Chapter Three: Liu Yuan’s Son, Part Two of Two

“Brother!”

Before Liu Mengchao could even make out what lay before his eyes, someone hurled themselves at him.

Without dodging, he laughed and swept the child up into his arms. She was light, almost weightless. And yet she carried such weight in his heart; the first ray of sunlight seen in hell is something one can never forget.

“Anna.”

At last, Liu Mengchao saw clearly the girl in his arms, his principal deity.

Her pink hair was tied into two neat little pigtails. Holding the small girl close, he spun around with delight. This was Joanna’s favorite game.

“Brother, I’m flying!” Joanna cried joyfully, her arms wrapped around his neck as she giggled.

“Yes, you’re flying,” Liu Mengchao said. With a small lift of his arms, he tossed her upward, then caught her again with steady hands amid the girl’s startled cry.

“Brother...” Joanna gazed at his face, pouting. “Doesn’t Brother want to see Anna?”

“How could that be?” Liu Mengchao smiled down at the little girl in his arms. “While Brother was away, did Anna behave herself?”

“Yes!” Joanna lifted her head eagerly and looked into his eyes, then quickly grew gloomy again. “Brother, I’m sorry, Anna didn’t...”

“If we’re family, we don’t say sorry.” Liu Mengchao set Joanna down, crouched to her level as well, and gently patted her head with a smile. “So what exactly happened?”

“Anna... promised Biya... at most two pieces of chocolate a day...”

“And then?”

Seeing her expression, Liu Mengchao could not help but laugh. She reminded him of himself as a child.

“I... only ate chocolate...” Joanna awkwardly pulled a large box from beneath the bed. “But Anna didn’t throw the wrappers around. I put them all in here!”

It was a full box.

Liu Mengchao crouched down and looked at the brightly colored candy wrappers inside, suddenly unable to tell whether to laugh or cry.

“Brother...” Joanna saw that he was silent and anxiously tugged at his sleeve. “The chocolate is all gone... I ate it all...”

“That is a little troublesome...” Before Liu Mengchao could finish, Anna’s face had already turned to rain clouds. She looked ready to burst into tears the next moment.

“All right,” Liu Mengchao said, not allowing her to object as he picked her up. “Then Brother will take you to buy more. Want to come along?”

“Yes!” Joanna nodded vigorously. Then, as if remembering something, she clasped her little hands and said earnestly, “This time Anna will eat slowly for sure. I’ll leave one piece for Brother!”

“Then let’s go.” Liu Mengchao smiled and took the girl by the hand. At that moment, it seemed as though he could feel the long-lost sunlight again.

Taking a little girl shopping was always pleasant, at least because she would not wander into every shop and come out with nothing. After Liu Mengchao led Joanna out of the supermarket and walked a few minutes farther, he could already see the residential compound where he lived.

His home was not in the city center. It was not especially noisy around there, chiefly because the compound leaned tightly against the military district.

Holding Joanna’s hand, Liu Mengchao suddenly stopped at the gates of the military district and stood there in silence, gazing at the comings and goings within.

“Brother... what is it?”

At last Joanna shifted her attention from the chocolate in her hands. Small as she was, she hugged a large box of chocolate, a sight full of a child’s innocence and delight.

“I was thinking of something. Something I haven’t remembered for a very long time.” Liu Mengchao lifted his head, only to find the sunlight a little dazzling.

Joanna said nothing, merely tilting her head to look at him with concern.

“Brother... don’t be sad... Anna... Anna... will give Brother the chocolate...”

“Brother can eat quite a lot. He might finish it all in one go.”

“Ah...” Joanna looked worriedly at the chocolate in her arms, then at Liu Mengchao. At last, with a mournful face, she said, “Anna wants to eat one piece too.”

“All right, one piece then.”

“Anna still wants one more piece.”

“In that case, Anna can have one more. No more than that.”

“Brother...” Anna pouted at his words, glanced at Liu Mengchao with hurt eyes, and nodded sadly.

“Escort, sir! Please do not bully the little girl!”

Suddenly, Joanna’s entire expression changed. On her childish face was now the solemn, businesslike look of an official on duty.

“Biya, disturbing someone else’s family time is very rude.” Saying this, Liu Mengchao ignored Biya’s frightened look and simply picked her up.

“Bullying the principal deity is even less forgivable!” Biya, occupying Joanna’s body, retorted in anger.

“Smack.”

Liu Mengchao said nothing. He merely leaned in quickly and kissed Joanna’s cheek.

The little girl’s entire face turned red at once. Biya did not say another word, and her whole person vanished immediately.

Well, at times Liu Mengchao truly was not a good man.

“Brother, Biya says you’re a bad guy.”

“Mhm, mhm.” Liu Mengchao looked at Joanna in his arms and nodded with a smile. “Yes. Brother says that later we’ll buy another big box of chocolate, and not give Biya even a single piece. We’ll give all of it to Anna.”

As soon as he said that, Joanna burst into giggles.

“No, Anna will leave one piece for Biya.”

“Mhm, mhm. Our Anna is still the best.” With that, Liu Mengchao picked Joanna up again and walked forward.

“Brother, where is this?”

Liu Mengchao stopped and looked at the two sentries standing in his way.

“This is Brother’s old home.”

“Hello. This is a restricted military area. Please present your pass.”

The guard faithfully performed his duty and stood in Liu Mengchao’s path. In his hands, the Type 95 automatic rifle gleamed with a restrained brilliance beneath the sunlight.

So nostalgic.

Liu Mengchao’s gaze drifted inward. It was as though he could once again see his younger self, trailing behind Qi Xiaoxiao, the two of them as little brats tearing the place apart, running wild, shouting and causing havoc, all the way through childhood.

“This is my pass.” Liu Mengchao opened his wallet, took out a blue card, and handed it to the guard.

“This is...”

The guard carefully compared the photograph with the man standing before him. The picture showed a young man, apparently taken five or six years earlier. His brows and eyes were practically identical to Liu Mengchao’s. If Liu Mengchao’s face had not looked more mature, the guard himself would never have believed that someone so young could hold a pass of this level.

“My clearance should be enough to bring one person in, shouldn’t it?”

“Yes!”

The guard brought his heels together and gave Liu Mengchao a military salute.

“Sorry, I’m not in the Liberation Army.” Liu Mengchao smiled and shook his head, taking Joanna’s hand. “And I never will be.”

Saying that, under the guard’s puzzled gaze, Liu Mengchao strolled inside.

The guard kept his salute until Liu Mengchao’s figure disappeared from view, then drew in a deep breath and suddenly turned, running to the duty room.

The army-green telephone sat on the desk.

The guard’s hand trembled slightly. It was his first time encountering something like this. Everyone was told that if they ever saw a pale blue pass, they were to call and report it to their superiors.

Yet he had heard such an order since he was a new recruit; by now it had already been five or six years. He had never imagined that he would actually be the one to encounter it!

“Squad leader...” The guard’s voice was stiff. “I saw a pale blue pass.”

“The name!”

The squad leader’s voice sounded even more stern, though the guard had the strange feeling that the squad leader was more nervous than he was.

“Liu Mengchao!”

“Good! I’ll report it. You keep standing guard!”

Only then did the guard let out a long breath and return to his post. He still did not know that because of his one phone call, the entire military district had already sprung into action.

One call after another was made upward through the chain of command.

At last, an elderly voice answered the phone.

“Lieutenant General Lu, the son of Liu Yuan has returned.”

“When did he come back?”

“Just now!”

“He’s returned? What is he doing back?” The old soldier’s voice suddenly filled with a bleak note. “Forget it. I won’t go see him after all. Perhaps he only wanted to look at his old house. Pass the word down: do not disturb him. After all, we owe his parents far too much.”

“Yes!”

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As for digging pits, heh heh heh...

When I was little, my greatest wish was to eat snacks every day and never have to eat meals.

And then after growing up... the thing I like most to eat is, ah! Potatoes.

This is today’s second update.

Many thanks to all the generous supporters.