“I don’t think Lu will be able to make it back tonight! It’s already 11.59 pm!”
“Team leader, do you think that Lu’s been arrested by the police? What are we going to do? After all, we’re just a bunch of village boys with no connections or money,” Da Sha said while waiting anxiously at the door for his buddy to come back.
Ye Cheng was entertained. The famous Mr. Lu had no background or money? He could not help but chuckle at the fidgety look on Da Sha’s face. Whenever Da Sha was fussing about the troublesome guy, he had to hold back the urge to tell him the truth.
“Team leader, what are you laughing at? I really think that Lu’s been arrested!”
Finally, the clock struck midnight, and Da Sha looked crestfallen. As for the other four mates, they seemed completely at ease.
“Da Sha, who were you talking about? Damn, did you really think that I’m that useless?”
Lu Beixiao announced his arrival.
Da Sha got to his feet almost immediately and stood right in front of Lu Beixiao.
“Oh, god! Lu, you’re finally back! I was worried sick!” Da Sha was excited, so much so that he felt a quiver of excitement as he spoke.
Ye Cheng jumped off his bed and moved closer to Lu Beixiao before he took a sniff of him, rather playfully.
“Are you a dog? What are you sniffing at?” Lu Beixiao rolled his eyes at his comrade ludicrously.
“I can smell it! It’s called desire! Come here, my fellow friends! Lu has the scent of desire!” Ye Cheng exclaimed in high spirits and asked the other three to join the gossip.
Jiang Hai, Fang Zhuo, and He Feng, who was the second shooter of the platoon, all rushed forth to join in the fun.
“Get off!” He said with a flinty stare while gritting his teeth.
“Oh, did you just fly into a rage because you’re embarrassed? Your very reaction proves that I was right!” Ye Cheng said with an air of complacency. He had long realized that Lu Beixiao was hiding something from them.
“Lu, tell us. Is it a she or a he? How does it feel?” He Feng started to cause a commotion.
“Agreed! Lu, all of us were there for you when you needed backup. It’d be great if you could tell us a little bit about what happened tonight!” Fang Zhuo chimed in, roguishly. He grew up in a courtyard, too, but in a different city.
“Lu, is it painful? I’ll get you some medicine!” Da Sha kindly offered. They could see from the look in his eyes that he actually was referring to Lu Beixiao’s buttocks.
This time, Lu Beixiao finally lost his temper. He raised his leg and kicked Da Sha out of his way, unwaveringly. Ye Cheng was his next target, but that fella was already back on his bunk bed, for he knew very well that the best way out of trouble now was to get away from Lu Beixiao.
“Da Sha, I’m only interested in women! Women! Do you understand? I’ll report you immediately if you continue to make any misconceptions about me!” He snarled a threat at Da Sha, who was dumbfounded by his sudden rage.
Meanwhile, the other three were laughing hysterically on their beds. The thought of Da Sha applying medicine on Lu Beixiao’s injured buttocks was very entertaining.
“Stop laughing!”
“Lu, I…”
“Da Sha! Go back to bed, or I’ll throw you out of the quarters tonight!”
Without fighting back, Da Sha ran back to his bed and played dead.
All of his mates were already snoring the moment Lu Beixiao returned from the washroom. He lay down on the bed with his eyes closed, but all he could think of were the moments that he had spent with Ye Qiao in the hotel room.
He soon went off to dreamland, and in his dream, they had a date. He took her out for a drive and went for a basketball game. She stood in the bleachers and gleefully cheered for him.
Suddenly, a loud siren rang, prompting the squad members to wake up from their sleep. Hastily, everyone else started gearing up, except for Lu Beixiao. He was still in a sound sleep.
“Why is Xiao still sleeping? Is he caught in some sweet dream?”
“Lu!” Da Sha shouted at Lu Beixiao in a desperate attempt to wake him up.
Oh, damn! Lu Beixiao sat right up in an instant. He took a look at the time and realized it was only 3am! What was Lao Cai trying to do now? Perhaps he doesn’t deserve the praise that he got, after all.