Super Soldier in the City

The plane landed a bit late at Guizhou Province Airport. Li Yifei and Na Yi exited the airport, having arranged a vehicle in advance. Someone was there to greet them, and the two got into the car, which headed into the city to meet Zheng Mingrui.

"Boss, you... had I known you were taking a connecting flight here, Wanqing and I wouldn’t have needed to take the train. We could’ve just hitched a ride on your plane." Zheng Mingrui rushed to give Li Yifei a bear hug as soon as he saw him, both extremely excited since it had been a long time since they met.

Li Yifei was equally thrilled. After releasing Zheng Mingrui, he couldn’t help but frown and say, "You’ve been living well lately, haven’t you? Your face is almost round; it seems Wanqing is feeding you well!"

"Of course, Wanqing is very caring!" Zheng Mingrui said with a touch of pride, scratching his head. "Although, I do feel I’ve gained quite a bit of weight—I’ve been busy with work, and life has been comfortable, so..."

"I see you’re happy, but you can’t neglect your body. If we meet again in a few years and you’re a big-bellied man, I won’t acknowledge you as my brother." Li Yifei said sternly.

Zheng Mingrui quickly promised, "No, I definitely won’t. I’ll hit the gym right away. I can get back in shape in a few days—I’ve got the foundation!"

"Alright, remember to send me a photo!" Li Yifei replied.

Zheng Mingrui immediately let out a small sound and rubbed his face, saying, "Boss, are you serious?"

"No joke, look at you now; your waist has gained twenty centimeters, right? Can’t you let people comment on it?"

"Fine, fine, I’ll go to the gym and get back in shape." Zheng Mingrui shook his head, saying a bit dejectedly.

"Brother Li, thank you for keeping him in check. I can’t even get him to listen anymore. I’ve been wanting him to hit the gym. Gaining weight at this age will lead to all sorts of health issues when he’s older." Lin Wanqing chimed in from the side.

Hearing his wife’s input, Zheng Mingrui completely surrendered, raising his hands and saying, "Boss, give me a month, at most two months, and I’ll lose all this flab."

"A member of the Flying Hawk Squad, and it takes you two months to lose weight?" Li Yifei glanced at him sideways.

Zheng Mingrui wiped his sweat and said, "Half a month, no, I’ll lose it in ten days."

"Alright, one or two months it is. Losing weight too fast isn’t good for your health. Even if I don’t care about you, I have to consider your wife; she would be worried."

"Always open-minded, Boss. Haha, let’s settle on that then. I’ll send you a photo in two months!" Zheng Mingrui laughed.

Na Yi watched from the side. She didn’t know Zheng Mingrui, but after introductions, she realized this was Li Yifei’s comrade, and she also got to know Lin Wanqing.

"Boss, you’re still the same, haven’t changed at all, that’s great!" Zheng Mingrui sighed as he sat in the car.

"Let’s find a place to eat first, save the nostalgia for later. I didn’t get fat like you!" Li Yifei joked with a smile.

Zheng Mingrui immediately put on a pained expression, saying, "It’s not my fault... I’ve been corrupted by society. But thanks to Boss’s guidance, I’ve come to my senses and returned to the right path!"

The two still felt just as they did back in the day. Even though it had been a long time since they’d seen each other, there was no awkwardness, nor had the increasing disparity in their statuses caused any distance between them. That was what Li Yifei hoped to see. He didn’t have many friends; those he’d met during his journey from nothing to something were even fewer. With a friend like Zheng Mingrui, Li Yifei was confident they could remain friends for a lifetime—or at least for as long as Zheng Mingrui lived.

Fortunately, both men knew this well, which made them cherish their friendship even more.

At the restaurant, Zheng Mingrui suggested drinking, but Li Yifei shook his head and said, "We’re driving; let’s drink when we get there."

"True, let’s hold off for now then!" Zheng Mingrui nodded in agreement.

As the meal was about to end, Zheng Mingrui suddenly said, "Boss, there’s something I don’t know if I should say."

Li Yifei glared at him and said, "Is there anything you shouldn’t say to me? How did you become so calculating?"

"No, it’s not about me, it’s about Tianxing!" Zheng Mingrui said.

"What’s up with Tianxing?"

"I’m not entirely sure, but I’ve heard that Tianxing hasn’t been doing well. After all, he was discharged due to injury, and it was a serious one. Plus, it’s said that the compensation he received wasn’t much!"

"Not much compensation? Impossible. I fought for a substantial sum for him back then, though it’s not that much, but it was at least several hundred thousand, which should have been enough to live on these past few years, right?" Li Yifei said, surprised.

When Zhang Tianxing was discharged due to injury, the members of the Flying Hawk Squad were quite saddened. However, one of the features of this squad is a high elimination rate due to the dangerous nature of their missions. It’s rare for members to stay from start to finish. Li Yifei tried his best to secure generous retirement funds for each member, especially those who had to leave early due to injuries.

So, hearing Zheng Mingrui’s words, Li Yifei was quite surprised.

Zheng Mingrui nodded and said, "Captain, I know about that, but the problem may lie with logistics. I don’t know the specifics, but I know that after Zhang Tianxing retired, he received very little money, so he couldn’t do much. Plus, because his health was poor, he had to return home."

Li Yifei’s face didn’t look good upon hearing this. He himself has retired and it’s been several years, but the money his former teammates in the Flying Hawk Squad earned with half their lives hadn’t been fully received—this was like a slap in his face. Li Yifei didn’t doubt Zheng Mingrui’s words; there had been too many pests in various teams over the years. If it weren’t for the Flying Hawk Squad being Huaxia’s strongest team, directly led by the highest chief, it would likely have been corrupted as well. Yet, the incident with Zhang Tianxing still happened?

Li Yifei found it difficult to imagine, but it was quite possible.

He sighed and said, "This matter... I’ll address it after seeing Zhang Tianxing. Whatever compensation was due back then, not a penny should be missing. If any amount is lacking, I’ll personally get it back from the people who took the money back then!"

"Captain, I... also spoke too quickly; this is just hearsay, not certain." Seeing Li Yifei so upset, Zheng Mingrui quickly said, and Lin Wanqing nudged him, saying, "Brother Li, Mingrui was a bit rash in speaking, this hasn’t been verified, so we can’t be sure yet!"

"I understand, we should be able to see Tianxing tonight, and then I’ll know for sure." Li Yifei nodded, naturally not upset at Zheng Mingrui and his wife, as it had nothing to do with them.

Zheng Mingrui nodded, then added, "This is really frustrating!"

"Let’s have dinner first, then we’ll prepare to set off," Li Yifei said.

Not many comrades were going to attend Zhang Tianxing’s wedding this time. Li Yifei hadn’t organized anything, only Zheng Mingrui and five or six others were going, along with Li Yifei. It was a small circle after retirement, although everyone was from the Flying Hawk Squad, practically, there were close and distant relations. Li Yifei got along well with most of them, but many members hadn’t retired yet or had transferred to other units to be instructors or leaders.

Zhang Tianxing’s hometown is on the plateau, mountainous too, with difficult roads. After dinner, four of them drove towards it in a Mercedes SUV. Before setting off, Zheng Mingrui contacted Zhang Tianxing and said, "Tianxing, my wife and I are coming to your wedding. We’ll arrive tonight. Give me an exact address, and I’ll drive directly there. Are you coming to pick us up? No, no need. You’re getting married the day after tomorrow; just get some rest. We’ll all drink well then! Of course, there are others too; we were very close back then. They’re almost here too; don’t worry, we can take care of ourselves!"

"The village can’t accommodate us, so we’ll stay in the town first, oh, it’s a township, but we must go to your home to see your parents first. You don’t need to bother about that, just let us know when we’ve arrived!" Zheng Mingrui quickly added, "By the way, there’s a big surprise, haha, don’t ask me; you’ll know then. Just prepare to drink a lot!"

After hanging up, the smile gradually faded from Zheng Mingrui’s face. He said to Li Yifei, who was driving, "Boss, I feel like Tianxing is having a hard time."

"Doesn’t sound good!" Li Yifei nodded. He had heard the conversation too; Zhang Tianxing’s wedding was being held in the village, not even in the town. In Ning Province, in Mile City, young people usually hold weddings, if not in city hotels, at least in county or town restaurants for the occasion. Yet Zhang Tianxing’s is at home, which could be traditional... but more likely due to lack of money.

Zheng Mingrui instinctively thought of this, and they’d know once everyone arrived. Li Yifei had only attended a few weddings, especially those of fellow soldiers, and couldn’t watch someone be down and out, so certain things must be there.

Zheng Mingrui appeared somewhat silent; his personality was like this: he hated evil but wasn’t impulsive, was kind-hearted, but ruthless to enemies, seemingly contradictory but actually simple. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have attracted a smart woman like Lin Wanqing.

After driving for over an hour, Zheng Mingrui swapped places with Li Yifei.

The mountainous, dangerous roads, even with Li Yifei having found a high-performance off-road vehicle, still felt very bumpy. They rested twice; the two women in the back didn’t look too good, as the car’s bumps were severe, making both women a bit carsick.

Especially since it was their first time here, unfamiliar with the roads and unable to drive too fast due to poor conditions, despite both being skilled drivers, they needed caution with two precious ones in the back seat.

"Boss, this road ahead..." Zheng Mingrui stopped the car, looked at the blocked road ahead, and couldn’t help gritting his teeth.

Li Yifei also got out to check and frowned. The road ahead was gone, a one and a half meters wide crack in the road. Speeding over it was possible but a bit risky.

"Detour?" Zheng Mingrui looked back at the car and suggested.