Urban Soldier Young Master

"There's nothing you can do?" Chu Ge was even more puzzled, "What do you mean by that? If the treatment is bad, you can totally switch jobs?"

Song Baijia hesitated for a few seconds, a hint of helplessness and melancholy swirling in his goofy smile, but he didn't answer Chu Ge's question and changed the topic, "Master, seeing you today, I'm really very happy."

Although Chu Ge was full of doubts, since Song Baijia clearly didn't want to say more, he temporarily held back from pressing further on the topic, smiled slightly, and remained noncommittal.

The two chatted about other things casually, and before long they arrived at the forest where Chu Ge had caught snakes last time. When Song Baijia saw the mess that Chu Ge had caused, he was stunned, staring at the small tree that Chu Ge had kicked down for a long time.

Standing to the side, Chu Ge observed Song Baijia's expression and feigned ignorance as he asked, "Master Song, what are you looking at? It's just a broken tree, right?"

"There's nothing special about the tree, but this tree was kicked down by someone, and it was done with a single kick. I'm wondering who has such strong legs, it's really impressive."

Chu Ge chuckled, "How can you be sure it wasn't done by a wild boar?"

"When I was a kid, I saw trees knocked down by wild boars, and it didn't look like this."

"When you were a kid? Have you always lived in this area?"

Song Baijia touched the broken part of the tree trunk and nodded, "Yeah, my fifth and thirteenth uncles even took me boar hunting, but that was over twenty years ago."

Chu Ge was again a bit confused, fifth uncle? Thirteenth uncle? How come this sounds so strange? How many uncles does Song Baijia have?

Noticing Chu Ge's puzzled look, Song Baijia scratched his head, "I'm an orphan, don't even know who my real father is, but anyway, I was raised by the people from the nearby village, they gave me this name, so I have a lot of parents."

"Does Baijia refer to eat from a hundred families? And Song means being sent around?"

"Hehe... Yeah, Master, you're really clever, even guessed how I got this surname."

After hearing Song Baijia say this, Chu Ge suddenly understood. He'd always found Song Baijia's name a bit strange, and this explained everything.

Perhaps because Chu Ge was also an orphan, he felt less guarded towards Song Baijia. After all, there was no reason for Song Baijia to lie about such things, and Chu Ge could easily find out if it was true by asking around.

Looking at Song Baijia again, Chu Ge's gaze was much more amicable. With a broad smile, he said, "With so many parents, it's no wonder you're so robust. I'm an orphan too, but I grew up in an orphanage. The food the aunties cooked was always terrible, so look at how skinny I am now."

"You're an orphan too? That's great!" Song Baijia's eyes lit up, then he realized his words seemed inappropriate and gave a bashful grin, "Uh, Master, don't get me wrong, I didn't mean anything by it. I just meant no wonder I felt such a connection with you the moment I saw you."

Chu Ge certainly didn't take offense at such matters, grinning widely, "I know, by the way, how does it feel to eat from a hundred families? Were all your parents good to you?"

"Eating from a hundred families, well... it's basically all the usual stuff. My parents were all pretty good to me, it's just that my stomach can hold so much, I've never been full growing up."

"Huh? Never been full?" Chu Ge found it even more amusing, pointing at Song Baijia's round belly, "And you still look like this?"

Seeing that Chu Ge clearly didn't believe him, Song Baijia hastened to explain, "Really, if I weren't such a big eater and scared off those parents, I wouldn't still be unregistered."

"Unregistered?" Chu Ge had been laughing, but upon hearing these words he suddenly couldn't laugh anymore, his brow furrowing slightly, "Because you don't have a household registration, so you've stayed here, working for that guy for just five hundred a month?"

Song Baijia scratched his head, "Uh... yeah."

Chu Ge's gaze turned suspicious again, "I remember you said you'd won first place in some provincial-level cooking competition, right?"

Song Baijia gave a wry smile, "I only went out of town that one time, took a coach bus which didn't require an ID, and during the competition I was technically an assistant, so there was no need to register. So that first place was actually mine, but it didn't end up under my name."

This explanation was quite reasonable, and Chu Ge actually started to feel a bit sympathetic towards Song Baijia, "The world is so big, don't you want to go out and see more of it? Are you really content to stay here your whole life?"

"Actually... I wasn't content before either, thinking if any of these parents could formally adopt me and give me an identity, maybe I could go to school and see the world, how great that would be."

"But later on, I came to terms with it. As they say, no one owes you anything. Helping is a kindness, not helping is normal. Without those parents, I would've kicked the bucket decades ago, I really should be content."

Although Song Baijia said this, Chu Ge could still see a flicker of longing for the outside world in his eyes, "It's admirable for you to think that way."

Noticing the change in Chu Ge's expression, Song Baijia scratched his head again and gave a relieved, goofy smile.

"Actually, it's not a big deal. I've been a bit aimless since I was young, and I never planned to achieve anything. As others would say, I'm just a foodie. I went out once and realized that the dishes I've been tinkering with are actually pretty decent, and that's good enough for me."

Chu Ge patted Song Baijia on the shoulder and laughed heartily, "Honestly, I'm a foodie too. It's fate that we ran into each other."

Song Baijia chuckled along, looking silly and a bit shy. The two of them chatted and laughed as they continued walking deeper into the woods.

"By the way, Master, how did you hone your skills? Ever since I won an award, I've always thought I was pretty amazing. But after hearing you talk yesterday and trying it myself, I realized I'm way behind."

"For me, it all started because the food at our orphanage cafeteria was so bad. I figured if I learned to cook, I could definitely do better, so I started exploring culinary skills. The more I explored, the more interesting it became, and gradually..."

As Chu Ge reminisced about his childhood, speaking with a smile, he suddenly noticed Song Baijia's steps faltered beside him. That silly big face of his turned solemn, his brows slightly furrowed.

It felt as if he'd suddenly transformed into another person, with a sharp, dangerous aura about him.

Chu Ge had lowered his guard around Song Baijia, but noticing such a change made him wary again.

"Don't move!" Song Baijia raised his large hand, blocking in front of Chu Ge. His voice wasn't loud, but it was filled with gravity.

Chu Ge glanced aside at Song Baijia, thinking to himself, could it be that he's not just being paranoid and this guy intends to do something to him?

With a sigh in his heart, Chu Ge gave a faint smile, "Master Song, what's up?"

Song Baijia didn't immediately answer Chu Ge's question. He stood there with his brows tightly knit for a few seconds, then urgently said, "There's a wild boar! We need to go quickly!"

Chu Ge was taken aback. This answer was greatly different from what he had assumed. Even more difficult to accept was that despite his extremely keen senses, he hadn't detected any rustling, yet Song Baijia could make such a definite judgment?

"A wild boar? Are you sure?"

Just as Chu Ge asked this question, he vaguely heard the sound of hard hooves stepping on dry leaves. Though the sound was very faint, he was certain he wasn't mistaken.

Even though Chu Ge had previously witnessed Song Baijia's almost supernatural hearing, he was astonished again.

Even though he faintly heard some noise, he couldn't identify what it was. Yet Song Baijia not only detected it a few seconds earlier but was also absolutely certain it was a wild boar.

Despite his astonishment, Chu Ge did not show it. He pretended to be skeptical, shaking his head with amusement, "Come on, it's so quiet around here, where's the wild boar?"

Having lost to Song Baijia in hearing twice, Chu Ge found himself more intrigued by him. How could he miss such a good opportunity to further test his abilities?

Even if Song Baijia just had keen senses but average skills, or even very low combat prowess, it didn't matter. If Song Baijia couldn't handle it, wasn't he still there?

"Master, while that guy hasn't noticed us, let's go!" Song Baijia whispered with growing urgency and seriousness.

Chu Ge continued to play dumb, deliberately laughing, "Hey, hey, do we have to pretend this is serious too? You sound like it's real."

Of course, Song Baijia didn't know Chu Ge was deliberately stalling for time. He assumed Chu Ge didn't believe him and anxiously stamped his feet, "Master! Brother! Dear brother! I'm not joking! If we don't go now, it'll be too late!"

While saying this, Song Baijia reached out to grab Chu Ge's arm, trying to lead him away from there quickly.

Chu Ge had his own plans, of course, so he couldn't let Song Baijia grab him. He slightly retreated, easily dodging Song Baijia's grasp. He shook his head with a laugh.

"Isn't it just a wild boar? We came out to hunt anyway. Isn't hunting a wild boar better than some clueless creature? Didn't you say you've never been full? Today, we'll hunt a wild boar, and I bet you won't be hungry after that."

Seeing Chu Ge's carefree expression, Song Baijia was almost in tears of anxiety. To him, Chu Ge definitely didn't know how dangerous wild boars were; he thought they were just like domestic pigs, which led him to say something so naive.

Song Baijia tried to grab Chu Ge several more times, but Chu Ge managed to dodge each time with a laugh, quickly sweating large drops on his forehead.

Given Song Baijia's evident anxiety, Chu Ge finally and completely stopped doubting him.

In such a dangerous situation, especially when Chu Ge pretended not to believe him, acting like a "useless teammate," Song Baijia didn't abandon him to escape alone. This fact alone was incredibly admirable!

Thinking back to how he let Song Baijia take a beating unnecessarily, Chu Ge felt even more guilty. He realized he'd been overly cautious, worrying about nothing.