"Emily Harris really wanted Sterling to go and have a good 'talk' with Gavin Brooks Jr., and big brother Sterling also wanted to have a direct showdown with Gavin Brooks Jr.. I heard they encountered each other during the second campaign, but there was no winner. But my uncle Charles Thompson absolutely refused, transferring Sterling into the Imperial Guards as deputy commander, so he never had the chance to meet Gavin Brooks Jr. again."

David Thompson thought to himself, "Everyone says Charles Thompson is mediocre and incompetent, but this decision was actually very wise."

"Then your uncle—the Grand Chancellor—doesn't care about Emily Harris acting recklessly?"

"I suspect he's almost senile!" Olivia Thompson said angrily, "I've told him several times to beware of Emily Harris, but by the next day, he..."

Olivia Thompson imitated Charles Thompson's feeble, elderly manner: "This matter, ah, let Emily Harris handle it. Huh? What did you say? I can't hear you, speak up... Oh, I'm not feeling well today, getting old, it's best to retire early, can't go on much longer!"

Her imitation was spot on, making David Thompson burst out laughing. However, he thought, things might not be as simple as Olivia Thompson imagined. He still remembered how spirited Charles Thompson was when he first became Grand Chancellor six years ago; there was no reason for him to become such a timid, useless person in just six years.

"From now on, you shouldn't talk to him about these things anymore." Whether Charles Thompson was truly senile or just pretending, if these words reached Emily Harris's ears, Olivia Thompson would be in trouble.

"Okay!" Olivia Thompson nodded obediently and softly said, "It's so good that you're back! Now that I can leave things to you, I feel at ease."

A wave of tenderness welled up in David Thompson's heart. Olivia Thompson was only sixteen, yet already showed a maturity beyond her years. It was clear how much pressure a lonely girl had to endure growing up in such a hostile environment. He also said softly, "Don't worry."

For a moment, neither spoke, and a warm, gentle atmosphere suddenly filled the car, silently melting the barrier between their hearts...

"Wow! What a luxurious house! It's incredible!" Roger Smith exclaimed in awe when he saw Olivia Thompson's manor-style villa with a garden and swimming pool. "With my salary, even if I didn't eat or drink for thirty thousand years, I still couldn't afford it."

Ethan Foster said to David Thompson, "Sir, does your sister have a boyfriend? Could you introduce me? I've followed you through thick and thin for years... Ow, Roger Smith, why did you hit me?"

Roger Smith: "Sir, introduce me instead! Don't believe Ethan Foster, he always talks bad about you behind your back! Only I have always been loyal to you!"

"Nonsense! You're the one who always badmouths the boss. Last time in the Far East, weren't you the one who said the boss 'only thinks with his knees'? I immediately rebuked you for that!"

"You did not! At the time, you said, 'That's because David Thompson's brain is in his knees,' and then you laughed out loud! Sir, don't believe a word he says!"

"Oh please, sir, if Miss Ning met a scoundrel and pervert like Roger Smith, she'd have nightmares..."

"Ethan Foster is a total playboy! Sir, let me tell you, those nights we stayed in Shaga, as soon as it got dark, he disappeared, and only came back the next morning, exhausted as if he'd fought several battles in Hengchuan! He could barely lift his feet! His clothes were covered in lipstick marks... Ethan Foster, come clean, what were you up to?"

"I was caring for troubled young women, letting them know there's still love in the world, making the world a better place! Sir, since it's come to this, I'll tell you: Roger Smith is a pervert! He often sneaks around the women's barracks—haven't they been missing underwear and such? Just search Roger Smith's bag and you'll find everything, not a single piece missing! How could Miss Ning be happy with someone like that?"

"That's a perfectly normal hobby! I think it's no different from collecting stamps! Miss Ning and I would definitely be happy together! Sir, let me tell you, I know all of Ethan Foster's dirty secrets... Sir, don't go!"

"Sir, where are you going? I still have more of Roger Smith's scandals to tell you, he..."

The house looked almost exactly the same as six years ago. David Thompson gazed at the familiar yet unfamiliar manor and walked up to the old oak tree. The marks he had carved with a small knife in childhood were still clear; everything was just as it was when he left six years ago—only the people had changed...

At that moment, David Thompson deeply realized: it is not time that causes aging, but experience. He seemed to have skipped youth, stepping straight from boyhood into middle age and old age.

He stepped into the house, and the servant greeted him respectfully, "Young master, you're back!"

David Thompson nodded kindly in response, but thought mockingly, "Look, exactly the same, even the way they address me hasn't changed."

As soon as he entered the room he had lived in as a child, he was stunned—it really was exactly the same as when he left six years ago! The items, books, bed, even the pillowcase on the pillow. He sat down at the desk, and out of habit, his right hand reached out—an inkstone appeared right there, not even its position had changed!