Chapter 175. He Invites His Mother to the Award Ceremony, and She Is Left Dumbfounded
“Jiang Feng, why are you sitting here by yourself?”
At the edge of the lively bonfire, Jiang Feng sat on the ground, staring blankly at the girls of Rift Valley Town as they sang and danced.
Chu Xingchen walked over with a smile and asked the question.
Jiang Feng slowly came back to himself, his voice somewhat low. “Man, I think I finally understand why Sentry Captain Feng and you would rather die facing a beast tide than retreat.”
“In the past, I always thought that if you had power, you could possess all the beauty in the world. But now, I think what is right in front of me is already beautiful enough.”
Reflected in his eyes were the people dancing around the bonfire, and the happy smiles shining across their faces.
Chu Xingchen smiled faintly and rested a hand on his shoulder. “Jiang Feng, everyone has something they are willing to risk their life to protect, just like how those border soldiers are protecting Rift Valley Town.”
“What about you? Do you have something you want to protect?”
Something to protect?
Jiang Feng lowered his eyes, turned slightly to glance at Chu Xingchen, then lifted his chin with arrogant pride. “Man, do not push your luck. Next time, I absolutely will not risk my life to save you again!”
Chu Xingchen: “...That is not what I mea—”
“I am not listening. If you dare die without my permission, you know what the consequences will be.”
Jiang Feng reached out, grabbed Chu Xingchen by the neck, rose to his feet, and gave him a cold warning with icy eyes.
After saying that, he ran off again like a child afraid that someone had discovered his true feelings.
Chu Xingchen scratched his head, unable to understand Jiang Feng’s way of thinking at all.
Helplessly, he shook his head and returned to the long table piled with food. Listening to the border soldiers talk about their experiences on the frontier, he found it all rather interesting.
Jiang Feng, meanwhile, sat off to one side, watching Chu Xingchen as a smile slowly rose at the corners of his lips.
With the full moon hanging high overhead, the bonfire party finally came to an end.
Jiang Yichen and the others returned to their dormitory.
“Brother Yichen, what are you going to the storage room for?” Tang Long asked, his face flushed red from drinking.
Jiang Yichen hesitated for a moment before saying, “I am going to get something. You all go to sleep first.”
Tang Long, Chu Xingchen, and Jiang Feng exchanged puzzled looks. What could possibly be in the storage room? Still, they did not think much of it and went into the dormitory.
Only then did Jiang Yichen take out the room card the system had rewarded him with and tap it at the door.
Beep.
Click!
The door opened, and a mansion-like room with crystal chandeliers came into view.
Jiang Yichen’s mood instantly brightened. Thinking back to the hard wooden bed he had slept on the night before, he truly had found it a bit unbearable.
But tonight, hehe. Soft bed, here I come.
After enjoying a comfortable soak in the luxurious bathtub, he stretched out beautifully on the soft bed and drifted into a deep sleep.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Tang Long and the other two were in the middle of a war over who got to shower first.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
“Jiang Feng, you have already been in there for twenty minutes. You are a man. Why are you washing yourself so thoroughly?”
“Man, shut up. Wait obediently outside. If you dare ask one more question, I will punish you by making you shower with me again tonight.”
“...” Tang Long crossed his arms and immediately took two steps back. “Disgusting!”
He turned around and sat back down on the bed, about to complain to Brother Yichen, only to realize that Jiang Yichen was nowhere to be seen.
“Old Chu, where is Brother Yichen?”
Chu Xingchen, who was changing clothes, shook his head. “He said he was going to the storage room to get something. I guess he has not come back yet.”
Hm?
Tang Long suddenly reacted. They did not even have the key to the storage room.
Something was off. Extremely off.
“Old Chu, hurry, hurry. Let’s go to the storage room.”
Tang Long dragged Chu Xingchen with him and rushed toward the storage room. In the dim corridor, the two of them stopped in front of the door.
After Tang Long fumbled around with it for a while...
Click!
The door opened, but inside there was nothing except a pile of dusty odds and ends.
“Where did Brother Yichen go?” Tang Long scratched his head.
Chu Xingchen also found it strange, and his gaze could not help drifting toward Su Linyu’s dormitory. “Could he have gone to see Su Linyu?”
Tang Long was stunned. “Damn, is Brother Yichen about to...”
“Forget it, forget it. Let’s go back. We should not disturb Brother Yichen while he is handling important business.”
Tang Long and Chu Xingchen tactfully returned to the dormitory, washed up, turned off the lights, and went to sleep.
Only, the hard wooden beds made it difficult for them to fall asleep.
...
Early the next morning, at Jiang Group in Central China,
“Chairwoman, a beast tide really did break out at the East China border yesterday. It was SS-Rank, but it was quickly suppressed.”
When Shen Qingyue heard that, the coffee in her hand trembled and spilled across the desk.
An SS-Rank Beast Tide. And East China was exactly where Xiao Chen was doing his military district internship.
“All right, I understand. You may go out first.”
The secretary nodded and withdrew from the office.
Shen Qingyue’s eyes were full of worry. Her hand trembled as she took out her phone and was just about to call her son.
But before she could tap it, an unfamiliar number called in.
Shen Qingyue frowned and declined it at once.
But the very next second, it called again. She declined it, and it called again.
Her gaze turned cold. Clenching her fist slightly, she accepted the call and snapped, “Are you an idiot? I am trying to call my son, and you keep calling again and again. Are you trying to make trouble?”
That sharp burst of Sichuan-Chongqing dialect left Xu Lin, the commander of the East China Military District on the other end of the line, completely stunned.
“Ahem. Are you Jiang Yichen’s parent? I am Xu Lin, commander of the East China Military District. There is something I would like to discuss with you.”
Hm?
Commander of the East China Military District!
The moment Shen Qingyue heard that, embarrassment appeared on her face, and she hurriedly changed her tone. “I am very sorry. I did not know it was Commander Xu. I am Xiao Chen’s mother. Commander Xu, please tell me what it is.”
Xu Lin’s voice turned solemn. “This matter concerns yesterday’s beast tide. I have something very important to inform you of.”
Something very important?
At first Shen Qingyue was confused, but then panic began to rise in her heart.
An SS-Rank Beast Tide had broken out, and Xiao Chen was interning in the East China Military District. Could it be that something had happened to him, and that was why the commander himself was calling?
The moment that thought surfaced, Shen Qingyue’s hand began to tremble, and even her voice shook. “W-What is it?”
“This may be somewhat difficult to believe, almost impossible to believe, but it is the truth. I hope you can accept it.”
The more Xu Lin spoke, the more certain Shen Qingyue became of her fears. Tears welled up in her anxious eyes. “What happened to Xiao Chen?”
Xu Lin drew a deep breath, and his tone suddenly became grave and formal.
“Jiang Yichen, intern recruit of the First Military District, leader of Group One, First Formation, during the outbreak of the SS-Rank Beast Tide in the Great Rift Valley...”
As Shen Qingyue listened, her heart climbed straight into her throat.
But then came the next sentence.
“Jiang Yichen, by his own strength, held back the beast tide for nearly two hours, protected the lives and property of the people of the East China Region, and made an immeasurably great contribution to Huaxia. He is hereby awarded the military district’s highest honor, ‘Special Class Merit.’”
“On behalf of the East China Military District, I invite you to attend the award ceremony!”
What?
Shen Qingyue was completely stunned.
What? Xiao Chen held back an SS-Rank Beast Tide and received Special Class Merit?
Her expression froze, and disbelief filled her eyes.