"What can't be said?" the man asked with a smile, "An old man."
"You can't really call him old, he just looks old because he's done so much work. That old friend!" He remembered the man with a touch of wistfulness. "He helped us out unintentionally once before, and now that we're here, we thought we'd do him a favor and let him come over."
"A favor?" Zhao Hengyu frowned and asked, "What does he do?"
"You, you're still so curious." The man wasn't surprised by Zhao Hengyu's question. Zhao Hengyu had always been a curious child for so many years.
He sighed and began, "He does all sorts of work and never seems to stay in one place for long. When we met, he was collecting trash."
"I thought that with the army here, there might be ways to help him out. We get our things sorted, and he benefits too."
The man smiled and said, "This kind of win-win situation, so I put in an application to the higher-ups to let him come in today and collect our scrap materials."
Zhao Hengyu recalled the bottles and jars scattered on the ground, and then remembered him lingering by the roadside, probably picking up trash along the way.
"Just letting him into the base like this, won't there be a problem?" Zhao Hengyu asked, as after all, this was a military base, not just anyone could enter.
The man shook his head, "Of course, he's been investigated! You kid!"
"Alright, we're almost at the family compound."
He turned back to look at Qin Ningyi, "Little Qin, will you wait here?"
Qin Nishui was still drilling with his men, so he couldn't just bring people over. He had to take Qin Ningyi and the others to the outer family compound to wait for a while.
Just as Qin Ningyi was about to answer, a soldier ran over from a distance, "Is that Comrade Qin Ningyi, nephew of the Commander?"
Hearing the question, Zou Xiaoxiao couldn't help but giggle, "Commander's nephew, hahaha."
Zhao Hengyu glanced at her smiling face. She was so happy because of Qin Ningyi...
He felt a surge of annoyance and let out a cold snort.
"It's me." Qin Ningyi found the title a bit amusing but answered immediately.
As the soldier approached, he seemed a bit embarrassed. Hearing Zou Xiaoxiao's laughter, he felt awkward about his earlier presumption.
He scratched his head, "The Commander asked me to take you over."
A spacious training ground.
Shouts echoed to the heavens.
Every now and then, something flew overhead.
The soldier leading the way turned his head towards Huo Rou, his face slightly flushed, "Don't be afraid, you won't get hurt."
Huo Rou looked the most harmless and delicate among the group. They rarely saw women here, and someone like Huo Rou was even rarer. He couldn't help but say a few more words, afraid of scaring her.
Huo Rou smiled faintly, "Thank you, I'm not afraid."
Not only was she not afraid, but she also loved the feeling here.
Passionate and pure.
She felt as though she too was being purified and made pure.
Qin Ningyi looked at the smiling Huo Rou and pulled her into his arms.
He suddenly thought it would be good if Huo Rou could always maintain that fierce expression she had when facing the old man. Seeing her smile like this made his heart feel a little sour.
Zhao Hengyu winked at Qin Ningyi, thinking that Old Qin must be wishing he could stuff Huo Rou into his pocket right now.
Rounding the wide training ground, the soldier led them to the edge of a hillside.
Gunshots rang out continuously.
This must be the shooting range.
"Commander!" the soldier shouted loudly into the distance, his voice overpowering the volleys of gunfire.
Zhao Hengyu gave him a thumbs-up with admiration in his eyes, "Appearances can be deceiving!"
That voice was completely different from his shy demeanor just now!
The soldier blushed again and lowered his head to scratch the back of his head.
A booming voice rang out from behind the partition, "You're here?"
Immediately after, a tall and steady figure appeared before them.
The man's facial features bore some resemblance to Qin Ningyi's, and the same pair of phoenix eyes on him were sharp as an eagle's.
"Uncle," Qin Ningyi greeted, "This is Huo Rou, the one I told you about."
"Hello, Uncle." Huo Rou's smile was just right, and Qin Nishui nodded approvingly.
Although she looked a little delicate, his nephew was now just an ordinary businessman. He looked at her with satisfaction and said sternly, "Good! A well-behaved girl!"
"Uncle Qin, am I not well-behaved?" Zhao Hengyu interjected jokingly.
Qin Nishui's smile softened slightly upon seeing him, "Come and have a shooting contest with me. If you lose, you run thirty laps!"
He had wanted to have a shooting contest with Qin Ningyi, which was why he had asked for them to be brought over.