Chapter 1 — Soldier's Son

The housekeeper of the apartment complex called to confirm whether I had someone knock down the load-bearing wall in the house or not. I was completely bewildered. I'm on a peacekeeping mission at the border, that's my wedding house, who dares to destroy it? I questioned my wife, she said the signal was poor and couldn't hear clearly. “Husband, I just want to fix a baby room for our unborn child, just to surprise you.” "Tell the management that you have agreed. Besides, throw away the bed in the master bedroom. I want to change it to the largest imported round bed, waiting for you to return." Hang up the phone. I asked for leave to go home and directly video call my grandfather, the commander of the military region. "Grandpa, To Van Tinh led his illegitimate son to occupy my house, sent a company of guards to seal the door. When I return, I will divorce immediately!" …… The military transport plane took off, and three hours later, I landed at the provincial military airport. Half an hour later, the car stopped in front of the gate of the luxury apartment complex. "Stop! Visitors must register!" A young security guard stopped in front of the car, his eyes alert. I rolled down the car window, suppressing my anger: "I'm the landlord, apartment 1801, Luc Vien Chinh." The security guard frowned and looked at the electronic device in his hand, then raised his head and his eyes became strange. "Sir, stop joking. Look at this photo, the woman on the left is the owner of apartment 1801, surnamed To. The owner of the To house is an exemplary householder in our area, the person next to her is her husband, engineer Truong Kien Minh. The two of them are very affectionate, couples come and go every day. I've been working here for half a year, and I've never heard of Mr. Luc." I looked at him: "Just arrived?" The security guard got goosebumps from my eyes and took a half step back: "What do you want to do? I warn you, don't cause trouble!" I took out my officer's certificate from the storage compartment and placed it firmly on the door sill of the security station. “Provincial military region, check the homes of military relatives, open the gate.” The security guard froze for a moment, picked up the certificate and glanced at it. His attitude immediately turned one hundred and eighty degrees, he panicked and pressed the button to raise the barrier: "Hello, boss! Misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding!" I collected the certificate, stepped on the accelerator and rushed into the apartment complex. When I was waiting for the elevator on the first floor. The elevator door opens. Truong Kien Minh smoked a cigarette as he stepped out of the elevator, scrolling through a short video, the speaker was very loud. His eyes met mine. The cigarette in Truong Kien Minh's hand trembled and fell onto his pants leg, burning so much that he let out a strange cry. “You… Luc Vien Chinh?” He clearly recognized me, a flash of panic flashed in his eyes, and he unconsciously backed into the elevator. I reached out and grabbed the back of his shirt. Directly pulled him into the stairs. "Ah! I'm killing someone! Save me!" Truong Kien Minh screamed. I kicked him in the hollow of his knee. He knelt to the ground with a thud, his forehead hit the steps, and he immediately turned red. “Shut up.” I lowered my head and looked down at him. On his wrist, he wore a black military watch. It's a limited edition approved by a special unit after I achieved success last year, and the back is engraved with my name and code. I sent it back to To Van Tinh to keep. Now, it's on this man's hand. I bent down and roughly snatched the watch from his wrist, the watch strap tightened, turning his skin red. Truong Kien Minh bared his teeth and winced in pain, but didn't dare to protest, just trembling and begging: "Brothers... no, chief! What's the matter? Slow down! I'm the construction team leader that Van Tinh invited! Really the construction team leader! Because the progress is so urgent, I've... just stayed here for a few days!" “Stay here?” I smiled coldly, put the watch in my pocket, grabbed his collar and pulled him up, got into the elevator to the eighteenth floor. Go to the floor. I pushed him in front of that closed door. I reached out and entered the password. It was our marriage anniversary. “Beep beep, wrong password.” I changed to fingerprint. “Title, fingerprints haven't been recorded yet.” Truong Kien Minh cowered beside him, his eyes avoiding: "That... the system is broken, there's no time to fix it..." I turned my head to look at him. “System failure?” I let go, letting him fall limply to the ground. From the side pocket of my tactical backpack, I took it

produced a folding military door-breaking hammer. Truong Kien Minh was so scared that he backed away. “What… what do you want to do!” I didn't pay attention to him. Both hands hold the hammer handle tightly. Boom! The door lock was completely broken, the door burst open with a gap. I put away the hammer to break the door and kicked the door. I stepped through the threshold and turned my head to look at Truong Kien Minh lying limp on the ground. “Come in here.” “Look what you destroyed my house into.” The living room layout has changed. The floor-standing bookshelf I liked the most is no longer there, replaced by a giant display cabinet. The inside is filled with famous wines and vulgar decorations. On the tea table, children's snacks, Legos, and even a few remote control cars were piled haphazardly. A few men's coats were casually thrown on the sofa, and there was also a pair of small slippers that clearly didn't belong to me. Every detail shows: this place has changed male owners. I stepped on the mess all over the floor and went inside. Truong Kien Minh trembled and followed behind, still muttering: "Chief, this is really a misunderstanding, I'm just doing things for convenience..." I ignored him and directly pushed the main bedroom door. At that moment, I felt the blood rushing to my head. The double bed that was custom made when we got married is gone. Instead, it was actually a giant circular red water bed. On top was a purple silk sheet, looking very much like a cheap love hotel. The wardrobe door was slightly open. Half of the space that originally belonged to me was now filled with men's shirts and colorful trousers. As for my civilian clothes and training uniform, they were nowhere to be seen. “Where are my clothes?” I turned around, my voice was terrifyingly calm. Truong Kien Minh swallowed his saliva, his eyes were wandering: "That... Van Tinh said if she didn't go, she wouldn't come. They were all packed and thrown into the basement..." I nodded, so angry that I burst out laughing. Turn around and walk towards the office. The office door was ajar. Pushing open the door, the wall originally hung my military school graduation certificate and photo of me receiving medals. Now hangs a giant comic book-style family picture. On the picture is a man and a woman, holding the hand of a chubby boy. The signature was written crookedly: "I love you, Mom and Dad, Truong Tieu Bao." My eyes fell on the desk. I pulled out the drawer. Inside lies a brand new household registration book. Turn the first page, head of household: To Van Tinh. Turn the second page, son: Luc Tieu Bao. Old name: Truong Tieu Bao. The birth date is only three months younger than my son, Luc Niem An. The hand holding my household registration book is shaking. Not only does she want to let someone else live in my house, she also wants to let someone else's child join my Luc family's household registration! Eyes continued to search the drawer. In the corner of the drawer, I saw some familiar boxes. That's my military medal. Among them was a first-class medal, which I earned by taking a piece of mortar shell for my teammates at the border. It's an honor worth half a life. At this moment, there was a piece of melted chocolate on that gold medal, and there were a few dirty fingerprints. Obviously, it is considered a toy. “To Van Tinh…” I gritted my teeth and hissed out these three words. If she was just having an affair, at best I would just feel disgusted. But you took my military merit medal and gave it to your illegitimate child as a toy, that's trampling on my beliefs! “Where is my son?” I suddenly turned around, grabbed Truong Kien Minh's collar, and lifted his whole body off the ground. Truong Kien Minh was scared by my eyes and tremblingly pointed to the north: "In... in..." I pushed him away and rushed towards the living balcony next to the north kitchen. The windows were not closed tightly, the north wind rushed in. In the corner of the balcony. I saw a small bed made of wooden planks. On top was spread a thin blanket that was stained yellow and black. Next to it was a dirty bowl with half a hardened dumpling inside. I saw a photo pasted on the head of the bed. That's a photo of me in military uniform. “Dad…” On the back of the photo were written two immature words. My eye sockets immediately turned red. I am outside protecting the country, and my son is at home

living in a dog nest, eating leftovers, calling my photo dad! “Who did it?” I turned around, my voice lowered. Truong Kien Minh cowered in the corner of the living room, trembling: "It's... it's Van Tinh who said, that child is too naughty and disobedient, he must... have to sharpen his temper..." "Sharpen his temper?" I walked towards him step by step, the anger in my eyes almost wanted to shoot out. At this moment, there was the sound of high heels outside the door. "Kien Minh? What's going on? Why is the door broken?" To Van Tinh carried large bags and small bags of branded items, walked through the tattered door and entered. She glanced at Truong Kien Minh lying on the ground, but completely ignored me standing in the dark. "Oh my husband! Why are you sitting on the ground?" To Van Tinh threw down the bag in her hand, rushed over to hug Truong Kien Minh, and sadly touched his face. "Is it the house repairman causing trouble? Don't be afraid, I'm here! If anyone dares to touch you, I will make that person unable to finish the takeout package!" Truong Kien Minh buried his head in To Van Tinh's arms, pointed at me and cried: "Wife! Save my life! This crazy guy wants to kill me!" At this time, To Van Tinh suddenly turned back. Four eyes looked at each other. Her expression immediately turned from anger to surprise, then panic that could be seen clearly with the naked eye. “Luc… Luc Vien Chinh?!” She unconsciously let go of Truong Kien Minh, stood up and took two steps back. "You... aren't you abroad? Why did you suddenly come back?" I stepped out of the darkness, still holding the fake household registration book and the chocolate-stained military medal in my hand. "Why? If I don't come back, how will I know that this house has changed male owners?" “How do you know that my son is being raised by you on the balcony like a dog?” I pressed closer step by step. To Van Tinh's face was sometimes blue, sometimes white, but quickly calmed down. Outside the door, a few neighbors heard the movement and poked their heads to look. “Oh, was homeroom teacher To's house robbed?” "Who is that soldier? He looks so fierce." To Van Tinh immediately changed her expression to self-pity and said loudly: "This person is crazy. He has always liked me and had the illusion that he and I were married." "Luc Vien Chinh! Calm down! I know you're sick, but you can't arbitrarily hit people!" I stopped walking and coldly watched her act. "Look at you beating people like this! Is your... post-war psychological syndrome coming back again?" She turned around and shouted to the neighbors outside the door: With just a few sentences, she decided I was crazy. The neighbors' eyes immediately changed, from curiosity to wariness and disgust. “So you're crazy…” “Are you stupid enough to join the army?” “Director To is so pitiful, being stuck by this kind of person.” Seeing support, Truong Kien Minh also crawled up from the ground, hiding behind To Van Tinh. The fox used his majestic voice to shout: "Yes! He is the crazy one! Just now he wanted to hit me on the head with a hammer! Van Tinh, you must protect me!"