Chapter 24

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“Jiang Tong.”

“Jiang Tong…”

Jiang Huan and He Jingyang called his name at the same time. Shen Shanwu trotted forward a few steps as if he had been allowed, and stood beside Jiang Huan. “I seem to have heard my name mentioned just now?”

He raised his head, looked at Jiang Huan and then at He Jingyang, “Is there anything wrong?”

“It’s okay.”

“There is indeed, I have something to tell you.”

The diametrically opposite answer sounded at the same time. Jiang Huan took Jiang Tong’s hand slightly sullenly and wanted to take him away directly. However, the child who had always been curious must have been caught by He Jingyang’s words. Shen Shanwu put aside Jiang Huan’s hand and asked, “What’s the matter, Captain He?”

“…” Jiang Huan never thought that Jiang Tong would throw away his hand like this, and it was also because of this moment of stupor that He Jingyang said the next words. After that, Jiang Huan could still forcibly take Jiang Tong away… But that would be too sad.

“Jiang Tong, brother, can I show you a picture?” He Jingyang supported his knees with one hand, bent down, and said to Jiang Tong. Shen Shanwu blinked, wondering, “What picture?”

“Look…” He Jingyang took out the photo he had just shown Jiang Huan, “One of them is me, and the other one looks like you. Does it look like you?”

Shen Shanwu probed in surprise, “Isn’t this…”

A shh sound faintly popped up behind the word ’yes’, and before the tip of his tongue reached his teeth, he was shocked and covered his mouth with his helmet.

“Yes, who is it? Do you know Shanwu?!” He Jingyang turned up the volume in surprise, and Shen Shanwu quickly shook his head. Before he could say the denial, he was forced to turn his body by Jiang Huan again. The latter also squatted down and asked anxiously, “What did you just want to say? ‘Isn’t this’…What is this?”

Perhaps it was Jiang Huan’s tone that was too harsh, and the fingers grasping Jiang Tong’s shoulder were too hard. Shen Shanwu struggled in a panic, “I don’t know, it hurts…I didn’t say anything.”

“Jiang Tong, Jiang Tong, look at me.” He Jingyang was very excited. He held up the photo and faced Jiang Tong. “I am good friends with this brother, who looks a lot like you. Very good, very good friends. Look at how close we are in the photo. Believe me. Tell me everything you know. If you have any problems, my brother will help you solve them, okay?”

Then he said condescendingly, “Captain Jiang, you are hurting him, can you please let him go? I want to ask him a few questions.”

Jiang Huan’s body stiffened, and his fingers immediately withdrew their strength, but he did not raise his head. His gaze still fell on Shen Shanwu’s face, still motionless, focused and lonely, “Ask what you want.”

“…” Shen Shanwu looked at He Jingyang timidly, his eyes still alert, but he was not as scared as he had just been.

The change in Shen Shanwu’s attitude also made He Jingyang more emboldened, “You will make Jiang Tong nervous like this… No, he shouldn’t be called Jiang Tong at all.”

He put his hand on Shen Shanwu’s shoulder, and his gentle smile made him shine in the sun, with sword eyebrows and starry eyes, a high nose, and thin lips. It was He Jingyang’s golden and jade appearance that once moved Shen Shanwu’s heart, “Good boy, tell me what your real name is, okay?”

“…” Shen Shanwu did not immediately answer him, but once he hesitated, it proved that there was a hidden situation, and there was a possibility of a breakthrough. So He Jingyang showed the photos again. Of late, it seems that he made the right choice to leave these memories with Shen Shanwu because of nostalgia and unwillingness.

“Shen Shanwu mentioned you to me… you are the son of his little aunt, right? In other words, your mother and Shen Shanwu’s father are brothers and sisters, you have to call Shen Shanwu ‘cousin’…”

The boy’s eyes flickered, and it was obvious that his heart was shaking extremely. Seeing him like this, He Jingyang became more and more determined to win, and his mask couldn’t hide his joy.

On the contrary, Jiang Huan was the opposite. He seemed to have completely lost the ability to speak. He remained silent from beginning to end. Even the hands on Shen Shanwu’s arms had no strength, and he could wave them with just a flick.

Seeing that the situation was almost at a breakthrough, He Jingyang repeated the previous question again, “Tell brother, what’s your last name?”

It took a long time before Shen Shanwu whispered, “You won’t hurt me, will you?”

“No, of course not.” He Jingyang replied quickly, while Jiang Huan paused for a while before seriously saying, “Never.”

“My…” Shen Shanwu licked the corners of his dry lips, narrowed his eyes, and said, “My mother’s surname is Shen, and my name is… Shen Shanrong.”

Shen Shanwu and Shen Shanrong, anyone could tell that they were related.

His voice fell on the soil like a crystal dewdrop on the tip of a leaf. There was no trace on the surface, but it was enough to penetrate into the innermost layer. For a long time after that, there was no sound except for rapid and heavy breathing. He Jingyang’s chest rose up and down excitedly, but Jiang Huan was like a sculpture, motionless.

Unable to hear the reply, Shen Shanwu continued in a low voice to himself, “The one in your picture is my cousin. He found me a few years ago… He told me that his situation is very special. Many people outside want to harm him. I may be implicated, so I am not allowed to tell others my real name.”

“Harm him?” Jiang Huan frowned slightly. The mutants have many enemies, and there were indeed quite a few who wanted to harm Shen Shanwu. What Jiang Tong… What Shen Shanrong said was very reasonable.

“Hmm.” Shen Shanwu nodded. He lowered his head cautiously, raised his eyes, and looked at the two of them with a glance. After biting his lower lip, Shen Shanwu spoke as if he had made up his mind, “My cousin seems to be saying that he was betrayed by his girlfriend or something, so I must be careful…”

As he said, he smiled at He Jingyang. His eyes were clearly bent like a crescent moon, and his slender eyebrows were also better curved, but his eyes were so thin and cold that he didn’t look like a child at all. “Since it’s a girlfriend, then the bad guy must be a woman. Captain Jiang and Captain He are all men, so they will definitely not be the bad guys who harmed my cousin.”

The child still maintained a naive and ignorant smile and used simple and crude logic to reach a wrong conclusion, but the two adults present instantly changed their faces.

Shen Shanwu likes men. He won’t have any girlfriends. All he will have is a boyfriend.

Jiang Huan immediately hugged Shen Shanwu with one arm, in a clear protective and defensive posture. He Jingyang’s breathing tightened, and his eyes were red under the mask. “Shanrong, are you sure that’s what your cousin said? Why don’t you think about it again?”

“That’s right.” Shen Shanwu held Jiang Huan’s arm instead, turned his head, blinked at him, and then said to He Jingyang with certainty. “That’s what cousin Shanwu told me. He said that his girlfriend betrayed him and gave his secret to the bad guys, causing him to be hunted down all over the world. He said that this woman was ugly like an old witch, like a rat in a stinky ditch, like a ball of dung with maggots, like a rotten and smelly zombie’s internal organs. He reminded me that if someone who claims to be his girlfriend comes to me in the future, don’t believe her.”

“This… There must be some misunderstanding in the middle.” He Jingyang’s face turned green when he was scolded, and he didn’t forget to hurriedly raise his head to quibble with Jiang Huan. Just because of Shen Shanwu’s remarks, the positions of the two suddenly changed. At this moment, the person who needed to explain in a hurry had become He Jingyang, and Jiang Huan’s innocence was high above.

Seeing the duck flying to his mouth, He Jingyang couldn’t help being angry, “Captain Jiang, after so many years, Shanrong probably heard it wrong, and the authenticity of his words needs to be investigated again…”

“Well, I will naturally investigate.” Jiang Huan was too lazy to talk nonsense with him anymore, and He Jingyang was not qualified to entangle him here anymore. All he wanted was Jiang Tong, as for the others.……

If Shen Shanwu were here, perhaps Jiang Huan would take the initiative to get acquainted with Shen Shanwu’s friends and integrate into Shen Shanwu’s circle, but Shen Shanwu was not there. Jiang Huan just wanted to hide everything about him, especially Jiang Tong’s face, that almost cut his heart open. As for the crowd, “Jiang… Shen Shanrong, let’s go, get in the car.”

Shen Shanwu was also in an inexplicably happy mood. Although he felt that he hadn’t played well enough and scolded him hard enough, with the identity of ‘Jiang Tong’, who had never attended school and had no culture, he could only scold him metaphorically. For this reason, he waved his hand at He Jingyang generously, “Goodbye.” Never-ever-see-you-again!

“Shanrong.” He Jingyang was still unwilling to let Shen Shanwu’s cousin leave in this way. He urgently needed such an opportunity to meet Shen Shanwu again. Eight years ago, his insight was too short, and he stood on the opposite side of Shen Shanwu in the position of serving someone.

Nowadays, the third largest mercenary group in the northern territory of Anping had long since fallen, and he had become the captain of the first major army in the Northern Territory from a lover who couldn’t even help. The hardships were evident.

Because of Shen Shanwu’s relationship, he paid close attention to all the news about the mutants and also learned a lot of secrets that ordinary people did not know, such as the nature of the mutants, their intelligence, and certain abilities. The more he understood them, the more remorseful he became. If he still had the identity of Shen Shanwu’s lover and could get the support of the mutants, then his path would be much smoother.

He Jingyang didn’t know if it was too late, but he had to fight for it anyway, to get it back.

“Shanrong, do you want to come with me?” He Jingyang said loudly, “I am your cousin’s childhood sweetheart. We grew up together. We know everything about each other… I will treat you as my biological brother and will meet all your requirements.”

“…” Shen Shanwu paused, but it was only for a moment, as if it was an illusion. Then, he followed Jiang Huan away without looking back, without a trace of hesitation or nostalgia.

On the off-road vehicle, Lieutenant Xu had been waiting for Jiang Huan for a long time, and Yao Wuque was also muttering to Zhong Yin about being so slow. As soon as Jiang Huan got in the car, Xu Ye immediately stepped forward and said, “There is a woman in the Bellona team who wants to go with our car and go to the coastal base.”

Jiang Huan now had a headache when he heard the word, Bellona. He took off his mask and showed impatience in his eyebrows, “What do you mean?”

“That lady’s name is Xu Honglin… Yes, she and I share the same surname.” Xu Ye diverged a few sentences and immediately got back to the topic, “She seems to be the daughter of a high-level official in Wuyou City. This time, she paid for Bellona’s car to go to the northern territory of Anping to broaden her horizons, but along the way, you see, she felt that it was not safe to travel with Bellona again, so she wanted to go to the coastal base with us instead. We only needed to escort her to the entrance of the coastal base, and she said she could solve the rest.”

After the previous summary was finished, Xu Ye made another vague gesture, “She will give this number, as long as we agree, she will give half of the deposit first.”

Shen Shanwu tilted his head unknowingly and heard Yao Wuque whispering behind him, “The rich woman’s supplies are really profitable.”

“You can figure it out.” Jiang Huan waved his hand perfunctorily. He had more important things to do now, and he didn’t care about these side branches at all. The caring and versatile lieutenant immediately made an OjbK’s gesture and happily responded to Xu Honglin’s request. Earning this rounding was tantamount to earning materials for nothing.

Sending away this episode, Jiang Huan walked to Shen Shanwu’s side and sat down, lowering his eyes as if he was brewing some emotions. After a long time, he finally sighed deeply, “Shanrong, there is one thing I must tell you. It is your cousin…”

“Puff…” Shen Shanwu laughed. He still wondered what Jiang Huan was holding back for a long time. It turned out that the other party didn’t understand the hint he gave to Jiang Huan before, “What Shanrong, Shen Shanrong, I made it up. I don’t have any cousins at all. I said a long time ago that I was an orphan.”

Jiang Huan was really shocked now. The light and shadow in his black eyes kept shaking, and his lips muttered for a long time, and he couldn’t piece together a complete sentence, “Then you…”

“Oh, when I just went to call you, I heard you talking about me. What Shen Shanwu and cousin? I think you lost your way. It seems that you can’t argue with the person on the other side, so I quickly made up a lie on the spot to help you.” Shen Shanwu smiled slyly, like a child who succeeded in a prank, and he was so cute when he was bad.

But in fact, in his heart, he was scolding Jiang Huan for his evil writing. Pretending to be guilty? No mouth? Can’t you speak Chinese? You can’t even hold back three words with a stick. When you were a child, you were able to speak and speak. When you grew up, you cherished words like gold. That He Jingyang was about to run all over your head, and you were still there palely saying, “Don’t talk nonsense~” Shen Shanwu was so angry that he threw Zhong Yin away and ran to the “Captain’s Eloquence Solo Competition Field”.

Jiang Huan can lose, but He Jingyang must die.

When he first heard that He Jingyang had the idea of adopting Jiang Tong, Shen Shanwu didn’t feel anything other than thinking about why this thing was so thick-skinned. Anyway, Jiang Huan wouldn’t agree. Even if Jiang Huan hesitated to ask him for his opinion, he would just bite to death and refuse to go. What could He Jingyang do to him?

But he didn’t expect He Jingyang, this dog, to talk more and more about, and he actually had the face to bite back at the good things he had done and smear Jiang Huan’s head. He really thought that the person who knew the truth was not there, so he could spray it casually?

Sorry, the victim was standing here and heard everything.

The author has something to say:

A long time later, Jiang Huan, who had obtained the status of the main palace, saw He Jingyang again: Heh (smiling without laughing)

He Jingyang: … (Very angry, but still have to keep smiling)