Now You See Me, Now You Don't Tang Yuyao: "I Heard My Boyfriend's Voice..."

“Here, Xiaobao. The binoculars. Do you know how to adjust them?”

The battalion commander came jogging over from not far away with a pair of military binoculars in his hand. When he saw his youngest son—who had been standing on the ground just moments ago but was now sprawled across the wire fence—he fell silent.

With his big butt sticking up in the air, the boy clung to the fence and stared at the recruitment site several hundred meters away, muttering to himself. He did not even hear the battalion commander speaking to him.

“How could that be? Why would Uncle be here?”

“Could it be a coincidence?”

“How can there be two people in the world who look so much alike?”

“Should I tell Auntie?”

To be safe, the boy took out his phone watch and snapped a series of pictures of the man in the distance who was “probably” his uncle, currently being interviewed.

The battalion commander: “…”

“Um… Xiaobao, do you still want the binoculars?” the battalion commander finally asked after standing beside him for quite some time.

“Huh? Oh, yes, yes! Uncle, you came at just the right time!” Xiaobao jumped down from the fence, dusted off his hands, flipped his phone watch back down, and reached out to take the binoculars from him.

“Be careful. They’re a little heavy…” the battalion commander cautioned him.

After all, they were military-grade binoculars, equipped with plenty of additional functions, such as night vision, infrared, and thermal imaging. They had cost a fortune.

Xiaobao apparently did not want to be looked down on. The moment he heard that, he planted his hands on his hips and puffed himself up. His round belly bulged forward, and the buttons on his shirt let out a strained, miserable squeak.

“Uncle, I’m not a five-year-old child anymore! I’m about to start first grade. Please don’t underestimate a first-grade man!”

The battalion commander: “…”

A first-grade… man?

Had he spent too long in the military and become completely out of touch with the outside world? Had the definition of “man” already dropped from eighteen years old to six?

That was a two-thirds reduction. How terrifying!

The battalion commander decided that one should not judge a book by its cover. After weighing the matter, he chose to trust Xiaobao and tossed him the binoculars, which weighed nearly five pounds.

The instant he caught them, Xiaobao felt as if a truck had slammed into him. He nearly coughed up blood, and his proudly puffed-out belly caved in.

“They’re not heavy.” Xiaobao’s eyes were always brimming with tears.

He almost said it in a sob. His lips were trembling.

It hurt so much.

The battalion commander: “…”

As expected of the commander’s son. He had tough bones!

Well… Of course, what was even tougher than his bones was his mouth.

After recovering for quite a while, Xiaobao finally hugged the several-pound, multi-function all-in-one binoculars and peered toward the examination site.

He searched for a while.

“Huh? Where did he go? Why can’t I see him?”

A giant question mark seemed to appear above Xiaobao’s head. His eyes went round as he frantically searched among the people still taking the exam in the courtyard for Ye Cheng.

In the end, he found nothing.

He was gone!

Xiaobao: “…”

“Forget it, Uncle. I don’t need the binoculars anymore. Here you go.” Xiaobao sighed and handed them back to the battalion commander.

When something appeared at the wrong time, it lost its meaning.

That was life, wasn’t it? If he hadn’t overslept on the day of kindergarten registration, and had gotten up a little earlier, would he be in the same class as Xiao Hong now?

Sigh…

The battalion commander: “…”

Although the battalion commander had no idea what Xiaobao was mourning, he could tell that it must have been something truly painful. In Xiaobao, he saw the helplessness of a man.

That hit way too close to home!

So even someone this young could have troubles of his own?

Moved, the battalion commander stepped forward and patted Xiaobao on the shoulder.

“Xiaobao, don’t be too upset. The commander has already escaped danger…”

“The commander? Grandpa? No, wait… maybe Second Uncle…”

Xiaobao was stunned. He had thought the battalion commander was referring to his grandfather. But after thinking about it, that did not seem right. His grandfather was in Dahai City, and he was still as healthy as a horse. Just two days ago, he had even beaten Xiaobao’s father.

“Grandpa?” It was the battalion commander’s turn to stare blankly.

“Xiaobao, are you saying that there’s someone else in your family who is also called ‘the commander?” His eyes widened in disbelief.

Tang Jianjun’s identity was very low-key. He had risen step by step from the ranks, so no one would ever think of him as someone who had gotten where he was through connections. In the army, he was the idol and role model of countless people.

To many, he was even a spiritual pillar!

“Is there? I didn’t say that.” Xiaobao coughed twice and denied what he had just said.

The Tang family had always kept a low profile, and their children were the same. So even though Xiaobao was only five, he already knew what could and could not be said. For example… saying something like this out loud could have a negative impact on his Second Uncle.

The battalion commander: “…”

Xiaobao was far too clever for a five-year-old. After realizing that the surname Tang seemed to carry even more weight than he had imagined, the battalion commander’s gaze toward him changed completely.

“Xiaobao, is there any girl in your class you like?”

The battalion commander glanced around, raised his eyebrows slyly, and asked in a hushed, furtive voice.

“Uncle, what are you trying to do? I’m devoted to Xiao Hong!” Xiaobao guarded his chest with both hands and looked at the battalion commander as if he were fending off a thief.

“Hey, no need to rush. Let me show you a picture. My daughter is in second grade. She’s absolutely adorable, and she looks exactly like me…”

As he spoke, the battalion commander pulled out his phone, opened his gallery, and began searching for pictures of his precious daughter.

Xiaobao’s mouth said one thing, but his body said another. Although he kept insisting that he was devoted to Xiao Hong, he rose onto his tiptoes, stretched out his neck, and secretly peeked at the battalion commander’s phone from the corner of his eye.

When he heard that the girl was very cute, Xiaobao’s little heart began pounding. His heart rate shot up like Mount Everest.

Could Tang Xiaobao finally be about to have some luck?

He had already begun fantasizing about a beautiful future. But then the battalion commander added:

“She looks exactly like me.”

Crack!

Xiaobao’s beautiful fantasy shattered instantly.

His gaze shifted away from the phone and moved to the battalion commander. He looked at the man’s burly build, thick eyebrows, and large eyes…

Xiaobao: “…”

“Ahem… Well, Uncle, I don’t think that’s necessary after all. Besides, my Second Uncle and Auntie are over there. You should hurry over. It wouldn’t be good to waste time.”

As he spoke, Xiaobao started walking toward the sanatorium in the distance. The battalion commander was still squatting there, scrolling through the pictures. When he looked up…

The boy was gone!

“Xiaobao, don’t go! Take a look! I’m serious! A woman three years older can bring you a fortune! Don’t go!”

Hearing that, Xiaobao’s short legs moved even faster. He was terrified that the battalion commander might actually try to set him up…

Several hundred meters away.

At the recruitment site, the final round of interviews was underway.

With his extraordinary eloquence, Ye Cheng successfully won over the interviewers and received a perfect score!

The interviewer was practically moved to tears. In all these years, this was the first time he had ever encountered such a high-end candidate. Excellent! Absolutely excellent! This was the kind of quality their caregivers needed!

The interview ended quickly. In the end, only two people were accepted: Ye Cheng and Emperor Bro.

One had no tricks, only raw ability. The other had no ability, only tricks… And do you know who the interviewer was?

My maternal uncle!

Emperor Bro had sat in the examination room for nearly half an hour, only daring to hand in his paper then. Ye Cheng finished in ten minutes. One had scribbled almost nothing and practically handed in a blank sheet, while the other had filled his paper from top to bottom.

By the time Emperor Bro came over, Ye Cheng had already finished his interview, received his uniform, and was sitting nearby watching brain-dead short videos.

At the exact same moment, the younger son had just received the binoculars from the battalion commander. When he turned around, Ye Cheng was gone…

He had run into the room to watch brain-dead short videos.

A few minutes later, Emperor Bro walked in from outside.

“Uncle, when do I start work?” Emperor Bro opened with the word “Uncle” the moment he entered.

Ye Cheng, who had been watching videos, froze.

Uncle?

Ye Cheng: “…”

Damn it! Even a lousy caregiver position required connections?

For fuck’s sake!

Silently, Ye Cheng switched the brain-dead short video playing on his old-fashioned phone to “Accidentally Entering Heaven’s Home,” and even added the song “Three Thousand Weak Waters” as background music…

“Pear blossoms drift down before your window,

The beauty in the painting laments in her chamber~~~”

The two people in the room: “…”

“Ahem, well… Starting today, the two of you are colleagues. Get along well from now on.” The interviewer coughed twice, looking rather embarrassed.

Ye Cheng said nothing. He simply kept turning up the volume of “Three Thousand Weak Waters” on his old-fashioned phone. And since the phone had an outrageously powerful speaker, the entire examination room outside could hear it as well.

The two of them: “…”

“Xiaoda, this is just how society works. There will be plenty of unfairness. Just focus on yourself…”

The interviewer coughed twice and began giving Ye Cheng a serious little lecture, assuming that Ye Cheng was just a young man who had never experienced society’s dark side.

In that regard, he was rather similar to his not-particularly-sharp nephew. At the very least, the kid could have pretended a little. Who openly called him “Uncle” to his face? Just look at the mess this had created. How awkward!

The interviewer talked for quite a while, but the volume of Ye Cheng’s phone did not decrease in the slightest. The interviewer’s brow furrowed, and he began to get irritated.

It was true that Ye Cheng had entered through the proper process, but the final step had taken place here with him. Whether Ye Cheng was accepted or not was still up to him. With a single nod, he could casually bring in someone outside to replace Ye Cheng!

And yet Ye Cheng had the nerve to be so tactless?

He was still sitting there…

“Ahem, well… Brother, we’re all on the same side from now on.” As he spoke, Emperor Bro pulled two red bills from his pocket and stuffed them into Ye Cheng’s hand.

Silently, Ye Cheng switched the song on his phone from “Three Thousand Weak Waters” to “A Rare True Brother”!

He accepted the two hundred yuan Emperor Bro handed him, tucked it into his pocket, and said, “Hey, we’re brothers. No need to stand on ceremony.”

Interviewer: “???”

Holy shit. So this kid wasn’t unfamiliar with society’s dark side or its beatings after all. He was already completely familiar with the entire process…

The way he took money and got things done was even more practiced than the interviewer’s!

Amazing!!!

Half an hour later, the two of them left the sanatorium cafeteria, full and satisfied, and headed deeper into the facility.

Emperor Bro had a toothpick dangling from his mouth as he introduced the place’s duties and procedures to Ye Cheng.

“Brother, I’m telling you, you really struck gold this time. You came at exactly the right moment. I spent a full eighteen years planning for this job!”

“Eighteen years?” Ye Cheng stopped picking his teeth and raised an eyebrow.

“If it was such an amazing plan, what were you doing during those eighteen years?” Ye Cheng asked.

“Living off my parents,” Emperor Bro answered with complete honesty.

Ye Cheng: “…”

“Can’t say I saw that coming. You’re quite the talent yourself, Brother. I’m impressed…”

“Hahaha, you’re too kind. You’re no less impressive yourself, Brother Da. Hahaha…”

The two of them walked through the sanatorium with their arms around each other’s shoulders, laughing strangely. Although it was their first day on the job, they had already begun working. Fortunately, it was fairly easy work—mostly cleaning and things like that…

Upstairs.

“Miss, what’s wrong?” Su Weiguo stood at the doorway, looking puzzled as he spoke to Tang Yuyao, who was standing in a daze not far away.

Tang Yuyao did not answer. After standing there blankly for a moment, she leaned over the second-floor railing and looked down, listening carefully…

Was it just her imagination? Why did she feel as though she had heard the voice of a certain little brat?

“It’s nothing. I must have heard wrong. I thought I heard my boyfriend’s voice…” Tang Yuyao shook her head lightly and answered offhandedly.

“Boyfriend?” Su Weiguo’s eyes widened, his face filled with disbelief!