Chapter 7 Soldiers Must Fight

  Duan Yuzhen and Lin Weiguo both laughed, but Lin Hongfei didn't. "Dad, I think what you said was right before; but if you were a member of that troop, it might not be true."

  "Oh?" Lin Weiguo's interest was piqued, and he didn't seem angry at all. "Can't our university students come up with something new to say? Tell me, what's wrong with what I just said?"

  "Son, don't talk nonsense." As a third-year high school teacher, the string of ideological and political education was always tight, especially now that her graduating class was about to take the college entrance exam. Duan Yuzhen had already developed occupational disease, and when she returned home and saw Lin Hongfei and Lin Weiguo's behavior, she immediately launched into a session of ideological and political education.

  "Mom, I'm not talking nonsense. Like my dad said, 'protect the family and defend the country', this is correct, but it's a bit empty in my opinion. Military personnel should be more practical. How do you protect the family and defend the country? In the end, everything boils down to one word: fight!"

  "Fight?" Lin Weiguo furrowed his brow and muttered the word that had come out of his son's mouth, the more he refused, the brighter his eyes became!

  "Right! It's about competition! A soldier must compete with his opponent to win, on the training ground and on the battlefield. He must be brave enough to fight for victory at all times, against any enemy. It's hard to imagine a soldier who doesn't fight to the death on the battlefield or strive to be first in training, how can he truly defend his country... In the early 80s, this slogan was shouted loudly, but after Vietnam launched an aggressive war against us, what happened to those soldiers who couldn't compete for victory? Dad, you also came from that battlefield, shouldn't you know?"

  "Good! As expected, it's a 'struggle'!" Lin Weiguo's eyes grew brighter as he listened, and by the time Lin Hongfei finished speaking, his tiger-like eyes were shining with an intimidating light.

  Isn't it just this sentence? If you, as a soldier, don't dare to fight and don't go to fight, then what kind of soldier are you? Soldiers are born to fight, not only to fight against the enemy, but also to fight against their comrades and themselves! In the passionate military camp, a soldier who can fight is a good soldier, an officer who can lead his soldiers to victory is a good officer, and a general who can lead his soldiers to defeat the enemy is a great general. Soldiers must deeply engrave the word "fight" in their bones! A soldier who cannot fight cannot be considered a soldier at all, it's better to just go home and take care of children honestly.

  "Son, well said!" Lin Weiguo looked at his son with a relieved expression, patted Lin Hongfei's shoulder heavily, and the standard Chinese face was filled with pride for his son. "A soldier must be competitive and dare to compete! This position, your old man has secured it this time!"

  "So I said, this time we must give Uncle Xu a gift in order to win." Zhang Lan said slyly.

  Lin Weiguo suddenly fainted. His own son, who had just been saying that soldiers should "fight", was now telling him to take the back door?

  For a moment, Lin Weiguo even doubted whether he had misheard.

  At that time, people were still quite simple and naturally disliked things like going through the back door. As a teacher, Duan Yuzhen was even more disgusted with this situation. Without saying another word, she pinched Lin Hongfei's ear, twisting it three times to the left and three times to the right, "You little scoundrel, I let you not study well all day, your mother worked hard to support you in college, what did you learn?!"

  "Is this normal human relationship?" Lin Hongfei was caught off guard, and had no choice but to cooperate by stretching his head out for his mother to pinch, while shouting loudly. Not cooperating wouldn't work either, not cooperating would make his ears hurt! "We have some trouble at home and need someone's help, so we should at least buy two packs of cigarettes and treat them to a meal. Uncle Xu helped us with such a big favor, at the very least my dad should let Uncle Xu see that he is indeed worth helping!"

  "What kind of talk is this?" Duan Yuzhen was even angrier upon hearing this, "Can walking through the back door and giving gifts be considered the same as asking for help? You stinky little brat, you're really infuriating me to death..."

  "Yu Zhen, don't be in a hurry," Lin Weiguo frowned and stopped Duan Yu Zhen. He felt that there was another layer of meaning behind Lin Hongfei's words. "What do you mean..."

  Taking this opportunity, Lin Hongfei hastily escaped from his mother's clutches, looked at his still fuming mother and said, "As the saying goes, opportunities always favor those who are prepared. Dad, what do you think Xu Bo would think if he knew you've been preparing for this chance all these years?"

  How could he think otherwise, with Lin Weiguo's understanding of his old captain, at the time the old captain would definitely think that the person he recommended was good and wouldn't make him lose face. But this was something Lin Weiguo couldn't bring himself to say out loud, or else it would seem like he was flattering the young man, but the problem was, he hadn't prepared anything at all.

  "Dad, you don't have to worry about this matter anymore, I've got it under control," looking at Lin Weiguo with a thoughtful expression, Lin Hongfei knew that today's conversation had finally moved his old man, "You just watch when the time comes."

  Is that so? Lin Weiguo didn't quite believe it.

  Children born in the military district compound are a bit better than those born in the municipal committee's residential compound, that is, they have stronger self-care ability. Lin Hongfei has been relatively easy-going since childhood, although he was notorious for being mischievous throughout the entire military district, but one thing, this kid is smart, from young to old, no one said he wasn't smart.

  Why not let this kid mess around, just think of it as him letting off some steam because his work isn't going smoothly? Lin Hongfei's work situation is something that Lin Weiguo and Duan Yujuan are aware of. Although they scold him with their words, when it comes to their son's work, which affects his entire life, how could they not be worried? They also know that the leader of the unit where their son is interning is quite difficult to deal with, and it's very possible that their young and hot-headed son can't take the pressure.

  Thinking so, Lin Weiguo hesitated several times and finally nodded, "Okay, then you try... But I've told you, no matter how you toss about, before going to Uncle Xu's house, you must let me know."

  Lin Hongfei didn't expect his old man to be so easy-going, and he was overjoyed on the spot. "Dad, don't worry, I'll definitely let you know about this thing."

  How can I not let my old man know? Maybe this matter still needs my old man's cooperation.

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  "Boss, do you have aviation-grade aluminum alloy here? Preferably 2A12 aluminum-magnesium-copper alloy?" Lin Hongfei asked the service staff after scanning this hardware store that should be the largest in Beiguan City.

  In two days, Lin Hongfei visited all the hardware stores in Beiguan City, wanting to find a piece of aviation aluminum, but what disappointed him was that none of these stores had such a thing.

  It's said to be the largest hardware store in Beiguan City, but in fact it's just a five-room shop. However, this is 1991 and Beiguan City is still one of the poorest areas in the country, known for its revolutionary history. This store is already the largest hardware store in Beiguan City. If they don't have the aviation aluminum Lin Hongfei needs, he'll really be at a loss.

  "2A12 aluminum-magnesium-copper alloy?" The little girl, probably the boss's daughter, furrowed her brow and thought for a moment before shouting towards the inside, "Dad, do we have aviation aluminum at home?"

  "Aviation aluminum?" No one came out, and a man's voice in his 40s was heard, "Young brother, aviation aluminum is a state-controlled material, how could we possibly have it in a place like this?"

  "Isn't there any?" Lin Hongfei's face was filled with disappointment. The high-intensity, high-toughness, lightweight aviation aluminum alloy he needed to use was the best choice, but if they really didn't have it, he would have to temporarily make do with steel instead.

  Originally, Lin Hongfei had hoped to find a piece of 2A12 aluminum-magnesium-copper alloy, also known as aviation aluminum. This type of aviation aluminum is the most widely used aluminum alloy in the aviation industry. It has good strength, toughness, and fatigue resistance, and is often used to manufacture aircraft skin, frames, ribs, and other parts. For Lin Hongfei, this type of aviation aluminum would have been sufficient. He didn't even think about higher-end materials like 7075 super-hard aluminum-zinc-magnesium-copper alloy, 5A02 corrosion-resistant aluminum-magnesium alloy, or 6A02 forged aluminum alloy. However, after searching the entire city of Beiguan, he couldn't find any of this type of aviation aluminum. Not only that, but he also discovered that 2A12 aluminum-magnesium-copper alloy is a strategic material controlled by the state, and it's not available for sale on the civilian market. This left Lin Hongfei feeling extremely disheartened.

  In the second decade of the 21st century, domestically, although aviation aluminum is a relatively expensive metal, as long as you have the money, it can still be purchased and does not belong to the country's controlled strategic materials. However, Lin Hongfei forgot that it was only 1991 at this time, and the Republic's various materials were far from rich. The annual output of aviation aluminum was only a little, and even the country itself was tense with usage, let alone being supplied to the civilian market? Lin Hongfei came to the civilian market to find aviation aluminum, which is miscalculated.

  Unable to find the most suitable aviation aluminum, Lin Hongfei had no choice but to settle for second best and asked his boss again, "Then... what's the hardest and toughest aluminum alloy you have here?"

  "It's this kind," the little girl pointed to the aluminum building materials next to her, with a proud face. "It's this kind. This aluminum material is specially used for making aluminum alloy doors and windows. It's from the south. The doors and windows made from it are really beautiful. We don't have this kind of thing here. My dad said that this type of building materials aluminum, in the entire Beijun City, except for our family, no one else has."