Chapter 164: Prosperity 164: Not Enough

New Year's Day.

The sunlight came in from the window. Gu Qingqing was sleeping in the man's arms, with the two children between her and the wall.

Chu Dai touched the watch on the bedside table and checked the time.

Today is also a day off, the second batch of people are on duty on the island.

After kissing the sleepy and tired woman in his arms, he put down his watch, smoothed her hair behind her ear with his fingers, and rubbed her cheek with his fingertips.

The quilt was too warm and the man's body was like a stove. She really didn't want to wake up, but when she heard the whimpering of the two children, she got up without hesitation.

The man leaned against the head of the bed, holding a small baby in his arms, and looked sideways at the woman who was yawning while feeding her.

"Qingqing." He called out.

The woman turned around confusedly, "Huh?"

He smiled and looked down at her chest, "Your clothes are wet."

Gu Qingqing took a look and sighed.

"Please pass me the towel beside the bed." Because the kids have been drinking a lot of fish soup recently and have plenty of milk, she has been wondering whether she should reduce the number of times the two little ones drink milk powder.

Doctor Yang Jun said that breast milk is more nutritious than formula and asked her to breastfeed the children as much as possible.

The man found the towel and handed it to her, and then they exchanged the children in their hands.

When they left the room, Gu Qinglie had already brought back breakfast from the cafeteria. He was wearing the regular army uniform he had just worn when he arrived on the island, a pine green outfit.

He had a gun on his waist.

Seeing them coming out, he pulled out his gun and put it on the table, then took the baby from his sister's arms and said, "You eat first, I'm done."

Shen Sui came in after sweeping the yard outside and took his little nephew from his brother-in-law's arms. The sun was strong outside today and it was not very cold on the island during the day, so he carried Nian Nian in his arms and went for a walk in the yard outside.

Gu Qingqing sat down to eat. Chu Dai took the bowls and chopsticks from the kitchen and asked Gu Qinglie, "Will you come with me to the training ground later?"

"Okay." Gu Qinglie tiptoed over the chair, leaned slightly against the back of the chair, and stretched out his hand to tease his nephew in his arms: "I ran into Lao Zhao when I came back just now, and he said he wanted to come with us."

Chu Dai didn't find it surprising, as military doctors in the corps could also train with the troops, especially field doctors like them.

"Let's shoot first today. It doesn't matter if you can hit accurately or not." He picked a woman from the shredded pork in the porridge and said, "You have to practice on your own in the afternoon. I have something to do at the battalion headquarters."

"Okay," Gu Qinglie rubbed his nephew's nose with his finger. Seeing that the little guy was so happy even though he had no teeth, he couldn't help but smile: "Are there any more telegrams from the Corps?"

"No, the next time Lao Guan writes, it will be an order. Lao Feng is leading the team to the border." Chu Dai stretched out his long legs and looked up at the man sitting on the back of the chair: "Two months at most, you must go back."

Gu Qinglie's face looked a little solemn. They were not allowed to pass through the border for years. It seemed that the enemy was making a big move this time.

"I know."

Gu Qingqing never interrupted the men's military conversations, nor did she interfere with any of their decisions. She just drank her porridge silently, praying in her heart that the soldiers of the Corps who were on this mission were safe.

After Chu Dai left, Feng Tianya was promoted from deputy company commander to company commander. Gu Qingqing was impressed by this straightforward and cheerful old Feng. She knew almost everyone in the corps at the time, but now she would see many new faces.

Every spring was the peak season for warfare, and the enemy would deliberately harass the border towns, preventing them from having a peaceful New Year.

At this time of year every year, the Corps suffered heavy casualties and the troops were replenished too quickly, so that even the battalion and company commanders often could not be remembered by name.

After dinner, the two men were going out, and Gu Qingqing and Shen Sui each held one at home.

Chu Dai and Gu Qinglie walked side by side on the Baisha Trail, crossed the North District and went to the training ground behind the camp headquarters.

There were not many people there, almost just the two of them. After a few minutes, Zhao Ze also came running over, panting.

Looking at the empty training ground and the lonely target, he held his knees and gasped: "This scene is rare in the Corps."

Regardless of whether it is Chinese New Year or not, the training ground is always packed with people.

"The mission is different, stop talking nonsense." Chu Dai threw the gun at his waist to him: "You two have a competition."

Gu Qinglie scratched his head and said, "Although I have some problems now, you want me to compete with this guy with a knife in shooting?"

Zhao Ze looked at the gun in his hand and grinned: "What's wrong with the knife? If it weren't for me, who would sew up your wounds? Old Chu, you have to change your habit of always loading your gun. Now you are on the island, not in the corps, and you won't be sent on a sudden mission. What if you accidentally discharge the gun?"

"Okay, I'll remember that." The man looked at the stone next to him and walked over to sit down. "You two can practice. I'll watch you."

Gu Qinglie was still a little nervous. Every time he held the gun, he couldn't help but recall the scene at that time. In a short time, the sweat on his forehead dripped down, and the back of his army green shirt was completely soaked.

Zhao Ze and Chu Dai looked at each other from a distance, and when he saw Gu Qinglie's shaking hands, he fell silent.

He was an army doctor, and Chu Dai and Gu Qinglie would always take him with them to the battlefield. In his impression, Gu Qinglie was always as decisive in killing as a tiger descending from the mountains.

Seeing his current appearance, Zhao Ze sighed in his heart.

He had also heard of cases of psychological trauma. There were quite a few such cases in the Corps. They were all soldiers who survived the battlefield and could not accept that their comrades who had eaten and slept with them like brothers had died in battle.

Among them, some were unable to recover and were arranged by Lao Guan to retire, while others continued to go to the battlefield and never returned.

There was really nothing he could do about Gu Qinglie's situation, so he sent telegrams several times to military doctors from other units for advice, and they were also facing the same problem.

Finally, only one sentence is left——

It requires warriors to have strong psychological qualities to overcome it on their own.

All he wants now is to curse his mother.

A good soldier has become like this. If Gu Qinglie can never use a gun in his life, he will be really ruined. It is torture to let him stay in the army without being able to fight. Let him retire...

Zhao Ze didn't dare to think about it.

Gu Qinglie's temper is as fierce as his name. When he first arrived at the Corps, he said, "I was born to be on the battlefield."

Chu Dai could no longer sit still. He stood up and walked behind Gu Qinglie. He grabbed Gu Qinglie's arm with his thin but powerful wrist and said in a deep voice, "Comrade Gu Qinglie, I order you as your superior to shoot!"

Gu Qinglie, who was trapped in the nightmare, had a moment of clarity in his mind. His whole body was wet, and his dilated pupils gradually focused with a firm gaze.

"Bang--"

The bullets whizzed out, breaking the sound of the wind.

Zhao Ze looked at the bullets grazing the bark in the distance and laughed: "Old Gu, if Emerson knew your current shooting skills, he would crawl out from underground to grab you."

Gu Qinglie's palms were numb from the shock, and he grinned: "If that old fellow dares to crawl out again, I will raise my foot and step on his head again."

Chu Dai withdrew his hand and stood behind them with his hands behind his back.

He looked at the tall and straight coconut trees in the distance and said, "Not enough."

This is not enough.

Even a three-year-old child can shoot a gun. Gu Qinglie returned to the Corps to lead troops to the battlefield, and he still had some obstacles in his heart.

"Practice slowly." Zhao Ze patted Gu Qinglie on the shoulder, turned around and said to the man behind him: "It's good to be able to shoot. At least you don't have to go back to the army to feed pigs."

"Old Zhu always hits nine out of ten targets when shooting. He is not even qualified to feed pigs." Chu Dai rolled up his sleeves slowly, took the gun from the man who pulled the knife, and without even taking aim, he pulled the trigger and fired a shot into the air.

It's completely instinctive.

"Pah—" a bird fell down.

Zhao Ze was heartbroken: "How could you be so cruel to kill someone on the first day of the Lunar New Year?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he ran over and picked up the bird, waving at the two people: "It's still breathing. Don't save it. Stew it for lunch?"

Chu Dai curled his lips, obviously too lazy to pay attention to him.

Gu Qinglie grinned: "Oh, even if I am not qualified to feed pigs, I am still Qingqing's second brother. She loves me so much and has always loved to stick to me since she was a child. She also said that she looks most like me."

Hearing him lie with his eyes open, Chu Dai sighed imperceptibly, "Brother, I was wrong."

Gu Qinglie snorted softly and smiled.

Zhao Ze and Chu Dai found a stone stool to sit on. The bird at their feet was still fluttering. Zhao Ze had a small knife with him and immediately relieved its pain.

Gu Qinglie is now practicing alone in front of a target. It is true that he can shoot, but his hands are still shaking. Not to mention aiming at the target, even if you stand in front of him with your head against the muzzle of the gun, his hands will shake.

"There used to be a rich man at the entrance of my hometown village. He also shook like this when he smoked a pipe." Zhao Ze took out a piece of gauze from his pocket and wiped the scalpel.

Chu Dai clicked his tongue and said, "What else have you used this knife to do besides pull people out?"

"I can do all the work that the kitchen staff can do." Zhao Ze pushed his glasses, leaned against the small tree behind the stone, and squinted at Gu Qinglie who was practicing with a trembling hand: "What's the situation at the Corps?"

"We have been at war with two small countries nearby. If we had not established diplomatic relations with Emerson's country, we would have been outnumbered three at once." Chu Dai took out a White Rabbit candy from his pocket, peeled it open and stuffed it into his mouth: "Killing Emerson was the best thing Lao Gu has ever done in his life. Even if he can no longer shoot, Lao Guan will let him stay in the army for the rest of his life."

"That's true, but Lao Gu is a proud man. He can't fight in the war and just rest on his laurels. It's better to kill him." Zhao Ze took a candy from his pocket skillfully, peeled off the candy wrapper and chewed it slowly.

"Ah Nian told me that you guys are going to leave the island. Are you really determined?"

"Yeah." The man responded, his eyes always on his tall second uncle not far away.

"That's fine too. I'm just too lazy to move. I'll wait five, six, seven, or eight years before I see if I can be transferred. I'll go wherever they tell me to go." The sea breeze blew and Zhao Ze felt a little sleepy. He leaned against the tree behind him and said, "I'll take a nap. Call me when you get back."

"good."

Gu Qinglie stopped only after he and Chu Dai had used up all the bullets they had. After calming down his emotions, he put the gun back in his pocket, walked up to the two men, and kicked the silent bird on the ground with his toes.

"Wasn't it still alive and kicking just now?" he wondered. He wanted to take it back and raise it together with the pheasants. It couldn't fly if it was injured. Once it was healed, it could go wherever it wanted.

"I got scratched by the guy who pulled the knife." Chu Dai pulled his arm and stood up, his chin slightly raised: "Does this guy care?"

"Take care of it. It's New Year's Day, don't make the wife anxious." Gu Qinglie bent down and pushed Zhao Ze's shoulder, "Doctor, go home and cook."

Zhao Ze woke up in a daze, put on his crooked glasses, grabbed his wrist and stood up, not forgetting to take the pigeon back.

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, another half month has passed and it is the Lantern Festival.

The two brothers Tuantuan and Niannian are almost two months old now. Their eyebrows and eyes have grown a little and they don’t look so ugly anymore. The hair that was shaved by their uncle has slowly grown out.

Shen Sui also started school. He went to school at 7:30 every day and finished school at 12:00. During the two-hour lunch break, he would do homework or help his sister take care of the children.

He is now in junior high school, and the workload is heavier than in primary school. He goes to school at two in the afternoon and comes back at five. Gu Qingqing told him not to worry about his two little nephews all the time, but to focus on his studies, as he will go to the capital to attend high school in a few years.

Mr. Qin wanted to lead him in the direction of becoming a diplomat, but Gu Qingqing was worried when she saw that A'di was not talkative.

The Lantern Festival is also Shen Sui’s birthday, but he himself has never mentioned it. The Public Security Bureau sent him all the child’s information when he transferred his household registration.

Gu Qingqing handed the child to the two men and worked hard in the kitchen.

I was having dinner with a few people at home, so I invited Xu Nian and Zhao Ze.

Eventually, my relationship with Bai Tao became a little distant, probably because we were both busy taking care of the children, and sometimes when we met on the street we would just chat for a few words.

The relationship with Xu Nian is the most stable. The men from both families are from the same military corps and have known each other for such a long time that they can take care of each other when having children.

Whenever her family had something, they would always remember Xu Nian, so Xu Nian asked the captain to take her things as well.

"Qingqing." Xu Nian put the child in the basket outside and asked Ah Sui to watch him for a while. She picked some green onions and garlic sprouts from the backyard, cut the garlic sprouts with a knife, washed them and prepared to mix them with cold dishes: "What else do you want to cook?"