Armored vehicles, armed forces... Wow, so many people Recruitment site

"Little Fatty, you better hurry up. Your second uncle said the person coming to pick us up will be here any minute now. Don't force me to spank you," Tang Yuyao said, sitting in the waiting area of the airport terminal, looking utterly fierce.

Not far away, her little son was holding a fork, constantly slavering, eyes glued unblinkingly to the cup of instant noodles in his hands.

It was a jar of pickled cabbage beef instant noodles!

He was already completely mesmerized by the smell. He'd slept through the in-flight meal on the plane, and when he woke up, they had already arrived at their destination and everyone was starting to disembark.

There was no way to go back to eat then, right?

But his stomach was growling so badly, that's how they ended up in this situation.

After getting off the plane, they bought a 15-yuan "special edition" jar of pickled cabbage beef instant noodles at the airport service hall. As for what made it special... it was ridiculously expensive.

The same product sold for less than five yuan in regular stores, but here the price was tripled. The little son was dumbfounded the second he saw the price.

He held up his kids' smart watch, hesitating for ages, still not bringing himself to scan to pay—every cent of that was hard-earned money!

Finally, Tang Yuyao couldn't stand watching any longer, walked over and paid for the noodles for him, told him to wait by the hot water station, and they'd set off again after he finished eating.

She herself sat back down, visibly irritated, staring at her phone. Every time a new message notification pinged, her mood swung sharply. And after she saw who the message was from, her mood swung even more dramatically—like plummeting straight down from Mount Everest to the Mariana Trench.

"What the hell is that good-for-nothing up to?" Tang Yuyao grumbled irritably. After waiting a while longer, she finally put her phone away.

"Slurp, slurp... Auntie, are you talking about my uncle-in-law?" the little son asked between bites of his freshly soaked noodles.

"No, shut up and eat your noodles!" Tang Yuyao snapped, glowering at him.

The little son: ......

Sure, keep being like that, Auntie. No wonder my uncle-in-law secretly plays games with others and doesn't take you along. Those other pretty older sisters are so much nicer and...

"What's that look on your face?" Tang Yuyao raised her eyebrows, sounding annoyed, narrowing her eyes at her little son who was clutching his instant noodles.

The little son: ???

In an instant, his eyes went wide and innocent, shaking his head nonstop, blinking in a deliberately "pure" way.

"How could that be? My dearest, kindest, most generous and pretty Auntie, the one my uncle-in-law adores the most..."

He piled on the compliments one after another, spouting a whole stream of flattery, until Tang Yuyao huffed and let the matter drop.

"Hmph, finish eating quickly," Tang Yuyao mumbled casually, pulling her phone out again. This time she wasn't checking the chat history, but looking at the photos she had taken on the plane.

The little son: ......

"Slurp, slurp, slurp..."

The little son's fullness meter ticked up +1 +1 +1...

Gulp, gulp, gulp...

In less than a minute, he had polished off the entire cup of noodles, even drinking up the last drop of the soup. He really was starving.

"I'm done, Auntie. Let's go!" The little son licked the corner of his mouth, tossed the empty noodle cup into the trash can, and gathered his things to head outside.

He walked a few steps before pausing, realizing something felt off. Wait... why does it feel like we're missing someone?

He turned around.

His Auntie was still sitting on the bench, not moving an inch, frowning at her phone like she was deep in thought, completely lost in her own world.

The little son: ......

From years of experience, if he went over to interrupt his grumpy, unmarried Auntie right now, he'd probably trigger the limited-edition "Auntie's Ten Hits" combo.

At the very bottom of the household food chain, this little kid had already mastered the rules of survival at a young age. He quietly tiptoed over, craning his neck to sneak a peek at what was on his Auntie's phone...

Wow, it's those pretty older sisters from before!

The little son's eyes almost popped out, but soon he recalled some bad memories from the past—getting coldly told off by that rich young lady that she didn't like him, being hounded nonstop by President to squeeze every last bit of use out of him, and that Head Maid who...

The little son: ......

Mom was right, pretty women are all roses with thorns. A handsome little guy like him could get pricked if he wasn't careful.

"Why on earth are those three hanging out together? Did something bad happen?" Tang Yuyao mumbled to herself with a furrowed brow.

Because of those photos, Tang Yuyao hadn't slept a wink all night, and she couldn't fall asleep anyway.

She had a ton of upsetting things on her mind lately. First, Ye Cheng went missing. Then her second brother got injured. And now those three little girls were all gathered together...

This whole chain of events had left Tang Yuyao completely worn out. She decided to stay here and take care of her second brother for a while, then fly back home, and then...

"Bzzzzz..." Tang Yuyao's phone vibrated, an incoming call breaking her train of thought and yanking her back to reality.

"Hey girl, have you landed yet?"

A gentle, calm man's voice came from the other end of the line. It wasn't Tang Jianjun calling, but Tang Yuyao felt the voice sounded very familiar... like she had heard it somewhere before.

"Who is this?" Tang Yuyao frowned, asking uncertainly.

The man with the gentle voice on the other end paused for a second, then laughed apologetically. "Hahaha, girl, I almost forgot—we haven't seen each other in a while. It's me, Su Weiguo."

Su Weiguo, the Su family's third son from the capital city, nicknamed Third Brother Su. He was also Su Su's younger brother. Above him was the Su family's eldest son, who now held an important position in the capital...

On top of that, Su Weiguo was the political commissar of the army unit under Tang Jianjun's command.

He was the one in charge of picking Tang Yuyao up from the airport today. Of course, he was tied up with military affairs and couldn't come in person, so he sent one of his men instead.

It just so happened that a nearby regiment was doing armed training close to the airport, and their training ended right around the time Tang Yuyao's flight landed. It was perfect timing to send them to pick her up.

After all, the sanatorium where Tang Jianjun was staying was located in the military district's jurisdiction, a special restricted core area. No outsiders could get in unless someone from their side came out to escort them.

To avoid unnecessary hassle and extra trips, it only made sense to send someone to pick them up directly.

"Brother Su? Oh right, I remember now!" Tang Yuyao's tone softened, sounding a little embarrassed. They had met a few years ago, when she was still in college. How could she not recognize his voice now?

"Hahaha, that's me, girl. You already got there, right? I sent Wang over to get you. Come on over first, we can chat properly once you're here."

"Okay... wait Brother Su, this Wang you mentioned... does he know what I look like?" Tang Yuyao asked, sounding a little hesitant.

This was her first time ever coming here, and she didn't know a single soul in this unfamiliar place...

"Don't worry, don't worry, we know him, we definitely know him. That guy has sharp eyes, I showed him a photo of you, girl, and the second you step outside, he'll spot you for sure!"

"Even if he somehow can't recognize you, it's no big deal. Just head straight for the biggest crowd you see. The guy in the yellow camouflage uniform is him..."

Su Weiguo went over a few more details with her, and soon the two of them wrapped up that short call.

This guy on the other end was super efficient, both in the way he talked and handled things, which made him seem way more educated than a rough, no-nonsense guy like Tang Jianjun.

History is one huge cycle. Decades ago, Old Master Su was Old Master Tang's deputy, his political commissar. Now, decades later, the exact same dynamic played out all over again.

In a way, Su Weiguo and Tang Jianjun were so close they might as well have shared the same pair of sweatpants. Even after both old men passed away, the bond between their two families never faded. They were dyed-in-the-wool old family friends.

Hanging up the phone, Tang Yuyao tucked her cell phone away and muttered to herself, "Yellow camouflage uniform?"

"I know that, Auntie! I know exactly what that is! Let's go, let's go!" The little son hopped out from beside her, brimming with excitement. He'd watched tons of shows like that on TV growing up.

Raised under the Tang family's tradition, even the youngest little son was obsessed with watching military channels—after all, what little boy hasn't dreamed of being a legendary military commander?

Well, Ye Cheng doesn't count. Ye Cheng never wanted to be some military legend. His dream was to be the Crooked-Mouth Dragon King.

The aunt and nephew, one big, one small, walked one after the other toward the airport exit. The second they stepped through the doors, they froze in their tracks.

Roaring engines, rows of armored vehicles, armed troops with real guns and ammo stood in neat formation along the roadside. There were even dedicated guards posted there, rifles in hand, keeping watch... A crowd of onlookers had pulled out their phones to take pictures.

Some of them were just passing by, others had just gotten off their flights. The whole lot of them, a big dark mass of people, crowded around to gawk and gossip, chattering away.

"Whoa... Is there a terrorist attack happening or something?"

"This looks exactly like the scenes in those shows where there's a bomb threat, right?"

"Are those brand new pieces of equipment? Wait, are we even allowed to take photos of this? Will we get arrested?"

"In your dreams. If those were new top-secret gear, they'd never roll them out for the public to see. Those are clearly decommissioned units. Didn't you hear what the Commander said? Hold your cards close, wait for the right moment, then hit the guy with a surprise move at the end..."

The aunt and nephew just stood there, speechless.

"Uh... Auntie, is the guy picking us up... all this?" The little boy's eyes went wide as saucers.

If that was really the case... who would even need to be identified?

Tang Yuyao was also completely stunned.

"Uh, I... I'll give them a call to check." Tang Yuyao's mouth twitched a little as she pulled out her phone, ready to call Su Weiguo back and ask what on earth was going on.

They were supposed to just come pick them up, right? There was no way he'd make this huge of a scene, was there?

Just as Tang Yuyao was about to dial the number, not far away, a middle-aged man standing on top of an armored vehicle squinted into the crowd, scanning for people. He had tanned skin, a buzz cut, and was wearing a yellow camouflage uniform. His gaze drifted over to their direction.

His eyes lingered on Tang Yuyao, who stood out so obviously from the rest of the crowd, for a few seconds, as if he was making sure he had the right person. Soon, the look of uncertainty in his eyes turned to bright excitement!

Found her! That's her!

"Hey, over here, miss, over here!" The middle-aged man had a booming, far-carrying voice, and he was clearly calling out straight to her.

With that one yell, everyone around turned their heads to follow his line of sight, and all their eyes landed on Tang Yuyao, who was still holding her phone out, just about to make that call.

Tang Yuyao froze completely.

The little son's jaw dropped too.

Whoa, so many people are staring... For some reason, that exact thought popped into both of their heads at the exact same time.

A little while later, the aunt and nephew climbed into the armored vehicle, and the convoy set off toward the military base.

Roaring.

The whole formation moved out, with the rest of the large troop jogging behind them, doing armed weight-bearing marches. Their footsteps were perfectly synchronized, thudding loudly in unison, the sound carrying far in the air. It felt like the heavy steps were treading right on people's hearts, sending a strange, heavy sense of pressure through the air.

The clink of their gear and equipment rang out crisply. Loess and dust trailed along behind the whole procession like a special effect, escorting this massive convoy as they went.

Several kilometers away, at a job fair.

Ye Cheng looked down at the flyer in his hand, then glanced over the job details printed on it.

"This is the place! Free food and free lodging, here I come! Wooo!" Ye Cheng rubbed his hands together frantically like a happy fly, as if he could already see the bright future waiting for him.