Listening to Meng Po's words, Yang Chen furrowed his brows.

If things were indeed as Meng Po described, Yang Chen's identity would indeed be exposed.

However, Yang Chen would rather expose his identity to take Ye Xin away.

He believed Ye Xin wouldn't be as Meng Po said.

"No way!" Yang Chen said firmly.

Meng Po shook her head, staring at Yang Chen, "I'm really looking forward to meeting Ye Xin!"

Yang Chen glanced at Meng Po, and said in a deep voice, "Unless necessary, I won't let the two of you meet."

"Why?" Meng Po stared at Yang Chen, "Afraid I'll kill her?"

Yang Chen furrowed his brow and glared at Meng Po, "No one can hurt her!"

"Protective, aren't you?" Meng Po snorted sarcastically.

Yang Chen frowned and said, "If someone spoke about you like that, I'd do the same!"

"But it's different!" Meng Po stared at Yang Chen.

Yang Chen couldn't help but sigh.

Of course, he knew it was different; his feelings for Ye Xin were love, while for Meng Po and the others, it was familial affection.

"Alright, what's said is said. I should head back now!" Saying this, Yang Chen stood up.

Meng Po also immediately stood up, shouting at Yang Chen's back, "What exactly is so good about her!"

Yang Chen paused, and said deeply, "Everything is good!"

"I don't believe it!" Meng Po said.

Yang Chen sighed, turned around, and stared at Meng Po, saying, "Silly girl, what are you thinking! Your feelings toward me are merely dependence, admiration, and a bit of gratitude; you can't distinguish whether your feelings for me are familial, friendship, or love. But I can clearly tell you, my care and protection for you are definitely not love; you're my disciple, and I care for everyone in Asura Hall equally!"

Meng Po snorted, "You've forgotten my dual master's degrees!"

Yang Chen felt a headache, "Enough said, rest early!"

With that, Yang Chen pushed the door and left the room, leaving Meng Po alone.

Meng Po looked very upset, clenched her fists, and said in a deep voice, "Ye Xin... so envious that you have Yang Chen loving you... I'm also very curious about what kind of person you are..."

...

Yang Chen left the housing complex, returning to the Ye family alone.

Actually, Yang Chen's mood at the moment was quite complicated; he hadn't expected Meng Po to be so stubborn.

Such an outstanding girl, yet she insisted on spending so much effort on him.

At this moment, he suddenly sensed something amiss.

It seemed... something in the Ye family was disrupting the atmosphere here.

Yang Chen was now very sensitive to environmental energy; he could sense even the slightest changes. Moreover, the energy fluctuation from the Ye family was strong, intermittent, and had already alarmed Yang Chen.

Yang Chen furrowed his brows, looking around.

Finally, his gaze fell in the direction of the backyard.

He walked towards the backyard, and the further he went, the stronger the energy felt.

The backyard and the front yard were separated by a wall, requiring passing through an archway.

Before Yang Chen could get close to the archway, he was stopped by a group of people.

"The backyard is forbidden; no one is allowed to enter!" The guard said in a deep voice.

At this moment, the butler Xiaozhou ran over from a distance, saying to Yang Chen, "Mr. Yang! Mr. Yang! The backyard is where our master recuperates, and no one is allowed in. You should go back and rest early!"

"Oh, I see!" Yang Chen quickly nodded and retreated. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on Novᴇ(l)Fɪre .ɴᴇt

It turned out the Ye master had been in the courtyard all along, just hadn't come out.

Yang Chen couldn't help but be curious; what exactly was the Ye master recuperating that could cause such a significant change in atmosphere?

However, it was already late at night, and Yang Chen couldn't investigate further, so he could only go back to his room to rest.

...

...

Early the next morning, as the sky was just getting light, Yang Chen got up.

Along with him, Ye Xin, Chen Siyan, and Wei Xueqing also got up.

They had agreed yesterday to go see the flag-raising today.

Since the flag-raising was very early, and many people would go, they had to go early to get a good spot.

They got up at five and arrived at the flag-raising location at five thirty.

Even so, the square was packed with dense crowds.

Then, everyone quietly waited.

Looking at the guards standing tall in the distance, Chen Siyan asked, "Brother, do you have to stand guard like this when you're in the guard?"

"Yes!" Yang Chen nodded.

"But.... isn't it very tiring! I've seen many photos taken on snowy mountains, the whole person almost frozen into popsicles; isn't this abuse, too painful. Why not replace it with cameras or something, wouldn't that be easier?" Chen Siyan asked.

Yang Chen shook his head, looked at Chen Siyan, and said earnestly, "Yanyan, you're still young, you might not understand. Let me tell you, those guards standing on snowy mountains are heroes; the altitude there is usually four or five thousand meters, temperatures are below ten to twenty degrees, extremely cold. Standing guard in such harsh conditions is not because they want to show off something, nor is the purpose of taking these photos to promote how hardworking our guards are, but to tell you, your safety is being guarded!"

"Those places must have someone watching. Outposts during wars are used for alarms. Now, communication equipment is so advanced, you use cameras, but there are blind spots too! If enemies hack into your computer, the entire outpost would be useless, and even alarms can't be transmitted; it's very dangerous. Therefore, these places must have guards standing watch! As long as they're there, we're safe! Understand?"

Chen Siyan nodded in half-understanding, unsure if she understood.

Yang Chen rubbed Chen Siyan's head, softly said, "Remember, be grateful to your country, because she gives you the stable life you have now, and be grateful to the guards protecting you; they have given their youth for you."

"Mm!" Chen Siyan nodded.

At this moment, the national anthem played; everyone stood solemnly, standing straight, looking towards the flag-raising squad.

Whenever he heard this national anthem, the hot blood in Yang Chen's heart would start to boil, feeling extremely proud and honored inside.

Suddenly, Yang Chen felt a soft little hand holding his big hand.

Yang Chen looked down and found it was Ye Xin.

At this moment, Ye Xin also stared solemnly ahead.

Yang Chen felt Ye Xin's emotion and couldn't help tightening Ye Xin's hand, savoring the glory of this moment under the national anthem.

Surprisingly, among the many people in the square, except for the voice softly singing the national anthem, there was nothing else.

The national flag gradually rose, and the ideals and beliefs in the heart rose slowly along with it.

When the national anthem ended, and the national flag raised, only then did everyone pick up their cameras to start photographing, all particularly self-aware.

Watching this scene, Yang Chen sighed, "The Flame Country nation will definitely be the strongest nation in the world!"

Because they have a country in their hearts, and because they are united!