Mateo had been beaten and chased off.

Elena felt a massive headache coming on. Those fifty jars of jam from yesterday hadn't been sold yet. If she went to find Mateo now, wouldn't she just be a punching bag?

But if she didn't sell them, she’d be out a whole month’s salary.

Elena quietly discussed it with Roan. To her surprise, Roan wanted her to go to the county town and sell the goods herself right now.

"Me? Don't you think it’s unsafe?"

"It’s safer for you than me. I didn't help him when he got beaten earlier. He owes you a favor, doesn't he? Plus, your work isn't busy, unlike me—I’m being watched by the Battalion Commander."

Roan’s words made some sense.

Elena could easily leave Solana by using the excuse of buying medicine for Roan. But the more she thought about it, a girl barging into a gang’s territory felt a bit terrifying.

"Inside the gang... will there be thugs?"

"Don't worry!" Roan pulled Elena aside and whispered in her ear, "Leo already knows you. Why not let him accompany you to see Mateo?"

"A madman can leave the mental asylum?" Elena’s eyes went wide. "Besides, I’ve only met him once. Why would he help me?"

"Just say you’re my girlfriend!"

Roan muttered to himself. Suddenly, he and Elena locked eyes. His entire face and neck turned beet red.

"What do you mean, your girlfriend? Don't take advantage of me!" Elena scolded, her finger nearly poking Roan’s chest.Roan actually didn't even step back.

"No way. You have to call Leo first, or I’m not going."

Make a call? Oh, right.

Roan slapped his own forehead, nearly hitting his wound. When Barda was the Battalion Commander, he never let anyone use his phone. But now that Ryker was in charge, things were different.

"Reporting, Battalion Commander."

Roan gave a proper military salute, standing straight.

Ryker had been watching the two from a distance. So many secrets?

"What is it?"

"I need to make a call to the county."

"Hmm? To whom?"

"To..." Roan thought for a moment. He couldn't say Leo the lunatic. "To the Brigade Chief of Staff, Bruno."

"You know the Brigade Chief of Staff? Why didn't you say so earlier?" Ryker grinned, showing a row of white teeth against his sun-tanned skin. He patted the keys hanging from his waist. "Come on. Let me see what you plan to report to the Chief of Staff."

Roan: "..."

The two tall soldiers entered the office together. Elena followed right in without hesitation.

During the call, Ryker insisted Roan use the speakerphone; he wanted to listen too.

Elena wanted to listen as well. Otherwise, how would she know if someone would really accompany her?

"Hello?"

"Uncle... it's me..."

"Roan?" Bruno sounded surprised and happy on the other end. "Child, what made you think of calling your uncle? I saw that your military status has been restored. Is something wrong?"

Roan felt disgusted by Bruno again.

If you cared about me, why haven't you contacted me for three years? Why never visit Sofia or care about her eyes?

Shameless actor!

Despite his inner thoughts, Roan’s expression and tone remained polite.

"Uncle, my military status is back. Thank you."

"No need to thank me. That wasn't my decision to make. I just happened to see the document."

"Oh."

"Speak. You must have something to ask your uncle."

Roan glanced at Elena behind him. "Uncle, there's a girl here. She needs to go to the county town to buy some things for me, but she's never been there and is afraid of getting lost. Could you accompany her... or, if you're busy... just send someone..."

"Ah, the future niece-in-law! Of course I'll go with her."

Hearing this, Elena brandished her fist, looking like she wanted to beat up Bruno through the phone.

Ryker was stifling a laugh nearby.

Roan’s face turned deep red again, his voice stammering. "Uncle, it's not... not that kind of... relationship..."

"That's enough. Have her come. Tell her to find a public phone in the county town and call my office number. I'll pick her up."

Bruno was in a great mood after hanging up.

He whistled while organizing his files—a clear, bright sound like a shepherd boy sitting on a buffalo's back, swatting dragonflies with a stick.

He held a classified document. The higher-ups had designated him to lead the security group for the peace talks on both sides of the Sangreza. The other person designated in the document was Roan.

Bruno knew this was because Antonio had become a high official over there. However, he wasn't happy about the designation itself, but rather the feeling of a father watching his son grow up.

Roan has started dating!

The phone rang again. It was his wife.

"Bruno, I'm going out to eat with friends this afternoon and will be back very late. Eat at the mess hall yourself."

"Understood."

Bruno wasn't unhappy; instead, he was even more pleased. Since his wife wasn't home, he could treat Roan’s girlfriend to a meal.

They could eat at the barracks mess hall. There was plenty of meat there. Kids need to eat well to grow.

But thinking of Roan’s girlfriend, Bruno’s expression went blank as he stared out the window.

What kind of girl would she be?

She must be very pretty, right? Otherwise, how could she match Roan’s looks?

The secretary handed Bruno a blank form to fill out a list of people suspected of rebellion. Without a thought, Bruno wrote the first name:

Barda!

After being busy for two hours, Bruno finally received Elena’s call. "Chief of Staff—"

"Call me Uncle!"

Corrected by the man on the phone, Elena wasn't embarrassed at all. She immediately acted like they were old friends and called out, "Uncle, hee-hee! I'm at the bus station now. How can I find you? It’s my first time in the county town."

In her past life, Elena had been to the county town countless times. Every time her application to return to the city was rejected, she would apply again.

Later, when she was ill, she had also stayed in the county hospital for months.

So, she was actually very familiar with the town.

But now, she had to act like a total "road-blind" person who could get lost at any moment.

"The bus station? What are you wearing? Uncle is coming to pick you up now. Don't leave that public phone—it's the one at the station entrance, right?"

"Yes, that's it. I'm wearing earthy-gray pants and a blue-and-white cloth top, hee-hee." After answering, Elena looked at her clothes. In this era, everyone could only dress in dull colors. It didn't matter.

"Okay. Remember my license plate number: 15723. My name is Bruno."

"Oh."

"15723. Did you get that?"

"Got it. Come on, Uncle."

Less than half an hour after hanging up, Elena saw Bruno.

It was a dark gray sedan. After the car stopped in front of her, a gentlemanly officer in his early forties, fair-skinned and wearing glasses, got out from the back seat.

Bruno’s hair was a bit gray. It was rare to see someone his age with so much white hair.

He stood before Elena, looking her up and down with a kind gaze.

"Uncle, my name is Elena." Elena boldly extended her right hand to shake Bruno's.

"What is this you've brought?"

Bruno pointed at the burlap sack. It looked about half the size of a person and weighed at least dozens of pounds.

A girl had actually carried something this heavy to the county town?

"Someone asked for it," Elena replied casually, starting to lift the heavy bag.

Bruno took a large step forward and hoisted the large cloth bag with one strong pull.

Elena let out a cry:

"Ah, it's glass bottles! Be gentle!"

Watching Bruno gently place the bag into the trunk with only a faint clinking sound, Elena breathed a huge sigh of relief.

The driver had already gotten out of the car. Normally, he should have been the one to move heavy objects, but the Chief of Staff had actually snatched the task and moved it himself today?

Elena nodded politely to the driver first, then said, "Uncle..."

"Hmm?" Bruno turned back after closing the trunk.

"What we're going to do in a while is private business. Can we not trouble the driver? Can we go by ourselves?"

"Sure..." Bruno paused as he answered. "But I don't know how to drive."

"I do. Don't worry."

Bruno had seen female soldiers driving in the barracks before, so he just nodded. "Then you drive. We'll drop the driver back at the barracks first before we go."

"Alright."

Elena answered and slid into the driver's seat. Her right foot stepped on the brake, and her right hand released the handbrake.

After starting the engine, her left foot slowly released the clutch while she gently tapped the gas. With her left hand on the steering wheel, the car smoothly moved forward.

The movements were as fluid as running water.

The driver, who was initially a bit worried sitting in the passenger seat, nodded repeatedly. "Chief of Staff, your niece is a pro."

Bruno was also satisfied with the steadily accelerating car, a slight smile on his face.

Elena was on the right route to the barracks, but she still had to play the part. "Uncle, which way is the barracks?"

"Just ahead, keep going straight," the driver answered, waving his hand.

Elena didn't hold back. With a kick of the gas, she delivered the driver to the barracks gate.

After watching the driver walk into the barracks, Elena pretended to ask Bruno for the address of the "Little Black Market." Hearing that Elena wanted to go there, Bruno understood immediately.

"Niece, what kind of good stuff are you trying to sell?"

Elena turned her head toward the back seat and whispered to Bruno, "You can't tell anyone. We're selling these to raise money for Sofia’s eye surgery."

Hearing Sofia’s name, Bruno felt as if his heart had been stabbed.

For three years, he hadn't visited the three children. He didn't know how to face Antonio in the future.

Bruno believed Antonio would understand the principle that "the closer you are, the more dangerous it is." After Antonio’s "betrayal," there was huge controversy within the party regarding how to handle Antonio’s faction, which naturally included his children.

If Bruno had stood completely with Antonio, he might have lost his military position and become someone who could no longer protect the three siblings at all.

Of course, there were other reasons why Bruno had been unwilling to visit, things he couldn't state clearly and couldn't explain to Leo.

He would rather be misunderstood by the whole world!

Elena couldn't read Bruno’s flickering gaze and thought it was inconvenient for him to go to that place.

"Uncle, Roan said if it's inconvenient for you to go to the black market, I should have Uncle Leo accompany me. When he called, the Commander was beside him, so it wasn't convenient to call Uncle Leo. That's why he could only call you."

Bruno was stunned for a moment before forcing himself out of his memories. "It’s convenient. I can go. Niece, drive on."

Mateo’s face had three large lumps, two of which were wrapped in gauze. There were also two slight bulges on his head.

Seeing Elena bring another officer—and based on the epaulettes, one with a much higher rank than the Commander who beat him today—it felt like he had poked a hornet's nest of soldiers!

His face turned deathly pale.

"What... what else do you want..."

"What 'how do I want'? I'm here to deliver Roan's jam. Talk inside."Elena pushed Mateo, who had only opened the door a crack, into the house.

Bruno followed inside, carrying the large bag of jars.

Elena pulled out the medicine she had bought today at the Beldora Hospital temporary clinic and apologized for Roan:

"Roan said he felt very bad watching you get beaten today without being able to help you. He specifically asked me to buy these for you."

"He's just a soldier under the Commander. He couldn't do anything. The new Commander wanted to make an example of someone, and you just happened to be in the crosshairs."

Mateo didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Seriously? Just because he wanted to establish his authority, he beat the three of us?"

Elena spread her hands, looking helpless. "Probably something like that, I guess. Roan was being punished at the time, too, so it wasn't easy for him to speak up for you."

"..." Mateo shook his head speechlessly. He gestured toward Bruno. "You didn't bring him here just to give me another beating, did you?"

Elena squawked, "What are you saying? I brought my uncle because I was afraid you'd bully me!"

Bruno scratched his head and chuckled.

So, the gangster had been beaten in the village, and the little girl, fearing retaliation, had used him as her personal bodyguard.

Thinking that Elena was just delivering jam for Roan, Mateo was even more fuming. "I went to the village today specifically for this. The buyer is desperate... Why didn't you just bring it out then? It cost me a beating. That dead thing Roan... by the way, how did he suddenly become a soldier?"

"Ahem!" Bruno coughed from the side.

Mateo immediately dared not ask further. He changed his tune, "Forget it, forget it. I won't ask about army secrets."

Only then did he realize—back in the village, he was thinking this little girl had a backer. And wasn't this her high-ranking uncle?

The little girl's uncle was definitely worth befriending. Someone from the Central Army?

Mateo invited Bruno to sit at the tea table. He not only poured a cup of tea but also handed over a carton of imported cigarettes—a very expensive kind.

Bruno didn't smoke and hurriedly refused. "You don't need to be formal with me. Just be better to my niece. Don't bully her just because she's a girl."

"I wouldn't dare, Sir!" Mateo forced a smile. "Besides, we don't just kill and fight for no reason. I'm just leading my brothers to find a living so they can support their wives and children."

"That's for the best," Bruno said flatly.

3,000 pesos were in hand—a thick stack of bills. Elena carefully tucked them into her pocket.

She had the technology.

She had the sales channel.

Now, if Roan ever dared to make her unhappy, she could kick him away and run the jam business herself.

Of course, Elena wouldn't actually do that.

She was just thinking that if she ever had a dispute with Roan, she could hold this over his head.

More chapters here:：https://www.32novel.com/novel/book/10