I, Tang Xiaobao, have never known how to write the word "fear" Why is my uncle-in-law here

“Come on, miss. This way.”

The regiment commander climbed down from atop the armored vehicle and personally opened the heavy door for Tang Yuyao and the little boy, who were sitting inside.

It had to weigh several dozen pounds. Forget Tang Yuyao—an ordinary grown man would need to put in some serious effort to open it.

Their political commissar had told them to be more considerate, not to act like a bunch of uncouth brutes, and to take better care of the young lady...

When Su Weiguo had called earlier, he had specifically reminded them of this. Otherwise... the regiment commander probably wouldn’t have remembered.

“Okay, thank you.”

Tang Yuyao got out of the vehicle and thanked him. Looking around... well, it was pretty desolate, a completely different world from Dahai City.

Her second brother had spent more than twenty years in a place like this. The number of times he had gone home could be counted on one hand.

“Uncle, excuse me, where’s the restroom?” the little boy asked from behind her, his young voice urgent.

After Tang Yuyao got out, the boy hurriedly followed... no, not climbed down—because the armored vehicle was so high that the foothold was nearly level with his own height.

If he had jumped, he would probably have landed flat on his face.

Clutching his round, bloated stomach, he asked the regiment commander where the restroom was.

“Over there. Here, Uncle will take you. Miss, wait here for a moment.”

The regiment commander was a man of action. He led the little boy toward the restroom, while Tang Yuyao remained where she was. As she waited, her phone vibrated again.

It was another call from Su Weiguo.

“Beep, beep, beep...”

“Hello? Miss, have you arrived?”

“I’m here, Brother Su... Where is my brother? I’m coming over right away.” Tang Yuyao sounded a little anxious, her purpose perfectly clear.

Naturally, besides Tang Jianjun’s injury, there was another factor at play...

Ye Cheng had been out of contact for quite some time. On top of that, there was the photo she had seen on the plane, showing Dongfang Zhixia and the other two gathered together.

Tang Yuyao had vaguely guessed what was going on.

She was anxious.

She planned to call home later and ask her brother exactly what had happened—why she couldn’t get in touch with him...

“Uh... all right. I’ll have Xiao Li and the others come pick you up right away. Don’t worry, miss. Your second brother is in fairly good condition now. He’s no longer in any danger...”

Su Weiguo tried to soothe Tang Yuyao’s anxious tone on the other end of the line. But if one listened carefully, there was a trace of guilt in his reassuring voice.

Yes, guilt.

As for why...

Because he had taken part in the plan to trick Tang Yuyao into coming here. He was one of the main culprits.

For instance, Tang Jianjun’s left leg had been whacked with a stick by him...

He had only dared to hit the leg, though. Later, when Tang Jianjun thought it didn’t look convincing enough and suggested hitting his head too, Su Weiguo refused.

That was just too reckless!

Who would have thought that a dignified major general—no, a lieutenant general now—would behave like a child in a military camp, figuring out how to fabricate fake accounts?

Wasn’t that ridiculous?

Was there no law? No discipline? No morality...?

Anyway, there was no point explaining any of this to Tang Jianjun. Studying... that was something from God knew how many years ago. What was he even muttering on about? Just give me a good whack already!

In the end, Su Weiguo, unable to bring himself to do it, stood to one side and watched his best friend carry out the entire process of “self-harm.”

And he was ruthless about it, too...

Su Weiguo watched with his heart in his throat. Fortunately, before they began, he had already arranged for an emergency medical team to wait outside. The instant Tang Jianjun “passed out,” Su Weiguo called the team in.

And after that...

Tang Jianjun ended up in the hospital.

Su Weiguo: “...”

“Mm, all right. Brother Su, I’ll have to trouble you, then.”

After the call ended, Tang Yuyao’s concerned voice still seemed to linger in the room.

“Old Su, do you think I ought to play dead?”

Tang Jianjun, lying in the hospital bed beside him, was wrapped from head to toe like a rice dumpling as he asked uncertainly.

Su Weiguo: “...”

Su Weiguo sighed, rubbing his aching head. “You definitely need to keep up the act, but don’t overdo it. If she gets too upset and cries herself sick, that’d be bad. Second Brother, honestly, how could you be so reckless? You nearly hurt your head, you know?”

His tone was full of helpless exasperation.

“I know, I know. Aren’t I fine? Old Su, quit lecturing me already. It’s making my head hurt.” Tang Jianjun wriggled around in the hospital bed, feeling uncomfortable all over. In the end, he sat up, grabbed a banana from the fruit basket nearby, and began eating it.

“Lying here is damn uncomfortable. It’s killing me. Hey, when is this going to end?”

Tang Jianjun sighed.

Su Weiguo: “...”

“You’ve only been lying here for two days and you’re already sick of it?” Su Weiguo teased with a smile.

But inwardly, he understood perfectly well. Men like them could run around all day without a problem, but making them lie still like this was pure torture. Their whole bodies felt wrong. And that was not even counting the recovery period to come, when Tang Jianjun would have to remain in the hospital bed the entire time.

For Tang Jianjun, it was no different from being strapped into a tiger bench... except one involved lying down, while the other involved sitting.

“Ah... what the hell am I supposed to do?” Tang Jianjun shook his head. He tossed the banana peel into the trash, got out of bed, and paced around the room twice. Only then did he feel a little better.

Yet his brow remained tightly furrowed.

Acting...

That was really asking too much of him.

Among the Tang brothers, Tang Shouye was the one best at this sort of thing. When they were kids, he had the most padding on him and could take the most hits, yet he screamed the loudest. Anyone who didn’t know better would have thought he’d taken several more lashes than the rest of them.

What?

You’re asking how Tang Jianjun knew that so well?

Because he was the other one hanging beside him, getting whipped...

Every time he was beaten, his whole body would ache, and he would need ointment and all that. But when he turned around, his youngest brother—the one who had screamed the loudest—would already be running off to eat, completely unharmed.

Tang Jianjun: “...”

At such a young age, they had already experienced the danger and cunning of the human heart. In a sense, it also foreshadowed how the brothers would head down different paths once they grew up.

“Second Brother, just lie there for a while and pretend to be weak—like you haven’t fully woken up yet. And when you speak... just talk normally. I’ll cover for you and handle the rest.”

Su Weiguo spoke up.

“Fine. Just follow my lead when the time comes.” Tang Jianjun nodded.

Su Weiguo: “...”

Follow Second Brother’s lead?

Was his second brother serious?

Maybe that was acceptable during missions, but in situations like this, following Tang Jianjun’s cues had never ended well.

Su Weiguo still remembered going to the Tang family home for dinner a few years ago. His second brother had said the exact same thing—“follow my lead”—and in the end... who knew what he had said, but Old Master Tang had whipped him with a belt again.

Su Weiguo: “...”

“Let’s skip that. Just lie down properly,” Su Weiguo said, shaking his head with a sigh.

“What do you mean by that, Old Su? You don’t trust me?” Tang Jianjun glared, clearly unconvinced.

Su Weiguo: “No.”

Tang Jianjun: “...”

Before long, under Su Weiguo’s arrangements, someone in charge at the hospital went to receive them.

Men’s restroom.

“Ahh, that feels better. Let’s go, Uncle.” The little boy emerged from the restroom with a satisfied look on his face.

He dared to say that this was the cleanest restroom he had ever seen. The floor was so shiny that it reflected like a mirror when he peed. Even the restroom at his own home couldn’t compare.

“Sure, let’s go. Oh, by the way, kid—what’s your name?” the regiment commander asked curiously.

He really hadn’t expected the chief’s younger sister’s son to be this old already...

“Tang Xiaobao. You can just call me Xiaobao,” the boy answered.

“Xiaobao, you’re so sensible. At such a young age, you came here with your mother to take care of your uncle...”

“Wait, Uncle, did you perhaps get something wrong? Is it possible that the beautiful woman outside isn’t my mom, but my aunt?”

The regiment commander: “...”

As though he had suddenly realized something, Xiaobao raised an eyebrow, and his expression turned mischievous.

“Right, Uncle? My aunt looks like one of those older unmarried women, doesn’t she?”

The regiment commander: “...”

“Uncle, why aren’t you saying anything? Why are you looking behind me? Is there something behind me?”

Seeming to realize something, the little boy fell silent. He stretched out his chubby little hand and patted behind him.

Wow... a leg!

Whose leg could it possibly be? What a mystery!

Xiaobao: “...”

“Um, Uncle, I think I have diarrhea. I’m going back in for a bit longer... Help!!!”

As he spoke, Xiaobao quietly edged toward the men’s restroom. Just as he was about to be caught, he bolted, sprinting inside and refusing to come out no matter what.

Tang Yuyao: “...”

Tang Xiaobao, you’re dead meat!!!

Tang Yuyao gritted her teeth inwardly and added this to his tab.

After all, they were still out in public, and she needed to preserve some dignity. It would be bad if people outside saw and spread rumors—not to mention that her second brother was here as well...

Tang Yuyao took a deep breath and swallowed down the retort she’d been about to make after her youngest nephew called her an “old maid.” Then she walked over to the men’s restroom and spoke in the gentlest voice she could manage.

“Xiaobao, come out. We’re going to see your Second Uncle together. Hurry up.”

That was what Tang Yuyao actually said.

“Get out here, Tang Xiaobao! Your Second Uncle can’t save you!”

That was what the boy heard after his own personal “translation.”

The boy: “…”

Auntie, do I look like an idiot to you?

“Auntie, I really do have diarrhea. You go ahead; I’ll catch up in a bit. Oh, and Uncle, could you pass me some toilet paper? I think I forgot to bring any.”

The boy shouted from inside the restroom, sounding downright desperate.

Tang Yuyao: “…”

The regiment commander: “…”

A few minutes later, Tang Yuyao left with a group of people Su Weiguo had called over. The boy stayed holed up in the restroom, too scared to come out.

“Uncle, has my auntie left? Could you check for me? And be subtle about it…”

The boy’s timid voice drifted out from inside.

The regiment commander: “…”

“Uh, yeah, she’s gone. You can come out now.”

The commander craned his neck to peek outside.

“Click!”

Only then did the boy emerge from the restroom, wearing an air of absolute confidence. “Uncle, I was only letting my auntie save face. We’re family, after all. No point letting things get ugly.”

The regiment commander: “…”

Sure, keep talking. Uncle’s listening.

Before long, the boy was wandering around the military base. The commander had to take care of something and left first, asking a company commander to keep an eye on him so he wouldn’t get lost.

“Xiaobao, what are you looking at?” The company commander came trotting over to take on the “important task” of looking after him.

“Why does that guy look so much like my auntie’s husband? Uncle, got any binoculars? Lend them to me for a sec. I’ll give them back in a bit…”

The boy was leaning against the wire fence, watching Ye Cheng being interviewed several hundred meters away. His already tiny, bean-like eyes narrowed to slits.

His eyesight was sharper than Da Congming’s, that was for sure. He’d recognized Ye Cheng at a glance…

“But what’s my auntie’s husband doing here?” A huge question mark appeared over the boy’s head.