Zhai Yaohui did not have any reaction. He just stood beside Miao Jing.
Miao Jing was unwilling to bother about Zhai Yaohui. She looked around but did not glance at Zhai Yaohui at all.
When Miao Jing saw someone in the army, her mood suddenly turned better. “Nan Nan, why are you here?”
At the sound of the two words, ‘Nan Nan’, Zhai Yaohui’s temple throbbed twice greatly. He turned and looked. Wasn’t that Qiao Nan?
“Nan Nan, why are you in the camp? Why didn’t you tell me that you’d be here? How did you come? You’re alone? Did you call your Brother Zhai and ask him to fetch you?” Miao Jing went up to Qiao Nan affectionately and asked her a few questions in a meticulous and caring way.
“Nonsense!” Zhai Yaohui’s face turned black instantly. “How did you all guard the place? Can any Tom, Dick, and Harry enter the army?” Zhai Sheng actually lied to him. He did not do as he promised!
Clearly, they had a prior agreement that Zhai Sheng must not let his relationship with Qiao Nan affect the matters in the army.
This time, he merely did not allow Zhai Sheng to stop by the house of the Qiao family before returning to the army. He did not expect that Zhai Sheng would be so daring and bring Qiao Nan to the army camp directly instead. He was simply a scoundrel!
“Let me warn all of you. This matter, I will definitely pursue it till the end. I’d like to see who neglected their duties and committed such a lowly mistake. Get someone to come here to quickly send away those people who have nothing to do with the army. Whatever happened today, everyone who played a part in this has to face disciplinary actions!” Even if it was Zhai Sheng!
The two soldiers on duty who were spat at by Zhai Yaohui had looks of innocence written all over their faces. They nearly cried. “Reporting to Chief Zhai, Teacher Xiao Qiao is not someone who has nothing to do with the army. She came here with a valid reason.”
“What reasons? They’re all excuses. Hurry, quickly send her away!” Zhai Yaohui was really infuriated this time. He had believed that, despite having taken a liking to a woman, his son would remain clear-minded and could prioritize and manage issues according to importance and urgencies.
If that had not been the case, he would not have helped hide this matter.
However, he had misplaced his trust in his son this time. After Zhai Sheng took a liking to Qiao Nan, he had completely changed.
Previously, he could force himself to accept Qiao Nan’s existence, but now, he certainly could not! He would not let Qiao Nan ruin Zhai Sheng or the Zhai family.
This time, even if Miao Miao agreed, he would never agree to the relationship between Zhai Sheng and Qiao Nan. Qiao Nan must not be together with Zhai Sheng or worse, become the daughter-in-law of the Zhai family!
“Old lad of the Zhai family, what do you mean by this? Even if your dad is here, he will not dare to be so fierce to me. You’ve grown up and your wings have hardened. You’re really unreasonable!” Lin Yuankang walked over with a frown. “Who are you chasing away? If your political commissar did not invite me here, do you think an old man like me would be willing to climb the mountains and come to this poor place that’s in the middle of nowhere? My disciple is such a soft and tender young lady. She can’t take this kind of hardship, but she didn’t even mind your poor environment and isolated place, yet you wanted to chase my disciple away? What do you mean! Didn’t you all invite me here to support the launch of your event? Now, the people in the army are so merciless. So, you can play such tricks? On one hand, you invited people for an event. On the other hand, you scream at people?”
“Elder Lin?” When he saw Lin Yuankang, Zhai Yaohui was stunned. “Elder Lin, you’ve misunderstood. Why would I chase your disciple away?”
Lin Yuankang’s political status might not match that of Zhai Yaohui, but his seniority was much higher than Zhai Yaohui.
When there was peace in the country and development was needed, many Chinese citizens were unwilling to return to the country after going overseas. Someone like Lin Yuankang, who was successful overseas but was willing to give up a high-salaried job and everything to come back to a country that had nothing and had to be developed from scratch, was a patriotic senior and elder whom Zhai Yaohui respected very much.
Many years ago, Elder Lin was determined and firm in giving up everything he had overseas to return to his own country. Until today, Zhai Yaohui was full of respect for him and people similar to him. Without them, China would not have progressed so quickly.
“Then, who were you chasing away just now?!” Lin Yuankang was even more displeased. He didn’t have any other strength except for being good at protecting his own people. He was like a cow protecting his calf.
Amongst his many disciples, he had very few female ones. Within them, this last disciple was the youngest.
Zhai Yaohui dared to pick his youngest disciple to bully. This would not do. He had to call Old Zhai one day so that Old Zhai could chide Zhai Yaohui. He did not respect him anymore after being the chief for a few years?
What arrogance!
“I…” Zhai Yaohui had wanted to say that he was chasing away Qiao Nan, someone that did not matter. But when he heard Lin Yuankang say that he had taken in a female disciple, he was in total shock. It was as if he had been struck by lightning. “Elder Lin, do you mean that Qiao Nan is your disciple? She’s the disciple that you brought to the army to participate in the event this time?”
The people in the army had already reported this to Zhai Yaohui clearly. They had invited Lin Yuankang, a veteran revolutionary. Most importantly, Lin Yuankang even brought his little disciple.
When Zhai Yaohui received the news via a phone call a few days ago, he had sung great praises for Lin Yuankang’s little disciple, saying that Lin Yuankang’s disciple should be quite capable.
Oh, how one did not expect that they would slap their own face after just a few days!
“Then?” Lin Yuankang snorted unhappily. “Nan Nan, did you have a scare? Really, these people in the army… If I have to use a term from the olden days to describe them, they’re rough boors whom no one likes! They’re physically developed and look down on others who are mentally developed.”
Even when Old Zhai saw him in the past, he would address him as Mr. Lin!
“Misunderstanding. It’s all a misunderstanding.” Zhai Yaohui was very ashamed. How would he know that Qiao Nan was the little disciple that Elder Lin brought to the army for the event? Had he known about it, why would he chase Qiao Nan away? No matter how much he disliked her, he had to find another excuse, right?
“Nan Nan, you’ve become Elder Lin’s disciple? And you’re his last disciple?” Completely ignoring Zhai Yaohui’s embarrassed state, Miao Jing felt so happy for Qiao Nan. “I’ve heard previously that Elder Lin has retired and was prepared to take in the last disciple. However, the news disappeared after a few days. I even thought that Elder Lin had changed his mind and found those people knocking on his door annoying. So, you’re the one who got it. Nan Nan, Elder Lin is someone of great capability. You must not miss this great opportunity to learn conscientiously from Elder Lin.”
“Auntie Miao, don’t worry, I will.” Qiao Nan smiled and nodded. She could not hide her feelings of helplessness.
Chief Zhai was very surprised to see her, and so was she.
That day, she knew that Brother Zhai was going back to the army. Before he went back, he had called her. Hence, she knew that Brother Zhai would not come and see her before he returned to the camp.