"Old Li, the four of us can't come down to help you, after all, we have our own tasks. How about this, I'll let Ye Hao and Li Laogui go into the mountains. Ye Hao is an excellent shot, and he once single-handedly took on six poachers."
"Is Comrade Xiao Ye really that formidable?" Captain Li was somewhat skeptical.
"Could I be bragging to you about this? Just a while ago, we confiscated six guns and a lot of bullets, and I even recommended him for a commendation. Today we'll go to the City first. When we return, I'll tell Ye Hao not to go up the mountain yet. You can hand him over to Li Laogui then and tell Li Laogui to take good care of him, teaching him everything he can, whether it's something he can or cannot teach. Anyway, Li Laogui has no descendants, so he can't take his skills into the coffin. Ergou even said Ye Hao is a born mountain runner, and Ergou grew up in the mountains since childhood."
"Don't worry, I'll arrange it properly."
"Then I'm leaving."
"Ye Hao, let's go." Captain Xu led the mule cart out and shouted from afar.
Hearing Captain Xu call him, Ye Hao and the other educated youths bid farewell and headed towards the City.
On the way, Captain Xu spoke; "Ye Hao, today Captain Li said that many people in the village are running out of food, so he asked us to send someone to go hunting in the mountains with Li Laogui. The four of us can't go, as we have tasks assigned by our superiors. So I told Captain Li to let you go. What do you think? If you're unwilling, I'll think of other ways."
"Captain Xu, I'll go, I'll go." Sun Chaoshu, hearing this, couldn't hold back. What boy doesn't like hunting? He spoke before Ye Hao could even say anything.
"You can forget it. With your marksmanship, going into the mountains isn't for hunting; it's for wasting bullets. Besides, if you go into the mountains, I'm afraid a tiger will carry you off." Captain Xu directly shot him down.
"Captain Xu, that's not fair, huh? Although my marksmanship isn't as accurate as my Hao Ge's, I can still hit eight out of ten now." Sun Chaoshu was a bit unconvinced.
"A stationary target that close, hitting eight out of ten, and you have the nerve to say it? After practicing with so many bullets, aren't you ashamed?"
"At that time, my bullets weren't fully fed, and my shooting skills were constantly improving. With every shot, I made progress."
"Alright, I'll let you go when your marksmanship is better. I'm asking Ye Hao today, why are you interrupting?"
"Captain Xu, I am willing to go hunting with Master Li." Ye Hao was watching Sun Chaoshu's performance when he suddenly heard Captain Xu mention him and quickly replied.
He had long wanted to go hunting in the mountains, but there hadn't been an opportunity before. Now that the chance was right in front of him, he definitely had to seize it.
Li Laogui is an old mountain runner, so knowledgeable about the mountains. He must know where there is ginseng and Ganoderma lucidum. He could get some and plant them in his space.
Upon arriving in the City, Ye Hao separated from the others and continued to the black market to deal with his inventory. From now on, he wouldn't have to be ripped off by 'Heizi' anymore. He now had a brigade's worth of equipment. Although he didn't have 7.92mm bullets for the 98k, he had plenty of San-Ba Da Gai (Type 38 Rifle) bullets, so he would use the San-Ba Da Gai (Type 38 Rifle) from now on.
With food being scarce, Ye Hao's items sold very quickly. Once he had sold enough, Ye Hao left the black market. Although he used different disguises each time he sold things, he still couldn't process too many items at once.
Ye Hao arrived at the meeting point and found that Captain Xu and the others hadn't arrived yet.
He found a clean spot to sit down and wait for them.
"Hao Ge, are you asleep?"
Ye Hao was almost asleep when he was woken by Sun Chaoshu's voice from afar. He looked up to see Captain Xu and the others approaching with the mule cart.
"Xiao Hao, let's go, time to head back. I have good news for you: I went to the Forestry Bureau today, and the higher-ups issued you a commendation. I brought it back for you."
"What commendation?" Ye Hao was still a bit groggy as he just opened his eyes.
"It's the commendation for you previously killing those poachers. The higher-ups specifically issued it to you. Before, they would only give commendations to advanced workers at the end of the year. You're an exception." Captain Xu handed a rolled-up commendation to Ye Hao, who saw the writing on it.
[Comrade Ye Hao, during his patrol work in 1960, encountered enemy poachers illegally crossing into our country for real-time poaching activities. Fearless of danger, he calmly confronted them and, with outstanding personal ability, killed 6 poachers. He is hereby rated as an Advanced Worker in the Forestry System and is specially awarded this certificate as encouragement.]
Ye Hao happily put away the commendation. Although there was no actual reward, in this era, a commendation was incomparable to the common commendations and honorary certificates of later generations; its prestige was much higher.
"Hao Ge, we went to the Forestry Bureau today and heard people inside say that Mao Xiong is recalling all experts and destroying blueprints. What do you say about Mao Xiong being so disgusting? They previously pulled us in to fight against the United States, and now they're turning hostile just like that, and demanding we repay debts. Do you think we'll fight with Mao Xiong?" Sun Chaoshu quietly told Ye Hao the news he heard today.
Although Ye Hao didn't remember exactly when Mao Xiong turned hostile, he knew that there would only be small-scale skirmishes at the border, and there definitely wouldn't be a large-scale war.
"There will definitely be minor frictions, but a major war probably won't break out."
"Hao Ge, how do you know?"
"I guessed."
"Uh~"
"Hao Ge, I want to join the army." Sun Chaoshu said in a deep voice.
"What? What are you saying? Why do you have such an idea?" Ye Hao was startled by Sun Chaoshu's words. What kind of stimulation did this child receive? Why was he talking nonsense?
"My father is a soldier, and I've admired him since I was a child, but he was always very strict. I've been afraid of my father since I was little and didn't dare to tell him many things. I wanted to join the army before, but my mother disagreed. She wouldn't let me go, so she had my father arrange a job for me, but I didn't like it.
When I was little, our family often didn't have enough to eat. My mother relied on making clothes for others to earn money and support me. My father was on the front lines at that time. Although he had military pay, it was very little, and not much was sent back. It wasn't until after liberation that the country gradually improved, and our family could occasionally have a meal with meat. All of this was earned by soldiers fighting on the front lines. At that time, I wanted to become a soldier who protects the country in the future. Only then would I be worthy of these hard-won good days."
Seeing Sun Chaoshu's serious expression, Ye Hao didn't know what to say. People who hadn't lived through wartime wouldn't understand how much damage war caused to ordinary people.
"Chao Shu, if you join the army, Aunt Wang won't agree. Look, didn't Uncle Sun transfer from the army because Aunt Wang wouldn't let him stay? Aunt Wang was already very sad when you came to the countryside. How sad would Aunt Wang be if you joined the army again?"
"Hao Ge, I'm going to write a letter to my father. Now that things are stable internally, and we have this problem with Mao Xiong externally, I think he should understand. I'll hide it from my mother when I go. Once I'm in the army, my mother won't say anything anymore; she can't let her son be a deserter, can she?"
Looking at Sun Chaoshu's resolute expression, Ye Hao felt a bit unfamiliar. The Sun Chaoshu he knew had always been carefree and unreliable. Why had he changed so much today? What kind of stimulation did he receive? Ye Hao, from a later generation, would not know how crazily these people in this era loved this land.