Book 4, Chapter 253: The Body Is The Weapon Of The Country
Book 4, Chapter 253: The Body Is The Weapon Of The Country
Han Kuang had been worried that Chen Chuan wouldn’t recognize him, which would lead to things being awkward. Who knew how his colleagues would look at him then? To his surprise, though, Chen Chuan recognized him immediately.
The tension in his heart eased up, and he smiled. “Happy New Year to you too, Xiao Chuan. Yu Wan said that you had government business and would arrive a little later. My wife has been worried about you, so she’ll be happy once she sees you.”
Chen Chuan smiled. “I’m sorry for making you two worried. I was supposed to come with my family, but I got delayed by some things. I came here immediately after getting it settled.”
Then, he looked around. “And they are?”
Han Kuang turned to the side and started making introductions. “This is Chief of Staff Bai of the General Staff Department. The military made some arrangements after learning about your arrival so I could pick you up.”
Chen Chuan extended his hand. “Hello, Chief of Staff Bai.”
The man stepped forward and shook Chen Chuan’s hand with a smile. “Hello, Director Chen. We’re delighted to have you in Shannan Road. How long are you planning to stay? We’d like to get the arrangements sorted out.”
“I have plenty of work after the New Year, so I won’t be staying long. Just a few days,” Chen Chuan said.
“You’re an outstanding man, so your responsibilities are greater than ours. Thank you for working so hard for us. No matter what, you’re our guest. If you’re here even for a day, we need to get everything sorted out for you as your host,” Chief of Staff Bai said with a smile.
Even though he wasn’t in the same government department as Chen Chuan, he had come to the same conclusion as Han Kuang. If Chen Chuan had become a martial arts master at such a young age and got to such an important position in Central City, he was highly capable, but also, someone in the central government had to be taking care of him. There was a high likelihood that he was going to end up as part of the Great Shun Republic’s upper echelon in the future.
Now that he had a chance to befriend such a person, he wasn’t going to pass it up. Even if he wouldn’t live to see the day Chen Chuan got to be part of the upper echelon, maybe his descendants could make use of this connection.
He was also a man of great tact. Since they didn’t have any sort of ties, he backed away after a few exchanges. As for Xiao Fan, since Han Kuang hadn’t introduced him, he couldn’t just step forward to speak.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, they started leaving. Chen Chuan got into the General Staff Department’s car with Han Kuang, while Chief of Staff Bai and Xiao Fan got into another car.
Once the car started moving, Han Kuang took a look at the rearview mirror and found that Chen Chuan looked quite similar to Yu Jie and Yu Wan. “Xiao Chuan, you were really young when I first met you. You’ve grown so big in the blink of an eye.
Chen Chuan smiled. “I remember it. Back then, you had brought Han Cheng over. He was really naughty and climbed up a loquat tree to catch a cat, only to fall from it. Aunt Jie spanked him really hard.”
“You remember that?” Han Kuang was quite surprised. Soon, though, his mind found the answer. “Right. Martial arts masters have a great memory. Yes. Han Cheng has been naughty since he was a boy.”
“What is he doing now?”
“He’s running an agent company. I don’t know what he’s doing, even though it’s the New Year. I don’t approve of his career, but we can’t control him, so we just let him be. My daughters are still at home, though. You haven’t met them. When I saw your parents, they weren’t born yet.”
“A’Qian showed me photos of them. Xiaohuan resembles you, while Xiaojing took after Aunt Jie.”
Han Kuang smiled. After their brief conversation, he got an idea of how to get along with Chen Chuan. At first, he hadn’t known how to speak to his nephew.
It turned out that Chen Chuan wasn’t like the other aloof martial arts masters. Even though due to his position and status, Han Kuang couldn’t treat him like a normal nephew, at the very least, they could talk to each other naturally. Chen Chuan also spoke respectfully to him.
Lao Nian and Yu Wan sure are great at teaching kids. Nian Qian is already outstanding enough and is much better than my clown of a son, while Chen Chuan is even more amazing. He has surpassed all of our expectations.
***
While they were heading back, Yu Jie got a call telling them to go back. Han Xiaohuan didn’t give a lot of details, so Yu Jie had to call home to learn about it. Nian Qian answered the phone to explain things, and she spent some time understanding what had happened.
It was only then that she learned that her nephew was amazing. Not only did he have such a high government position, but he was also a national-level martial artist. Even though she didn’t quite understand how much weight those titles carried, if the commanding officers of the military had to welcome him in person, he was definitely an important person.
“Xiao Wan, why didn’t you tell me this sooner?” she grumbled at Yu Wan.
“Xiao Chuan was supposed to come with us, but he suddenly had work to do. That’s why we left before him. Xiao Chuan has quite the unusual status now, so we can’t make any decisions for him when he has to work, can we? Since he promised that he will come and visit, I thought that it would be better for him to say it himself when he arrives,” Nian Fuli explained.
Yu Wan grabbed her sister’s hand and said, “A’Jie, even if Chan’er has a high position now, he’s still your nephew and A’Zhen’s son. There’s nothing different about him. It’s not like he won’t acknowledge you as his aunt just because he has a high position.”
That made sense, and Yu Jie cheered up. “Then, what are we waiting for? Let’s go back! A’Wan, Xiao Chuan has become really successful, huh?”
When Yu Wan saw her sister speeding up, she said, “Slow down, A’Jie!”
Nian Fuli stepped forward and took Nian Lu from her hands. “Go with your sister. I’ll walk behind you two with Xiao Mo and Xiao Lu.”
Once they were back in the car, the family hurried back home.
***
As the General Staff Department’s car headed to Han Kuang’s villa, they found that the entire path was under martial law. Even when they left Central City, there were security guards by the sides of the road, and they saluted the passing car.
While Han Kuang was in the military, he seldom saw such a spectacle. Only Commander Zhao received such treatment. In the past, he had dreamt of it, but later on, he gave up on it. He wasn’t expecting to receive it through Chen Chuan today.
When he took a quick glance back, he found that his nephew was completely calm about it, as if he was used to this, and he felt even more complicated emotions in his heart.
Once they parked at the villa, Chen Chuan and Han Kuang got out. Chief of Staff Bai got out as well and spoke a little to Chen Chuan before patting Han Kuang’s shoulder. “Lao Han, come to my place in a few days. Wanshu brought some great tea leaves for me, and I haven’t gotten anyone to enjoy them with me yet.”
“Alright,” Han Kuang agreed to it with a smile. Once they saw Chief of Staff Bai off, he felt a myriad of emotions in his heart. Then, he smoothed out his clothes and motioned for Chen Chuan to go inside with him.
Nian Qian and his daughters ran out. The girls stared at Chen Chuan curiously. He looked even better than they had imagined him to be, especially his lively, radiant eyes. They had never seen such eyes before.
“This is Chen Chuan, your cousin. Say hi,” Han Kuang said, and his daughters greeted him in a friendly but timid fashion.
“Hello,” Chen Chuan replied with a smile.
Just then, they heard the roar of an engine outside. Han Kuang took a look and said, “Your aunt’s back. She had gone out to buy things with your family in the morning.”
After a moment, Yu Jie came in and fixed her eyes on Chen Chuan.
“Happy New Year, Aunty.” Chen Chuan smiled.
“Oh, Happy New Year!” Yu Jie walked up with a smile to look at Chen Chuan closely. “You look so much like A’Zhen. You’re making me miss her.”
Then, she teared up.
“Come on now. It’s the New Year,” Han Kuang chided her gently.
“Yes. You’re right.” She wiped her tears away. “Come. Sit.”
She took a look at the fruits on the table and exclaimed, “We can’t just serve Xiao Chuan with these!
“Xiao Chuan, it’s lunch time now. What do you want to eat? I’ll cook for you.”
“You don’t have to cook for me right now, Aunty. I will be imposing on you for a few days, so I’ll have plenty of chances to try your cooking,” Chen Chuan said with a smile.
“That’s great. Stay! You just arrived, haven’t you? Lao Han, Xiaohuan, Xiaojing, you need to be good hosts. A’Wan, Fuli, sit. I’ll go wash up a bit.”
Once Yu Jie washed her face, she went to the kitchen with Mrs. Ling to start cooking. When it was time for lunch, the dining table was covered in food. They ate until it was past 1 p.m., and Yu Jie got a room ready for Chen Chuan. Once she was done and returned to her own bedroom, she asked in disbelief, “How did Xiao Chuan become the director of the Defense Bureau, Lao Han?”
Han Kuang was sitting on the bed. “That’s not even the most impressive part. It’s because he’s a martial arts master.”
Yu Jie only knew that martial arts masters were really strong martial artists who had lots of importance placed on them by the central government, but no idea about their actual strength. She sat down beside him. “Why don’t you give me the details?”
Han Kuang grunted. He felt like they had returned to the time when they were students. Back then, Yu Jie would also sit beside him and ask all sorts of questions. “Let me put it this way, this nephew of ours has power that can rival the entire garrison here.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean it literally. National-level martial artists are strategic weapons. A single one of them can fight against an entire garrison. I’ve seen footage of battlefields devastated by martial arts masters. They looked like they'd been blasted apart by heavy artillery.
“In the old era, martial arts masters were known as conqueror generals, because they could flatten an entire country by themselves. No matter where such people go, the balance of the military power there changes. In all of Shannan Road, we only have two of them present.”
Yu Jie was shocked. Han Kuang’s description far surpassed her imagination. After a long while, she mumbled, “X-Xiao Chuan is so strong?”
“That’s why you shouldn’t look down on martial artists. Back then, I could tell that A’Zhen was stubborn and had a great fighting spirit. She was someone with a resolute will. She might not have managed to go all the way down her path, but Xiao Chuan did it for her.”