172: Chapter 171 Recognition 172: Chapter 171 Recognition Gao Yang didn’t want to tell his father that he was now a mercenary and cause his parents any more worry, so he told his father a kind-hearted lie.
However, when Gao Yang said that his money was earned legitimately, it wasn’t entirely a lie; money earned risking one’s life can at least be considered legitimate, right?
Gao Yang didn’t speak with his parents for too long.
Although the call was secure, making it had required Wolfgang to break some confidentiality rules, so Gao Yang kept it short and sweet.
He assured his parents, while also briefly inquiring about the legal troubles he was in.
Most importantly, Gao Yang finally had the chance to give his Swiss Bank account number and password to his parents.
The call with his parents lifted a heavy burden from Gao Yang’s heart.
At least now he knew that even if he died in battle, he wouldn’t have to worry about the bank profiting from his money and his parents living in poverty.
After Gao Yang walked out of Wolfgang’s office, he nodded at Wolfgang, who then pulled Li Jinfang into the office and helped him dial several numbers.
Finally, Li Jinfang also had the opportunity to call home.
As soon as he saw Gao Yang, Cui Bo asked anxiously, “Brother Yang, how are things with you?”
Gao Yang gave a wry smile and said, “I’ve been found out, and my parents are indeed under surveillance.
Rabbit, I’m sorry, I’ve dragged you into this mess.”
Cui Bo looked perplexed and said, “How is that possible?
The police shouldn’t have discovered you.
You’ve been declared dead.
How could they possibly suspect you?”
Gao Yang sighed and replied, “You’re underestimating the police’s capabilities.
If a major crime has been committed, you think the police can be so easily deceived?
The building I was in had surveillance cameras that caught a clear shot of my face.
After some investigation, the police went to the hospital and pulled the footage, and they were able to immediately confirm it was me.
Once they compared my photo and investigated my dad’s background, anyone could tell that the person in the surveillance video was me.”
Cui Bo, still puzzled, said, “That still doesn’t seem right.
Legally, you’re dead.
How can the police investigate you?
Surely, they can’t treat this case as some sort of paranormal investigation.”
“Alas, a dead man can come back to life.
You think the police are that rigid?
With a major suspect, how could they just cut off their own leads?
Although my dad refused to admit I was still alive or that I had returned, he couldn’t explain who was at the hospital taking care of my mom with him.
So my dad was detained for quite a while.
Luckily, the police lacked evidence and ultimately had to release him.
But both my mom and dad are under strict surveillance now.
If I get caught, they won’t be able to escape a charge of perjury.
So I’d rather die than get caught.”
“Besides, my dad said the police also asked if he knew someone named Cui Bo.
He said he didn’t know, but the police didn’t ask much after that.
I guess it’s because I registered your information on the flight when I returned to the country.
Damn, the police are impressive; I don’t know how they managed to dig up the fact that I’d returned.”
Cui Bo, unconcerned, said, “I thought it was something serious.
The police have already pinpointed you, so it’s got nothing to do with me.
How can you say I’ve been dragged into this?
Brother Yang, now that you’ve spoken to your family, you should be relieved.
But you can forget about returning to the country in this lifetime.”
Cui Bo’s words struck a nerve in Gao Yang, but all Gao Yang could do was respond with a heavy sigh.
Just then, Li Jinfang walked out of Wolfgang’s office.
Li Jinfang’s face was grim.
Gao Yang carefully asked, “Did you get through?
Is everything okay at home?”
Li Jinfang nodded woodenly, saying, “I got through.
Everyone’s fine.
They thought I was already dead, that the military had secretly executed me.
Knowing that I’m still alive and well in a foreign country made them extremely happy.”
Gao Yang patted Li Jinfang’s shoulder and said, “Your family is fine, and you’re fine too.
Why not cheer up a bit?”
No sooner had Gao Yang spoken than Li Jinfang’s tears began to flow.
Choking up, he said, “I let down our captain and my brothers.
Our captain had just made it to captain and was disciplined because of me, stripped of his rank all the way down.
He and my comrades all faced military court.
Once they found out they had let me escape, our entire squad, along with the captain, was simply discharged from the military.
It’s the greatest shame for a soldier.
Just for letting me escape, a promising officer’s career was ruined, and my brothers’ futures were destroyed…
all because of me.”
Li Jinfang struggled not to cry, while Gao Yang just sighed and patted his shoulder.
The others could only come forward and pat Li Jinfang in a show of comfort.
At that moment, Glolov gently embraced Li Jinfang and said in a deep voice, “Trust me, if I were your captain, I would let you go too, because being caught means certain death.
If I had to make a choice, I would also sacrifice my own future to save the life of a brother.
I believe your captain will have no regrets about this.”
Simon also spoke seriously, “Frog, I thought that having been a soldier for so long, you would have a better understanding of the camaraderie between comrades.
However, I didn’t expect you to be so hung up on such a trivial matter.
Let me ask you one thing, if you were in your captain’s and your comrades’ shoes, would you bring him back and execute him, or would you let him go?”
Without any hesitation, Li Jinfang said, “Let him go.”
Simon spread his hands and said, “See?
That’s it, brother.”
After a brief pause, Li Jinfang wiped away his tears and said, “But, but…”
With a smile, Simon said, “There are no ‘buts’.
Trust me, your captain won’t regret it, and neither will your brothers.
If you get a chance in the future, find your brothers and share a drink with them, talk about your experiences.
That’s enough.
Now, stop crying like a woman, you’ve survived, and you’ve survived well.
That’s the best payback to your brothers.”
Wiping away his tears, Li Jinfang nodded resolutely and said, “I must meet my brothers again to express my thanks, and I will repay them, I certainly will.”
Simon clapped Li Jinfang on the shoulder energetically and said loudly, “Glad you’ve seen it through, brother.
Now, you need to help me and the brothers here with a big favor.
Let’s gather our spirits and go say our goodbyes to the General.”
After knocking on Wolfgang’s office door, once Gao Yang and the others re-entered Wolfgang’s office, General Wolfgang stood in front of his desk and announced loudly, “Gentlemen, it seems that you will be leaving the base ahead of schedule.
I thank you for your contributions to the base and congratulate you.
Though you are leaving a bit earlier, you are doing so with excellent training performance under your belt.
In fact, you are now qualified to wear the insignia of this special forces unit.
I am honored to present to you the insignia, not as a sign that you belong to this unit, but as an acknowledgment of your achievement here.
It is an honor, because many come to train here, but few are recognized.”
After speaking, General Wolfgang turned and took an insignia from the desk, stood at attention, and called out in a loud voice, “Gao Yang.”
Gao Yang was extremely excited as he strode up to Wolfgang, saluted crisply, and reached out to take the insignia from Wolfgang’s hand.
However, Wolfgang didn’t place it in his hand, but instead pinned the insignia directly onto the beret Gao Yang was wearing.
Gao Yang was not Israeli and had no sense of belonging to Israel, nor was he a member of the special forces.
However, he felt a sense of belonging to this special forces unit because he had sweated a lot here, met many friends whose names he did not even know, learned much, and gained a lot.
That’s why Gao Yang felt a sense of belonging to this nameless special forces unit, especially knowing the strength of its members.
Being recognized by this unit, he was indeed proud.
After personally pinning the insignia on Gao Yang, General Wolfgang called the other four one by one and personally affixed insignias to them as well.
When the last insignia was pinned on Frey, Wolfgang nodded and said, “Honestly, I am surprised you persisted and in the end earned the real qualification of the opposing force.
It wasn’t easy, so you can wear this insignia with pride.
However, gentlemen, you may now take off the insignia and return it to me.”
Finding himself stunned, Gao Yang blurted out, “But wasn’t the insignia already awarded to us?
Why do we have to return it?”
Wolfgang laughed heartily and said, “Don’t be silly.
Even official members of the unit aren’t allowed to wear their insignia beyond the base’s gates, let alone you.
Gentlemen, it is merely a mark of honor, symbolizing recognition, but you can’t keep the insignia or take it with you.
The same goes for your uniforms, hats, boots, anything that belongs to the unit.
Everything will be inspected.
Now, don’t worry about what your insignia looks like, just knowing you were qualified to receive it is enough.
Now hand over your hats to me, there’s no need to remove the insignia from them.”
Gao Yang could only return his beret, insignia and all, to the outstretched hand of Wolfgang.
Honestly, Gao Yang had wanted to wear his military uniform and beret back home as a keepsake, in memory of the toughest days of his life.
But it seemed that this desire was now in vain, and he hadn’t even gotten a good look at what the insignia actually looked like.
Since Simon still had something to say to Wolfgang, Gao Yang and the others said their goodbyes and left first.
Once outside Wolfgang’s office, Li Jinfang let out a long sigh and said, “Actually, I don’t care about getting this special forces unit’s insignia at all.
I am a Huaxia soldier, even if getting captured means facing a firing squad, I am still a Huaxia soldier.
What I really dream of having is the insignia of the special forces that I wanted to join but will never have the chance to, that’s the one I truly desire.
Also, let me make it clear, the special forces I couldn’t join is the best in the world, without a doubt.”
(To be continued.
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