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

After several rounds of drinks...

Li Yunlong's face was already flushed.

He's not a bad drinker, but he was in a good mood today and kept drinking.

He was already a little tipsy when he spoke.

He leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, held a half-bowl of wine in his hand, and squinted at Ma Yong sitting opposite him.

Ma Yong didn't drink much; there was still more than half a bowl of wine left in his bowl.

He sipped his tea slowly, calm and composed, with a humble yet confident smile on his face.

"Platoon Leader Ma."

Li Yunlong suddenly spoke, his voice a few decibels lower than before, but his reckless and headstrong spirit remained.

"Tell me the truth."

Ma Yong put down his bowl and looked at him.

"Where has your commander been for the past month?"

Ma Yong's gaze shifted slightly, but his expression remained unchanged.

He picked up the bowl, took another sip of wine, put it down slowly, and then spoke in a very calm tone.

"Commander Li, didn't you know our commander has gone on a mission?"

"I know, I know."

Li Yunlong leaned forward slightly and tapped his fingers twice on the table.

"But that kid has been gone for a month, taking your platoon of thirty men with him, and we haven't heard a word from him."

Ma Yong did not respond immediately.

He looked down at the wine in the bowl, remained silent for a few seconds, then looked up, still with that gentle smile on his face.

"Commander Li, there are some things I can't say."

Li Yunlong stared at him for a few seconds, then suddenly grinned.

He leaned back in his chair, picked up his bowl, took a big gulp, and then put the bowl down, his tone carrying an undeniable certainty.

"Platoon Leader Ma, I don't like hearing that from you."

"What do you mean by 'can't say'?"

"Am I an outsider, Brother Li?"

"What kind of relationship do I have with your commander?"

"We came together on the Long March."

"Those are brothers who would risk their lives for each other."

"Where did he go, what did he do, can't I even ask him anymore?"

Ma Yong felt somewhat helpless after hearing his words, but he still did not back down.

He simply held the bowl, took a slow sip, and then put the bowl down, his tone carrying a cautiousness born of careful consideration.

"Commander Li, it's not that I don't want to tell you."

"There are some things that the commander has instructed us not to say."

"If you really want to know, you can ask our commander yourself when you meet him."

Li Yunlong looked at him for a few seconds, seemingly assessing the weight of his words.

Then he picked up the bowl, took a sip of wine, put the bowl on the table, and asked a different question.

"Then tell me, where did you go on this trip?"

Ma Yong remained silent for a moment, as if weighing whether he should accept the offer.

He glanced at Li Yunlong, noticing the other's determined attitude of not giving up until he got an answer.

I knew that if I didn't say something today, I probably wouldn't be able to finish this meal in peace.

He put down his bowl and answered in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft.

"I went to Shanghai."

Li Yunlong's chopsticks froze in mid-air as he looked at Ma Yong, nearly spitting out the wine in his mouth.

"Shanghai?"

"Um."

Li Yunlong put down his chopsticks and leaned back in his chair.

The expression on his face changed from surprise to confusion, and then from confusion to a complex feeling that was hard to describe.

He reached up and touched the back of his head, as if to make sure he hadn't misheard.

"Shanghai was a Japanese-occupied area, the territory of the Japanese devils."

"What did you thirty people do in Shanghai?"

Ma Yong did not answer.

Li Yunlong stared at him for a few seconds, then suddenly seemed to remember something and waved his hand.

"Okay, okay, I won't ask anymore."

"It's good that you're back safe and sound."

He picked up his wine bowl and raised it towards Ma Yong.

"Here, have another sip, as an apology."

Ma Yong also picked up his bowl, the two clinked their bowls together, and each took a big gulp.

Li Yunlong put down his bowl, leaned back in his chair, and let out a long sigh of relief.

He squinted and tapped his fingers lightly on the edge of the table twice, as if he was thinking about something.

A while later.

He spoke, his voice a few decibels lower than before.

"Shanghai..."

"That's a big place."

"I've never been to Shanghai in my life."

"But that place is now Japanese territory. It's not easy for you to complete your mission and come back."

He said this with a sense of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a feeling of deep emotion or reflection).

But more than anything, it's a casual attitude of not taking it seriously.

Shanghai was too far away for him, as far as another world.

He only knew that it was Japanese territory, but he didn't know what major events had happened there.

He assumed that Ma Yong's mention of going to Shanghai meant carrying out an escort mission, delivering the person to their destination, and then returning.

Just like when he used to send people to deliver messages to neighboring counties, only the journey was longer and the road more dangerous.

Little did he know that Zhou Tianyang's trip to Shanghai had already caused an unprecedented upheaval in the entire Japanese East China Expeditionary Army Headquarters.

Li Yunlong picked up the wine bowl and took another sip.

Then he put down the bowl, wiped his mouth, and had a look of contentment on his face after a satisfying meal.

"Alright, Platoon Leader Ma, let's not talk about this anymore."

"I'll go have a drink with your commander another day, and we can have a good chat then."

Ma Yong looked at him but didn't reply.

He simply picked up the bowl and took another sip of wine.

He knew that Li Yunlong didn't take it seriously, which was actually a good thing.

The atmosphere at the dinner table relaxed again.

Li Yunlong then instructed the cooks to serve another dish: a plate of peanuts.

While serving food to Ma Yong, he kept talking about the recent training situation and recruitment progress of the new regiment.

He kept muttering about how the new regiment would be able to do well after acquiring this batch of equipment.

Ma Yong listened quietly, occasionally responding with a word or two, while his chopsticks would occasionally pick up a bite of food.

He didn't mention Shanghai again, and Li Yunlong didn't press him for details.

By the time we finished our meal, it was completely dark.

Li Yunlong arranged for Ma Yong to rest in a room next to the regimental headquarters.

He stood at the gate of the courtyard, watching Ma Yong's figure disappear into the doorway, before turning around and walking back into his own house.

Early the next morning.

When Ma Yong pushed open the door and walked out.

Li Yunlong was already standing in the courtyard.

He greeted Ma Yong when he saw him come out.

"You're up so early?"

"Don't you want to sleep a little longer?"

Ma Yong shook his head.

"No, Commander Li, I have to rush back to report."

"The regimental commander is still waiting."

Li Yunlong walked up to Ma Yong.

He still had his usual casual air about him, but there was a hint of seriousness in his eyes compared to last night.

"Platoon Leader Ma, go back and tell your regimental commander that I'm going to visit him for drinks in a few days."

"Tell him to save the good wine and not to drink it himself."

Ma Yong smiled and nodded.

"Don't worry, Commander Li, I will definitely deliver your message."

Li Yunlong escorted him to the village entrance.

He stopped making those probing remarks along the way.

They chatted casually, their conversation ranging from the weather to the crops, and from the crops to the recent training of the new regiment.

His tone was very casual, as if he were sending a visiting old friend back home.

When the sentry at the village entrance saw Li Yunlong personally seeing people off, he immediately stood at attention and saluted.

Li Yunlong waved his hand, stopped in front of Ma Yong, and extended his hand.

"Platoon Leader Ma, you've worked hard."

"Be careful on the road."

Ma Yong grasped his hand and shook it forcefully.

"Commander Li, please wait."

He released his grip, turned around, and shouted to the soldiers behind him.

"Set off!"

Dozens of soldiers responded and followed Ma Yong, heading towards Lijia Yu along the mountain path.

Li Yunlong stood at the village entrance, watching Ma Yong's figure gradually disappear into the distance.

He had his hands in his pockets, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, and squinted at the figures gradually shrinking as he rounded the bend in the mountain road.

After watching for a while, he turned around and strode back into the village.

As he walked, he kept thinking about what Ma Yong had said the night before.

Then he shook his head, not thinking much about it; Shanghai was too far away from him.

What he cared about was that batch of equipment, the future of the new regiment.

He didn't care what Zhou Tianyang did in Shanghai.