Chapter 1258 - 753: Competition
Chapter 1258 - 753: Competition
When Luo Ye and Shao Bo arrived at the training ground, they happened to see Xiao Long being slammed hard to the ground by Zhao Qianqian. He struggled up a few times, then finally collapsed flat, clearly completely drained by Zhao Qianqian even before this.
"Wah, wah, wah..." The watching soldiers gave an enthusiastic round of applause, not the least bit stingy.
Li’s face was as black as Judge Bao’s, and he shot Xiao Long a furious glare, hating the iron for not becoming steel, then turned and walked toward Shao Bo and Luo Ye.
"Li, if you’re not convinced, you and I can have a go," Zhao Qianqian shouted at his back.
"Hahaha..."
That instantly blew the lid off the place. Black-faced, bull-tempered Li, the one who always acted all high and mighty, actually had to eat dirt for once? The onlooking soldiers were doubled over with laughter, completely losing even the tiniest shred of image.
In this monochrome world of men, a beauty suddenly shows up and even butts heads with Li—this really got them fired up.
Li shot a glare at the soldiers who’d tossed their image aside, but even he couldn’t help grinning a little. The scene was just too comical: a young girl in her prime beating his best soldier, then chasing after him for a match. In this all-male camp, at a moment like this, if he wanted to stop everyone from laughing, he’d basically have to fire a cannon and blast them all away.
Or maybe his previous understanding and assumptions really were wrong?
"Hello, Li." Luo Ye took the initiative to greet him. No matter what, he’d cooperated with her operation before; emotionally and logically, she had to be the one to step forward first.
"Hello, Luo Ye." Li put his stern face back on and jerked his chin in Shao Bo’s direction. "He’s already told you everything, right?"
"Yes." Luo Ye nodded. "You pick. Whatever you want to compete in, you choose."
"You really keep your word, huh." Li looked her up and down. "If we compare physical strength, people will say I’m bullying a girl. How about this: controlled bursts, toss up a hundred iron coins, whoever hits more wins. How’s that?"
"No problem!" Luo Ye nodded.
Shao Bo gave Li a quick, somewhat pained glance, then took a couple of steps back. He hadn’t expected Li to notice and fix him with a displeased stare, pointing right at him. "Battalion Commander Three, what’s that supposed to mean?"
"N-no... nothing." Shao Bo hurried to explain. "I just don’t want to interfere with your match, so I’m backing up a bit, keeping some distance."
Li frowned. "Back up my ass. This bet was your idea, so you’re the one tossing the iron coins. That way no one can say there was bias or whatever. Toss for Xiao Luo first, so you don’t complain you’re out of strength the second time and say I’m bullying a kid."
Hearing him call her a kid, a wicked smile tugged at Luo Ye’s lips. "Li, just for that ’kid’ comment, let’s add another condition: whoever loses has to call the winner ’Master’ from now on."
"Deal!" To show how sure he was, Li patted his chest. He was extremely confident in his gun skill—whenever he took part in a shooting contest at division level, the championship never went to anyone else.
The year before last, he’d represented the division in Beijing for the big military competition. He’d taken second place in shooting. If he hadn’t been a bit nervous fighting on unfamiliar ground, that champion’s spot would definitely have been his.
Now he was on home turf up against a little girl. He was absolutely certain of winning.
"I’m tossing then?" Shao Bo looked at Luo Ye.
"Okay."
"One, two, three—throw!"
"Bang bang bang..."
The instant the iron coins flew up, gunshots rang out in a rapid chain. A moment later, the scene fell dead silent. Li’s face was especially spectacular—no one could tell if he was shocked, excited, disappointed, or what. His expression was so complicated it was impossible to read!
A hundred iron coins were linked into five strings, laid out on the ground in neat, straight rows!
"I concede!"
After a long moment, Li came back to himself. With results like that, there was no need for him to even try. He knew exactly how good he was, after all. So he quickly stepped forward, closed the distance in two strides, and gave Luo Ye a solemn military salute.
Luo Ye hurriedly returned the salute. Revealing her god-level gun skill like this was, of course, something she’d thought through carefully. One day she’d be fully back in the army, and chances to compete shoulder-to-shoulder with people like him would be fewer and fewer. Rather than letting him find out her true ability later and feel that today’s concealment had been an insult, she might as well have a straight-up match right now!
Soldiers don’t need courtesy. Soldiers care about real skill!
"Wah, wah, wah..." The crowd of onlookers finally snapped out of it and erupted into applause, even more enthusiastic than before. Their faces were flushed, necks red with excitement. Soldiers respect the strong!
"I’ll keep my word." Xiao Long said, then dropped to all fours in a crawling posture—by their original agreement, since Li’s side lost, he had to crawl one lap around regimental HQ.
"No need!" Shao Bo hurried forward to pull him up. "Back then I only made that bet because I was pissed you guys didn’t believe me. We’re all comrades-in-arms here. No need to pull this kind of stunt."
Emotion flickered in Xiao Long’s eyes, but he still insisted, "A gentleman’s word can’t be taken back; even four horses can’t chase it down."
"Doesn’t apply to everything. If we really let you go through with that, how’s everyone supposed to get along later?" Luo Ye snapped a salute. "I respect your insistence, but if you see us as comrades-in-arms, then don’t do it."
"Yes, ma’am!"
This was the most heartfelt salute Xiao Long had given since joining the army. The respect there came completely from the bottom of his heart!
Li hesitated for a moment. "Master, can I ask you a question?"
"You want to know how I trained my gun skill?" Luo Ye bluntly accepted the "Master" title from him. Hmph, he’d dared to look down on women earlier—she totally held grudges!
"Yes, yes, yes!" Li nodded rapidly. "Please, Master, enlighten your disciple!"
The watching officers and soldiers all looked at Luo Ye with starry-eyed longing. This kind of shooting—they’d not only never seen it, they’d never even heard of it.
Could it be that everyone in the special operations group was a hidden expert?
In that case, every year the special ops people went to the big military competitions just to drag down the average?
While everyone’s thoughts were spinning, Luo Ye’s clear, sweet voice rang out: "Didn’t really train much. I was just born with a feel for guns. Once I hold one, it’s like it grew out of my arm. Put simply, I’ve got good gun sense."
Collapse!
Infuriating!
This explanation... might as well not have explained! Wasn’t this just asking to make people choke with rage? Especially Li—he’d sweated bitterly for over ten years, and she brushed it all aside with one line: "Didn’t really train, just born with good gun sense," and knocked him flat. How was he supposed to live with that?
The corner of Shao Bo’s mouth twitched. He leaned in close to Luo Ye. "Sis-in-law, Li is actually a good guy. Given your age, it was normal for him to be suspicious, right? Now, if anyone else doubts you, he’ll definitely be the first to jump down their throat..."
"Qianqian, our mission’s done. Let’s go pack up. Tomorrow, we all go back to our own homes and find our own moms. Three days later, we rendezvous at Director Lei’s place." Luo Ye muttered, waved vaguely at the people behind her... and walked off into the distance.
She left behind a crowd of officers and soldiers staring at each other, that line "go back to your own homes and find your own moms" making them all twitch involuntarily.
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Second update posted. Nu’an will keep working hard tomorrow.
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Recommending a friend’s novel
Book Title: "Medical Nu: The Thousand-Gold Lady" Author: Purple Bamboo Fragrance
Summary: A reborn woman fights for victory from within danger, exposes the truth, wins back her son, and finds a good match. (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to go to Qidian (qidian.com) and vote with a Recommendation ticket or a monthly ticket. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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