Two Chapters combined into one, revised once again.
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"Hey, slow down, what’s the rush?" Chuxia, who almost tripped over a small stone and fell, angrily yanked Luo Xiaoqiong back, refusing to move forward.
Luo Xiaoqiong was full of excitement, "Okay, okay, I’ll slow down. Chuxia, I’m just excited. My brother has no idea that we joined the army. Can you imagine the shock on his face when we suddenly show up in front of him? Could it scare him half to death?"
Chuxia pouted, "Are you trying to scare your brother half to death or mine?"
"Your brother knows we joined the army, so I doubt it would startle him." Xiaoqiong’s face glowed, "But do you think he could guess that we’re here to see him?"
"He’d figure it out just by moving his toes." Chuxia thought to herself, but she didn’t dare say it aloud. The last thing she needed was to embarrass someone to the point they wouldn’t want to meet Zhao Guoliang.
"Maybe he could guess. He knows we joined the army, and he probably heard we arrived today. He should be able to figure it out."
Mingming was thrilled inside, but his face showed indifference, "Ah, it’s not fun without the surprise." Luo Xiaoqiong glanced at the time—her father had given her his large wristwatch as a reward for joining the military, "Chuxia, hurry, we have only an hour and a half."
Lights out was at ten o’clock, but after eight, female soldiers were not allowed to linger near the male soldiers’ dorms, and male soldiers were strictly forbidden from going near the female dorms.
From this point of view, they were more lenient with female soldiers.
Could it be that this rule was established so some of the male soldiers could find wives? Chuxia couldn’t help but speculate with a bit of suspicion. Otherwise, why would there be a leniency towards female soldiers?
Anyway, she was full of curiosity about this era’s practices.
Luo Xiaoqiong only knew that Luo Hongqi was an ordinary soldier in the second squad of the third platoon of the second battalion of the first regiment, but she had no clue which dormitory he was specifically in.
Therefore, when they arrived at the male soldiers’ dormitories and were confronted with a dense cluster of buildings, they were stumped.
When they finally saw a young soldier passing by, Xiaoqiong impatiently grabbed his arm, "Comrade, could you tell me which dormitory Luo Hongqi lives in?"
The young soldier, likely eighteen or nineteen, was suddenly grabbed by a female soldier and blushed to the tips of his ears, starting to stammer, "Luo... Luo Hongqi is... who?"
"He’s my brother." Xiaoqiong answered without hesitation.
Chuxia’s lips twitched involuntarily. Big sister, the guy has no idea who Luo Hongqi is. What kind of answer is that?
As expected, the soldier’s face grew even redder, "I... I..."
Unable to utter a complete sentence, the soldier was probably never this close to a girl before, and in this realm dominated by grown men, such a bizarre encounter was bound to make him blush.
"Where is the dormitory for the second squad of the third platoon of the second battalion of the first regiment?" Chuxia quickly and concisely stated what they were looking for.
The young soldier visibly relaxed, "I’ll take you there."
"Comrade..." the soldier glanced quickly at Xiaoqiong’s pale, delicate hand and swiftly averted his gaze, "could you please..."
"Oh, sorry, I forgot." Xiaoqiong quickly withdrew her hand, smiling sheepishly, "I got excited and forgot I was still holding onto you."
Big sister, could you act a bit more foolishly? Chuxia really wanted to distance herself by three feet and pretend she didn’t know her, so embarrassing, right?
"This is it." The soldier stopped in front of the third door of the second row, "This is the third squad’s dormitory."
"Could you do us one last favor and go inside to call out for Luo Hongqi?" Xiaoqiong again grabbed onto the man’s sleeve..., the soldier’s face... turned red again.
Quietly, Chuxia pulled Xiaoqiong’s hand into her own and smiled at the soldier, "Thank you so much, we really appreciate it."
"You’re welcome." As the soldier walked towards the third squad’s dormitory, overwhelmed by nervousness, his left foot tripped over his right leg, causing him to lunge forward, "Bang!" The door to the third squad was flung open.
"Strange, why aren’t there any male soldiers outside?" Xiaoqiong whispered to Chuxia.
"I don’t know." Chuxia shook her head, equally puzzled, given that it was just after mealtime, a typical free time when everyone should be out and about, why was everyone hiding inside?
In the third squad’s dormitory, a group of male soldiers were seriously writing at a table. Startled by the door suddenly being flung open, they all looked up simultaneously.