Billionaire's Long Journey of Chasing His Love-Chapter 687 - 582: Stubborn! Obstinate! (Third Update)
After this matter was settled, the family spent three days together at home. During this time, Joyina and Mi Chenshuo went to Haotian to promote their new movie.
After they left, Yan Zi and Mi Xiaotian took Youyou to Country F. Seven days later, Mi Chenxuan and three other cadets set out to begin their two-year training at Saint-Cyr Academy.
The whole family understood what this meant for Mi Chenxuan—when he returned, everything would have changed.
With half the people gone, the house suddenly felt much quieter. Without the two kids stirring things up, the adults wouldn’t even know how to pass the time.
The little household grew quiet, and so did everyone in it.
Country R was behaving, Haotian was peaceful, and Xiamu had gone eerily silent.
With no battles to fight and nothing to do, Tong Airui spent his days either playing with the kids or teasing his wife, utterly devoid of serious business. Fourth Master felt like he was practically growing mold, his idleness driving him up the wall.
With nothing to do, he created work. He rounded up everyone from the compound for training. "These office-bound folks, how can they go without exercise? A strong country starts with strong bodies!"
Recently, Tong Airui noticed an issue that irked him greatly: whenever there was downtime, this group would gather to chit-chat endlessly, especially the female team members. Now that they’d moved into a shared office space, the chatter became nonstop, driving him nuts.
On the first day, after a five-kilometer run, not a single person collapsed. Fourth Master laughed—looks like their fitness wasn’t half bad!
The second day, they ran ten kilometers, and a few people started lagging. Fourth Master stayed silent.
On the third day, he announced a fifteen-kilometer load-bearing run. That’s when a few old-timers first started raising their objections.
Colin was the first to barge into the office. "Are you trying to kill us?!"
"I said, anyone over fifty is exempt. You insisted on joining. This time, stay out of it."
Sheng Duheng entered next, glancing at Yi Luowa, who was sitting on the sofa bandaging her injuries, his mouth twitching.
"Luowa, don’t go today."
Yi Luowa shook her head. "I can still manage. When I truly can’t run anymore, I’ll stop."
"Why put yourself through this?" Sheng Duheng sighed helplessly.
"Second Uncle, I can’t let Tong Airui bully only others. If I stay in the office and refuse to join, who knows what they’d say about me behind my back?"
"Airui, take a look at Luowa’s feet!" Sheng Duheng shot Tong Airui a look of frustration.
Tong Airui frowned. "Second Uncle, I care for her even more than you do. But if I tell her not to join, she won’t listen. This way, she not only builds herself up but also sets an example for everyone else."
"This brat, since when did he stop coddling his wife?" Sheng Duheng chuckled. "How many kilometers are you planning for tomorrow? Twenty?"
"We’ll see who’s capable and who’s not after today. Starting tomorrow, we’ll split into groups for training."
"You’re using this to assess everyone’s physical fitness?" Colin asked skeptically.
"Exactly. Fitness is the foundation. Don’t think being in a civilian role exempts you from war. In our Godhawk team, there’s no distinction between civilian and military roles. Once you don this uniform, you must be ready to fight!"
Tong Airui declared confidently before turning to see his wife reaching for her shoes. He quickly ran over. "Wait, let me help you bandage properly. Don’t put on shoes yet."
"After I finish running, we’ll deal with it together. Fifteen kilometers is a piece of cake for me!"
Tong Airui grabbed her hand. "I know you’re fit, and I know you don’t want to lose face for me, but you can’t keep hurting yourself like this."
"Captain, I don’t get your reasoning. You’re torturing all of us, yet you’re saying I’m torturing myself?" Yi Luowa laughed, pulling her hand away from his. "Not just me—many others who rarely exercise have blisters on their feet too. I’m one of them, no special treatment needed."
Colin and Sheng Duheng exchanged a glance and left quietly. If a young woman could endure this, then they, veterans of many grueling battles, couldn’t back out.
As soon as they left, Tong Airui quickly pulled off his wife’s socks. "How about you just skip it?"
"Skip?! No way!"
"Stubborn!"
"Headstrong!"
"Ah..." Tong Airui grabbed the ointment and treated his wife’s wounds again, finally bandaging them properly. "If I’d known this would wear you down so much, I wouldn’t have started this."
"No, keep doing it. At least this way, the kids and I get some peace."
Tong Airui glanced at her.
Yi Luowa pouted. "Your daughter already tattled to her grandpa, saying you bit her hand so hard she has marks."
"How could I bite her that hard?"
"You’ve done crazier things. The bite mark on my chest is still there!"
"Nonsense! Show me." Tong Airui reached for her buttons.
Yi Luowa quickly slapped his hand away.
Tong Airui grumbled but pulled her socks back onto her feet. "I’ll run with you today."
Yi Luowa smirked. "Oh? Not riding in the car like a lord today?"
"I can’t let my wife bear the suffering alone."
Yi Luowa gave him a cheeky grin. "Don’t overdo it, alright? If you can’t keep up, just quit—don’t embarrass yourself."
Tong Airui frowned as he tied her shoelaces. "I’ve had professional training!"
Yi Luowa laughed. "Those two years turned your body into a wreck!"
Tong Airui smacked her butt lightly. "That’s nonsense! If I weren’t fit, would you be crying out every night?"
Yi Luowa covered his mouth quickly. "Stop talking about this in the office!"
"You brought it up first!"
"I was subtle; you’re being explicit! Forget it, I’m heading to assembly."
Tong Airui glanced at her feet, his heart aching. "Try walking a few steps first. If it doesn’t feel right, don’t go."
"It’s fine~" Yi Luowa smiled and ran out. The pain? Whoever’s hurting knows it best. But even if it hurt terribly, she would grit her teeth and push through.
After fifteen kilometers, countless people dropped out, but Yi Luowa persevered. This cemented her reputation in the Godhawk team. Those who had whispered behind her back, calling her a "trophy wife," silenced themselves—you think she’s just a pretty face? Go run fifteen kilometers and see for yourself!
Yi Luowa paid a price to prove herself and defend Tong Airui and their dignity: she ended up limping for five days before her legs recovered.
When Tong Yao learned what had happened, she scolded them both fiercely.
She scolded, while Long Che praised, calling his daughter-in-law’s spirit admirable, saying it gave him immense pride.
Tong Yao couldn’t out-argue her husband and two sons, so she angrily shoved a few boxes of ointment into Yi Luowa’s hands. Her daughter-in-law—who else would she care for?
The weather grew increasingly hot, and July arrived. July 8th was the birthday of the two little ones. By July 6th, their grandparents, uncles, aunts, and other relatives had all arrived.
On their birthday, Long Che prepared a table full of items for the traditional "grab test." Things like guns, cannons, airplanes, tanks, dolls, paintbrushes...
"Shanshan, what did Pengpeng grab during his test?" The Queen of Haotian slyly added an item into the mix.
"A scalpel." Jimo Shanshan laughed. "That plastic scalpel was buried at the bottom, but he still dragged it out."
"Following in his father’s footsteps—how fitting," the Queen of Haotian commented before turning to Tong Yao. "Bring Ziyang and Sangyu up. Let’s see what these two little ones choose."
Tong Yao and Yi Luowa placed Ziyang and Sangyu on the table. The two little siblings looked at all the toys but didn’t reach for anything; instead, they began kicking everything off with their tiny feet.
Yi Luowa frowned at them. "Even if you don’t like something, you can’t just kick it. What if it breaks?"
"Car!" Sangyu pouted, calling for her grandpa.
Long Che walked over with a laugh. "Your mom is right. If you don’t like something, you don’t have to grab it, but don’t kick it off the table."
Sangyu pouted and looked at her brother. Ziyang grabbed his sister’s hand and crawled forward, pushing all the toys to the edge of the table.
"They think there’s too much stuff cluttering the space!"
"Ziyang really takes after a big brother—clearing obstacles for his sister."
Sangyu followed her brother halfway, then stopped. Ziyang turned to look at her, then crawled back to her side.
Sangyu pointed to the left corner of the table.
Ziyang grabbed his sister’s small hand and crawled over together.
The two children simultaneously picked up a red velvet box from the corner of the table. The Queen of Haotian smiled when she saw what they chose.
"What’s this? Tong Yao, did you put this here?" Long Che asked suspiciously.
Tong Yao shook her head. "All these items were arranged by you alone, weren’t they?"
"I didn’t put this here."
The Queen of Haotian laughed and interjected. "I did. There are two items inside. Let’s see how they’ll divide them."
