Binjiang Police Affairs
Chapter 280 - 203: All Figured Out!

Chapter 280: Chapter 203: All Figured Out!

Xu Sanye had two regrets in his life.

The first regret was that he gave up his chance to join the military to someone else in order to be altruistic, missing the opportunity to become a soldier, specifically to join the battlefield, and thus missing the Self-Defense Counter-Attack War.

The second regret was that he studied liberal arts in college, lacking research skills and solid technical expertise, which made people look down on him every time his educational background was mentioned.

His son helped make up for the first regret, not only joining the military but also growing up to be a Lieutenant Deputy Company Commander in a field troop, and he was the first in Linghai to be admitted directly to a military academy from high school!

When the military academy’s admission notice was sent to the county, it demanded a political review and required his son to go to the military hospital in Jiangcheng for a physical exam; the enrollment staff encountered such a situation for the first time and didn’t know how to arrange it...

His junior apprentice compensated for the second regret; he was not only the Second Officer on a passenger ship over 2000 tonnes but also the Chief Officer on a giant ocean vessel over 10,000 tonnes, and he planned to continue his studies to become the most skilled pilot in the whole province and perhaps even the whole country.

As for his senior apprentice, he developed well too and was already the squad leader in the major case team.

In short, his son came back, and the apprentices all came too; today was the day for a big feast.

Naturally, since it was a family banquet, it should be held in the rural family home.

All relatives, friends, and neighbors were invited; if it had been set in the city, it would inconvenience people. Young people could easily ride bicycles, but what about the elderly who couldn’t?

They hired a chef who specialized in cooking for banquets to come over; pots, pans, and utensils were provided by the service, while tables and chairs were borrowed from the neighbors.

The Xu family didn’t have many relatives but had many neighbors, so they invited everyone in the whole production team; a total of nine tables were set up inside and outside under the tents.

Xu Haoran first went to the military academy and then to the troops, being away from home for so many years, many relatives and neighbors didn’t recognize him anymore.

He followed his parents around introducing everyone. Having not much to talk about with the guests, he returned to the west room to chat with Xu Mingyuan, Han Yu, Zhang Lan, and Han Xiangning, who were playing cards.

"Brother Xu, take my place. I’m not playing well." Han Xiangning saw Xu Haoran come in and hurriedly gave up her seat.

"You guys play. I can’t relax; later if someone arrives, my dad will call me out to greet them again."

Xu Haoran had not met Han Yu and Han Xiangning before, but he’d seen them mentioned more than once in his dad’s letters, and his dad even sent a photo of the couple sharing the same family name.

Seeing them, he realised Salted Fish had indeed grown up, and Han Xiangning was even prettier than in the photos.

He felt embarrassed to keep looking, so he pulled up a stool next to Xu Mingyuan, whom he already knew quite well, and laughed, "Brother Xu, why didn’t you bring your kid?"

"You should ask her, not me." Xu Mingyuan gestured toward Zhang Lan who was sitting opposite.

Zhang Lan also knew Xu Haoran from a long time ago, dropped her pair of two cards, and explained, "Xu Yuan has a bit of a cough, and the wind outside is strong today; my mom worried she might get cold, so she didn’t let us bring her."

"Xu Yuan..."

"Yuán, as in ’famous beauty’, don’t you think the name is a bit tacky?"

Xu Haoran hesitated for a moment and then quickly smiled, "Not tacky at all, it’s nice."

Han Yu agreed, "It’s really nice, sounds exactly like a lady from a respectable family."

Her daughter’s name had a story.

Previously, the Xu family people all hoped she would have a boy, and they had even decided on the name Xu Yuan, so when they had a girl instead, they were momentarily at a loss for a good name, or perhaps too disappointed to feel like thinking, and simply used the homophonic sound of Xu Yuan to name her Xu Yuan.

People didn’t know this story, but Han Xiangning knew it very well and hurriedly changed the topic, "Brother Xu, how long can you stay at home this time?"

"A month and a half."

"Then you have to save a day for us, preferably a Sunday, and we want to invite you to have a meal at Binjiang."

This was a custom in Linghai; it was a must.

Han Xiangning smiled sweetly, then turned and said, "Brother Xu, Sister Zhang Lan, please join us, and besides, you’ve never been to my house."

Xu Haoran was about to speak when Zhang Lan joked, "Haoran will definitely honor us with his presence, and Ming Yuan and I can join, but there’s one thing we need to clarify before going."

"What is it?"

"You have two homes in Binjiang; which one are we going to? Haoran, right?"

"Yes." Xu Haoran came to his senses and couldn’t help but smile: "Going to Salted Fish’s home is fine, but going to your home would be a bit embarrassing for us."

Han Xiangning was no longer the young girl she had been back at Bailong Port and how could she be intimidated by their teasing, she calmly smiled and said, "Either one is the same!"

Han Yu laughed, "Both sides are our home, it doesn’t matter which one."

One of them was casual and unabashed, the other compliant and supportive; teasing this couple had lost its fun.

Zhang Lan decisively changed her target, smiled at Xu Haoran and asked, "Deputy Company Commander Xu, how old are you this year?"

"Twenty-seven."

"Have you been seeing anyone?"

"No."

"Really not or are you just saying? You’re already twenty-seven, how come you still haven’t been dating!"

"I want to, but without a suitable one, how can I?"

Xu Haoran took a cigarette from in front of Xu Mingyuan, lit one, and started to complain: "We are from the Guard Company of the military department. You can probably imagine how many single officers there are in the military department.

Iron barracks and flowing soldiers, old comrades are transferred one batch after another, and new officers keep coming, one batch after another. The eligible young women around the garrison are simply not enough, causing even the local leaders to have opinions about us."

A military-level unit would definitely have many officers.

Han Xiangning had grown up in the military, and there were already many single officers in the division-level unit where her parents worked.