CHAPTER 234: CHAPTER 136: G8

A few years earlier, no one dared to utter the word ’old’ in front of Ren Bonian, yet recently that very word ’old’ seemed to always be on his lips.

"I am old, why else would I keep thinking about people and events from the past?" Ren Bonian said to his private caregiver on the way here.

"What kind of people are you thinking about?" Ren Bonian’s caregiver couldn’t help asking. The recollections of this old Marshal, once a prominent figure in the world’s military arenas, must be different from those of ordinary people.

"People and events that shouldn’t be spoken of," Ren Bonian closed his eyes and took a nap. This nap wasn’t a long one; it lasted only until his car arrived at the Ren Mansion, reaching back about a decade or so.

In a haze, Ren Bonian recalled some past events, and for some reason, out of his more than sixty years of life, he particularly thought of her.

He stopped the car as soon as he first saw the little girl named Ding Ling. It was a disgustingly dirty street. After the third world war, the wealth disparity in Hua Country had reached a dangerous level. Right behind the Bazhou City Government, separated just by a street from the grand government buildings, was a street created with makeshift red and blue tarp shelters, a place for the city’s vagrants to settle.

What made Ren Bonian notice Ding Ling was because of another person’s actions.

A man as delicate as snow-white feathers and a little girl squatting silently off to the side; perhaps that was fate.

On that day’s street, Ding Ling wasn’t the only child there, and she initially wasn’t the most noticeable one. But in the end, she became the most special one.

Even if he were to fall into a mud pit, the man, who could still give off a sense of unblemished dignity, was inspecting the notorious slum street.

"Poor child," as the man squatted down, he took out a bag of candies. Such pretentious charity, like giving out sweets, is something that a military man like Ren Bonian would scoff at. But when he did it, it seemed so natural.

A crowd of children swarmed around, and after the candies were quickly snatched away, both the man and Ren Bonian noticed the little girl standing aside.

Like the other children, the seven- or eight-year-old little girl was dressed in tattered clothing, but her hair and face were very clean, especially those eyes, which were so pure that one couldn’t help but take notice.

"I have one more here, don’t you want it?" The man took out another candy.

"Thank you, but I don’t want it." The little girl stayed where she was, trying her best not to make eye contact with the wrapped candy in tones of red and green.

"Why?" The man’s gaze held a trace of amazement; few could refuse his gifts, even if it was just a piece of candy.

"Because Brother Lu and I are two, but you only have one candy, not enough to share."

The little girl’s response made the man laugh, and he went over, placed the candy in the little girl’s palm, and said, "This one is for you, and for your Brother Lu, I’ll bring his over in a bit."

"Thank you," the little girl eventually couldn’t resist the sweet flavor seeping through the candy wrapper. She suddenly reached out to hug the man, drawing her face close to his cheek, and left a kiss of gratitude.

The man was momentarily stunned; he looked at the sweetly smiling little girl, his expression softened, and he quietly said a few words, but the little girl soon shook her head and sat back down in the corner. The man stayed right there, squatting next to her; who knows what else he said, but the little girl’s face showed a bit of hesitation. After a while, she got up, wrote some jagged letters on the ground, and walked away with the man holding her hand.

Ren Bonian watched the two walking away, then told his driver to continue driving forward. A boy from the other end of the street ran over, with a sturdy, steady stride. His hair danced on his forehead and stayed at the spot where the little girl had been squatting. After seeing the letters on the ground, the boy fell silent.

Ren Bonian saw the girl again three years later, when he received an invitation from the David Sect about a certain plan. This plan had been drafted at a time when conflicts were at their fiercest between the military, the government, and the religious sectors.

It was only then that Ren Bonian learned the name of the little girl. "Ding Ling, G8 codename Ling." Saint Father David, that man who always gave a feeling of basking in sunshine, also introduced him to seven other children of similar age to Ding Ling.