Chapter 25 He Is Your Grandfather

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“Forget it. There’s no point thinking about it. Their expressions don’t seem hostile toward me. I’ll know what’s going on once I go out and see.”

With that, Lei Bin got out of bed, put on his military uniform and boots, opened the door, and immediately saluted.

“Good day, officers!”

The two major generals standing outside were both taken aback. They had no idea how Lei Bin had known they were coming, but neither of them dwelled on it. They returned his salute at once and said in an unusually gentle tone, “Lei… Lei Bin, you need to come with us to meet someone.”

Hearing their strange tone, and sensing that they seemed almost reverent toward him, Lei Bin could not help feeling bewildered.

You’re both major generals. I’m only an infantryman. Why are you treating me with such respect?

Still, Lei Bin knew the answer would soon be revealed, so he did not bother asking. Whom exactly was he going to meet? They seemed to hold that person in tremendous awe, and were therefore extending the same respect to him. Could it be the president?

That was possible. Perhaps the president valued him highly and had given him some prestigious position. That would explain why these two major generals were treating him with such reverence.

Lost in wild speculation, Lei Bin saluted at once.

“Yes, sir.”

He then left with them. What puzzled him even more was that whenever they entered an elevator or approached a room, the two major generals refused to go first. Instead, they let him lead the way.

Lei Bin grew even more confused. What had happened to him that could make two major generals treat him with such deference? Yet he did not dare ask. In a daze, he simply followed them.

At last, Lei Bin arrived before the door of a conference room. The two major generals personally hurried forward, opened the large brown doors for him, and invited him inside.

Lei Bin was utterly bewildered. He was not the president, after all. Was all this really necessary?

But since they had invited him in, he could hardly stand there like an idiot. He strode into the room. The doors slammed shut behind him, and none of the others entered.

Inside the conference room, Lei Bin immediately saw three people beside the table in the center. One was an elderly man with silver hair and beard, dressed in a sharply pressed military uniform and seated in a leather chair. His features radiated immense authority.

Standing behind him were two others. On the left was a middle-aged man who appeared to be in his forties or fifties. He, too, wore a military uniform and stood ramrod straight. Though his face was marked by the hardships of life, his presence possessed a terrifying force, as if an immense explosive power lay dormant within him.

On the other side stood an elderly man in a black suit. His face was kindly, and he was slightly bent at the waist, his hands hanging respectfully at his sides. He looked like a butler.

Lei Bin recognized the seated old man at a glance. He was the figure most revered by every soldier in the Federation, the idol of countless passionate young men, the helmsman of the federal military, and the bearer of the Federation’s highest honor and highest rank—

Marshal Rainer.

Ever since Lei Bin was a child, he had held the Federation’s greatest soldier in deep admiration. He had known Marshal Rainer’s biography and legendary exploits by heart from an early age. Back then, he had dreamed of becoming a great soldier just like him.

But as he struggled to grow up in the Old District, those dreams had gradually dwindled into a steamed bun, a piece of clothing, or a single federal coin.

And yet today, seeing the old man he respected most standing before him, all the heroic yearning buried deep within his heart came surging back. His mind went blank with excitement. Of the countless words he wanted to say, only a flawless military salute and a roar of emotion emerged.

“Private Lei Bin reporting to Marshal Rainer!”

His shoulders trembled with excitement.

He had never imagined that he would actually meet Marshal Rainer. Although he knew he had rendered great service this time, he had never expected the marshal himself to receive him.

It was an honor beyond anything he could have imagined.

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In response to Lei Bin’s salute, Rainer merely nodded lightly.

“There are no outsiders here. You needn’t address me so formally as ‘Marshal.’”

“Yes, sir.”

In truth, Lei Bin had not understood what he meant at all. He answered loudly as before, displaying the discipline of a fine soldier.

In front of the marshal, he would never dare behave carelessly. Thus, although Rainer had spoken so casually, Lei Bin remained extremely restrained. He continued standing straight without saying another word, waiting for the marshal to question him.

Lei Bin stood rigidly, while Marshal Rainer remained silent. A brief hush descended over the room. Not a sound could be heard, and the atmosphere grew somewhat awkward.

“Lei Bin, come over here and call him Grandfather.”

The middle-aged soldier standing behind Rainer seemed to be trying to break the silence.

“Hm?”

Lei Bin stared wide-eyed at the man, instinctively uttering the same sound again. He could not understand what was happening. Was the man speaking to him? What did he mean, call him Grandfather? Had he accomplished so much that Marshal Rainer intended to take him as a god-grandson?

No wonder the two major generals outside had looked so strange. So Marshal Rainer wanted to adopt him as a god-grandson?

Could such incredible luck truly have befallen him?

Perhaps all the younger members of the Rainer family had died, and the marshal had taken a liking to Lei Bin’s talent and bearing. Maybe he intended to make Lei Bin the heir of the Rainer family.

Ha! This was the greatest stroke of luck imaginable!

Lei Bin naturally began thinking along those lines, and excitement instantly flooded his heart.

Yet the middle-aged man’s voice and manner of speaking seemed strangely familiar, as though Lei Bin had heard them somewhere before. What was going on?

Seeing that Lei Bin still had not reacted, the middle-aged man frowned and said, “Lei Bin, what are you waiting for? This is your biological grandfather. You are a member of the Rainer family. Come over and call him Grandfather.”

“Hm?”

The few thoughts Lei Bin had just pieced together were thrown into confusion once more. Biological grandfather? Hadn’t he been talking about adopting him as a god-grandson? And why did this man’s voice sound so familiar? The man was unquestionably someone he knew very well.

Lei Bin stared at the middle-aged soldier. After a full ten seconds, he suddenly cried out:

“Damn it—Dad?”

It could hardly be blamed on Lei Bin that he had failed to recognize his own father. Ever since he could remember, Lei Xingfeng had always worn his hair and beard long, clutched a liquor bottle, and looked utterly despondent and disheveled. He had never once cut his hair or beard, put on clean clothes, and stood so straight and imposing.

This was practically an entirely different person.

Lei Bin was completely stunned. What was going on? Why was his father here? Wasn’t he supposed to be in the Old District? Lei Bin had even planned to return there in a few days and proudly show off his achievements to his father.

How had his father suddenly appeared here?

And why was he standing behind Marshal Rainer, telling him to call someone Grandfather, and claiming that Lei Bin was a member of the Rainer family?

Lei Bin was not stupid. A vague suspicion had already surfaced in his mind. He simply did not dare believe it—did not want to believe it.

“Lei Bin, don’t be so insolent in front of your grandfather. You should understand by now. We are all members of the Rainer family. My name is Lei Xingfeng. I am the third son of the family. You are my son, and therefore a third-generation descendant of the Rainer family.”

Lei Xingfeng knew that Lei Bin would have difficulty accepting this reality, so he sighed as he spoke.

After hearing this, Lei Bin was finally certain that his suspicion was correct. He stood rooted to the spot, head lowered, his eyes flickering continuously.

For a long while, he showed no expression, uttered no word, and made no movement.

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No one knew what was going through his mind.

“Lei Bin, what are you waiting for? Hurry over and call your grandfather!”

Seeing that Lei Bin was still standing there in a daze, Lei Xingfeng scolded him. The Rainer family had always enforced its rules strictly. Had any other family member behaved this way, he would already have been subjected to a harsh family punishment.

At last, Lei Bin slowly raised his head and looked at Lei Xingfeng.

“Dad, he isn’t my grandfather. He is the great marshal of the Federation, not my grandfather. I don’t have a grandfather, and I don’t have any other relatives. I have only you, Dad.

“Although you’re a drunk who never took care of me, we’ve depended on each other all these years. You made me understand that, in this world, I still had a father. Whenever I was bullied, whenever misery filled my heart, I knew that I wasn’t alone in this world. I still had one family member.

“That knowledge gave me a little warmth. I knew that I still had a small home—not a very good one, perhaps, but a home where I was still missed. When people chased me through the streets with knives, it gave me the strength to run back home.

“I have only that one home. I have only one father. That is everything in my life.

“Although you failed to fulfill your responsibility to raise me, you are still my father. Even as I grew older, I kept thinking that one day I would find a good job, earn enough money to support you, and care for you in your old age. You gave me life. You are my entire world.

“As for whether I have any other relatives, I stopped caring about that a long time ago. I would rather believe they don’t exist. If you and I are together in this world, that is enough.

“Dad, let’s go. Let’s return to our little home. I can earn money and support you.”

Lei Bin stood quietly, a calm light in his eyes and a faint smile on his lips. It was warm and gentle, filled with affection and love.

That look contained his entire life.

He extended a hand, just as he had when he was a child and had fallen down, reaching out for his father to pull him back to his feet. He knew that this man was his only support. Even if, in the end, that man had never reached out to lift him up, he still knew that he was the reason Lei Bin had found the strength to stand again—the one person to whom he could reach out.

A simple life amid the chaos of the Old District could be so peaceful. Lei Bin had once longed for such a life more than anything.

Those grand and glorious dreams had long since been strangled by the helplessness and despair of his childhood. He was only a small, ordinary man. He was merely an ordinary child from the Old District. All he wanted was to open a repair shop and live a life free from hunger and want.

Nothing more.

Hearing Lei Bin’s words, seeing the hand he had extended, and witnessing the complete disregard in his eyes toward Rainer, Lei Xingfeng felt as though something had pierced his heart viciously.

The sensation was exactly like the pain he had felt when he left his wife years ago, when the softest place in his heart had been brutally twisted.

Indeed, because of what had happened between him and Ye Yuting, Lei Bin had endured far more than he ever should have. He had received neither love nor protection. He had grown up drifting like duckweed, and Lei Xingfeng had been his only lifeline.

That was why he hated. That was why he resented.

He would rather continue living like drifting duckweed and put down roots by himself than depend on some towering tree.

It was a kind of proud isolation—the same proud isolation that Lei Xingfeng possessed, the same pride that ran through the blood of the Rainer family.

Everyone in the Rainer family was like that.

Lei Bin was no different.

If this had happened in the past, Lei Xingfeng might truly have continued living in seclusion with Lei Bin, passing the rest of their lives in quiet simplicity.

But now, there was no one left in the Rainer family.

No one was left.

He could not simply stand by and watch the family collapse.

After all, the blood of the Rainer family flowed through his veins.

Lei Xingfeng was about to speak when Rainer, who had been sitting beside them, suddenly let out a sharp shout.

“Enough!”