Chapter 237. When I Achieve Fame and Success, Great Scholars Will Naturally Argue My Case
The next day, at the celebration banquet.
Because of matters involving the family and the group, Jiang Yichen’s mother could not stay to attend the celebration banquet.
Jiang Yichen understood this very well. When his father had still been around, his mother had only needed to manage the group’s development.
But now that his father was still inside the Sacrificial Heaven Ruins, all matters concerning the family and the group had fallen onto his mother’s shoulders. The fact that she had been able to spare time to come see him was already good enough.
Inside the auditorium, the lights were as bright as day. The gilded military emblem beneath the dome reflected a sharp, chilling gleam.
Jiang Yichen and the others wore military uniforms and stood upright on the stage.
Below the stage sat the three Martial Gods, Tang Wuji, Chu Ningfeng, and Su Zhan. The commanders of the four major military districts, including South China and North China, had also arrived. The battle divisions of the Five Great Regions and the Divine Battle Division had all been invited and were seated below as spectators.
This was even grander than when Jiang Yichen had received Special Class Merit before and Xu Lin had gathered the people from the Ten Military Districts of East China.
Jiang Yichen, Su Linyu, Tang Long, and Chu Xingchen stood on the stage. It would be a lie to say they were not nervous.
Tang Long’s body was especially straight, and even his big belly was tightly pulled in.
“Group One, First Formation of the New Recruit Training Camp fought bravely for our East China in the Guankou Divine Ruins against foreign forces that intended to bring disaster upon Huaxia.”
“Not only did they repel them, but they also recovered something of vital importance for Huaxia and saved the lives of every soldier in the Fifth Military District...”
Xu Lin held the microphone and spoke in a powerful, ringing voice before everyone. He looked as if he wished he could drag out every single achievement Jiang Yichen and the others had made.
“Now, I shall personally award Jiang Yichen his second Special Class Merit. Su Linyu, Tang Long, and Chu Xingchen will each receive First Class Merit!”
Thunderous applause erupted from below the stage, and many people revealed expressions of envy.
“Sigh! I feel like these children did not come to the military district for an internship. They came to speedrun military merits.”
“Is that not exactly what happened? In two months of new recruit training, they practically collected every military merit available. Jiang Yichen even received Special Class Merit twice. This is the first time I feel inferior to a new recruit.”
“There is no helping it. This batch of new recruits really produced monsters.”
“...”
As Xu Lin listened to the words below the stage, his face glowed with pride. He walked up to the four of them and hung a shining medal under the lights on Jiang Yichen’s chest.
Along the way, he even adjusted Jiang Yichen’s uniform for him, his eyes filled with incomparable gratification.
“Yichen, you are now the pride of our East China. Hahaha.”
Jiang Yichen smiled and bowed, but in truth, he did not know how to respond.
So he chose to slack off and remain silent.
Xu Lin nodded slightly, then continued presenting medals to Su Linyu and the other two.
When Xu Lin hung the First Class Merit medal on Tang Long’s chest, Tang Long could barely suppress the corners of his mouth.
He pinched the front of his uniform with his hand and said excitedly, “Dad, I did it!”
Below the stage, Tang Wuji, who was drinking tea, nearly spat it out.
Everyone also burst into laughter.
“Old Tang, so you have times when your judgment is poor too. Xiaolong is so outstanding, yet you used to ignore him completely,” Chu Ningfeng said with a smile.
Tang Wuji sighed inwardly. If this brat had been this outstanding in the past, would he have done that?
Ever since Tang Long started following Jiang Yichen, he had undergone a complete transformation. Now, he was practically the apple of his mother’s eye.
“Compared to me, Old Su, you are probably the one who should feel the most fortunate. If you had firmly destroyed the marriage contract between the two children back then, you would have missed out on such an outstanding son-in-law.”
Tang Wuji turned to look at Su Zhan, who was leaning on a cane.
A look of shame appeared on Su Zhan’s face. Like Tang Wuji, he remembered that Jiang Yichen from a few months ago had truly been hopeless.
Naturally, he had felt that Jiang Yichen was unworthy of his daughter, who had awakened an SSS-grade talent.
Moreover, at the time, Jiang Yichen was about to be replaced as heir, so his daughter would have had no security if she married him.
But in just a few short months, Jiang Yichen had truly refreshed his understanding again and again.
Even the entire Jiang Family had become incomparably powerful over these few months, and the Jiang Family’s unfathomable foundation had been revealed.
Thinking about it now, he had truly been childish in the extreme.
Su Zhan sighed. “I admit that my judgment was poor.”
Tang Wuji and Chu Ningfeng laughed heartily.
“As for this ruin, Old Chu, you also have to thank Jiang Yichen. If not for him, your son would not have had the ability to form a contract with the Illustrious Sage Lord,” Su Zhan said, changing the topic after seeing the two of them tease him.
Chu Ningfeng stopped laughing and nodded solemnly. “Indeed. After Xingchen started following Yichen, he truly changed completely.”
The three of them knew very well in their hearts that without Jiang Yichen, their children would never have reached their current state.
They looked at Jiang Yichen on the stage, recognition in their eyes.
After the award ceremony ended, Xu Lin pulled Jiang Yichen over to the commanders of the Five Major Military Districts.
“Yichen, let me introduce you. This is Dong Cheng, the commander of the South China Military District. This is Kong Yue, the commander of the North China Military District...”
Xu Lin introduced, one by one, the four generals whose shoulders were adorned with golden branches and three golden star emblems.
Jiang Yichen felt slightly nervous. Across two lifetimes, this was still his first time facing four military district commanders.
“Yichen, you are now the face of our East China. In front of your seniors, say a few words about your successful experience.”
Xu Lin was beyond excited, leaving the four commanders somewhat speechless.
They had not wanted to come in the first place. If they had known that coming here meant being shown off to by this old fellow surnamed Xu, they would not have come.
But a month ago, they had heard that Jiang Yichen had received Special Class Merit. Now, he had also rendered great service at the Guankou Divine Ruins. They were truly curious about him.
The four of them looked at Jiang Yichen and nodded slightly.
“Jiang Yichen, I will call you Little Jiang, then. Since you were able to achieve such results, you must usually cultivate especially diligently, right?” Dong Cheng, the commander of the South China Military District, asked with a smile.
Diligently?
Jiang Yichen’s expression stiffened.
At the side, Mei Xue’er and the others from the Divine Battle Division felt the corners of their mouths twitch. How was he diligent? During half a month of Battle Division training, there had not been a single day when he was not slacking off.
“Actually, the reason I could achieve such results was entirely because I slacked—”
“Of course it was because Yichen worked hard and cultivated diligently.” Before Jiang Yichen could finish speaking, Xu Lin directly answered for him. “You do not know this, but previously, that Zhou Yu... Forget it. Let us not mention him. Bad luck.”
“Yichen’s performance in the New Recruit Training Camp was extremely outstanding. He was the first to get up and train every morning, and he even trained extra at night. Therefore, all of his current achievements can be traced back to his efforts.”
When the four major military district commanders heard this, they looked at Jiang Yichen and nodded in approval.
Jiang Yichen: “...”
No, I... Sigh! Forget it. Let them think what they want. Explaining would be useless anyway.
But when Commander Xu’s words reached Mei Xue’er and the other three, they were directly shocked.
Was this the legendary ability to lie through one’s teeth?
The first to get up every morning to train, and extra training at night?
Was this the King of Slacking they knew?
Mo Yan clicked his tongue. The folding fan in his hand flipped open, and written on it were the words:
“When I achieve fame and success, great scholars will naturally argue my case.”