Traveling Through Those Years Of Farming (Quick Transmigration) - Chapter 17

Over the years, the Huo family had grown increasingly powerful. Huo Xiongying was now a colonel. Not long ago, he led the artillery regiment and the Eagle Combat Team of Xihuai to victory in South Vietnam. If nothing unexpected happened, he was sure to be promoted soon.

According to the current military rank system, both colonels and brigadiers are brigade commanders. If Huo Xiongying gets promoted, he will be a division commander.

Currently, there are only two division commanders in Xihuai, and Huo Xiongying is nearly ten years younger than them, with a bright future ahead.

Huo Xiongying’s wife, Yu Nan, was no less accomplished. The women’s Red Show Army she formed had repeatedly achieved great successes in South Vietnam with its flexible combat strategies. 

It was much harder for women to be promoted in the army than for men, but Yu Nan had already risen to the rank of regiment commander. Her abilities made many men feel ashamed.

As the child of two heroes, Huo Jun was no less remarkable. In the year the college entrance exams resumed, he was admitted to the Central Military Academy. As the cradle of military cadres, this gave Huo Jun a higher starting point than his parents. With the support of his parents, his future seemed secure.

In comparison, the Jiang family seemed far behind. 

Jiang Chengshi wasn’t a particularly capable person. After many years, he had finally attained the position of secretary of the military corps. Before Yu Nan’s promotion, their positions had been roughly equal. However, because of Yu Nan’s formation of the Red Show Group and her special status in the army, a large gap had formed between Jiang Chengshi and Yu Nan.

He dreamed of getting close to the Huo family, but unfortunately, Huo Xiongying didn’t appreciate flattery. He valued practical skills and real abilities. Huo Xiongying never took Jiang Chengshi’s attempts to flatter him seriously.

Because of this, Jiang Chengshi came up with another plan and began to reconsider the marriages of his children. It is said that the rich marry their daughters, while the poor marry their daughters-in-law. 

His daughter and niece were both as beautiful as flowers, with a good reputation in the compound. In Jiang Chengshi’s opinion, either of the two girls would be a good match for Huo Jun.

When he learned that Huo Jun would be home on leave during the military academy holidays, he gave his daughters a sum of money early in the morning and asked them to dress up beautifully.

For Jiang Chengshi, it didn’t matter which child ended up with Huo Jun. Either way, he could get closer to the Huo family. Even if Huo Xiongying didn’t help him, others would likely try to please him for the sake of the connection.

Wang Juan and Jiang Chengshi had different thoughts. Though Jiang Mingmiao was her niece, she wasn’t her biological niece. No matter how much Wang Juan cared for her, she would rather see her own daughter marry into a wealthy family.

Unfortunately, her own daughter was no good for anything.

“Miaomiao is so pretty. If the boy from the Huo family doesn’t like you, it must be because his eyes aren’t working properly.” Wang Juan smiled and stepped forward to hold her niece’s hand. 

The two looked like real mother and daughter.

Upon seeing this, Jiang Mingting felt calm. She simply looked at the wooden beads in her hand, a bright smile on her face.

“Speed, speed! Haven’t you eaten enough? What about the speed of punching?”

“Prediction! When I do this move, you should already be thinking about my next move!”

On the training field, Yu Nan was giving one-on-one training to her favorite female soldier.

As a soldier, Yu Nan had passed the peak of her physical strength. Now in her forties, even though she maintained daily training, her strength, speed, and reaction time were no longer what they had been in her prime. However, even so, years of actual combat experience allowed her to feel confident during one-on-one training sessions.

Baobao, her student, had been trained so rigorously that she felt like a pug on the field. She wanted to collapse, tongue out, gasping for air.

She had started training in the army at the age of fifteen. Back then, the training had been basic, and the intensity gradually increased due to her physical condition.

Three months ago, after Yu Nan returned from South Vietnam.

Baobao, as one of the army’s most promising recruits, was selected for one-on-one training with Yu Nan. Thus began the hard days for Baobao.

It must be said that Yu Nan was a great teacher. She made Baobao clearly understand that being strong didn’t mean being invincible.

Yu Nan’s movements were incredibly fluid. With years of practical training, she could almost predict Baobao’s next move with near accuracy and dodge it in time.

It was true that Baobao was strong, but when she couldn’t physically engage with her opponent, her strength was useless.

Yu Nan could attack many of Baobao’s vital points with a teaching stick when she wasn’t prepared, and she could also rely on dodging to gradually wear down Baobao’s stamina.

Over the years, Baobao’s physical fitness had slowly caught up with the average person, but she was still only barely on par. Physical fitness remained one of her biggest weaknesses.

However, after three months of intensive training, Baobao had made some progress. At least now, when Yu Nan sparred with her, Yu Nan’s expression had become much more serious.

“Take a break.” Yu Nan glanced at Baobao’s face and could tell she had reached her physical limit. “Let’s go to my house for dinner later. The boy is back. I asked your Uncle Huo to buy some dishes from the canteen.”

Yu Nan tossed a clean towel to Baobao. She really liked this girl. Initially, she thought Baobao would be delicate and unable to endure hardship. But who would have thought she’d survive three months of this training?

Yu Nan knew how tough and ruthless she could be when training soldiers. Baobao had been trained by her from day one, and tears had flowed from her like a faucet with no valve.

At the time, Yu Nan had considered going to the higher-ups after the training session to ask for someone else to lead her.

Unexpectedly, the crybaby not only kept up with the training but even surprised Yu Nan with her resilience. That was when Yu Nan started to look at her with newfound respect.

“Okay!” When Baobao heard there would be a big meal, she immediately jumped up from the ground. 

She quickly wiped her eyes with the towel, not wanting her “faucet” to turn on again.

Huo Xiongying and Yu Nan were both busy people. Their kitchen had hardly ever been used, except for boiling water. They usually ate their three meals in the army canteen. Their daily lives were simple, but now that their son was home for a rare holiday, Huo Xiongying made an exception and asked the orderly to buy chicken, duck, fish, and pork. He then asked the chef to cook a few big dishes, turning it into a welcome banquet for their son.

Based on Baobao’s understanding of the Huo family, their love for their son, Huo Jun, was short-lived and limited. Huo Jun would likely enjoy one day of celebration, but the next morning, he would find his parents had already changed their faces and sent him back to extra training during his holiday.

Thinking about this, Baobao’s smile had an almost gloating edge.

“Are there guests?”

Yu Nan walked to the entrance with Baobao and overheard the conversation inside. She glanced at the orderly standing by the door and quietly asked.

“It’s the wife and daughter of the commander of the 3rd and 6th regiments, and the instructor of the 7th regiment, Jiang.”

Jiang Mingmiao had been raised by Jiang Chengshi and his wife since she was young. Despite Jiang Chengshi never hesitating to publicize his good deeds of adopting his brother’s daughter, people still called Jiang Mingmiao the eldest daughter of the Jiang family, not just the niece.

Jiang Chengshi didn’t correct them, considering it a recognition of his good deeds.

“There are also a few soldiers who used to be under the brigade commander’s command. When they heard Xiaozhun was back, they came to visit.”

These soldiers had been with Huo Xiongying and his wife for years. The way they called Huo Jun indicated a different kind of relationship with him.

“So many people?” Yu Nan frowned, feeling a bit unhappy. 

Her son was finally home, but instead of having a quiet moment with him, there were a bunch of people trying to establish connections.

Yu Nan didn’t like the atmosphere. These guests had poor eating habits, and it was obvious they came to visit Huo Jun with ulterior motives.

“You’re back.”

Huo Xiongying was sitting on the sofa in the living room. Except for the space on the sofa where he sat, the other long sofas were filled with people, with a few young girls standing behind them.

Yu Nan scanned the room but didn’t see her son. He should have been back by now.

“Baobao’s here too.”

Huo Xiongying’s smile became much more genuine when he saw Yu Nan and Baobao enter together.

In three months, the army-wide competition would be held, including both military exercises and individual combat competitions. Their results in the last two years of the army competition hadn’t been ideal, especially in individual combat. It had been seven years since they had crowned a soldier king.

Baobao was Huo Xiongying’s secret weapon. Her strength wasn’t only useful in hand-to-hand combat; her shooting skills were also unmatched.

It’s well known that shooting accuracy depends not only on eyesight and experience but also on personal stability. Baobao’s strength allowed her to remain still and unbothered by the recoil, making her a natural sharpshooter.

After months of training, Huo Xiongying was confident that Baobao had the potential to become a top marksman.

What pleased him most was that this girl didn’t waste her talent. No matter how difficult the training was, she persisted. How could Huo Xiongying, who valued strength above all, not like her?

“Xiao Zhun is upstairs. Go up and find him.” Huo Xiongying pointed toward the stairs, causing a small stir in the spacious living room.

Although the guests didn’t explicitly say it, their intentions were clear— they had come with their well-dressed juniors to get closer to Huo Jun. 

Unfortunately for them, Huo Jun had found an excuse to go upstairs soon after their arrival and had not come down. This made the guests feel anxious and helpless. They couldn’t help but feel frustrated that the Huo family treated them with less affection than they did this unfamiliar girl.

Especially the shy girls, who had waited for a long time but couldn’t get an invitation from Huo Xiongying to go upstairs with him. Their faces were flushed with embarrassment.

Jiang Mingmiao watched Baobao as she walked upstairs, her eyes burning with desire as she took in the girl’s every movement. She recognized her.

Wang Juan, a clever woman, quickly realized she had made a misstep today. She came up with an excuse to cook for her husband and left the Huo family with her niece and daughter.

After them, the rest of the guests also began to leave.

Jiang Mingmiao stood outside the Huo family’s elegant little western-style house. The house had been built by the army a few years ago as a cadre compound. It featured a spacious courtyard, two floors, and a small attic. Every room was spacious, and the living room alone was as big as half her uncle’s house.

She stared at the second-floor window, her eyes filled with determination as she silently vowed to claim everything she had set her sights on.