Chapter 72 The marks on the neck were very deep.
After the school bell rang, most of the children left the classroom.
Winter days are short and dark. The sky outside the window was already turning gray, and only a few children remained, gathered around Jiang Wanqiu and Gu Feiyan.
Gu Feiyan's posture while holding the zither has become much more standard.
He lowered his brows slightly, his expression focused, and his fingertips moved clumsily across the strings.
At first, the sound was still dry and sawing, which made the children next to him giggle.
He wasn't annoyed. He just looked up at Jiang Wanqiu and saw her smiling and encouraging him. He then calmed down and started again.
Once, twice...
Overall, it really does turn into a stumbling melody, which looks quite plausible.
Although it is still somewhat awkward and intermittent, it is a world of difference compared to the beginning.
When the song ended, Gu Feiyan breathed a sigh of relief, and a fine sweat appeared on her forehead.
Jiang Wanqiu's eyes showed genuine approval: "Officer Gu, you have great perseverance and are making very rapid progress."
This man possesses a tenacity unique to soldiers; he does everything with a relentless drive to achieve his goals, which is why he learns quickly.
A bold little girl nearby, tired of the same tune, ran over and tugged at Jiang Wanqiu's sleeve, pleading with her little face upturned, "Teacher Jiang, Teacher Jiang, please play another one! Something like... the kind that's played on the radio, the really nice ones!"
"Okay." Jiang Wanqiu smiled, patted the little girl's head, and naturally took the violin from Gu Feiyan's hands.
She rested the violin on her smooth chin and slender shoulders, tested the sound, and then slowly closed her eyes.
She played the most classic part of "The Butterfly Lovers," the section where the characters transform into butterflies.
It is poignant and lingering, yet it carries with it a resolute determination to break free from constraints and a sense of rebirth.
The children had never heard this before, and they were all mesmerized, their mouths slightly open and their eyes wide open.
They had only ever heard such beautiful music on their old radio at home, through the crackling sound of the static.
Gu Feiyan stood quietly to the side, her gaze fixed on the woman who was immersed in the music.
This piece of music...
He remembered that his mother had pulled it when he was very young.
Right under the big locust tree in the yard, I played it for my father.
What did my father do back then? I think he was leaning against a tree trunk with a cigarette in his mouth, squinting his eyes, looking satisfied and proud.
But that scene was so distant, so distant that his memory of it had become blurred.
But now, Jiang Wanqiu's piano music was like a key, suddenly prying open the box of his memories, instantly taking him back to that most blissful afternoon with his family.
"Thump, thump, thump..."
He could clearly hear his own heartbeat, faster and faster, like a drumbeat.
The music gradually faded, but its lingering notes echoed around the beams.
Jiang Wanqiu opened her eyes and let out a long sigh, just in time to meet Gu Feiyan's deep, almost excessively profound gaze.
He was watching with such focus, and with such... fervor.
Jiang Wanqiu's heart skipped a beat for no apparent reason: "Officer Gu?"
Gu Feiyan's throat bobbed, as if she had just realized her lapse in composure. She hastily looked away and dryly praised, "...It sounds very nice."
He paused, as if to cover something up, then abruptly asked, "Battalion Commander Zhao... do you have the pleasure of hearing this?"
Jiang Wanqiu shook her head and said truthfully, "He has never heard me play the violin."
After all, we don't have a violin at home, and the sound is loud and disturbing if the house isn't big enough.
Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Gu Feiyan felt a strange sense of superiority that she couldn't quite explain...
He subtly curled his lips into a smile, his tone slightly teasing: "Looks like I'll have to enjoy this treat for myself first."
Jiang Wanqiu smiled modestly and said, "Officer Gu, you flatter me too much."
Jiang Wanqiu stepped out of the school gate and looked up at the gray sky. The snow that had been falling for two days had finally stopped.
However, it was colder when the snow melted than when it snowed. Jiang Wanqiu shrank her neck and pulled the slightly wrinkled silk scarf off her neck, preparing to straighten it before putting it back on.
Gu Feiyan was walking beside the woman when she noticed her movements. She was about to speak to her to ask what was wrong when she turned her head and saw that Jiang Wanqiu's neck had turned into dark red teeth marks and hickeys.
As you can imagine, it was quite intense last night.
His eyes trembled slightly as he forcibly pulled his gaze away.
After a long while, he finally found his voice: "The roads are slippery in the snow, Teacher Jiang, please watch your step when you go back."
"Thank you, Staff Officer Gu as well," Jiang Wanqiu said politely.
On the way back, I ran into Li Yanhong, who was buying groceries and heading home.
Seeing that the other person's expression was not good, Jiang Wanqiu went up and greeted them.
Unexpectedly, Li Yanhong asked Jiang Wanqiu directly, "Has your husband come back?"
Jiang Wanqiu was a little confused by the question: "I just got back from get off work, so I'm not sure."
"Hmph, their winter training ended early, there must be something wrong if they're not back by now! I heard from the Li family that they all went to watch the cultural troupe's rehearsal! That bastard, we only gave him a few days of kindness and he dared to go out and peep at young girls! Come on! Let's go find that man with my sister-in-law! If we don't teach him a lesson, he really won't know his place!"
"No, sister-in-law, wait a minute..." Before Jiang Wanqiu could refuse, Li Yanhong forcibly dragged her towards the cultural troupe.
...
Early in the morning, Zhao Wenchang had just finished his morning exercise with his soldiers and was still covered in sweat when he was urgently summoned to the office of Division Commander Zhao Changfeng by the communications officer.
The office was filled with smoke. When Zhao Changfeng saw him come in, he pushed a document and several black and white photos onto the table without saying a word.
See for yourself.
Zhao Wenchang picked up the photograph; it showed a frozen, purple corpse. The face had likely been cut off to prevent recognition. Judging by the clothing, it appeared to be a recently sent-down youth.
"Found on the border," Zhao Changfeng said in a deep voice. "We also found new traces of their activities. You know that group best, so take your men and immediately form an advance team to investigate thoroughly! See if those bastards from last time have returned!"
He turned around and pointed to the winding border line on the wall behind him, saying, "In at most two months, the heavy snow will completely block the mountains and roads! If we can't remove this thorn in our side before then, it will be troublesome if they cause trouble again in winter!"
After Zhao Changfeng finished speaking, he turned to Zhao Wenchang and said solemnly, "I order you, once the target is confirmed, if the situation permits, annihilate them all on the spot, leaving no one alive!"
"Yes, sir!" Zhao Wenchang snapped to attention and saluted. "I guarantee I'll complete the mission!"
After receiving the military order, Zhao Changfeng called over people from other divisions to briefly analyze the battle plan together.
When Zhao Wenchang returned to the camp, it was almost time for the training to end.
But it wasn't dismissal time yet, and when he looked around, the huge training ground was in a state of disarray, with many soldiers nowhere to be seen.
He frowned, grabbed a soldier who was slacking off, and his voice was already spitting fire: "Where are they?! Where have they all gone?!"
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