In the Turbulent Spring of Youth, Only You Captivate (2) Part 1

On the way back to the Border Defense Station, Lu Huaizheng discussed the subsequent evacuation matters with Sun Kai the entire way.

“I had Chen Rui block off the area near the auditorium first. At eight o'clock, you take your men and evacuate. I'll go prepare the vehicles.”

Sun Kai asked again, “Are the men along the route ready?”

Yu Hao took the opportunity while they were talking to take a whole bun from the bag and hand it to him. But Lu Huaizheng turned his head to look at the half-eaten one in her hand, leaned down, and took another bite from it, saying, “I was just about to go back and discuss it with the leadership. It's very troublesome to mobilize people from other Military Units.”

Yu Hao blushed.

'Can't you eat your own?'

Sun Kai nodded and said, “How about this, I'll have He Lang take a team to lie in wait later. I'm afraid the ones transferred up from the mountain won't even recognize him. If he escapes, it'll be troublesome.”

Lu Huaizheng stared at Yu Hao's blushing face for a while.

He slowly nodded, “That would be best.”

That profound gaze made her feel as if he was talking about her. This is good, what is good?

'This man, he can even make one's mind wander while talking about work.'

...

After getting out of the car, Lu Huaizheng reported the situation directly to Li Hongwen. The rest of the time was spent preparing for the evacuation. At seven o'clock, he went to the Solitary Confinement Room again to conduct the final negotiation with the suspect.

The other party expressed no objection to the current arrangements.

Everything seemed to be going a little too smoothly.

At seven-thirty, Lu Huaizheng borrowed a car from Old Tang, dismantled all its systems, and reinstalled them himself. Yu Hao knew he had always been good with his hands. Seeing him tinkering with these positioning systems again after so many years, she found she couldn't follow his line of thought at all. He always seemed to be full of surprises.

He was exceptionally focused when he worked and was not easily disturbed.

Yu Hao, afraid of interrupting his train of thought, obediently leaned against the rear car door, watching as he bent half his body into the car. The weather had warmed up after the Qingming Festival, and the light from behind shone on his neck, which was trickling with sweat.

For no reason, she recalled the scene of the two of them kissing in the car the day she left.

It was truly intense that day.

They kissed so passionately that for a moment, she thought he might not be coming back.

Her face grew hot again.

Lu Huaizheng got out of the car.

With a screw still in his hand, he was about to close the door when he saw Yu Hao leaning against the rear door, her face flushed red.

He smiled, slowly closed the door, leaned over, and couldn't resist teasing her, “Your face is red all day long. I never realized you were so easily embarrassed before.”

Then he braced one hand on the car door, bent over slightly, and lowered his head to meet her gaze.

He noticed she wouldn't look at him.

Lu Huaizheng then leaned close to her ear, his gaze looking elsewhere, and the words from his mouth were even more outrageous:

“We've tried it in the car. Want to try how it feels outside the car?”

'He was simply a scoundrel.'

At that moment, Yu Hao was both angry and anxious.

She was angry that, under such circumstances, she had actually hoped he would kiss her.

But Lu Huaizheng was clearly teasing her.

Just as he finished speaking, he heard Instructor Tang calling him from behind.

He looked down at Yu Hao and responded that he would be there in a moment.

Lu Huaizheng saw her crimson face, gently pinched her cheek, and coaxed in a low voice, “Alright, don't be angry. I won't tease you anymore. Since we've kissed, I still have to take responsibility. Don't you think?”

“We're both adults. Kissing isn't against the law.” Yu Hao found his words awkward and couldn't help but contradict him.

Lu Huaizheng laughed.

“You and Senior Sister Zhao stay put in the Military Region and don't wander off. After tonight, I'll come talk to you.”

...

At eight o'clock, Sun Kai directed everyone to evacuate the remaining townspeople into the auditorium of Heshui Primary School. Besides the elderly and children who had been evacuated earlier by helicopter, there were still some young men and women who worked in the town. Seeing the border defense soldiers fully armed with guns and knives, they felt extremely uneasy, as if their hearts were weighed down, and refused to go in. They blocked the entrance, pestering Chen Rui, the Little Squad Leader, and the others, insisting on an answer.

One of them, a man with a full beard, roared at Chen Rui, “Is a war about to start? Are you trying to occupy our land and turn us into homeless refugees?!” Veins bulged on the man's neck. He then waved his steel-like fists and began to incite the crowd, gritting his teeth, “We can't compromise! You're occupying our homes, we want compensation!!!”

The town's population was small, at most a thousand households. Besides the migrant workers, almost everyone knew each other. This man was a notorious local ruffian. He usually either took a group of people to the 'Red-Light Street' for fun or loitered around the bridge playing cards to kill time. When he lost his temper, he would take it out on his wife and elderly mother.

This group of able-bodied but lazy men were, of all things, the town's backbone.

The power of incited, ignorant women and children was the most terrifying.

The surrounded crowd suddenly grew agitated and began to push and shove the armed soldiers. When one soldier pushed back with his rifle, the bearded leader grabbed the barrel, glared, and pressed the dark muzzle against his own chest. Like a madman, with veins popping, he roared, “Come on! Kill me if you fucking dare!”

The people behind him rushed forward as if they were on steroids, and the scene spun out of control.

Zaza cowered in a corner, watching everything unfold woodenly. The instigator who had just riled up the townspeople was his father. He had always been a troublemaker who thrived on chaos. He hated these soldiers the most, always believing the government was out to harm him.

He didn't even know why his father thought and acted this way. He had always felt that the men in this town were somewhat pathological.

Zaza even had a dark thought.

'Go on and riot, the more chaotic the better. It'd be best if you all died! Then no one would hit him and his mother anymore.'

'It'd be best if you killed each other, smashing brains and splattering blood. Maybe an eyeball would even pop out, roll to my feet, and then I'd crush it mercilessly under my heel.'

Just the thought of crushing that sinister eyeball he saw daily made all of Zaza's muscles tense up, and he couldn't stop a smile from spreading across his face.

As he was smiling, he realized his mother was gone. He didn't know when she had been pushed by the crowd to his father's side. She was pitifully clutching his father's thigh, just like she usually did when begging him not to hit her, crying and pleading with him to stop causing trouble.

The man was red-faced from the fight and wouldn't listen. He kicked her hard in the chest, knocking her directly to the ground. Several men behind her stepped on her a few times, leaving her face covered in blood. Zaza finally came to his senses and immediately stood up from the corner, trying to squeeze through to help his mother up, but found he was no match for their strength. No matter how hard he pushed, he couldn't get through. He cried out for help, tears streaming down his face.

But everyone was caught up in the climax of the brawl; no one noticed him in his little corner.

Just then, a hand suddenly reached out from the side.

It was slender, like a woman's hand. Zaza abruptly looked up and saw a beautiful face with clear, clean eyes—a clarity the women in this town lacked. He even found it somewhat familiar and quickly remembered: it was the big sister who had come for breakfast with Big Brother Lu the other day.

Lu Huaizheng was a step faster than Yu Hao in helping Zaza's mother, the breakfast stall owner, up from the ground.

Shao Feng was right behind him.

Lu Huaizheng handed the woman to Shao Feng and asked her, “Where's Zaza?”

The proprietress pointed behind her.

Zaza was standing at the back of the crowd, squeezed between several indignant men. Lu Huaizheng went around the back entrance of the auditorium, brought Zaza over, and handed them both to Shao Feng. “Take them to get their wounds treated.”

The situation was tense, and Shao Feng was in no mood for jokes. He nodded with a solemn expression and said to the mother and son, “Come with me.”

Behind them, the people were like untamed beasts that had lost all reason. The first team was at the forefront. Chen Rui, Wu Heping, the Little Squad Leader, and the others were all red-faced with anger. Having handled so many emergencies, they had never seen anyone so shameless as to demand money at a time like this.

They had been clearing mines day and night for this bunch of heartless 'trash'!

But the leadership had said not to tell them; telling them would probably cause even more chaos.

The clamor for 'demanding money' was about to lift the roof off the auditorium.

Bang—

A loud shot rang out, fired into the sky.

It was a gunshot.

Chen Rui and Wu Heping turned to see Sun Kai, who impatiently fired a shot into the air, holstered his gun, and bellowed, “What do you think you're doing!”

And just then, the auditorium first quieted down to rustles, then someone led a new shout, “The soldiers are going to kill people!”

The crowd inexplicably became agitated again. The men clamored to break through the human wall formed by Chen Rui and the others with their guns. Someone even took the opportunity to kick and hit them. Wu Heping's face was scratched.

But they remained motionless, firmly blocking the auditorium entrance, letting fists and feet rain down on their faces, standing as steadfast as a green mountain.

Because their captain had said, as long as these people were still Chinese, they could not fight back.