Rebirth of a Mercenary: The Ace Mercenary Forced to Be the Beloved of the Group

After the meeting, Lu Xiao and Li Mo walked back to their dormitory one after the other.

Lu Xiao took a few steps, pulled a lollipop from his pocket, unwrapped it, stuffed it into his mouth, and mumbled, "Old Li, I need to talk to you about something."

Li Mo didn't respond, nor did he stop walking.

Lu Xiao was used to it and continued, "I'll handle our heart-to-heart talk about this when we get back."

Li Mo turned her head and glanced at him.

"With that face of yours, they'd spill their beans, let alone have a heart-to-heart talk. That's not a heart-to-heart talk, it's an interrogation. Today we're here to get them to pour out their hearts, not to make them hold it all back. Let me do it, at least my face doesn't look that scary."

Li Mo paused for two seconds, then looked away and continued walking forward.

"Let's talk to them one by one."

"Know."

"Discuss in detail."

"Know."

"The person with the problem—"

"I'll report it to you. Once you've written the report, hand it in to Company Commander Zhou. It'll be a one-stop service. You can trust me to handle things." Lu Xiao patted Li Mo on the shoulder and pushed open the dormitory door.

When Lu Xiao walked in, he had chewed up the lollipop in his mouth. He threw the stick into the trash can, clapped his hands, and drew everyone's attention.

"Alright, stop looking like you've lost your souls." Lu Xiao's tone was no different from usual, grinning, with a rising intonation at the end. "No training tonight, let's just chat. One by one, Zhao Xiaohu, you come out with me first."

Only two lights were on in the corridor, casting a dim, yellowish light that cast long shadows on the floor.

"Relax, relax, relax," Lu Xiao reached out and patted his shoulder. "Hey Zhao Xiaohu, are you standing like that to give me a goose-stepping lesson or something? Lean against the wall, lean against it."

Zhao Xiaohu hesitated for a moment, then leaned his shoulder against the wall. His posture changed, but the tension on his face didn't lessen at all.

Lu Xiao didn't rush to speak. He took out another piece of candy from his pocket and tossed it to Zhao Xiaohu.

"I ate," Lu Xiao said. "Li Mo isn't here, so no one's watching."

Zhao Xiaohu stuffed the candy into his mouth.

"Were you scared today?"

Zhao Xiaohu paused for a moment, then slowly chewed the candy in his mouth twice and nodded.

"I was terrified," he said, his voice muffled. "I was standing on the sand, and when I saw Bai Ye rushing over, I tried to grab him. I couldn't. Then he fell from the building, and Bai Ye caught him. Blood—the blood was just like that—"

He didn't go on.

Lu Xiao didn't urge him, but leaned against the wall and waited.

After about half a minute, Zhao Xiaohu spoke again: "I used to think that being a soldier meant honing your skills and going to the battlefield. I wasn't afraid of bullets. But today, when I saw that person standing on the roof, my legs went weak. He wasn't the enemy; he was one of our own. He wanted to die. Deputy Squad Leader Lu, I've been thinking about this all day—why did he jump?"

Lu Xiao looked at him but did not answer immediately.

"You've thought about it all day, have you figured it out yet?"

Zhao Xiaohu shook his head.

"It's good that you can't figure it out," Lu Xiao said. "If you could figure it out, it means you're on the sidelines too. You're in the middle, and you can't understand the people on the sidelines, which is a good thing. It means you're still in the middle."

Zhao Xiaohu blinked, pondered the sentence in his mind for a moment, and then thoroughly chewed the candy and swallowed it.

"But," Lu Xiao held up a finger, "what you saw today was real. Being a soldier isn't just about guns and bullets; it's also about this—what do you do when your comrade next to you can't hold on anymore? You didn't stop Bai Ye today, it's not your fault, because you didn't know what he was going to do at the time. But next time you will know. Next time you see someone acting strangely, you won't just stand there shouting. You will move."

Zhao Xiaohu was silent for a moment, then nodded vigorously.

"Deputy Squad Leader Lu, Bai Ye's hand—"

"He'll be fine in two or three months," Lu Xiao interrupted him, her tone confident. "That kid's tough. I'm not kidding, but even I might not have been able to react in that situation today. He caught it. Losing an arm is worth it. If you're really worried about him, when he gets back, help him get meals more often. Don't fight with Qian Duoduo for chicken legs every day."

Zhao Xiaohu paused for a moment, then his lips twitched, revealing the first smile that didn't quite look like a cry all day.

Lu Xiao patted his head. "Alright, go inside. Call Qian Duoduo out."

Zhao Xiaohu turned around and went back to his dormitory, his steps much lighter than when he came out.

When Qian Duoduo came out, she walked up to Lu Xiao on her own initiative. Before Lu Xiao could greet her, she leaned against the wall, crossed her arms, and raised her chin slightly, looking like she was saying, "I'm fine, I'm normal, and I can talk to you anytime."

Qian Duoduo was silent for a few seconds, then her shoulders slumped.

"I just can't understand it," he said, his voice much lower than before. "That soldier from the third squad, I sat at the same table with him in the mess hall. Last Wednesday, at lunchtime, he sat across from me while we ate noodles. After he finished, he waited for me a bit, until I finished my soup, and then we took the plate back together. He said one thing to me, 'The braised meat is a bit salty today.' That was all. And then today he went up to the roof."

Lu Xiao remained silent.

"When he told me the braised meat was a bit salty, I didn't notice anything." Qian Duoduo's hands started to cross her chest again, but she stopped halfway, clutching her trouser seam. "I was engrossed in eating noodles, so I just replied, 'It's alright.' That's all I said to him. If he was already—already thinking about that—I—"

"Money is plentiful." Lu Xiao's voice suddenly lost all its laughter.

Qian Duoduo shut her mouth, her lips pressed into a thin line.

"Listen to me." Lu Xiao turned around and faced him.

"What you said to me today and what Zhao Xiaohu said to me just now have the same meaning—you both feel that if you had discovered it sooner, if you had talked to him more sooner, maybe this wouldn't have happened. But neither of you are professional psychologists, and you don't even know him well. You're not wrong, do you understand?"

Qian Duoduo remained silent.

"He didn't jump," Lu Xiao said, "but Bai Ye caught him. He's still alive. His survival means there will be other opportunities. Didn't you regret only saying one sentence to him? When he comes back, go and say a second sentence to him. A third sentence. Say a hundred sentences. Turn today's regret into something for the future, then this regret won't have been in vain. Got it?"

Qian Duoduo's Adam's apple bobbed, then he raised his hand and rubbed the corner of his eye hard with the back of his hand.

"I've got it," he said, his voice a little hoarse, but steadyer than before.

Lu Xiao nodded. "Go in. Call Xuan Xiao out."

-

Lu Xiao leaned against the wall, waiting for Xuan Xiao to come out.

Ten seconds passed.

Twenty seconds passed.

Lu Xiao frowned, walked to the dormitory door, and peeked inside.

On the bed where Xuan Xiao had just been sitting, only a pair of training shoes that he had taken off were neatly placed under the bed.

Lu Xiao looked at the two remaining people in the dormitory with a blank expression: "Where's Xuan Xiao?"