8 Second Bet
Jun Zhenxian was waiting in his house calmly. There didn't seem to be any worries in his face as he continued with his daily activity. That day, there was a familiar guest in his home, Nanglong Souka.
"Zhenxian, you old man, how can you stay calm when your grandson is in the battlefield?"
Hearing that question, Jun Zhenxian laughed. "I trust my boy."
Nanglong Souka rolled his eyes. "How can you be so sure with him?"
"What about yourself, don't you have confidence in Soujin?"
"Of course I do."
"Then, it's the same."
Nanglong Souka truly wanted to beat up this overconfident old man. How could he be more confident than him? Souka chose to stop thinking about it and merely drank his tea.
After finishing a book, Jun Zhenxian put it away then sat down in front of Nanglong Souka. He grinned.
"Since you're so worried, do you want to take a bet with me? Who among our grandsons will return earlier?"
Nanglong Souka scoffed. "You shameless old man, you wanted to bet about your own grandson?"
Souka didn't know that his own grandson had also proposed the same to Jun Min. If he knew, he would definitely think his own grandson to be even more shameless than this old man in front of him. Not to mention, the contents of their bet were the same.
"Why not? Are you scared to lose?" Jun Zhengxian taunted Nanglong Souka.
"Who said I'm scared? Tell me, what do you want to bet on?"
"Just a small treasure is enough; I don't want to take much from you."
"Then it's a deal, you better be prepared to lose."
The two of them continued their banter, just like children. All the servants have their eyes lowered as if they were not seeing these two old men acting shamelessly.
Soon, news from the battlefield arrived.
...
Day 12 of the war.
"Have you heard about it? My grandson has already taken down one of the city successfully! The news even said that the effort he required was so small that it seemed like a child play to him. Hahaha! Are you ready to lose, Zhenxian?"
"Get lost!"
"You're the one who proposed the bet first, so don't forget that you have to pay in the full amount. Don't suddenly retract your bet like a coward."
"Get out of here, old fart!"
...
Day 15 of the war.
"Hmm, that Lan Ping is not bad. Zhenxian, he managed to take down one of the cities successfully without much loss. I never thought that he could be so capable, but compared to my grandson, he is nothing at all. Right, how about your grandson, old man? There hasn't been any news at all. Don't tell me that he's actually so weak?"
"Damn you Souka! Meet me in the training hall, now!"
"You, robust idiotic old man! I'm an official, not a fighter!"
The servants all stared at the ground. They didn't dare say anything to anyone about these esteemed old men of the kingdom swearing and cursing at each other. If both Nanglong Soujin and Jun Hua knew about their grandfathers' 'achievement', they would surely hide themselves from each other from embarrassment. These two old men were too shameless compared to their status!
...
Day 20 of the war.
"Souka, seems like you have to prepare yourself for losing. My grandson has captured three cities in one go! While your grandson only got two, right?"
"...."
This time it was Nanglong Souka's turn to hold his temper from all the mocking comments from his old friend, and since Jun Zhenxian had been holding back these past few days, he was even more explosive than usual. To him, that was a deeper kind of torture.
...
Day 32 of the war.
"Souka, time to pay up your debt."
Nanglong Souka could not be bothered by this shameless old man in front of him as his eyes continued to watch the news the people had brought from the front line. Jun Min managed to subdue the Al Kingdom king, which meant he had won the war. The young general required only half the given time to win the battle. It was certainly a remarkable achievement for them to have been able to completely subdue a kingdom within a month's time.
Jun Zhenxian was still laughing heartily when Nanglong Souka stared at him full of seriousness.
"How did he do it? He was definitely lagging behind, but now he finished it all up far earlier than others?" he asked in disbelief.
"I don't know. That boy is a gifted general so I did not dare to meddle with how he conducts his battles." Jun Zhenxian answered nonchalantly.
It was the truth. After sending Jun Hua to the battlefield, he had left all of his training concerns to his first son, Jun Qing. Because of that, he really didn't have an inkling on what kind of strategies Jun Hua used, neither her fighting prowess.
Nanglong Souka sighed. "I will send the treasure later for you."
...
Day 40 of the war: Nanglong Soujin managed to subdue Lim Kingdom.
Day 52 of the war: Jun Min was back to the capital with victory.
Day 54 of the war: Nanglong Soujin returned to the capital with victory.
Day 61 of the war: Lan Ping managed to subdue Yun Kingom.
...
On the day Jun Hua returned, the first thing she did was to return to her room and had a good sleep for a whole day. Her journey to the capital took longer because of some things she needed to be taken care of. As such, Jun Hua was extremely exhausted.
Jun Hua only managed to wake up the next afternoon and the little girl went out to meet her grandfather.
"Grandpa, I'm back."
"How's your condition? Did you have a good rest?" Jun Zhenxian asked in happy mood. Nanglong Souka had just sent him the treasure he promised so of course this old man was very happy.
"I'm pretty good," Jun Hua answered. "Right, has the Lin family made a move?"
"Not yet. What are you plotting now, little girl?"
Jun Hua smiled, "It is something special. But it's alright, I can do it later. By the way, Grandpa, sign me up for the academy."
This time Jun Zhenxian was stunned, "As Jun Hua or Jun Min?"
"Jun Hua."
Jun Zhenxian stared at his granddaughter's eyes deeply. He knew very well that as a girl, there were far too many things Jun Hua lacked. Did she think she could catch up with those ladies? Jun Zhenxian did not to dwell on it for now and just agreed with her.
"Alright then, it will be done in a few days."
