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Chapter 428 The Third Person (Third Update)
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"Mr. Xiao, this is my granddaughter's husband. Let me bring him over so you can see him."
General Xia grinned widely, his face beaming with a radiant smile, as if showing off his prized collection of treasures. He looked as proud as could be.
"Old man Xia, you are a blessed man. Such a good grandson-in-law is hard to find even with a lantern."
The old man, known as Elder Xiao, laughed heartily and readily welcomed General Xia and Lin Yao into the room. He even gave General Xia a firm pat on the shoulder, suggesting that the two had an extraordinary relationship.
"Greetings, General Xiao!"
Lin Yao greeted them politely. Accompanying his grandfather to visit old friends, he could only appear as a junior, no longer as capable as he was in the military conference hall that morning.
"Good, good! Xiao Lin is a rare guest. Your presence makes my house shine even brighter, haha."
General Xiao laughed heartily, tugged at Lin Yao's hand, and his warm attitude calmed Lin Yao's anxious heart a little.
After returning to his villa from the military headquarters in the morning, Lin Yao encountered General Xia, who had been waiting there. A long conversation led the grandfather and grandson to a consensus: they must stop the military's decision as quickly as possible. They absolutely could not allow their soldiers to be vaccinated with gene-editing drugs again.
General Xia regarded the army as the most important thing in his life, and he would never allow anyone or any organization to harm it. Therefore, the old general, who completely trusted Lin Yao, couldn't wait to take him to visit the third person in the military—General Xiao Li'ao, who was also a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, along with General Yue Taiqun.
Lin Yao had a deep impression of General Xiao Li'ao, having met him twice, both times in the military headquarters conference hall.
In power structures, seating arrangements are important. Lin Yao noticed that the old general, whose rank was general, was seated only after the chairman and vice chairman Yue Taiqun, so he kept an eye on him. However, the old general was very low-key in both his expression and speech. Lin Yao didn't hear him utter a single word in either of the two meetings. Even during heated discussions, the old man observed everything in the meeting room as if he were an outsider, neither speaking nor expressing his opinion, as if he were just an accessory.
After a long talk with General Xia at the villa in the afternoon, I learned that General Xiao Li'ao, who never spoke or expressed his opinion, was the real decisive person. Unlike General Yue Taiqun, General Xiao Li'ao was not used to arguing with people. Once he made a decision, he would take swift and decisive action and do things to the extreme. Therefore, he had a very high reputation in the military. Even the commanders and representatives of the aristocratic families who were appointed to the military were very impressed with him.
Unlike General Xia's somewhat frugal residence, General Xiao's home was luxuriously furnished. However, this luxury seemed to have aged considerably, with a lack of basic maintenance causing some flaws in what were once beautiful decorations. This surprised Lin Yao, but he didn't want to delve too deeply into the reasons. He realized that judging the owner's personality from home decoration had become somewhat inaccurate. Lin Yao couldn't quite understand this old general.
"Old Xiao, why is your spittoon crooked? It's such an eyesore here."
General Xia spoke very casually, as if he were back in his own home. Upon seeing the twisted marks on the silver ashtray on the coffee table, he immediately burst into loud laughter.
"Yes, it was a fine piece of Scottish silverware, which I broke in a fit of anger, and now no one is willing to replace it with a new one, sigh..."
A hint of melancholy appeared in General Xiao's eyes as he gazed at the silver ashtray. His sigh came from the bottom of his heart, making Lin Yao feel that there were many stories behind it.
"Oh? Xiao Deli still hasn't won over his wife? What a loser! A grown man can't even handle a woman, and he's a major general for nothing. He's a disgrace to us soldiers!"
When General Xia lectured someone without any guile, it was as if he were scolding his own son, his face full of disappointment at his son's lack of ambition.
"Sigh... I just don't understand young people these days. Women have long been considered half the sky. Even before this incident, my wife wasn't the one who made the decisions at home. She's quite capable, but she's a really good person..."
General Xiao was reminded of his painful past, and the cheerful smile on his face vanished. Shaking his head, he reached over and picked up a pack of Agent Panda cigarettes from the coffee table, pulled one out, and handed it to General Xia.
"No, you've forgotten that we martial artists don't do drugs? Don't give it to my grandson-in-law, that kid doesn't smoke either."
General Xia reached out and blocked the cigarette offered to him, his smile unchanged, as if he hadn't noticed the other person's dejection at all.
"You claim to be a martial artist, having practiced for decades, yet you can't even defeat a 'law enforcer.' In fact, according to the definition of aristocratic families, you haven't even reached the Earthly level, have you?"
Perhaps feeling resentful at the other party's carefree teasing, General Xiao immediately turned on General Xia, then lit a cigarette and took a satisfying drag.
"Nonsense! I've already reached the early stage of the Earth Realm!"
General Xia immediately stopped smiling, his expression becoming very serious as he anxiously tried to prove himself, "You don't believe me? I'll show you!"
After saying that, General Xia picked up the slightly crooked Scottish silver ashtray from the coffee table, and with a gentle effort, he crumpled the entire ashtray into a silver ball, making General Xiao's eyes almost pop out of their sockets.
"Come on! Don't think I'm an amateur. This is hardly the strength of an early-stage Earth-level cultivator. Be honest, what level have you reached now?"
General Xiao grabbed Old Man Xia's arm, not even bothering to pick up the cigarette he had dropped in surprise, anxious to get an answer.
"Hehe, this..."
General Xia quickly glanced at Lin Yao, who was smiling beside him, and gave an apologetic answer, "This used a little bit of 'human nuclear force.' You must know what that is, right? I gave a brief demonstration. This is only level two nuclear force. I won't let you see the higher levels, lest they tear down your house."
Lin Yao smiled wryly, thinking to himself that his grandfather had used "human nuclear power" so casually just to show off. It seemed that he had given him too much nuclear power before, and he would have to be careful to control it in the future.
Although the effects of a Level 2 human nuclear force are the same as those of an early-stage Earth-level ancient martial artist, the vampire count is stronger in terms of power and speed. Therefore, after General Xia unleashed his Level 2 nuclear force, he was able to easily crush a heavy silver object into a silver ball. Ordinary ancient martial artists would not be able to do it so easily, and they would never act as casually as he did.
"You raised a wonderful granddaughter and found her a wonderful husband, but now I don't even have a grandson. Sigh..."
General Xiao didn't care about the "human nuclear force" at all. In the blink of an eye, he realized that the nuclear force in Old Man Xia's body was given by Lin Yao. This made him sigh, thinking to himself that he was already 67 years old and who would take care of him in his old age.
"Let Xiao Deli have another one. He's still young. If his wife can't handle him, he can find another woman. He can't let one mistake ruin his whole life!"
General Xia shook his head indifferently, the smugness on his face gone. "I heard your grandson is both handsome and clever, how come you haven't found him after all these years? Is Xiao Deli a piece of shit? Useless!"
"well……"
General Xiao sighed heavily. "At that time, he was at a crucial moment in his promotion to major general, so he only had his wife report the case to the police station. He didn't use television or newspapers to search for him. Because of this, his wife has never forgiven him. Now the two of them are like strangers. I'm destined to never have any grandchildren in this life!"
"Find another one."
"It's no use. Although the couple hasn't seen each other at all, Xiao Deli is still devoted to her. His daughter-in-law has been divorced and hasn't remarried. She hasn't even been in contact with any men. He's practically a broken man."
The two men continued chatting about the family fortune, leaving Lin Yao as a mere spectator, quite puzzled. He wondered if his grandfather had brought him here just for small talk. Perhaps it was time to get down to business.
As Lin Yao was thinking about these things, General Xiao suddenly changed the subject and looked at Lin Yao, "Your grandson-in-law is really capable. Look at you, you're 75 years old, but your hair is all black. You look younger than me, who is 67. It's so good to have a grandson or granddaughter."