No way! Could Xu Manling be intimidated by a teenager?

Xu Manling suddenly chuckled, "Hehe, little brother, your brother is single and unmarried, and I am single and unmarried. What do you think is the problem if I ask him if he is a man?"

Chen Ke, who was standing to the side, couldn't stand watching Xu Manling speak so sweetly and softly to a child who was only a teenager. "Why are you bullying him? What can a little kid know? He was just asking a random question, and you took it seriously?"

Xu Manling suddenly looked at Chen Ke, her gaze extremely complicated.

Could Chen Ke really believe his younger brother is just an innocent teenager? What teenager has such a fierce, wolf-like gaze? What younger brother would be hostile towards everyone who gets close to his older brother? Does Chen Ke even know that his brother has an extremely strong, even perverse, possessiveness towards him?

Chen Ke hadn't fully grasped what Xu Manling meant when Chen Zhuo walked over and said, "Brother, are you finished talking? If you're done, let's go."

Chen Zhuo was finally willing to call him "brother" again, which was a stage victory for Chen Ke. So, under Xu Manling's even more shocked gaze, he smiled apologetically and said, "I'm sorry, Miss Xu, we have something to do, so we'll have to take our leave now."

After Chen Ke finished speaking, he nodded and left. Chen Zhuo followed him with light steps.

Xu Manling: ? ? ?

No, no, in this situation, did the two brothers just abandon her here?

Only after getting into the car did Chen Zhuo ask, seemingly worried, "Um, is it alright if we just leave like this?"

Chen Ke gave Chen Zhuo a meaningful look, but said, "It's okay. She and I are business partners. Besides, she didn't hesitate to share our money from this auction. There's no need to be polite with her."

After saying that, he instructed Li Gang to drive and then sat in the back seat and pretended to doze off.

Chen Zhuo, standing nearby, suddenly became restless. He had just called Chen Ke, but had Chen Ke heard him? He had called twice, so he should have heard him, right? But why wasn't Chen Ke responding?

Or does he simply not care what his name is?

Thinking of this, Chen Zhuo's good mood vanished instantly, and a layer of coldness suddenly appeared in his eyes.

Meanwhile, Chen Ke said, "System, did you hear that? Chen Zhuo has already started calling me 'brother' again. It seems the method has worked."

The system enthusiastically played a segment of audience applause: "Master is awesome! Master is amazing! I love Master the most!"

Chen Ke: ······

It seems that installing a brain on the system is now urgent.

Chen Kelai picked up Chen Zhuo mainly to take him to the police station to handle a gun. He mentioned it to Hebrew, who readily agreed and had already made arrangements with the police station.

So Chen Ke and Chen Zhuo went to the police station again and were received with great enthusiasm, even to the point of being overly attentive. The officers welcomed them in as if they were their own fathers. It wasn't until Chen Ke explained that he had simply brought his younger brother to play with guns that the two policemen breathed a sigh of relief, their faces showing expressions of relief after surviving a disaster.

Inside the training field.

"I saw their sidearms were pretty good the other day, so I brought you here to practice. Many troops are still equipped with Hanyang rifles, but the Beiyang government used to buy German M1888 Commission rifles through foreign firms. They're all pretty much the same; as long as you can use them, it'll be fine..."

"Come on, try aiming this pistol first."

······

Chen Zhuo seemed to be a genius at shooting. After mastering the basic shooting skills, his accuracy in target practice was not perfect, but it was still astonishingly high.

"Not bad." Chen Ke praised generously.

Chen Zhuo stood tall and straight in front of the shooting table. After listening to Chen Ke's words, he put down his pistol, turned around, and smiled brightly. His eyes were full of pride and his face was full of smugness. "Tell me, am I a born soldier?"

Chen Ke gave a thumbs up, "Yes, yes, yes." Sure enough, children need encouragement. Look how cheerful and sunny Chen Zhuo is now. He's a completely different person from when we first met him.

Looking at Chen Zhuo and Chen Ke like this, I suddenly felt a sense of accomplishment, the sense of accomplishment of turning a gloomy and irritable child into a cheerful and sunny boy!

System: "Master, this isn't a sense of accomplishment, it's the joy of nurturing someone!"

Chen Ke: ······

As I said before, installing a brain is urgently needed!

The two stayed in the training ground until evening before coming out. The police officers sitting inside waiting for them were all so sleepy that they started to doze off. But when they saw the two come out, they immediately perked up and smiled like flowers. Then they respectfully saw the two out the door.

Chen Ke had Li Gang go directly to Zhou Shanhuai and Song Xiaowen's home. Since Li Gang hadn't been home for more than half a month, Chen Ke had Chen Zhuo tell Song Xiaowen in advance that they would be going home for dinner together today.

The two walked into the courtyard together under the moonlight. Song Xiaowen, who had been watching from the window, heard the car and quickly came out to open the door.

"Hey, what have you two brothers been up to lately? Chen Ke, you've been gone for ten days or half a month, and Chen Zhuo is also leaving early and coming home late. Several times when he came back, your dad and I were already asleep."

Zhou Shanhuai was carrying dishes out of the kitchen when he heard Song Xiaowen's words and laughed, "Yes, yes, your mother was so worried. She went to the bathroom several times to check if you were back."

"Oh dear, Zhou Shanhuai, you're going to die! Saying this in front of the children!" Song Xiaowen shouted angrily, feeling that her calm and composed image as a loving mother had been ruined.

Zhou Shanhuai apologized to Song Xiaowen repeatedly, as if he had accidentally said something wrong. "Yes, yes, I misspoke. It was me. I was the one who got up several times at night to check on the child because I was worried about him. It wasn't your mother."

"Hmph! I think you're really getting old, your memory is getting worse! Chen Ke and Chen Zhuo, don't listen to his nonsense. Go wash your hands, Mom made a lot of delicious food. Come and eat after you wash your hands."

Since moving to the alley and learning to cook from Aunt Liu, Song Xiaowen seems to have opened the door to a new world. After moving back, she became even more enthusiastic about cooking and has now tried everything from light Shanghai cuisine to heavy oil and spicy Sichuan cuisine.

The atmosphere at the dinner table was getting better and better. The four of them chatted like a real family, talking about recent events and showing concern for each other's health. Even Chen Zhuo had a faint smile on his face.

Upon seeing this, Song Xiaowen and Zhou Shanhuai exchanged a glance and both saw the joy and relief in each other's eyes.

This joy turned into surprise after Chen Zhuo suddenly called him "brother".

"Brother, could you hand me the soup spoon?"

With a "thud," Song Xiaowen dropped the spoon into the bowl in surprise.

Zhou Shanhuai was also surprised and reached for the food, then pulled his chopsticks back.

Only Chen Ke and Chen Zhuo remained calm and composed, one handing over the item and the other taking it, the whole process was peaceful.

It's as if calling someone "brother" and handing them a spoon is the most ordinary thing in the world.