Chapter 23 Everyone Has Their Own Plans

  The next day, after Qu Mingjun got off the plane, he somehow put on his military uniform again. When he saw the car that came to pick him up enter the electric gate of the Qu family villa, he suddenly felt a little nervous about returning home.

  "Ming Jun? Hmm? What's wrong?" Curve Ming Jun's mother, Ren Qing, smiled and patted Curve Ming Jun on the head.

  "After Jun Gege joined the army, he's completely different from before." Little Shen Qiao surprisingly followed Ren Qing to pick him up too. Her little thoughts are now known to everyone in the Qu family, but judging from Qu mother's expression, she seems to approve of Shen Qiao as her future daughter-in-law.

  "Oh, nothing. It's been a long time since I've been back. Some... haha." Qu Mingjun hadn't returned to the Qu family estate in two years, ever since he left home for school.

  "Alright, don't think too much about it." Ren Qing said lovingly as she hugged Qu Mingjun's shoulder. "Looking at you, I can tell you didn't have an easy time in the army either. Now that you're back, mom will take good care of you and make up for it."

  "Uh-huh, thanks mom."

  "Brother Jun, where's my gift?" Shen Qiao suddenly hugged Qu Mingjun's arm from the side.

  "Uh..." Qu Mingjun was sweating profusely, it had been more than a month since Xiaoyao went to the academy, and with the intense classes and training, he had truly forgotten. Damn it, Qu Mingjun saw that Xiaoyao's eyes were welling up with tears.

  "Alright, alright." Ren Qing smiled and helped to ease the situation for Qu Mingjun who was sweating profusely, "Your brother has become silly from being in the army. Besides, when he was in the army, he didn't have any money on him, so he couldn't buy you a gift. You, what do you want? Tell Auntie and I'll get your brother to buy it for you, okay?"

  "Yes! Auntie is the best!" The little girl's face lit up with joy, and without any reserve, she leaned over and gave Ren Qing a loud kiss on the cheek.

  Qu Mingjun, who was sandwiched in the middle, felt very embarrassed. The little girl had grown up after all, and the soft, fluffy, and round feeling that pressed on her body was, hmm, pretty good. Hehe, the little girl had indeed grown up...

  "Third Grandfather, Fifth Grandfather, Ninth Grandfather." Qu Mingjun bowed respectfully to the three old men.

  "Hmm." Bald Ninth Master glanced at Qu Mingjun, "Not bad, wearing a military uniform and still looking spirited. It seems that after going to the army, this person is no longer as naive as before."

  "Alright, Old Nine, it's a good thing that the kid is coming back for New Year's. Can't you just say something nice?"

  "Alright, Third Brother, I'll listen to you. Good advice is always welcome. Little Mingjun, since you're already in the army, you'd better do a good job. We can't let the Qiu family lose face." Bald Ninth Grandfather scratched his bald head.

  "Yes!"

  "Alright, you go find your brothers. Don't stay with us old folks anymore." Old Master Qu waved his hand.

  Qu Mingjun responded with a "yes", bowed again, and slowly backed out, without hearing what was said afterwards.

  At this time, Qu San stepped forward and walked a few steps, saying: "Lao Jiu, to be honest, our family has always been quite generous to the younger generation and has never really gone against their wishes. But I think that letting Xiaoming Jun join the army like this is not quite right."

  "Not good? If it's not good, then come back!" Bald Ninth Master said with a swagger.

  The silent Qu Jia Wuya beside him suddenly smiled, put down his pipe and said: "Lao Jiu, you are in charge of the family law, but you never care about the family business. You didn't understand San Ge's meaning, San Ge is planning to cultivate Xiao Ming Jun as the next generation master."

  "Oh." Bald Ninth Master pondered for a moment, "Third Brother, I'm not opposing him. Although Little Ming Jun's abilities are quite good, his temperament is still a bit too hard-headed. If this doesn't change, in the future if he insists on doing things his own way, it might not be a good thing."

  The third master of the Qu family, with his hands behind his back, said lightly: "I know. However, this time he joined the army, it's hard to say whether it's good or bad. It seems that in the army, his temperament has also been honed a bit, but I don't know if it's enough. But he's already 18 years old, and now he still doesn't participate in family business, I'm afraid it will delay him in the future."

  The fifth master of the Qu family thought for a moment and said, "Our family has six direct descendants of the Ming generation who have grown up now. As for the candidate, Xiaoming is indeed very good, but it's not that others are not talented either. Besides, Jiajing is still young now, he's doing great, let's wait a few more years and see."

  "Lao Wu, I know Ming Li is your grandson, but he's really not as good-looking as Xiao Ming. Our Qu family has a lot of assets, and over the years, many of them have become private properties of family members. But this foundation cannot be divided. If everyone's heart is scattered, can we still call ourselves the Qu family?"

  "Third Brother, this is a heartless thing to say!" Qi Jia Wuya's face turned bright red.

  The bald-headed Ninth Master looked at Third Brother and Fifth Brother, unsure of what to say.

  "Never mind! Let's just get through this year first." Qu San Ye sighed, "Let's talk about it again in a couple of days when Lao Liu and Lao Qi come back."

  ……

  "Hey, isn't this little brother Ming Jun? When did you come back? You didn't even tell your big brother, I would have at least treated you to a table of wine to welcome you back." A young man with a middle parting, who looked 30% similar to Qu Ming Jun, said with his arms crossed.

  Xiao Yan Shen Qiu was walking with Qu Ming Jun, excitedly heading back home to tell Ren Qing that she was going out for a stroll. But unexpectedly, they ran into this person on the way.

  "Hey, Minglie!" Shen Qiao called out, despite being annoyed. Qu Mingjun furrowed his brow and ignored him, continuing to walk forward.

  Qingming Li took a step forward, blocking the way for Qingming Jun and his companion. He said in a strange tone, "Ah, it seems that being a soldier has made life difficult for Brother Mingjun. Tsk, tsk, look at these clothes, they look like those of a frog from a pond. Ah, and he's wearing a green hat, can't he find suitable clothes to wear? Honestly, if you're out of money, just tell your brother, why suffer like this?"

  Qu Mingjun shook his head and smiled, saying: "A good dog does not block the way."

  Shen Qiao almost burst out laughing and quickly covered her mouth, following Qu Mingjun as he walked away from Qu Mingli.

  Qiu Mingli's face turned green with rage, but for a moment he couldn't think of anything powerful to say. If he went to block their way again, wouldn't he become the dog in Qiu Mingjun's mouth once more? Qiu Mingli could only watch as Qiu Mingjun and the other person walked away, clenching his fist and randomly punching the air, not even knowing who he was punching in his mind. Then he stormed off in a huff.

  After an afternoon of wandering around, Qu Mingjun found that even though he had undergone strict military training, when it came to shopping endurance, he still couldn't keep up with Shen Qiao. They had been walking for several hours already, and the little girl was still full of energy. Poor thing, if soldiers were trained for endurance in the future, they might as well be punished by making them accompany women shopping - it would definitely be more effective than running five kilometers.

  However, Qu Mingjun clearly discovered the changes in himself. Although he had changed back into casual clothes, he didn't want to go to places with a lot of people, although it was novel, but he always felt that he seemed to be disconnected from this world, or maybe he no longer belonged to this bustling city.

  Here, you can't hear the sound of bugles, nor see the troops marching in formation, and can't find a single trace of rigid horizontal and vertical lines. When did I get used to that iron-like life? Even when I think back on it now, I feel extremely fulfilled...

  "Uh-huh, that's it. Is that okay, Brother Jun? Brother Jun?" Shen Qiao waved her hand in front of Qu Mingjun's eyes twice.

  "Oh? Oh, okay then." Qu Mingjun finally came back to his senses.

  The two are now sitting inside the Babino Western restaurant, which is an Italian-style Western restaurant. There are a few signature dishes here that Qiu Mingjun and Shen Qiao love very much, so when they strolled around until dinner time, the two naturally ran over.

  "Qiaoqiao, you've come so early this year. How will you celebrate the New Year? Are you going back home?" Qu Mingjun suddenly remembered something and thought to himself that usually Xiao Yatou would only accompany her elders on visits starting from the sixth day of the first month, why did she come so early this year?

  "What? Brother Jun doesn't want Qiaoqiao anymore?" Shen Qiao playfully winked her right eye at Qu Mingjun.

  "No, no." Qu Mingjun added a sentence in his heart, I'm glad it's not too late.

  "This year my parents can't come, so I'll represent our family to visit the Qu family. I thought about it, anyway, we don't see them much at home either, might as well come earlier. It just so happens that Brother Jun is a soldier now, and this time when he comes back home there aren't any family matters to attend to, so I'll just generously keep you company." Little Shen Qiao had an expression like she was getting the better end of the deal.

  Qiu Mingjun smiled wryly, was I taking advantage of you or were you taking advantage of me? Today, all the things you bought were paid for by my old mother. However, Uncle Shen and his family are really busy, it's said that they're now starting to open up new markets again, but poor little Ya Tou, usually alone.

  "Alright, then I'll thank Miss Shen for her mercy. During this period of time, no matter what Miss Shen says, brother will obey." Qu Mingjun said jokingly.

  "Hmm, good performance, I'll reward you with... hmm, a piece of cod. Hehe."

  "Ah..." Qu Mingjun couldn't help but reach out and gently scratch Shen Qiao's nose.

  "Ah——I hate it, Brother Jun always scratches my nose, it's not okay anymore." Shen Qiao almost shouted out loud, suddenly realizing that the two were in a Western restaurant, and hurriedly lowered her voice to scold.

  The two of them chatted and laughed for a while, when Shen Qiao suddenly asked very seriously: "Jun Gege, tell me the truth, when are you going back to Qu's house?"

  Qiu Ming Jun had just taken a sip of Italian red wine and asked curiously: "What?"

  "I'm saying, Brother Jun, when are you going back to Qu's house? Are you really going to be a soldier forever?"

  "Isn't being a soldier great? At least I'm doing my duty for the country. You should be praising me instead." Qu Mingjun smiled.

  "No, I believe Brother Jun will do his best in everything, but shouldn't the Qu family be Brother Jun's future? When can you come back?" Shen Qiao stared at Qu Mingjun without blinking, looking very serious.

  Qu Mingjun was stunned, but in fact, he had thought about leaving the team before. However, his own oath was at stake, and for Qu Mingjun, giving up halfway was not a life principle. If he couldn't reach his goals or do what he should be doing well, it would be unforgivable. Either don't do it, or do it to the best of your ability - this had been Qu Mingjun's most important life principle since turning 18.

  Looking at Xiao Yatou's slightly nervous expression, Qu Mingjun thought for a moment before saying: "Is it my mom who asked you to come and persuade me?"

  "Ah!" The little girl's face suddenly turned bright red and she spoke a bit unnaturally, "Uh, yeah... not really, I just wanted to know."

  "Anyway, I won't be a deserter. The Qu family isn't just me alone, and I don't want to spend my whole life under the Qu family's thumb. Being a soldier might not be my last choice, but even if I leave the army, whether or not I'll return to the Qu family, I myself don't know."

  "But..."

  Before Xiaoyao could finish speaking, Qu Mingjun stretched out his hand to signal Shen Qiao not to say any more. "Alright Qiaoqiao, we're here to eat, let's not talk about these things. How about this? If I decide to leave the army, I'll definitely tell you first where I'm going, okay?"

  "Oh." Shen Qiao was a little disappointed that she didn't complete the task Ren Qing gave her, but she got a promise from Jun Gege, so she felt sweet inside. At least Jun Gege put her first in his heart, right? As for other things, a good woman wouldn't hold a man back.