After being separated from my family, I became a darling of the military region thanks to my medical

Li Yunlong's hand, which was about to light a cigarette, froze in mid-air as he stared wide-eyed at Gu Zheng.

"Your brother-in-law?"

Gu Zheng nodded, picked up the glass of baijiu that the boss had just brought over, poured himself a full glass of bulk sorghum liquor, and drank it all in one gulp.

The cheap liquor made him wince, and he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, his voice growing increasingly low and desolate.

"My brother-in-law owns a quarry in the countryside."

"Old Li, you don't know, my wife works at the China Heart Rescue Office at the Beicheng Military Region General Hospital. She stays up all night every day to help those poor children with congenital heart disease."

"For example, the hospital recently announced plans to build an interventional center building, supposedly to house those patients."

"My brother-in-law is an honest man who cares about his sister. Without saying a word, he transported the best granite from his family's quarry to the construction site in Beicheng without asking for a single penny of deposit."

Li Yunlong put the cigarette in his mouth and lit it with a match.

"This is a good thing; it shows high awareness."

"and then?"

Gu Zheng picked up a peanut with his chopsticks and threw it into his mouth, crunching it loudly, as if he were chewing on someone's bone.

"What a mess! These days, good people don't get rewarded."

"There's a vice president in the main hospital named Lin Weiguo who has a grudge against my wife. That old bastard can't stand seeing my wife doing well, so he secretly tries to trip her up."

"He directly issued an official document to freeze his brother-in-law's settlement account."

"They said it would take three months to review, but they haven't paid a single penny during those three months."

Upon hearing this, Li Yunlong's brows furrowed into a knot, and his fingers, holding a cigarette, clenched tightly.

"Freeze the account?"

"Wouldn't that mean construction on that building would have to stop? Wouldn't that delay the crucial rescue operation?"

Gu Zheng gave a wry smile and poured himself another glass of wine.

"The construction site didn't stop work because my brother-in-law was holding on."

"He would rather take out a loan from the town's credit union to pay the workers' wages than fail to deliver the best stone to Beicheng on time every day."

He said he absolutely could not let his own actions delay the building where his sister was saving lives.

Li Yunlong slapped the greasy, broken wooden table, making the cucumber salad on the plate jump. His eyes widened like saucers.

"That's what a real man is."

"This brother-in-law is tough; I, Li Yunlong, admire him."

Seeing that the time was right, Gu Zheng threw out the last heavy bomb.

"But just yesterday, things went wrong."

"There was a quarry owner in Fangzhuang named Zhou Defa."

"This bastard drove straight to my brother-in-law's place and threatened him to cancel the contract, saying that if he didn't give up this lucrative opportunity, he would ruin my wife's reputation in Beicheng."

"My brother-in-law was forced into a corner. In order to protect my wife's reputation, he is preparing to announce the dissolution of the relationship in the village today. Dozens of people are about to lose their livelihood."

"Old Li, tell me, if my wife finds out about this, how can she not cry? How can I possibly eat this roast duck?"

After hearing this embellished description, Li Yunlong's anger surged from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, and he was so angry that his whole body was trembling.

He slammed his hand on the table, and with a crisp crack, the old, dilapidated wooden table cracked open with a gap the width of a palm.

"That's utter bullshit."

"My old life, Li Yunlong's life, was saved by that little brat Shi Tou who risked his life for me, and Shi Tou's life was saved by your wife, Dr. Ye, on the operating table."

"When you put it all together, your brother-in-law is my brother-in-law, Li Yunlong's brother-in-law."

"Which blind bastard dares to bully my brother-in-law?"

Li Yunlong suddenly stood up, not even bothering to drink the bulk sorghum liquor, and pulled a ten-yuan note from his overcoat pocket, slamming it on the table.

"Keep the change, please."

He grabbed Gu Zheng's arm and dragged him out of the restaurant like he was pulling a sandbag.

"Walk."

As Gu Zheng staggered out, he asked, feigning confusion.

"Old Li, where are you going? We haven't finished eating the cucumber yet."

"What a load of crap, cucumbers!"

Li Yunlong strode towards the military compound, exhaling heavily through his nose.

"Today I'll show these bastards just how many eyes Lord Ma has."

The two returned to the parade ground of the military compound, and Li Yunlong immediately shouted at the top of his lungs at a row of barracks not far away.

"Company commander of the guard company, get out here right now!"

A strong, muscular man in a training uniform jogged up to Li Yunlong and snapped to attention with a perfect military salute.

"Greetings, sir. Wang Tiezhu, the company commander of the guard company, is reporting for duty."

Li Yunlong waved his hand.

"Everyone, sound the emergency assembly call, grab your gear, and come with me on a errand to buy some building materials."

Wang Tiezhu was completely bewildered by these words.

"Commander, when did our guard company take over logistics and procurement? What kind of equipment do we need to bring? Should we bring shovels or pickaxes?"

"What's the point of bringing a shovel? Bring a hammer!"

Li Yunlong kicked Wang Tiezhu in the buttocks and glared at him while cursing.

"Give me all the Type 63 automatic rifles in your company."

Wang Tiezhu was startled.

"Commander, are we going to purchase materials or to fight a war?"

"And carry that newly issued Type 40 rocket launcher for me."

Wang Tiezhu was completely dumbfounded and stammered a question.

"Commander, are we going to use RPG rocket launchers when we procure materials? If something bad happens, Commander Wang will skin us alive."

Li Yunlong's eyes widened, and the veins on his neck bulged out.

"Stop talking nonsense, I'm just giving you orders to carry them out."

"Can those unscrupulous merchants just fool us about whether this stone is sturdy enough?"

"How can we know if the stones those bastards sold to the military hospital are actually genuine if we don't actually bombard them with cannons?"

Wang Tiezhu found these words absurd.

But having followed Li Yunlong for many years, he knew that the army commander was determined to deal with people this time.

He dared not ask a single question or disobey military orders, and turned to take out the brass whistle hanging around his neck.

He puffed out his cheeks and blew the whistle for emergency assembly with all his might.

In less than three minutes, more than a hundred fully armed guards rushed out of the barracks.

They formed a neat and uniform square formation on the playground.

Six large trucks covered with thick military green tarpaulins rumbled to the side of the convoy under the drivers' guidance.

The soldiers nimbly jumped onto the vehicle.

Li Yunlong opened the door of the lead command jeep and stepped inside.

Gu Zheng followed closely behind and climbed into the passenger seat, closing the car door behind him.

He turned his head to look out the window, a sly smile playing on his lips, as if he were watching a good show.

A piercing roar of engines erupted from the convoy.

The menacing convoy drove out of the iron gate of the military compound and headed straight for the Fangzhuang quarry, forty kilometers away.