Chapter 66 Piling Up Quilts

  Bai Liu Su, with her arms around his waist, was supported by Gu Lian Yun as he stepped over the fire pit at the entrance of the haunted mansion. He looked up and saw three graves in the courtyard, his eyes fell on Shen Jian's tombstone, and tears rolled down uncontrollably.

  Gu Liyun saw her, hastily pulled out a handkerchief to help her wipe away tears and said: "Alright, being discharged from the hospital today is a happy event, how can you cry? Your brother-in-law Shen will see it too, and he'll scold you for not understanding things."

  "Sister," Bai Liu Su turned around and rushed into her arms, sobbing.

  Ouyang Yun was congenitally afraid of women's tears, and seeing this, he shouted for Liu Zhe Liang. The two of them carried the vegetables towards the kitchen. Today was a good day, to celebrate Bai Liu Su's discharge from the hospital, he wanted to personally cook a table full of sumptuous Sichuan dishes to treat her.

  The haunted house has been renovated since Gu Lianyun arrived, with trees and flowers planted in the courtyard, a stone path paved in the middle, all damaged door frames replaced, glass installed, and new curtains hung inside. The floor is made of blue bricks, and the walls have just been painted with lime water, still emitting a fresh smell - it finally looks like a place where people live.

  Bai Liu gave incense and burned paper money for three deceased comrades, then cried again in front of Shen Jian's grave. After finishing these, it was almost 12 o'clock. Ou Yang Yun had finished cooking with the help of Liu Zhe Liang and Chu Tian Ge. The dinner table was set up in the main room, with a dish of braised pork belly, a bowl of spicy tofu, a plate of fish-flavored shredded meat, a plate of stir-fried cabbage, and a big bowl of sour soup fish. She was arranged by Ou Yang Yun to sit at the head of the table, smelling a pungent flavor in her nose, a long-lost feeling, with a hint of color on her face, she said to Ou Yang Yun: "I didn't expect Brother Ou Yang to be a master chef."

  Ouyang Yun smiled and picked up a piece of braised pork to taste, saying "It's not hot, it can be eaten," then picked up another piece and handed it to her mouth.

  Bai Liu Su felt a bit embarrassed and looked at her master's sister with a red face. Gu Lianyun smiled and said, "We're all family, don't be shy, your situation is special."

  White liquid Su lightly opened her red lips, and slowly chewed the meat into her mouth, after two mouthfuls, suddenly, tears welled up in her eyes again.

  Ouyang Yun smiled and joked, "What's going on? You're not someone who hasn't eaten before, so why are you getting emotional like this? If you like to eat, as long as I have time, I'll make it for you every day."

  Bai Liu Su was not good at expressing himself, and upon hearing this, he let out a "heh" of laughter and said: "I'm just happy, you know. As an orphan since childhood, I've never had anyone to care for me. But during my time in the hospital, not only did I gain two great sisters, but now I also have several big brothers. It feels like... it finally feels like I have a family."

  Gu Lianyun pretended to be angry and said: "What's wrong? I spoiled you when you were young?"

  Bai Liu Su hastily acknowledged her mistake and said: "Sister Shifu has always been very good to me, I've known that since I was a child."

  Gu Lianyun looked at Ouyang Yun and said: "Is that so? But when you meet certain people, aren't you going to sell me out?"

  "What's wrong with me?"

  "Also said no, if it wasn't for you reminding Ouyang, could he have defended against my sneak attack?"

  "Alright, alright, the dishes are getting cold, let's eat!"

  Ouyang Yun said to Gu Lianyun: "You just said it too, we're all family members, so let's be more tolerant of each other! You're still the eldest sister."

  "I'm just teasing her, this girl is great in every way, it's just that she has too many worries..."

  "Come on, for a smooth discharge, let's toast with tea instead of wine - Cheers!"

  "Please, CHEERS, not KISS! Always thinking of taking advantage of others."

  "Slip of the tongue, you don't think I'd want to take advantage of Zhe Liang and Tian Ge's misfortune too, do you?"

  "You just want to take advantage of them, I reckon they won't agree either, Zhe Liang, right?"

  Liu Zhe Liang had no idea what "KISS" and "CASE" meant, after listening to Gu Lian Yun's words, he made a vague response with a few grunts and continued eating in silence. As Ou Yang Yun's attendant soldier, although the team leader always treated him like a brother, this young man still stubbornly believed that he should maintain the superior-inferior relationship, and in such situations, he usually only listened without speaking.

  Chu Tian Ge was completely stuffed by the delicious food, although he wanted to say something, his mouth was full of dishes, and as a result, only a few "Woo Woo" sounds came out.

  In the training ground of the Wanping Military Camp, three young teams wearing the uniform of the 29th Army were practicing under the leadership of Li Tieshu, Yang Youliang and Xiao Bingkun.

  Xiao Bingkun was originally just an ordinary soldier in the third company of the original guard, thin and tall, with an unimpressive appearance. Now his military rank is only upper sergeant, but he can still be honored as a instructor, simply because he has been favored by his superiors. This sounds somewhat legendary, but thinking that the commander of the training battalion is Ouyang Yun, then no matter what happens, it's not surprising at all.

  The team he led was the largest, with nearly four hundred people. And the project they practiced was a bit strange, it was actually folding quilts!

  These four hundred recruits and the other two troops are different, a discerning eye can see at a glance. Their eyes are very sharp, their expressions are tight, they have obviously been on the battlefield and seen blood; however, their movements are very gentle, of course, this may be related to the projects they practice.

  After the student troops entered the Wanping military camp, Ouyang Yun distributed the training manual. This manual, which was entirely copied from the People's Liberation Army Ground Force Training Manual, left many students stunned when they received it - for example, the strict requirements of the "Internal Affairs" section were beyond their understanding. As a result, when making their beds, they often had a playful attitude and would laugh and chat during training sessions. Under this mindset, the beds they made naturally did not meet standards.

  One evening, Ou Yang Yun suddenly ran back after being absent for a week. An emergency assembly was called and after running 15 kilometers cross-country, they returned to their dormitory panting. As they were about to throw themselves onto the beds out of habit, one of the more careful soldiers shouted: "Hey, don't move!"

  "What's wrong?"

  "Look at my quilt."

  Everyone took a look, his quilt was folded into a neat and standard square shape like tofu. Someone joked: "Xiao Zhang, it seems that from today on, we all have to hand over our quilts to you for folding. We'll definitely get first place in the dorm's cleanliness competition!" As he said this, he glanced at his own bed and saw the neatly folded quilt, almost jumping up: "I didn't fold this!"

  Others also found the anomaly on their beds at this time, and their quilts were all folded into tofu-like blocks. Everyone couldn't help but glance at each other, then whispered to discuss this strange thing - "Who could have folded it?"

  At this time, their squad leader walked in and saw their suspicious appearance. His face was not good-looking and he said in a low voice: "Don't guess anymore, the team leader has arrived."

  "Ah!"

  "Paired with a gloomy face, his fingers pointed at each person's face one by one. 'You, you, you... don't you feel ashamed? What does the internal management regulation say? Ah! You have such big faces, actually wanting the team leader to fold quilts for you?!'"

  There were still some who didn't know better and asked, "Is this really the squad leader's doing? This is folded too perfectly—" He thought of his own platoon leader having an orderly and couldn't help but wonder: Does he even fold his own blankets?

  He kicked him hard in the butt and asked loudly: "Do you know the importance of folding blankets?"

  He was kicked and stumbled almost fell down, but facing the evil wolf-like eyes of the row leader, he immediately stood up straight and replied loudly: "I know!"

  "Recite it once."

  "Folding blankets well can cultivate our rigorous living habits, in wartime it can save preparation time, and this is also a reflection of our good military appearance."

  "Starting from tomorrow, the whole team will practice folding blankets. When the team leader is satisfied, that's when it counts as qualified!"

  "Is this what you mean by 'team leader'?"

  "It's what we all mean, the team leader has established this internal management regulation for more than half a month, take a look at how you've been implementing it, it's a joke!"

  There was a squad leader from the same hometown, who usually didn't show much respect to him, and said: "Squad leader, it seems like your quilt is not folded very well either?"

  His face, which had already improved a lot, completely turned black when he heard this. He waved his hand and said: "Except for Xiao Bingkun, no one in the group is qualified, so from tomorrow on, everyone will practice folding quilts under Xiao Bingkun's guidance."

  "Ah! Deputy Commander Li is also participating?"

  Deputy Commander Li is actually Li Tieshu. As soon as the Student Army moved into the Wanping Military Camp, Ouyang Yun promoted him to a high position. Now, all matters of the Student Army are actually taken care of by him. Therefore, in the hearts of ordinary students, Deputy Commander Li's words sometimes carry more weight than those of lower-ranking officers.

  "Huh? What's going on? Can't Vice Captain Li participate?"

  "No, no, no, it's not what you mean—"

  "Alright, sleep tight, before closing your eyes, everyone think carefully - is the team leader's job just to fold our quilts?"

  The recruits were in a great predicament.

  The squad leader left, leaving many questions for the recruits - with about 400 people in the whole regiment, how did their little officers pile up so many quilts?

  This question, then, has to be asked of Gu Lianyun, Chu Tiange and Liu Zhe Liang. In fact, all the quilts were folded by them together with Ouyang Yun. Liu Zhe Liang and Chu Tiange's quilt-folding skills were completely forced out by Ouyang Yun. As his orderly, Liu Zhe Liang couldn't let the team leader fold quilts, could he? Chu Tiange was always loyal to Ouyang Yun, and after being emphasized once on the importance of folding quilts, he began to complete them without any discount - of course, another reason for his enthusiasm for folding quilts was that Chen Jiaoyu's eyes sparkled when she saw the quilts he folded, greatly satisfying his vanity. As for Gu Lianyun, it was out of traditional feminine thinking, believing that letting men fold quilts was a very unseemly thing. She had no choice but to practice diligently, and with Ouyang Yun as her instructor, she made rapid progress, and soon the quilts she folded were barely presentable.

  Ouyang Yun didn't originally intend to make a big deal out of the folded quilt issue. He returned to the barracks that night actually wanting to discuss with Li Tieshu about forming a special forces battalion, but unexpectedly saw the folded quilts made by the new recruits and was infuriated - aside from Xiao Shoukun, not one of them was satisfactory. He recalled his own experience folding quilts during his dark days at Harbin Military Engineering Institute, and remembered what the instructor said: "From small to large, this can reflect a person's attitude towards training." He realized that folding quilts wasn't a trivial matter, and so he lost his temper for the first time.