Bruno invited Elena to eat at the officers' canteen.

In this era, eating meat for free was a rare luxury. Elena ate two chicken drumsticks, a serving of steamed fish, and a portion of braised pork in one go. She realized for the first time that she had such a huge appetite.

Even though she didn't care about her table manners, she noticed Bruno staring at her with a heavy expression. She couldn't help but ask, "Hmm? Uncle, what are you looking at?"

"Oh? No... nothing..." Bruno composed himself, but a trace of sadness leaked out. "Roan's younger siblings... is it hard for them to eat food like this?"

Elena nodded. It went without saying. In these years of food shortage, being able to eat one's fill was already lucky.

"Sigh..." Bruno let out a long sigh. "Whatever. Now that things have settled down a bit, I'll go back with you today to see those two children."

Elena didn't say anything and pretended she hadn't heard. Before leaving, she had asked Marco about Bruno. Marco only said that the eldest brother told them this uncle was not good to them at all—much worse than Uncle Leo.

But in Elena's eyes, Bruno’s words and actions were full of warmth. He clearly cared about the three siblings and respected Roan. Otherwise, Bruno wouldn't have accompanied her to the black market. If he were reported, it would cause him quite a bit of trouble.

After finishing her meal, Elena saw that Bruno had called the driver. He then asked the canteen to pack at least ten people's worth of food, picking meat like chicken drumsticks, chicken breast, braised pork, and fried eggs.

On the car ride back to Solana, Bruno introduced the scenery along the way—how it used to look and how it was now. He seemed very familiar with the area, yet it also felt like he hadn't been back in years.

When they arrived back at Solana, the sun had already set. Roan, who was chopping wood in the yard to prepare dinner, was shocked to see Bruno personally sending Elena back.

"Uncle..."

"Roan, don't bother cooking. Here..." Bruno handed him the food. "I just packed some meat and dishes from the canteen. Call your siblings to come and eat."

Roan remained polite. Although he disliked Bruno, he couldn't refuse the large bag of food brought all the way from the county town. He took it respectfully with both hands.

"Marco, Sofia, come out! Uncle Bruno is here," Roan shouted toward the house, trying to sound friendly.

Marco was in the backyard teaching Sofia to identify vegetables. Hearing his brother mention Bruno, he shouted back:

"Is it that bad Uncle Bruno?"

"What did you say?" Roan was angry. Marco’s words were too offensive to a guest. He picked up a wooden stick, pretending he was going inside to beat Marco.

Bruno grabbed the stick from Roan and scolded him softly, "I haven't visited in three years, and I didn't fully take your father's side during his punishment. Isn't it normal for a child to think I'm a bad person?"

"Yes..." Roan stood there stiffly, his eyes flickering as he looked at Elena. It seemed the Bruno in his mind was a bit different from the one standing before him.

Marco led Sofia out of the house. When he saw Bruno, he realized he had misspoken.

"Uncle!" Marco lowered his head, counting the toes sticking out of his rubber shoes as he greeted Bruno. His voice was so quiet it was almost inaudible.

In a drawer in their room, there was a photo of his father and two uncles. Weren't the uncles in the photo very young? Why did this uncle look so old now, with so much white hair? The elders in the village said people's hair only turned white when they got old.

Was the uncle getting old? If the uncle was so old, was Father getting old too? Would Father have a lot of white hair?

Thinking that his father might look different from his memory, Marco felt sad. When he was sad, he would pout, and once he pouted, he started to cry.

But Bruno wasn't focused on Marco right now. He only cared about Sofia. "Child, can you not see anything at all now? Uncle is here."

Sofia had no memory of Bruno. She didn't think she had ever heard this voice before.

"Are you saying... you are my father's two best friends?"

"No, I am one of the two," Bruno replied kindly, holding Sofia's hand.

"Oh, your voice sounds a lot like Father's." There wasn't a hint of sadness in Sofia's voice when she spoke. "Uncle, they said there's a charity project, and they're preparing to do eye surgery for me."

Bruno knew the "charity project" was a comforting strategy used by the military for Sofia.

The military did intend to help Sofia with her surgery, but they needed a buffer to avoid committing themselves too early.

The surgery would only happen if her father, Antonio, refrained from making any reactionary or anti-socialist statements on the other side.

Moreover, everything depended on the peace negotiations.

Bruno didn't want to ruin Sofia's mood with the truth. "Sofia, how does my voice sound like your father's? Your father's voice is older. Mine is still young."

Sofia actually didn't remember her father's voice at all. Everything she said followed Lucy's "script": any kind person around her father's age was told they sounded like him.

"Hee-hee, it just does..."

Before Sofia could finish, Marco began to wail, "Waaa, waaa!"

"What's wrong, Marco?" Bruno finally noticed the boy. The three children's house was such a mess.

Bruno had no children of his own; he would rather his house be this messy every day than continue being a man without a child. But his wife didn't want children at all.

Marco usually didn't cry. If he did, his brother would scold him for looking ugly, so he started laughing through his tears, snot bubbling as he spoke. "You said Father's voice is very old. Does he have more white hair than you? Does he have wrinkles like an old grandpa? Waaa..."

Bruno sat on a small stool and pulled both children into his arms, comforting them kindly. "How could Father be old? Father is young and handsome. It’s Uncle who is old. Uncle thinks too much, so my hair turned white early. Understand?"

So that was it! Marco realized that thinking too much could make one's hair turn white early.

Roan came back from the yard. While no one was looking, he had gone to find Lucy and asked her to get the battalion commander.

Since the brigade chief of staff was here, the commander should receive him.

When Roan saw Marco laughing and crying in Bruno's arms, he wasn't angry. He just stood there with a mischievous smile like Elena, watching Marco's little emotional breakdown.

Lucy and Ryker walked back side by side, their steps perfectly in sync.

"Chief of Staff!" Ryker stood at attention and saluted Bruno.

Bruno let go of the children and stood up to shake hands. Ryker complained in a low voice, "Chief of Staff, if you were coming here, you should have told me in advance."

"This is just personal business. I didn't want to bother you while you're busy."

At twenty-seven, Ryker already spoke with a very official air. "No matter how busy I am, I must receive you."

The group ate dinner together. Ryker had already asked about the relationship between Bruno and Roan's family. He felt embarrassed to eat the food Bruno brought for the children, so he cooked several good dishes himself. One major dish involved Ryker buying a hen from a farmer and giving it to Roan in exchange for a large plate of Bruno’s meat.

Since Bruno, Elena, and the driver had already eaten, they just snacked a little while chatting. Only Marco had no interest in talking while eating. With a chicken drumstick in his left hand and a fried egg in his right, he muttered with his mouth full, "Bad Uncle's chicken drumsticks are so delicious, hee-hee."

East bank of the river, military camp.

Marco’s father, Antonio, finished work early today and was lying in bed in a daze. He had taken off his military cap, and his hair was jet black. He had also removed his uniform, lying quietly in just a vest and boxers, enjoying a rare moment of solitude.

Today, Antonio saw Caspar. Caspar wanted to enter the underground secret room to visit Ramon on behalf of Tatiana, but the guards refused them. The guards stated they were strictly carrying out Commander Bernardo's orders.

"Does that mean Commander Bernardo has started to suspect I’m not loyal?" Antonio thought.

Although Antonio failed to enter the basement to see Ramon, Vivienne had called to tell him she found a man who looked very much like Antonio. This man could take Antonio's place to stay overnight with the old man during the weekend.

Since when did Vivienne become so kind? He had only mentioned it casually, and she actually went to find someone? Was she trying to win the old man's heart by placing a double there? The more Antonio thought about it, the more he felt Vivienne's intentions were not pure.

If only Bruno were here. Bruno and Vivienne were classmates; he would understand this woman's schemes better.

The day after tomorrow was Saturday. Antonio felt it was necessary to see Vivienne tomorrow—to see this man who was said to look just like him.

A man looking like a stranger? "How similar could it be?

Thinking of this, Antonio felt that since he was going out tomorrow, he might as well visit that National Security Bureau staff member he was rumored to have assassinated. As long as he appeared at the hospital, the rumors would collapse on their own.

"Who cares about killing a lowly staffer? If I were to kill someone, it would be an old pervert like Bernardo who just wants to possess my body..."

Antonio fell asleep while thinking these thoughts. In his dream, he was herding cattle when Bruno walked over to greet him—but Bruno had Marco’s chubby little face.

"Son? Sofia!"

Antonio shouted in his dream, but to his surprise, the one who responded was Roan. "Damn it, if you’re going to defect, then defect. Why did you have to hurt Uncle Leo?"

Is this any way to talk to your father?

My son...

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