposium of the 29th Army and University Students from Various Universities in Beiping" was being held here.

  The rostrum was set on the stage, with more than 20 people seated in three rows, who were representatives of students from various universities and student military corps.

  Below the auditorium, most of the officers and soldiers of the Student Army Corps and many students were seated in factions. Ouyang Yun's original intention was only to have a heart-to-heart talk with "college students", but the news spread to some middle school students, who felt disrespected because they were precocious and there were also many older youths among them. They strongly protested to Chu Tian Ge, Chen Shi Chang and other conveners of the meeting, and finally made Ouyang Yun compromise.

  Around eight o'clock, the student soldiers in charge of the venue setup finally completed all the preparatory work. Chen Shichang and a female university student named Mei Lanshu, as hosts, walked to the microphone under the gaze of thousands of people - the symposium officially began.

  Ouyang Yun, as the commander of the student army corps and one of the "Anti-Japanese Heroes", naturally spoke first.

  As Meilan gently opened her vermilion lips, she said: "Next, please welcome the commander of the Xuebing Corps, Mr. Ouyang Yun, to give a speech!" Then she led the applause and stepped aside. The stage and the audience erupted in thunderous applause.

  Ouyang Yun smiled and stood up, walked to the microphone, first saluted the podium and the audience with two beautiful military salutes, then waved his hand to stop the applause, and said loudly: "Fellow students, all comrades of the Student Soldier Corps, hello everyone! I'm delighted to meet you here in the late spring season. As a former student and current soldier, I think it's my responsibility to build a bridge of friendship between soldiers and students, and work together to build our beautiful home. The Student Soldier Corps, as its name suggests, most of the soldiers were once one of you, and in the future, I will also let some outstanding soldiers on the battlefield continue their studies at various universities. Of course, if those present want to take up arms to achieve their life ideals, then the doors of the 29th Army and the Student Soldier Corps will always be open to you..."

  After Ouyang Yun obtained Song Zheyuan's understanding in Tianjin, the expansion of the Student Army also got his approval. Song Zheyuan was indeed a man who had been rolling around in the political circle for many years. Upon learning that Ouyang Yun intended to focus on recruiting university students, he put forward more in-depth considerations, believing that as the situation developed, the 29th Army would definitely take over Hebei Province completely, and the power vacuum left by the withdrawal of the National Government's organs from Hebei needed someone to fill it. University students were undoubtedly the best source of political cadres, and he asked Ouyang Yun to pay special attention to this kind of talent.

  This is the original intention of establishing a regular army. Ou Yang Yun had considered these issues and thought more comprehensively than Song Zheyuan - if the 29th Army wanted to compete with the Japanese in the future, implementing new policies and establishing an efficient, clean, and unified local government was essential. And passionate, upright, and knowledgeable university students were the best executors of this plan.

  He didn't suggest it to Song Zheyuan all along, only because he was afraid of arousing the other's suspicion. Now that the latter has brought it up on his own initiative, he naturally welcomes it and accepts the order with pleasure.

  The proceedings of the symposium were discussed by Chen Shichang and several university student leaders. After Ou Yangyun's speech, Li Tieshu, as a representative of the Student Army Corps, would answer questions from students one by one, followed by an exchange between students and the Student Army Corps. Finally, Li Tieshu would present a detailed recruitment plan, and interested students could choose to sign up - either join the civilian "Special Task Force" or become a pure soldier in the Student Army Corps.

  The arrangement of the student regiment was originally to be explained by Ouyang Yun, and if not, Chu Tiange would have to come out. After all, these two wore the halo of "Anti-Japanese Heroes". However, unfortunately, Ouyang Yun had to attend a tea party organized by the North China Industrial and Commercial Circles, while Chu Tiange's eloquence was in that state, so Li Tieshu, this old general, had to come out. Regarding this, Li Tieshu had a lot of opinions, he was completely ignorant of penicillin and other things, and before the meeting, he had to spend a lot of time preparing lessons.

  Around nine o'clock, Ouyang Yun and Gu Lianyun, Liu Zhe Liang led the reconnaissance team to appear at Huiyuan Teahouse.

  The merchant is the most profitable, with this in mind, Ouyang Yun's image consultant (their private name) Gu Lianyun made a scene to create momentum, and forced the crowd to disagree. Not only did she let Ouyang Yun change into a brand new military uniform, but also arranged for a row of rifles with live ammunition to protect her. As it turned out, this move was really useful. The merchants who attended the meeting were all around 40-50 years old, "old-timers", but when they saw the student army's formation, they didn't dare underestimate Ouyang Yun. They all behaved extremely gentlemanly and restrained, allowing Ouyang Yun to fully exploit his potential as a cunning merchant.

  Many of the students in the student army were from Beiping, and they had connections at various universities and newspapers. Under Ouyang Yun's instigation, all the major newspapers carried lengthy reports on the "Penicillin" incident, and as a result, Ouyang Yun, the discoverer, also became famous overnight, it was hard not to become famous even if he wanted to.

  Many of the businessmen present had a good understanding of the situation, they may not have been clear about what "penicillin" and "multi-functional vehicle" were, but their keen business sense allowed them to detect the hidden business opportunities.

  The struggle between Chu Tiange and Chen Jiayao ended with the man backing down. Chu Tiange, that kid, was interesting, and it's unknown what he was thinking. In Ouyang Yun's opinion, it was a good thing, but he hesitated and couldn't open his mouth. He followed behind Ouyang Yun's butt for a whole day two days ago, and in the end, it was Ouyang Yun who sensed something was off and asked repeatedly before he finally spoke up.

  Ouyang Yun had already thought of this, and as soon as he heard it, he was delighted. "Great!" he said. "Go back and tell your father-in-law to get in touch with a few more people. I have many projects on hand, and anyone who wants to make money can come find me!"

  Chu Tian Ge's face turned red and he asked in a low voice: "Big brother, won't you be forcing yourself?"

  Ouyang Yun laughed loudly and patted his shoulder, saying: "What's the point of barely making it? It's just barely making it. For your son's lifelong event, I have to make it not barely making it."

  Chu Tian Ge hehe ran away with a smile that night and brought back news of his "father-in-law".

  Chen Hanlin happened to be the vice president of the Beiping Chamber of Commerce, and since Ouyang Yun had made a big statement, he didn't eat alone. He immediately contacted President Qin Zilin with the news, and then the two of them gathered a group of members to discuss it. After discussion, they decided to hold a tea party for the business and military communities at the Huiyuan Teahouse the next day to exchange feelings.

  Since ancient times, there has been no emotional exchange between merchants and soldiers; at the very least, they have been in cahoots with each other, one for power and the other for wealth, each taking what they need.

  Ouyang Yun was delighted when he heard the news brought back by Chu Tian Ge, and Gu Lianyun looked at him with a sly smile, wondering what kind of evil plan this guy was cooking up again. He kindly reminded: "Ouyang, you're not eyeing someone's wallet again, are you?"

  Ouyang Yun burst out laughing and said: "No, no, I just thought of a clever plan to use commerce to control agriculture."

  "Can commerce control agriculture?"

  Ouyang Yun didn't explain either, just smiled and said: "I don't know if General will give me this opportunity."

  Gu Lianyun was puzzled and asked: "What does this have to do with Song Zheyuan?"

  Ouyang Yun rubbed his chin, where Gu Liyun had just trimmed it. She said it was to increase the sense of vicissitudes and must let it grow a beard as soon as possible. Now it still hurts a bit. He said: "I want to be an official."

  Gu Lianyun and Chu Tiange were delighted, and Chu Tiange said: "Big brother, I didn't expect you to be an official fan too?!"

  Ouyang Yun said with an unfathomable depth: "This officialdom also has its good and bad sides."

  Gu Lianyun laughed and said, "I've never heard of it before."

  Chu Tian Ge glanced at the razor in Gu Lian Yun's hand, then looked at Ouyang Yun Guang's smooth chin, and thought to himself that since this woman appeared by his brother's side, his brother had been saying some inexplicable things lately. Could it be that he had been...?! Realizing this possibility, he couldn't stay still, and decided to immediately go find Chen Shi Chang and Li Tie Shu to discuss this matter with them.