Southwest Military Region, Special Operations Brigade Training Ground.
A torrential downpour lashed the ground like whips, splattering murky mud everywhere.
In weather this wretched, even stray dogs would hide in their dens, yet the training ground was filled with earth-shaking shouts and roars.
A group of bare-chested men were locked in the mud pit, carrying out the most primitive and brutal form of hand-to-hand combat training.
“Did you skip your meals?! Your punches are soft as cotton! Put some damn strength into it!”
A furious roar tore through the curtain of rain, making eardrums buzz.
At the center of the mud pit stood a man like an iron tower.
He was a full 1.92 meters tall, his entire body packed with granite-hard muscles. Several ferocious scars crisscrossed his bronzed skin—medals of honor, proof that he had clawed his way out of heaps of corpses.
Rainwater slid down his chiseled, knife-carved face, gathering along his sharply defined jaw.
He was Lei Li.
The youngest commanding officer in this military region—and the nightmare of all enemies. People privately called him the Living Yama.
“Sir! Again!”
Three special forces soldiers exchanged glances, then roared in unison as they charged at Lei Li from three different directions.
Each of them was a king among soldiers—take any one out alone and he could fight ten men.
But in front of Lei Li, they were like children who had just learned how to walk.
Lei Li didn’t even blink.
He shifted his footing, twisting his body at an unbelievable angle to dodge the frontal punch.
Then came a sweeping whip kick.
Bang!
With a dull thud, the soldier who tried to sneak an attack at his lower body was kicked away like a sandbag, crashing heavily into the mud and water, unable to get up for a long while.
Next, Lei Li grabbed another soldier’s wrist with a backhand motion and executed a clean over-the-shoulder throw.
Smack!
Down went another one.
The last soldier hadn’t even reached him when Lei Li’s murderous gaze froze him in place for a split second.
That instant was enough.
Lei Li’s fist stopped right in front of the man’s nose.
The force of the punch sent sharp wind scraping across the soldier’s face, making his skin sting.
“On the battlefield, you’d already be dead just now.”
Lei Li withdrew his fist coldly, his voice devoid of warmth.
The soldier lowered his head in shame. “Yes, sir! Thank you for the lesson!”
Lei Li wiped the rainwater from his face and was about to continue drilling these little brats—
When suddenly, a communications soldier stumbled over, splashing through the mud, clutching a telegram tightly in his hand, terror written all over his face.
“Re… reporting, sir!”
His voice trembled.
In this military region, no one wasn’t afraid of Lei Li.
Especially when he lost his temper on the training ground—then he was like an enraged lion. Whoever got close was asking for trouble.
Lei Li frowned, his murderous aura instantly locking onto the messenger.
“What is it? Running around in a panic—what kind of behavior is that?!”
The communications soldier nearly dropped the telegram into the mud, stammering, “An… an urgent telegram from above! Red… red-level urgent!”
Red-level urgent?
Lei Li’s eyes narrowed.
That level of telegram usually meant border conflict—or a top-secret national mission.
Ignoring the mud on his hands, he snatched the telegram and tore it open.
However—
The moment he read the contents, the originally cold, stern face darkened instantly, black as the bottom of a pot.
The telegram contained only one short line:
【Proceed immediately to the Bai Residence to attend a blind date with their daughter, Bai Luoluo. Political mission. No mistakes allowed!】
“Crack!”
Lei Li clenched his hand, crushing the thin telegram paper into a ball.
Veins bulged on his forehead as a nameless rage shot straight to the top of his head.
“This is pure nonsense!”
He slammed the crumpled paper into the mud and stomped on it, as if it were an enemy’s head.
The surrounding soldiers didn’t dare breathe loudly, all of them shrinking their necks in fear, terrified of catching the commander’s wrath.
What was going on with the commander?
He hadn’t been this angry while fighting—how did a telegram set him off like this?
“I lead troops into battle—I’m not going to be some capitalist’s bodyguard! And I sure as hell am not becoming some pampered young lady’s live-in husband!”
Lei Li cursed through clenched teeth.
He wasn’t unfamiliar with the Bai family.
That obscenely wealthy overseas clan—rumor had it they rode in cars everywhere and even drank imported water, all of them spoiled and delicate, unwilling to lift a finger.
Especially that Bai family’s eldest daughter.
It was said that when she returned to the country, she brought two truckloads of luggage!
Two whole trucks!
The soldiers at the front were still wearing straw sandals, still gnawing on frozen potatoes—yet she alone took up two truckloads of supplies?
That kind of decayed, extravagant, and degenerate capitalist lifestyle was what Lei Li despised most.
Make him marry a woman like that?
He’d rather go solo against an entire enemy division!
“Sir…” the communications soldier crept closer cautiously. “They said this is for… for that batch of technical blueprints. The political commissar also called and said this is a direct order. If you dare not go, he’ll… he’ll come hang himself at your doorstep.”
The corner of Lei Li’s mouth twitched.
That old fox of a commissar—always the same trick: first cry, then make a scene, then threaten suicide.
But Lei Li had to admit—it worked.
And besides, a soldier’s duty was to obey orders.
Even though this order made him feel more disgusted than if he’d swallowed a fly.
“Bai Luoluo, is it…?”
Lei Li narrowed his eyes, a flash of cold light passing through them.
Wasn’t that woman just relying on a bit of dirty money, wanting to put on a military uniform for show, gild herself with honor, and find a protective umbrella while she was at it?
Fine.
Since he couldn’t dodge it, then he’d go meet her.
But as for how this blind date would go—that would be up to him.
Lei Li turned around, looking at the group of soldiers in the mud pit, suddenly baring his teeth in a grin.
That smile, ferocious yet sly, made the soldiers’ scalps prickle.
“What are you all staring at? Dismissed!”
Lei Li barked, then strode toward the jeep parked by the roadside.
The communications soldier hurried after him. “Sir, you… you’re not going back to change your clothes? You’re covered in mud…”
This was a blind date!
He was going to meet a delicate young lady. With the commander covered in mud and reeking of sweat, he could probably knock someone out from three li away.
Lei Li stopped and glanced down at himself.
Mud was still dripping from his chest, his pant legs were full of grass and debris, and the sharp smell of sweat from intense exercise mixed with the stench of wet earth—it was indeed overpowering.
But instead of minding it, he patted the mud on his chest with satisfaction.
“Change? Change into what? This is my medal!”
Lei Li sneered and yanked the car door open, jumping in.
“I’m going to let her see what a real soldier looks like! What the true colors of the working people are!”
“Isn’t she delicate? Doesn’t she love cleanliness?”
“I’ll disgust her so badly she won’t be able to take it! She’ll back out on her own and cry and beg the higher-ups to cancel the engagement!”
As long as that woman refused first, it wouldn’t count as him defying orders.
Lei Li felt he was a genius.
“Drive! To the Bai Residence!”
The jeep roared like a raging beast, charging into the curtain of rain.
Its wheels flung mud half a meter high, carrying Lei Li’s pent-up fury and scheming straight toward that gentle paradise drenched in perfume and powder.
…
The Bai Residence.
Bai Luoluo had already changed her clothes.
For this meeting, she deliberately chose a slightly more “plain” dress—though it was still an expensive French white dress with a cinched waist. A circle of delicate lace framed the neckline, accentuating her long, graceful neck and alluring collarbones.
She sat before her vanity, carefully dabbing rose essential oil behind her ears—the one she had just brought back from abroad.
A countdown echoed in her mind.
【Time remaining before the forced binding task deadline: 70 hours.】
【Detected: Child of Fortune rapidly approaching. Distance from host: five kilometers.】
【Warning: Child of Fortune’s emotional state extremely unstable. Anger level: 99%. Disgust level: 100%.】
Bai Luoluo’s hand trembled, and she almost knocked over the essential oil bottle.
Disgust level 100%?
They hadn’t even met yet, and he already hated her?
Just how much did this man despise her?
“System, are you sure this is the Child of Fortune and not my mortal enemy?” Bai Luoluo couldn’t help complaining inwardly.
The system replied coldly: 【Host, please make every effort to capture/woo the target. Only by conquering a man of this difficulty can you obtain the highest national fortune rewards.】
Bai Luoluo bit her lip.
Fine.
The higher the difficulty, the greater the payoff.
She, Bai Luoluo, had never been afraid of anyone in her life.
So what if he was just a soldier?
This young lady had money, looks, and system support—there was no way she couldn’t take down this tough nut!
“Miss, the—uh—young master… no, Commander Lei has arrived!”
The maid’s flustered voice rang out from downstairs.