139: Chapter 139: Su Han, that firefighting hero wasn't you, was he?

The private room fell silent for a second, followed immediately by an even louder burst of commotion.

“Su Han?! It really is you!”

“Holy crap! Look at those muscles! Being in the army really makes a difference!”

“It's been a few years, and you've changed so much!”

His classmates crowded around him, talking all at once, while Su Han nodded with a smile.

His gaze inadvertently swept toward the corner, where the girl in the light blue dress was quietly watching him—Lin Ruoxue.

She was even more elegant and ethereal than in his memories. Her high ponytail had been replaced by soft, shoulder-length hair, and the scholarly air between her brows had deepened.

Seeing Su Han look over, she pursed her lips slightly, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her dress.

“Come, come, come! Sit here!” Zhao Xiaodao grabbed Su Han’s arm and mischievously pushed him toward Lin Ruoxue. “There just happens to be an empty seat here!”

Su Han stumbled slightly, and the wound on his back flared with pain, but his expression remained unchanged. He simply gave Zhao Xiaodao a helpless glare.

“No, there’s no need...” Lin Ruoxue flusteredly shifted to the side, the tips of her ears turning slightly red. “It’s a bit crowded here...”

“Crowded? Not at all!” Zhao Xiaodao pressed Su Han into the chair without letting him refuse. “Old classmates meeting again—what’s wrong with catching up?”

Su Han’s knee accidentally brushed against Lin Ruoxue’s skirt, and they both pulled back as if they had been electrocuted.

“Sorry,” Su Han said in a low voice.

“It’s—it’s okay,” Lin Ruoxue’s voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz.

The atmosphere became somewhat awkward for a moment.

“Oh boy!” Zhao Xiaodao dramatically covered his eyes. “These pink bubbles are blinding my poor eyes!”

“Zhao Xiaodao! Shut up!” Embarrassed and annoyed, Lin Ruoxue grabbed a napkin and threw it at him, her cheeks flushed with red clouds.

The surrounding classmates also began to tease: “Exactly! It's a reunion of a little couple after a long separation. Why are you, a third wheel, meddling?”

“Who—who’s a little couple?!” Lin Ruoxue stomped her foot in frustration, not daring to look Su Han in the eye.

Su Han cleared his throat and took a sip from his water glass to hide his awkwardness.

Damn it, this is the original host's first love.

Not mine!

Although this Lin Ruoxue truly is quite beautiful.

But... he currently has absolutely no interest in women!

“Su Han, I heard you went into the army? Which unit were you in?” a boy wearing glasses asked curiously.

“Yeah, yeah, looking at those muscles, you couldn't actually be a Special Forces Soldier, could you?” another girl chimed in with a smile.

Lin Ruoxue also looked at Su Han with a face full of curiosity, a hint of expectation in her clear eyes.

Just as Su Han was about to answer, Zhao Xiaodao suddenly spoke up: “What Special Forces Soldier! He’s currently the deputy captain of our neighborhood security team! Monthly salary: three thousand eight hundred!”

“Huh?” Everyone looked skeptical.

“Really!” Zhao Xiaodao talked nonsense with a straight face. “Every day he just stands at the neighborhood gate saying, ‘Hello,’ ‘Please show your access card,’ ‘Put the delivery over here’...”

Su Han facepalmed. “That’s enough...”

“Hahaha!” The classmates burst into laughter. “Zhao Xiaodao, you’re still as wicked as ever!”

Lin Ruoxue stole a glance at Su Han and said softly, “Don’t listen to his nonsense... How... how have you been in the army?”

“Pretty good,” Su Han nodded. “The training is just quite tough.”

“Did you get hurt?” Lin Ruoxue suddenly asked, her gaze falling on his slightly pale lips.

Su Han’s heart skipped a beat—is this girl that sharp?

“Minor injury, it’s nothing,” he said nonchalantly.

The atmosphere in the private room gradually grew livelier as classmates toasted each other and reminisced about embarrassing stories from middle school.

Zhao Xiaodao, however, seemed a bit disgruntled, constantly poking the food in his bowl with his chopsticks.

“What’s wrong?” Su Han asked in a low voice. “The food not to your taste?”

Zhao Xiaodao rolled his eyes and whispered, “What happened to the face-slapping plot? Why hasn't that grandson Chen Hao come to provoke you yet? I even have my lines ready!”

Su Han couldn't help but laugh. “You’re that eager for someone to pick a fight with me?”

“No!” Zhao Xiaodao scratched his hair. “This isn't scientific! According to web novel tropes, right now some reckless, arrogant idiot should jump out to mock you, and then you reveal your identity as a Special Forces Soldier or the scion of a great family and slap their face...”

“Read fewer web novels,” Su Han shook his head helplessly. “Reality doesn't have that many melodramatic plots.”

Zhao Xiaodao snorted. “I don’t care! How can it work if a plot like that doesn't happen?”

“If novels and TV shows aren't melodramatic, would there still be an audience or readers?”

Su Han: “...”

“Brother! My dear brother! Give it a rest!” Su Han said, his face full of helplessness.

Just then, the door to the private room was pushed open, and a young man in a sharp suit walked in, the Rolex on his wrist gleaming under the lights.

“Chen Hao is here!” someone shouted.

Zhao Xiaodao immediately perked up and nudged Su Han with his elbow. “Look! The antagonist has arrived!”

Su Han narrowed his eyes slightly. “No way? He’s really here!”

“It’s not actually going to be a melodramatic scene like in a TV show or novel, is it?”

Chen Hao glanced around, his gaze lingering on Su Han for a second before he walked over with a smile. “Su Han? You came too?! Long time no see! I heard you went into the army?”

“Yeah.” Su Han nodded, his attitude neither hot nor cold.

When Chen Hao saw Su Han and Lin Ruoxue sitting next to each other, his expression instantly turned slightly sour.

He sat down opposite them and crossed his legs. “I heard you joined the army? Being a soldier is tough, right? How much can you make a month? Do you want to come work as a coach at my gym? Monthly salary starts at eight thousand.”

Zhao Xiaodao’s eyes lit up, and he was about to speak when Su Han stopped him with a look.

“Thanks for the offer, but I don't have any plans to be discharged for now,” Su Han said calmly.

Chen Hao curled his lip and turned to Lin Ruoxue. “Ruoxue, I heard you got into the University of Political Science and Law? That’s amazing!”

Lin Ruoxue gave a polite smile. “It’s okay.”

Next, Chen Hao began to boast incessantly about his career, from his gym branches to his newly bought BMW, and then to a certain bureau director's son he had recently met.

Zhao Xiaodao rolled his eyes as he listened and leaned toward Su Han’s ear. “How can this guy show off so much? Hurry up and reveal your identity as a Special Forces Soldier or a wealthy family heir to slap his face!”

Su Han calmly took a sip of tea. “There's no need.”

“Damn! You’re way too indifferent!” Zhao Xiaodao said, exasperated. “I’m getting anxious for you!”

The atmosphere in the room became subtle with Chen Hao’s arrival.

“By the way, did you guys see the news?” a girl suddenly broke the silence, excitedly holding up her phone. “During that hotpot restaurant fire in the old district the day before yesterday, a soldier rushed in and saved eight people! The whole internet is looking for him now!”

“I saw it, I saw it!” someone immediately echoed. “That silhouette in the video was so handsome! Saving people from the third floor with his bare hands, and he even fell at the end...”

Lin Ruoxue’s eyes lit up, and she involuntarily looked at Su Han. “Su Han, you’re also a soldier. Do you know that hero?”

Su Han’s hand holding the water glass paused slightly, and he said without changing his expression, “I don't. There are a lot of people in the army.”

“Tch, he’s definitely a Special Forces Soldier!” Zhao Xiaodao suddenly chimed in, his eyes fixed on Su Han. “Look at those moves. How could a regular soldier be that fierce? Jumping from the third floor and still being able to adjust his posture to save someone—that’s got to be Soldier King level, right?”

Chen Hao scoffed. “Please. If he really were a soldier, the army would have taken him back for an award ceremony long ago. Would they let him wander around outside? I bet he’s just a veteran, or maybe just a regular guy wearing a uniform. He just got lucky.”

“What do you know?!” Zhao Xiaodao immediately snapped back. “Can't a soldier be low-key? Does everyone have to be like you, shouting to the whole world the moment they have a little money?”

“Zhao Xiaodao!” Chen Hao’s face darkened. “What do you mean by that?”

“Exactly what I said!” Zhao Xiaodao didn't back down. “The man risked his life to save people, and in your mouth, it becomes ‘just lucky’? If you’re so great, why don't you try it!”

Seeing that the two were about to start a fight, the class monitor quickly smoothed things over. “Alright, alright, that’s enough. That soldier comrade is indeed worthy of respect. Regardless of his branch, anyone who saves people is a hero.”

Lin Ruoxue quietly observed Su Han’s reaction and found that his expression was as usual, though his fingers holding the water glass had turned slightly white.

“Su Han,” she said softly, “if it were you... would you go save them?”

Su Han turned and met her clear gaze, giving a faint smile. “It’s a matter of duty.”

Four simple words, yet they made Lin Ruoxue’s heart tremble. She suddenly noticed the faint scars peeking from Su Han’s collar and his slightly stiff posture when he sat down.

A bold suspicion formed in her mind—

“Look at this video!” another classmate suddenly pushed their phone to the center of the table. “Someone filmed the moment that soldier fell. Although it's blurry, this build...”

Everyone’s eyes were focused on the screen.

In the shaky footage, a tall figure fell from a third-story window, but at the critical moment, he adjusted his posture and pushed the injured person in his arms to safety.

Zhao Xiaodao suddenly let out a strange cry: “Holy crap! That back...”

He whipped his head around to look at Su Han, his eyes wide as saucers.

Su Han calmly picked up some food with his chopsticks. “What is it?”

“No—nothing...” Zhao Xiaodao swallowed hard and frantically winked at Su Han, whispering, “Old Su, why don't you just say that person was you! No one else can see him anyway, and his build is similar to yours. Admit it to their faces, become the hero, and slap that idiot Chen Hao's face!”

Su Han: “...”

...

Today’s update is three chapters, seven thousand words!

Everyone, please help by bookmarking and reading my brother's new book. It’s very good!

There will be more updates tonight!!!

Book Title: Eighteen-Year-Old Great-Grandfather Enlists! The Commander Must Salute Upon Seeing Him