Chapter 284: Chapter 282: Commendation and Holiday

The leaders and the chief of staff nodded in agreement, endorsing the political commissar’s opinion.

Then, the chief of staff said, “Moreover, since your operation did not encounter further interference, this suggests that our secret operations indeed require more caution.”

Last time, a real military exercise was unexpectedly interrupted by the enemy, but this time, after strengthening confidentiality measures, no unexpected interference occurred. In comparison, it is highly probable that there is an internal information leak, which urgently needs to be identified and eliminated.

After the two finished speaking, the leader gave a summary speech: “In both missions, you performed extremely well. Comrades, you are all brave and intelligent, and also rare excellent soldiers. In view of your outstanding performance in the two missions, I will consider recommending you for commendations as encouragement. I hope you will continue to work hard and maintain your performance.”

Ling Chengyan stood up, saluted, and left the command center.

Returning to the Huicheng Special Service Company camp, all six who went on the mission with her were present, and twenty pairs of eyes turned to look at her.

Ling Chengyan’s face was calm, with almost no hint of emotion: “I have a few words to say.”

The soldiers, initially standing at attention in a standard military posture, all extended their right foot to assume the ’at ease’ stance.

“Our Huicheng Team’s performance during this exercise has received the leadership’s recognition and praise. The leadership stated that they will apply for commendations for the comrades who excelled.”

Applause erupted, and everyone, including the soldiers from both the Special Service Company and the non-special service company, clapped desperately.

Unable to resist, a slight curve formed at Ling Chengyan’s mouth. She smiled as she watched the soldiers’ joyful faces. Waiting for their excitement to subside a bit, she raised her hand to signal for temporary silence, then added: “In view of the excellent performance of the comrades, the leadership has granted us a one-day holiday. Tomorrow, you are free to do as you wish.”

“Wa—ah!”

Cheers and applause erupted simultaneously. This time, not only were their hands red from clapping, but their throats were hoarse from shouting.

With a day off, not only did most of the soldiers leave the camp, but Ling Chengyan also left the camp. She first went to the hospital to visit Geng Wei, who was hospitalized.

This guy was bitten by a snake on his first mission, nearly costing him his life. Fortunately, he was lucky, and after intense rescue and several days of detoxification treatment, most of the toxins in his body were cleared. However, due to the poisoning, his organ functions were somewhat affected, and he needed a few more days of recovery.

Ling Chengyan first consulted with the doctor about Geng Wei’s condition before heading to the ward.

As soon as she walked into the ward, Geng Wei and the caretaker, Li Ming, seemed to see a savior. Geng Wei jumped out of bed and rushed toward her, directly grabbing her hand and making a request: “Company Commander, I’m all better, let me be discharged.”

Li Ming, following a step behind, also looked aggrieved: “Company Commander, please talk to the platoon leader. The doctor has already said that his body is still not fine and he can’t be discharged yet. But he refuses to listen and insists on being discharged, causing trouble for two days…”

Caught by Geng Wei and stared at by Li Ming, Ling Chengyan could only smile helplessly. Then, with a gentle twist and retreat, she easily freed herself from their grip, and continued to walk inside with ease: “I brought you some chicken soup, specially stewed by the cooking team, made to our local taste.”

These days, while stationed at the base, her daily training and fieldwork schedule was packed, leaving no time to visit, let alone bring them food. These two have been eating at the hospital canteen, where the food is likely not to their taste.

Sure enough, hearing that the food was made by northern chefs, both of them couldn’t bother to hold her back any longer and simultaneously turned toward the two lunchboxes Ling Chengyan brought.

Setting aside the food in the lunchboxes, just the sight of several big, white steamed buns in the cloth bag made the two young men beam with joy.

They’ve been eating rice all these days, and even if there are steamed buns, the taste isn’t right. They’ve long been fed up with it.

Although Geng Wei was the one insisting on being discharged, since he was the patient, Li Ming let him grab a bun first.

Geng Wei tore a piece of bun and stuffed it into his mouth, praising while eating: “Our buns are still the best, chewy and hearty, unlike the buns here, which are softer than bread, small to begin with, and squashed to nothing with a squeeze.”

Saying this, he pouted and tore another large piece of bun, shoving it into his mouth.

Li Ming had already opened a lunchbox, and upon seeing the dish in the first box, he exclaimed with joy: “Scrambled eggs with green onions!”

“Yes,” Ling Chengyan smiled, watching the two fight over the food.

Despite the seemingly simple dish of scrambled eggs with green onions, it’s not easy to get here. Eggs aren’t much different, but there are no large green onions here, only thin scallions… Ling Chengyan had to ask the transport convoy to bring these green onions.

“If I weren’t worried about you stinking up the place, I would’ve brought a few stalks for you,” Ling Chengyan laughed.

Geng Wei sighed, ultimately shaking his head: “Raw onions and garlic are better avoided…”

Saying this, he laughed again: “Just yesterday, I was telling the guys across from me about the large green onions back home, taller than a person. None of them believed me, saying I was exaggerating.”

Ling Chengyan turned to look at the injured soldier on the opposite bed, a baby-faced young soldier, not more than twenty years old.

Being looked at by Ling Chengyan made him somewhat embarrassed, and his cheeks flushed a bit.

“I, I don’t disbelieve…”

Ling Chengyan smiled and responded: “Different places have different produce. Seeing pomelos for the first time, I couldn’t imagine there would be such large fruits. Initially, I thought they were extra-large oranges.”

The young man felt less embarrassed by her words and smiled along with her.

Li Ming had already used the lunchbox lid to divide some scrambled eggs, adding a few pieces of chicken and a small piece of bun to give to him: “Here, have a taste too. The food back home is the best.”

The young man didn’t refuse, took a chopstick full of egg into his mouth, slightly grimaced, and said: “Salty… but quite good. It’d be even better with some chilies in it.”

Geng Wei whispered to Ling Chengyan: “He’s from Jiang Province.”

During her time with the Automobile Company, Ling Chengyan had been to Jiang Province several times and knew that the diet there was intensely spicy. She nodded knowingly after hearing this.

Seeing that Geng Wei was indeed much better, Ling Chengyan felt relieved and reminded the reluctant Geng Wei to take good care of his body and strive to return to the team soon. Ignoring Geng Wei’s longing gaze, she ruthlessly left the hospital.

After leaving the hospital, Ling Chengyan also went to the market to buy some local specialties to send back to her family and the children.

Of course, parcels and letters had to be sent via the special military post office at the base, not only because soldiers send letters and packages for free but also because of discipline.

In the streets, some mountain residents were selling regional fruit, and there were street stalls selling rice noodles and bābā cakes.

Ling Chengyan saw a lot but bought little, yet chatted quite a bit with the vendors. She inquired about local customs, the harvest, and even chatted about their children and piglets back home…

The mountain folks couldn’t speak Mandarin, and their dialect sounded like a foreign language at first. Ling Chengyan was initially guessing, but as she walked from one end of the street to the other, she could basically understand most of it, and even learned the pronunciation of some commonly used words for fruits and snacks.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep