Lin Qiye frowned. "What do you mean by that?"Zhao Kongcheng smiled slightly, calmly taking a cigarette from his pocket.
"Mind if I do?"
"I do."
Zhao Kongcheng:...
Zhao Kongcheng reluctantly put away his cigarette, leaned back in his chair, and a look of reminiscence appeared in his eyes.
"When I was young, I was just like you."
"Honestly, this opening is a bit cliché."
"..."
"It's alright, you can continue."
"My father passed away from illness when I was six years old. My mother worked two jobs to barely raise me." Zhao Kongcheng rubbed his cigarette box, his voice very calm.
"The pace of life was very slow back then. My mother's expectation for me was that I finish junior high school, come back to become a village cadre, marry a young wife, have a few children, and live happily together as a family."
"You know, teenagers always have a rebellious phase.When I graduated from junior high school, my grades were pretty good. If I went back to become a village cadre, it wouldn't be too difficult. But I ignored her objections and resolutely joined the army."
"Actually, she didn't object, but she seemed a little unhappy. The day I left home, she stood at the door, just silently watching me. When I walked to the road behind the house, she was still watching me. When I reached the village entrance, she was still watching me…"
"Later, when I got to the city bus station, I couldn't rest easy, so I secretly went back to check on her... and found her still standing there, staring blankly in the direction I had walked."
"Honestly, I really considered staying and not leaving back then, but in the end, I steeled myself and joined the army."
Zhao Kongcheng sighed and continued, "Later, my military rank rose higher and higher. I joined the special forces, and because I was good at close combat, I was transferred to the Night Watch."
After that, I also went home during the holiday to visit my mother, and then I discovered…"
Zhao Kongcheng paused abruptly at this point.
Lin Qiye cautiously asked, "Your mother... passed away?"
"No, she remarried."
Lin Qiye:...
"My mother worked too hard when she was young, which ruined her health. She originally wanted me to go back to the village to become a cadre so that I could take care of her. But I didn't think of that at the time and chose to join the army."
"Later, she couldn't bear it alone any longer, so she got married, at least she would have someone to take care of her when she got old."
"Unfortunately, I had already joined the Night's Watch by then and couldn't stay by her side to care for her in her old age. To be honest, I was really relieved when I heard the news that she was getting married."
Lin Qiye pondered for a moment, then asked, "So, what is your purpose in telling me this?"
Zhao Kongcheng slowly stood up, looking into Lin Qiye's eyes, "We all once had things we cherished, but as we grow up, we subconsciously ignore their existence out of habit, and instead have all our attention drawn to other things..."
"I was like that back then, but you are different, Lin Qiye."
"You are smarter and more sensible than I was back then. You have your own ideas and you want to stay with your family."
"This is really good."
"Since you've chosen this path, then walk it well."
"Leave the task of protecting the world to us."
He turned around, picked up the parchment on the table, and handed it to Lin Qiye.
"I just met your aunt. In this day and age, there aren't many people as kind as her. I know your family's current situation. Here, take this money."
Lin Qiye didn't hesitate at all, "I don't want to."
"I'm a night watchman, I don't need the money."
"Then I don't want it either."
"This is for your aunt, you have to take it!"
"My aunt wouldn't want it either."
Zhao Kongcheng's lips twitched slightly as he stared at Lin Qiye for a long time, neither of them willing to back down.
After a long pause, Zhao Kongcheng spoke again, "Lin Qiye... I'm old. I can't bear to see the regrets that happened to me in the past happen to me again, even if it happens to someone else."
"Then you can close your eyes and not look." Lin Qiye's attitude was firm. "Although my family is poor, we have our bottom line. I will not take money from soldiers."
"Besides, my eyes are healed, I'm capable, and I won't let any regrets happen."
Zhao Kongcheng opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he said nothing and just smiled bitterly.
"Why don't you take this money back and use it for your wife and kids?" Lin Qiye said again.
"I told you, the Night Watch's welfare system is excellent. Even if I die on the battlefield, my wife and children will never have to worry about food or clothing for the rest of their lives, and they will be able to go to good universities and have a bright future." Seeing that he couldn't persuade Lin Qiye, Zhao Kongcheng could only put the leather bag back in his pocket.
"So you don't have any dreams of your own?"
"My dream?" Zhao Kongcheng sat back down in his chair, raising his eyebrows. "I do have a dream, I've had it since I was a child."
"What is it?"
"To become a general in the army! Then, with a dazzling array of medals hanging on my chest, wearing a military uniform, I'll return to the village in glory, letting those who looked down on my mother know that my mother's son... is a general!" A dazzling light shone in Zhao Kongcheng's eyes.
Lin Qiye was taken aback. For some reason, looking at Zhao Kongcheng in front of him, he seemed to think of Li Yifei again...
They seem to be the same type of people.
"So, have you become one yet?"
"No, not even close," Zhao Kongcheng said with a wry smile. "Besides, as a Night's Watchman, you can't just swagger around with your medals on display. This dream... will ultimately remain just a dream."
Lin Qiye fell silent.
"Alright, since that's the case, I should be going now." Zhao Kongcheng stood up, walked to Lin Qiye, and extended his right hand.
"I wish you a bright future, Lin Qiye."
Lin Qiye stared blankly at Zhao Kongcheng's face, which no longer seemed so greasy...
He extended his hand and grasped it tightly. "I wish you great achievements one day, General Zhao."
Zhao Kongcheng smiled, turned around and walked outside.
"Wait, your crest." Lin Qiye called out to him, picked up the crest from the table, and waved it.
Zhao Kongcheng slapped his forehead. "Look at my memory! I almost forgot! This is my life!"
Zhao Kongcheng took the emblem, glanced at it, and seemed to remember something. "By the way, did you see those last few sentences?"
"I saw it."
"How is it? Isn't it handsome?"
"Very cool, did you write this?"
"No, this is the oath we swore when we joined the Night's Watch." Zhao Kongcheng tossed the emblem like a coin, caught it steadily, and put it in his pocket. "But... I like it very much."
"Wait."
"What's wrong now?"
"It's raining heavily outside, take the umbrella."
"Thanks, but I won't return the umbrella."
"Take it, consider it... payment for protecting the Earth."
"Interesting. Okay, I'm really leaving."
"Goodbye."
Zhao Kongcheng, holding a black umbrella, opened the door and walked out, while Lin Qiye stood by the window, silently watching him leave.
In the rain, he rubbed the emblem between his fingers in his pocket and murmured:
"If the dark night finally arrives...
I will stand before ten million people.
With sword drawn, facing the abyss,
Staining the sky with blood…..."
The rain was getting heavier and heavier.
Zhao Kongcheng calmly got into the black van, holding an umbrella, and took out a cigarette case from his pocket, ready to enjoy a brief moment of peace.
Just then, his headset suddenly rang!
A man's voice came from it.His hand holding the cigarette trembled violently, and his pupils suddenly contracted!