Gao Jiaxing was promoted to Deputy Company Commander this time. Winter had already set in, so Gao Jiaxing’s school term would start in September of the following year. His comrades congratulated him one after another, even Yu Shijie was envious, because among so many of them, only Gao Jiaxing had been afforded the opportunity to further his studies at the military academy. Although Yu Shijie was the son of Mr. Yu, he had had a falling out with his family and already joined the armed forces in the north. From a common soldier to his current rank as platoon leader, he had worked his way up steadily and surely. But when he joined the Flying Sword Assault Team and saw people risking their lives even more than him, Yu Shijie initially refused to accept this but gradually, he began to curb his pride. Before returning to the small island, Gao Jiaxing first visited his home. Seeing their son, who hadn’t been home for years, suddenly return made both Gao Guoqiang and Zheng Xianghong very happy. Especially when they mentioned that Xia Xiao was pregnant again and had already had the baby earlier, both Gao Guoqiang and Zheng Xianghong urged Gao Jiaxing to hurry back to the island. After all, it had been more than half a year since Gao Jiaxing left the island, and the child was already several months old. It wasn’t easy for Xia Xiao to take care of several children all by herself. Zheng Xianghong even said, "Should I go with you?" Gao Jiaxing was naturally pleased and involuntarily looked at Gao Guoqiang, who shook his head, "No, let Mom stay home to take care of Dad. Xiaoxiao is doing well over there. The military wives take care of each other, and her cousin is a military doctor. There’s nothing to worry about." "You should go and have a look," Gao Guoqiang told Zheng Xianghong. Zheng Xianghong wanted to go but was hesitant to leave Gao Guoqiang alone; moreover, if she left, Gao Guoqiang would be the only one at home. Both Gao Jiazhi and Sun Yuhua were working as teachers at the school; even Weilin was studying there, all living there for convenience. "I can manage by myself; I’ll just eat at the canteen if there’s food," Gao Guoqiang said. With that, Zheng Xianghong nodded, truly longing to see her grandson, whom she hadn’t seen in years and didn’t even know what he looked like anymore. Gao Guoqiang felt the same way, but as the leader of the production team, leaving was out of the question. "You don’t have to go; we’ll definitely bring Xiaoxiao and the children back before that." As soon as Gao Jiaxing said this, both Gao Guoqiang and Zheng Xianghong were overjoyed. "How many years will your studies take?" "It could be a few years, depending on whether my grades are good enough to graduate," Gao Jiaxing thought to himself with great joy. He never thought he’d be able to realize his dream of attending university, and yet such an incredible opportunity had fallen into his lap, leaving his head spinning with excitement. "So, when you go, will Xiaoxiao and the children stay behind?" asked Zheng Xianghong. Gao Jiaxing fell silent; he didn’t know what the situation would be like at the military academy—it wasn’t like being stationed with the troops where military wives could accompany them. Zheng Xianghong understood this and sighed softly, "I’ll go with you." On the other side, He Xuegang had also returned. He Xuebing and Yu Zhen hadn’t come back, but He Hongjun and Li Shengmei had already learned of Dong Meihua’s childbirth from He Xuebing and were delighted for their eldest son. Now, hearing that Gao Jiaxing had been promoted and was going for advanced studies at the military academy, they all felt envious. "Why is he so fortunate?" Li Shengmei said sourly. He Xuegang said, "He is indeed impressive, his physical strength surpasses all of us, and he excels in every aspect." He Xuegang still had a high opinion of Gao Jiaxing, after all, he had trained with Gao Jiaxing for several years. He Xuegang had seen Gao Jiaxing’s capabilities firsthand; there was simply no room for jealousy anymore. "Since I was young, I’ve always noticed that Gao Jiaxing was different. Among all our playmates, he is the one I admired the most. It’s no surprise to me that he has achieved so much," He Hongjun said. Before leaving home, Gao Jiaxing first went to the school to see Gao Jiazhi, and after chatting with Gao Jiazhi, he returned to the production team. This time when Zheng Xianghong and Gao Jiaxing were leaving together, Li Shengmei, upon hearing that Zheng Xianghong was going to the army with Gao Jiaxing, immediately wanted to follow. He Xuegang hadn’t even spoken when He Hongjun opposed it, leaving Li Shengmei feeling indignant. When Gao Jiaxing left the island, he took letters from Xia Xiao to Yang Xuehua and Xia Jing. Thus, before Gao Jiaxing left the production team, Yang Xuehua and Xia Jing had quickly written replies for Gao Jiaxing to carry with him. Now, Yang Xuehua was still the same as always; she had even come to accept this way of life, sometimes feeling that living alone wasn’t so bad. And Xia Jing had given birth to a son for Yan Hao last year; they now had a daughter and a son—a complete ’good’ word. Wang Aihua already had three children here; the first was a son, followed by two daughters. And Sun Yuhua still had no news. The more she wanted to conceive, the harder it seemed to become, so she kept striving to have a child. Gao Jiaxing, He Xuegang, and Zheng Xianghong had left, but to their surprise, Li Shengmei secretly followed. He Xuegang was alright with it, but back at the production team, He Hongjun could only feel helpless when he learned that Li Shengmei had run off after He Xuegang. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹⟡𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮⟡𝙣𝙚𝙩 So, by November, Gao Jiaxing, Zheng Xianghong, He Xuegang, and Li Shengmei had all arrived on the small island. Xia Xiao was naturally happy to see Zheng Xianghong. But Dong Meihua was not in such a good mood. She hadn’t expected that He Xuegang’s departure would bring Li Shengmei along. Xia Xiao’s mood quickly soured too because a new female military doctor at the base was always sidling up to her house, looking at Gao Jiaxing with admiration and eagerness. Normally, having someone admire her husband like that should have made Xia Xiao happy; it proved her husband was charming. Yet, she couldn’t bring herself to feel pleased. She considered herself not to be magnanimous, and she didn’t need Lin Xiang approaching Gao Jiaxing under the pretense of hero worship. But military doctors were scarce in the army, aside from Mu Xingzhi, there was Lin Xiang. Even though Lin Xiang was considered an older unmarried woman, there were also plenty of older unmarried military men on the base. Aside from the soldiers, there were Military Wives and children. Now with Zheng Xianghong and Li Shengmei here, only Lin Xiang was single, which naturally stirred some bachelors’ hearts. Therefore, there were not a few pursuers of Lin Xiang. Once it was known that Lin Xiang was Yu Shijie’s cousin, Yu Shijie was almost overwhelmed by his comrades seeking introductions. But Lin Xiang clearly admired the strong more, especially Gao Jiaxing, even declaring openly in front of Xia Xiao that she admired Gao Jiaxing. Xia Xiao was at a loss for words. However, considering the other person spoke so openly and conducted herself with grace without behaving inappropriately, it would seem petty of Xia Xiao to take offense. Seeing that Xia Xiao had another son, Zheng Xianghong was very happy, whereas Gao Jiaxing regretted that it wasn’t a daughter. Xia Xiao laughed and said, "Xiaosan looks even more like you than Feiyang and Feiyue, if we had a daughter that resembled you, I’d be worried." Gao Jiaxing touched his face and chuckled, the scars on his face were still there but had faded quite a bit. "Boys should resemble me; it’s better for girls to look like you."