Shan Mingxu looked up, eting Yin Shixiu’s nearly unwavering gaze, his heart skipped a beat, and then...
"Uncle, you overthink it, the selection process takes three months to complete."
"Does it?"
Yin Shixiu asked aningfully.
"Of course!"
Shan Mingxu’s firm eyes seed to radiate a brilliant light.
Yin Shixiu glanced at him, then chuckled softly, "Before you return to the troops, spare so ti to have a drink with your uncle?"
"Uh..."
"Don’t pretend, you’ve been secretly swapping Coke for red wine since you were fourteen, right?"
"Hehe, okay."
Shan Mingxu nodded.
Yin Shixiu patted his head, "Good, then I’m off."
"Mm, take care, Uncle."
Shan Mingxu watched Yin Shixiu and Su Xiaong get in the car, the silhouette of the car slowly disappearing from sight.
He breathed a sigh of relief, those radiant eyes were clouded with a layer of lancholy light...
In fact, what was the point of putting on a front in front of Uncle? Even if he shouted until he was hoarse, he wouldn’t believe a word.
No matter how hard he worked in the troops to beco an outstanding soldier, no matter how many marks the Special Forces selection training left on him, no matter how resiliently he pulled through...
In his uncle’s eyes, he’s just a kid.
A kid who can be seen through at a glance.
But even though those hawk eyes dissected him like X-rays from head to toe, he couldn’t see through Yin Shixiu at all.
So he knew he passed the Special Forces selection, but he couldn’t be sure how Yin Shixiu would react if he confessed.
Would he imdiately turn around and go inside to tell his parents, his grandparents...
Would he confine him at ho from then on? Keep him away from the troops?
That day the captain talked to him and asked him one question,
Your grandfather is Yin Shaohui, you were born with a silver spoon, do you think your life is more precious than others?
At that mont, he knew that his grandfather knew he was participating in the Special Forces selection.
He didn’t think about how his grandfather would react, but he was sure... his grandparents, Dad and Mom, and that silly brother would be very worried about him.
But, was the honor he defended with his life ultimately to beco a heavy burden weighing on his family’s hearts...?
The military uniform was like a swamp, the deeper he fell...
He had struggled, but the struggle brought him no achievent.
So... not only did he stop struggling, but he also willingly entrusted his life to it.
He didn’t have lofty ideals, nor noble aspirations.
He just wanted to know... when live ammunition grazes past his head, would he raise his gun to retaliate, or wet his pants.
Officially, the selection training is said to last three months, but in reality, it ended after a month and ten days. Of 107 people, only 15 remained in the end.
The final 15 were each taken into a sealed black room, with only limited rations and water...
Once the door closed, there was nothing left.
No one told them what to do, no one told them how long this state would last...
No day and night, no sense of ti, gradually, so pleaded for rcy, went insane, their spirits collapsed...
The best among them, after coming out, spent three days in the hospital, accompanied by a psychologist throughout.
During those three days, he only spoke once, only asked the captain one question, what date is it today...
Afterwards, he knew he’d stayed in that black room for twelve days, with no distinction of day and night.
Twelve days... it felt like his entire life, as if he’d walked from Genesis to the end of the century.
The captain asked him, "You’ve passed the selection, now it’s your turn to choose, stay or go ho?"
"I was almost tortured to death by you guys! You want to go ho?!"
Then the captain started laughing, laughing so much Shan Mingxu wanted to strangle him.
Later, a comrade asked him, those twelve days, what were you thinking?
Twelve days, he mainly thought about two things:
First, if he admitted defeat, would he never beco soone like Uncle?
Second, if he couldn’t make it through... what about that foolish brother?!
Probably because he’s still young, his capacity for thoughts is limited, many people endure all the rigorous physical training and even the cruel dangers of survival in the wild, yet they can’t endure the complexities of their inner world.
It’s been such a hard journey to get here, he didn’t want to give up.
If it was because he himself couldn’t hold on, he’d admit he’s a coward.
But if he gave up because of other external factors, he’d never be content in this life.
"Bro! What did Uncle talk to you about?"
Ming Lang patted his shoulder and asked.
Ming Xu turned his head towards Shan Minglang, then said, "Was it you who leaked the secret about having a girlfriend?"
Shan Minglang swallowed hard, silently turned around, and bolted away.
"Idiot."
Shan Mingxu couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the rabbit-like figure darting off, uttering those two words.
After the New Year, Su Xiaong returned to school, with the help of Housekeeper Lin, Ah Su, and Nanny Wang, she really saved a lot of hassle.
Yin Shixiu, on the other hand, had been busy day and night since the New Year.
Su Xiaong heard Yin Shixiu say there was an international big project partnership that they must secure.
He personally led the team, overseeing reviews, calculations, writing proposals, bidding cases, every step needed his personal attention...
While she was preparing for IELTS and TOEFL exams.
Spring in Beijing was always fashionably late, not really warming up until the start of April.
With the change in seasons, influenza beca a challenge for many.
Xiao ng unfortunately caught a cold, but fortunately this happened after she finished her IELTS and TOEFL exams.
She took two days off to rest, took dicine but didn’t get better, so she went to the hospital for IV treatnt for two days...
anwhile, Yin Shixiu went to the United Kingdom for a project bidding conference.
She was afraid the children would catch it, so she asked Housekeeper Lin and Ah Su to take Shuangshuang and Huang Huang back to the Yin Mansion, so the elders of the Yin Family could look after them for a couple of days.
Xiao ng was tornted by the cold and felt dizzy for several days.
Yin Shixiu called back, she said she was almost better, for fear he’d worry and it would disrupt his work.
The cold ca and went, dicine was taken three tis a day, the IV treatnt was done as required, but after more than a week, she had still lost so weight.
Fortunately, the team brought by Yin Shixiu finally secured the contract.
This event even made it onto the TV news, and Su Xiaong leaned on the sofa watching the TV host praise how remarkable Yin Shixiu was, feeling very proud.
It can be seen that this truly is a very high-profile project.
She sent Yin Shixiu two text ssages, then called Mrs. Yin to ask about Shuangshuang and Huang Huang, before preparing to rest.
Took a bath, ca out, and the phone rang again, Su Xiaong saw the caller ID, it was a number she hadn’t contacted in a long ti.
"Hello?"
"Xiao ng?"
"...Nn. Senior Brother Huang."
"Haha, I thought you might have forgotten Senior Brother Huang!"
"...How could that be?"
Huang Xinjue was a year ahead of Su Xiaong, when she first entered the key high school, her mind was slow to react, she couldn’t keep up with everyone’s study pace.
Even though Ren Yixuan would tutor her, she was still struggling.
At that ti, the school had a one-on-one peer tutoring club, and she casually ntioned it to Ren Yixuan, and he dragged her by the neck to sign up.
The one paired with her then was Huang Xinjue.
A cute, kind, and righteous chubby senior brother.
"You’re quite the busy person now, still busy lately?"
"Hmmm... How could I be?"
Su Xiaong scratched her hair, vaguely guessing why the senior brother called...
After graduating high school, almost every call was about the sa thing, not hard to guess.
"Tomorrow evening at six, high school reunion in Beijing, if you refuse again, we’ll cut off our sibling bond."
Indeed.
Su Xiaong sniffed pathetically, "Senior Brother, I’m sick..."
"What sickness? Terminal ailnt?"
"...Senior Brother!"
Su Xiaong was speechless.
"Haha, should Senior Brother pick you up in the car tomorrow?"
"...I’m really sick, caught a cold... can’t eat this, can’t drink that, why should I go? It’ll just dampen your spirits."
Su Xiaong instinctively didn’t want to attend these gatherings.
"Xiao ng, don’t worry, if anyone tries to make you drink alcohol or anything, Senior Brother will stand up for you, you just need to show up, how about it?"
Su Xiaong hesitated, reluctant to return.
"Back then, when you dragged to help you with physics problems until midnight, have you forgotten?"
"...No."
Xiao ng traced circles on the bedding with her index finger, pursed her lips... here it goes again.
"I suppose you’re not one to be ungrateful, so it’s settled then, I’ll send you the ti and place."
Su Xiaong thought about it, Huang Xinjue always liked lively events, reunion activities, he always initiated and organized them.
It’s not good to keep rejecting him, besides, the children are with the Yin Family, Shixiu isn’t ho...
"Then Senior Brother, if I leave early tomorrow, you can’t stop ."
"Alright, alright. Just one sentence."
Hung up the phone, Su Xiaong didn’t think much more, closed her eyes and slept.
The next evening, Su Xiaong called the Yin Family, saying she was going out to et so old classmates that night.
Mrs. Yin advised her to co ho early, barely recovered from illness, the evening weather outside changes frequently, don’t let the sickness worsen.
Su Xiaong agreed, then calculated the ti on Yin Shixiu’s side, it should be noon.
She called Yin Shixiu...
The phone rang for a long ti without being answered, Su Xiaong then called the secretary Yin Shixiu took to the United Kingdom.
But the secretary’s phone also went unanswered...
Su Xiaong felt a bit anxious, sitting on the sofa, continued to dial Yin Shixiu’s number.
This ti the call went through, but the person who answered wasn’t Yin Shixiu, it was —
"Hello?"
A voice that sounded familiar...
"Huh, isn’t this Yin Shixiu’s phone? I’m looking for him..."
"Oh, it’s... Su Xiaong, right?"
"...Nn."
"Don’t rember ?"
The voice on the other end remained alluring, alluring enough to make one’s skin crawl, and with Yin Shixiu’s phone in the hands of such a woman, Su Xiaong’s heart dropped at five centiters per second.
"Who are you..."
"Luo Feiya."
Su Xiaong furrowed her brows, "Where’s Shixiu?"
"Asleep."
Su Xiaong’s face stiffened, then instinctively said, "Wake him up."
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