Shocking! The young educated youth had just arrived and was already clashing with spies.

Chapter 498 Can't carry it, really can't carry it!

The mountain road stretched as far as the eye could see, a dense mass of heads swaying in the distance. Zhao Bin, mixed in with the crowd, lagged behind as he ran.

He could hear nothing else but the heavy, rapid breathing in his chest.

He looked up for what felt like the umpteenth time, only to find that he still hadn't reached the finish line. He blinked uncomfortably and quickly looked down.

The sun overhead was too bright, making his eyes very uncomfortable and the feeling of something foreign in them intensified. He then lifted the weight on his back again.

The weight of fifty kilograms of grain plus the iron pot made him feel even more tired than when he was an educated youth in the production team.

Back then, even if I was tired, it was only my hands that were tired. I looked forward to returning to the city every day, but I was mentally tormented.

But when he actually returned to the city, he was sent to the army after only a few days of happiness, where he lived an even more miserable life.

Zhao Bin regretted it; he shouldn't have listened to his mother and joined the army. Now, every day was an even more painful ordeal for him.

And also...

Just as Chu Xin had expected, Zhao's mother secured a spot for Zhao Bin to join the army, forcefully separating him from Liu Cuiling.

At first, Zhao Bin couldn't persuade his mother otherwise, so he planned to go back to the city first to communicate with her properly and get her consent before using his connections to get Liu Cuiling a job and move her back to the city as well.

Unfortunately, he couldn't convince his mother, and he received no response to any of the letters he wrote to Liu Cuiling. At first, Zhao Bin foolishly thought that Liu Cuiling was still angry and didn't want to talk to him.

It wasn't until later that they learned that not long after he left, Liu Cuiling had run away, and no one knew where she went; she was never heard from again.

"Huhuhu..."

Zhao Bin was so numb that all he knew was to lift his feet and run after them. No one spoke or talked to him. His empty mind could only think about these things to distract himself from the pain in his body.

He dared not think too deeply or too complicatedly, because if he got distracted, his legs would become uncoordinated, and once he fell, it would be difficult to get up again.

This is an experience he summarized from being thrown around so many times.

"Hurry up! The finish line is just ahead, victory is yours!"

Zhao Bin had lost count of how many times the instructor had said this, and he no longer took it seriously.

But soon, the excited shouts of his comrades came from the front of the column, like monkeys in the mountains. He used to hate hearing that, thinking it was too vulgar.

Now, the sounds are becoming more and more frequent, and there are more and more shouts of "Go for it!"

This is what soldiers often do when crossing the finish line, to release fatigue and gather strength for a final sprint. Zhao Bin immediately looked up, and then his face broke into a look of ecstasy.

Despite being far away, he could still see that under the flag at the front, there were two clerks, one holding a stopwatch and announcing the arrival time, and the other recording the names, units, and ranks of the arriving personnel.

Someone at the very front has already crossed the finish line and is lying on the ground, panting heavily as they rest.

Now, without the instructors urging them on, everyone was pushing forward with all their might, and Zhao Bin also quickened his pace.

He can be slow, but he can't be last.

Four or five meters from the finish line, an officer who had been observing the team through binoculars shook his head inwardly. With that kind of physical strength and a complacent attitude towards training, he would never get ahead even if he spent his whole life in the army.

Of course, if you have connections or influence, that's a different story.

Zhao Bin rushed as fast as he could, and with a final sprint, he was not the last person to reach the finish line.

He put the weight on his chest and lay back on the ground, looking at the white clouds in the sky above and listening to the thumping of his heart.

That's great, you're alive again.

Not long after, he heard someone call his name, "Soldier Zhao Bin, step forward!"

Zhao Bin was a little confused when his name was suddenly called. He sat up blankly and looked at the person who called his name. It was their battalion commander.

He then walked over amidst the curious gazes of the others.

Stand at attention and salute: "Reporting to the Battalion Commander, please give instructions!"

The officer fiddled with the binoculars in his hand, his eyes holding a strange look.

Although he didn't know exactly what Old Zhou was planning, he had a feeling that this greenhorn was in big trouble.

"Take off your burdens and come with me."

This request was very strange, but Zhao Bin couldn't refuse. He hesitated for a moment, but still obediently took off the heavy load that was soaked with his sweat and followed the battalion commander.

Then, behind a low hill, he met someone who surprised him greatly. "How did you end up here?"

Chu Xin jumped down from the large rock where she was sitting cross-legged, and glanced at him sideways, "I thought you should have realized this long ago, but it seems you didn't."

Do you really think she's still the original Chu Jiaojiao, letting you spout nonsense without taking responsibility?

Zhao Bin didn't understand at first, until Chu Xin added, "Didn't you say I was arrogant and domineering? I came here specifically to show you."

Only then did he belatedly realize that Chu Xin herself already knew about the things he and his fellow villagers had said about her.

Zhao Bin's face suddenly turned red.

Since Chu Xin suddenly disappeared from the Red Flag Brigade, the brigade leader has remained tight-lipped about her whereabouts. Unable to find out any information, he had no choice but to give up.

It wasn't until his family arranged for him to serve in the army in Kyoto that he heard her name by chance from a fellow villager.

When Zhao Bin learned that she had relatives in Kyoto, and that they were from a military family, he wondered if that was why Chu Xin, with such a shady background, was able to work in a government agency.

Even without her father, the brigade commander Chu Huaimin, she still had the more authoritative old commander grandfather to rely on.

Then, upon comparing the two, Zhao Bin couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy.

His father and Chu Huaimin were only at the same rank, so there was nothing to say about that. But his maternal grandfather was also a division commander in the military region, at the same rank as Chu Xin's grandfather. So why was the only path his family had arranged for him to be a miserable soldier?

As for Chu Xin, what merit or ability does she have to work in that kind of company?

I heard that they still sit in an office every day.

This alone made Zhao Bin feel sour all over, and he couldn't help but say a lot of things that belittled Chu Xin and her parents.

Now, facing each other face-to-face, he couldn't help but feel even more jealous.

He once thought he liked Chu Xin more, but he had to be with Liu Cuiling because of his sense of responsibility. As a man, his sense of duty made him give up the love of his life. He is a true man.

But now, those thoughts seem utterly ridiculous.

Chu Xin was doing better without him. Standing opposite him, she was dressed neatly and cleanly, and even wore black leather boots that could only be bought with a special receipt at the Friendship Store.

The boots made her look incredibly dashing, making Zhao Bin feel even more useless.

He subconsciously looked down and saw his liberation shoes covered in mud and bits of grass, and Zhao Bin couldn't help but shrink his feet back.

As he moved, the mud and sweat stains on his pants came into view, and his gaze swept over them from his pants to his shirt.

Zhao Bin's face turned bright red.

From the initial shame of being exposed to his subsequent anger and embarrassment at realizing he had nothing to offer compared to Chu Xin.

"Did I say something wrong? Your parents were indeed sent to the countryside, and you did hit me, hit Cuiling, and hit other people in the brigade, and... In short, everything I said is true!"

His cousin, Zhao Dabao, became increasingly ill after being injured by Chu Xin and died within a year. He knew that Chu Xin did it on purpose, but it sounded too strange to tell anyone, so no one wanted to believe it.

Chu Xin nodded with a smile, "You're right, I agree. That's why I came here specifically to show you what I can do. I was wrong before, it was all my fault. How could I hit you so lightly, only making you lose one or two teeth? I was so unprofessional."

Don't worry, I'll definitely do my best today!

The last few words carried a sinister tone, which greatly invigorated the battalion commander who had brought Zhao Bin. Just as he was about to shamelessly continue listening, his old comrade-in-arms, Zhou Yichen, appeared.

He glanced at Zhao Bin with a cold expression and a contemptuous look on his face, but only for a moment before paying no more attention to him.

Too bad, too trash, not even as good as that traitor Ah Qiang.

Then, without saying a word, he pulled his comrade away, leaving room for Chu Xinteng.

The battalion commander sighed repeatedly, turning back several times only to be slapped on the back of the head by Zhou Yichen, so he could only give a few quick instructions.

"Hey, Zhao Bin, this woman says you've framed her and came here specifically to seek justice. If there's any misunderstanding, you two should talk it out, understand?"

After walking for a while, he realized Zhou Yichen was still going to keep going, and he got anxious: "Aren't you going to take a look? Is that woman your girlfriend? You're just going to leave like this?"

Zhou Yichen knew him all too well; when tapping his head didn't work, he pulled his ear and dragged him away to a farther place.

"Of course I believe her. You're such a lousy soldier, she wouldn't even look at you!"

He's a scumbag, and his military skills are terrible too.

However, "You took your own soldiers out without permission and got beaten up. If the higher-ups investigate, have you thought about what to say?"

The battalion commander slapped Zhou Yichen's hand away, rubbed his ear, and walked forward. "It's not a big deal. I wanted to send this soldier back from the beginning, but he has connections and influence. We can't say for sure."

He chuckled mischievously, then suddenly put his arm around Zhou Yichen's neck, acting like they were best buddies. "Now that someone even more awesome like you has appeared, even if I get scolded or punished, it's worth it as long as I can get rid of this burden."

If Zhao Bin is only lacking in ability but is very ambitious, his battalion commander is willing to give him a chance. After all, he is a new recruit, and everyone has been through this stage.

But Zhao Bin is not only incompetent, he also slacks off whenever he can, and has no ambition for himself. He only gets what he deserves by threatening to call his family.

I can't carry it, I really can't carry it.