After the commendation ceremony, the military region specially prepared a song and dance performance by the cultural troupe. Xue Yanchen had no intention of appreciating the performances, but the political commissar pulled his hand and made him sit down: "You can't run around this time. You are the main character today. Several leaders are here. Give everyone some face. After running around for so long, it would be good to sit down and enjoy a song and dance performance to relax."

The commander also gestured for him not to leave.

Xue Yanchen couldn't be too casual, so he had no choice but to patiently sit down with him.

Zhao Jun originally wanted to leave with Xue Yanchen, but seeing that he was being held back by the political commissar, he could only sit down as well.

The program started quickly, and as soon as several young and beautiful actresses came on stage, they won a round of enthusiastic applause from the soldiers in the audience.

Chen Zhengdong sat next to Zhao Jun and pointed to the female comrade leading the dance on the stage: "Do you see her? The prettiest one standing at the front is our Commander Li's daughter, Li Xue."

Zhao Jun, with a blank expression, said, "If you're just appreciating the show, then appreciate the show. What do you care about the actors' identities?"

Chen Zhengdong scoffed and muttered under his breath, "He really thinks he's a monk."

While the audience was thoroughly enjoying the show, Xue Yanchen seemed to be suffering terribly, just hoping the performance would end soon. By the end, he didn't even know what the actors had performed, let alone what they looked like.

After watching the performance, he and Zhao Jun said goodbye to the leaders and fled back to their dormitory.

Xue Yanchen and Zhao Jun had just finished their mission and were supposed to have three days of rest before staying in the army for training.

However, Xue Yanchen volunteered two days later to carry out a new mission.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Jun found him and said, "I heard you're going to suppress bandits again. The bandits in the southwest are fierce. Not only are there many of them, but they are all armed and fearless."

"No matter how fierce or reckless they are, someone has to wipe them out. They are not just bandits, but also have some collusion with foreign forces on the border. Otherwise, where would they get so many weapons?"

“That makes it even more dangerous,” Zhao Jun sighed. “Originally, you weren’t needed for this mission; we could have stayed in the army a few more days.”

"You stay here and rest well."

Zhao Jun thought for a moment and said, "Fine, since you want to go, I'll go with you. I'll talk to the regimental commander and see if we can both go."

Now, he has more than just serving his country and people on his mind. There is another very important person in his heart. He and Xue Yanchen are old partners. Xue Yanchen took the initiative to go on the mission, so he went with him. This way, Qin Zhenzhen would not compare him with her cousin again, or think that he was too useless and look down on him.

"Go and tell them, but do it as soon as possible, I'm leaving the day after tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll go and ask the commander right now."

"I'll go with you to find the commander."

"OK."

The two went to the regimental commander's office together. The regimental commander smiled and said, "What's wrong with you two? Everyone else has just returned from a mission and wants to stay in the military region. But you two are all trying to run away. There are many dangers outside. It's not as safe as the military region."

Zhao Jun glanced at Xue Yanchen and said, "Commander, we want to serve our country as much as possible. Please approve my request to go on this mission with Battalion Commander Xue."

The group leader thought for a moment and nodded: "In that case, you can all go together."

"Thank you, sir."

Two days later, they boarded a military train bound for the southwest with other soldiers.

A few days later, Luo Jingyan received a letter from the military region.

After she opened it, the most striking sentence she saw was, "Jingyan, I have arrived safely at the military region. Everything is fine, but I can't help but miss you."

Luo Jingyan looked at the words on the letter that seemed to be flying, and smiled. She felt the same way.

Further down, he talked about some things that happened after he arrived at the military region, and told her to take good care of herself in the brigade.

After reading it, Luo Jingyan put it away and immediately wrote him a reply. She was worried that Xue Yanchen would work too hard on missions because of their marriage and would not care about his own safety. In the letter, she repeatedly told him to take care of his own safety first and not to work too hard.

The time for spring plowing has finally arrived.

The commune specially allocated tractors to the top three brigades that performed well last year, so that tractors would replace oxen in leading agricultural production.

Because these brigades originally did not have tractors, the commune cadres were worried that none of the villagers knew how to drive tractors. Therefore, they specifically asked the brigade leader to select people from among the commune members to go to the county agricultural machinery station to learn tractor driving skills.

The captain of the Victory Brigade already had someone in mind: Luo Jingyan. She was a ready-made tractor driver who could not only drive but also repair them, making her much better than someone who could only drive. So he didn't think about finding someone else to learn from.

He went to the educated youth settlement to find Luo Jingyan, hoping she would go with him to the county's agricultural machinery station to drive the new tractor back.

“Luo, the educated youth, let me tell you something. The commune has notified our brigade that a tractor will be provided. We’ll organize people to go and learn for seven days first, and then bring the tractor back after seven days. I’m thinking you can drive it. Do you want to go and learn again to get familiar with it again?”

"No need to learn anymore, Captain. I'll definitely bring the tractor over for you when the time comes."

She has a tractor in her space; she can just go in, drive it around a couple of times, and get used to the feel of it.

Seeing her confident demeanor, the brigade leader nodded and said, "Alright, we'll go to the county together in seven days to bring the tractor back."

"good."

Before the brigade leader had even left the educated youth settlement, several people came in.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!