Chapter 114 - The Apple of His Eye

After Yang Wudong left, Han Qingyu spent some time chatting with Regiment Commander Li. Perhaps fearing his emotions would get the better of him again, the regiment commander kept a deliberately serious tone as they discussed potential platoon members, in terms of both recruits and veterans.

“What about that Dice, Wen Jifei?” Regiment Commander Li suddenly asked. “Are you planning on including him too?”

“Yeah, the platoon needs an equipment maintenance specialist, right? His time at the equipment hall would’ve prepped him for the role.”

“That’s true. While he’s at it, I’m hoping he can teach you a couple other things too.” Regiment Commander Li paused to think for a moment. “Don’t worry too much about your love life. Just write to your parents and tell them that your regiment commander promised to organize matchmaking events for you in the future.”

Han Qingyu didn’t know how to respond to that.

***

Wen Jifei noticed Han Qingyu’s gaze on him when the latter returned from talking to Regiment Commander Li.

“Don’t look at me, don’t look at me. Don’t tell me you put yourself in a difficult position because of me,” Wen Jifei said, feeling a rare moment of embarrassment at his own circumstances.

While he wanted to join the newly formed Platoon 1777, he was also well aware of his situation and was afraid of it being brought up?.

“Regiment Commander Li brought it up himself. He hopes you’ll join as an equipment maintenance specialist and continue your firearms training with Mira while you’re at it,” Han Qingyu said.

“Oh, well then...” Wen Jifei glanced up at Han Qingyu, nodded, and grinned. “I guess I’d better go say goodbye to the female soldiers at the equipment hall.”

“Yeah, you should.” Han Qingyu returned the smile. Truth be told, someone had even washed Han Qingyu’s laundry for him on two separate occasions thanks to Wen Jifei’s popularity at the equipment hall.

Wen Jifei thought for a moment. “Should I go over to Eldest Gourd’s place and cough up a mouthful of blood too? Even Tangtang’s done it.”

“Why not?” Han Qingyu laughed.

As they were joking around, Shao Xuan and Qin Guowen approached.

Shao Xuan walked up to Han Qingyu with a cold stare and pointedly placed a cigarette in his mouth. After waiting for a few seconds, he snapped, “Hey, you’re supposed to light a cigarette for the Gold Erasers’ platoon leader, you little brat! Don’t you have any common sense? You’re still a new platoon. Don’t you know how to build a good relationship with the top dogs, the Gold Erasers?”

“I don’t have a light,” Han Qingyu said with a smile.

“And yet you managed to light the fuse on my temper.”[1] Shao Xuan lit his own cigarette. Then, raising his head, he surprisingly chose not to bring up the matter of Han Qingyu hiding his true strength and instead said, “I just checked. Your assigned base is a bit far from ours.”

Reading between the lines, basically, their district was outside the Gold Erasers’ support range, meaning the Gold Erasers wouldn’t be able to look out for them.

“Thank you, Platoon Leader Shao,” Han Qingyu said, grasping his meaning. He then asked Liu Shiheng for a light and relit Shao Xuan’s already-lit cigarette.

Shao Xuan coughed twice, smiled, and dragged Qin Guowen out from behind him. “Also, I’m handing this guy over to you. Return him in a year. If he doesn’t want to come back, just don’t bother returning him. He’s not much use anyway.”

There was no way Qin Guowen was actually useless. Even if he didn’t play a crucial role at the Gold Erasers, this B-rank veteran captain would undoubtedly become one of the main combat forces in Platoon 1777.

Han Qingyu and the others were stunned. Even Lao Jian and Mira turned in shock. They wanted to thank him but couldn’t help but hesitate over the words.

Qin Guowen lifted his head and shot them an awkward smile. “I’m... here as a gesture of friendship from the Gold Erasers.”

“Oh, can we pass on that?” Han Qingyu asked directly, turning to Shao Xuan. “Can we swap him out for someone else, Platoon Leader Shao?”

“I’m afraid he’s the worst we’ve got.” Shao Xuan shook his head. “I can’t bring myself to part with the others.”

Qin Guowen visibly drooped.

As one of the two people in Platoon 1777 most familiar with the man, Wen Jifei couldn’t resist taking his own jab. “In that case... I still can’t take him. If Captain Qin joins us, he’ll definitely argue with me every day.”

“I see.” Shao Xuan patted Qin Guowen on the back and left with a grin. “Well, I guess you’ll just have to find another platoon on your own.”

As he walked off, he called back to the group, “Let me know if you ever need anything. If there’s anything I can help with—”

“Can I borrow a source energy core?” Han Qingyu shouted.

“What? I can’t hear you!”

By this point, Shao Xuan was already quite far away.

Qin Guowen stood there all alone and said miserably, “I have... six energy cores on me.”

Han Qingyu, Wen Jifei, He Tangtang, Liu Shiheng, and Shen Yixiu—the confirmed members of Platoon 1777 so far—immediately surrounded him and saluted in unison. “Welcome, Captain Qin, to Platoon 1777!”

“A very warm welcome,” Han Qingyu said.

“Very sincere,” He Tangtang added seriously.

Liu Shiheng joined in as well. “We’re very touched.”

“Love you!” Wen Jifei grinned.

Shen Yixiu couldn’t hold back her laughter.

As a new platoon, 1777 wouldn’t be heading to their base straight away. From a personnel and logistical standpoint, they still needed a relatively long preparation period.

With nothing to do for the rest of the afternoon, Han Qingyu went back to his dorm, fretting over how to send his money home.

Besides the source energy cores, the Gold Azure Guardian Medal also came with a hundred thousand yuan. They had issued the money to him in a special Coalition check, which he could either use directly at the base or turn in to be converted into cash so he could send it home.

The problem was how to send it.

He’d already sent ten thousand yuan back once, claiming it was a reward for meritorious service in the military. That was already a stretch. He was taking advantage of his parents’ ignorance as rural villagers, because he knew they dared not reveal it to others.

This time, it was a hundred thousand. It didn’t make sense to split it up into installments, but it was also an incredible sum of money. Sending it felt too much like he was looking down on his parents’ intelligence.

I mean, what kid joins the military and earns a hundred and ten thousand yuan in just over four months for meritorious service?! What if they think I’m arms dealing?

If I get someone from Platoon 752 to find some pretext to send it there, Mom and Dad will probably faint on the spot, thinking it’s my death gratuity...

It was a tough situation.

***

At the Xin family home in Research Institute No. 2 of the Azure Coalition’s Oriental Republic Army Group, Xin Yaoqiao and her mother were sitting on the couch and chatting into the evening.

“This morning, he buried an A+ into the ground with a single strike!” Xin Yaoqiao exclaimed.

“Mn.” Her mother made a half-hearted sound of acknowledgment.

“He’s joined a newly formed platoon. I—”

“Don’t even think about it. Even if your dad and I approved, your two grandfathers, the research institute itself, and the entire Oriental Republic Coalition Council would not.”

“Oh.”

“Qiaoqiao.”

“Hm?”

“Don’t do this,” her mother said with a hint of exasperation. “A girl shouldn’t be the one to make the first move, you know? Especially when you’re one-sidedly crushing on him.”

“I’m not. He jokingly asked if I’d offer myself to him last time on the phone... He did take it back pretty quickly, but that’s still a hint, right?”

“Really?” Her mother paused in thought, then shook her head. “No way. A man who can crush a bug on a girl’s collarbone isn’t the type to drop hints like that.”

Xin Yaoqiao had nothing to say to that.

“Based on what you’ve said, Mom thinks this guy’s destined to be single for life. No amount of good looks or strength will help. The only way is if he got married straight off a blind date. You’re better off just becoming sworn brothers with him.”

***

Around the same time, at the Ninth Army’s combat training base, Wen Jifei raised his hand to knock on the door of a distinctive little building next to the training ground.

“Coming!” Shen Yixiu called from inside.

Setting down the photo album, she hastily tucked the photos she’d set aside—the ones she didn’t want him to see—into a drawer and closed it. She then stood up to go answer the door.

Her grandfather, Shen Fengting, walked over in an apron. Normally, someone from the household logistics unit would come to help out, but Shen Fengting had refused help this time.

“Grandpa will get it,” Shen Fengting said, pushing his granddaughter back into her room before stepping forward to open the door.

“Good evening, Army Commander Shen.” The group at the doorway saluted, having gotten a preemptive heads-up from Han Qingyu.

“Good evening, everyone.” Shen Fengting smiled kindly, his tone gentle.

This was their first time hosting Shen Yixiu’s friends. They were the first friends she had made since turning twelve. At that moment, the old man didn’t seem much like a former army commander at all. In fact, he seemed a little nervous.

“Come in, come in. Have a seat,” he invited, stepping aside to let He Tangtang, Wen Jifei, and Liu Shiheng enter.

Before Han Qingyu could pass through the doorway, Shen Fengting grabbed him by the arm and dragged him outside.

“Don’t mention our last meeting to Xiuxiu, or else...” Shen Fengting whispered, making a threatening gesture.

“I’m fine with not mentioning it,” Han Qingyu said, eyeing him with slight resentment. “It’s just... Old Commander, you’re too greedy.”

“What?”

“You, you said you’d introduce me back then... Don’t tell me you were actually planning on scamming me out of my energy cores and leaving me empty-handed, were you?”

“Of course I was! What did you expect? That I’d actually introduce you? Xiuxiu’s the apple of my eye!”[2] Shen Fengting said shamelessly.

“More like the hunk of metal of my eye,”[3] said a voice from behind them.

Shen Yixiu stood in the doorway, giggling to herself.

Han Qingyu stared at her in astonishment. This “hunk of metal” actually managed to sneak up on them. She usually made quite a racket while moving around. It turned out that wasn’t because she couldn’t move silently, but that she just didn’t bother to.

Shen Fengting flushed red at the realization that she had overheard him. Staring at her, he realized something. Did she just jokingly call herself a hunk of metal?

From her tone, this playful laugh came from a genuine place. It wasn’t feigned as a deliberate attempt to conceal her true feelings.

“Iron Maiden, what’s wrong?” someone inside called out.

“Are they fighting?” another asked. “Rust Girl, help stop them!”

The group inside broke out into laughter.

Shen Fengting was at a loss for words. What?! Rust Girl?! Iron Maiden?!

The old man was prepared to get a cleaver from the kitchen.

Shen Yixiu called over her shoulder with a laugh, “Based on Grandpa’s expression, they’re on the verge of exchanging blows!”

Shen Fengting found himself caught between laughter and tears as he watched this all unfold. Tears stung his eyes as his heart filled with relief.

He hurried back to the kitchen to hide his emotions.

Shen Yixiu stood at the doorway and whispered, “Grandpa is actually really happy right now.”

1. This is a play on Han Qingyu’s words. In the previous line, he used 火 (huǒ), literally meaning fire, to refer to a lighter. Here, Shao Xuan says 我一肚子火 (wǒ yī dù zi huǒ), which is idiomatic for being angry.

Basically, the dialogue translates more literally as, “I don’t have fire.” “What a coincidence, I have a bellyful of it.”

The translation is obviously a little different, but I wanted to convey that play on words. ☜

2. The idiom used here (and in the title) is 宝贝疙瘩 (bǎo bèi gē da), which literally means “treasured lump.” Figuratively, it translates pretty well to “apple of one’s eye,” though the Chinese idiom is typically used for children specifically ☜

3. Here she says 宝贝铁疙瘩 (bǎo bèi tiě gē da), or “treasured metal lump.” ☜