"Did you guys move your whole family to the military camp?"
The goalkeeper looked at the two carriages that had returned with Huo Shuwen and the others and said, "Yesterday was their day off. The night before, they rode their horses under the moonlight and headed straight for Pingyang County."
Yesterday, Huo Shuwen spent the entire day clinging to He Yi, spending the day with his daughter. Huo Xiaocheng did the same, watching the moon all night with Chunying. Only Erhei slept soundly; the burly young man thought, "Home bed is still the most comfortable."
Before leaving, Huo Xiaolong gave the group all the dried meat and fried noodles he had saved up over the past month.
"Dad, this is enough for you and the rest of you to eat for a month. Be careful out there, I'll be waiting for you to come back."
The little girl's pitiful look tugged at Xiong Ying's heartstrings. If his wife agreed, he really wanted to take the child with him.
"My family was a little worried, so I packed a little extra food. Have some?"
Huo Xiaocheng directly stuffed a handful of dried meat into the goalkeeper's hand. Normally, in the army, meat was something you had to fight for when eating from the communal pot. The man waved his hand, signaling to let them in.
"Boss, why did his whole family of three come?"
The goalkeeper glanced at the soldier and said
"Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask. I didn't see anything special about these people either; they were just put in the vanguard battalion by the marshal and adjutant general."
The vanguard battalion is the most dangerous place in the army. In the event of war, they are the ones who charge ahead to protect the flag. But they are also the ones who get promoted the fastest.
This is not a place that just anyone can go to; every year, only the first batch of soldiers can enter.
Who knows? the goalkeeper thought.
The reason why Huo Shuwen and his son were not outstanding among the new recruits was not because they lacked ability, but because after training, these recruits would be sent to places with minor frictions on the border between the two countries to quell the unrest.
The small, scattered tribes were the most troublesome. The first time, Erhei was praised by the centurion and rewarded with ten taels of silver. But for some reason, this big, simple-minded guy became incompetent and would always hide behind whenever they went out.
"Xiao Cheng, look, this is what our centurion gave me. I'll buy some candy for Long'er when I get back."
Seeing his sworn brother's silly grin, Huo Xiaocheng couldn't hold back any longer and pulled him aside to say something.
"Erhei, don't rush forward like that next time. Swords and blades have no eyes. What if you get hurt?"
"We joined the army because we wanted to make a name for ourselves, didn't we?"
The boy was a little confused. Why was he so hesitant and timid when he was heading towards this goal?
"Even if we father and sons risked our lives for military merit in the vanguard battalion, we'd only ever be centurions at best. We might as well keep our lives and wait for the future."
"ah?"
"What? You don't want to go home?"
"No, it's just that I don't quite understand it."
"It's okay if you don't understand. Just listen to me in everything from now on."
From then on, the big, clumsy guy was never seen charging into battle again.
"What good food did you guys bring back from home?" the leader of the Night Scouts asked, lifting the curtain.
Because of the matter with the Xiongnu at that time, he had met the father and sons once. After they joined the army, the leader of the night scouts originally wanted to bring them to his side to work as night scouts.
Huo Xiaocheng firmly refused.
I'm here to join the army, not to risk my life, especially since you're all alone. I have a mother, a younger sister, and a fiancée.
You go ahead and risk your life, I'll take the credit.
"Long'er made some dried meat and fried noodles for us, would you like to try some?"
Huo Shuwen leaned against the wall, saying nothing. All he could hear was his son chattering away. In terms of social skills, Xiong Ying was truly no match for his son.
Why are you offering me a taste?
The eldest of the night watchmen thought the father and his two sons were a bit stingy. After all, he was an official, right? It was just one meal, why didn't they give him something?
Could Huo Xiaocheng not understand the implication in his words? The boy was pretending to be stupid; he just didn't want to give it to the other person, even if it was just some money. He really didn't want to give away the things his sister had worked so hard to make.
"Here, have one."
The burly, dark-skinned boy carefully took a piece of dried meat from his purse and handed it to the man in front of him.
You've been a night scout in the military for over ten years, and you've really got some skills. If you and your two sons weren't so capable, you'd all be bullied to death in this military camp.
It's a pity that those skills belong to these three petty men.
"My brother just likes to mess around, please don't mind, here you go."
Huo Xiaocheng still gave him a small bag of dried meat and fried noodles, somewhat salvaging the reputation Erhei had made. The boy glanced at the eagle, but the eagle completely ignored him, busy hanging the sachets He Yi had embroidered in the tent.
"I'm so worried. I should have known better than to come with them," the boy thought.
The leader of the Night Watchmen returned to his tent with satisfaction and made himself a bowl of fried noodles with boiling water.
"What are you eating, boss? It smells delicious!"
Outside the gate, a group of night spies, drawn by the aroma, gathered in front of the tent. What's wrong with begging for food? There's nothing shameful about living day to day.
"Do you even have a shred of shame?!"
The man lifted the curtain, handed the bowl to his brother at the door, and continued...
"Drink up! If you want more, go ahead! I'm telling you, this is the only bowl. If you want more, go ask those new recruits at the Vanguard Battalion."
"Which new recruit are you, boss?"
These seasoned veterans have their eyes on these things, so why wouldn't the greenhorns obediently hand them over? Why even ask for them? The boss really has no authority whatsoever.
"That time when we went to Pingyang County, those old men from the Huo family..."
"..."
The atmosphere suddenly fell silent. Oh, what are they saying... shouldn't they be a little more polite?
"Why aren't you saying anything? Are you too scared to go?"
"No, no, how could that be?"
"We're all brothers in the same barracks, how can we shamelessly ask for food? If we're really craving something, we'll just go buy some."
"You have the nerve to mess with them, but not with me?" Night Keeper's blood boiled. What could these good-for-nothings do to you? Did they think they could fight you?
The scouts standing around the door thought to themselves, if a fight really broke out, it would be fine if they won, but if they lost, they would lose face big time.
Moreover, they didn't think they could win.
Let alone the one with the gun, even a silly teenager wielding a sledgehammer might not have killed anyone that night.
"Aren't you the boss? We've known each other for so many years, what's this 'yours' and 'mine' stuff? Have you no shame?"
A night janitor returned the bowl to the older brother and then ran away.
"I haven't had a drink yet, bro! Give me some more!"
"That bastard! He didn't even leave us any. Let's go, let's beat him up!"
"Let's go, let's go!"
Holding the empty bowl, the leader of the Night Watchmen watched the backs of the group, his hands trembling with anger.
Alright, alright, so you're only good at bullying your own kind, huh? I'll train you to a pulp these next few days, or I'll change my surname to yours!
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