The group of soldiers that were once clamoring and shouting that they would not open the door for Gu Hai no matter what, were now all eager to get outside upon seeing the beautiful women. As for Bai Luo Yin, who initially wanted to leave, he unexpectedly changed his mind and waved his hands before settling in the center of the room. Then, he looked calmly at the person guarding the entrance way and said: "Block the door and don't let him in!!"
A baby-faced soldier with a thick accent spoke, "Tuanzhang ah! Let him come in. It hasn't been easy for him to bike all the way here to escort you."
"That's right! Just leave with him. What would happen if such a great person was to be snatched away by someone else?"
"Tuanzhang ah, wasn't this marriage for the purpose of creating a cheerful atmosphere? It's not good if you go to far."
Hearing those traitorous words, Bai Luo Yin gritted his teeth rancorously. You motherfuckers! Now that you've seen these beautiful women, you all acting good?! I will not give any of you a chance. I will also let you have a taste of what it's like to have something desirable placed in front of you, but never being able to get a hold of it!
"Continue to have him perform a show; if his performance is not good enough, don't let him in."
The arrogant and despotic Liu Chong calmed down a bit and stood at the entrance way, acting as a vile and despicable person.
"Our Bai Tuanzhang said that you have to put on a show. If you don't, you can't come in."
With that, Gu Hai turned around to face the enormous group of friends and employees standing with earnest behind him and made a simple gesture.
From what they had practiced, the beautiful women elegantly organized themselves into a formation and started to disassemble the bicycle that they had each manufactured individually before rearranging it into a small stool. Then, just as uniformly, they took the little rose-shaped bells that were originally on the bicycles and wore it on their chests. Finally, when Tong Zhe's whistle sounded, nearly one thousand little bells rang simultaneously, revealing a massive stool dance that was utterly breathtaking, to say the least.
The crowd of soldiers looked on like vacuous hooligans as the red stools contrasted with the beautiful women's pink cheeks; blend that with the thousand joyous bells that continued to ring near the line of those smiling faces, everything morphed into an ethereal moment. How many days had it been since they all had seen a beautiful woman? How many years had it been since they had seen so many of them? That was simply an arrow to their hearts and a stab to their family jewels!
"Who was it that said that Gu Zong lacked sincerity?" a higher-rank officer asked loudly.
A young soldier lifted his hand up.
"Hit him, hit him!"
Then, the group of men that were leaking an excessive amount of testosterone no longer held any compassion for their comrade-in-arms as they captured and slaughtered anyone before them, one by one. That was all for the purpose of letting their Bai Tuanzhang, who was in the back, be free of the barrier, and to also let them converge with Gu Hai's escorting squad as soon as possible—which would in turn present the 'bridesmaids' and 'groomsmen' as one whole massive group of liveliness with a close relationship.
Once the performance ended, the soldiers crammed at the entrance clapped continuously.
"Bai Tuanzhang, let him come in!"
"Or, it's alright if you go out there yourself! We will clear the way for you!"
Bai Luo Yin had never seen such a group of calculating groomsmen before. When he wanted to go out, they were adamant about not opening the door, and now that he did not want to, they all wanted to shoo him out without remorse.
"No, that won't do!" He maintained a stern expression, "Block the door for me no matter what!"
Liu Chong bit down on his teeth and shouted at Gu Hai at the top of his lungs. "If you want to take him away, performing alone will not suffice. At the very least, gift us a bit of something!!"
That appeal attracted a reaction from everyone present.
Soon after, the group of flabbergasted soldiers watched as the beautiful women collapsed two stools that were originally bicycles into a shopping cart; one woman pushed the cart while the other sat inside before it was unhurriedly moved towards the groomsmen.
"Oh my god!" the few people guarding the door all cried out in alarm.
With that, thirty to fifty soldiers rushed to crowd the door and stood on their toes with their neck stretched far just to look outside. "What happened? What happened?"
Gu Hai's imperious eyes swept across the hundred or so groomsmen.
"How is it? This gift should be grand enough for you, right?"
When even these men of steel could no longer endure it, they weakly looked over at Bai Luo Yin one after another. "Tuanzhang ah, we were wrong earlier and should have not blocked you. Just look at how sincere he is! Please, we beg, let us open the door!"
Bai Luo Yin snorted, "His sincerity towards you guys may be sufficient, but I have not received anything!"
When they heard that, someone shouted, "Gu Zong, did you prepare any gifts for our Bai Tuanzhang?!"
"That is most certainly a given."
Liu Chong reacted quickly. "Tuanzhang, he said he has prepared some gifts for you. Let's open the door! That way he can give the gifts to you."
How could Bai Luo Yin be deceived? "Don't open the door. Let him think of another way to give me the gifts."
His fellow comrades all became struck with anxiety, "How can he give you the gifts if we don't open the door first?"
Just as those words ended, a gunshot sounded, causing the group of soldiers at the door to lie down on the floor—only Bai Luo Yin remained sitting upright in the middle.
With that, there was a thick hole about the size of a finger on the glass window. A gleam of light pierced through, hitting the wall behind Bai Luo Yin before something bounced on the desk in front of him. Just like that, an elaborately designed diamond ring flew inside right before his eyes.
"If you want me to put that ring on your finger, then just let me in!" Gu Hai shouted from the outside.
When the soldiers stood up and saw with surprise what Gu Hai had shot in, their hearts all trembled involuntarily.
"Tuanzhang, just hurry up and go out already. If someone treated me like that, I would marry them right away, regardless of whether they were a man or woman." Liu Chong's eyes brimmed with tears of excitement from being extremely moved.
Bai Luo Yin pinched the ring as his state of mind seemingly fluttered in the wind. It was not for the sake of creating surprises that he let the soldiers close the door, and he did not conspire with Gu Hai beforehand whatsoever. In reality, he only wanted to deliberately make things difficult for the groomsmen and had never expected that by doing that, he would reap so many unexpected benefits. Since things had reached that stage, Bai Luo Yin could not help but to admit that Gu Hai was truly a master of strategies—extremely suitable for the business industry. Fortunately, he did not go down the same path as him back then, otherwise, he would've died without knowing how he died.
"Are we letting him in or not?" someone asked once more.
Bai Luo Yin held onto his last breath, he had to persevere until the very end.
"No!!"
That sound, Gu Hai could hear it clearly from the outside.
Practically everyone felt that Gu Hai was at an impasse and that he would assuredly go down on his knees to conclude this. But unexpectedly, our cockroach, who had been perpetually attacked by Bai Luo Yin for the last ten years, still stood tall without collapsing. He waved his hand and spoke in a deep tone, "Present our treasures!"
There are still treasures left? More than a dozen or so of eyes spun around repeatedly from the crack of the door.
Bai Luo Yin was also taken aback. If Gu Hai can't get in, what other tricks can he use?
Seconds later, a set of red cooking utensils comprising of a pan, spatula, power outlet and cord, materialized, and to everyone's amazement… a brilliant red banquet ensued with a slow cooking fire to start it off. No one had expected Gu Hai to set up a stall and cook in the barracks; furthermore, over ten beautiful women acted as his assistant while their shopping carts filled up with ingredients.
In no time, the toothsome aroma floated throughout the barracks.
Bai Luo Yin's nose was blazing with alertness! Before long, he could no longer sit still and started to pace around the room a couple of times in a nervous wreck. It did not help that all he could hear was the sounds of pots and pans clanging, the spatula leaving the pan and the food… the food being placed on the plates.
Swoosh!! In front of everyone's hilarity, Bai Luo Yin galloped forward like a fine horse, utilizing the speed of an arrow leaving the bowstring as he charged in front of Gu Hai, snatched the meatball that Gu Hai was about to eat and became the first taster instead.
The groomsmen were also like wild horses, storming over to the beautiful women, creating a friendship party that unfolded at the training ground.
On the way back, Bai Luo Yin sat on the bicycle with his back facing Gu Hai as usual.
"Why are you sitting with your back to me?" Gu Hai asked.
Bai Luo Yin replied with the same answer from back then, "I don't feel like looking at you."
Gu Hai had thought that Bai Luo Yin was reminiscing about his beautiful past with him. However… when he turned for a look, Bai Luo Yin still had a plate in his hand and was simply eating away!! How was that, 'I don't feel like looking at you' huh? He was just afraid the soup would spill on his own suit.
A foodie is just unbearable sometimes!!
"Don't eat while we're on the road," Gu Hai said. "You'll catch the wind and get an upset stomach, so be careful."
Bai Luo Yin merely grunted and continued to eat.
Gu Hai became helpless, "Don't tell me that you didn't eat anything all night?"
"Yeah!" Bai Luo Yin mumbled loudly. "Since we weren't allowed to see each other, where could I have gone to eat? Who would have cooked for me? Besides, if I had eaten until I was satisfied, you might have not been able to cheat me out of there."
Bai Luo Yin's speech arouse someone from his dream.
Gu Hai immediately sped up with the urgency to get home. He had to feed Bai Luo Yin until he was completely full before sending him back to the base. Otherwise, when Bai Luo Yin went to escort him the next day, all he had to do was stand there and shout "I'm hungry" from the outside and Gu Hai would obediently walk out without so much a complaint.
That broken-down bicycle raced forward at full speed, bringing a gust of cool air that brushed by their ears. Back then, Bai Luo Yin liked to sit with his back to Gu Hai because that allowed him to see the road as it continuously stretched out before his own eyes. Now, he sat with his back to him because he could see the countless smiling faces behind them. After the long journey, they finally had a companion—they finally had people to share their happiness with.
After they arrived at the destination, Bai Luo Yin soon returned.
Another sleepless night came to pass.
The next day, Bai Luo Yin's escorting troop set out.
If Gu Hai's escorting team was said to take the romantic and creative route, then Bai Luo Yin's escorting troop was unquestionably grand and extravagant, making the most perfect appearance. Early in the morning, nine aircrafts took off from the military base and ascended into the sky, reaching a high altitude of 134 meters—creating an escorting ceremony that touched the clouds and extended into the broad atmosphere.
In the wake of such a burst of loud and intense rumbling sound, the massive group of bridesmaids' gazes all shifted up towards the sky.
"Wow…"
Gu Hai's eyes also moved upward.
Nine aircrafts were already directly overhead the company, dragging a long tail of red smoke along the way—it was as if that smoke was silk fabric stretching out from the aircraft’s' tail to flutter in the wind. Naturally, Bai Luo Yin lead the array at the forefront while the other eight aircrafts started to slowly reduce their speed; only Bai Luo Yin's aircraft could be seen diving down at a sharp angle, drawing a streak of red parabola that provoked the masses, who had halted to enjoy the scene, to cry out in surprise. Then, with less than 20 meters of space from the ground, it ascended once more to draw the same parabola before the smoke was pulled until it converged at the starting point.
Just like that, a beautiful heart was branded in the sky, astonishing the bridesmaids who were all watching from the sideline.
Seeing that also touched Gu Hai as it was the first time Bai Luo Yin used his nine years of efforts to perform only for him.
Immediately after, the eight aircrafts behind Bai Luo Yin began their operations; they dragged golden color smoke in the air and skillfully cooperated with each other to form a unique and meaningful ring. Then the nine aircrafts finally joined together before the nine soldiers, clothed in red combat uniforms and red parachutes, and leaped out into the center of the ring.
That presented nine roses blooming winsomely in the air.
Soon, the nine aircrafts descended evenly on the lawn in front of Gu Hai's company.
Sixteen people that formed the guards of honor separated equally to either side before a heroic and august military officer, followed by his deputy assistant, slowly walked toward the company's entrance way with a dignified and pensive aura resting in their gazes.