Yang Ziyun suddenly stepped forward and slapped her son hard across the face. No one expected her to be so ruthless; the slap shocked even the general.
"Qingfeng, when did you become so confused? Personally, he is your father; officially, he is your superior. How could you speak to him like that? And where do you place me, your mother?"
He spoke to Qingfeng, but his eyes were fixed on Ling Ruoke.
Ling Ruoke felt as if her gaze was like needles piercing her. The first time they met, she was so gentle and kind; the second time, her words were hurtful, but her eyes remained gentle; this time, she must have completely hated her.
"I'm sorry." Huo Qingfeng realized his words were inappropriate; not only had he failed to protect Ruoke, but he had also worsened her image in his parents' eyes. "However, Ruoke is the person I love. She has a good personality, a good temper, and good character. So, I don't want to hear anyone say she's a disreputable woman. I think nothing is more hurtful to a woman than such comments! Mom, you should understand. Father, I think you wouldn't allow anyone to talk about my mother like that either."
"Alright, everyone sit down and talk properly. No veiled insults or threats allowed, and absolutely no knives or guns!" Yang Ziyun sat down next to the general.
Huo Qingfeng gently pressed Ruo Ke into the single sofa opposite him, then sat on the armrest himself. He placed his arm around Ruo Ke's shoulder, silently comforting her.
Yang Ziyun looked at them and sighed inwardly.
Ling Ruoke didn't dare to meet the two elderly people's gazes, only staring at their lips. If Huo Qingfeng's arm hadn't been on her shoulder, she was afraid she would have really fled in panic.
Huo Qingfeng patted his wife on the shoulder, walked up to his parents, and looked at them earnestly and firmly.
“Father, I will not leave Ruoke, nor can I. You see, we are already living together. I am a man, and I must take responsibility. You said that a man's word is his bond, and he must always keep his promise. I said I would make her happy, and I cannot give up halfway. Otherwise, even if my punishment is revoked, I will never dare to wear that military uniform again!”
The general seemed to have reached his limit, and with a swift motion, he drew his sidearm from his waist and pressed it against Huo Qingfeng's forehead.
He spent his life in the military, commanding countless soldiers. Absolute obedience to orders was a soldier's code. Subordinates obeyed superiors, sons obeyed fathers. He never imagined that his son would rebel for a woman like this?
I really want to shoot him dead.
"I'll ask you one more time, are you breaking up or not?"
Ling Ruoke was terrified. Although she had been with Cang Weiwo and had seen guns before, the one with a gun pointed at his head now was Qingfeng, not someone else!
Huo Qingfeng looked into his father's eyes, unconcerned about the gun pointed at his head, his expression still resolute. "Father, I cannot agree, and I beg you to grant my request."
The general gritted his teeth, utterly disappointed. His proud son actually wanted him to grant his wish? To allow him to have an affair with a disreputable woman? To utterly disgrace him?
His finger was already on the trigger; the moment he fired, his son's head would explode. He should just kill this disgraceful son to avoid him becoming a laughingstock throughout the entire military region!
The general's facial muscles began to twitch; he could no longer tolerate it! But the thought of this rebellious bastard still lingered in his mind—his only son!
With a swift turn, the gun barrel slammed down hard on Huo Qingfeng's head.
That wasn't a toy gun, a replica, or something to scare people. It was an Italian Beretta 92F pistol, renamed the M9 by the US military, with an effective range of fifty meters. Made of steel, the general's single shot instantly blew a gash into Huo Qingfeng's head.
Blood flowed out, and Huo Qingfeng was knocked back a step, almost falling. He covered his forehead, and blood dripped from between his fingers.
"Qingfeng!" Ling Ruoke screamed in fright and rushed over. She hadn't expected her father to be so ruthless. If she made another sound after being hit by her own son, would he really shoot her to death in a fit of rage?
Huo Qingfeng patted his wife's shoulder with his other hand and comforted her, "I'm fine. You go and cook first, be a good girl!"
"But--"
"If you'd like, listen to me!" This was the first time he had spoken to her in such a serious tone.
Ling Ruoke looked at him, knowing that her presence would only escalate their conflict. So, with tears in her eyes, she ran into the kitchen. She thought to herself, "Luckily, the little guy is kept in his room by Yang Ziyun's watchful eye, otherwise he would be terrified."
Yang Ziyun sighed. The general had a bad temper and a fiery temper, and his son was even more stubborn. When father and son clashed, it was truly like two volcanoes erupting at once; the power was unimaginable.
"Old man, calm down. It's best not to spread this family scandal around. Sit down for a while, and I'll talk to Qingfeng."
The general sat down angrily, which meant that he had listened to his wife.
Yang Ziyun took her son's first-aid kit and pulled him into the bedroom. She pushed him to sit down on the edge of the bed and disinfected and applied medicine to his wound.
“Your dad has that awful temper, why did you have to go against him? You got beaten up, didn’t you? You’ve always been a bit slow, you don’t even know how to dodge when you get hit.” Yang Ziyun was both heartbroken and angry.
"Mom, I'll listen to you about everything else, but not this. I won't give up on Ruoke, no matter what you say. We've already gone through that kind of relationship, if I don't take responsibility for her, I'll be worse than an animal!"
"Didn't you two not sleep together?" Yang Ziyun was a little surprised; she remembered they didn't sleep in the same room. So she turned her head and looked into the bed, and sure enough, she saw the woman's pajamas folded and placed on the quilt.
“She’s divorced, and she’s not a virgin. What does it matter? How about this, we’ll give her more money so she can live a good life somewhere else.”
Huo Qingfeng clenched his fists, struggling to suppress his anger. He had never been as confrontational with his mother as he was with his father. But this time, her words had gone too far. "Mom, does being divorced once mean you deserve to be played with? Are women who have been abandoned multiple times destined to become prostitutes? Mom, if you weren't my mother, I would have punched someone just for saying that!"
"I...I didn't mean that!" She just wanted to resolve the matter; no matter what, she couldn't let her son ruin his future for a woman.
"In my heart, Ruoke is a pure and innocent woman. Therefore, I don't want to hear such words again. In short, Ruoke is my woman, I want to marry her, and I want to protect her!"
Yang Ziyun looked at his resolute expression and sighed.
"Qingfeng, if she were just divorced, it wouldn't be so bad, but she still has entanglements with Cang Weiwo. Now that things have blown up, do you really want everyone to know? Your father is a general, a military region leader. You don't want him to lose face in front of the central government, do you? There are many responsible ways. You can give her a large sum of money, and she can live a good life that way. You're just too stubborn. Don't ruin your future and disgrace your father because of someone like this."
Huo Qingfeng suddenly stood up and walked to the window. "Mom, if a man ruined your reputation, promised to marry you but only gave you a sum of money in the end, would you be willing? You certainly wouldn't! Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you, so how can you let me treat Ruoke like this?"
"Why are you so stubborn? You're suspended from duty for investigation, but it's not too late to salvage the situation. Do you really want all your years of hard work to be ruined? Think about how much effort you've put in to achieve what you have today. Becoming an outstanding soldier has been your dream since you were a child!"
Yang Ziyun stomped her feet, utterly helpless in the face of her child's stubbornness.
Huo Qingfeng suddenly smiled and turned to look at his mother.
“Mom, I worked so hard because I didn’t have what I wanted, so I treated it as a challenge and kept conquering it. Now it’s different, I’ve found what I want. So giving it up is not something I’ll regret.”
Before Yang Ziyun could speak, the general rushed in, yelling at the top of his lungs, "If you talk nonsense again, I'll shoot you dead!"
Holding the murder weapon in her hand, she pressed it against her son's head once more.
Hearing Ling Ruoke arrive with a roar, she was immediately dumbfounded.
"Uncle, Uncle, calm down..." Ling Ruoke said softly, afraid that if she raised her voice, he would really pull the trigger.
Huo Qingfeng turned his gaze to her. "Wife, is dinner ready? If not, hurry up and cook, everyone is hungry."
"But..." With a gun pointed at his head, how could she possibly concentrate on cooking?
Yang Ziyun spoke up. "Old man, put the gun away! This is your son, not an enemy. Don't point a gun at his head so easily!"
"If he weren't my son, I would have shot him dead long ago. Why waste my breath talking to him!" Although still angry, the general put away his gun.
"Alright, everyone is indeed hungry. Let's talk about any problems after we eat. Even if we're not hungry, Fu'an still needs to eat." With that, she pushed the general out of the room.
Ling Ruoke ran over and hugged Colonel Huo's lean waist tightly. Her body was trembling. "Qingfeng!"
"It's alright, honey." Huo Qingfeng patted her back and stroked her hair to comfort her. His brows were furrowed, and he felt quite sorry for her. Her life had always been simple, and if it weren't for meeting Cang Weiwo, she wouldn't have suffered like this. Now, seeing a gun pointed directly at her head had terrified her even more.
Ling Ruoke looked up and reached out to touch his injured head. Tears streamed down her face. "Does it hurt?"
"Don't cry, it doesn't hurt." He's someone who's been through countless battles, what's a little pain to him? "It really doesn't hurt. Let me tell you, when we were training, we were surviving in the jungle, running until our feet and shoes were stuck together with blood, and we had to peel the shoes off. That's what real pain is. This little pain is like being stung by an ant."
Ling Ruoke, tears streaming down his face, bit his lip and shook his head violently. His high tolerance for pain didn't mean he wasn't in pain. "I'm sorry. It's all my fault. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't—"
"Shh—" He placed his index finger to her lips and leaned down to kiss her. "Let's not talk about that. We're one. No matter what happens, we'll face it together. No one owes anyone anything, understand?"
Ling Ruoke bit her lip and nodded, looking at him through teary eyes. Then, she forcefully wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. Crying was useless; she shouldn't upset him any further.
"That's right, there's nothing to cry about. Let's go, let's make some food." He put his arm around her and walked into the kitchen.
His parents are in Xiao Fu'an's room, playing with the child, and they can hear the little guy's laughter and shouts.
The vegetables have all been washed and chopped; all that's left is to stir-fry them. As for the rice, it's already cooked.
Ling Ruoke was in charge of cooking, while Colonel Huo stood by, handing her plates and adding seasonings. This wasn't the first time the two had worked together, so their teamwork was excellent. Soon, eight dishes and a soup were ready. They were all home-style dishes, but they looked great and tasted absolutely delicious. That's what Colonel Huo said.
Dinner was served. At the table, the general complained that this dish was too hard, that dish was too soft, that dish was too bland, and that dish was too salty. In short, he couldn't eat any of the dishes. However, judging from the way he ate his food heartily, it didn't seem like he was really against the food.
Ling Ruoke and Huo Qingfeng exchanged glances and smiled secretly.
Yang Ziyun was both amused and exasperated, and kept putting food on his plate.
The tense atmosphere that had been building since we entered the door finally eased a little. With the little one babbling around, the adults didn't dare to say anything out of line, much less start a fight.
When the meal was almost finished, Ling Ruoke finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although the general was very picky, at least he didn't yell at her or slam his fist on the table and leave.
Huo Qingfeng thought to himself, if his parents could accept Ruo Ke, their family would surely be harmonious. But why were they so stubborn? Just because Ruo Ke had been divorced once, did they completely disregard her behavior?
The meal was finished without any major incidents.
After dinner, everyone sat together watching TV. The TV program was cartoons, and Huo Fu'an was in control of the show.
About half an hour later, Ling Ruoke tugged at Huo Qingfeng's clothes.
"What's wrong, wife?" Huo Qingfeng leaned closer and asked in a low voice.
Ling Ruoke glanced at the general and his wife who were watching TV, just as Yang Ziyun looked over. She immediately dared not look anymore. She rolled up her hand and used it as a microphone, whispering in his ear, "Ask your parents if they want to stay here, so I can make arrangements."
In fact, Ling Ruoke was still somewhat troubled. If it were just Qingfeng's parents, that would be convenient; they could simply give up one of their rooms. But what about the two guards? Were they really going to make them sleep on the floor?
Huo Qingfeng patted his wife's head, feeling warmed by her thoughtfulness. He gave her a reassuring look and then turned to his mother. "Mom, are you staying here tonight? If so, please prepare toiletries and make the beds."
Before Yang Ziyun could speak, the general snorted coldly and said, "How can we live in such a small place?"
Yang Ziyun pinched him and rolled her eyes at him. "Why can't we stay? Tonight, Ruoke and I will share a room, and you and Qingfeng can share a room. You two can have a good talk. Qingfeng is rarely home, and it's been so long since you two had a proper conversation. As for them, they can sleep on the floor. Qiao Fei and Chen Zhiqiang, are you two okay with that?"
"Reporting to Madam, no problem!" They're all from the military; sleeping on the floor is more comfortable for them.
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