Chapter 38: Mutual Recognition of Identity

Chen Xun paused; he loved his profession, but could this girl accept it?

Not to mention the constant fear, what if one day he was sent away, only to die in a mission on the battlefield—what would she do?

This series of thoughts made Chen Xun calm down instantly.

An Yinan didn't hear an answer for a long time, "Can't you say?"

She knew that there were many things soldiers could not talk about; they were military secrets.

"Then let's change to something you can say. What is your name?" They had met twice, he had helped her twice, and she still didn't know his name.

"Chen Xun." Chen Xun didn't hesitate this time; he also wanted to know her name. He hadn't thought many things through yet, but he didn't want to just let her go like this either.

An Yinan frowned; this name seemed a bit familiar.

Chen Xun, Chen Xun, where had she heard it before?

A thought flashed through her mind, but she quickly dismissed it. That shouldn't be right; wasn't he in the Northeast Military Region? How could he appear in Quanshui Village?

"Do you know the Chen Family?" An Yinan asked tentatively.

The Chen Family, Chen Xun—they were her godmother's twin sons. Both had gone to be soldiers. When she was in the City, her godmother would talk about them every day and complain about why her godfather had let both children become soldiers, leaving neither one by her side.

Chen Xun's hand stopped. This... how did this little girl know his brother? The Chen Family was his brother's Chen Family, right?

An Yinan felt the hand massaging her temples stop. She turned her head back, but on that cold, aloof face, she couldn't see any surprise.

"You don't know them?" The little girl tilted her head, looking unconvinced.

If he didn't know them, why such a big reaction...

"I know them, my brother." Chen Xun didn't hide it, but he was curious about how the little girl knew his brother's name and that she also knew about the relationship between the two of them.

An Yinan widened her eyes, "Aren't you in the Military District? How did you come to Quanshui Village?"

She had received a letter two days ago, and then she had run into Chen Xun on the road. If he had come to find her, it wouldn't make sense that they hadn't met for so long. Besides, she wasn't arrogant enough to think that a god-sister could make someone travel such a long distance here.

Then, it was likely he was on a mission.

Now it was Chen Xun's turn to be surprised, "How did you know?"

An Yinan smiled and stood up, leaning against the tree trunk, "Let me introduce myself. My name is An Yinan. My godmother is Sun Chunhua, my godfather is Chen Jianhua, and I seem to have two god-brothers. They sent me a greeting gift earlier, I think it was eighty yuan?"

"Oh, right, that cheap An Erge of mine also sent me a military overcoat and a military canteen. Want to hear anything else?" An Yinan smiled playfully. Her hair was a bit messy, and her clothes were scraped from just escaping, but her little face carried a sense of closeness.

Now it was Chen Xun's turn to stare, a god-sister?

It seemed he needed to write a letter to his mother to explain the situation—did she want a daughter or a daughter-in-law?

"I didn't expect to meet under these circumstances." He had been hesitating before about whether to go see his sister, but he hadn't expected to have already met her.

"I'm a bit surprised too." An Yinan wrinkled her nose, looking extremely cute.

"An Erge, they are waiting up there. I'll go down and take a look." An Yinan had just picked up the hemp rope when she was stopped by Chen Xun.

"I'll go."

How could An Yinan agree? You go? You're going to look at an empty cave? The items were all in her space.

"Comrade, I'll go down and lead the way. You go down again. Besides, you're leaving me and Yun Shen, two people with no strength to truss a chicken, up here? Are you at ease?" An Yinan used her trump card.

He was indeed not at ease.

Chen Xun strapped Mo Yunshen onto his back, then said to An Yinan, "Give me a signal after you go down, and I'll go down immediately."

"Alright." An Yinan smiled, grabbed the hemp rope, and climbed down. She had just looked through everything in her space; as for the Small Yellow Croaker, she would smile and accept half, and put the rest back in their original places.

There were several large barrels filled with rice and flour, and she kept half of those as well.

As for the firearms, weapons, and experimental supplies, she didn't keep any and put them all back. With the space as a cheat, she finished this in a few seconds.

She even placed the two boxes of letters and documents in the most conspicuous position.

"An Erge, come down." An Yinan called up to him.

Chen Xun was agile; carrying Mo Yunshen felt like nothing to him. After walking down, he saw the two large caves. Walking inside, he saw those boxes of items: weapons, gold and silver, grain, experimental equipment, and two boxes of letters.

"Nan Nan, I may have to leave for a while. Don't go anywhere during this time." Chen Xun put on a stern face and gave a serious instruction.

Fearing his words were too cold and hard, he explained, "Judging by these things, this group of people hasn't been here for just a day or two. If they find out you ruined their plan, the consequences would be unimaginable."

Both times they met, the little girl had been in danger. He really didn't know how the little girl would face things when he wasn't around.

"I know." An Yinan was not a teenage girl; she had a mature soul and naturally understood the gravity of the situation.

"What about Yun Shen?" This was her biggest worry. That Japanese person was already dead. Her own involvement was easy to hide—she just had to stop going into the mountains for a few days. But Yun Shen was hard to hide. That group of Japanese people's target was Yun Shen—no, to be precise, it was Ms. Peng's biological virus secret formula. Even if Yun Shen hid, Ms. Peng would still be in danger.

Chen Xun was silent for a long time, "Do you know who Mo Yunshen's father is?"

"Who is it?" An Yinan asked back. Seeing Chen Xun's expression, it seemed he had known Mo Yunshen for a long time. She had guessed before but hadn't brought it up; his identity meant there were many things he couldn't say.

"Mo Kun, my old Leader. I came here this time partly to visit my old Leader, partly to visit a late friend's mother, and most importantly, I followed a lead here and found Quanshui Village. But I've been investigating incognito for the past few days and found no clues. I was helping Auntie Liu chop wood today when I heard gunshots and came over." This was the first time Chen Xun had said so much, and he explained everything clearly.

An Yinan frowned and pondered for a moment, "Ms. Peng is Yun Shen's mother?"

Chen Xun nodded, "My old Leader was sent down to the Cowshed because of my teacher's wife. She is a biologist in our country who studied at Harvard University. Later, she returned to the country to serve the nation and met my old Leader."

"Later, when little Yun Shen was six, he was reported by someone with ulterior motives for his foreign materials and his status as a capitalist's daughter, and they were sent down to the Cowshed."

"But behind the old Leader, there were still many people standing. Through the reminders and channels of some, those who should have been sent to the farm came to the Cowshed in Quanshui Village."

These things were related to factions. Chen Xun didn't say too much about the specific details, only explaining some of the causes and effects.