To congratulate the members of the Special Forces led by Zhang Tianhu and Lin Kai for successfully retrieving the laser piece from Liberty Island and intercepting that batch of arms supplies, the head of the military district deliberately held a celebration banquet for them in the Yanjing Military District Sanatorium restaurant.
Those who came to the celebration banquet included Deputy Commander Wang of the Yanjing Military Region, company, battalion and regiment levels of the Yanjing Military Region, as well as some cadres above the regiment level, and a dozen members of the Special Forces.
In order to expand the influence and enliven the banquet atmosphere, reporters from the military district, female soldiers from the Cultural and Industrial Troupe and others were also invited to attend.
The dining hall was brilliantly lit.
Nearly a hundred or so people filled the entire dining hall, making it look very grand and presenting a lively and extraordinary scene. A long purple satin table decorated with flowers was decorated with various delicacies.
The food was served to the guests who came to the banquet, and the ladies dressed in form-fitting cheongsams carried trays of drinks from one to the other.
They stood in groups and received gla*ses of wine from the trays, drinking and chatting at the same time.
A special forces instructor, Zhang Tianhu, the leader of the first squad, Lin Kai, and members of the special forces were surrounded by a group of military reporters in the centre, receiving their interviews.
A female reporter looked at Lin Kai with an adoring gaze and asked.
“Captain Lin, it is said that you led the members of the Special Forces, together with the team, to recover the stolen laser tablets on Liberty Island, intercepted a batch of arms supplies at the customs dock, destroyed the Black Dragon Gang’s nest and killed the leader of the Black Dragon Gang, establishing a miraculous achievement, what kind of reward do you hope the head of the forces will give you?”
Lin Kai smiled and replied, “This is the result of the joint efforts of all the members of our special forces, this is the work of everyone, the honour should be for everyone, if the chief has any reward for me, it should be shared with everyone.”
The female reporter again locked her eyes on Zhang Tianhu who was standing aside and asked.
“Instructor Zhang, it is said that you were once the company commander of a reconnaissance company and now you are an instructor of a special force, Mr. Lin is a member of the team you brought up, can you tell us about his situation in the force?”
“Lin Kai is a very nice lad,” Zhang Tianhu said cheerfully, “one of the best team members I have ever met, he is a man of integrity, it is an honour for me to be his instructor …… ”
Song Linna sat quietly in a corner, her heart warming and nourishing as she heard everyone’s praise for Lin Kai, always looking with a pair of loving eyes at Lin Kai who was surrounded by everyone.
7pm.
Deputy Commander Wang of the Yanjing Military Region led a group of about ten people, in order of official rank, to stride into the restaurant, namely –
Vice-Commander Wang, Divisional Commander Zhao, Chief Liu, Chief Li, Battalion Commander Song, and so on.
The crowd gathered their eyes to the entrance of the dining hall and applauded in unison.
The whole dining hall then burst into a thunderous applause. Zhang Tianhu then gathered the members of the Special Force and stood in line in the middle of the dining hall to be reviewed by the chiefs.
The chiefs shook hands with the Special Force members one by one.
When Vice Commander Wang shook hands with Lin Kai, he looked at him with a questioning gaze and asked.
“You are Lin Kai?”
“Report chief, I am Lin Kai, the captain of the special forces.” Lin Kai pulled his hand out of Vice-Commander Wang’s and gave him a military salute.
A murderous aura flashed from Vice Commander Wang’s face, then he regained his composure and said with a smile, “Not bad, young man, do your best, your future will be unlimited!”
“Thank you, Chief, for your praise!” Lin Kai said gratefully.
“Lin Kai, we have not misjudged you, you are a good man, do well, your future is bright.” Director Li of the Military Affairs Office shook Lin Kai’s hand with a full face.
This kind of words and expression made Lin Kai feel a little puzzled, he even suspected that Jiang Mei had called him to go to Jiang’s compound and described to him that the person was not Director Li at all, Director Li could not have mixed with someone like Dong Jun, let alone put him to death.
When Lin Kai saw that Director Li was still looking at him with a smile on his face, he hurriedly said.
“Thank you, Commissioner Li, for your cultivation!”
“Don’t be polite, if you need anything in the future, please feel free to come to me!” Director Li let go of Lin Kai’s hand and patted him on the shoulder again, with an imperceptible wicked smile on his face, before shaking hands with the next person.
7.30 pm.
The celebration dinner officially began, and Deputy Commander Wang walked up to the improvised podium and began to speak.
Dear members of the Special Forces.
Hello there!
Today is destined to be an extraordinary day for all of you.
First of all, congratulations on your success in recapturing the stolen laser tablets from Liberty Island and intercepting the theft of that material at the customs terminal, which has saved us a great deal of damage.
For this, I have been ordered by my superiors to award you all the title of Second Cla*s Merit.
I can appreciate your excitement and eagerness at this time, but I hope you can understand that what you are being awarded is not only a second-cla*s merit, but also an honour and a responsibility.
In receiving this medal of honour that makes your blood boil, it means that you have fulfilled your vocation as soldiers, unconditionally and resolutely obeyed the orders of your superiors and unconditionally carried out the tasks given to you by your superiors.
……
The celebration feast was going on in a warm atmosphere.
After Divisional Commander Zhao and Chief Liu took to the stage to speak, Director Li of the Military Intelligence stood on the podium and gave an impa*sioned speech to everyone –
All members of the Special Forces.
Greetings!
(The team applauds enthusiastically)
You’ve worked hard!
(Applause again, one after another)
This time, you have successfully completed the glorious task given to you by your superiors.
On behalf of all officers and men, I would like to extend my sincere greetings to you and thank you!
I declare that the medal ceremony will now begin!
Clap!
There was thunderous applause!
In an instant, the entire Yanjing Military Sanatorium dining hall turned into a sea of joy.
Immediately afterwards, Zhang Tianhu led a dozen members of the Special Forces onto the podium together and automatically lined up in a row.
The awarding ceremony began with the Yanjing Military District’s Deputy Commander Wang and Director Li personally presenting the special forces team members with their awards and wearing them around their necks.
At this point, all the reporters present pointed their cameras at the members of the special forces on stage.
At one time, the shutter sound of “click-click-click” was incessant and the flash was flashing.
Just as Deputy Commander Wang of the Yanjing Military Region was taking a second-cla*s silver medal from a tray held up by a lady of ceremony and was about to hang it around Lin Kai’s neck, a shout suddenly came from the entrance of the restaurant.
“Commander Wang, please wait!”
The crowd turned their eyes to the Director of the Inspection Department, Ma, who had led a group of people in from the entrance of the restaurant and walked straight towards the rostrum.
It was as if the crowd attending the dinner had been split open with a large axe, automatically dividing into two rows to make way for a pa*sage that led directly to the podium.
“What are these guys doing here, are they here to cause trouble?” Someone asked in a whisper.
“They seem to be here to arrest someone.” Someone who recognised the man leading the group as Director Ma of the Inspection Department whispered to the person next to him, “If someone is targeted by these guys from the Inspection Department, there will be no good consequences. It seems that which unlucky person will be taken away by them tonight.”
“Hey, what a bummer,” someone said indignantly, “these guys show up at this time of the day, aren’t they deliberately trying to ruin the show?”
Amidst the murmurs of the crowd, Commissioner Ma led the men to the podium.
