Chapter 12 Not a Special Forces Soldier

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Xiang Weiguo's words made Gao Yuan hop off the edge of the kang, and then he said with a face full of shock, "How did you figure it out?"

Luo Xingyu was also shocked, as Xiang Weiguo looked on with a smile and said, "I wasn't sure just now, but now I am; the two of you haven't known each other for long, at most two days."

Xiang Weiguo was right, but how could he tell they had only known each other for no more than two days?

Gao Yuan admired him to the point of prostration and said with a trembling voice, "How did you figure it out?"

"It's quite simple. She obviously hasn't eaten in a long time, and you don't show any signs of malnutrition. If you were the kind of person who only cares about himself and not his sister, this would make sense, but from the way your sister protected you just now, it's clear she doesn't have the demeanour of someone who's been mistreated by you for a long time."

"Damn, that makes sense!"

"Furthermore, the clothes your sister is wearing are brand new, they look like they've been worn for only a day or two at most, plus her clothes hanging outside have frozen solid. Taking into account the temperature here and the degree of freezing, mhm, they must have been washed yesterday afternoon without being wrung out and just hung up, so it can't be from the day before yesterday. Therefore, you must have only known each other for a day or two."

"But it's possible that she just washed her clothes yesterday."

Gao Yuan wasn't trying to be disagreeable, he just thought his rationale was perfectly normal and couldn't help but bring it up.

Xiang Weiguo smiled and said, "I've made myself clear, haven't I? Her new clothes were just put on, and her old clothes were washed yesterday. How about that, are you telling me you've let her freeze all this time and only yesterday decided to take the clothes out for her to wear? She definitely changed into new clothes and took the opportunity to wash the old ones, it's pretty obvious."

Gao Yuan was convinced and said with a look of admiration, "Your eyes are really sharp, and your skills are incredible, I'm truly impressed, Uncle Xiang, were you a special forces soldier before?"

Looking at Gao Yuan, whose face spelled admiration, Xiang Weiguo smiled and said, "Not a special forces soldier."

"No?"

"But I was responsible for training special forces."

"Ah!"

Gao Yuan was completely stunned as Xiang Weiguo smiled proudly and said, "That's right, I've never been a special forces soldier, but I've trained them for half my life."

Why be low-key?

Why be modest?

When asked about his life's greatest achievements, his proudest accomplishments, of course, Xiang Weiguo could proudly tell people everything he had done in his life!

Gao Yuan was very admiring, but also somewhat puzzled and said, "You weren't a special forces soldier but you trained them, how does that work?"

Xiang Weiguo said with a sense of sentiment, "I enlisted in '78, took part in the An'nan War in '79. Back then, there was no such name as special forces, we were called scouts. With a rope and a knife, scouting, raiding, capturing enemies, that was the job of a scout."

Gao Yuan stood in solemn respect as he said tremulously, "That's basically special forces."

"Not really, not really. Scouts are just scouts. I went to the front lines against An'nan Country seven times, completed over a hundred tasks big and small, and gained a wealth of experience. I've earned three collective third-class merit awards, one collective second-class merit award, one individual third-class merit award, and two individual second-class merit awards."

"Ah..."

An individual second-class merit award, twice, and he was still alive. Gao Yuan was no longer just admiring and respectful, he was worshipful, admiring, because Xiang Weiguo was truly a living legend.

Xiang Weiguo continued to smile and said, "There was one time I thought I was a goner, maybe posthumously I'd get a first-class merit award, but unexpectedly, I survived, so I didn't get that first-class merit. After recovering from serious injuries for half a year, I went to the front again, then I went back to the military district to become an instructor responsible for training scouts. Later on, there came specialized special forces units, so I was transferred to Landscape Military Academy. Yup, I stayed there until I retired, retiring with the rank of colonel."

Gao Yuan was so excited he didn't know what to say, and could only stammer, "No wonder, no wonder you are so incredible, really, you're just too impressive!"

Xiang Weiguo smiled and said, "Impressive? To tell you the truth, by the end, we old-school scouts-turned-instructors couldn't really teach the modern special forces anymore, mainly because we lacked the education. In the old days, it was just a rope and a knife. Now, it's different, conditions have changed, there are many new things I don't even know how to use. I wanted to learn, but the education just wasn't there, so I couldn't teach much anymore, and then, when the time came, I retired."

What's the first reaction of a normal person upon meeting someone like Xiang Weiguo, such a treasure trove of a person?

Of course, it's to take him as a master!

In this apocalypse, learning a set of skills would be an obvious benefit even to a fool.

Gao Yuan stood there for a moment, then suddenly said, "Master, you must be hungry by now; I'll go cook some meat for you. I still have cabbage, and pork stewed with cabbage will be good. You rest for a bit and drink some water, I'll go prepare..."

"Hmm, what did you call me?"

He had accidentally blurted out what was on his mind, and Gao Yuan realized that he might have been too eager with the flattery, so he sheepishly said, "Uncle Xiang, you take a rest, I'll go get something ready for you to eat."

Xiang Weiguo smiled and said, "Alright, thank you then, I'll rest my feet for a bit."

"Alright, just wait a moment, please."

Gao Yuan excitedly ran off into the outer room, took a piece of wild boar meat, placed it on the chopping block, and started cutting.

After cutting the meat into pieces, Gao Yuan went back to get two food containers and said with a smile, "Since we don't have a proper pot, we'll use these to cook the meat, it will be quick."

"Wait a minute."

Xiang Weiguo came down from the kang, looking puzzled at Gao Yuan and said, "Is that how you're going to cook the meat?"

"Yeah, just like that."

"Hmm, do you have any seasonings?"

"We have salt, nothing else left. Oh, there is something; a few packets of instant noodle seasoning I saved and haven't used yet, let's use that."

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"You can keep it," I said. "Do you have Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, cassia bark, and such?"

Gao Yuan frowned and shook his head, "I never thought to prepare those at the time."

"Then your wild boar meat won't taste good."

After Xiang Weiguo finished speaking, Luo Xingyu, deeply agreeing, said, "That's right, it'll be hard to eat, but... it's better than nothing."

With a laugh, Xiang Weiguo said, "Let me do it."

In Gao Yuan's surprised gaze, Xiang Weiguo opened his rucksack from the kang bed.

Xiang Weiguo's rucksack was an old-fashioned march rucksack, which, while large enough, was simply a big pocket with two straps.

However, the rucksack contained many items; Xiang Weiguo first took out a tightly sealed plastic bag from the top of the rucksack, which was so well wrapped that it was impossible to see what was inside, then he pulled out a pot.

Gao Yuan blurted out, "A march pot!"

"It's not military-grade, I saw it in a store, it was both practical and lightweight, so I bought one; my spouse even said it was useless, but now here it is being put to use."

The pot that Xiang Weiguo took out was black all over, definitely well-used, but having a large pot was far more convenient.

Gao Yuan cautiously asked, "Do you have any seasonings?"

Xiang Weiguo handed Gao Yuan the pot and said, "Soak the meat in the pot with cold water, and change the water every half hour, I'll be back in a bit."

"What are you going to do?"

Xiang Weiguo smiled, "Wild boar meat is too good to waste. I'm going to find some seasonings; it'll be quick. Don't rush to cook the meat; you need to soak it a bit longer."

Xiang Weiguo, leaning on his short stick, left casually, not at all concerned about leaving his rucksack behind.

Watching Xiang Weiguo's retreating figure, Gao Yuan suddenly said, "Xiaoyu, we've encountered both a master and a benefactor."

Luo Xingyu nodded, then she whispered, "Brother, Uncle Xiang mentioned an An'nan Country scale shelter outside, do you think... should we go or not?"

Gao Yuan hesitated, and Luo Xingyu immediately added, "If you go, I'll go; if you don't, I won't either."

"Let's wait for Uncle Xiang to come back and ask for more details; it's still too early to talk about this."

Gao Yuan did not want to hole up in this mountain village for the rest of his life, but he also felt it was too soon to leave, so he quickly ended the conversation and started to do as Xiang Weiguo suggested, soaking the meat in water.

Gao Yuan could still see Xiang Weiguo, who was wandering around the edge of the village before quickly entering the mountains.

With the bitter cold weather, Gao Yuan was skeptical about what kind of seasonings Xiang Weiguo could possibly find.

About an hour later, Xiang Weiguo returned, empty-handed when he left, but now he had a plastic bag in his hand.

Opening the large plastic bag revealed some grass roots, a lot of Sichuan peppercorns, and ginger.

Amazed, Gao Yuan asked, "What are all these?"

"Sichuan peppercorns; the village has planted a lot of them, and they still bear fruit now. These grass roots are wild chives; well, the flowers are gone, but the roots still have flavor. This is not ginger but galangal; it's good for pickles, but it can also be used for seasoning. There isn't much to use in winter; that's all."

Gao Yuan could only nod; what else could he say in front of someone specialized in training elite soldiers? Learn from him.

But Xiang Weiguo wasn't in a hurry to cook the meat.

"There's not enough meat, take out another back leg, cut it into large pieces, about the size of a fist."

Unclear what Xiang Weiguo was planning, Gao Yuan did as told.

While sending Gao Yuan to chop meat, Xiang Weiguo turned to Luo Xingyu and asked, "What medicine did you take? How are you feeling now? Do you have phlegm with your cough?"

Luo Xingyu blankly replied, "I don't feel anything, and my cough doesn't have phlegm."

"Hmm, how long have you been hungry? What was your weight before, and what is it now?"

"I haven't had a full meal in two months... I used to be 99 pounds, now I don't know."

Xiang Weiguo thought for a moment and said, "Originally a hundred pounds, now probably eighty. You've lost too much weight; you're extremely weak which isn't good."

"Uncle Xiang, I was 99 pounds..."

"Are you still worried about a pound or two?"

Xiang Weiguo was torn between laughter and tears. He turned to Gao Yuan, "What medicine do you have? How much?"

Gao Yuan, now completely in awe of Xiang Weiguo, promptly replied, "I have all sorts of commonly used medicine, twenty boxes of cephalosporin, twenty bottles of ibuprofen with a hundred tablets each, medicine for diarrhea in ten boxes, and ten boxes of cold medicine. Um, if it's miscellaneous, it's all in the medicine box, all commonly used medicine."

This time, it was Xiang Weiguo's turn to be surprised. He said in astonishment, "Did you rob a pharmacy or something? How come you have so much?"

Finally able to show off, Gao Yuan responded with a proud smile, "I bought it before the disaster happened, even paid with a credit card."

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