Elder brother's garrison

Page 2480

"...Did you know? Little White actually has an older brother." White's mother put down her hand and said to Hancock.

"...?"

"Ah, it seems you're a new ship girl." Mama Shiro smiled as she spoke to Hancock, her gaze tinged with a hint of nostalgia. "Shiro once had an older brother, about four or five years ago... He founded this naval base you're in now. After that, Shiro's brother passed away from illness, and Shiro took over his responsibilities, dropping out of high school to learn how to protect the world like him."

“…I’m sorry,” Hancock said.

“This is a prerequisite. You may have joined early and haven’t heard anyone talk about these things. Xiaobai has always had a good relationship with her brother, and she will tell you about it if she has the chance,” Bai’s mother said to Hancock.

"That...brother...is it related to your eyes?" Hancock asked after a moment of silence.

"..." Mrs. Bai nodded with a smile. She put the photo album aside and continued washing the dishes in the sink. "Lu Yun is our adopted child. That child... has always had a strange temperament, as if he is out of place with the people around him. But even so, he is a very good son and a very responsible older brother. Xiao Bai had a very serious illness when she was young and urgently needed a bone marrow transplant. If we hadn't met Lu Yun, who had a matching blood type and was willing to donate, Xiao Bai might not have been able to grow up so healthily."

Mrs. Bai spoke these words casually.

"There's no need to go into details about Xiaobai," Bai's mother said with a smile to Hancock. "Let me talk about my eyes. Actually, my eyesight has always been poor in my younger years."

"not good?"

"Yes, it was about ten years ago when my eyesight deteriorated drastically. I went to the hospital for a checkup, and the doctor diagnosed me with a serious eye disease. If nothing unexpected happens, I will go completely blind within the next two to three years," said Mrs. Bai as she washed the dishes.

"..." Hancock turned his head and stared straight at Mrs. White.

“When I first found out about this, I was a little scared,” Bai’s mother sighed. “Think about it, I was only in my thirties then, with a happy and fulfilling family life. I hadn’t even seen Xiaobai grow up yet. I felt that my vision was getting blurrier every morning after I woke up than the day before. How could I just go blind when my daughter and son were right in front of me? Blindness is such a terrible thing. I was really prone to breakdowns back then. I would hide in my room and cry secretly. I didn’t tell Xiaobai or Lu Yun about this. Only Lao Bai knew. So every time, Lao Bai would secretly come in to comfort me, and we would stay in the room together.”

"How was the matter resolved?" Hancock asked.

“No one could solve it,” Mrs. Bai said with a smile. “My illness just suddenly disappeared.”

"...?"

"It's strange, isn't it? It just suddenly got better." Mrs. White said to Hancock with a smile, "One day I woke up and found that my eyesight was suddenly very clear, and when I stood outside the window and looked out, I could see very, very far, as if I had suddenly transformed from an old woman who was about to go blind into a god with the ability to see a thousand miles. I'm not lying to you, that's exactly what happened."

"..." Hancock opened his mouth slightly.

“I have always believed that this is a blessing from God, who took pity on me and allowed me to see my daughter and son grow up.”

"..." Hancock frowned, his expression strange.

"Do you believe me?" Mrs. Bai suddenly turned her head and asked with a smile.

“…Auntie…if you’re trying to lie to me, you’ll have other ways of saying things that are easier to convince me,” Hancock said, looking down.

“You are indeed a very intelligent ship girl.” White’s mother looked at Hancock and said to her, “Speaking of which, once when I went home for the New Year, there was a ship girl who came to the kitchen to wash dishes and chat with me, just like you. Her name was Missouri, and I liked her very much.”

“…I’ve heard the Admiral and others mention this name,” Hancock replied.

"Then you should spend more time with her in the future." Mrs. Bai smiled mysteriously. "She might have as much power in the naval base as your admiral in the future."

"..." Hancock nodded silently, keeping Bai's mother's words in mind.

The two gathered around the sink and continued washing the dishes.

“Auntie, I’m sorry… I doubted you,” Hancock said.

"It's okay, having a thirst for knowledge is a good thing," said Mrs. Bai while washing the dishes. "There are so many wonderful things in this world. Although it would be tiring to investigate everything, there are always a few things that are particularly interesting, right?"

"Ah."

"..."

"..."

“Speaking of which,” Mrs. Bai said with a smile as she finished washing the last bowl and put it in the cupboard, “about how my eyesight suddenly improved… actually, after that, something else happened that bothered me a little.”

"Little things?"

“Just a few days after my eyesight improved, we discovered that Lu Yun seemed to have become nearsighted.” Mrs. Bai wiped her hands and walked past Hancock. “It was during the elementary school final exams, and Lao Bai and I were in a frantic rush to get him glasses so as not to affect his studies… When we got his glasses, the optician even gave us a lecture, saying that his child was already nearsighted to over 500 degrees, and we, as parents, had only just discovered it. We were ashamed for a long time afterward.”

Chapter 3468 A Broad-minded Person

……

The ship girls were all quiet in the living room.

After Hancock finished recounting her experience in the kitchen and uttered her last sentence, the ship girls present remained in their previous positions, staring at each other with wide eyes.

The television was on, and the drama series "My Ship Girl Mother" was playing.

This was the only noisy sound in the living room.

The actors on screen were still engaged in intense dialogue, experiencing a powerful emotional clash, and reciting one famous line after another.

Hancock bent down, picked up the remote, and pressed a button on the TV. The TV went out, and with the only sound source gone, the entire living room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

“That’s what just happened,” Hancock said, putting down the remote control and addressing the others.

"Uh..." The ship girls' faces showed a rather complicated expression for a moment.

"So... that means Auntie is indeed a normal human being, right..." The goddess of the hearth said to the others while holding a bag of potato chips.

“But after listening to Auntie’s explanation, I feel that the abnormal one is not Auntie, but someone else…” Chao Yahe spoke up from the side. As she spoke, her tone was somewhat low, and she cautiously looked around at the faces of the ship girls next to her.

The meaning of "super-large" is quite obvious.

According to what Bai's mother said, whether intentionally or unintentionally, the person who caused Bai's mother's eyesight to improve was Xiaobai's brother, who was also the first admiral of the newbie naval base.

This conjecture felt mysterious and tense, which was quite unexpected for the ship girls.

"What kind of person is the Admiral's brother?" the goddess of the hearth asked the others. "Has anyone here seen him before?"

“I’ve never seen it.” Chao Da shook his head.

"..." Hancock also shook his head silently.

"I...I have met him..." Changchun scratched his cheek with a complicated expression and said to everyone, "Well...back then I was just an ordinary destroyer, not very noticeable in the naval base, and I was assigned very little work. The former supervisor was extremely busy, and we hardly communicated...but, but we did meet once when we were built!"

As soon as Changchun said this, everyone looked at her.

"What kind of person does Changchun think the Admiral's brother is?"

Changchun lowered his head and thought for a while, then looked up and spoke to everyone.

"Hmm...he seems like a very capable person."

"...Is that all?" Everyone blinked.

"Ah."

"Is it gone?"

“That’s all…” Changchun shook her head. After a while, she added, “If I had to say something… Admiral Lu Yun especially liked to introduce his sister, who is now the admiral, to other people.”

"Oh……"

The ship girls looked away.

"Does the Admiral know about these things?" the goddess of the hearth asked.

"The admiral should know that Admiral Lu Yun likes to talk about her."

“No, no, no, that’s not what I meant.” The goddess of the hearth shook her head. “I meant, does the admiral know about how her mother almost went blind before, but then recovered?”

"...This...I guess they don't know."

"...Should we tell the admiral?"

"That's all in the past, and this matter might even be related to the admiral's brother... It just doesn't feel right."

The ship girls are looking at each other.

Finally, the goddess of the hearth seemed to give up, and helplessly scratched her head, making her pink hair look like a bird's nest.

"Ugh—this is so troublesome—why should I even know about this?" The Vesta slumped onto the sofa, waving her hand at the other ship girls as if giving up. "Fine, fine, I'm just here at the naval base to enjoy myself. I'm not getting involved in this kind of thing...you guys keep talking, I don't care anymore!"

"Then, I will too..." Chao Yamato said softly to the remaining two ship girls, and then stood up.

Changchun smiled understandingly at the female hearth goddess and the giant, then looked at Hancock.

Hancock still wore that quiet, even depressed expression.

"Sister Hancock, how does it feel to know the truth?" Changchun gently placed her hand on Hancock's thigh and asked her.

“I feel… I have more questions now,” Hancock replied, looking up at Changchun with a somewhat confused look in her eyes. “Should I not have asked your aunt?”

"..." Changchun was quiet for a while. She rubbed Hancock's thigh and shook her head. "Auntie has already praised your thirst for knowledge, so the fact that she is willing to tell you things that she has not told the Admiral is proof that she acknowledges you... Sister Hancock, you don't need to doubt yourself."

"Thank you." Hancock's gaze softened somewhat.

"Does Sister Hancock have any plans for the future?" Changchun asked again.

“No.” Hancock shook his head. “I don’t want to ask anymore.”

"...Aren't you curious?"

“Auntie is right. There are many things in this world that are not easy to understand,” Hancock said, looking at her hands. “If I had a choice, I would only want to figure out the few questions that I am most curious about.”

"What about today..."

“To me, the former admiral of this naval base is a stranger,” Hancock said to Changchun. “But he’s gone now… so it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“…Yes.” Upon hearing this, Changchun’s eyes flashed with a hint of emotion. “He’s gone now.”

Changchun turned his head and looked at the corridor outside the living room.

Looking at the other end of the corridor, the deep, dark road made Changchun's gaze somewhat unfocused.

The once lush grasslands have withered into barren land.

But two years later, new shoots sprouted on this land.

……

The next morning, after having breakfast, Xiaobai and her group said a reluctant goodbye to Bai's mother and left the home where they had stayed for several days.

On the way to the hotel, Changchun quietly glanced at Xiaobai's profile, which seemed to be in a good mood, and gently tugged at her sleeve.

"Hmm?" Xiaobai turned to look at Changchun.

"Admiral, how did you and your aunt sleep last night?" Changchun asked.

"I slept so soundly. It's true what they say, being in Mom's arms is pure bliss," Xiaobai said with a smile. She hugged her chest as if reminiscing and sighed softly. "Sigh... But when will I ever have a figure as good as Mom's?"

"..." Upon hearing this, the ship girls all smiled.

Changchun smiled slightly, but quickly suppressed her smile, exchanged glances with the ship girls around her, and then moved closer to Xiaobai.

This is the result of the ship girls' discussion in the living room last night.

The ship girls still felt they had to tell the secret their aunt had revealed to Shiro.

After all, this matter involves her mother and brother, and Xiaobai, as the daughter and younger sister, also has the right to know.

"Admiral, there's something I want to tell you..." Changchun said.

"what is the matter?"

“Come…” Changchun stepped forward, gently leaning against Xiaobai, and whispered in Xiaobai’s ear, “Last night, Auntie talked to Sister Hancock about some things…”

Changchun relayed what Hancock had said yesterday to Xiaobai in a rather concise manner.

As Xiao Bai listened, his steps gradually slowed down, and he leaned back a little.

"Huh?" After hearing this, Xiaobai looked at Changchun in surprise, "Mom almost went blind before?"

"Yes..." Changchun nodded.

"Ah..." Xiaobai rubbed his forehead, closed his eyes and thought for a while, then opened them with a look of realization. "No wonder there was a time when I was little when I always felt that my mother's eyes were always red and that she looked at me with a strange look... Then one day my mother suddenly got better, and it was around that time that my brother started wearing glasses."

Xiao Bai lowered her hand and smiled at Changchun.

"Thank you, Changchun, for telling me something so important. Now I understand everything."

Although Xiaobai's reaction was somewhat surprised, her mood seemed exceptionally refreshing, completely unlike the complex and heavy feelings the ship girls had when they learned about this.

"Admiral..." Changchun breathed a sigh of relief at Xiaobai, then said, "Regarding Admiral Lu Yun's matter, um... what's your opinion?"

"Hmm? You mean it's possible that my brother isn't an ordinary person?" Xiaobai asked.

"Yes……"

"I don't know if my brother is an ordinary person, but he's always been my brother." Xiao Bai's smile was exceptionally bright. "Besides, these days, which admiral doesn't have a few secrets, right?"

The ship girls stared blankly at Xiaobai.

Xiao Bai's thoughts were surprisingly open-minded, with a sense of clarity.

Looking at Xiaobai's smile, Changchun suddenly felt as if he had put down a lot of burdens, and even his breathing became much easier.