Serenade

That afternoon, Master Bo went to the district office to attend a reception for veterans of the older generation. After the event, he happened to run into Yan Instructor.

Yan Instructor was now Bo Yan's direct instructor. Master Bo asked him about Bo Yan's performance at the academy.

"That kid is a piece of work, stubborn as a mule and hard to manage," Yan Instructor said, rather helplessly. In Bo Yan's freshman and sophomore years, he thought he could train Bo Yan into an obedient cadet by being extra strict. But now it seemed he had underestimated the challenge.

"With that temperament of his, who knows how much hardship he'll endure if he really joins the army," Yan Instructor tentatively asked Master Bo, "Are you planning on having him follow in his father's footsteps?"

Master Bo didn't really have the heart to send his only grandson to some remote border region. His son and daughter-in-law had already sacrificed themselves for the country. He preferred to keep this sole heir by his side.

"Whatever that boy wants to do, no one can stop him. And if he doesn't want to do something, no one can force him either. Let him follow his own path," Master Bo said.

Yan Instructor nodded. "It's true that in terms of capabilities, our academy has no one else like Bo Yan. With that kind of ambition, he will surely accomplish great things in the future."

Master Bo shook his head helplessly. "With real ability, one can achieve success anywhere."

Yan Instructor saw that the old master was also reluctant to send Bo Yan far away, so he stopped trying to persuade him.

"Oh right," Master Bo casually mentioned, "I heard Bo Yan started dating?"

Yan Instructor laughed. "Those rascals were obedient freshmen, but now as sophomores and juniors, they all have girlfriends tagging along. Can't control them!"

"Oh? So you've met the girl?"

"Of course I have. Last time when I made Bo Yan stand in the sun as punishment, the girl kept him company the whole afternoon, sneaking him water and food when I left. A really adorable lass."

"Do you have any photos of her?"

"How could I have photos of someone else's girlfriend?" Yan Instructor said. "Master Bo, if you want to meet the girl, I can take you around our academy."

"No no, I was just casually asking," Master Bo quickly waved his hands. "I'm not interested at all. They're just kids playing around, who knows if it'll even last."

But not long after, Yan Instructor logged into the academy's student portal on his phone. "She's quite proper-looking. Are you sure you don't want to see, Master Bo?"

"I...I don't want to look."

Yan Instructor smiled knowingly. He was aware of Master Bo's personality - mouth says he doesn't care, but his heart must be itching with curiosity. So he simply handed his phone over. "Go ahead and take a look. There's not only a photo, but also her profile and grades."

Master Bo reluctantly accepted the phone, took out his reading glasses from his chest pocket, and painstakingly enlarged the photo with a trembling finger.

It was Jin Xi's enrollment photo from when she took the college entrance exam. Master Bo squinted at it for a while, frowning. "She's just a child! How could this even work out?"

Yan Instructor laughed. "She's of age now, Master Bo."

"Really? She doesn't look it."

"She just looks young."

Master Bo was slightly relieved. He scrolled down to glance at her information. "Oh, she's even gotten scholarships! Not bad."

"Not bad at all."

As Master Bo looked over Jin Xi's grades, he kept murmuring "Not bad" repeatedly. By the time they reached the district office entrance, he still hadn't returned Yan Instructor's phone, unable to bear parting with it. Of course, Yan Instructor didn't rush him, only smiling as he said, "If you're really interested, you can come visit our academy, Master Bo. The girl leads her club members in reciting poems at the library entrance every morning. I've run into them several times."

Master Bo gave him back the phone, dragging out his words, "I'm not interested. Whoever's interested can go, not me."

"You're really not going?"

"I'm not going, not going!"

But despite his words, in less than two days Master Bo changed into casual clothes and headed over to the academy.

Jian SiXun was now president of the literature club. As soon as he took office, he held an autumn poetry recital, asking club members to gather at dawn and recite poems in different corners of the campus.

For a time, the campus was filled with poetic youths, steeped in lyrical charm.

Jian SiXun organized this event hoping it would spur students who loved poetry to spontaneously gather at the poetry corner and recite every morning.

As Jian SiXun's subordinate, Jin Xi and the club's numerous fangirls believed everything he said was right and everything he did would succeed. They had to staunchly support him.

Every morning, Jin Xi would lead her classmates in reciting poems on the steps at the poetry corner entrance.

Meanwhile, straight-laced students like Shen Ping Chuan and Xu Chaoyang saw through Jian SiXun's misleading mild-mannered facade. They angrily denounced him for corrupting the academy's already scarce male students into sissies.

Every morning when Shen Ping Chuan passed by the poetry corner on his way to the library, he would amble over and mock Jin Xi.

Jin Xi said, "You're just jealous of Senior Jian SiXun's talent. Your own abilities can't compare to his."

"Jealous of him?" Shen Ping Chuan bluntly retorted, "My events have been way more successful than his! Like the campus matchmaking conventions I organize every spring and fall - they've become the liveliest gatherings on campus. My track record is way stronger than some trivial club president's. If he's so capable, why doesn't he join student council?"

"Our club president has his own ideals and aspirations," Jin Xi shot back, kicking him. "And you even look down on our literature club? Your matchmaking convention only has male attendees, barely any girls. You might as well just keep it contained internally."

Shen Ping Chuan yanked Jin Xi's little braid. "If he's so great, how come when he and Bo Yan confessed to you one after the other, you didn't choose him?"

"I...I merely admire Senior Jian SiXun as a role model," Jin Xi said shyly. "Stop spewing all this nonsense, how childish."

After driving Shen Ping Chuan away, it wasn't long before a few cadets from the military academy strolled by the square, fresh from morning drills, their camo jackets slung over shoulders. Bo Yan was among them.

Silhouetted against the morning sun, their figures radiated the vigorous vitality unique to the physically active.

"Boss Bo, which one's your sister-in-law? Been wanting to meet her for a while now, never had the chance."

"A girl that Bo Yan picked must be the prettiest one there."

Bo Yan didn't hide it at all, pointing to the girl standing at the top of the stairs, "The silliest looking one is her."

"What a cutie sister-in-law is! Oh, she's reciting something - look at that passion!"

The corner of Bo Yan's mouth quirked up arrogantly. "My girl's well-behaved, isn't she?"

"Very well-behaved."

Jin Xi noticed the boys' stares and snickering. She knew Bo Yan was showing her off to his friends again, like some kind of trophy.

How childish were these boys!

But she had to admit, Bo Yan really did seem to be friends with everyone. New faces were constantly popping up to gawk at Jin Xi, as if every boy in the military academy was his buddy.

That catnip charisma of his was truly one of a kind.

Neither Bo Yan nor Shen Ping Chuan looked favorably upon Jin Xi's poetry corner. Bo Yan viewed it through the lens of a love rival, convinced it was merely Jian SiXun's "political achievement project" as the new club president.

Meanwhile, an elderly gentleman had been regularly visiting the poetry corner these days to listen to their recital.

Dressed in a tai chi uniform for his morning exercises, though his temples were already graying, he was hale and hearty, his expression stern yet benevolent. Sometimes when he heard Jin Xi recite a moving poem, he would clap and smile approvingly.

Noticing the old man also enjoyed poetry, Jin Xi took the initiative to invite him to join the poetry corner.

The gentleman was rather shy at first, waving his hand and demurring - I'm just an old fella, what poetry could I recite?

But before long, seeing everyone's high spirits as they recited, he was itching to participate. He voluntarily offered to recite "I Love This Land" by poet Ai Qing for everyone.

"If I were a bird, I too should sing with a broken throat, of this land battered by storms... Why are my eyes so frequently filled with tears? Because my love for this land is so deep."

Although over seventy years old, Master Bo was healthy and robust. He had lived through tumultuous times, so his emotional delivery reciting this poem was much richer than the students'.

After he finished reading, Jin Xi immediately clapped vigorously, and she and the old master got to know each other.

The old master did not reveal his relationship with Bo Yan, saying he was from the family courtyard of the school. Jin Xi just thought he was a retired teacher from the school. Sometimes when she encountered problems in the club, she would also ask him for advice.

The daughter-in-law Sun was willing to communicate more with her, and Master Bo was naturally happy. He also wanted to take the opportunity to understand her, so he spoke freely.

The two turned out to be old friends despite the age difference.

That morning, Jin Xi received a voice message from Bo Yan to discuss birthday matters.

Old Master Bo immediately pricked up his ears and listened attentively.

Fortunately, Jin Xi was completely unguarded because the students around her were reciting poems aloud at maximum volume as she played the voice message.

"So are we going to go to Grandpa and Grandma's house for my birthday?"

"Nothing has been decided yet, I'm just discussing it. If you don't want to, we'll stick to the original plan."

"Then...will Grandpa and Grandma be angry?"

"No, my grandparents are very open-minded parents."

Old Master Bo cursed in his heart, this rotten kid really forgot his mother after finding a wife! Who said he wouldn't get angry? He was angry! He got angry immediately!

Jin Xi thought for a while and sent another voice message: "It's okay, it's not good to disappoint the elderly. It's just that there are so many of us, I'm afraid we might disturb them."

Master Bo blurted out, "No bother at all, no bother at all."

Only then did he realize it was awkward: "I mean, old people just like having you kids come to the house and liven things up."

Jin Xi smiled naively: "Actually I'm a little nervous, I haven't met our baby's grandparents yet."

"What do you call him?"

"Baby."

Master Bo grinned: "You kids today really... He's your boyfriend, why call him baby? Aren't you ashamed?"

Jin Xi's gaze dropped down, her long eyelashes were thick and curled, and her eyes were full of tenderness: "My boyfriend is different from other boys. He...he doesn't have a mother, so I should be extra caring towards him."

Master Bo was stunned for a moment, and was silent for a long time. He put his big palm on Jin Xi's shoulder: "You're a good kid."

...

Whenever Bo Yan passed by the Poetry Corner, like Shen Ping Chuan, he would also come over to mock them. But one day, when he saw his old master holding a folder and reciting passionately "I love this land deeply", his jaw almost dropped.

Jin Xi clapped vigorously and praised: "Grandpa, you must come to participate in the Grain Rain Poetry Meeting next year!"

"No problem at all, little friend. Contact me when the time comes."

"Okay, Grandpa do you have WeChat?"

"WeChat?" Master Bo thought for a long time, as if only then remembering what it was. "Oh! Oh! My grandson helped me register for WeChat, but I rarely use it."

He pointed his finger meditatively, poking for a long time: "How do I add someone again?"

Jin Xi opened the QR code for the old master: "I can scan you."

Master Bo asked again: "Do you have Moments?"

"Yes I do."

"Then I can see your Moments."

Jin Xi smiled embarrassedly: "There's not much content on my Moments, just selfies and food pics and stuff."

"That's okay, young people. My grandson only likes to post his ugly drawings, and he doesn't even realize how bad they are."

Bo Yan: ...

The old master looked up and saw Bo Yan standing there like a pillar: "What are you looking at? I'm talking about you."

Bo Yan came over and said helplessly: "Grandpa, what are you doing here?"

Jin Xi was startled: "You, you know this grandpa?"

Bo Yan rubbed the inner corner of his eye: "Know him too well. Xi Xi, let me introduce you, this is my old man, call him Grandpa."

Jin Xi suddenly covered her chest in shock: "Don't joke around. This grandpa is the team leader of our Poetry Corner. How...how did he become your grandpa?"

Bo Yan looked at his grandfather reproachfully, signaling him to explain quickly.

Master Bo coughed lightly: "Young lady, this seemingly silly kid is my grandson."

"Ah!"

Jin Xi was completely unprepared for this sudden meeting with the parents. No, it was that she had met the parents long ago without realizing it.

This is...too awkward!

She had told the old master so many private thoughts. Now thinking back, she really...had no face left.

"Uh, hello Grandpa. I'm Jin Xi, 19 years old..." She blushed and reintroduced herself.

"Grandpa, you came to school without letting me know in advance. Look, you scared my girlfriend..."

Bo Yan came over and put his arm around Jin Xi, gently comforting her: "It's okay, my grandpa is retired and has nothing to do all day, wandering around everywhere. A thousand miles of fate brought us together, meeting you makes us family."

"Stop talking nonsense." Jin Xi mumbled and pushed him away. She nodded politely at Master Bo and called him Grandpa.

Master Bo laughed heartily: "Good good. You brat, Jin Xi and I have already agreed to invite all your classmates home for your birthday and have dinner together. The food at home must be better than at a restaurant. After eating, you guys can do whatever you want, your grandma and I won't interfere."

"You two have agreed on this?"

Jin Xi nodded: "Then let's go to Grandpa's house and have dinner with him."

After Master Bo left, Jin Xi finally breathed a sigh of relief and punched Bo Yan: "How can your family's elderly and children be so...calculating!"

Bo Yan pinched her soft fist: "When my grandpa was young he was a special agent. I'm not even his match when it comes to scheming. I often got tricked by him as a kid, let alone a silly girl like you."

Jin Xi pouted: "I told Grandpa so many private things, so embarrassing." fre𝚎w𝐞bn𝗼v𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝗼𝚖

"What did you tell him?"

"Lots of things, like my conflict with Yang Xiaoyuan, and...and your matters."

Jin Xi covered her flaming red face, she was utterly ashamed: "Oh my god, I'm such an idiot!"

Bo Yan was also a little apprehensive now. He asked uncertainly: "Did you reveal all my secrets?"

"Yes."

"You..." Bo Yan hesitated, then leaned in to whisper in her ear: "You didn't tell him about what I asked you to help me with, right?"

"..."

"Bo Yan, are you a pig? How could I casually tell others about that kind of thing!!!"

Author's note: Many paths in life, safety comes first. Driving dangerously carries risks, use your imagination!

Hahahaha