Love Began with the First Meeting

With a huge smile on his face, William fixed his eyes on Edgar. Edgar had been his subordinate since before he was transferred to work for the government. To his surprise, when Edgar returned to the military, he was placed in the S Army and had become his subordinate again. William and Hana believed earnestly that Édgar would be the most suitable husband for their daughter in every aspect, despite their age difference. The most important factor was that Edgar was a trustworthy man and Maggie loved him.

Edgar kept his face devoid of any expression after hearing William's question. Instead of answering him, Edgar asked back, "Uncle William, what do you mean?" When William smiled in response to his question, he continued to ask, "Are you willing to let an old man like me marry your only daughter?"

William was stunned for a moment. He burst into laughter, pointing his index finger at Edgar. He shook his head helplessly. Still laughing, he explained, "Edgar, you are not that old. And it is not Hana's or my decision to make. Although we are strict with Maggie, we are not old-fashioned parents. We know what's good for her. You being elder than her has its own merits. You will treat her well and tolerate her stubbornness." Gradually, the laughter disappeared from his face. On a more serious note, he continued, "Hana and I want nothing but her happiness. She is our only child."

Edgar listened to William earnestly. As a subordinate and as the son of William's dear friend, he was more modest in front of William than in front of anybody else.

"Edgar, you must tell me the truth," William said with a sombre look. "What do you think of Maggie? I have heard various versions of stories about the two of you. I don't know which one is real; I am not sure if any of it is real. I want to hear the truth directly from your mouth."

Edgar had nothing to think about. He spoke what was on his mind. "Uncle William, you know everything about me. You and my father were comrade-in-arms. You have watched me grow up." After a short pause, he said with a small smile, "If you allow me to be with Maggie, I promise that I will never disappoint you or Aunt Hana."

"Ah..." William chuckled, nodding happily. "I trust you, Edgar. I have nothing more to say." He heaved a long sigh and then changed the topic of conversation. "You'd better be well-prepared for the exercise with Dragon Island after the New Year. After all, it will not be taking place in our home field. I don't want to lose our face, and I think you wouldn't want that either."

"Yes, sir!" Edgar answered formally, looking steadily at William.

Waving his hand, William said, "You don't have to be so formal. I was just saying. I mainly wanted to talk to you about Maggie today." When Edgar relaxed once again, William continued, "Then it's settled. I won't interfere in your affairs anymore. If you two decide to get together, Hana and I will be more than happy to welcome you into our family. But if you end up deciding otherwise—"

"I will still be your soldier." Edgar interrupted him with a smile.

"You brat..." William said, pointing his finger at Edgar with a smile on his face. "All right, that was the only thing I wanted to talk to you about privately. It's already winter. When the new recruits arrive, you better keep a close eye on them. The leadership is paying much attention to the direct selection of talents this time around."

"I understand, sir," Edgar answered and then stood up in attention. "Sir, if there's nothing else, I will be taking my leave now."

With a nod, William said, "Go ahead."

"Yes!" Edgar saluted him, turned around and left the office. As he closed the door behind him, he could not help but stare at the closed door for a while, thinking back on their conversation. He slowly walked down the stairs and got into the waiting car without any hesitation. "Sir, are we going back to the Eagle?" Gordon asked.

"Let's go take a look at the new recruits first," Edgar ordered.

"Yes, sir!" Gordon obliged and headed to the place where the new recruits were accommodated. Since the new recruits hadn't officially been received by the S Army yet, they could only stay at a temporary accommodation in S City for the time being. They would have to stay there until all the new recruits assembled together. It took Gordon two hours to get them to the accommodation.

Before they got off the car, Edgar removed the shoulder marks from his military uniform. Seeing that, Gordon removed his as well. They took off their big lip caps too. Now they looked like ordinary soldiers from the army. Normal people would not be able to find the difference between them and ordinary soldiers.

Edgar and Gordon passed by the new recruits. There was a light buzz around the place. Some new recruits were greeting each other warmly; some looked too tired to even say a word; some were reading books about military affairs. In general, they were the same as all other batches before them. The difference between the urban recruits and the rural recruits seemed the same as before.

"Sir, has anybody drawn your attention?" Gordon asked, craning his neck and looking around the crowd. The leaders of several other companies were present there as well. Perhaps, for the same reason. Everybody wanted to know the real situation before selection, so that they could make better decisions.

"Two of them," Edgar said.

"Two?" Gordon was surprised. "Sir, are the two of them to your satisfaction?" When Edgar nodded, he was excited. Craning his neck, he looked around and asked, "Which two?" He knew that by no means was it easy to satisfy Edgar at first sight, so Gordon believed that they must have projected great potential.

"The one who is talking and laughing with the others at five o'clock. He must be at least 5'9"." Edgar turned slowly to peek at the other side. "And the one who is reading at nine o'clock."

Gordon checked them both out, without making it too obvious. The first one seemed like a difficult candidate to deal with, while the second looked like a bookworm. "Sir, the two of them have totally different dispositions. Will this be okay?"

With a faint smile, Edgar explained, "What you see at this moment is superficial. If you look closely, they both have good physique. The one playing around is quite fastidious, just like Sparrow Hawk. As for the bookworm, did you see what book he is reading?"

"I didn't pay much attention to the book," Gordon answered honestly.

Instead of giving Gordon the answer directly, he hinted at him to go and check it for himself. Out of curiosity, Gordon went to take a look at what the bookworm was reading. As he walked towards him, he figured that the boy was probably reading some fantasy novel or an urban romantic fiction. But Gordon was in for a surprise again.

The title of the book read: Snipe Tactics and Loneliness. Gordon knew at once that Edgar's selection wasn't wrong. Not many people could sit and learn those theories patiently. It was pretty obvious that this new recruit had come from the urban area and that he knew about advanced theories, which would be his weapons for his further development.

Gordon didn't stop anywhere near the boy, he only glanced at the book and casually passed by him.

"Hold on a second," the new recruit said, raising his head to look at Gordon suspiciously.

Gordon stopped in his tracks. He turned around, looked at the new recruit, and asked while pointing at himself, "Are you talking to me?"