Chapter Fifty-Nine Three Days

  Ghost house, kitchen, with a fragrance wafting out, Gu Lianyun walked out with two dishes in her hands. She walked while humming and sighed: "Ouyang, I really didn't expect you to have such skills. In the future, even if you don't become a soldier, opening a restaurant or something will be enough to make a living."

  This dish was stir-fried by Ouyang Yun at noon, one plate of twice-cooked pork and one plate of salted fried meat, very authentic Sichuan cuisine. At that time, the dishes hadn't even been served yet, and Gu Lianyun in the house couldn't sit still, rushing out to look at Ouyang Yun as if she had seen a monster, asking: "Heavens, is there anything you can't do?"

  Ouyang Yun said straightforwardly: "Ride a horse."

  Liu Zhe-liang, who was helping with the chores on the side, heard this and thought of their military expedition, his mouth curled up into a smile.

  Gu Lianyun heard about the local cuisine and completely disregarded her image, directly using her hands to pick up a piece of meat from the pot and throwing it into her mouth, then said with relish: "Hmmm, authentic, not bad."

  Special Forces soldier Ouyang Yun had another identity in that era, the team's part-time head chef. Teammates affectionately called him "Food God" - after tasting his cooking skills, every rest day, several good brothers in the team would not go to the cafeteria, but instead buy ingredients and pull him to the captain's home to cook a small meal. Ouyang Yun was from Sichuan, and naturally, he was best at Sichuan cuisine, including twice-cooked pork, salt-baked meat, and spicy tofu, all of which everyone couldn't get enough of.

  He glanced at the woman and couldn't help but be amused by her greedy appearance, saying: "What's the hurry, it's not ripe yet." He also said: "There's a lot of it, enough for you to eat. Zhe Liang, after dinner, you send some to the hospital, Liu Su that little girl must like to eat too."

  Since Chu Tiange suspected that his brother had been bewitched by a woman, Li Tieshu and Chen Shichang immediately sent Liu Zheliang over. Chu Tiange's instructions to him were: under no circumstances should he allow his brother to be alone with the fox spirit. Li Tieshu didn't actually believe this, but thought it was better to err on the side of caution - Gu Lianyun's identity was too complicated, and it was always good to be prepared.

  However, for Gu Lianyun, a direct descendant of the Tangmen sect, solving Liu Zhe Liang's "light bulb" problem was simply too easy, and it only required using her fingernail to pick up just a tiny bit of "soul-dizzying powder" to make him sleep soundly for an entire night.

  Ouyang Yun began to feel uneasy, fearing that Liu Zhe Liang would leave behind aftereffects if he ate too much. Gu Lianyun comforted him with a smile: "Don't worry, 'Mihun Powder' is not 'One Night Dream', it only calms the mind and helps sleep, without any side effects."

  Ouyang Yun didn't understand these things, and thought of how every time he had something important to discuss with a woman, Liu Zhe would stand by like an electric pole, not saying anything to disturb them, but still making him feel guilty.

  Poor Liu Zhe Liang, he had a good dream for no reason, but every time he woke up in the morning, he found that the captain was sleeping beside him. As a diligent soldier, he should have served him to wash his face and feet, but now it's quite derelict! So, after Ouyang Yun got up, he would always humbly admit his mistake: "Captain, I'm sorry, I overslept again yesterday!"

  Ouyang Yun couldn't help but smile inwardly, but her face remained expressionless. She patted his shoulder and comforted him, saying, "It's okay, you're young, just sleep more, it's normal!" Then she said, "Zheliang, how many times have I told you? In private, don't call me 'Team Leader' or 'Captain', just call me 'Big Brother' or 'Old Big'."

  Ouyang Yun himself was only 21 years old, but for some reason, he always liked to call the young soldiers who were about his age "young people", and the young soldiers also seemed to be used to this title, as if Ouyang Yun was already in his seventies or eighties.

  Liu Zhe Liang awkwardly responded with a "yes", saying: "Comrade Tan, I'll be more careful next time."

  Ouyang Yun shook his head and sighed, thinking that the present was not like the past. Some worldly things had taken root in people's hearts too deeply, just like this official and soldier, for example. Even if you, as an official, showed humility, the big-headed soldiers wouldn't dare to take your place, but it was still impossible - let's take it slow.

  After a sleepless night, Liu Zhe Liang went to bed as usual, although reluctantly. Ouyang Yun and Gu Lianyun sat opposite each other at the table, she said: "There's something I don't understand, you want to be an official, can't you just find Song Zheyuan directly? Why take a big detour? With Song Zheyuan's current appreciation for you, he will definitely agree."

  Ouyang Yun smiled and said, "It's different. To put it simply, Hebei is a big cake. Now the 29th Army has got this cake, and below that, it should be divided according to the order of seniority. If I take the initiative to ask for a piece at this time, I will naturally get what I want, but I will inevitably be criticized by others, and if things go wrong, there may be sequelae; if it is given to me, it's different. Not only can I take it with confidence, but I may also propose some additional conditions."

  Gu Lianyun was a clever person and immediately understood, saying: "I know what you're thinking, you want to be a local emperor in Renqiu!"

  Ouyang Yun secretly praised her for being clever, but when it came to the Emperor of the Soil, he didn't dare to agree. That was simply a slander against his intelligence! Was his awareness really that low? He said: "I actually wanted to try out a new policy."

  "New Deal, isn't this related to 'controlling agriculture with commerce'?"

  Ouyang Yun nodded, thinking that it's easier to talk to smart people. If it were Chu Tiange, she might get more and more confused, and then she would have to break the pot. Looking at Gu Lianyun's eyes shining with wisdom, she couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration. If only Gu Lianyun could switch brains with Chu Tiange, that would be great. She could entrust some things to him, and that would be a relief.

  Gu Lianyun murmured "using commerce to control agriculture" softly, repeating it several times without understanding. She smiled and said: "I don't get what you mean by 'using commerce to control agriculture'. Are you thinking of turning farmers into merchants? Agriculture is the foundation of a country, without food, everything else is empty talk."

  Ouyang Yun smiled mysteriously and said, "You'll know when the time comes."

  The appearance of the small butterfly did not change the direction of the historical wheel track. With Zhang Zizhong's 38th Division being transferred to Tianjin and Zhao Dengyu's 132nd Division being transferred to Renqiu, Song Zheyuan finally achieved his wish of occupying both Wing and Cha, and became a big warlord with guns and mountains.

  As a result, the status of the 29th Army rose with each passing day, and Song Zheyuan became increasingly important in the eyes of both the Japanese and Chiang Kai-shek. As news of frequent visits by Japanese to Song Zheyuan spread through certain channels to Nanjing, Chiang Kai-shek grew anxious and urged Xiong Bin to prevent the 29th Army from falling into the arms of the Japanese at all costs.

  Xiong Bin had met with Song Zheyuan several times before, but because he didn't have anything concrete to offer, their conversations were always lacking in substance. After receiving the latest instructions from Old Chiang, he immediately requested another meeting with Song, this time bringing Gu Lianyun along.

  Gu Lianyun was wearing a brand new middle school uniform on her way to Tianjin when Ouyang Yun only then realized that her newly promoted deputy officer rank was actually higher than hers - this woman, far from being as simple as she seemed!

  Gu Lianyun stayed in Tianjin for four days, and Ouyang Yun locked himself up for three days. During these three days, Liu Zhe Liang stood guard at his door like a gate god, strictly enforcing the team leader's order that no one was allowed to see him. This made some businessmen who had finally found out where Ouyang lived feel sour and unwilling in their hearts. Many people couldn't help but whisper to each other - after spending so much gold and searching for antiques with great effort, the result was that although they were received in full, they weren't even allowed to see his face. The effect of this thick gift was almost discounted.

  What Ou Yang Yun was doing for the past three days, no one knew except himself. Liu Zhe Liang sealed the windows with thick paper and drew the curtains, such secrecy measures would prevent even Gu Lian Yun and Bai Liu Su from peeking inside if they came.

  Ouyang Yun's total sleep time for the past three days didn't exceed eight hours, and Liu Zhe Liang, who was loyal to his duties, was the same. The latter discovered with surprise that his narcolepsy seemed to have been cured without treatment. Every time he sat at the door of the team leader's room until 3 or 4 in the morning, he could still stay awake. He couldn't help but feel more puzzled about the period when he had been particularly sleepy before. However, with Gu Lianyun's return, he found that his narcolepsy had relapsed. In his heart, he couldn't help but mutter to himself and secretly say: "Could it be that my sleepiness has something to do with this Deputy Gu?" As soon as he thought of this, his face turned red with shame. It was undeniable that Deputy Gu was a woman who could charm millions of people, and men would inevitably fall for her. He was no exception. However, in his heart, Deputy Gu had long been defined as the team leader's woman - she and the team leader were a match made in heaven, a perfect pair. Many times, when he saw them together, he would feel a sense of happiness in his heart - what a great couple they made...

  Three days later, Ouyang Yun's door was opened by him. He stood at the entrance and stretched his waist, pointing to the pile of manuscripts on the table and said to his attendant: "Clean up, I'll take a nap." Then, he walked somewhat unsteadily to the bedside, fell down, and slept until dawn the next day.

  Liu Zhe-liang helped him tidy up the bed, walked lightly to the table, looked at the more than 100 pages of manuscript paper written on it, and was shocked. He turned his head to look at Ouyang Yun's haggard face, secretly praising that the team leader was indeed knowledgeable. After three days and nights without sleep or rest, he finally came up with a pile of heavenly books.

  Isn't this heavenly scripture? For Liu Zhe Liang, who had only attended a few years of private school and was the youngest in the battalion, what "TV Imaging Technology Overview", "Application of TV Speakers", "Function and Manufacturing of Vacuum Triodes"... Many terms he saw for the first time, didn't know what they meant. He thought these were all written by his team leader, and he couldn't help but admire his young commander with all his might, even wondering if it was the legendary Wenqu Star descending to earth.