Chapter 20: Plundered

  "We must wipe them out before the Japanese special agents find the logistics station! This transportation line cannot be destroyed, otherwise, the 100,000 troops who have penetrated into Burma will have difficulty withdrawing in twenty days!"

  "Retreat?" Li Yuanyuan asked in surprise: "We've just started a head-on battle with the Japanese army and we're at an advantage, why should we retreat?"

  Dong Li Mao scratched his head, bitterly smiling as he replied: "I'm saying this just in case, besides, if this transportation line is destroyed, how will the military supplies from the rear be transported to the front lines? How will the wounded soldiers be transported back to the rear? So we must protect this transportation line."

  "Comrade company commander, give your orders. Whatever you say, we brothers will listen to you." Zhu Yongsheng's words were echoed by several others: "We'll all listen to the company commander!"

  Dong Li Mao suddenly thought of Du Yunming's appointment letter, it seemed that Ta Lao Ye had led the remaining eleven soldiers of the 9th Company to do the work of a special operations company on their way to take office. At this time, he was completing a historically significant task in the identity of Ta Lao Ye. If this transportation line hadn't been kept safe back then, it's likely that more people would have died or been injured, and even the entire army might have been annihilated.

  Thinking of this, Dong Li Mao felt a surge of pride from the bottom of his heart. If it were true that Tai Ye had led his men to do this back then, he should be considered a great hero. Unfortunately, after Tai Ye's death, except for leaving behind that photo of him leaning against the Nujiang Bridge wearing an upper military uniform, there was no fame at all. During World War II, there were many anti-Japanese heroes and famous generals, but few people mentioned the anti-Japanese heroes and famous generals in the Burma Expeditionary Force.

  This could not help but make Dong Limao think deeply about the historical reasons behind it.

  "Dong Lianchang..." Li Yuanyuan saw Dong Li Mao stunned and called out to him several times in a row.

  "Uh..." Dong Li Mao came back to his senses.

  "Everyone is waiting for your order, Commander." Li Yuanyuan reminded Dong Limao.

  "Since the enemy ambushing our convoy is in the mountain pass, other unexposed enemy scouts should also be around here." Dong Li Mao stood up and scanned the dark surroundings before asking Li Yuanyuan: "Sister, if it were you, where would you choose to send signals from?"

  Li Yuyuan also stood up and looked around, shaking her head: "It's too dark, nothing can be seen clearly. However, sending a message requires a signal, which is definitely not possible in the mountain valley. It must be in a high place, but it can't be too high, otherwise it will easily expose its location..."

  After Li Yuanyuan finished speaking, Dong Limao gave an order: "We'll wait here."

  "What?" Zhu Yongsheng asked somewhat puzzled.

  "Yes, wait till dawn. Before dawn breaks, the brothers can also get a good hour's sleep. Alas, if I had known this earlier, I should have taken some food from the transport vehicle." Dong Li Mao felt hungry and rubbed his belly saying so.

  "Give me the bag." Li Yuanyuan stretched out her hand and asked Hu San for her bag: "My bag has compressed biscuits and chocolate, and they are American goods, just in time to be used. This is a gift from Commander Kong to me." As she spoke, she took the bag handed over by Hu San, opened the tightly tied rope, reached in, rummaged around, pulled out an unopened package of compressed biscuits, and handed it to Dong Limao.

  "Do you know Dwarf Pumpkin?" Dong Li Mao took over the compressed biscuits handed by Li Yuanyuan and asked casually.

  "He was the highest commander stationed in Ruili, and I had to deal with him. Otherwise, my underground activities would be considered as a traitor and would be cleared by the army. So after the troops were stationed in Ruili, I met with him alone, and these American goods were given to me during that meeting. Unfortunately, I only brought out so little." Li Yuanyuan's right hand was still rummaging through her bag.

  "Haha... it seems I was right to call you sister." Dong Li Mao chuckled and playfully teased Li Yuanyuan.

  Zhu Yongsheng, however, glanced sideways at Dong Limao with a hint of displeasure, seemingly unhappy about the conversation between Dong Limao and Li Yuanyuan.

  "Now you know the benefits of calling me sister." Li Yuanyuan stuffed another package of chocolate into Dong Limao's hand.

  Dong Li Mao tore open the packaging paper, took out a compressed biscuit and a piece of chocolate to give to Li Yuanyuan, and then kept one for himself. He handed over the remaining ones to Zhu Yongsheng: "Divide them among the brothers, let everyone disperse, two people per group, arrange someone to be on guard."

  The people around Dong Li Mao, after receiving the cookies and chocolates distributed by Zhu Yongsheng, quickly disappeared into the night in pairs. Li Yuanyuan leaned against a tree root, while Dong Li Mao sat down at the root of another tree opposite her. Since there was no water, they could only nibble on the compressed biscuits, which tasted a bit salty. Although it couldn't compare to the bread and cookies he usually ate, it was still fragrant and palatable.

  "Jia Cheng..." Li Yuanyuan didn't call Dong Limao Dong Lianchang again, but instead changed her mouth to shout his name: "Are you married?"

  Dong Li Mao was perhaps choked by her question, or maybe he really was choking on the compressed biscuits in his mouth. He coughed twice, stretched his neck, and swallowed what he was chewing before answering: "Not yet." Only after speaking did he realize something was off. His great-grandfather and great-grandmother had gotten married on January 1st, 1941, in Chengdu. At the time, his great-grandmother was interning at a hospital affiliated with West China Union University Medical College. He remembered his great-grandmother telling him that she and his great-grandfather had met when he was hospitalized for injuries. They fell deeply in love at first sight, and after his great-grandfather recovered and left the hospital, they began dating. On January 1st, 1941, they held a simple wedding ceremony. Then, on October 22nd of that same year, his great-grandmother gave birth to Dong Li Mao's paternal grandmother. Otherwise, how would he have had a mother and himself?

  "So you haven't had a boyfriend before?" Li Yuanyuan asked again.

  Dong Li Mao hesitated for a moment before responding: "We've talked." He didn't want to appear as if he wasn't liked by girls, so he deliberately gave this answer.

  "Your girlfriend must be very pretty?"

  "Ah, very nice."

  "How did you get to know each other?"

  "He is a classmate."

  "Are you a university classmate?"

  "She is my high school classmate."

  "What is she doing now?"

  "Attend college."

  "Which university to attend?"

  Medical University.

  "Do you love her?"

  Love.

  Does she love you?

  Dong Li Mao didn't know how to respond and fell silent for a moment before weakly saying: "I don't know."

  "Oh, how could you not know?"

  "It's been a long time since we last met." Dong Li Mao added, "Perhaps she has already fallen in love with someone else."

  The thought of Bai Ruxue possibly falling in love with other boys at university made Dong Limao's heart feel like it had been pinched, and he even imagined the scenes of Bai Ruxue being intimate with other boys, which filled him with boundless anger, as if his veins were flowing not with hot blood but with sour vinegar.

  Any man, I'm afraid, can hardly tolerate the woman he likes being fondled and caressed by another man. For a man, this is nothing short of humiliation. Which man would be willing to let the woman he likes sleep in another man's arms? Perhaps it's because of this selfish possessiveness that the world is filled with gunpowder.

  Li Yuyuan stood up from the opposite side, walked over and sat down tightly beside Dong Li Mao's right hand, turned her face to look at him, and asked softly: "Have you ever kissed her mouth?"

  Dong Li Mao leaned his head towards Li Yuanyuan, almost touching her mouth. He stared blankly at the nearby Li Yuanyuan, who was indeed a rare beauty. The warm air from her nose and mouth sprayed onto his face, making him feel very comfortable. Dong Li Mao felt like he had a little rabbit in his arms, jumping up and down with excitement, as an impulse drove him to want to put his arms around her.

  Just as Dong Li Mao was about to reach out, Li Yuanyuan took the initiative to stick her hot lips over and kissed him accurately on his lips.

  Dong Li Mao seemed a bit flustered, not knowing how to respond to her kiss, only feeling her tongue prying open his lips and then slipping into his mouth, stirring inside without restraint.

  At this time, Dong Li Mao was like a defeated prisoner of war, with no resistance at all, and could only obediently listen to others' arrangements.

  Li Yuyuan seemed to have turned into an invasive plunderer, taking away Dong Limao's first kiss without the owner's consent.

  (I've got it! Won't let you down!)