Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

  “What do you mean by play? Baoguo went looking for Qiao Nan to study. Didn’t you notice that Baoguo’s results are getting better recently?” Old Master Zhu rebutted in anger. It was no wonder that Baoguo could not accept Zhu Qin and Yang Yang. As his Auntie, Zhu Qin made Baoguo seem as if he only liked to play and fool around with young ladies and that he was a good-for-nothing.

  Nobody would like an auntie who made inappropriate remarks.

  “Yes, I shouldn’t have said that. Baoguo and Qiao Nan are studying hard. I will fetch Baoguo back. It’s the school holiday, time to relax. People from the Zhu family can’t be nerds. Baoguo is a boy. He should not be cooped up at home. He should go out to have some fresh air. What if he gets sick from being cooped up at home?” Qiao Nan was just a young lady. She was one year younger than Zhu Baoguo.

  Both of them would not have much learning to do.

  In general, when boys entered high school, they would do better than female students. Qiao Nan could not take all the credit for Zhu Baoguo’s good results. She was upset that Qiao Nan stood to gain from it.

  “There’s no need to fetch him.”

  “Is Baoguo going to come back by himself at this time?”

  Old Master Zhu drank some tea before saying, “You are too anxious. I don’t even have the chance to complete my sentences. You don’t have to pick Baoguo up. He is not at the Qiao family’s residence. He has gone to look for Chengqi. He is with your brother.”

  Old Master Zhu might not approve of everything that Baoguo did, but he was very supportive of Zhu Baoguo’s decision to stay in the army to train and toughen himself.

  The men of the Zhu family had to undergo tough training and suffer hardships in the army to be able to call themselves worthy members of the Zhu family. They were not allowed to ride on their father’s success and enjoy the fruits of others without having toiled!

  “With my brother? What are they doing?” Zhu Qin was dumbfounded. Why would Zhu Baoguo go to the army at such an early time of the year? “When will he be back?”

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  Wang Yang, who was uptight, relaxed. Zhu Baoguo would not be able to suffer the hardships. He certainly would not be able to stay in the army for long. Like what happened in the past, he would be back in a few days.

  At most, they would postpone the trip to Hong Kong for a few days. There were a total of sixty-two days in the summer break. He had the time to wait.

  In fact, Wang Yang ended up using the whole of the summer break, which was sixty-two days, to wait for Zhu Baoguo.

  When he finally saw Zhu Baoguo back at home sixty-two days later, he was so tanned that he looked like a piece of charcoal.

  “I have no idea when he will be back.”

  “Alright, Dad, why don’t we do it this way? When Baoguo is back, can you give me a call? I will bring Baoguo and Yang Yang to Hong Kong for the holiday. What do you think?” Zhu Qin remained calm.

  Zhu Chengqi seldom stayed at home. Zhu Baoguo rarely got the chance to see his father. He would only see him a few times in a year.

  Now that Zhu Baoguo finally had a break, it was perfectly normal for the son to visit his father.

  “Sure. When he is back, I will call you.” Old Master Zhu agreed.

  Wang Yang took a deep breath and sat down next to Old Master Zhu. “Grandpa, since brother is not at home, why don’t I stay here for a period of time to accompany you?” In that case, if Zhu Baoguo returned, he would be the first to know.

  “No need.” Elder Zhu put down the teapot. “I will be out visiting my former comrades for a few days.”

  “That’s even better. Grandpa, I can accompany you. I don’t feel assured that you go by yourself.” The former comrades of his grandpa were of similar status to his grandpa. It would be good for him to know more about these people.

  “Yes, Dad, let Yang Yang accompany you. If you go out by yourself, we will be worried.” Zhu Qin agreed. Zhu Baoguo was not the only one who was filial. Yang Yang was even more filial to his grandpa.

  It was a pity that Yang Yang was after all the maternal grandson of Elder Zhu.

  “No, we have already agreed that it will be a catch-up between us only this time. Nobody is allowed to bring anyone with them. I am no exception. Do you really think that I can’t take care of myself? Don’t worry. I won’t lose my way. I will be back in a few days.” Elder Zhu refused. He did not do it on purpose. The few of them had already agreed not to bring others with them.

  They were former comrades and artillery troops. Some conversations and memories that they shared were not suitable for children to listen in.

  Wang Yang forced a smile on his face. “Grandpa, are you really not going to bring me with you? Brother has gone to the army, and you refused to bring me with you. The summer break is so long. Who can I play with? Grandpa, can you bear to leave me behind?”

  Elder Zhu hesitated for a short while. “Yang Yang, this won’t do. You are a young man. How can you be afraid of being by yourself? How is it possible that you have no friends? If not, you can give a call to your uncle and go to the army as well. Yang Yang, you are too thin and weak, just like your dad. As a man, you must have a strong and healthy body. You must exercise and train so that you can grow taller and stronger. Boys should not be feeble-looking. You will not be able to get a good wife in the future.”

  Back then, Elder Zhu did not like Wang Qinglin as his son-in-law as he looked too feeble and weak, completely different from the men in the Zhu family. However, Zhu Qin liked Wang Qinglin for his scholarly mannerism and insisted on marrying him.

  But Elder Zhu would not allow Wang Yang to grow up to be like Wang Qinglin.

  Zhu Qin waved her hand continuously. “Dad, you must be too busy that you have forgotten that since a young age, Yang Yang is weaker than Baoguo. How can he withstand the tough training in the army? Since a young age, you would always leave my brother and me in the army. Now that I think about it, I can’t help but shudder. It was too terrifying. Don’t lead Yang Yang astray. Yang Yang, let’s go home now. When your brother returns, I will take both of you to Hong Kong to have fun.”

  Elder Zhu was a soldier. Zhu Chengqi was a soldier as well. Since a young age, Zhu Qin had spent a lot of her time in the army. The first person she saw when she woke up and the last person she saw before she went to bed was the soldiers in the army. The sounds of their training, ‘one, two, three’, worked as her alarm to wake up and acted as her lullaby to sleep at night.

  Because of the environment that she grew up in, Zhu Qin did not develop a love for the soldiers. Instead, she was very averse to them.

  It was for this reason that she chose Wang Qinglin who was very different from the soldiers as her husband.

  When things reached an extreme, they could only move in the opposite direction.

  “Grandpa, I will go back with Mom first. When you return home, I will visit you again.” Wang Yang left with Zhu Qin in a hurry. He did not like the army and felt that life in the army was too tough.

  He only needed to be clever enough to survive in the world. There was no need to be athletic. What was the use of being physically strong?

  Zhu Baoguo was the best choice to train and exercise in the army.

  As soon as Zhu Baoguo arrived at the army, Zhu Chengqi gave a call to Qiao Nan. “Yes, he’s here.”

  “Good. Uncle Zhu, you must not allow Zhu Baoguo to go back home during these two months. You must put him through tough training. You must not do what you did in the past, worrying about tiring him out. Because of this, he has ended up being pampered and sheltered.”