Holding the original shares, they fought all the way to the Korean War!

The courtyard gate was pushed open.

Brigade Commander Chen stood at the door, dressed in military uniform, with his hands behind his back and an inscrutable smile on his face.

He did not have anyone announce his arrival, nor were there any bodyguards following him.

He stood there all alone in the night, watching the three people sitting around a table in the courtyard.

Li Yunlong almost spat out the meat in his mouth.

He suddenly stood up, spilling half the wine from his bowl. He hurriedly put the bowl down and stood at attention.

"Brigade commander?"

"What brings you here?"

Zhou Tianyang also stood up, but he wasn't as flustered as Li Yunlong.

After a slight pause, she returned to normal.

"Brigadier, why didn't you tell me beforehand?"

Commander Chen waved his hand, strode into the courtyard, and glanced at the three people before finally settling on Wang Xiuying.

His gaze held an expression that outsiders couldn't decipher—a mixture of concern, relief, and an indescribable satisfaction.

He stopped in front of the table and began to speak slowly.

"I've come to see if my wife is settling in well in the new Second Regiment. What, you're not welcoming her?"

Li Yunlong quickly waved his hand.

"Welcome, welcome!"

"Commander, your arrival is a must-see!"

As he spoke, he hurriedly made way for Commander Chen.

Pull your chair to the edge of the table.

"Brigadier, please sit here. It's spacious here."

Brigade Commander Chen didn't stand on ceremony and plopped down on the floor.

He glanced at the two bottles of sweet potato liquor on the table.

He glanced again at the wine that was still more than half full in Li Yunlong's bowl, and the corners of his mouth curved slightly.

"You guys certainly know how to enjoy yourselves."

"I arrived at just the right time."

Li Yunlong's expression changed.

I wanted to say something to explain, but when I opened my mouth, I realized I didn't know how to explain.

He couldn't very well say that he came to the Second Regiment to freeload on food and drinks.

In the end, it was Wang Xiuying who spoke up to help him out of the predicament.

"Old Chen, Li Yunlong arrived this afternoon. Tianyang invited him to stay for a meal."

"If you hadn't come, the three of us would have started drinking."

"You're here just in time, let's have a drink together."

Brigade Commander Chen glanced at Wang Xiuying, then at Zhou Tianyang, and finally his gaze settled on Li Yunlong's face.

Li Yunlong felt uneasy under his gaze and was about to explain something.

Brigade Commander Chen waved his hand.

"Alright, stop standing, sit down."

"Since we've made it this far, let's have a drink together."

Zhou Tianyang turned around, went into the house, took out another set of bowls and chopsticks, placed them in front of the brigade commander, and poured him half a bowl of wine.

Brigade Commander Chen picked up the bowl, smelled it, and nodded.

"Sweet potato liquor, good wine."

He took a sip, put down the bowl, and his gaze returned to Wang Xiuying.

"How's it going? Are you settling in well with the new Second Regiment?"

Wang Xiuying picked up her own bowl and took a sip.

"fine."

"Tianyang made thorough arrangements for me, and the soldiers cooperated well, so the work went smoothly."

Brigade Commander Chen nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

He picked up the bowl and took another sip, then looked at the dishes on the table, picked up a piece of scrambled egg with his chopsticks, put it in his mouth, chewed it, and nodded in satisfaction.

"These scrambled eggs are pretty good. The cooks in the new Second Regiment are better than the ones at the brigade headquarters."

Li Yunlong, who was standing to the side, finally came to his senses. He held his bowl and cautiously offered a comment.

"Brigade Commander, besides visiting the eldest sister, is there anything else you've brought to the Second Regiment this time?"

Brigade Commander Chen glanced at him.

"What, does my arrival mean I have to do something?"

"Can't you come and visit if there's nothing wrong?"

Li Yunlong quickly shook his head.

"Yes, yes, of course you can."

"Brigadier, you can come anytime."

Brigade Commander Chen ignored him and looked at Zhou Tianyang instead.

"Tianyang, how's your new Second Regiment doing lately?"

"You haven't missed any training, have you?"

Zhou Tianyang put down his bowl and answered seriously:

"Training hasn't stopped for a single day."

"The new recruits have shown significant improvement in physical fitness and shooting performance, and their tactical coordination is still in the process of being refined."

"After the eldest sister arrived, political education also began to become more systematic."

"The soldiers' morale is much better than before."

Commander Chen listened, nodding occasionally.

After listening to Zhou Tianyang's report, he picked up his bowl, took a sip of wine, and put the bowl down with a smile on his face.

"Your Second Regiment did a good job."

"The brigade headquarters has received reconnaissance reports from several nearby strongholds, and the Japanese have indeed reduced their activities considerably recently."

"This is all thanks to the results you guys achieved."

Upon hearing this, Li Yunlong quickly interjected.

"Brigadier, our new regiment also contributed!"

"We took down the Liu Family Fort stronghold together with the New Second Regiment; it wasn't just Zhou Xiaogui who did it alone."

Brigade Commander Chen glanced at him.

"Knowing it was you who hit me, why are you in such a hurry?"

"I didn't say you didn't contribute."

Li Yunlong chuckled and picked up his bowl to drink again.

The four of them sat around the table, chatting away.

The night grew darker.

The wine bowls were emptied and then refilled, and the dishes on the table were changed round after round.

The sweet potato soup had a strong aftereffect; by the time Wang Xiuying had drunk her third bowl, her face was flushed and she became more talkative.

She talked about her time doing underground work in Shanghai, saying that she was always on edge and didn't dare to greet acquaintances on the street.

Li Yunlong listened with great interest, even putting down his chopsticks.

Brigade Commander Chen sat beside her, slowly drinking from his bowl, his gaze fixed on Wang Xiuying.

There was a gentleness in his eyes that was hard for outsiders to notice, a stark contrast to his usual sternness when he scolded people.

Zhou Tianyang saw it all but said nothing.

He simply added another half bowl of wine to the brigade commander's bowl.

We drank until after 11 o'clock.

Commander Chen put the bowl on the table, rubbed his temples, and let out a long sigh of relief.

"Alright, that's enough drinking. We have to go back to the brigade headquarters first thing tomorrow morning."

Li Yunlong was already a little dizzy, but he still couldn't help but ask a question.

"Commander, you're not going back tonight?"

"Return to what?"

"Over forty miles of mountain road, in complete darkness, you want me to fall and die?"

Brigade Commander Chen glared at him.

"I'll stay here tonight and leave tomorrow."

Wang Xiuying stood up and nodded to Zhou Tianyang.

"Then I'll go back and tidy up, and make room for Old Chen to stay."

After she finished speaking, she turned and walked out of the courtyard, her steps a little slower than usual, but still steady.

Commander Chen watched her figure disappear through the courtyard gate.

His gaze lingered for a while before he looked away.

Li Yunlong had already dozed off at the table.

He was mumbling something like "another bowl, please."

Zhou Tianyang shook his head, called out to the outside of the courtyard, and asked Li Yunlong's guards to help him to his residence and settle in.

Commander Chen stood up and walked to the entrance of the regimental headquarters.

I gazed at the distant, rolling mountain shadows in the night and remained silent for a long while.

Then he turned to look at Zhou Tianyang, his tone more serious than before.

"Tianyang, you did a good job on this."

Zhou Tianyang was taken aback, unsure which matter the brigade commander was referring to.

Brigade Commander Chen didn't explain, he just patted him on the shoulder, then strode out of the courtyard and headed towards the next house.

Zhou Tianyang stood at the entrance of the regimental department.

Watching the brigade commander's figure disappear into the night, it took him a while before he turned around and went back into the house.

The courtyard was quiet.

He sat down in the chair and let out a long sigh of relief.

Although the brigade commander didn't say it explicitly, his attitude during his visit spoke volumes.

The Second New Regiment is on the right track.

The rest is simply to do things step by step, one by one.