Gu Xiaoxi strode into the villa, where Lin Shu was making tea. She glanced at the living room; it was empty.
She quietly asked, "Aunt Lin, where’s Shaoqing?"
"He hasn’t come back yet! Xiao Xi, how come you’re home so late. Did you have extra training tonight?" Lin Shu asked with a smile.
"No! We’re going on a peacekeeping mission tomorrow, so I’ve come back to say goodbye," said Gu Xiaoxi, her tone direct.
Hearing this, Lin Shu stopped what she was doing and looked at Gu Xiaoxi with a serious expression. "Why are you leaving again? I’ve heard peacekeeping is very dangerous, why would they send a young girl like you?"
"Aunt Lin! Isn’t that a good thing? I get to experience real combat," Gu Xiaoxi responded, her face beaming with a smile. After all, they were special forces soldiers selected for the mission.
Being able to leave the Land of Kings meant you were qualified to enter the battlefield.
"That’s true, but we’re all worried about you when you’re away. Did Shaoqing agree to let you go?" Lin Shu asked.
"Yes!" Just as Gu Xiaoxi’s voice fell, she heard the sound of a car engine outside.
There was no need to guess; Young Master Quan was back.
The moment Quan Shaoqing entered, he saw Gu Xiaoxi standing in the middle of the living room and frowned. "I thought you’d be gone for three months!"
"It seems you don’t welcome me back! Fine, I’ll leave right now," Gu Xiaoxi said, clenching her fists; she had let it slide.
Yet he still had the nerve to speak sarcastically to her.
As she passed by him, Quan Shaoqing grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. "Getting bold, are we? I say two words to you, and you get insulted. I forbid you from going because it’s for your own good!"
"If forbidding me from the mission is for my good, then why did you let me join the military in the first place?" retorted Gu Xiaoxi, not backing down.
"At that time..." Quan Shaoqing thought for a moment before saying earnestly, "Back then, I wanted to steer you, this mischievous girl, onto the right path. I didn’t want you to get into trouble."
"Now that I am on the right path, why are you stopping me?" Gu Xiaoxi felt it was utterly unreasonable.
"You’re quite good at talking back! Come with me to the room. I’ll properly teach you what danger is," Quan Shaoqing said, holding on to Gu Xiaoxi’s wrist and heading upstairs with long strides.
They didn’t return to the bedroom; instead, they went to the study.
Pushing open the door to the study, Quan Shaoqing led Gu Xiaoxi to a row of bookshelves and pushed aside a movable shelf, revealing a wall.
There was a secret door in the wall leading to a room about ten square meters.
The room contained a variety of advanced weapons and some old bayonets, including small boxes for storing items.
The walls were covered with photos.
All of them were of soldiers with camouflage-painted faces.
Quan Shaoqing pulled Gu Xiaoxi to the center of the room, pointed at the walls around them, and said in a stern voice, "See this? These were once my comrades, my friends, my superiors. During the big battle four years ago, out of two hundred people, all died. Do you know what it feels like to watch the people around you dying, one by one?"
His voice was serious, forceful, and carried a quiver he wasn’t even aware of.
Gu Xiaoxi stood stiffly in front of him, mechanically turning her head to look at the photos on the wall.
In the photos, everyone was holding hands, standing together. Each person had a sweet smile, the national flag fluttering, and confident smiles on their faces.
Indeed, she couldn’t fathom what it felt like to have all of her comrades, friends, and superiors die.
But she could imagine it was a pain no one would want to endure.
"This is the real danger; these are lessons paid for in blood. Do you understand, Gu Xiaoxi? You’re facing bullets, enemies! There will be bloodshed, injuries, the end of lives. It’s not like the past exercises, where beating a few dozen bad guys would end it. Instead, it’s wave after wave of criminal offenders, who are fearless of death and fight with their lives," Quan Shaoqing said, looking at Gu Xiaoxi with an unprecedented chill in his voice.
Even if she was to leave, he needed to make her understand just how terrifying the criminals outside were.
And how dreadful the challenge was when facing someone like Gu Feng, which they couldn’t handle at all.
Gu Xiaoxi lowered her head and clenched her fists in silence.
Quan Shaoqing stared at her for a moment, then turned to look at the photos on the wall, feeling the memories vivid before his eyes.
His tone suddenly became incredibly world-weary, "When you are out there, you need to be careful. Be more vigilant, fight if you can, find a way to win if you can’t! Don’t be reckless, charging in when you know you can’t win. You don’t only put yourself in danger but also your teammates. Since you’ve decided to go, saying anything more is pointless."
Gu Xiaoxi didn’t know what to say, only feeling a painful dryness in her throat.
Quan Shaoqing turned around, stepped forward, lifted her chin with his hand, looked at her shadowed face, and said with concern, "I am both your superior and the person closest to you. I worry about you, do you understand?"
Gu Xiaoxi slowly reached out, took his large hand that was on her cheek, and held it in her palm.
She immediately felt warmth in her heart; she understood his words!
She stepped forward, threw herself into his embrace, leaned against his chest, and said firmly, "Don’t worry, I will surely protect everyone, protect myself!"
Quan Shaoqing closed his eyes, took a deep breath after a long while, and helplessly hugged the woman in his arms tighter. "As your man, I only hope you protect yourself. As your superior, I hope you protect everyone. Xiao Xi, you have a heavy responsibility."
After Quan Shaoqing finished speaking, Gu Xiaoxi clenched her hand tightly.
She would strive to become stronger!