Chapter 206: He Loves His Country

Chapter 206: Chapter 206: He Loves His Country

"Commander, I understand. Thank you for your guidance." Lu Zhengchuan realized he wasn’t opposed to a desk job. He could still take command and solve cases in the future, just not from the front lines himself.

With power and a stable life, he would be able to take care of Wanwan and their two children.

He couldn’t bear to make Wanwan give up her research, so it would fall to him to look after their two children.

"Alright. In that case, I’ll discuss it with the other leaders. Your rank will remain the same. Your merits from this operation will be duly recorded, which makes it a perfect opportunity to have you rotate to a new post for training and development."

This was a direct swap of posts with an officer from another regiment. This kind of arrangement was contingent on outstanding performance and exceptional potential. Moreover, this rotational training period usually came with a clear development and mentorship plan, which meant he was being singled out for grooming.

Lu Zhengchuan snapped a sharp salute.

"Yes, Commander!"

"You kid, you sure changed your tune fast," Commander Zhang said with a mock scolding. "You’ll still need to train hard. This rotation won’t be any easier than commanding on the front lines. You have to complete the development and mentorship program. If your score is too low, you’ll be embarrassing me."

Lu Zhengchuan held his respectful salute, a smile breaking out on his face.

"I’ll give you ten days to recover from your injury. Can you do it?" Commander Zhang said, his tone turning serious.

"I can!"

Lu Zhengchuan’s reply was full of vigor. Although it was a gunshot wound, it hadn’t hit anything vital. His physical conditioning was so good that he’d only need half a month to recover from an injury that would take others a full month.

After so many missions, he had become an expert at avoiding fatal blows.

"Good. You can go for now. We’ll give you the results after the leadership has met to discuss it." Commander Zhang dismissed him.

Lu Zhengchuan saluted and left. His steps felt light as he walked out.

’I just wonder when Dad will be transferred back from abroad.’

’He could guess from his commander’s attitude that it would still take some time for the domestic authorities to fully integrate and control that faction. The foreign powers could surely figure that out too, which meant his father would be under immense pressure abroad.’

’At the very least, whenever those foreign leaders got displeased, they would send people to test his father.’

’However, Hua Country’s current performance on the southern front had taken the world by surprise. It seemed no one expected the supposedly weaker Hua Country to fight with such fearless and ferocious resolve on the battlefield.’

’His father’s faction was currently feigning allegiance to Hua Country to deliberately confuse the foreign powers. If they really dared to start a fight, his father’s people wouldn’t back down.’

’Besides, if a real war broke out, other nations would be reluctant to sacrifice their own soldiers, leaving mercenaries to become cannon fodder. And with the influence of his father’s group, other mercenary teams might even be swayed, potentially affecting the overall situation.’

’Thinking about it, Lu Zhengchuan broke into a cold sweat for his father. ’Having to work so hard for the country at his age... isn’t that elder abuse?’’

’He even started to think that perhaps it wouldn’t be long before he could finally meet him.’

"Zheng Chuan."

Lu Zhengchuan had just stepped out of the office building when someone called his name.

Lu Zhengchuan stopped and looked over. It was Liu Qi. As someone from a third-generation military family, his connections within the military compound were definitely more extensive than his own.

Lu Zhengchuan knew that to get by in the Capital Mansion, one had to be tactful and avoid offending people. In the past, he simply disliked dealing with social intricacies, but that didn’t mean he lacked emotional intelligence.

"Director Liu." Lu Zhengchuan saluted.

Liu Qi paused mid-stride, surprised. He hadn’t expected Lu Zhengchuan to be so slippery, neither accepting his friendly overture nor offending him.

"Zheng Chuan, what’s with the ’Director’? Just call me Brother Liu. You must be wondering why I sought you out, right?"

Lu Zhengchuan put on a suitably puzzled expression.

Liu Qi smiled. "My father was your mother’s senior in school. They once worked together at the same research institute. Back when your mother passed away during childbirth, it was my father and the dean at the time who handled her final arrangements. He was even the one who arranged for someone to send you back to Yang Province."

"My father was deeply saddened by your mother’s passing. She was a truly brilliant researcher. If not for her accident back then, our country’s weapons research would be far more advanced than it is today."

"Now that you’re here, my dad told me to look out for you. Don’t read too much into it; I don’t have any ulterior motives," Liu Qi said, grinning at him.

Lu Zhengchuan couldn’t tell if he was telling the truth.

Since the man was extending an olive branch, he could afford to be a little ’forward’.

"Brother Liu, I know very little about my mother. I had no idea that was what happened. I must find the time to visit in person and thank your father for his kindness."

’The chances of Liu Qi lying about something like this were slim. After all, a number of people who knew his mother were still alive. Though the researchers themselves were hard to get a hold of, there were also the security personnel and the former Dean Wu, who was now retired.’

’He could definitely find out the truth, so it was unlikely Liu Qi was lying.’

"My dad would be overjoyed to know you’re planning to visit," Liu Qi beamed, but then he sighed. "Unfortunately, he’s at the institute and hasn’t had any time off. I barely see him a few times a year myself."

"As soon as I heard you’d arrived, I contacted my dad. He called and told me to look out for you, which is why I’m here now."

Lu Zhengchuan showed just the right amount of gratitude. "Brother Liu, since your father isn’t available, please let me treat you to a meal instead."

"Zheng Chuan, you should just come over to my place. My grandfather is home, and I’m sure he’d be happy to help my dad look after you."

"Brother Liu, I appreciate the kind offer, but I’d rather not disturb Commander Liu. It would be too presumptuous to show up unannounced. It’s better if it’s just us of the younger generation getting to know each other. I’ll pay a proper visit to Commander Liu during the New Year."

Seeing his insistence, Liu Qi clapped him on the shoulder. "Alright, then let’s stay in touch. If you ever need help with anything, just come find me."

"Brother Liu, actually, there is one small thing. A young soldier delivered some vegetables to my house this morning. I wasn’t home, so I don’t know who sent them. You know the army’s rules... I can’t just accept gifts like that."

Liu Qi gave an awkward laugh. "Ah, that Xiao Sun. He’s so unreliable. I just asked him to drop off some vegetables my grandfather grows at home for you to try. I can’t believe he didn’t even say who they were from, just dropped them and ran. I’m sorry if it caused a misunderstanding, Zheng Chuan."

"Oh, so they were from you, Brother Liu? I thought it was from some thoughtless subordinate of mine." Lu Zhengchuan said, pulling him along. "That won’t do. From now on, just come to me directly, Brother Liu. Our housekeeper didn’t know what they were and almost left them out in the sun to spoil."

"It’s fine, it’s fine. It’s a small thing. I’ll give you a heads-up next time."

"Brother Liu, I know you mean well, but I feel guilty just accepting these vegetables. Next time, call me over to help out first. After I’ve put in some work, then I’ll be shameless enough to take some home with me."

Liu Qi’s expression flickered with displeasure at this tactful rejection, but he quickly masked it.

"Alright, alright. I won’t spring it on you like that next time," Liu Qi said, patting his shoulder. "You go on, then. Get back to what you were doing."

"Hey, Brother Liu," Lu Zhengchuan called after him. "What was it you really came to find me for today?"

[I took a day off yesterday, the last day of the month, so I didn’t write. For now, I can only manage to post updates after 11 PM. Once I have a buffer of 4,000 characters saved up, I’ll switch back to updating at 7 AM.]