Special forces soldier demobilization: Starting from the county government compound, a meteoric rise

Liu Ming withdrew his gaze, turned his head, and looked into his wife's eyes, which were even gentler than the setting sun.

He reached out and gently pulled her into his arms, a satisfied smile playing on his lips.

"Behold my masterpiece."

Xi Wanqing chuckled, leaning on his shoulder as she listened to his steady heartbeat.

"Manager Liu, are you bragging?"

"No."

Liu Ming looked at the myriad lights in the distance, her voice soft yet firm.

"This is the masterpiece of all the people on this land."

Martyrs' Cemetery, located in the western suburbs of Qingyun County.

The winter wind howled like a knife, whipping up a few dry, fallen leaves that swirled among the neatly arranged blue stone tombstones. Here, there was none of the hustle and bustle of the city center, only a solemn and quiet atmosphere that inspired awe.

Liu Ming declined everyone's company, not even Xi Wanqing and Tank.

He was wearing a black overcoat, alone, carrying a bottle of unpackaged liquor, walking slowly, step by step, down the stone steps covered with pine needles.

As he passed each row of tombstones, his gaze would linger for a moment on the names of those who were young or whose faces had become somewhat blurred by the passage of time. Among these people were veterans from the War of Resistance against Japan, anti-drug police officers who sacrificed their lives to apprehend drug traffickers, and firefighters who were buried a second time in a mine disaster rescue.

They are the backbone of this city and the foundation of this country.

Liu Ming finally stopped in the deepest, most secluded corner of the cemetery.

Here is a tombstone, without a photo, and not even the full dates of birth and death are engraved, just a few simple words:

"The Tomb of Martyr Longya, codenamed 'Xiao Qi'".

Xiao Qi, his surname isn't Qi. He's an orphan, the seventh child in the orphanage.

He was also the youngest and most goofy-looking assault soldier in the "Dragon Fang" special operations team back then.

He was also the simple-minded young man who, in the drug lord's lair in the Golden Triangle, shielded Liu Ming from a large-caliber sniper bullet with his own chest to cover her retreat.

Liu Ming knelt down, took out the towel he had brought, and carefully wiped the thin layer of dust off the tombstone. His movements were very gentle, just like when he bandaged Xiao Qi's wounds in the trenches back then.

"Little Qi, your brother has come to see you."

Liu Ming's voice was low, with a hint of hoarseness and vulnerability that she would never normally show.

"These past ten years have been incredibly busy. Busy fighting those corrupt officials, busy fighting those foreign devils who wanted to strangle us. I haven't had a chance to come see you. You're down there, haven't you accused me of favoritism, have you?"

He unscrewed the bottle of strong liquor in his hand and poured three full glasses in front of the tombstone.

The strong smell of alcohol spread quickly in the cold wind, carrying a familiar, spicy scent that belonged to the battlefield and to men.

"The first cup."

Liu Ming picked up one of the glasses, tilted it slightly, and poured the wine onto the black soil in front of the tombstone.

"A salute to our brothers who died in foreign lands, without even leaving their names. Please tell them for me that we haven't backed down in the past ten years! Those mercenaries and drug lords who bullied us back then, I didn't spare a single one of them, I sent them all down to join you in the afterlife."

He put down the empty cup and picked up the second one.

"This second cup is for you."

As Liu Ming looked at the words "Xiao Qi" on the tombstone, her eyes gradually turned bloodshot.

Ten years ago, during that brutal ambush, the image of Xiao Qi collapsing in his arms haunted him like a nightmare for countless days and nights. Before that foolish boy died, blood bubbles rose from his mouth as he clung tightly to his clothes, his last words not a cry of pain, but: "Captain, when will we finally stand tall again...?"

"Xiao Qi, today I can answer the question you asked me back then."

Liu Ming's voice trembled slightly, but he tried his best to straighten his back, as if he were reporting the results of a battle to a superior officer.

"Our nation's backbone is now strong! As strong as a steel plate!"

"Do you remember those old, shabby radios and drones we used to use? They were constantly jammed by the Americans. Now we don't need them anymore! We have our own quantum communication and our own 3-nanometer lithography machine! Those foreign devils can no longer hold us back; they're now lining up, begging us to sell them chips!"

"Also, our 'space carrier' is about to take to the skies. In the future, when there are missions, our brothers won't have to risk their lives to fill the enemy's firepower like they did back then."

As Liu Ming spoke, tears finally welled up in her eyes and slid down her cheeks, dripping onto the cold bluestone slab and instantly shattering into several pieces.

He tilted his head back and downed the second glass of wine in one gulp. The pungent liquid felt like a knife cutting through his throat, but it couldn't dispel the heavy longing in his heart.

He squatted down and poured a third glass of wine.

"This third cup..."

Liu Ming held his wine glass, gazing at the cemetery before him where countless heroes lay in eternal rest, his eyes deep and desolate.

"A salute to this prosperous and glorious nation!"

"Little Seven, open your eyes and look! Today, the country is prosperous and the people are at peace. The people have money in their pockets and they have more confidence to speak. The blood we shed back then wasn't shed in vain!"

"From now on, no one will dare to swagger on our land, and no one will dare to bully the sons and daughters of China!"

He solemnly poured the third glass of wine in front of Xiaoqi's tombstone.

A cold wind blew by, swirling a few pieces of paper money on the ground, making them spin in mid-air, as if the spirits of heroes sleeping underground were responding to his words.

Liu Ming stood up.

He straightened the collar of his wind-blown coat and smoothed out every wrinkle on his clothes.

then.

Deep within this deserted martyrs' cemetery.

In front of this brother who once shed his last drop of blood for everyone.

This powerful leader, who held absolute authority and controlled destiny, suddenly brought his legs together, and his heels struck together with a crisp, muffled thud!

He straightened his back, like a javelin that would never bend.

He slowly raised his right hand.

With fingertips slightly together, resting near the temple.

A perfect, flawless military salute from a Chinese soldier!

His posture is upright, just like back then!