Girl, There's Something Wrong With You - Chapter 16

Upon returning to the hotel, Xie Youdu first brought news: Liu Daojian was willing to respond to the “imperial summons” and “submit to the official army.”

However, before that, he hoped to be received by the Sima to pledge his loyalty in person.

This request was quite shrewd.

In other words, Liu Daojian understood that the one with real authority in this army wasn’t Xie Youdu, but Cheng Jinyang, so the master he intended to pledge loyalty to had to be made clear…

There was no helping it; this was the situation in the Jin Dynasty. If those above said you had made great efforts, even if you lost the troops and abandoned the battlefield, ruining a great opportunity, it wouldn’t matter; if they said your merits and faults balanced out, no matter how much credit you earned, you could forget about promotion.

Just like when Cheng Jinyang hadn’t yet joined the Shendu Cheng family, the head of the clan, his eldest uncle, didn’t like him.

So, even though he was exceptionally talented and skilled in calculations, obviously the only hope for the Cheng family to maintain their aristocratic status, they still pulled stunts like making him “register with a mind steel seal” to disgust him.

Then Wanrou and Yuanzhi struck at the crucial point, directly finding Cheng Benhe, the old patriarch. Thus, the eldest uncle was suppressed, and everything went smoothly afterward, with no more harassment.

This incident fully illustrated how important it is to gain the leader’s recognition. If there’s anything more important, it’s gaining the recognition of the leader’s leader…

In short, Cheng Jinyang wasn’t too surprised by Liu Daojian’s request and prepared to visit Liu Daojian’s territory with his men.

Originally, Liu Daojian proposed to personally visit and pledge his loyalty, and then invite the Sima to “inspect.”

Though this was somewhat cumbersome, on one hand, it gave Cheng Jinyang enough face; on the other, it also avoided misunderstanding.

Otherwise, if he invited Cheng Jinyang to the refugee gang’s station without meeting first, it would easily raise suspicions of a fake surrender and ambush.

If the leader suspects you and is correct, you’re indeed plotting; if he’s wrong, you’re inflexible and caused a misunderstanding…

So the best approach, of course, is to act openly and consider the leader’s perspective in everything.

But Cheng Jinyang was still young and not one to put on airs, not to mention his side had battle-hardened Tianluo, and the girls were all of sixth grade.

Do you think those armed refugees could ambush anything? They wouldn’t even need the Iron Giant; they could wipe you out in minutes, believe it or not?

Since the other side was showing such submission, Cheng Jinyang decided to be open and directly visit their territory to show he had no suspicion.

After waiting for a long time, with Tianluo coming in to ask several times, the girls inside still hadn’t come out.

“What’s going on?” Cheng Jinyang rudely pushed the door open, “Where is everyone? Why are some missing?”

“Miss Wang doesn’t want to go,” explained Xing Yuanzhi, standing at the door. “Wangshu is busy with a side quest and won’t go either. Cui Jinqi is still in the bathroom doing her makeup.”

“If Wanrou and Wangshu don’t want to go, that’s fine.” Cheng Jinyang, hearing that these three were all weak in combat, thought it didn’t matter if they didn’t go. “Isn’t Jinqi ready yet?”

“Wait!” came the flustered voice of Cui Xiaoniang from the bathroom. “I still have one more dress to match!”

“For God’s sake, matching dresses!” Cheng Jinyang was speechless and said angrily, “We’re going to inspect an armed refugee gang, not shopping on the Champs-Élysées in Paris! Yuanzhi, Qingqing, Qingwan, let’s go!”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Cui Jinqi hurriedly pushed the door open. “I’m ready! Also, what is the Champs-Élysées? Sounds like a place I’d like to visit…”

Leaving a few Tianluo behind to protect Miss Wang and Xiao Wangshu, the rest of them followed Cheng Jinyang, heading north to Yanjiang Village.

The so-called Yan Zhao Gang, meaning many men from Yan and Zhao, had armed themselves and fortified near Yanjiang Village. According to Cheng Huaiyan’s evaluation, “It’s quite impressive,” which made Cheng Jinyang raise his expectations.

Liu Daojian, accompanying Xie Youdu, was waiting early at the entrance of the village. He was quite tall, well-built, around thirty years old, with a reddish complexion, clearly a “redneck” from long exposure to the sun.

Seeing Cheng Jinyang being escorted over, he immediately knelt on one knee with a loud thud and saluted, booming:

“Greetings, Sima!”

Cheng Jinyang: ………………

So, “Sima,” a perfectly good military rank, has been interpreted in all sorts of ridiculous ways by modern people, making it sound weird to me as well.

Over here, he quickly helped the other person up and said warmly:

“Daojian, there’s no need for such formalities in the army.”

Liu Daojian immediately acted flattered and slowly got up.

As the group entered the camp, they saw a large number of landmines and automatic machine guns set up around the perimeter (of course, the detection systems were turned off for now). There were watchtowers and sniper points on the walls, covering most of the surrounding area.

“A professional engineer’s work,” Cheng Huaiyan commented again.

Liu Daojian carefully flattered and pledged his loyalty, and Cheng Jinyang responded gently, making the other person immediately show a look of overwhelming gratitude.

Despite his rich expressions, one could hardly tell he was a refugee leader with a large military force and professional military personnel.

The two played their master-servant act for a while, then moved on to the ultimate goal of this visit: inspecting the overall strength of the armed refugees.

On her side, Cheng Yuexian took Xing Yuanzhi, Cui Jinqi, and others to check the accounts, confirming the equipment and supply quantities under Liu Daojian’s command.

Liu Daojian also appropriately invited Cheng Jinyang and Cheng Huaiyan to a military parade to demonstrate the tactical skills and combat capabilities of the northern refugees.

Arriving at a small circular arena, the group took their seats on the high platform and saw the field below filled with various cover.

Broken walls, abandoned cars, toppled brick piles, and debris simply simulated an urban warfare environment.

Four buzz-cut armed refugees quickly rushed out from one side of the venue, holding assault rifles or submachine guns, and soon found suitable tactical positions.

Hmm, decent positioning, Cheng Jinyang thought to himself.

“Open the gate!” Liu Daojian waved his hand.
Then the steel gate on the opposite side of the venue was lifted, and a large group of puppets rushed out.

At a glance, there were at least a hundred of them, startling Cheng Huaiyan, who almost stood up to take the clan leader and fly away.

But then he heard Cheng Jinyang calmly say beside him, “It’s okay, Huaiyan, the numbers aren’t much.”

“About a hundred or so,” Li Qingwan added from the back.

As the gate lifted, the four buzz-cut armed refugees began shooting, the bullets forming a web of fire that firmly suppressed the puppets within five or six meters of the gate.

Even if a puppet occasionally broke through the fire net, there was someone specifically responsible for killing them, ensuring that the fire net didn’t collapse due to everyone switching targets simultaneously.

Very excellent tactical coordination. Even in Cheng Jinyang’s view, it was comparable to his and the girls’ performance in the dream.

Liu Daojian sat on the side, watching his subordinates’ skilled coordination, and secretly glanced at Cheng Jinyang in the main seat.

Surprisingly, this young man, who didn’t even look twenty, faced guns and demons, as well as scenes of flesh and blood flying, without even frowning… The Shendu Cheng family, known for their military prowess, truly lived up to their reputation.

The hundred or so puppets seemed numerous, but under the coordinated fire, they were quickly wiped out by the buzz-cut men.

Liu Daojian breathed a sigh of relief and was about to speak when he heard Chu Qingqing behind Cheng Jinyang say, “That’s it? Anything more exciting, like some weird creatures?”