"I saw him... He's a pitiful man."

Speaking of the middle-aged man with gray hair, Li Gang felt a little uncomfortable. He didn't know whether it was a good thing or a bad thing for him to send Xiaojie to the provincial military academy.

When Liu Jun heard they'd rescued Xiao Jie from the mountains, he practically knelt before him. Hearing Xiao Jie's reaction to him, the nearly two-meter-tall man's spine seemed to snap. Li Gang even saw him quietly wipe away a tear.

"It doesn't matter. Just forget about it... Just forget about it! As long as the child is still alive and well, that's enough, enough!" Li Gang heard him say so.

Before he could figure out how to respond, the other person spoke again, a barely perceptible pleading in his tone, "Can I...can I take a peek at him secretly? I promise not to disturb him!"

Li Gang's heart ached. "Yes, but he's not in the camp right now. He was injured a while ago and was rescued by Ningxia. It was Ningxia who asked me to come find you. He's still recuperating at Ningxia's home. I guess he'll be back soon as the weather gets better."

"Injured?" Liu Jun stood up, his face full of panic. "Did...did he meet someone? Is the injury serious?"

Li Gang quickly comforted him, "He's fine! Ningxia took good care of him! He's fully recovered! It's just that Ningxia has some things to do at home, so he's staying there to help!"

Liu Jun finally sat down again, his thoughts scattered for a while before he managed to focus again. "Ningxia? Is she the girl who adopted two children and came from Liefeng to settle down in Qingniao?"

"That's her."

Liu Jun nodded repeatedly. "Thank you so much. I've picked up so many people along the way. It's amazing that she still remembers... where does she live? Is it convenient for me to visit her? I want to thank her very much."

"She's recovering at the medical center. As for where she lives, you should ask her yourself."

"What?! Squad leader, are you saying Liu Jun is coming to my place?"

Li Gang nodded. "You are a girl, you are better at talking than me. You should try to enlighten him."

Ningxia was so depressed, "I'm not good at dealing with these things, so I handed this mess to you!"

Li Gang smiled and said, "You can't hide away. He must have bought his things by now. I'll go pick him up."

Ningxia chewed the food that Le Zheng brought to her absentmindedly.

The little monkey was chewing a piece of corn obediently. The veterinarian had been treating it for a few days and it is now fine.

"What's wrong?" Le Zheng pushed the food in the lunch box in front of Ningxia.

Ningxia was about to speak when Li Gang pushed the door open with his men.

"Squad leader, and Brother Liu...long time no see..."

"Long time no see, sister."

Le Zheng was confused by the strange atmosphere between the three people.

"Le Zheng, can you take Monkey to Qingjie and the others' room to stay for a while?"

Le Zheng was puzzled, but nodded anyway, picked up the monkey friend who was already familiar with him, and went out.

"I...I came here specifically to thank you...Squad Leader Li has already told me thank you for saving Liu Wenjie, and thank you for letting Squad Leader Li contact me."

Ning Xia shook her head and asked the two to sit down. "It's just a small favor. But Xiaojie..."

Liu Jun smiled bitterly, "I didn't know it would cause such great harm to that child, Jia Jia... I never blamed him for what happened to his sister..."

"What about his mother?" Ningxia interrupted him.

"What...what?" Liu Jun was stunned.

"Xiao Jie was only seven years old when his mother passed away. He didn't understand anything. You didn't fulfill your responsibilities as a father and husband, but instead turned around and blamed seven-year-old Xiao Jie.

Brother Liu, logically I shouldn't say this, but Xiaojie is in great pain. A child under seventeen, he has nightmares all night long, calling for his mother, his sister, and squad leader Li Gang, but he never calls for his father in his sleep!

Ningxia was a little excited. She had watched Xiaojie go through those days. It was hard to imagine how much torment Xiaojie was going through as a seventeen-year-old boy.

Liu Jun's face was filled with pain. "I... I don't know... After I was discharged from the army, I didn't know how to face him... Jia Jia wasn't in good health, and I... I was focusing on Jia Jia... so I wouldn't have to think about his mother's passing...

When Jiajia's health improved, I also slowly came to terms with it, but I discovered... this child was no longer close to me... I wasn't around him much when he was little, and I thought..."

"You really have moved on, leaving Xiaojie alone, unable to move on from the shadow of his mother's death, for a full ten years."

"It's my fault! Blame me...it's all my fault!" Liu Jun burst into tears. The burly man he met in Ningxia in the past now seemed like he would break if touched lightly.

Ningxia sighed, "The squad leader also told you what Xiaojie meant. He said that he would stay in the barracks for the rest of his life and that he wanted to provide for squad leader Li Gang and the others in their old age.

Take your time, Brother Liu, don't push him... He's finally getting better, don't let him continue to suffer."

The tall man from Mo Nan burst into tears. He was the one who pushed his son away with his own hands, so he couldn't blame anyone else.

After a while, the atmosphere in the room gradually calmed down.

"How are you? I don't know what to get you. These days, everything is scarce. I have a card with 6,000 points on it. Keep it."

Ningxia refused to accept it.

"Take it. Consider it a token of my gratitude for saving Xiaojie's life. Logically, this isn't enough, but I was in such a hurry to leave that I only brought this."

"The squad leader and the others have already given me the reward for saving Xiaojie. Besides, Xiaojie also takes good care of our Lin Yi and Sangsang. I am willing to save him."

Liu Jun smiled bitterly, "Just consider it as a plea from me. Please accept it, and let me, as his father, do something for him."

Ningxia then accepted it.

"Discharged tomorrow?" Li Gang asked.

Ningxia nodded, "It can be done this afternoon, and I'll be back early tomorrow morning."

"Is Monkey Friend okay too?"

"I see it can eat and drink, so it shouldn't be a big problem."

"Little Monkey? Is that the young man just now?" Liu Jun interrupted.

Ningxia raised the corner of her mouth, "No, that man is called Le Zheng, a member of the coalition forces at the sentry post, and he is also a friend of Xiaojie. Monkey is the monkey in the room just now."

"Monkey? I thought you were raising it for fun. I didn't realize it had a name."

"Sangsang took it. Oddly enough, the monkey friends were originally from Xuanwu Province. After the Fiery Sun Moon, they somehow migrated to Blue Bird. By some strange coincidence, they saved my life, so I'm keeping them for the time being."

Liu Jun pondered for a moment. "Monkeys are rampant in Xuanwu Prefecture. For some time now, eating monkey brains has become a trend. There are even monkey hunters specializing in this field. There are quite a few of them on the market! I wonder if the monkey you're talking about is from Xuanwu Prefecture."

Li Gang and Ningxia exchanged glances. "Will Chocobo allow the sale of monkey brains?"

Liu Jun quickly shook his head. "That's not the case. Xuanwu isn't the Chocobo base like Bluebird. Xuanwu only has a few Chocobo stations. There are also many private and official bases over there!"