Chapter 26: Night

Despite the meager aid being a drop in the bucket compared to the exorbitant medical expenses, Li Yun wept in the small woods at night.

Faced with the unbearable financial pressure, his family began to consider giving up, worried about losing everything. Their already impoverished family would have to borrow money to fill this huge gap, likely requiring them to tighten their belts for two or three years to repay the debt.

Leng Mohan inadvertently heard Li Yun’s weeping. He approached and softly inquired. After learning the reason, he didn’t say much, but simply asked Li Yun to write an IOU and then lent him the money.

“It’s alright, you can give it back to me when you have time these days. Don’t worry about it,” Leng Mohan’s tone was calm and firm, as if this was nothing to him.

Li Yun tightly grasped Leng Mohan’s hand, his voice full of gratitude: “Commander Leng, you really don’t need to keep saying ‘don’t worry about it.’ If it weren’t for you, my brother might have already died. Our family was really prepared to give up. That money was a lifeline for me. Otherwise, I would have been guilty for the rest of my life.”

“To me, you’re not just my brother’s lifesaver, but also a reborn parent to my whole family,” Li Yun’s eyes were full of sincerity.

Leng Mohan gently patted his shoulder, interrupting Li Yun’s gratitude: “Li Yun, don’t forget, you have to repay that money. No need for these empty thanks. How is your brother now? Has he recovered completely?”

“Yes, he’s recovered very well, just like a normal person,” Li Yun nodded with a smile, but his gratitude never diminished.

“Alright, go heat up the dishes for me. I need to get some rice,” Leng Mohan glanced at him and instructed.

“No problem, I’ll go heat them up right away. It’ll only take a moment; you can eat as soon as you get back with the rice,” Li Yun readily agreed. This was a simple task for him; just warming them up in the steamer was nothing.

“Thanks,” Leng Mohan nodded, handing him two lunch boxes filled with dishes, then turned to leave.

“Li Yun, how did you get to know Commander Leng?” After Leng Mohan left, the others in the cooking squad gathered around, curiously asking Li Yun.

“You actually have a connection with Commander Leng?”

“It’s not really knowing him. To be honest, I was a little nervous when I first met him, but after getting to know him, I found him to be a really good person. My interaction with him stemmed from an accident my brother had two years ago. We urgently needed money, and it was Commander Leng who lent me that life-saving money.” Li Yun recalled with a smile.

“If it weren’t for Commander Leng’s generosity, my brother might have…” A flash of gratitude and awe crossed Li Yun’s eyes as he looked at everyone, “So, I’ve always been grateful to Commander Leng.”

“If it weren’t for Commander Leng’s generosity, my brother would probably be dead by now.” Li Yun’s eyes were filled with gratitude as he turned to the crowd.

Someone recalled: “I remember you did ask me to borrow money, but you actually dared to ask Commander Leng to borrow money. You’re quite brave!”

Li Yun blushed slightly and smiled shyly, recalling: “I was crying in the woods that time, and he happened to hear me. He asked me what was wrong, and I told him everything. I didn’t expect him to let me write an IOU and lend me the money. If it weren’t for his timely help, my brother’s fate might have been rewritten.”

Li Yun’s gratitude to Commander Leng was evident.

“It’s really unexpected,” a colleague exclaimed, “If you hadn’t told me yourself, I wouldn’t believe that Commander Leng had such a kind side. He seems cold and ruthless on the outside, but he hides a heart of kindness. It’s really surprising.”

Li Yun frowned slightly, recalling the rumors about Commander Leng. Apart from his own team, other teams didn’t seem to like him, and some even called him “wolf-raised” behind his back. Coupled with his ability to summon wolves and his unapproachable personality, he had received a lot of criticism behind his back.

“Commander Leng is just not good at expressing himself. He’s really a good person, the kind who is cold on the outside but passionate on the inside,” Li Yun scanned them and said with a smile.

The people in the cooking squad fell silent for a moment. Leng Mohan had always been like an unbreakable iceberg in their hearts, awe-inspiring and intimidating.

However, Li Yun could feel that Leng Mohan would extend a helping hand without hesitation at critical moments, which proved that his heart was kind.

“Alright, let’s continue serving food. What’s the point of discussing this here? Commander Leng, let’s not talk about anything else, just his heroic deeds are enough for us to worship him as a hero,” the head chef of the cooking squad said to them.

“So what if he’s wolf-raised? He’s still a wolf full of emotion and loyalty. Doesn’t Commander Leng’s ability to get along so well with it show the deep affection between them? Alright, stop chatting and get to work. Don’t listen to rumors,” the head chef urged.

The others agreed and stopped talking. Although Commander Leng had a cold personality, they had never seen him betray anyone or bully others. It seemed that their previous misunderstandings were wrong.

“Li Yun, aren’t you going to get rice? Give me the dishes, I’ll help you take them to Commander Leng to heat up.”

Li Yun glanced at him, shook his head slightly, and instructed: “Remember to give this to Commander Leng later. I’m going to help serve rice now.” Watching his receding back, she called softly.

He didn’t look back, simply replying: “Got it.” His voice revealed an unquestionable firmness.

Li Yun was about to help when the head chef waved his hand to signal him to wait, “You go ahead and do your work. When Commander Leng comes, I’ll have Liu Qi bring out the dishes.” Hearing this, Li Yun’s anxious heart finally settled down, nodded in agreement and turned to leave.

While queuing for rice, Leng Mohan happened to meet Mu Bai and Wang Li. The two looked around but didn’t see Luo Jiaojiao. Mu Bai curiously asked: “Mohan, why didn’t you bring your sister-in-law to the canteen for dinner?”

Leng Mohan frowned slightly, responding impatiently: “No, I came alone to get rice, I’m taking it back to eat. The dishes are from the state-run restaurant in town, they’re warming up in the back kitchen.” He handed his lunch box to the window and ignored them.

“Help me press down, add half a portion of rice,” Leng Mohan said to the person serving the rice.

“Yes, Commander Leng.” Everyone knew this was for his wife.