Cook a meal, get a reward of one hundred thousand.

Liang Dong felt a bit dizzy, looking at Gao Yang stupidly and said, "Is this a joke, right? This must be a joke, right?"

Li Jinfang patted Liang Dong’s shoulder, smiled, and said, "Brother Yang’s words are never a joke. You don’t even have to collect the money, just wait and see your account; it will definitely have one hundred thousand more."

Liang Dong couldn’t help but touch his own head, then hesitantly said, "Is this necessary? A one-hundred-thousand-dollar reward for just a meal? Even for a mercenary, making money isn’t this easy, is it appropriate?"

At this moment, Glolov came over carrying a basin, first raised the basin to take a sip of mung bean soup, then said to Liang Dong, "You did very well, extremely well."

Liang Dong nodded and said, "I am supposed to do this."

Glolov looked at Gao Yang and said, "He deserves a reward."

Gao Yang also smiled and said, "I just rewarded him with one hundred thousand dollars."

Glolov nodded and then said to Liang Dong, "You deserve it! We mercenaries have nothing else, just talk with money. If you do well, you get rewarded; if not, you’re out. It’s the same everywhere."

Liang Dong naturally knew that Glolov was the deputy commander and a veteran mercenary. To receive praise from Glolov made him quite happy. He immediately said, "But I’ve just arrived here, isn’t getting one hundred thousand dollars for just cooking a meal a bit too much? We’ve never encountered such a situation before... a verbal compliment would be nice; I’m worried the other brothers will have opinions. Although we’re mercenaries, we’re still a team."

Li Jinfang laughed and said to Liang Dong, "Still not used to it?" 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Gao Yang said very seriously, "Liang Dong, I’m telling you, I’m rewarding you with one hundred thousand dollars not just because you cooked this meal and made mung bean soup, I reward you for thinking ahead. I like people who foresee problems and find solutions in advance, so my reward to you is not just for the hard work of this meal, but for your attitude. Besides, your approach solved a big problem for me; you’re the key to us maintaining combat effectiveness, so I must verbally praise you, and there must be substantial rewards too. Just consider it a third-class merit."

Liang Dong was truly happy, the money was a small matter, but his work being recognized was important, especially this third-class merit, which he particularly liked.

With a crisp salute, Liang Dong suddenly gave a military salute, and loudly said, "Thank you, commander!"

"Boss! Call me Boss, be aware, maintain the attitude, enter the state as soon as possible, go on with your work."

Liang Dong grinned ear to ear, said to Li Jinfang, "This is just like a third-class merit. Haha, this feeling isn’t bad, a bit like the old days."

Li Jinfang said, "What? Found a bit of feeling?"

Liang Dong pointed to the people lined up waiting for food; instinctively wiping his hands on his apron, he said, "You see, although the queue isn’t very orderly, it definitely looks like soldiers; just that they don’t sing before meals, hehe."

Just then, Tarta swaggered over step by step, first patting Liang Dong’s shoulder and giving a thumbs up, then Tarta said to Gao Yang, "The captain asked me to come over to commend Liang and said there must be a reward for Liang!"

Frey also came over, shouted to Liang Dong, "Oh, buddy, you are really amazing!"

Many people came over to greet Liang Dong.

Gao Yang had never seen a cook so popular, just for cooking a meal that could gain such affection from others.

Peter also particularly liked Liang Dong; they’ve spent some time together in Somalia, and Peter was responsible for helping Liang Dong recover some combat capabilities, so they were familiar with each other.

After saying hello to Liang Dong, Peter said to Gao Yang and the others, "I just knew you’d fall for him, this guy is amazing. I can’t even imagine eating like being in paradise in the army. If the Russian grassroots units had a few more guys like him, there wouldn’t be any worries about recruiting."

Eileen also laughed, "Hey, buddy, do you have a nickname? I thought of a name, we should call you the Culinary God."

Liang Dong was a bit stunned, then pointed to his own nose and said, "In the past, my comrades all called me the squad leader."

Eileen shrugged, "Squad leader? That’s not a nickname; that’s your duty, not your nickname."

Liang Dong shook his head and said, "No, I am the squad leader. In our company, as soon as you mention ’squad leader’, everyone knows it’s me. Even when our company commander calls me, he just calls me squad leader; throughout our company, if anyone says ’squad leader’, it’s me."

Gao Yang curiously asked, "Then what about the squad leaders of other squads? How do the soldiers call their own squad leader and you?"

Liang Dong wiped his nose, looking proud, "That squad leader is also me, other squad leaders go by their last names in front. This doesn’t happen in other companies, but in ours, I am the squad leader, the squad leader is me, the squad leader is my name!"

Eileen laughed, "So are you gonna consider a nickname? I think Culinary God is pretty good."

Liang Dong hesitated for a moment, shook his head, and then said solemnly, "If you can’t directly call my name, then call me squad leader. I really like that title."

Li Jinfang snapped his fingers and said loudly, "Okay, squad leader, go cook some noodles quickly, look at how these folks haven’t had enough yet."

Liang Dong immediately said, "Okay, I’ll make another pot of noodles, please wait a moment."

Liang Dong went back to the kitchen. Tarta shook his head, said to Gao Yang, "This guy is so likable, where did you find him?"

Gao Yang said with great self-satisfaction, "I recruited him with a lot of money, you guys should thank me quickly."

Glolov laughed out loud, and since everyone present was from their own circle, there was no need for restraint. He loudly said, "Even if we weren’t Satan, just having the squad leader alone would attract countless mercenaries wanting to join us, haha."

Lunchtime passed in a particularly joyful atmosphere.

The mung bean soup was indeed very effective for relieving heat. Although the artillerymen almost wished they could pant like dogs to dispel the heat, none of them suffered from heat stroke. Moreover, when Salim brought in the convoy and cannons in the afternoon, the artillerymen were all lively and excitedly received the weapons.

In Huaxia, making mung bean soup during the unbearably hot summer seems like common knowledge. However, in Yemen, it was Liang Dong who thought of mung bean soup as a solution and took the initiative to make it well, which kept a group of unaccustomed Ukrainians battle-ready; he’s indeed talented and meritorious.

Anyone who has experienced heat stroke knows how uncomfortable it is. Severe heat stroke can be life-threatening, not to mention ready to fight at any time.

The importance of Liang Dong was demonstrated in the afternoon because when Salim delivered the cannons and convoy, he also brought the news that something had changed in Sana’a.

With changes in Sana’a, Gao Yang and his team were highly likely to engage in combat, and at that moment, Gao Yang could mobilize all the artillery to the battlefield.