After hearing what Howard said, Qin Mingxian was stunned for a moment.

"What did you say?"

Howard cleared his throat and said, "Mom, I said Mingzhao and I might not be able to go back this year."

Qin Mingxian was silent for a while on the other end, then said in a calm tone, "I understand that you're busy, or I can let you come back on your own. I'll take good care of her."

"Mom, I'm worried about Mingzhao's condition. She's traveling such a long way by herself."

Qin Mingxian remained silent for a while, but finally gave in.

"Alright, then bring her back to see me whenever you have time."

Howard readily agreed, but a bitter feeling gradually rose in his heart.

"Okay, I understand."

Just as Qin Mingxian was about to hang up the phone, she suddenly remembered something else.

"Then you should at least send your dad and me a photo of the two of you together, so that we old folks can at least see what our daughter-in-law looks like."

Howard's Adam's apple bobbed twice before he finally uttered a single word from his chest: "Hmm."

After hanging up the phone.

Qin Mingxian said to Wang Ma, the maid beside her.

"I don't know what's going on, but I always feel that something is wrong with my son's situation."

Wang Ma had been on the phone for quite a while.

"Madam, I'm wondering if there's some problem in the young master and young mistress's relationship?"

"Something went wrong?" Qin Mingxian pondered these words.

This reminded me of the unusual periods of silence my son observed when speaking.

She did indeed have some doubts.

Wang Ma pressed her advantage: "Madam, there's still some time before the New Year. I was thinking, why don't you go over and help see how the young couple is getting along?"

Qin Mingxian hesitated for a moment: "Is it really appropriate for me to just go like this? Howard doesn't like people interfering too much in his life."

Wang Ma sighed, patted the sofa cushions twice, her tone tinged with disappointment.

"Madam, you are no ordinary person. You are the young master's mother."

"If even you don't care about the young master's married life, do you expect the commander to care?"

Qin Mingxian lowered her eyes and remained silent.

Seeing her like this, Wang Ma seemed to have taken her words to heart.

So he stopped talking.

What the lady decides to do next is no longer something she can control alone.

Howard carried the package to the car.

He suddenly noticed that someone ahead of him was acting strangely.

The man was wearing a gray linen robe and his head was tilted to the left as he looked at the crowd around him.

He quietly pressed his body against the person in front of him, while his right hand stealthily moved closer to the person's package.

Howard strode forward and grabbed the man's hand that was committing the crime.

The man was abruptly interrupted and turned to look innocently at Howard.

"What are you doing? Let go of me!"

Howard, dressed in a military green uniform, said with a serious expression, "No, you have to come with me to the police station."

The man's eyes widened, his face flushed with excitement.

His tone was angry and impatient as he shouted, "Why would I go to the police station with you? Just because you're a military officer doesn't mean you can come and slander people at will."

All eyes turned to them, and people pointed and whispered among themselves at Howard and the other man.

Howard's face darkened, but his grip on his hand remained firm.

"You know what you just did. Now come with me to the police station."

At that moment, the person whose bag had been rummaged through also turned around and looked at the two of them suspiciously.

A sudden sense of vigilance arose within him, and he clutched the bag at his waist, silently retreating to create distance between them.

The man suddenly sat down on the ground.

He cried loudly, "Everyone come and see! The officer arrested people for no reason. The officer is abusing his power!"

It made people feel secretly pleased as they sensed the gazes of those around them.

He glared at Howard fiercely in private.

You ruined my good time, now I'll make you kneel down and apologize.

Someone nearby actually shouted loudly in the crowd: "What's going on? PLA soldiers can just arrest people at will!"

"Isn't this bullying ordinary people?"

"This is blatant warlordism."

“This kind of bad officer should be discharged from the military and should compensate us, the common people.”

Don't be fooled by all the things said about Howard.

But with Howard's trained and keen ears, he could clearly hear that there were only one or two people speaking.

Howard's gaze swept across the crowd with the precision of a scanner.

He didn't get a chance to see what those people looked like.

Because as soon as they met Howard's gaze, they immediately lowered their heads, pulled up their collars, and covered their faces.

Howard knew what was going on; it seemed these people were also accomplices of the man he was dealing with.

I never expected to encounter a criminal gang while picking up a package.

Howard has no intention of following this group's lead.

Howard, one of his accomplices, was left to his own devices. He had already memorized the figures and clothing of those men.

Although it was rushed, I still managed to get a general idea of ​​his face shape.

If there were skilled artists in the police station, they could draw a criminal's profile using psychological testing and Howard's descriptions.

Howard has given up on explaining.

Unexpectedly, an older woman rushed out at this moment.

Pointing at the nose of the man Howard had grabbed, he cursed, "Pah! You dare to slander the People's Liberation Army soldiers? They're defending their country on the battlefield. Is it so you can come here and slander them?"

"I saw it all clearly. It was you. You were touching that person's bag. If the soldier hadn't stopped you in time, you might have actually succeeded."

People around whispered among themselves.

"Yes, that's right, I just saw it too."

Someone retorted, "If you saw it, why didn't you say so?"

The man glanced around.

“There must be more than one person doing petty theft these days. He must have accomplices around him. What if I tell them and they follow me home and something bad happens to me?”

Those who initially criticized him fell silent.

It's always hard to be a good person. If none of them had warned the victim, the person who was pickpocketed would have only lost money at most.

But if someone does warn them and is followed by the thief's accomplice, the family could be ruined and they could suffer devastating losses.

No one wants their family to be destroyed because of a stranger.

"So you're not afraid anymore?"

"With the People's Liberation Army comrades here, what am I afraid of? Besides, there are so many people around here, all watching this area."

At this moment, the thief's accomplices saw that public opinion was overwhelming. It was clear they had no way to save their comrade.

One by one, they quietly tried to retreat against the flow of the crowd.

Howard spotted them with his sharp eyes.

He immediately and decisively shouted, "Grab them! Don't let those two get away!"