"Elder Fang, Elder Fang... Don't get agitated, don't get agitated! Aren't we just having a conversation? Calm down," Yip Man quickly stood up to stop Fang Zhongtian who seemed ready to slap Zhong Xiu.
"Why should I be agitated about? Just look at this lowlife, always bossing people around and punishing soldiers under him for no reason, especially when they're soldiers who haven't done anything wrong; they're risking their lives for the country, standing at the frontline with their own bodies. Have you ever thought about how harsh their lives are? Have you? Bastard... If I weren't old, I'd really shoot you, you bastard." Fang Zhongtian got more and more agitated, pointing at Zhong Xiu, his hand trembling.
"He's a soldier; he has to sacrifice for the country. He's a soldier; he must always stand at the frontline," Zhong Xiu, also agitated, raised his trembling hand to point at Fang Zhongtian.
"Fine! Are you a soldier? Three years ago in that battle, you were a Colonel, did you go to the battlefield? Five years ago, as an instructor, did you go fight for the country's resources? Eight years ago, as a special forces soldier! You watched your brothers defend their coasts, where the hell were you? Are you even worthy of being called a soldier?" Fang Zhongtian's finger was almost poking Zhong Xiu's chest.
Zhong Xiu's body trembled as he pointed at Fang Zhongtian, repeatedly saying "you," but couldn't utter another word. Being called out for not daring to go to the battlefield, he felt deeply ashamed, yet in the past, he indeed didn't dare to go. Directly and clearly reprimanded by Fang Zhongtian, the hatred in his heart reached the extreme.
However, the root cause of all this dawned on him, so he redirected the hatred onto Ye Hao.
It was all sparked by Ye Hao; if not for him, none of this would have happened today.
He couldn't do anything to Fang Zhongtian, so he decided to force Ye Hao to return to the country, ensuring his military career would never advance, and replace him with someone obedient to manage the mercenaries in South Africa...
"I can't be bothered with you, somebody take him out, this is my Team A office, let unrelated people leave." Zhong Xiu exercised his authority as Team A leader, roaring directly at the gate guards.
"You bastard! Did I hit the nail on the head? I'm going to call you out, you're just a bastard, I, Fang Zhongtian, look down on bastards like you who only talk strategy on paper without any real talent or vision! Damn this..." Fang Zhongtian cursed at Zhong Xiu.
The two Colonels who walked in from outside looked a bit frightened at the scene; this Fang Zhongtian wasn't someone they, as Colonels, could afford to offend! He was the head of the Ministry of State Security and an advisor for Team A; naturally, they wouldn't dare to lightly offend Fang Zhongtian.
But seeing their leader Zhong Xiu's expression, they could only speak in a consultative tone, "Elder Fang, you see... shall we head out?"
"Get lost... I'll leave on my own; just seeing this bastard disgusts me, I'll go on my own..." Fang Zhongtian said, out of breath and leaning against a table, which was understandable! A man over sixty, after all this provocation, naturally felt a bit uncomfortable.
The two Colonels watched Fang Zhongtian with concern; they quickly came forward to support him, "Elder Fang, please don't get worked up, let's go outside for a drink of water."
"Get lost... I'll do it myself, I will never come here again, a bunch of hypocrites." Fang Zhongtian spat after speaking, angrily leaving the Team A meeting room, feeling utterly disappointed with Zhong Xiu and the others.
They didn't cherish the soldiers under them, and recklessly tapped lines, never considering the responsibility towards their soldiers.
After Fang Zhongtian left, Zhong Xiu roared loudly, "Absurd, who the hell is the leader of Team A? A mere advisor thinks he can step on my toes, utterly intolerable! Regarding Ye Hao, I now order that he immediately surrender his power, with full authority handed over to Mu Qiu, any objections? If there's none, the meeting's dismissed."
"Leader, this isn't appropriate, is it? After all, what Elder Fang said wasn't entirely wrong..." Team A's combat group leader, Li Yi, defended his soldiers! Ye Hao was also part of his combat group, so he wouldn't let Team A's leader easily control him since he was also a member of the Team A committee.
"I see nothing inappropriate! Anyway, he can't bring any economic benefits to Team A." Team A's economic group leader, Qian Jiang, said with a smile.
"Yeah! I don't find anything inappropriate either, given how unruly he is, getting rid of such a thorn avoids any serious trouble later." Team A's intelligence division chief, annoyed at how Ye Hao never submitted to their authority and always passed the latest intel to the state security, supported Zhong Xiu out of irritation.
"Alright, alright! No matter what you all say, this time I command, as Team A leader, that he must return to the country, then we'll find a suitable position for him over there." Zhong Xiu said with a gloomy face.
Upon hearing Zhong Xiu, everyone present sensibly fell silent! After all, the Team A leader is the highest authority in Team A, Zhong Xiu was speaking as the Team A leader, and even though they were committee members, they had to give him that respect.
After hanging up the phone, Ye Hao was unaware that high-ranking officials in Huaxia were clashing because of him. He approached Mu Qiu with a cold face and simply stared at him.
When Mu Qiu saw Ye Hao, he felt a bit apprehensive by his silent stare and asked, "Boss, is there something you need?"
Ye Hao remained silent, still staring.
Seeing this, Ye Long approached and asked, "Boss, what's going on? Is there a task or something big?"
Upon hearing Ye Long, Ye Hao laughed, saying, "No," but then pointed coldly at Mu Qiu, "You know what you've done, do I need to remind you? I want you to know, if we get into trouble, even as a ghost, I won't let you off."
After speaking, Ye Hao walked away, leaving a group of puzzled people. Ye Long gave Mu Qiu a meaningful look, his guess being largely correct but he said nothing, not wanting to damage their brotherly ties.
The next day.
In Huaxia, the night was just setting in as the sun rose on Ye Hao's side.
After getting up, Ye Hao habitually went to the phone to see if there were any calls or secret messages.
At this moment, a call came through on that dusty landline. Ye Hao, noticing this, wondered why there was another call today. Was there something else?
Without thinking much, he walked over to the phone and dialed back.
In the Team A meeting room in Zhongnanhai, Huaxia, nine people were seated. This was the core leadership of Team A. Since deciding this morning to recall Ye Hao, they had been discussing who should take over his position. Those supporting Mu Qiu were generally aligned with Zhong Xiu, but there were also many supporting Ye Long, because Ye Long's father was Ye Wen, the deputy leader of Team A.
Ye Wen's willingness to let his son take risks earned their admiration. At least, from their perspective, if it were their sons, they couldn't be as calm as Ye Wen.
Moreover, they would try every means to get their sons out of such dangerous zones, so there were four committee members supporting Ye Wen's son, Ye Long. There were also four supporting Mu Qiu, and Ye Wen had not stated his support for anyone.
"Old Ye, tell us whom you support to take over the mercenaries in South Africa? That's a line that can't be lost." Zhong Xiu was a little displeased seeing four people support Ye Wen's son and thought to himself, isn't he the leader of Team A? Could he be inferior to Ye Wen?
"Since the leader has said this..."
"Ring ring ring!"
Ye Wen was about to speak, but a call came through on Team A's dedicated line, and Zhong Xiu had to wave them to stop talking.
Then Zhong Xiu picked up the phone but didn't speak immediately.
After Ye Hao spoke a code word, he then said: "Oh, isn't this the Boss? I want to meet you now, hoping to see you the day after tomorrow."
Hearing Zhong Xiu's voice on the other end, Ye Hao's heart skipped a beat.
Meet him? And the day after tomorrow? Doesn't that mean he would be transferred back? Ye Hao felt a chill in his heart as he thought about the current size of the mercenary force! What would happen if he left?
So Ye Hao asked, "Haha, sorry... I have too many people here, can't leave temporarily." By saying this, Ye Hao was also asking his superior who to hand over his tasks next.
"That's a point as well! Wait for a minute, okay? I'll consider it." Zhong Xiu, thinking that the decision of who would take over Ye Hao's responsibilities hadn't been settled yet, asked Ye Hao to wait while he made up his mind.
"Thank you for your call." Ye Hao finished speaking and hung up without further ado.
Hearing the dial tone, Zhong Xiu turned to Ye Wen and said, "Old Ye, make a decision!"
Ye Wen smiled and said, "I think my son is not inferior to Mu Qiu! How about my son?"
Hearing Ye Wen's decision, Zhong Xiu's face turned gloomy for a moment. However, he had some discipline, so he didn't show any unsightly demeanor on the spot.
Instead, he returned Ye Hao's phone call. As soon as the call connected, Zhong Xiu directly said, "The Eastern Divine Dragon will protect your mercenaries. I want to meet you and hope to see you the day after tomorrow." Zhong Xiu finished and hung up the phone.
Even though Ye Hao didn't quite understand what was happening, he was rather reassured about handing the mercenaries over to Ye Long at this point.
After all, Ye Long had been with him for so long, and Ye Hao knew he could handle various situations. However, if it were handed to Mu Qiu, Ye Hao would rather destroy the mercenaries than leave them intact.
Keeping them intact would only lead to more people preying on this force, potentially turning into a burden for Huaxia.
Ye Hao fought back his reluctance, but his soldierly decisiveness urged him to leave quickly: not to linger on farewells, just move when it is time.
He chuckled and started packing a few vests and the ring he found, which he hadn't examined closely since finding it due to his busyness. Now, being forced back to the country, he decided to research what material the ring was made of on the plane.
Packed and ready, Ye Hao found Ye Long. With a cigarette in his mouth, Ye Hao bluntly said, "Long, brother's leaving. As for where I'm going, you probably already know."
"I understand... But I won't let others swallow our mercenaries, Boss, I'll see you off." Ye Long read the order in Ye Hao's eyes; it was a command from above, to which he must unconditionally comply. Even if such a command were given to him, he would comply unconditionally.
"Hmm! Go to Bangui! Brief Mu Qiu to take good care of the mercenaries." Ye Hao continued smoking, choosing not to say goodbye to Mu Qiu but rather asked Ye Long to delegate the temporary management of the mercenaries to Mu Qiu for a day.
After all, traveling from this primordial forest to Bangui and then returning took about a day.
Ye Long nodded, understanding that decisive action was always his style. He kept his reluctance hidden, and even when his brother was hit by enemy gunfire, he concealed his heartache without showing it.
(The new book is young! Everyone, wave your hands and move your bodies, throw out your recommended votes, shake yourself and throw them out! Please hit me in the face!)