Chapter 282: Su Ruomei's trouble [2]
"Is there any trouble?" Ling Qingyu's inquiry brought everyone's attention to Su Ruomei's figure.
Su Ruomei showed hesitance, biting her tongue, probably constructing her words. Ling Qingyu became more curious, seeing her behavior.
"Well, Sister Ling, it's about the recruitment." Su Ruomei's eyes darted toward Yang Qingyue and Cai Ning.
Understanding her meaning, Ling Qingyu paused and gestured Su Ruomei to continue. Having just warmed up with Yang Qingyue, she didn't want to freeze the tension between the two.
Cai Ning, the person she must avoid unveiling secrets, was also okay because her behavior had told Ling Qingyu—Cai Ning was more loyal to the job than the country.
She didn't have any lofty ideal as Yang Qingyue did. Now that she worked together with Yang Qingyue, her actions would support her friend.
Anyway, Ling Qingyu found nothing to hide regarding recruitment except for many more girls entering the job of bodyguards. After all, having more than 200 bodyguards sounded very suspicious, especially where the party could easily wield firearms.
Yang Qingyue noticed their behavior and didn't say much. As for what she felt inside, who knew? That was the reason Ling Qingyu didn't dare to bet.
Seeing Ling Qingyu not minding, Su Ruomei spoke. "I have a friend who lost her job. She's a veteran pilot and asks me for a job after hearing some news about our recruitment."
"What's the matter? I have given you all the permission." Ling Qingyu replied, feeling strange as to why Su Ruomei displayed reluctance.
"It's hard to say." Su Ruomei stopped talking, scratching the back of her head.
"You said she's your friend. What's holding you back?" Ling Qingyu was puzzled. "Is her skill so bad that you felt troublesome?"
"Of course, not." Su Ruomei objected. "She's very good. Among the best too. It's just only in terms of flying. As for fighting ability, I can't say a word."
"So, what's the type of plane she flew?" Tang Ziyi asked from the corner. She was interested in the person, described by Su Ruomei.
"Fighter jet, though an old one. Later on, she flew a big transport plane." Su Ruomei said.
"Well, that means she definitely has some skills." Tang Ziyi said with a nod.
"Indeed, she has, but there's a problem, which I don't know how to describe." Su Ruomei said.
"Is her character bad enough to even annoy our forever stoic Sister Su?" Ling Qingyu teased.
"Hmph! I ignore you then." Su Ruomei was also noncommittal and fought back. "In fact, it's just a little annoying to me."
"How so?" Tang Ziyi's question became more inquisitive. For the emotionally salted fish-like Su Ruomei to show unbearableness, something remarkable from her friend must be the reason.
"Well, we used to have conflicts during our deployment." Su Ruomei said.
"Hold on." Tang Ziyi raised her hand. "She's from the air force, and you're from the land force. How do you two meet?"
Su Ruomei delivered a bitter glance and gritted her teeth. "Don't interrupt me. I was just about to explain, Sister Tang."
Tang Ziyi tapped her nose in embarrassment. Hearing a talented pilot, reaching in to work for Ling Qingyu, her heart to recruit surged.
She coughed and patted her chest, beckoning Su Ruomei to continue. "Our special brigade had a rare encounter in one of the military exercises. I won't talk about the stories in details but as always, our group attracted envies and admirations from others." Su Ruomei said.
"Because our sisters were from the special units, especially as women, we received suspicious glances. Not that we deny our weakness or other's condescending gaze but we were unwilling to be looked down." Su Ruomei paused. "Well, indeed our qualifications paled compared with other male counterparts but that didn't mean we couldn't achieve success in our mission."
The rest of the girls waited for Su Ruomei to continue without interrupting. But everyone knew indeed Su Ruomei's team combat effectiveness no longer required any proof.
Yang Qingyue and Cai Ning understood the team's status. Ling Qingyu also admired this group of women to strengthen themselves. For Tang Ziyi, despite being their instructor, felt gratified seeing their changes.
"Of course, not to make you laugh, our style at that time is nothing compared to now." Su Ruomei chuckled, covering up her embarrassment. She knew herself and the team best. "Without Sister Tang's contribution, hey, we would have been proud, not knowing consciously how small we are."
Su Ruomei added: "The friend I mentioned was the most annoying when she met us. Every time she would scold or complain, especially at me, for being part of a special force, saying women shouldn't be there. They'll never be equal to men. We can tolerate other's suspicion but what we hated the most was these words came out from our female counterparts."
Ling Qingyu and Tang Ziyi exchanged glances and listed possible psychology and behaviors of the friend Su Ruomei was talking about in their mind while carried on listening. Frankly, they felt strange since the speaker herself was also working in the 'supposedly' men's field.
"Words like it's better to rely on men and find husbands before damaging our bodies and regretted later on. During those pasts, I was really angry but come to think about it now, she does make some sense, not all obviously especially when most of them were sarcastic remarks." Su Ruomei said with a sigh.
"Before I left the military, she indeed got married with a prominent officer, whose career would soon step up the ladder. The minimum position should be Brigadier General level in the future. Although me and my sisters aren't included, many were jealous of her."
"From then on, she would show off her husband, mostly annoying me when I'm famous for rejecting many pursuers." Su Ruomei said.
"I didn't expect our Ruomei to be army rose." Ling Qingyu joked.
Su Ruomei went speechless for a moment. "Sister Ling, please don't joke. I might forget important words!"
Ling Qingyu cleared her throat and nodded in a guilty conscience. She couldn't help but mess around with Su Ruomei mentally, especially when she saw her very serious.
The woman, Su Ruomei described, belonged to the type of everything for their men. They weren't bad but were eyesores for Ling Qingyu. Not mentioning herself, everyone around hearing Su Ruomei's narration felt uncomfortable and annoyed.
Everyone was a strong woman, excelling in their line of work. They were far ahead of their peers both in terms of talents and hard effort. They didn't need to prove because their existence already told the truth.
The idea that women's role was to marry men caused Ling Qingyu's group to have a bad impression. No one rejected marriage but enforcing one's will onto others was simply appalling especially this kind of gender topic.
Nonetheless, the women were also interested in the person, Su Ruomei mentioned. Although Su Ruomei displayed disgust, her style still desired the woman she hated to be recruited. Wasn't it obvious what her behavior suggested?
The necrotic woman had strength and excelled at piloting so much so that Su Ruomei discussed her idea with Ling Qingyu. Somewhat contradictory when they thought the female pilot was already a strong woman herself yet rejected independence?
Noticing Su Ruomei went quiet, deep in thought, recalling her memories, Ling Qingyu spoke. "Sister Su, since I've delegated to you, you can make any choice. Even if you found a talented one but aren't to your taste or would bring disharmony, you don't need to seek our opinion. Trust yourself. You're also my close sister, whom I trust very much. If you don't like her then don't.
No need to compromise your happiness. I'd rather have my own group with unity and happiness even if I sacrifice some talents than filled with gunpowders always."