Chapter 1182 - Holy Father!

“Ling Yi, after hearing their defense, all of them still seem suspicious to me. What do you think?” Li Lanfeng suddenly turned to look at the confused Ling Yi who was squatting on the ground while hugging his head in despair, seemingly wanting to hide away from the problem.

“I don’t know. I really don’t know.” Ling Yi furiously shook his head. He didn’t want to believe that his friends had betrayed him but now, he didn’t know if he could trust his companions.

“What a pity. The person you have high hopes for can’t help you.” Li Lanfeng looked at the other five people with pity. Their faces turned even paler. They looked disappointed.

‘We trusted you and were willing to give up everything to follow you. Yet, you don’t trust us. You aren’t even willing to speak up for us. Have you forgotten about the promise we made?’

Li Lanfeng smiled. ‘Ling Yi, you’re really too naive.’

“Since I gave everyone an opportunity to defend themselves, Hua Qingxin, I’ll give you an opportunity too. Why did you say that? What made you say that?” Li Lanfeng’s attitude was gentle. He was fair to all the people and didn’t strip Hua Qingxin of his opportunity to defend himself.

Hua Qingxin looked at Li Lanfeng gratefully. He felt that Big Leader Li was the easiest person to talk to among all the team leaders (Most team leaders and veteran members of Lingtian knew Li Lanfeng’s true personality, most of the new members were still oblivious to his manipulative side).

He controlled the fear in his heart and started thinking about the conversation they had on that day. When Yan Wuyou talked about how good it was to have siblings, he immediately thought of Xiaotao. He was the youngest among his siblings so his parents and siblings doted on him a lot. That was why he had such a positive and outgoing personality.

Why did he have such a strong impression?

Hua Qingxin didn’t have any brothers but he had sisters. He had two older sisters and one younger sister. His mother brought him up herself so his personality was more towards the feminine side. His name was also similar to his older sisters’. They were called Hua Qingrui and Hua Qingmi. His mother must be too lazy to think of names so he named him after his sisters.

In most families, the only son would get a lot of love. However, the Hua family was different. Males were not important in the Hua family. Instead of the norm, his mother treated him as the outcast of the family. When he quarreled with his sisters, he would always be the one getting reprimanded, even if he wasn’t the one who started it.

Sometimes, Hua Qingxin wondered why he wasn’t a female. If he was female, he wouldn’t have been treated so unfairly. His family environment made him feel inferior as a male so he tried his best to act more like a lady so that his mother would treat him better.

However, after he entered the Scout Academy, his feminine actions were disliked by other students. The students kept bullying him so he got more quiet and self-conscious as a person, creating a vicious cycle. In the end, Hua Qingxin slowly lost his confidence and accepted his fate.

If Ling Yi and his friends didn’t come into his life and rescued him, he might have become a weakling that just allowed people to bully him. He might even commit suicide because of the constant teasing.

Hua Qingxin knew he wasn’t a strong-willed person. He was able to achieve everything he had today with the help of his comrades.

Yet, someone with evil intentions was hiding among these people who had helped him selflessly.

Hua Qingxin looked at Tao Xiaotao. Tao Xiaotao always boasted about how much his family members doted on him. His siblings would give him any good food and would help him to take the blame whenever he created trouble. He was very envious of Tao Xiaotao. In the Hua family, he was always the scapegoat, whether he liked it or not.

Yes. He was envious and jealous of Tao Xiaotao. The treatment they received at home was totally different. That was why when Yan Wuyou talked about siblings, he thought of Tao Xiaotao.

But, this was just his own thoughts. Tao Xiaotao didn’t purposely instill that thought in him. How could he push Tao Xiaotao out to clear his own name? Tao Xiaotao was already the most suspicious because of his message.

Tao Xiaotao narrowed his eyes when he saw Hua Qingxin looking at him.

Hua Qingxin looked at Li Lanfeng. There were tears in his eyes but he was smiling. “I’m sorry, Leader Li. I can’t find any evidence to prove myself innocent.”

He was always the weakest among his friends. If he took the blame, it might be good for everyone. He would take it as repaying his friends for their help and friendship for all those years.

Li Lanfeng squinted his eyes. He looked at Hua Qingxin in surprise. This was an unexpected outcome. On paper, Hua Qingxin was the weakest among the six people, but he was quite the strong young man in his mind.

“Hua Qingxin is not bad.” Gu Dongyang took a liking for this young man too. Anyone that was willing to die for his comrades wouldn’t be too bad.

“He has a weak personality but from the looks of it now, he has the potential to become a good soldier.” Yang Mingzhi acknowledged this young soldier too.

“If he could pass this test, we can give him a chance.” Gu Dongyang was deep in thought.

“That’ll depend on whether Big Leader Li is willing to let him go. Although they’re in the ZF department, they’re part of Big Leader Li’s mecha team.” Yang Mingzhi pointed at Li Lanfeng with his mouth.

“Looks like I have to find some gifts for him,” Gu Dongyang replied helplessly. Li Lanfeng acted too quickly. He moved these people under his wing so if he wanted Hua Qingxin, he had to request him from Li Lanfeng.

He could look for their regiment commander too but it would be embarrassing to disturb Ling Lan for such a small matter.

Gu Dongyang had a good impression of Hua Qingxin but that didn’t mean that he was safe. He needed to pass this test first to prove that there was value in grooming him.

“Do you mean that you’re the betrayer?” Li Lanfeng smiled ambiguously at him. He felt interesting to see such a holy father who was willing to sacrifice for his friends.

“I just hope that I won’t implicate anyone else.” Hua Qingxin closed his eyes.

‘Let me be the end of everything.’

The other people looked at Hua Qingxin in surprise. They didn’t expect him to be the betrayer. Tao Xiaotao muttered to himself, “How can it be you? How can it be you?”

“Do you really think that you can help your friends by bearing the charges?” Li Lanfeng suddenly asked coldly.