Chapter 52 Big Yang and Little Yangs

The person Yang Ying was thinking of was walking out of the imposing central conference room of the command post.

Many people left in twos and threes after the meeting. As Yang Yuzhi and his secretary walked downstairs and across the courtyard, a staff officer walking beside him lowered his voice and drew out:

"That person even specifically mentioned the 3rd Regiment of the Western Regions No. 1 at the meeting, which is a bit of a slap in the face for you, Lao Yang."

The man, whose face showed signs of hardship but whose features remained handsome and refined, raised an eyebrow: "What kind of face are you slapping?"

“Your family’s Suning…” The staff officer was taken aback for a moment.

The two new bases have been filled by key military and political figures, and everyone in the North has reached out for their positions.

The Yang family is now somewhat disliked by the person in charge. Yang Yuzhi is not on the list of the Standing Committee of the General Command of the "Fire Source" Campaign, so he can only attend the general meetings and cannot attend the smaller meetings.

But the Yang family also extended their reach; Yang Yuning's reach was steady, while Yang Suning's reach was far-reaching.

By suddenly securing the position of regimental commander, everyone assumed that this was the most important arrangement made by the Yang family.

As a result, this move was thwarted, and the one-man rule above replaced it with a new training base!

The person who praised the 3rd Regiment at a conference with hundreds of people today for having both keen sense of fighter jets and long-term strategic vision—isn't that a slap in the face?

At the meeting, more than half of the people who knew about this matter were looking at Yang Yuzhi.

Yang Yuzhi laughed: "My dad used to say that if you join a team and there's no one you can admire and learn from, the team is probably doomed, so you'd better run away as soon as possible."

The staff officer was taken aback. He carefully observed Yang Yuzhi's expression and was unsure whether Yang Yuzhi truly thought this or was just pretending.

“Su Ning’s personality is a bit…” Yang Yuzhi paused for a moment, and his secretary Yao Du’an smiled and said:

"I'm a bit too self-disciplined, too tense, and not calm and open-minded enough."

Back in middle school, Yu Ning had a new idea every day. She and a group of classmates would run around the base, curious about everything and trying to touch and learn everything.

Su Ning, however, forced himself to take cold showers and do push-ups every day. If he did poorly on an exam, he could be upset for half a year.

Yang Yuzhi chimed in with a laugh, "There are always people better than you. It's a good thing that he can learn from this experience and maintain a more balanced mindset."

As for his military rank, he's not high up now, and he'll have plenty of opportunities to earn merit in the future, so why the rush?

His attitude was so kind and magnanimous that he clearly stated that suffering a loss was a blessing, leaving the staff officer speechless.

It took the staff officer a long time to find his voice:

"Old Yang, your magnanimity is one thing, but how much did you help Mao Anlin before he rose to prominence?"

Before Old Yang passed away, he would bring gifts to your house every year during festivals without fail. But now?

They really know how quickly they can discard someone after they've crossed the river!

The staff officer's tone was even more resentful than if he himself had been wronged; his voice unconsciously lowered when he mentioned that name, almost in a breathy tone.

Yang Yuzhi said, "After my father passed away, he would go to pay his respects during festivals."

The advisor choked on his words.

This time, he was really choked up. He said, "It's easiest to do the work on the dead. I've never seen any of the living members of the Yang family take care of you!" But in front of Yang Yuzhi's unwavering smile, there seemed to be no need to say it.

"Without the strong support of the new student base, he wouldn't have been able to rise so quickly."

Chen Yuezhou's so-called defection might just be part of the new base plan! He's trying to sell the new base!

After muttering these two sentences angrily, the staff officer saw that Yang Yuzhi still did not respond, and walked away in anger.

Yang Yuzhi is like a Buddha, seemingly without temper. Expecting him to rebel is less desirable than expecting the Fallen Insects to behead him!

After the staff officer left, Yang Yuzhi and Yao Du'an returned at a leisurely pace.

Once inside his office, Yao Du'an chuckled and said, "Staff Officer Yu has been acting too aggressively lately. Commander, do you think we'll see him at the next meeting?"

“Yes, for that person, someone like him is better than those old bastards who are harboring evil intentions,” Yang Yu said.

Even with no outsiders around, he still had a smile on his lips, but his tone was much calmer.

“Many people in the family have also talked about what happened in Suning, and they are all quite angry. Some people even said that it’s not easy to make meritorious contributions, but it’s very easy to find fault with them.” Yao Du’an poured a cup of tea and served it to the family.

Yang Yuzhi lightly brushed aside the floating tea leaves: "Those who want to dig pits and harm people can go, but they'll have to bear the consequences themselves."

Yao Du'an also smiled.

Whether Yang Suning becomes the regimental commander or not is not a big deal, at least not in their eyes.

That ended the topic. Yao Du'an checked his phone and said, "The research on secondary enhancement drugs has made great progress."

Professor Wang's team at North 1 Hospital has reduced the mortality rate of their new drug in animal trials to below 20%, and they will soon be collaborating with the team at the New Life Training Base.

With a raised eyebrow that closely resembled Yang Yuning's, Yang Yuzhi took the phone and carefully read the news.

Yao Du'an knew he would be interested in this, so he waited until he finished reading it before handing over the casualty statistics for the Central Plains Base No. 3.

It wasn't a roster, but rather a statistic that tallied the percentage of nearly 30,000 mutated soldiers and civilians who had mutated into various levels of Wisps.

Yang Yuzhi looked more closely, but after reading it, he just smiled and said, "Nothing special."

Yao Du'an twirled his prayer beads, saying, "They have gone to be reborn in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss."

"It seems like we're blessed by the gods this year, with favorable weather and great fortune." Yang Yuzhi looked out the window for a while, his eyes hidden in the shadows of his brows, a calm and deep black.

"Let's pray for blessings tonight, and let's also ask the gods and Buddhas to continue to bless the world." Yao Du'an hung the ebony prayer beads between his thumb and forefinger and invited them with his hands clasped together.

Yang Yuzhi nodded.

......

On the riverbank where the night wind howled, Yang Ying made a few sarcastic remarks to Yang Suning, then strode angrily toward the base gate.

However, she could never outrun Yang Suning. Even when she jogged, when she reached the gate tower and looked back, Yang Suning was still steadily following behind.

Yang Ying was so angry that she touched the small stones on the ground.

She had this habit when she was a child and in school; when she got angry, she would throw stones at people, sometimes directly at their heads.

However, Yang Suning wouldn't be beaten bloody anymore this time. He caught the stone with his bare hands and said calmly:

"If you're not in a hurry, why are you breaking down your defenses?"

"Your dad spoils you so much, and you have a long good life ahead of you at North Base. Why aren't you in a hurry to come to the new base and suffer?"

Yang Ying had complained countless times that the new base was both poor and miserable.

Experiencing life? Or is the new base just too romantic?

Yang Ying's anger seemed to freeze at this question, and she didn't throw the pebble.

Does her dad spoil her?

He seems to spoil her quite a bit. From childhood to adulthood, he has fulfilled all her desires for food, play, and other things, and he has rarely disciplined her properly.

But she was very afraid of her father, and the older she got, the more afraid she became.

Is her father satisfied with her? Is he proud of her?

This is the first time she's been away from home for two months. Will her father think of her when he sees or hears people mention anything related to her? Will he miss her?

Yang Ying sometimes felt doubtful, sometimes fearful, and sometimes self-doubting.

Is it because she's too useless that her father is very disappointed in her?

Her thoughts drifted like the damp, cool night wind blowing through the hall. Yang Ying felt a chaotic sense of unease, lost all interest in throwing pebbles, and wrapped her coat tighter around herself as she walked back to the base.