CHAPTER 288: CHAPTER 277: THE ISOLATED MOUNTAIN VILLAGE

Tong Tong was truly shocked by the scene; a Lieutenant General, three Major Generals, along with a slew of Colonels and Senior Colonels. Although they were all in administrative positions without real power, even administrative roles were high above and unreachable for Tong Tong before.

"Oh my!" Due to walking with her head down and being distracted by other shocking things in her mind, Tong Tong almost tripped over the stairs. Luckily, Xiao Lin was quick-eyed and swift-handed, and managed to catch her.

"Why are you so careless!"

"Thank you!" Tong Tong still kept her head down, not daring to look up at her surroundings.

Upon boarding the helicopter, Tong Tong was preoccupied with her own thoughts and didn’t ask any questions, so the two of them didn’t have much interaction along the way. Yet, Tong Tong’s gaze towards Xiao Lin grew more respectful, even a bit awe-inspiring. She never expected that a small ER doctor from a campus clinic could have such an impressive retinue, with even top-ranking generals coming to see him off and calling him a brother.

Tong Tong was also a passionate college student and usually detested those with privilege, yet she couldn’t bring herself to hate Xiao Lin’s privilege. Instead, she felt a great excitement over the privilege she was enjoying now, though she didn’t show it outwardly. Who would’ve thought that one day she could sit on a military aircraft, especially a top-of-the-line helicopter, capable of seating twelve to sixteen people and with a carrying capacity of over twenty tons.

The journey from Yanjing to the capital of Jingliang Province took about forty minutes. Tong Tong’s hometown was north of the capital in Weizhou City, and it was just about ten in the morning when they arrived in Weizhou.

As they were approaching the airspace above Weizhou City, the pilot’s firm voice came over the loudspeaker from the cockpit: "General, may I ask for the specific location?"

It was then that Xiao Lin asked Tong Tong about her home’s specific location.

"Where exactly is your hometown?" Xiao Lin asked Tong Tong. He had only known that Tong Tong’s hometown was Weizhou, but hadn’t asked for the specific place until the question from the pilot prompted him to do so.

"Pear Blossom Valley, Shuangqiang Town, Xialiang County, Weizhou City!" Tong Tong quickly reported.

"Does your village have a larger platform? Like a school basketball court or a playground?" Xiao Lin asked, thinking it would be best to land directly in Tong Tong’s village to get to the front line first-hand.

"There’s only a basketball court at our village’s elementary school. Is that enough?" Tong Tong responded. In Huaxia’s elementary schools, the conditions aren’t too bad, but also not too great. Even if there isn’t something like a football field as a playground, a basketball court is assuredly available.

"Hm, that should be fine!" Xiao Lin nodded and then contacted the pilot in the cockpit ahead to inform him of the exact address.

Five minutes later, the helicopter began to descend. The mountains became clearer and the small village more distinct, finally stopping on the playground. From the perspective of Xiao Lin and Tong Tong, through the windows, they saw a dark mass of people.

All thirty or forty villagers were almost speechless, staring at this behemoth. Though life in the countryside has improved and such machines are often seen on television, seeing one up close was a first for them.

"Is this...a heli...copter?" an elderly man with a white beard, spoke in a trembling and stuttered voice.

"Great-grandfather, you’re right, this is a helicopter!" A fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy answered excitedly, his eyes gleaming.

"Grandpa, you haven’t mistaken it, this is indeed a helicopter, and it’s our country’s newest armed helicopter. It’s rarely seen on TV, much less in real life, and who would have thought we could witness the most advanced armed helicopter in our country and the world today!" A man in his thirties beside him expressed even more excitement, with beads of sweat flashing on his determined face.

"The PLA is here!"

"We’re saved!"

Suddenly, cheers erupted from the crowd. The three days of oppressive gloom over the village seemed to be lifted in an instant. The villagers voluntarily stood on either side of the helicopter door, about ten meters away, watching the helicopter.

No matter how some people try to speculate about or disparage the strength of the PLA, whenever the citizens of Huaxia face disaster, they unfailingly yearn for the appearance of the PLA, the people’s soldiers. Every time, the PLA never disappoints the people it protects.

Hence, upon confirming that this was an armed helicopter of the PLA, the people around the school playground became increasingly excited, with more villagers gathering from all directions to see the helicopter that had roared overhead.

However, among the villagers who later arrived near the playground, a small group of about ten people stood at least twenty meters away from the others, stretching their heads to look from the outer edges of the playground, not daring to move a step closer. Each person wore different expressions, yet they were all focused, with signs of dejection and despair, tinged with a shred of hope upon the appearance of the helicopter.

"Is this an armed helicopter of the PLA?" Among this group, there were two or three military enthusiasts who liked to watch military channels and had seen this armed helicopter there.

"Lao Li wasn’t wrong. It appeared in one of the military channel programs at the beginning of the year, said to be the latest equipment of the PLA!" someone beside immediately chimed in.

"The PLA’s here? We’re...we’re saved!" Someone in the middle shouted with excitement, quietly, as if afraid to disturb people on the playground side.

Under the villagers’ ardent gaze, the hatch of the armed helicopter opened. In the villagers’ minds, stepping off the helicopter should be the valiant and extraordinary soldiers in uniform, their guardians.

However, when the hatch revealed a very ordinarily dressed young man followed by a girl looking like a college student, the villagers were disappointed.

The eyes that had been full of ardor turned bewildered; what were this man and woman doing coming to their small mountain village with only one path on a PLA helicopter?

Suddenly, some sharp-eyed villagers began to whisper, "Isn’t that girl Lao Li’s daughter, Tong Tong, from the end of the village? Look closely and see if it’s her?"

"Ah, it seems so. Great-grandfather, isn’t that Sister Tong Tong?" The little kid next to the elderly man with a white beard suddenly exclaimed with excitement. In the eyes of a child, just seeing a real armed helicopter fulfilled their wishes, without thinking any further ideas.