Unexpectedly, the person who opened the door this time was not the gloomy iceberg face yesterday, but a kind-faced old man who looked at her quietly and smiled.
What a completely different treatment than yesterday!
Tong Yao was stunned. The fake smile he had planned to put on his face was frozen in embarrassment. He scratched his head uneasily: "Hello! I am a reporter from Lans Times. I..."
"Please." Before she could finish her words, Tong Zhan smiled and planned to take a step aside to let her in.
Seeing the real her up close, Tong Zhan was filled with emotions - twenty years! After twenty years, he finally learned about the Tong family's bloodline... His granddaughter finally appeared on her own initiative.
"Thank you!" Tong Yao nodded politely to him, and when he followed Tong Zhan into the house, he was still asking for instructions, "Excuse me, where is Mr. Tong Zhan? I want to interview him..."
Halfway through her words, she happened to see the housekeeper coming out. He still had a calm face and glanced at her coldly.
Tong Yao's heart immediately "thumped", he immediately fell silent and involuntarily shrank behind Tong Zhan.
"Hahahaha..." Her appearance made Tong Zhan laugh loudly. He changed a few words to the housekeeper in Russian, then stretched out his hand and gestured toward the room, "Come in and sit down, aren't you looking for Tong Zhan? That's me."
Sitting across from the legendary General Tong, Tong Yao was obviously embarrassed.
Especially when the old man in front of her enthusiastically placed fruits, melon seeds, jelly... and a series of children's snacks in front of her, Tong Yao couldn't help but wonder in her heart: Is the information she investigated wrong?
Already?
Didn’t you say... General Tong is difficult to get along with?!
The editor-in-chief tried to take action in the past, but was rejected! Did she go to the wrong door this time?
"Are you... General Tong Zhan?" Thinking of this, Tong Yao asked suspiciously.
"Why, it doesn't look like it?" Tong Zhan said angrily, like an old naughty boy, standing up and gesturing with his fists and feet on the edge of the coffee table, "Do you think I am a bad old man and don't look like a former general?"
"Where is it?" Tong Yao quickly stood up, nervously holding the corner of his clothes and explaining his purpose.
She didn't dare to imagine how much preferential treatment General Tong would give her. She just wanted to complete the interview as soon as possible when Tong Zhan was in a "good mood" so that she could return home early for business.
"Ask me why I retired?" After listening to her words, Tong Zhan thought thoughtfully, his face visibly serious.
He walked around the coffee table to find something, and at the same time asked casually: "By the way, what did you say you...are called just now?"
Even though he already knew her investigation information last night, he still wanted to hear her call his name again, just like admitting that she was a member of the Tong family.
"My name is Tong Yao"
"Tong Yao is great! What a great name!" He sighed repeatedly, pulled out a photo from the bookshelf at the back, and said as he walked, "It's very similar to the tradition of our Tong family. All members of the Tong family's bloodline are named Tong...
"
Tong Yao smiled sheepishly beside her, not knowing how to respond, but he came over and pushed the photo in front of her...
"Eh?!" He didn't say a word, but Tong Yao exclaimed when he saw the photo. He pinched the yellowed photo awkwardly, "Why does this person look so like me?!"
The woman in the photo is wearing a military uniform, with a heroic appearance and military pride between her eyebrows.
What a dashing woman!
"Twenty years ago, there was a military exercise in the East China Sea, but during the process, a submarine suddenly exploded, and no one inside survived..." Without answering her question, Tong Zhan took a deep breath and sighed quietly,
"More than a dozen salvage ships were dispatched afterwards, but not even a single bone was recovered."
This old man who has experienced many vicissitudes of life seemed to have aged ten years in an instant while speaking.
Tong Yao squeezed the photo in his hand tightly and wanted to ask, but did not dare to ask: "Was the woman in the photo... also on the submarine at that time? Who is she?"
"I was the commander of this military exercise. When the central government thoroughly investigated this matter, I found something that I didn't want to make public, so I resigned." It was a very concise explanation, but one can't help but speculate on his inner struggle at the time.
"Is this why you retired?" Tong Yao was a little dazed, or a little flattered - he easily told her an intern news that other veteran reporters couldn't handle?!
Her luck is so good too!
"Well" he nodded and looked over with a faint look, "Actually, the so-called inside story is also very simple..."
Tong Yao was so surprised that she gasped several times. After listening to him talk about what happened back then, she realized that today's political arena is so bloody and dark. It's terrible!
"Why...why are you telling me this?" After Tong Zhan finished telling everything, Tong Yao was stunned for a long time before he came back to his senses.
Her face turned a little pale, and even her lips trembled slightly when she asked the question.
"Because..." Tong Zhan chuckled, walked up and patted Tong Yao on the shoulder, "Because you are a child of the Tong family."