142: Chapter 142 A New World

Chen Xi didn't know how long he had been asleep.

He woke up to the sound of loud singing.

The singing was rough and even a bit out of tune, but it was full of vitality, like the rising sun, carrying a momentum that seemed ready to punch a hole through the sky.

He opened his eyes.

What met his gaze was not a cold ship cabin, nor the broken walls and ruins.

Instead, it was a simple but exceptionally clean room with rammed earth walls.

He was covered with a patched cotton quilt that smelled of sunlight.

By the bed, a young female Soldier in a gray military uniform with two braided pigtails sat on a small stool, her head bowed in focused concentration as she mended a uniform full of holes.

Seeing him wake up, a surprised smile appeared on the female Soldier's face.

"You're awake!"

Her voice was as clear as a mountain spring.

Chen Xi tried to sit up, only to find that every single part of his body ached.

"Don't move!" The female Soldier hurriedly held him down. "Company Commander Li said you lost too much blood and need to rest well."

She turned around and brought over a steaming bowl from a small clay stove nearby.

It was a bowl of millet porridge.

It was cooked to a golden, thick consistency, with several precious slices of cured meat, translucent with oil, resting on top.

The rich aroma of rice and meat instantly wafted into Chen Xi's nostrils.

His already numb stomach growled unceremoniously.

The female Soldier handed him the bowl, a hint of bashful shyness on her face.

"We're poor here, so we don't have much to treat you with. This... this is a special meal Commissar Wang specifically asked the mess hall to prepare for you."

Chen Xi looked at the few slices of cured meat in the bowl, then at the female Soldier's uniform, which was washed to a faded white and covered in layers of patches.

An indescribable emotion got stuck in his throat.

(Holy shit... this overwhelming generosity, I wouldn't even dare to accept it.)

He took the bowl and, without standing on ceremony, wolfed it down.

The warm millet porridge slid into his stomach, seemingly lighting a fire that made his cold body feel alive again.

After finishing the porridge, he finally had the strength to speak.

"What about the others? Those... scholars, how are they?"

"Don't worry!" the female Soldier said with a smile. "They've all been settled! Commissar Wang cleared out the best rooms for them and even assigned special guards for their protection. Right now, they're probably having breakfast!"

As they were speaking, a burst of hearty laughter came from outside the door.

Li Zhen, the company commander who had met them last night, walked in together with a tall, dark-faced middle-aged military officer.

The middle-aged officer walked with a brisk stride, his eyes as bright as an eagle's.

He walked quickly to the bedside and, without a word, reached out his large, fan-like hand and firmly grasped Chen Xi's hand.

"Comrade Chen Xi! I am Wang Zhenshan, the commander of this unit! On behalf of the River Defense Guerrillas and the Party organization, I thank you!"

Wang Zhenshan's voice was sonorous, and his grip was incredibly strong, making Chen Xi's hand ache.

But what he felt was a heartfelt sincerity, unadulterated by any impurity.

"I heard from Li Zhen that it was you, alone, who rescued dozens of national-level experts from that dead city of Nanjing! You... you have done a great deed! A truly remarkable feat!"

Chen Xi felt a bit embarrassed by the praise.

"I only did what I should have done."

"Well said!" Wang Zhenshan patted his shoulder heavily. "Now, we need you to do one more important thing. To facilitate reporting to superiors and to better arrange and care for these experts and scholars, we need a detailed list of their names and identities. You see..."

"No problem."

Chen Xi immediately understood what the other meant.

This wasn't just for making arrangements; it was to confirm the value and importance of these 'sparks'.

Through the system, he immediately recited and dictated the detailed survivor list for the Jinling Spark Project that the 'Great Wall' project team had long since prepared.

Li Zhen recorded it quickly to the side.

As Chen Xi called out one famous name after another and their outstanding achievements in their respective fields, the expressions of Wang Zhenshan and Li Zhen shifted from initial surprise to shock, and finally to unbelievable ecstasy and deep awe.

They knew they had rescued a group of important people, but they never imagined that the weight of this group would be so heavy.

This was almost... preserving an entire foundation of technology and culture for the future China!

After the list was finished, Wang Zhenshan held that thin piece of paper, feeling it was as heavy as Mount Tai.

He looked at Chen Xi, and there was no longer any hint of dismissal in his eyes, only the purest admiration for a hero.

"Comrade Chen Xi, get some good rest! Leave the rest to us!"

After speaking, he took the list and rushed out like a whirlwind, clearly going to urgently report this monumental matter.

Over the next few days, Chen Xi recovered from his injuries at the base.

He was also able to observe this brand-new world up close for the first time.

This world was very poor.

The Soldiers wore patched clothes and ate coarse grains, and the weapons in many people's hands were the ancient Hanyang-made rifles.

But this world was also very rich.

Chen Xi saw that during training breaks, a group of young Soldiers would sit in a circle, and a literate cadre would teach them to write on a small sand table.

The first word they learned was not their own name, but 'China'.

He saw that at the evening 'Democratic Life Meetings', an ordinary Soldier could stand up and, with a flushed face and strained neck, criticize his squad leader for a tactical error in the last patrol. And that squad leader, far from being angry, listened seriously and nodded repeatedly.

He also saw that those rescued experts and scholars, who were usually high and mighty, were also undergoing a massive ideological shock.

An elderly, highly respected physicist, upon seeing that the mess hall had used up the last bit of rice just to cook a bowl of porridge for him while the Soldiers themselves were drinking vegetable soup so clear you could see the bottom, was moved to tears and refused to drink the porridge.

In the end, Wang Zhenshan came over personally and said to him with a smile, "Old gentleman, here with us, the best things are always reserved for those who need them most and those we respect most. You are the people we respect most!"

The old professor held the bowl of porridge, his hands shaking uncontrollably.

[My god... the vibe of this army is completely different.]

[Equality between officers and Soldiers, the bond between the army and the people... I only saw it in books before, but seeing it for real now is too shocking.]

[There's no harm without comparison; just think about the conduct of those National Revolutionary Army Soldiers before...]

[I think I understand why they won in the end. This spiritual outlook is simply leagues ahead!]

The viewers in the Livestream room, like Chen Xi, were also undergoing a baptism of the soul.

They were used to the darkness and corruption of Nanjing, so suddenly seeing such an army full of idealistic brilliance and a completely refreshed spirit was incomparable in its impact.

It was late at night.

Chen Xi lay on the hard wooden board bed, but he wasn't sleepy at all.

In his ears was the sound of the Soldiers' loud singing coming from the distant training ground.

"The wind is howling, the horses are neighing, the Yellow River is roaring..."

Before his eyes flashed Little Chen's young and hopeful face in the Sihang Warehouse.

Flashed Rabe and Vautrin lighting the glimmer of humanity in the darkness of Nanjing.

And also flashed the young and determined faces on this barren but vibrant land at this moment.

He suddenly felt that all the suffering, slaughter, and struggle he had experienced before had found meaning at this moment.

He wasn't just completing a damn game mission.

He was witnessing, across different slices of time and space, the various forms of unyielding light that this nation burst forth from within the darkest abyss.

Some light was tragic and heroic.

Some light was about holding the line.

And some light was gathering around him, forming a momentum that would set the whole prairie ablaze.

He rolled over, and for the first time, a relaxed, heartfelt smile appeared on the corners of his mouth.