Chapter 23: The Uncle with No Taste

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Jiang Xiaxia looked curiously at the bamboo skewer in Jiang Hua’s hand, her dark eyes fixed on him. Jiang Hua gently patted the little girl’s head and smiled warmly, “This is for your grandpa to see!”

Sensing a hint of menace behind that smile, Jiang Xiaxia stopped being curious and obediently waited until her uncle finished eating. Then, she quietly followed behind them. After completing the formalities at the police station and just as they were about to leave, she tugged at Jiang Jing’s sleeve and asked, “Reward?”

Where’s the big unity?

Upon hearing this, Wang Lianjun squatted down with a smile and said, “The commander said the credit for catching the enemy agents belongs to your uncle and the other comrades. If your uncle is willing, he can transfer the reward to you! Why not ask him?”

Jiang Xiaxia glanced up at Jiang Jing, who was looking at her with a faint, ambiguous smile, then obediently shook her head, “Give it to Uncle to marry Auntie!”

“Oh, that’s really well-behaved! If I ever get married, I want a daughter just like you!” Wang Lianjun said, his heart itching at the sight of the little girl’s obedience. He couldn’t help but imagine: if he had such a daughter, and after returning from a mission, she stood obediently before him, speaking in a gentle childish voice, saying things like “Give all the money to Dad,” “Take care of Dad,” “Protect Dad” — he’d be willing to give his life for her!

Jiang Jing, seeing Wang Lianjun’s faraway look and wide grin, lifted his foot and kicked him in the buttocks. “You want one too? A daughter who can take down three human traffickers by herself?”

Still lost in his daydream, Wang Lianjun recalled how, after rushing over and checking on the few still unconscious at the hospital, things didn’t seem so rosy after all.

Worried that his daughter might turn out like Jiang Xiaxia, he gave a happy hug—and then tossed him over his shoulder.

Shuddering, Wang Lianjun obediently stood up and stepped aside.

“Train, reward!” Jiang Xiaxia said, knowing that if she asked about money, she wouldn’t get anything, so she just looked up at Jiang Jing and emphasized, “Three!”

Three human traffickers—how could there be no reward?

“I already asked before. This matter belongs to the police station. If there’s a reward, the officers will bring it to our county, and then the commune folks will deliver it to you! You won’t lose out!”

“Commander?”

Jiang Jing deliberately skirted the question of the reward being money. When the little girl asked who said so, he nodded, “Yes, the commander you called that day, Uncle Bai said it!”

Jiang Xiaxia thought about it and found Uncle Bai quite reliable, so she didn’t ask further.

Wang Lianjun thought the little girl must have misunderstood something and was about to explain, but Jiang Jing suddenly kicked him hard.

“Ouch—”

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Wang Lianjun gasped, “What have you been eating lately? How did you suddenly get so strong?”

Having just been kicked in the rear, he was already in pain, and now his foot was numb.

Jiang Jing belatedly realized his body wasn’t what it used to be, cleared his throat, and apologized.

He then wanted to talk about the reward but suddenly remembered Jiang Xiaxia’s unusually sharp hearing. After thinking it over, he tapped a secret code on the back of his hand: “Matter is with the police station. If the child isn’t satisfied now, we can’t leave!”

To keep the child from throwing a fit, he’d even resorted to using code to trick the commander?

Wang Lianjun looked at Jiang Jing with mixed feelings—using secret signals to mess with the commander? He was definitely going to tattle on this guy when they got back.

The operation to capture the enemy agents ended faster than expected.

So this time, Jiang Jing had to buy the train tickets at the last minute.

When Jiang Jing held Jiang Xiaxia and protected Jiang Hua as they boarded the train again, Jiang Xiaxia’s eyes widened in shock.

As they moved forward, she grew increasingly uncomfortable.

The air was thick with the smell of sweat and smoke, making her cough softly.

Hearing her cough, Jiang Jing tried to quicken their pace, but the path was cluttered with garbage, tightly bound luggage, and mingled voices and crying children.

Jiang Xiaxia felt as if she had entered a screaming chicken factory—more like an unsanitary one.

Covering her ears, she slumped weakly onto Jiang Jing’s shoulder and whimpered, “Grandma!”

So noisy, really so noisy!

Jiang Jing’s senses were much sharper than before and he was also struggling, but he had faced dirtier, messier places on missions, so he endured.

Seeing Jiang Xiaxia so weak, he gently patted her little forehead, “At least you’re not making trouble now!”

Just as his hand fell, someone suddenly patted the back of his head hard.

“Move faster! What are you wasting time for!”

Jiang Hua, seeing Xiaxia’s face turn pale from discomfort, lost his temper. The third brother was still playing with the child, and Jiang Hua’s anger flared as he slapped once.

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Wang Lianjun, holding a bundle, watched the lively family ahead and twitched at the corner of his eye—this family really was livelier than before!

Suddenly, a tall man called out, “Comrade, I see your child isn’t feeling well. How about we pass her over so she can sit in your spot first?”

The little girl looked frightfully pale, which stirred the sympathy of the nearby families with children, so he spoke loudly.

Jiang Xiaxia’s ears twitched, and after a glance back, she shook her head and politely said in a soft childish voice, “Thank you, uncle!”

The man was a kind-hearted passerby.

Kind-hearted passersby aren’t bad people; bad people don’t have money. If she had no money, why would she want to move over?

Thinking of this, Jiang Xiaxia also remembered she hadn’t received a reward for catching the traffickers, which made her feel worse.

When they finally squeezed into their seats, Jiang Hua took out a handkerchief to wipe the little girl’s face. Seeing she was still pale, he pulled out some biscuits. “Want some?”

Seeing the biscuits reminded Jiang Xiaxia of the train attendant on the previous car, and that made her think again about the reward for catching the traffickers.

Holding her heart, the little girl looked pitifully at the worried Jiang Hua and said, “Grandma, reward? Feel sad!”

Jiang Hua expressionlessly handed the little girl over to the laughing Jiang Jing. This troublesome child really couldn’t be kept.

Jiang Jing held the little girl, bounced her gently, and pointed outside, “Look, isn’t it pretty out there?”

Jiang Xiaxia glanced at the barren scene outside, then at her uncle, “Pretty?”

Jiang Jing hadn’t spent much time with kids but remembered that during holidays, the soldiers’ wives often took their daughters to parks or mountains to enjoy the scenery or pick wild vegetables, which the little girls loved.

He thought of this and, seeing the little girl’s poor state, wanted to find something to distract her.

Jiang Xiaxia didn’t even have the strength to speak. She took out a newspaper, pointed at it, and said, “No aesthetic sense, can’t find Auntie, so sad!”

After pointing, she folded the newspaper and sighed sorrowfully, “Sad!”

Wang Lianjun had been watching this from the start to the end. Seeing his comrade’s darkened face, he finally burst out laughing, “Hahaha—”