Chapter 29: The Unscrupulous Merchant

  Perhaps it was the emergency gathering at night that was too intense, and on the second day of morning exercises, including Ouyang Yun, all the student soldiers had black eye circles. At first, Ouyang Yun didn't mind, as a special soldier in the past, he had endured training ten times more brutal than this and still looked spirited. As the team leader, he had high demands for his image, so although he clearly felt some discomfort in his body, his face remained very energetic. Of course, he did not expect that with two black eye circles, the overall effect would be somewhat comical.

  The recruits didn't notice it at first, and when the morning exercise bell rang, everyone just wanted to curse, yawn, and rub their eyes without even washing their faces. However, after running a few laps, as the sleepiness was washed away by sweat, people slowly discovered the abnormality of their comrades around them - Ah, how did this guy become a giant panda in just two hours? Upon discovering this, many people's mouths involuntarily curled up. Then, looking around left and right, they found themselves surrounded by pandas, which made the laughter even more intense.

  As the leader, Ouyang Yun ran at the edge of the team and was naturally the focus of everyone's attention. After a series of exchanged glances and smiles, everyone's eyes finally converged on his face, causing many people to burst out laughing uncontrollably.

  At this time, Ouyang Yun also discovered the abnormality of the school soldiers. In his heart, he was still lamenting that the physical quality of the school soldiers was too poor. It seemed that they would have to strengthen their training in the future. Seeing everyone's gaze suddenly falling on his face, and one by one being amused, he didn't know what had happened. He looked at his clothes, but none of the buttons were buttoned wrong? Looking at his shoes, neither was it left foot with one shoe and right foot with another, he couldn't help but feel puzzled.

  "What's going on? Did I grow grass or crops on my face? You're all staring at me!"

  Everyone burst out laughing, Chen Shichang stood in front of the team and held back his laughter, saying: "Team leader, it's like this, everyone thought you were a tough guy, but unexpectedly, even you get dark circles under your eyes from staying up all night."

  "Ah! Won't happen? I haven't had dark circles for many years?" Ouyang Yun's eyes widened in disbelief - since joining the special forces, he hadn't had dark circles.

  The recruits all laughed when they heard this, and some thought: The captain is really humorous, he's still so young, and it'll be many years before he gets dark circles under his eyes, haha!

  Seeing everyone's smile, Ouyang Yun was not angry, but rather happy. Originally, he was worried that the emergency gathering at dawn today would bring everyone's disgust, after all, these are all proud sons of heaven! Proud son, there is another way to say it, that is, spoiled... Now it seems that he was worried too much.

  After everyone laughed for a while to relax, Ouyang Yun suddenly shouted loudly: "Attention!" Then he took the lead in making an attention posture, with his chest straight as a pen.

  The recruits saw him with a serious expression and unconsciously became infected, each one standing up straight and looking serious.

  "Take a breather! Now, I'll talk about the problems that appeared during this morning's emergency assembly. Problem one: The assembly time was too slow, over 200 people took around eight minutes! Problem two: Many people didn't even button up their clothes, and some of them even ran out with bare feet! Comrades, think about it, if there were enemies attacking us at that moment, could we have won the battle with that speed? Note that our weapons and equipment haven't been issued yet. If we add the time to carry the equipment, I estimate it would take more than an hour for our troops to assemble," Ouyang Yun said, scanning the faces of the recruits with a stern gaze.

  The playground fell silent for a moment, and many people even lowered their heads.

  Seeing someone bowing their head, Ouyang Yun furrowed his brow and said: "People with their heads bowed, lift your heads up. What's wrong? Do you think I'm making a big deal out of nothing? Or is it because you've realized your mistake and feel ashamed? I declare that this is absolutely not an exaggeration. On the battlefield, time is life - how long does it take for a bullet to fly one thousand meters? You are all educated people who have studied arithmetic, so this answer is not difficult to obtain - just a few seconds! Perhaps just a difference of one second, you and I will lose our lives because we delayed gathering. Because of your and my death, the strength of our team will be affected and we will lose the initiative, perhaps leading to failure. If our team fails, then our entire army may be destroyed due to our destruction, leading to the failure of a battle, and further, our country may perish - this is not an exaggeration! A dike collapses because of an ant hole, I think everyone here understands this principle - all people lift your heads up. We don't need to feel guilty now, we still have many things to do! What awaits us is a cruel battlefield, where we will become men who stand tall and strong, the backbone of our nation - this is the mission of us soldiers! Now I announce that after dismissing and having breakfast, we will hold a farewell ceremony for the martyrs' remains. Comrades, think about it, yesterday they were still training with us, dreaming together of recovering our rivers and mountains one day, but today they are already sleeping forever - comrades, the martyrs' legacy needs us to complete it, so please lift your heads up!

  Ouyang Yun actually had a lot to say and many things to remind the students, but when he mentioned the students who sacrificed themselves that morning, he choked up and couldn't continue, so he gave up his long lecture.

  At around 7:30 in the morning, all personnel of the Student Army who remained at their posts, except for two sentries, attended the farewell ceremony for the martyrs. During the ceremony, many students cried, and more gritted their teeth, silently making a vow to themselves: one day, they would drive out all Japanese devils from China, so that their fallen comrades could rest in peace with smiles on their faces.

  After the ceremony, Ouyang Yun announced two regulations. Firstly, in order to commemorate the first battle of the Student Army, today, May 5th, was designated as the founding day of the Student Army. Secondly, on the founding day, unless there are special circumstances, activities will be held to mourn the martyrs who sacrificed for the Student Army.

  This later gradually became an unwritten rule for the Student Army's Military Establishment Day, and afterwards, no matter where they were or what identity they had, May 5th was a special day for the officers and soldiers of the Student Army.

  Ouyang Yun himself did not expect that this move, which seemed a bit sentimental at the time, would gradually become the soul of the "Iron Blood Student Troop" growing into an iron army.

  After the farewell ceremony for the martyrs' remains, Ouyang Yun arranged for Chen Shichang to take a few people into town to buy coffins and tombstones, then drive a truck to send the remains of the four martyrs back to the 51st Army's logistics department. Chen Shaohua learned that the convoy had been ambushed, his first reaction was to grit his teeth and mutter the name "Ma Benqian". It turned out that yesterday afternoon, Ma Benqian had come to find him but was blocked by the guard at the door. According to the guard, Ma Benqian had lingered at the door for a long time before leaving, it was clear that he had revealed the convoy's itinerary to the Japanese. Ouyang Yun learned of this and even suspected that his visit to Song Fu and temporary stay at Cai Jia Huayuan were also leaked by this traitor to the Japanese.

  "Anyway, Chen Shaohua said with hatred: 'Ma Benqian, you're finished!'"

  Ouyang Yun had no time to care about Ma Benyuan now, he took out four gold bars and handed them over to Chen Shaohua, saying: "Uncle Chen, because of me, your noble family has encountered misfortune, please find a way to give this money to their relatives as consolation."

  Chen Shaohua turned a smile and said: "No problem, Ouyang, I didn't expect you to be so young and yet have such a good heart."

  "Ouyang Yun pouted and said: 'Uncle Chen, please make sure to send it over, I'll take my leave first.'"

  Chen Shaohua understood the implication of his words and said seriously: "Ouyang, you also underestimate me too much. A gentleman makes a fortune in a proper way. I don't dare to take this kind of money! Don't worry, I will arrange everything well for their family."

  Ouyang Yun did not want to entangle with him on this topic, Chen Shaohua's city was too deep, he could not touch the bottom of the house, so he just wanted to seek a peace of mind, and then solemnly saluted him before driving away.

  After leaving the logistics department of the 51st Army, Ouyang Yun drove to the residence of Chang Zhi'an, the commander of the 25th Division, under the guidance of Liu Zheliang, a soldier on duty in the same car. Then, under Chang Zhi'an's leadership, they met Chang Zhi-lin, the head of the logistics department of the 25th Division very smoothly.

  Chang Zhilin listened to his younger brother's introduction and was certain that Ouyang Yun, a returned overseas Chinese, was a rich man. He directly led him into the warehouse and asked him what he wanted, pointing at the rows of guns, cannons and other things inside.

  It's strange to say, the 25th Division has a scale of one division, and the inventory in the warehouse is more than that of the 51st Army. Brand new guns and cannons are not worth mentioning, while damaged guns and cannons piled up like a small mountain when placed together as scrap metal. What caught Ouyang Yun's eye was a hydraulic press and several half-new lathes, milling machines, and grinding machines covered in dust.

  He pretended to be nonchalant and surveyed the entire warehouse, then shook his head in a show of great disappointment.

  Seeing his expression, Chang Zhi'an and Chang Zhilin were both perplexed. Chang Zhi'an asked: "Ouyang, little brother, you seem to be not very satisfied?"

  Ouyang Yun smiled reservedly, the characteristics of a shrewd businessman fully revealed, and said slowly: "Don't be fooled, we've bought many guns and cannons from the 51st Army, and bullets are enough for a year's consumption..."

  Chang Zhi Lin listened to half of the conversation and felt very disappointed, saying: "So you're saying that Ou Yang's younger brother looks down on our things?" He glared at his younger brother, seemingly dissatisfied with him for bringing in someone who only looked but didn't buy.

  Ouyang Yun's painstaking performance was just to lower the price and buy the machine he wanted most. After thinking for a moment, he said slowly: "Two brothers, thank you for your appreciation. Since I've come, I don't want to leave empty-handed. Ah, I have an antique shop in Beiping, and it seems like there's quite a lot of scrap metal here. Would you be willing to sell?"

  "Sell, sell, of course it's sold!" Chang Zhilin immediately shouted out loud, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he didn't know why he felt inappropriate. He looked at Ouyang Yun with a puzzled expression and asked: "You, a lieutenant colonel, opened an antique shop? I didn't hear that wrong, did I?"

  Ouyang Yun smiled awkwardly and nodded slightly, looking embarrassed.

  In Zhang Zhilin's eyes, the damaged guns were just scrap iron and would have to be disposed of anyway. Although he felt uneasy about it, he had a lingering feeling that he was being cheated, but still agreed to sell them along with several machine tools to Ouyang Yun at the price of scrap iron.

  Ouyang Yun got the machine he wanted, and in the eyes of the Chang brothers, he seemed to have become more generous all at once. He didn't think the guns were enough, and at a very fair price, he bought two trucks, ten barrels of engine oil, twenty barrels of gasoline; ten light machine guns, ten boxes of bullets; ten mortars, three 75mm mountain cannons, and several hundred rounds of ammunition. After that, he gave each of the brothers a half-jin gold bar as a gift. He didn't want to break the rules of the industry, but unexpectedly, Chang Zhilin was so moved that he slashed the agreed-upon price by one-third with a stroke of his pen, which meant he had lost five jin of gold in an instant. His intestines turned green with regret, and he thought to himself, "If I had known this would happen, why not just give them each five jin of gold? Wouldn't that mean the guns here are free for the taking?" He also remembered the time he was cheated by Chen Shaohua, and his heart felt like it was being gnawed by a thousand ants.

  On the way back, Liu Zhe Liang saw that he was in a bad mood and didn't understand what was going on, so he asked: "Comrade Tuan, is it expensive?"

  Ouyang Yun burst out laughing, but considering there was a car behind him that Chang Zhi'an often drove, he didn't dare laugh too loudly. He said in a low voice: "Expensive? You fool! It's a steal! I'm just regretful that I didn't get to know them earlier, otherwise I wouldn't have wasted so much money on the 51st army. Let me tell you, two trucks for 1500 yuan, ten barrels of machine oil for 1000 yuan, twenty barrels of gasoline for 4000 yuan, ten machine guns for 2500 yuan, and ten boxes of bullets for only 500 yuan... In the end, I only gave them 11 kilograms of gold, which is equivalent to 9240 silver dollars. Haha! The few lathes and those big cannons and shells are essentially free!"

  Liu Zhe-liang was stunned, thinking to himself: "Good grief, I didn't think our team leader was such a shrewd businessman!" But then he wondered, if the 25th Division's people were doing business like this, why did they all look so happy and carefree?!

  This question is hard to explain!