Ning An's Wild Wish System

The light was dim, and he was smoking a cheap hand-rolled cigarette, taking a couple of puffs. His expression didn’t reveal much change, but there was a hint of hesitation in his words: ”When I went to the regiment for a meeting, I heard some rumors saying that you’re going to be transferred...”

I responded to this matter with silence, saying nothing in return.

He turned slightly: ”I think it’s just someone spreading nonsense.”

”However, if you really are getting transferred, then I won’t take my leave for now. If this rumor is false, then I’ll leave tomorrow.”

The atmosphere instantly became awkward.

I couldn’t tell him the truth, but I also couldn’t bear to lie to comfort him, so I could only chuckle and say, ”Leave is your right, taking it or not taking it has nothing to do with other things.”

”As for the other rumors, just let them be, after all, tongues are not only ours, I can’t control them all.”

”As for whether I’ll be transferred, I don’t know for now, I haven’t received any notice from above yet.”

Having said enough, he understood.

He didn’t say anything more.

The next day, he still continued with the usual training and didn’t take his leave.

In fact, from that day on, he never brought up the leave again.

As time went by, the gap between me and Liang Erxi and the others in the company widened more and more.

During the weekly rest time, they no longer invited me to play cards, chat, or laugh together.

I saw all this but didn’t care.

As the saying goes, an eagle in the sky is too proud to mingle with chickens on the ground.

At that time, I considered myself the eagle in the sky, and them the chickens on the ground.

Even if for some reason, the eagle and the chickens had to live together, the essential difference would never be eliminated.

I had long prepared myself mentally for this,

I was always waiting, waiting for that notification that would allow me to soar again.

Finally, I received a notification.

But it wasn’t a notice to call me back, rather it was like a declaration of war.

In that notification, after a long discussion, it summed up in one sentence:

A small country is bullying us too much; we need to give them a good slap to wake them up.

With this message, I was in no mood to motivate anyone, so I grabbed a few newspapers, found some decent-looking remarks, and recited them to the soldiers.

None of those words contained any of my emotions, they were entirely read as a formality.

After it ended, Wang Wenxi unusually came to me, smiling, he said:

”Instructor, your speech was not bad, it was high-level. Rest assured, when the real fight comes, we’ll definitely be right behind you, charging forward!”

I knew he was mocking me, but I could only smile back...

Regarding my job transfer, my mother was growing more and more concerned.

Every few days, I would receive a letter, but the content was always of two extremes.

A few days ago, I received a letter saying my mother had found someone who could definitely make it happen.

In a few days, I might receive the complete opposite message, with the contents typically involving my mother sighing about failures...

The matter of getting posted to the company before the transfer was unknown to the people in the company.

But in this world, no wall is truly windproof.

Even if not everyone knew the whole situation, they could deduce my purpose from bits and pieces.

Not only the officers were aware, but even some well-informed soldiers knew.

In this bizarre atmosphere, I endured it for nearly a month.

Finally, when I was barely holding on, I saw a glimmer of hope.

It was in my third month there that I received another letter from my mother.

Initially, I thought it would be the usual recounting of her efforts to pull strings.

Upon opening the letter, I found out that she finally had some leads on my transfer.

She wrote that as soon as I received a notice, I should quickly leave the company.

At the end of the letter, her handwriting became somewhat careless, with several large words standing out:

Listen and obey! Do not make a commotion!

I didn’t understand these orders at the time, thinking my mother just wanted me to keep a low profile.

After all, in those days, there were many honest people, but not a lack of bad ones too.

My worried heart finally settled a bit, daily counting the days, anticipating the day I would be transferred away.

I was longing, chanting, waiting every day for that notification.

I really couldn’t stay here any longer.

A week had gone by without any transfer notification, leaving me inexplicably restless.

After finishing a run near the woods and returning to the company, I heard voices from within Liang Erxi’s room.

Wang Wenxi: ”Captain, I’m just saying, with this box full of things, except for that new military coat issued last year, isn’t the rest just as good as valuables no one would want? Why are you bothering to pack them?”

Liang Erxi: ”Wenxi, you better start packing as well, the situation in the southeast is growing more severe. I guess it won’t be long before we set off too.”

Wang Wenxi: ”What? Deployment? Are you serious!”

Liang Erxi: ”Hey, you didn’t attend the regimental meetings. If you had, you would have felt the atmosphere there and understood.”

Wang Wenxi: ”Even if there’s really to be a war, considering the numerous units across the country, and many around us, what makes you so sure it’s going to be our unit?”

Liang Erxi: ”Don’t ask too much, just go back and get ready.”

Wang Wenxi: ”No, Captain, this isn’t right. If higher-ups truly tipped you off, you should share with me. Old Wang here may not be perfect, but I’m no gossip! You don’t trust your buddies?”

Liang Erxi: ”You’re overthinking. With my status as a low-ranking captain, who would tip me off? I’d be grateful just not to receive fake information.”

Wang Wenxi: ”But that doesn’t make sense, how did you conclude?”

Liang Erxi: ”I... I heard it from the instructor’s mother.”

Wang Wenxi: ”Come on, Captain, that’s unjust! She makes a mother’s call, and you eavesdrop?! I...”

Liang Erxi: ”What are you saying? I’m not that kind of person! I inferred it from their communication frequency. Think about it, the instructor was originally sent down for training, and logically, after just two months, a transfer wouldn’t be so rushed.”

”But recently, the letters came almost daily. Don’t you think this frequency is a bit urgent? Also, I heard from the communication department that the instructor’s mother nearly calls the regiment every day...”

Wang Wenxi: ”Damn! Captain, you’re a genius! Indeed, judging from the daily calls his mother makes to the regiment, this information source is indeed a bit more sensitive.”

Liang Erxi: ”You’re not wrong to get prepared, go back and prepare well. I estimate that in seven or eight days, we’ll be setting off. Oh, and make sure to keep this confidential!”

Wang Wenxi: ”Damn! If a war does start and she dares to pull her son back, watch me dare to file a complaint in Kyoto!”

”...”

Three days later, when I went to the regiment for a meeting, I received the transfer notification I longed for.

I thought this matter was quiet. As long as I didn’t say anything, no one would know.

But I never expected that somehow Liang Erxi also found out about this.

That day, as I packed up and prepared to leave the company quietly, I received orders from the regiment that our unit must immediately move, advancing southeast!

That day is vivid in my memory; the kitchen staff had just slaughtered two pigs to improve everyone’s meals, but we couldn’t enjoy it.

This put me in an instant dilemma.

”Get out! Just get the hell out!”

Good-natured Liang Erxi started cursing tirelessly, not caring about his image, he showered me with insults:

”Damn it, take your things and get lost, our company doesn’t need an instructor like you!”

”After you’re gone, I’ll apply for a new instructor from above!”

”But before that, I have to scold you, soldiers are to be used after being nurtured!”

”Does the uniform you’re wearing mean anything to you?”

”If you leave now, what are you? Think hard about it...”