The Red Era: Living in Seclusion in a Siheyuan as a Boss

Chapter 594 "Hunter School"!!!
Gong Qianjin died heroically. He Qiu was heartbroken, but he suppressed his great grief and did not tell Liu Xiaotao, who was studying hard at the Command Academy, about this heavy bad news.

He Qiu knew very well that Liu Xiaotao was shouldering important learning tasks at the moment, and any distraction might affect his future.

It was not until a year later, when Liu Xiaotao successfully graduated from the Command College, that he was told the bad news.

Looking at the tombstone of his former good brother, with whom he could no longer communicate, Liu Xiaotao could not help but feel sad. He almost fainted from crying in front of Gong Qianjin's tomb.

A few days later, Liu Xiaotao applied for a long vacation to visit his relatives. He first went back to his home to visit his parents.

Liu Xiaotao's father was once a soldier, and he understands very well the life-and-death friendship established on the battlefield.

Sometimes an unintentional interaction between comrades-in-arms can become a lifelong memory.

So when he learned that his son was about to fulfill his promise to be filial to his comrades, he expressed his heartfelt support.

After getting his parents' approval, Liu Xiaotao went alone to Gong Qianjin's hometown, Jingang, to visit them.

Because the two of them had an agreement on the battlefield that if one of them died, the other would fulfill his filial duty on his behalf.

As night fell, Gong Weiguo and his wife Shulan enjoyed dinner quietly at home.

Since learning the news of his son Gong Qianjin's heroic sacrifice, Gong Weiguo's mood has become increasingly heavy and he has been less talkative all day long.

He was filled with a complex mixture of self-blame and pride. Gong Weiguo blamed himself and thought that if he had not insisted on his son joining the army, perhaps there would not be such a tragedy today.

However, mixed with this self-blame is an indescribable pride - his son Gong Qianjin, at the last moment of his life, still upheld the honor and dignity of a soldier and never let the military uniform bring shame.

Gong Qianjin is a true hero.

The atmosphere at dinner was still heavy. Shulan gently put down her chopsticks and her eyes fell on her husband's furrowed brows.

She knew that Gong Weiguo's inner pain was much deeper than he showed. She whispered, "Old Gong, go ahead... he is our pride... and he walked very bravely."

Gong Weiguo raised his head, tears flashed in his eyes, but he tried hard not to let them fall. He nodded, his voice hoarse: "Yes, he is great, but I..." He couldn't say any more, as if his throat was blocked by something.

The couple hurriedly ate a few mouthfuls of food and then lost their appetite, so they went downstairs to relax.

Gong Weiguo and his wife had just walked out of the community not far away when they suddenly saw their neighbor running and shouting at them from a distance.

After a brief exchange with their neighbors, Gong Weiguo and his wife Shu Langgen learned that a young soldier had come to their home and claimed to be the couple's son.

Gong Weiguo and Shu Langgen were a little confused, because it was very sad to say that their son had died on the battlefield. They had just received the news a few months ago - so where did this "son" in the family come from now?
The neighbor couldn't explain it in a few words, and just asked Gong Weiguo and the other man to go back and check.

Upon hearing this, Gong Weiguo did not delay any longer and rushed home with his wife. As soon as he went upstairs, he saw a young man in military uniform standing at his door.

As soon as he saw the neighbor of the Gong family leading the old couple Gong Weiguo back, Liu Xiaotao immediately stepped forward to greet them, and then knelt down in front of Gong Weiguo and his wife in front of everyone's eyes, and his voice choked with sobs as he opened his mouth:

"Mom and Dad, my name is Liu Xiaotao. I'm Qianjin's comrade-in-arms and good brother. Now that Qianjin is gone, I'll be your son from now on. I'll be filial to you on Qianjin's behalf and protect you all my life!" After saying that, he kowtowed to the ground.

Hearing the name of their son Gong Qianjin, Gong Weiguo and his wife burst into tears again. They hurriedly tried to help Liu Xiaotao up and said with relief, "You are Xiaotao, right? Qianjin always mentioned you in his letters. We are very pleased that you have such a heart, but how can we bear to have you as our son? Don't say such things anymore!"

"Dad, Mom, listen to me..." Liu Xiaotao still knelt on the ground and refused to get up.

Gong Weiguo and his wife finally persuaded Liu Xiaotao to come into their house and sit down.

"Child, can you tell us the story of you and Qianjin?" Shu Lan gently wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, her voice filled with deep emotion.

Liu Xiaotao nodded and began to tell the two elders about the friendship between him and Gong Qianjin.

That year, Liu Xiaotao and his comrades were carrying out a dangerous reconnaissance mission, but they were accidentally chased by the enemy and the situation was extremely critical.

At this critical moment, the superiors quickly issued an order to send He Qiu's squadron to rescue, and Gong Qianjin was among them.

After escaping danger, Liu Xiaotao and He Qiu unexpectedly discovered that they were actually from the same hometown, and Gong Qianjin thus walked into his life.

The two men were of similar age and had similar personalities. After fighting side by side several times, they naturally became close friends.

As time went by, Liu Xiaotao became the platoon leader under Gong Qianjin. They helped each other and made progress together, and he was praised many times for this.

The brotherhood forged in the flames of war has become increasingly indestructible.

Once, Gong Qianjin and Liu Xiaotao received a very difficult task because of their outstanding performance, and this mission was so dangerous that they might die on the frontier.

In the following days, Gong Qianjin seemed to be worried. After a few days, he called Liu Xiaotao aside and said:

"Good brother, we may shed our blood on the border at any time this time. We are not afraid of death, but I have a suggestion. If one of us dies in the future, the remaining one will help take care of the other's parents for the rest of his life!"

"This is a good suggestion!" Liu Xiaotao clapped his hands immediately.

He still remembered that day, the stars in the sky were not as bright as the determination in Gong Qianjin's eyes. He nodded, indicating that he fully agreed with the proposal.

Afterwards, Gong Qianjin took off the watch on his wrist and put it into Liu Xiaotao's hand. The eight-foot-tall man choked up a little at this moment: "If I die, you give this watch to my parents, and..."

Liu Xiaotao solemnly took out a Shanghai Hai watch wrapped in a handkerchief and showed it to Gong Weiguo and Shu Lan, as well as the blood letter written by Gong Qianjin.

Seeing her son's belongings, Shulan couldn't hold back any longer and burst into tears while holding her son's belongings in her arms: "Why, why did other people's sons survive, but my son died? How am I supposed to live in the future..."

Seeing Gong Qianjin and his wife crying, Liu Xiaotao sighed. He knew that it would take a long time to revive the old couple's dry hearts...

The night Liu Xiaotao arrived at the Gong family, he was arranged to stay in the room of his deceased friend Gong Qianjin.

Although this house is vacant, it is still carefully maintained by Gong Qianjin's mother Shulan. It is spotless, as if time has stood still here, and traces of her son's life are preserved everywhere.

Liu Xiaotao looked around and his eyes finally fell on the photo frame on the bedside table.

This is a photo of Gong Qianjin before he joined the army. In the photo, he has a smile as bright as the sun, and is sitting astride an old 28-inch bicycle. A gentle and quiet girl is sitting on the back seat. Their expressions reveal youthful vitality and carefree happiness.

Liu Xiaotao tossed and turned in bed that night, unable to sleep, and the face of his good brother Gong Qianjin kept appearing in his mind.

Late at night, Liu Xiaotao was suddenly awakened by a painful wail and hurried to the bedroom of Gong Weiguo and his wife to check.

Shu Langgen was lying on the bed in pain. When Gong Weiguo saw Liu Xiaotao coming in, he hurriedly said, "Your aunt has gallstones. Go to the hospital immediately!"

At this critical moment, Liu Xiaotao carried Shulan on his back and ran towards the hospital two kilometers away.

By the time he reached the door, Liu Xiaotao's back was already soaked with sweat. He almost gritted his teeth and climbed up to the second floor of the hospital bit by bit.

Seeing this, the doctor rushed over to help and carried Shulan into the operating room.

After treatment, Gong Qianjin's mother Shulan was out of danger.

In the ward, the doctor kept praising Liu Xiaotao and said to Gong Weiguo: "Thank goodness you have a good son. If your illness had been delayed for a while, it would have been really dangerous!"

Hearing this, Gong Weiguo and his wife looked relieved. Liu Xiaotao saw it all and knew that the old couple had finally begun to accept him.

After Shulan was discharged from the hospital, Liu Xiaotao returned to the army.

Another half a year passed, and it was Gong Weiguo's birthday.

That day, Liu Xiaotao asked for a day off from Deputy Captain He Qiu and drove straight to Tianjin Port early in the morning.

After arriving at Tianjin Port, Liu Xiaotao went to the market to buy some wine and food and ordered a cake.

In the evening, the family sat around the table. Looking at the cake on the table, Gong Weiguo seemed a little embarrassed: "At this age, why are you still celebrating your birthday? And this cake is what you young people like. How can we old couple enjoy it?"

"Look what you said!" Liu Xiaotao said to Gong Weiguo while lighting a candle.

"It's because I'm not young anymore that I have to celebrate my birthday. Besides..." Liu Xiaotao paused when he said this.

"I think if Qianjin is still alive in heaven, he would be relieved to see that you two are in good health!"

When the old couple heard Liu Xiaotao talking about their son, their eyes became red again, and the atmosphere at the scene became a little solemn.

Li Yuman, Gong Qianjin's childhood sweetheart, stepped forward to ease the atmosphere: "Next, is it time to blow out the candles? Uncle Gong, you must make a wish and don't let Xiao Tao down!"

When Gong Weiguo heard this, his face turned red. This was the first time in his life that he blew out candles, and he suddenly felt a little at a loss.

His awkward look made the people around him laugh, and the dinner slowly came to an end in this pleasant atmosphere. Looking at this warm scene, Liu Xiaotao suddenly felt that he seemed to be one step closer to Gong Weiguo and his wife.

Only then did he realize that from this moment on, the hearts of Gong Qianjin and his wife were completely nourished as before, and he finally became a part of this family.

But the next day, Liu Xiaotao had to return to the army.

Before leaving, although Gong Weiguo and his wife were very touched by Liu Xiaotao's kindness, they still insisted on not letting Liu Xiaotao recognize them as his parents. They did not want Liu Xiaotao to be trapped by this promise.

"Xiao Tao, you are a good boy. Qianjin should rest in peace with a good brother like you!

But a good man should have ambitions in all directions and not be distracted here.

We are both capable of taking care of ourselves. If you have time in the future, please come and visit us. Uncle and auntie warmly welcome you!"

Liu Xiaotao stood at the door, listening to what Gong Weiguo and his wife said, feeling mixed emotions.

He knew that the old couple really cared about him and didn't want him to bear too much.

Liu Xiaotao took a deep breath, nodded, and said, "Mom and Dad, I understand your feelings. But in my heart, you are already my family. No matter where I am in the future, I will come back often to visit you."

Gong Weiguo patted him on the shoulder, his eyes full of love: "Good boy, go ahead and do your best. We will always remember what you have done for progress."

Shu Lan also stepped forward and gently shook Liu Xiaotao's hand, her voice choking: "Xiaotao, take care of yourself and don't let us worry."

Liu Xiaotao nodded solemnly, turned around and set off back to the army.

The car slowly drove out of the community, but he couldn't calm down for a long time.

He knew that his relationship with Gong Qianjin had gone beyond ordinary brotherhood, and the bond between them had long become indestructible with the passage of years.

……

Soon after returning to the army, Liu Xiaotao received another important task - to represent the "Black Panther Commando" to participate in the selection of the "International Hunter Training Camp".

The famous Venezuelan "Hunter" School is an Army Special Operations School and a world-renowned school dedicated to training special forces.

Some key members of the special forces of many countries are sent to this school for training. This school is famous for its high difficulty, high intensity, many checkpoints, thrilling and harsh training, and its close resemblance to actual combat.

Here there is no name, no nationality, no rank, only code name!

Liu Xiaotao and his team are representing the "Rabbit" special forces and are going abroad for the first time to attend training at the "Hunter" School in Venezuela.

They need to go through unimaginably harsh training and purgatory-like cruel tempering during the three-month training period.

A total of hundreds of elite special forces students from Sam, Italy, Japan, Han, Rabbit, Eagle, Polar Bear... and Venezuela participated in this training camp.

During the training period, all team members have no nationality, no name, no military rank, only code names.

Liu Xiaotao is No. 8, and with him is Liu Yong No. 2. Their supreme commander is code-named "Hunter".

As the first "rabbit" special forces to appear in an international special training ground, they started their training with an unforgettable wake-up call.

At 7 a.m. on July 23, when these national anti-terrorist fighters, known only by code names, were still deep in their dreams, the dormitory was suddenly filled with smoke.

Then dozens of people ran out with bare chests, tears and coughs.

It turned out that they were attacked by gas. Gas attack can anesthetize the respiratory system. It is something that no one can resist, and it is used from time to time during the "Hunter" training.

The high-intensity training starts with gas fumigation, dodging live bullets and a brutal elimination system.

After gathering, the team members had just raised the flag of their country when the alarm sounded.

It turned out that a fully armed "drug trafficking group" was discovered in the dense forest 60 kilometers away from the school. The "hunters" ordered to set out immediately to eliminate the "drug traffickers".

This is a death chase.

Bullets whizzed past my ears and shells exploded all around me, all of them live ammunition.

The team members' physical energy has reached its limit and some have started to fall down.

The "Hunter" training adopts a full elimination system. No matter what the reason, if you do not participate in training for 48 hours, you will be automatically eliminated.

One week into the training, two Italian special forces soldiers and two "Sam" Marines were eliminated due to pneumonia, fractures, sprains and other reasons.

In the following training, Liu Yong was almost eliminated.

After the routine 27km cross-country run on the morning of the 10th, Liu Yong fell during the fully armed -meter mountain acceleration run. He was hospitalized due to soft tissue damage in his left knee and was unable to move.

The stipulated 48 hours are about to expire, and this injury obviously cannot be healed immediately.

In order not to be eliminated, Liu Yong insisted on training despite the injury. In this way, Liu Yong gritted his teeth and persisted for a period of time.

However, not long after, during a forced march while carrying a 60-kilogram mortar, he fell and was injured again and had to be hospitalized again.

One month of intensive training is cruel, even "inhumane".

Some foreign students retreated, and some even fell down on purpose in order to escape the training life in this "death zone".

The "Sam" flag fell quietly, and the "Italy" flag was no longer raised. Only the flags of the host country Venezuela and the "Rabbit" were still flying high on the flagpoles on the school playground.

After Liu Yong was injured and hospitalized, Liu Xiaotao became the only foreign player in the training team.

On September 9, Liu Xiaotao raised the bright "rabbit flag" up the flagpole all by himself. He had no idea what kind of torture and test he would face on this day.

If he falls behind, he will not be able to eat, and his body will suffer terrible torture again.

Not long after, Liu Xiaotao fainted during anti-gas training.

After he was revived by the team doctor, the instructor told him: "Training more cruel than death has not yet begun. If you can't bear it, apply to return home." But Liu Xiaotao shook his head firmly.

On a rainy afternoon, a group of masked men armed with guns suddenly rushed into the classroom and captured Liu Xiaotao and others.

Afterwards, they had their heads forcibly wrapped, their hands and feet tied, and were sent to a "prison" deep in the mountains and forests.

There they were hung upside down on pulleys and lowered into filthy pools again and again.

This is the training that the instructors say is more cruel than death—“prisoner of war” training.

Liu Xiaotao survived the first round of torture, and then he was taken to the interrogation room.

Then he was knocked to the ground with a club from behind, followed by a rain of punches and kicks.

Late at night, Liu Xiaotao, who had just laid down after a day of cruel torture, was taken into the mountains in a daze. Buckets of cold water were poured over his head and high-pressure water guns were sprayed all over his body. It was another night of baptism like a storm.

While Liu Xiaotao was undergoing "death" training, Liu Yong, who was hospitalized for the second time, insisted on returning to the team to continue training.

However, the school notified the "rabbit" party and advised him to withdraw from the training and return home for treatment.

But Liu Yong insisted on staying, and so he returned to the training ground with his leg injury still unhealed.

Liu Yong returned to the training ground and asked the instructor to make up for the missed training courses for him.

Rock climbing, shooting, wilderness survival, prisoner of war tests, the brutal training that goes beyond the physical and psychological aspects was not reduced in the slightest because of Liu Yong's injury.

At this time, Liu Xiaotao also started his last training - wilderness survival training.

Before the "Hunter" school's wilderness survival training, a thorough body search is carried out to ensure that the team members do not have any food and are not even allowed to wear shoes. Then they are thrown directly onto a deserted island and left to "fend for themselves."

Hunger plus the repeated attacks of poisonous mosquitoes can push a person to the brink of mental breakdown.

In order to survive, they have to eat everything, so that they can survive four days and four nights and hold out to the end.

The training finally ended, and the chief instructor of Venezuela praised the "rabbits": "Your soldiers are amazing!"

(End of this chapter)