After taking a bite of the food from the hot pot, Wu Jingyi and his son Wu Dingbo couldn’t help but squint their eyes and thought to themselves how fortunate they were for having the thick skin to stay. Otherwise, they would have missed this delicious meal.
The flavor was even more memorable than anything they had eaten in Beijing!
Hot pot was most enjoyable when you cooked the food yourself, Xiao Yeyang, Wentao, and Yan Wenkai were accustomed to eating while cooking their food in the pot. But this time, they encountered two who only wanted to eat ready-made dishes. As soon as they put the vegetables in, Wu Jingyi and his son would snatch them out to eat.
"Ahem~"
Seeing the visibly fast-depleting food on the table, Yan Wenkai couldn’t hold back, "Um... could you eat a bit slower? You’re stuffing it in your mouth right after it’s scooped out. Doesn’t it burn your mouth?"
Wu Jingyi picked up on Yan Wenkai’s hint but, with the temptation of delicious food right in front of him, he chose to turn a deaf ear and didn’t give a glance, simply burying his head and eating voraciously.
Wu Dingbo, however, laughed and said, "Don’t worry about us; we can handle this level of heat. Don’t just watch us eat, you all dig in too. The flavor is really exceptional!"
As he spoke, he reached out with his chopsticks, deftly picked up a piece of beef, blew on it twice, and stuffed it into his mouth. Then, while chewing, he showed an expression of pure enjoyment.
Seeing them like this, Xiao Yeyang, Wentao, and Yan Wenkai were all at a loss for words.
What could they do?
The three of them were not petty, and since Wu Jingyi was a military commander, they still had to give the face over a bit of food. But with only so much to go around, they could only speed up their eating.
In the dining room, only the sound of vigorous chewing could be heard, with not a word spoken among them. Everyone was sweating profusely and enjoying the spicy heat.
Two quarters of an hour later, Wu Jingyi, seeing that there wasn’t much food left on the table, finally slowed his pace with the chopsticks and began to chat stealthily with Xiao Yeyang, Wentao, and Yan Wenkai while eating leisurely.
It had to be said, the three of them had indeed changed dramatically.
Back in Sishan Village, they all had a bit of youthful greenness and immaturity about them, but now, they all exuded a fierce aura that commanded respect.
The battlefield really was an excellent place to toughen people up!
Wu Jingyi quickly glanced at Xiao Yeyang. In the past, this youngster would occasionally show his emotions, but now he had become completely inscrutable. After all the probing with words, both openly and in secret, he had not managed to glean any useful information.
The aura of authority he carried had also grown significantly heavier. No wonder the soldiers on the border spoke of him with closed lips and reverence. Even Wu Jingyi found himself weighing his words carefully when speaking.
Thinking of Xiao Yechen, who had been so triumphant in Beijing recently, Wu Jingyi could not help but mourn for him inwardly, fearing that his current triumph would turn to equal disappointment in the future.
Wu Jingyi’s gaze then shifted to Wentao, whose changes were the most surprising of the three. Once, he was the most honest and simple of them, but now he was worldly, stern, and seldom smiled. The aura of ruthlessness about him was even startling to Wu Jingyi.
This version of Wentao reminded him of the young Xiu Xiangchen, who had fought his way out of life-and-death situations to reach his current status.
Thinking about the situation of the different houses of the Yan Family, Wu Jingyi felt a sense of release.
In contrast to Yan Wenkai from the main branch, Wentao undoubtedly had more burdens to bear.
Finally, Wu Jingyi’s gaze settled on Yan Wenkai, who was still as smiley as ever, but the fleeting sharpness in his eyes revealed that he was someone who played dumb while being a fierce tiger.
The meal was nearly finished, and everyone started to banter and joke around.
Watching the Jinling Guard laugh heartily and relax their brows at the table, Wu Jingyi glanced at Xiao Yeyang and thought of the information he had gathered recently, feeling a sense of wonder at how thoroughly Xiao Yeyang had won them over.
The casualty rate for the Jinling Guard was very high; every mission cost a few lives.
But with Xiao Yeyang, there had been not a single loss among his men in the missions over the past year and a half.
Just this fact alone was enough for the Jinling Guard to be willing to serve under him.
To build an outstanding team, not only did the leader need to be skillful, but logistics were also critical.
It wasn’t just about strong warriors or superior weapons; it also depended on what the team ate, what they wore, and whether the injured could receive timely treatment.
Whether or not you could retain people, and how to make the men give their unwavering loyalty—these were all things that the leader had to consider.
In this regard, Xiao Yeyang had undoubtedly been very successful.
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