Chapter 53: I Am Your Uncle

Bai Chu froze for a moment, and the first thought that flashed through his mind was: Something major has happened in Xiangyang Village!

He guessed that perhaps the people who had once locked up the little girl Jiang Xiaxia were coming after her. After all, anyone who could scalp the leader of his special operations team must have an extraordinary background.

In a split second, a fierce glint flashed across Bai Chu's eyes, and he said urgently, "Use the secure line! Tell me directly. Did something major happen? If needed, go find Old Yang from the Heilongjiang Military Region; he will definitely cooperate with you!"

It was indeed a major matter, but it had not yet reached the point where the military region needed to be mobilized.

Xia Ming briefly recounted the situation, emphasizing particularly, "Regiment Commander, those wooden stakes are identical to the plum blossom stakes our team uses for training!"

Bai Chu drew a sharp breath and instinctively raised a hand to touch the back of his head, while scolding on the other end, "Look at you, what on earth were you doing sneaking into someone else's house in the middle of the night? That child protects her grandmother like she's a precious treasure; if she didn't beat you, who would she beat?"

Xia Ming sneered, "Regiment Commander, that little girl left a message saying you will definitely regret this."

Bai Chu felt a dull ache in his back teeth and hurriedly changed the subject, "Alright, alright! As for your previous request about teaching Xiaxia hand signals, I approve it!"

Xia Ming raised an eyebrow slightly, "Doesn't this matter require reporting to higher-ups for approval?"

Bai Chu sighed inwardly. This fellow's biological grandfather was his own superior; couldn't he have asked him first to save himself the trouble?

"The military command previously held a special meeting to discuss this child. Now that there are no abnormalities with her, the military's stance is that it is permissible to teach her a few things. After all, she is promising material. When she reaches the appropriate age, she will be recruited into our unit."

Thinking of the child's unique traits, Xia Ming agreed that she was indeed rare and exceptional talent.

After providing a detailed report on Jiang Xiaxia's recent condition, he finally hung up the phone.

However, the moment he stepped out of the slaughterhouse, someone hurried into the office with an anxious expression. "Regiment Commander, we just received word that Xia Lin went missing three days ago!"

"What!" Bai Chu abruptly stood up. "What on earth is going on? Weren't people sent to pick him up in Beijing? How could an accident happen? Was it the work of those people?"

The guard was equally bewildered and could only reply, "Division Commander Xia collapsed as soon as he heard the news. You should go and check on him immediately!"

Bai Chu turned on his heel, quickly dialed the phone, but hung up before the connection went through.

The situation was still unclear. If he abruptly told Xia Ming that his younger brother was missing, it would only cause him needless panic. It was better to go to the Division Commander first and figure out what was really going on.

***

Xiangyang Production Brigade

Jiang Zhuguo, who was exercising early in the morning, walked to the entrance and stopped abruptly when he saw the bloodstains at the base of the wall. His gaze darkened instantly. "Third, come here!"

Jiang Jing walked out yawning, his head still buzzing.

Ever since he saw the injury on Xia Ming's head yesterday, he had been feeling somewhat uneasy. So much so that when he fell asleep last night, every dream featured the little girl grabbing him by the hair while her little milk-sweet voice asked coldly, "Reward, I want a reward—"

It was such a nightmare that he didn't sleep a wink all night.

"Dad, what is it?"

Jiang Jing walked over to his father in a daze.

"Someone came to the house last night, and they were injured!" Jiang Zhuguo said with a grave expression. "Later, you and I will go find Dalin and check house-by-house to see if anyone is hurt. If not—"

Jiang Zhuguo narrowed his eyes slightly and looked toward the distant deep mountains, a chill rising in his eyes. "If not, it means someone from the Bear Country has slipped across the border!"

Jiang Jing had been groggy at first, but as he listened to his father's increasingly terrifying analysis, his expression grew more and more awkward. "Dad, th-this was just Xiaxia grabbing my comrade's hair. She just used a bit too much strength, so—"

Under Jiang Zhuguo's expressionless stare, Jiang Jing vaguely explained what happened last night.

"..."

Jiang Zhuguo felt that every single one of his earlier suspicions was now slapping him squarely in the face.

"Grandpa, Grandma says it's time to eat!"

Just as the father and son stared at each other in silence, the crisp voice of the little girl drifted from inside the house.

Jiang Zhuguo gave a light cough. "Coming!"

After calling out, he looked at Jiang Jing and instructed, "The child has too much strength; you need to find a way to teach her how to control it!"

Taking a few steps forward, Jiang Zhuguo turned around and kicked Jiang Jing again. "When Xiaxia saw someone approaching in the middle of the night, she naturally thought it was a bad guy! The little one was frightened, so her blows were naturally heavier! It's all your fault—you've been a soldier for so long, yet you still do things so carelessly!"

Jiang Jing took the kick in speechlessness. How did it become his fault again?

Walking into the house one after the other, Jiang Jing saw the little one whispering softly to her grandmother, occasionally darting sideways glances at him.

Jiang Zhiming, who had been listening nearby, also seemed to understand a bit, and the look he gave Jiang Jing was filled with a hint of reproach.

Jiang Jing sat down with an expressionless face.

After breakfast, Jiang Jing grabbed his eldest nephew, intending to go to the back mountain for some exercise.

Before he could even step out the door, someone grabbed him from behind.

"Hand signals!" Jiang Xiaxia tugged relentlessly at her uncle. "Must teach!"

The system had overheard everything her grandfather and uncle said this morning.

Accidentally injuring someone and causing her grandfather to suspect intruders wasn't very good. After all, if her grandfather suspected bad guys and went around questioning every household, her grandmother would worry too much.

Jiang Jing frowned. Xia Ming's message hadn't arrived yet, so he couldn't teach her casually.

However, seeing the little girl's earnest eyes, Jiang Jing thought for a moment, squatted down in front of her, and made a gesture. "If you see a soldier like me make this hand signal in the future, it means you shouldn't move for a while, understand?"

Jiang Xiaxia tilted her head, looked at it for a moment, and imitated the gesture with her small hands. "Like this?"

Jiang Jing nodded. "That's it for today. When that uncle from last night comes back, Uncle will teach you the rest!"

Hearing this, Jiang Xiaxia gave him a strange look and glanced toward the distance—oh, that uncle whose hair she had pulled hadn't returned yet.

"Where is the military uncle?"

Jiang Jing looked up at the sky. "He'll probably be back around noon!"

He wasn't entirely certain, but seeing the way the little one was fretting over the man, he couldn't help asking with a touch of jealousy, "He's only been gone for a day, and you already miss him?"

"Meat bun!" Jiang Xiaxia glanced sideways at her uncle and let out a huff.

Jiang Jing chuckled softly. "When Uncle has time to go to the county town, I'll bring you some!"

With that, he hauled Jiang Zhien away.

Seeing this, Jiang Xiaxia turned and went to look for her grandmother, but this time Jiang Hua told her to go play in the village instead, saying she needed to go find Liu Jinhua.

"Why?"

Why wouldn't her grandmother let her stay?

Jiang Hua stroked Jiang Xiaxia's head and explained gently, "If you're there, Jinhua Grandma might feel too shy to say certain things."

Jiang Xiaxia nodded sensibly. "Face, I understand!"

Jiang Hua burst into laughter. "Go on! Come back for lunch at noon!"

Mostly, Jiang Hua had mentioned Xiaxia's situation to the old man last night and felt that the little girl should go out to play by herself rather than constantly clinging to her side. After all, she wouldn't be able to accompany the little girl forever.

"Okay!"

Jiang Xiaxia pointed in the direction of the educated youths' courtyard and said to her grandmother, "Going there, is that okay?"

After a moment's thought, she added as an explanation, "Waiting for the military uncle!"

Jiang Hua glanced over and recalled the spot where Wang Lianjun had appeared yesterday. Figuring there might still be people around there, she nodded.

With Jiang Hua's permission, Jiang Xiaxia trotted over to the entrance of the educated youths' courtyard and sat down obediently.

For some reason, the educated youths, who had been so noisy yesterday, were all staying quietly inside their rooms today. Even when they saw her sitting at the entrance, no one came out to look.

Jiang Xiaxia sat by the entrance for a while, then saw a man carrying a shoulder pole emerge from the village.

She cast a suspicious glance at him, her nose twitching as she caught the scent of sleeping powder.

Her gaze fell on the rear load of his shoulder pole, a flicker of doubt crossing her eyes.

Judging by the weight, there seemed to be something inside! Yet the front end of the pole carried nothing at all.

Pitter-patter, she trotted over to stand in front of the man, tilting her head to look up at the fellow who had a large birthmark on his face. She stared at him intently for a moment, then shifted her gaze to the load on his back, blinked, and looked up at the sun.

The person in front of her was a bad guy, but she had promised her grandmother she would go back for lunch. If she caught a bad guy, she wouldn't be able to return on time.

Besides, catching bad guys wouldn't earn her any rewards.

Jiang Xiaxia thought it over and turned around to leave.

Just as she turned, however, the man carrying the load spoke up, "Are you Xiaxia?"

Jiang Xiaxia paused in her tracks, turned back to look at the man who had addressed her, and tilted her head. "Who are you?"

The man smiled warmly and held out a piece of candy to her. "I've been looking for you! I'm your uncle!"