"Is that so …?" Huo Shaoheng asked back, his tone still calm. "What did he object to?"
Huo Shaoheng's father, Huo Guanchen, was the director of the military's political department. Like General Ji, he was also a general. Although he didn't have as much power as General Ji, he was still one of the top five in the military's Supreme Council.
"I don't know the exact reason, but he voted against it in the first round when everyone was discussing it." General Ji rubbed his bald head helplessly. "If someone else had voted against it, those people would have killed him. But your father is different … He is your father, after all. Although your marriage needs the approval of the military, the military will not be unreasonable and will not disregard your and your family's wishes."
In other words, Huo Shaoheng's father, Huo Guanchen's objection still had some weight to the military.
Huo Shaoheng gripped his phone. No matter what he thought, his face remained expressionless. He nodded at General Ji. "Okay, sorry to disturb you. General Ji, you're still up so late?"
General Ji seemed to see Huo Shaoheng's nonchalant expression and was very satisfied.
Unmoved by material gains or personal losses, unflinching even if Mount Tai collapsed in front of him, and unblinking when an elk moved to his left.
This was how a great general should behave.
"Why didn't you think about whether I was sleeping when you called just now?! Now you're saying something like that! "General Ji was both angry and amused as he grumbled over the phone.
Huo Shaoheng curled his lips, and his voice seemed to contain a smile. "I know General Ji must be working overtime, that's why I dared to call at this time. I greeted you just now to urge you to sleep. What's wrong with that? "
"Hahahaha, you brat! You've said both good and bad things. I knew your eloquence was no worse than those people from the military's legal department! "General Ji laughed heartily and chatted with Huo Shaoheng for a bit before hanging up.
Looking up at the clock on the wall, it was already 2: 30 AM. General Ji yawned and packed up the study, locked it in the safe, and returned to his bedroom to sleep.
Huo Shaoheng didn't feel sleepy in the car.
He was still holding the phone in his hand, one arm leaning on the bottom of the window. His eyes were dark as he looked out into the night.
The road back to the headquarters of the Special Operations Forces was a little remote, and there were fewer and fewer cars as they walked. The streetlights on the side of the road formed a straight line outside the car, like an arrow pointing directly at the atrium of the heart.
Huo Shaoheng closed his eyes and raised a hand to cover his eyes. He didn't look at the night view outside and was already thinking about when to go home.
Huo Jinyao hadn't been back to the Huo residence since Chinese New Year.
Ever since the incident with Head Nurse Zhang, her grandfather, Huo Xuenong, had taken his granddaughter, Huo Jialan, to Europe for a break and had yet to return.
His mother, Song Jinning, was now the director of the Institute of High Energy Physics. Every day, she was obsessed with scientific research. Just like in the past, she could not wait to eat and live in the laboratory.
As for his father, how long had it been since he last thought of his father?
As Huo Shaoheng thought about it, he rubbed his phone and tried to call his mother.
As he expected, his mother did not sleep either.
Song Jinning was still in the laboratory reading her thesis.
She wanted to make up for the 17 years that she had lost. Every day, she had endless meetings and endless research papers. She had even set up a small, simple room for herself next to the laboratory with some daily necessities, clothes, and shoes. She was really living in the laboratory.
When her phone rang, she glanced at it and saw that it was her son, Huo Shaoheng. She picked it up in surprise. "Shaoheng?"
"You're not asleep yet?" Huo Shaoheng asked politely. "Are you still doing experiments?"
"No, I'm reading my thesis." Song Jinning smiled as she rubbed the Yintang point between her eyebrows. "What about you? You're not asleep either?"
Huo Shaoheng smiled. "Of course I'm not asleep if I can make a call." After a pause, he said, "I'll go see you. Is it convenient?"
"Yes." Song Jinning froze and immediately realized that her son had something to tell her. "Come over. I'll be in the office in the laboratory building. You know the room. "
Huo Shaoheng nodded and hung up. He said to the driver, Fan Jian, "Go to the Institute of High Energy Physics and buy some supper on the way."
Yin Shixiong and Zhao Liangze did not say anything in the car. They watched as Fan Jian turned the steering wheel and drove to the Institute of High Energy Physics.
An hour later, Huo Shaoheng's car drove in through the metal gates of the Institute of High Energy Physics.
Although it was past three in the morning, the guard at the gate still checked Huo Shaoheng's car pass responsibly before letting them in.
…
Song Jinning looked at her watch. An hour had passed. Huo Shaoheng should be here by now, right?
She got up from her desk and opened the door.
The long hallway was dark. Because the lights were voice-activated, the lights automatically went off when there was no sound.
But soon, unhurried footsteps sounded in the hallway, and the lights in the hallway gradually turned on.
A tall figure appeared in Song Jinning's eyes.
He strode over from the end of the hallway. The lights shone on his head, illuminating his facial features. He was incomparably handsome.
Song Jinning couldn't help but smile.
She was still wearing the lab coat. Her hands were in the pockets of her lab coat as she watched Huo Shaoheng walk over to her with a paper bag.
"You shouldn't stay up late." Huo Shaoheng walked over to Song Jinning and carefully studied her expression. "This is freshly stewed cordyceps, ganoderma, and American ginseng soup. Have some for supper."
Song Jinning took the paper bag from Huo Shaoheng's hands. She suddenly remembered more than ten years ago, before the accident happened. Huo Shaoheng had also brought a box of cake to her lab to share it with her when he was still a teenager …
She really had a guilty conscience towards this son of hers.
When he was young, she was obsessed with her research career. She abandoned him and started working when she was one month old.
Later, when he was a teenager, she was greatly traumatized by the accident. She became mentally deranged and couldn't even take care of herself, let alone fulfill her responsibilities as a mother.
The corners of Song Jinning's eyes were a little wet. She turned around discreetly and hid her face from the light. She said quietly to Huo Shaoheng, "Come in. You should have some too."
Huo Shaoheng nodded and followed Song Jinning into her office. He closed the door behind him.
Yin Shixiong and Zhao Liangze were standing guard at the top of the stairs, while Zhao Liangze was standing guard at the bottom of the elevator. They were wearing Bluetooth headsets so they could keep in touch at all times.
Huo Shaoheng looked around when he entered Song Jinning's office.
It had only been a few months, but Song Jinning had already added a lot of books and lab equipment. She had also bought a few large computers.
Song Jinning went to her room to get two small soup bowls and spoons. She scooped a bowl of soup for Huo Shaoheng and then scooped one for herself. She said, "Actually, the effects of cordyceps have been exaggerated. The active ingredient in cordyceps is cordycepic acid, or mannitol. It's a very cheap and common chemical material."
Huo Shaoheng couldn't help but smile. "Mannitol can also be used in food, so there's no harm in eating it."
"Yes, I was just saying. The soup tastes good. It's cooked well." Song Jinning said that but still ate two bowls of cordyceps soup.
Huo Shaoheng didn't eat a single bite. He stirred the soup with the spoon before pushing it to Song Jinning.
Song Jinning took it without hesitation and finished Huo Shaoheng's bowl in one go. She sighed deeply. "So comfortable. This soup is really good."
"You haven't had dinner again, have you?" Huo Shaoheng looked at Song Jinning quietly. "I'll order meals for you from now on. Someone will deliver them to you three times a day. You can just eat them."
"Oh? That's a good thing? We have a cafeteria here. I've been there a few times. It's not bad … "Song Jinning avoided Huo Shaoheng's knowing gaze guiltily.
She really didn't have time. The urgency to rebuild the experiment was like a whip lashing at her. She wanted to devote all her time to it. Twenty-four hours a day wasn't enough.
She couldn't remember how many days she had fallen asleep in front of her computer and continued working when she woke up in the morning.
However, even though she was working so hard, her complexion didn't diminish at all. It was as if all the energy she had accumulated over the past 16 years of her mental disorder was now being unleashed.
Huo Shaoheng smiled and picked up his phone to text Yin Shixiong. He asked him to go to Auspicious Restaurant and order a year's worth of healthy food for Song Jinning. He had to deliver it to her office three times a day.
If he didn't do that, Song Jinning would still be hungry and full.
In the long run, it would affect her health.
Song Jinning didn't say anything and finished the rest of the soup. She also ate two whole-wheat buns that Huo Shaoheng had brought with him.
Huo Shaoheng sat across from Song Jinning and watched her finish everything. He then cleaned up the soup bowls and took them to Song Jinning's private bathroom next door to wash.
Song Jinning followed him in and leaned against the bathroom door to look at Huo Shaoheng's tall figure. She suddenly asked, "Shaoheng, do you have something on your mind? Do you need my help?"
A mother knows her son best.
Although Song Jinning had been absent for a long time when Huo Shaoheng was growing up, nothing could stop their blood connection.
She was acutely aware of the subtle changes in Huo Shaoheng's emotions.
Other than Gu Nianzhi, Song Jinning was the second person who could sense Huo Shaoheng's hidden emotions.
Huo Shaoheng washed the soup bowls and placed them in the closet. He then washed his hands with hand sanitizer and wiped them clean before turning around to say, "Let's talk outside. I do have something on my mind."
Song Jinning was overjoyed. She went up to Huo Shaoheng and shook his arm. She said solemnly, "Shaoheng, I'm very happy that you came to find me."
It was a mother's blessing to be able to be relied on by her child and to do things for her child.
Huo Shaoheng was a bit speechless. He was no longer a child, but in Song Jinning's eyes, he was probably still the 12-year-old boy from 17 years ago who secretly skipped school to visit her with a birthday cake.
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