Chapter 123

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Protagonist:

Lin Xiyu

"Ah, I didn't mean to."

Wu Meng's cheeks flushed bright red; she grew even more nervous, her words turning clumsy.

"It's fine, don't be nervous, do as I say....."

Fu Zheng smiled good-naturedly, his tone unusually gentle, as if carrying a magic that made one utterly convinced.

He corrected the muzzle, aimed at the target, held Wu Meng's hand, and squeezed the trigger together with her.

"Bang."

The instant the bullet fired, Wu Meng's heart completely fell, making her his loyal little fangirl.

"Hit."

The soldier cried out excitedly, with unconcealed worship: "Brother Zheng is a god, hitting the target without even aiming."

"A lucky guess."

Fu Zheng smiled humbly, not taking his flattery to heart.

"Wish I could guess that accurately too."

Wu Meng's tense, uneasy heart miraculously calmed at this moment, and her eyes lit up with worshipful little stars.

"Can you shoot on your own now?"

Fu Zheng pressed his finger against the muzzle, preventing her from moving wildly again.

"Should be, I think I can."

Seeing his action, Wu Meng's cheeks burned hot.

"What hobbies do you usually have?"

Fu Zheng spoke with her patiently, deliberately easing her embarrassment: "Do you like sports?"

"Not really."

Wu Meng lowered her eyelids shamefully: "What I do most at home is help my mom embroider flowers, sew clothes."

"No wonder your hands are so small and nimble."

Fu Zheng praised with a smile: "Turns out it was trained by embroidery."

Brother Zheng really knows how to talk!

Can't do anything, only knows how to hold an embroidery needle, yet he can praise her into a flower.

If a rough old guy like me said it, one sentence would make the little girl cry.

The soldier listened from the side, extending a thumb in incomparable admiration.

"I only know how to embroider a bit."

Wu Meng lowered her eyelids with a face full of shame.

"Embroidery isn't easy either, ordinary people can't do it."

Fu Zheng smiled again: "At least threading a needle requires good eyesight; people who can embroider definitely have good aim for shooting, can thread a tree hole, can aim at a target, just use a bit of strength to pull the trigger, don't think about anything else, just treat the rifle as the needle in your hand, use it to stitch on the cloth, outline the blueprint......"

"Brother Zheng, your analogy is a bit far-fetched, isn't it?"

Li Yong, seeing her chatting enthusiastically with the beauty, couldn't resist joining in.

"What's far-fetched about it?"

Fu Zheng glared at him in dissatisfaction: "For people of different trades, both the rifle and the embroidery needle are weapons, just with different uses."

"Hey."

Li Yong choked: "Only today did I discover your sophistry talent rivals flying a plane; in our military region, you're absolutely top-tier."

"My little eloquence counts for nothing, at best it's just quibbling."

Fu Zheng glanced at his own younger brother still lying on the ground, craning his neck to look over, the corner of his mouth curling slightly: "You haven't seen Xiao Bin in debate competitions rendering opponents speechless; that's truly outstanding, calling it a war of words against a crowd is no exaggeration."

"I can tell, you're just a sis-con — wait, brother-con."

Li Yong found it funny, laughing as he teased him: "Three sentences don't leave your younger brother, the brother is better than anything, no one compares."

"You got that right."

Fu Zheng's brother-doting power exploded; he pretended not to hear the teasing and nodded seriously: "Xiao Bin is our whole family's treasure; the entire Fu Family, a whole big clan, all dote on him; as the elder brother, I feel deeply honored to have such a supremely intelligent, exceptionally wise, glory-bringing Provincial Top Scholar younger brother."

"You're something else, I'm convinced."

Li Yong was left speechless, thoroughly defeated.

The Fu Family values Guben this much!

A whole big family dotes on him?

His grandparents value him this much, would they accept an ordinary, unremarkable granddaughter-in-law?

Would they really look at her differently just because her father is a Martyr?

Lin Xiyu finished her three shots, just happening to hear Fu Zheng and Li Yong's conversation.

Hearing the Fu Family's emphasis on Guben, an inexplicable panic rose in her heart again.

"Brother-con Eldest Brother, can we shoot now?"

Li Yong didn't notice her abnormality, still teasing Fu Zheng.

"Still nervous now?"

Fu Zheng ignored him, lowering his head to look at Wu Meng.

"Not nervous anymore."

Wu Meng found it interesting to listen to, and her taut nerves unconsciously relaxed.

"Then let's begin."

Fu Zheng patted her head in encouragement: "Aim at the target, squeeze the trigger hard, bring out your threading-needle skill, and let them see what a true marksman is."

"Mm-hmm."

Wu Meng's confidence soared; she seemed like a different person, her eyes shining bright.

"Bang bang."

Two consecutive gunshots rang out, the shooting range fell briefly silent, then the atmosphere abruptly shifted.

"Ten-ring!"

"No way, this works too?"

"Am I seeing things?"

"Too incredible, right?"

"What magic did Zheng-ge use?"

"Did he swap her core?"

"Seriously suspect this shot was fired by him himself — soul projection, entering Wu Meng's body."

——

The shooting range erupted in clamor; even Li Yong couldn't help rubbing his eyes in disbelief, as if he'd seen a hallucination.

The soldier responsible for verifying scores came running over from the other side, grinning as he held up the target paper.

"Hey, it really is a ten-ring."

Li Yong had to admit Wu Meng indeed had some shooting talent; he'd been narrow-minded before, underestimating her.

Lin Xiyu and the others all gathered around Wu Meng, genuinely happy for her.

The shooting range was full of jubilation, save for one exception.

Zhu Li stomped her foot hatefully, turned, and ran out of the shooting range.

"Eldest Brother, do you want me to help you......"

Guben watched her departing back and sneered disdainfully.

Another self-righteous woman, relying on her good family background to try to manipulate others.

"No need, I can handle it myself."

Fu Zheng didn't mind, laughing and shaking his head: "Stay out of this; when you make a move it's earth-shattering, my fragile little heart can't take it."

"You guessed it?"

Guben wasn't surprised in the slightest; smart as Eldest Brother, he'd guess the Dragon Bed matter involved him.

"I'm your real Eldest Brother; your little schemes, how could they hide from me?"

Fu Zheng admitted calmly: "The timing of the incident was too coincidental — right after you went public with your relationship. That young lady must have touched a taboo, provoking my good younger brother into a blue-faced rage, turning everything upside down."

Guben raised an eyebrow: "You also think I went too far?"

"No."

Fu Zheng didn't even think before flatly denying: "He brought it on himself; if he weren't greedy, no one would've had a chance to strike. I'm just marveling — your IQ is still beyond everyone's imagination. Grandfather would be severely shaken if he knew; he'd have to admit the bet eighteen years ago was lost thoroughly. The grandson Maternal Grandfather raised is indeed more than a cut above the grandson he personally taught."

"This has nothing to do with the bet."

Guben looked at Eldest Brother and smiled meaningfully: "The key is whether you have the courage to rebel. You still want to continue like this? Follow the life they arranged, walk step by step according to plan? Don't want some stimulation, let your life have more fun?"

"This proposal is a bit interesting......"

Fu Zheng stroked his chin, nodding in agreement: "But I'm afraid the two elders' hearts can't take it."

"If you don't fight back......"

Guben teased with a smile: "Your sweetheart, when can you bring her home as a wife?"

"Sigh."

Fu Zheng rubbed his brow with a headache: "Actually, it's not that I don't want to marry now; she doesn't want to marry. She's different from your girlfriend — Xiyu, whatever else, is physically healthy with no life-threatening worry. Li Xue's situation, getting Grandfather and Grandmother to accept her is too hard; she understands that herself, so she's always refused my proposal."

"Think it through yourself."

Guben understood Eldest Brother's difficulty and didn't press further.

His sweetheart, though beautiful and kind-hearted, had worrying health — congenital heart disease; a childhood fever damaged her vocal cords, leaving her unable to speak.

No need to guess; he could imagine how shocked Grandfather and Grandmother would be to learn this.

The two elders were old; Eldest Brother didn't want to stimulate them — his concern was understandable.

——

"Don't talk about me......"

Fu Zheng didn't want to spoil the mood and changed the subject himself: "Have you thought it through? How to explain to Grandfather and Grandmother?"

"I'll just bring her home directly."

Guben exuded domineering aura: "Tell them, this is your future granddaughter-in-law; no objections accepted."

"Hahaha."

Fu Zheng laughed loudly: "You've got guts, kid; this rebellious streak is exactly like Uncle."

"Don't say it......"

Guben teased with a smile: "Among all the old master's sons and daughters, the one I like most is Uncle."

"I knew you'd say that."

Fu Zheng kindly reminded: "But as Eldest Brother, I still have to warn you — don't learn from him. Back then, to pursue his so-called ideal, he abandoned the military for business, tossed about all those years without much to show."

"In comparison, listening to Grandfather, the other brothers and sisters serving in the unit are doing quite well. Middle-aged and achieved nothing — one can't help but regret. Sometimes reining in young people's arrogance and heeding elders' advice is still very necessary."

——

"Little Uncle can't be said to have accomplished nothing either."

Guben spoke up for Little Uncle: "He's just more spontaneous, indifferent to money; all the money he earns goes into his own hobbies — traveling the world, extreme sports, volunteering in the Americas, participating in animal protection organizations — these things are all very meaningful, not measurable by money."

"He just doesn't have any proper business to attend to......"

Fu Zheng didn't agree: "No marriage, no kids to raise, one person eats his fill and the whole family has no worries — that's why he can wander wherever his heart desires."

"Put that way, it's not wrong either."

Guben didn't want to argue with Eldest Brother, smiled and chimed in: "Getting married does indeed take away that much freedom. I've been thinking — have I fallen too early? At eighteen I was already tied down by someone, completely bidding farewell to the joys of single life — isn't that a bit miserable?"

"That line of thinking is a bit dangerous!"

Fu Zheng found it amusing, laughed and teased him: "Those words must not let Sister-in-law hear, otherwise even if you don't want to be miserable, it'll be impossible."

"Hey, Eldest Brother, you call her 'Sister-in-law' so smoothly."

Hearing the two words 'Sister-in-law', Guben felt his heartstrings plucked as if by a feather, itchy, a distinct flavor: "No good, I have to hurry and bring her home, make this title a reality.

"Hahaha."

Fu Zheng was amused by his impatient monkey-like manner, laughing very happily.

——

To let the beauties enjoy themselves fully, Li Yong also arranged pistol shooting.

Pistols look lighter than rifles, feel weightless in hand, but in reality hitting the bullseye is harder than with a rifle.

Three shots fired, only Guben hit a ten-ring; the others more or less all deviated.

Xu Yi was young, arms unsteady, three bullets not a single hit, earning a big fat zero.

Although the shooting wasn't great, the little fairy was still very excited, happily picking up many shell casings, stuffing his trouser pockets bulging full, like a little hamster.

The others also found it quite novel, each picking up a few shell casings to take home as souvenirs.

Rifle shell casings are large, color grayish and dull.

Pistol shell casings are small and exquisite, yellowish-golden as if plated with a layer of gold on the outer shell, looking even more eye-catching and pleasing.

Lin Xiyu picked up a few pistol shell casings, fondling them lovingly, unable to let go.

Wu Meng, on the other hand, was secretly scheming in her heart, thinking of drilling holes in the shell casings to make pendants — girls wearing them would be both cool and handsome, a unique charm.

——

After leaving the shooting range, Fu Zheng specially took the youths around the barracks for a circle, found the two officers who had taken care of Xu Yi on Taishan, and thanked them.

Playing in the Military Region Courtyard for a morning, the youths were all very happy.

Near noon, for Lin Xiyu, the most apprehensive moment was about to arrive.

Guben's grandfather's front gate was in sight, and once again came the moment for the ugly daughter-in-law to meet the in-laws.

"Don't be nervous, watch me."

Guben patted her shoulder reassuringly, encouraging her in his own way.

"Mm-hmm."

Although Lin Xiyu said with her mouth that it was nothing, in reality her heart was panic-stricken.

——

Guben's grandfather lives in the Sanatorium, a standalone two-story small building with its own gate and courtyard.

The small building is quite imposing, the courtyard also very large.

The front courtyard is planted with flowers, grass, and trees, scenery beautiful. The rear courtyard has been reclaimed into a vegetable plot, with trellises set up, growing quite a few seasonal vegetables.

Lin Xiyu looked at the orderly who opened the door for the group, responsible for taking care of the two elders' daily needs; her small heart involuntarily trembled, nervous unease reaching its peak at this moment.

"Little Bin's back, come in quick."

In the first-floor living room, sat two white-haired elders.

Guben's grandmother saw her grandson, eyes brightening, rose from the sofa to personally welcome him.

"Grandma good, Grandpa good, I'm back."

Guben walked up very intimately, and gave Grandma a warm embrace.

"You little heartless one, all day you only know how to play around outside, how long since you came to see Grandpa and Grandma?"

Fu Nainai poked his forehead, smiling as she scolded.

"Aren't I here now?"

Guben covered his forehead crying injustice: "Besides, I'm not just playing around, I have proper business. The Quancheng Water Special Program — you guys watched it too, right? This whole time I've been accompanying the Program Group, busy from early to late, not a single day of leisure."

"You're just busy for nothing."

Fu Nainai laughed and teased him: "Didn't see you show your face a few times; instead it was your Grandfather, at Daming Lake holding a writing brush writing a few lousy characters, stealing quite a bit of limelight."