Siheyuan: I am a trader in both worlds!

This is definitely the most puzzling point for Ximen Lang, and also the point that viewers criticize the most about the movie "Assembly".

This even led to the film being labeled as a film by public intellectuals.

As for the reason, it's quite simple.

Because we simply couldn't do such a thing back then, nor did we need to do such a thing.

On the other hand, the bald guy does this all the time. Not only does he do it often, but he does it very well.

So much so that it would be truly strange if he stopped doing it one day.

Coincidentally, the person involved in the Gu Zidi incident was right in front of him.

Of course, Ximen Lang wanted to take advantage of this rare opportunity to get a good understanding of the situation from Gu Zidi, the person involved, and ask him what exactly happened.

Everyone present was naturally astonished by this!

The reason is simple: the question Ximen Lang asked was just too absurd!

He shouldn't have asked, because asking would have been an insult to them!
What do you mean?
So you mean that Gu Zidi's Ninth Company was deliberately sold out by Liu Zeshui back then?
This is utter nonsense!
Because this is absolutely impossible!

Therefore, when they saw that Ximen Lang had suddenly asked such a question, Lao Luo and the others immediately frowned.

The one with the worst expression was undoubtedly Gu Zidi, the person in question.

In other words, through the conversation just now, he had come to understand Ximen Lang's character and knew that Ximen Lang was not a bad person.

Otherwise, just look at the question Ximen Lang asked.
Even if we don't beat him up, we should at least give him a good scolding and tell him that the Ninth Company and the 139th Regiment should not be insulted!
Therefore, it's definitely impossible for him to give Ximen Lang a pleasant look.

In a muffled, gruff voice, Gu Zidi replied curtly.

"How could that be?! Although I don't know where you got this information from, I can tell you with absolute certainty that this is absolutely impossible!"

"Because we all volunteer for such glorious tasks! Do you know why the regiment assigned our company to guard the old kiln site and why our company was tasked with covering the rear?"

"It's not because our company is almost wiped out, nor is it because Liu Zeshui wants us to die, but because our company is strong enough! Only we, and only we, can accomplish this glorious and arduous task!"

"The other companies want to take it, but do they have the strength?! Don't underestimate us just because we're few in number; every single one of us is an elite soldier capable of taking on ten men! Otherwise, how could we have repelled several large-scale enemy attacks and perfectly completed that mission with such a small force? Impossible, right?"

Don't say it, you really don't say it.

If you really look into it, that's exactly what happened!
The battle at the beginning of the movie was also spearheaded by the Ninth Company, who launched the first attack!
And the battle at the old kiln site—putting everything else aside, they absolutely completed that mission perfectly!

You have to understand that this was a real case of fighting with fewer troops against more!
Including the company commander Gu Zidi, the Ninth Company only has 47 people in total!
But what about the enemy?

It's at least several times, maybe even ten times, theirs!
They even have tanks!
Without a doubt, this configuration is absolutely top-notch for Apple fans!

Even against such an elite force, the Ninth Company managed to repel their attacks multiple times, annihilating countless enemies.

With this level of strength, anyone who says they aren't formidable is absolutely blind!

Anyway, Ximen Lang felt that they were incredibly fierce!
Then the question comes
“I remember that our tradition is to have several detailed plans when carrying out such missions. Especially the follow-up work, which is as detailed as possible, just in case you are not properly resettled or unable to find the main force after the mission is over.”

This is indeed a tradition of our army: preparing several contingency plans well in advance before determining the mission.

Whether it's a contingency plan for mission failure or a contingency plan for mission success, especially the evacuation route, it's all very well-developed and thoroughly prepared.

"Then what happened to you? Why didn't you just follow the pre-established plan? How did you end up in the makeshift hospital treating prisoners of war?"

When this topic came up, Gu Zidi's face showed an unusually gloomy expression.

"I was knocked unconscious by an enemy tank, and I don't know how many days passed! When I woke up, I was already at a temporary hospital treating prisoners of war. The comrades at the temporary hospital registered me as a prisoner of war based on the name on my clothes. What could I do?"

"But you can go back and keep looking, right?"

"I did want to, but the war was so intense back then. Everywhere was short of people, and everyone needed people! As a veteran with no health problems, of course I had to be the first to step up!"

"The key point was that I thought it was the same whether I looked for them sooner or later. They were all in the army, and I was bound to run into them sooner or later. And there were my brothers here too. At worst, I could just leave them here for now, and dig them out after the war was over. The result would be the same, and the problem would be cleared up sooner or later."

"As a result, several years passed after that battle. I could no longer find my old unit! And this place, too, is completely unrecognizable!"

"You're really unlucky."

Of course, the main reason is still...
"Who told you to be greedy for small gains? Who told you to be so extravagant and wear other people's clothes all the time? Couldn't you have just worn your own clothes to fight? If you had been wearing your own original clothes back then, would all these problems have arisen?"

That's right.

But is this really just showing off?

Obviously not.

As for the reasons
There were two reasons. First, it was the coldest time of the year, and the river was so frozen that cars could drive on it! In such cold weather, keeping warm was a big problem.

"Our clothes are obviously not as warm as those of the elite troops over there. The soldiers' hands and feet are covered in frostbite, and their rifle bolts are so cold that they can hardly be pulled back. What else can we do but change them?"

Another one is...
"We were on a mission that was almost impossible to complete, constantly facing harassment from enemy forces several times, even dozens of times, larger. With this skin, even sniping became much easier!"

"So it's not that we're being pretentious, but rather that we were forced by circumstances and had no choice but to change into those clothes. Of course, the lesson we learned was certainly painful."

Upon realizing there were so many reasons, Ximen Lang fell silent.

After the silence came respect.

"You all survived such harsh conditions and accomplished this almost impossible task exceptionally well! Amazing! No doubt about it, the Ninth Company is full of tough guys!"

As for such warriors, their remains cannot simply be left buried underground and ignored.

so.
"Don't worry about it, I've got it all covered! It's just a coal mountain, right? I'll take care of it! It thinks it can stop us? No way!"

He patted his chest and immediately agreed to the task!
And that's not all.

In order to restore the honor of the Ninth Company as soon as possible, and to let these brave soldiers see the light of day again and receive the treatment they deserve.

Ximen Lang also mobilized Lao Luo.

"Alright, let's split up. I'll start getting these engineering machines over right away. You, on the other hand, should try to find your old comrades and subordinates. It's not easy to find them from the bottom up, so let's start from the top down." "Starting from the top down, that's simple. Just go directly to that hospital director, and then go down level by level. Keep going until you reach their unit, the 139th Regiment of the 2nd Independent Division. Wouldn't that be much easier?"

It's simple, of course it really is simple.

It's difficult, it really is difficult.

But who can blame us when our Brother Lang has so much influence?
Not to mention the dean, if he wanted to, he could find Bai Ling's elders anytime!

Therefore, it's simply impossible to refuse.

Upon hearing Ximen Lang's words, Lao Luo immediately expressed his opinion.

"Okay, I'll contact my old comrades in a bit and see if any of them know anything about the 9th Company of the 139th Regiment of the former 2nd Independent Division."

They genuinely didn't want Ximen Lang to waste too much time and energy on this matter.

Although this is indeed a serious matter.

But compared to those more important events that can affect a region or even the entire world of Beijing, it is certainly far less significant.

To tell the truth, however, is clearly not the most appropriate approach.

So, the cunning and shrewd Lao Luo, being an old man, decisively hatched a plan.

Having grasped Ximen Lang's pulse, she spoke to him subtly.

"Ah Lang, I'll be quick. We're all old comrades. I'll make a few calls, find a few people, and this will be pretty much done. It'll be finished in two or three days at most. And by 'finished,' I don't mean just finding the relevant people. I mean that within the next two or three days, all the relevant personnel will be in place!"

"I'm moving so fast here, you'd better hurry up on your end too! It wouldn't be good if my people were all in place while you hadn't made a move yet. That won't do; this kind of efficiency doesn't suit your decisive and reliable style!"

That's right, Lao Luo's words are a classic example of reverse psychology.

Such an obvious provocation was something a smart person like Bai Ling could see through almost immediately.

Even Hao Pingchuan, who was standing to the side, vaguely sensed that something was wrong.

Unfortunately, Lao Luo was speaking entirely according to Ximen Lang's preferences, showering him with compliments that made Ximen Lang immediately overlook all the inaccuracies.

He waved his hand and put it there.

"Are you kidding me? Who am I? The mighty Brother Lang! When have I ever let you down? And what do you mean by 'my people are all here while you haven't made a move yet'? That's simply impossible!"

"It's just a small matter, isn't it? You can just keep an eye on it, there's absolutely no chance of any problems! It won't even take that long, as long as you have a driver on your side, once you give the word, it'll be taken care of in no time!"

Good heavens, Lao Luo had barely put the bait down when Ximen Lang started biting the hook like crazy, it was so stupid that Bai Ling couldn't bear to watch.

However, considering that Lao Luo did this for the sake of the world of Beijing, and that it was such a small matter, it was indeed not worth Ximen Lang investing too much energy in. He should indeed devote his limited energy to more important things.

So in the end, Bai Ling didn't expose Lao Luo.

Instead, they ignored it and let the situation continue to develop.

Bai Ling, the only one who might expose Lao Luo, tacitly agreed, so there was no way things could get any more complicated.

After thumping his chest loudly and readily agreeing to the matter, he also received Lao Luo's confident assurance.

He couldn't wait even a moment longer. Without saying a word, Ximen Lang turned around and left. Back in the future, he hurriedly started making arrangements for the matter.

Since Ximen Lang, the main character, has left, there's nothing more to say.

He briefly explained a few words to Zhao Erdou and Gu Zidi, telling them to go back and wait for news.

Especially Gu Zidi, things must be done exactly as they should be, and absolutely no more messing around! Otherwise, they'll be in for a disciplinary action, and no amount of pleading on their behalf will help!

Like Ximen Lang, after giving their instructions, Lao Luo, Bai Ling, and the others left directly.

They arrived at a place not far from the coal mine, set up camp, and waited for Ximen Lang's triumphant return.

Leaving aside how Ximen Lang's side actually operates, let's just talk about the guard battalion.

After returning to the guard battalion, Lao Luo ignored everything.

Even the matter of contacting his old comrades-in-arms as soon as possible was put aside by Lao Luo, who immediately called Bai Ling to the temporary meeting room.

After a moment of silence, without any formalities with Bai Ling, Lao Luo went straight to asking.

"Comrade Bai Ling, what exactly happened with that rallying call that almost ruined our promising situation?"

He even called out to Comrade Bai Ling, which shows just how serious Lao Luo was at that moment.

Seeing Lao Luo turn out like this, to be honest, Bai Ling was a little intimidated by him.

How could I dare to come up and tell the whole truth, only to get scolded by Lao Luo when he was already in a bad mood?

He quickly started joking around, avoiding the main point and talking about other things with Lao Luo.

"What else could it be? Assembly is obviously a movie."

"I know it's a movie! That's not what I'm asking! I'm asking you! Why did you use such a sensitive word in front of Simon Lang? Don't try to brush me off with 'you didn't do it on purpose'!"

"We both know that with your professional skills, it's impossible for you to make such a mistake! If it wasn't intentional, then it was! Comrade Bai Ling, can you tell me why you did this? Do you know the consequences of doing this?!"

"What if Ah Lang can't accept it in a short time and develops a desire to escape the world? Do you know how much loss that would bring to us and future generations? Can you bear that responsibility?!"

"Of course I know I can't take this responsibility, but I just don't want to keep it from Ah Lang anymore."

So it turns out that all this fuss was for this reason.

Luo Yonghao immediately became anxious.

"Comrade Bai Ling, you've committed a grave offense!" (End of Chapter)