In the business van, Chen Yang, who had been looking out the window, suddenly asked, "Yang Hu, do you still rember Wei Dayong?"
"Of course I rember!" Yang Hu grinned. "That guy is ferocious for his age! I also heard that at the academy, whether in academics or martial arts, he always scored above ninety-five and dominated the top rank for years." Finally, Yang Hu asked, "Boss, is the kid about to graduate?"
"In this unified exam, his combined score for both academics and martial arts was only seventy-five," Chen Yang said indifferently.
Yang Hu was speechless. "Damn, don't tell he fell in love at school and let his studies slide?" At this, Yang Hu's expression suddenly darkened. "No, that's not Dayong's style. Could there have been foul play during the exam?"
"Exactly." Chen Yang nodded. "Soone replaced his scores."
Yang Hu clenched his teeth. "This corrupt wind has even blown its way into the academies now?"
Chen Yang said nothing.
Many tis, that's just how the world worked. As long as you had money and power, you could do whatever you wanted, let alone manipulate exam results. Take Luo Chen, for example. If Chen Yang hadn't happened upon the situation, forget whether Sun Xiaoli and the others would have survived—how many more people would have suffered at his hands? While other families were ruined and their mbers killed, he continued to live his life with ease.
And the Zuo Family. Their status was far higher than the Luo Family's, so naturally, there were even more things they could manipulate.
As victims, do they feel hatred? Do they feel wronged? But if they were to encounter those perpetrators again, they would probably just kneel and beg for rcy, not hesitating to call them grandfathers and ancestors. Are they foolish? Or were they born spineless?
They are neither. They just want to survive. That's all.
Cruel? That's reality.
People often point to the Black Water Country Grasslands and say, "Look, that's the animal kingdom, where the law of the jungle rules." But in reality, is the world they live in any different?
Chen Yang vividly rembered bringing this up the first ti he drank with the Great Elder. The Great Elder had laughed out loud before falling into a long silence. Only as the gathering ended did the Great Elder finally say, "This world has day as well as night."
Though he said that, an obsession always lingered deep in Chen Yang's heart.
A world of great harmony? Chen Yang harbored no such grand vision. He simply wanted to slaughter all the trash who thought themselves superior, who didn't treat ordinary people as human. Even if one day he was surrounded and killed, falling before his task was complete, he would have a clear conscience before others, before himself, and before heaven and earth. Chen Yang's philosophy was simple: he sought only a clear and unobstructed will.
FLICK.
Chen Yang lit a cigarette and asked Yang Hu, "Dayong is from the neighboring city. Do you rember his address?"
"I do! I even went to his house to help harvest wheat one year!" Yang Hu, also lost in mories, imdiately turned the car around.
The journey was over a hundred kiloters, bordering the suburbs of Cangyun City. In a quiet little village, as the weather improved, the spring plowing had already begun. The car stopped on the road outside the village.
Chen Yang and Yang Hu walked into the village and found Wei Dayong's family's one-story bungalow.
"B-Boss?" A young man, solidly built with dark skin and muscles bulging like small hills, was cleaning a plowing tractor in front of the door. Wiping sweat from his brow, he caught sight of Chen Yang and Yang Hu approaching. The young man, not yet twenty-five, had a simple and honest face. It was none other than Wei Dayong, Chen Yang's forr ssenger Officer.
"Brother Hu!" Wei Dayong tossed aside his rag, strode forward, and raised his right hand to his forehead. "Subordinate Wei Dayong, reporting to…"
SMACK.
Chen Yang kicked his leg and said irritably, "Shut it."
"Greetings, Commander," Wei Dayong said, scratching his head with a foolish grin. But soon after, he grew awkward, his large, strong hands not knowing where to rest.
How could Chen Yang not know what he was thinking? He scolded with a laugh, "What are you standing around for? Go get so wine."
"I'll… I'll go right now."
Chen Yang shook his head. "That guy. Is he still worried about how to face ?"
"Dayong is naturally competitive and proud; it's unavoidable."
As they were speaking, a middle-aged man carrying a hoe approached from a distance, walking with a limp.
"Boss, that's Dayong's father. He's an old Martial Guard too," Yang Hu introduced, then walked over with a smile.
The middle-aged man also noticed them, and his eyes lit up. "Yang Hu! It's been a while since you've co to visit, kid!"
"Uncle," Yang Hu greeted, then gestured toward Chen Yang. "This is…"
"I'm a comrade-in-arms of Dayong's," Chen Yang interjected. He was no longer the Supre Martial Commander and didn't want to add pressure on the family with an empty title.
"Hello, hello." After the greetings, the middle-aged man, whose na was Wei Yunhai, sighed. "Dayong did very poorly on the exam this ti. We've let you down, haven't we?"
"Uncle." Chen Yang handed him a cigarette and lit it for him. "That injury of yours… you got it on the battlefield, didn't you?"
Wei Yunhai nodded but didn't seem to want to elaborate.
"Do you feel it wasn't worth it?" Chen Yang pressed.
Wei Yunhai was visibly stunned. The corner of his mouth twitched, and the hand holding the cigarette trembled slightly. He then sized Chen Yang up anew. Those two simple sentences made him feel that this young man was different.
"It was all for our holand, so what's there to discuss about worth?" Wei Yunhai said with a bitter smile. "But it's hard not to feel bitter about it."
"Then again, isn't that just how the world is nowadays?" Wei Yunhai asked in return.
The two n spoke back and forth. Though they didn't say it outright, they had already gotten to the heart of the matter.
Chen Yang smiled without taking a stance and changed the subject. "Everyone has seen how Dayong usually performs at the academy. There's no way he shouldn't be able to score at least a hundred points between the two subjects."
"I know him."
The implication was clear: sothing was wrong with his exam score.
Wei Yunhai squinted, smoking his cigarette without saying a word. How could he not know? This just confird the suspicion that had been nagging him for the past few days. His son had suffered an injustice; how could he, as a father, just swallow it?
"Let's not talk about this! Co on, let's drink!" Wei Yunhai called out.
"Alright," Chen Yang nodded.
"Boss," Yang Hu whispered, leaning closer to Chen Yang. "Uncle Hai… he's not thinking of going to demand an explanation himself, is he?"
"And why not?" Chen Yang laughed. "Pent-up resentnt needs to be vented, doesn't it?"
"Heh heh…" Yang Hu grinned. "That's right! With you here, Boss, they won't be able to stir up much trouble!"
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