Elder brother's garrison

Mrs. White was still washing the dishes by herself when she noticed Missouri had stopped washing them, and then she turned her attention to her.

Seeing Missouri's slightly surprised look, Mrs. White tilted her head.

"...Looking at your strange expression...didn't Xiaobai tell you about her childhood?"

“…The admiral did not mention that.” Missouri shook his head.

"Ah..." Mrs. White smiled and nodded to Missouri, "Perhaps this is not something worth talking about for Little White."

"Did the Admiral's extraordinary memory begin when he was three years old?" Missouri asked.

"Hmm...yes." Mrs. Bai nodded, silently washing the dishes. After a while, she slowly added, "To be precise, it started appearing after the surgery, right?"

"……Operation……?"

"That story begins a long time ago," Mrs. Bai said with a smile, addressing Missouri. "Missouri, you should know Xiaobai's older brother, Lu Yun, right?"

“Yes.” Missouri nodded.

“Lu Yun… he is not my biological child.” When Bai’s mother mentioned this name, a trace of nostalgic sadness welled up in her eyes. “That child… is the boy we adopted, and also our family’s benefactor.”

“…My benefactor?” Missouri was taken aback.

“It’s like this.” Mrs. Bai put her hands in the sink, thought for a while, and said to Missouri, “Actually, when Xiao Bai was little, her health was always very poor. She was the type who would get tired after walking just a few steps and would collapse into my arms and pant for a long time. After Lao Bai and I took her to the hospital for a check-up, the hospital told us that Xiao Bai had a very serious genetic disease.”

“A genetic disease…” Missouri looked at White’s mother in surprise.

“Old Bai and I are very healthy.” Mrs. Bai gave a wry smile and explained to Missouri, “Little Bai… is just very unlucky. The probability of this kind of genetic disease occurring is very, very low, but if it does occur, it is a devastating disaster for the patient.”

Can it be cured?

“Yes, fortunately, this is not an incurable disease,” said Mrs. Bai. “However… a bone marrow transplant is a necessary procedure to cure the disease.”

“That doesn’t seem to be a very serious problem,” Missouri nodded.

“No, the problem is still very serious.” Mrs. Bai sighed. “Because of a special genetic disease, my bone marrow and Lao Bai’s bone marrow are not compatible with her, so she has to find a compatible donor.”

"...How long will it take to find them?"

“A very, very long time.” Bai’s mother shook her head. “According to the hospital at the time, this kind of waiting usually takes several years or more, and Xiaobai’s physical condition at the time was not good enough to wait that long.”

“So…” Missouri listened to Madam White’s words, then suddenly seemed to understand something and asked Madam White, “The Admiral’s bone marrow…”

“That’s right, Lu Yun is the bone marrow donor suitable for Xiao Bai.” Bai’s mother nodded. “He saved Xiao Bai.”

"..."

"Just when Lao Bai and I were at our wits' end, Lu Yun came to us. He was still very young then, but he was as mature as a little adult. He told us that he could give his bone marrow to Xiao Bai, but in return, we needed to raise him and give him a family."

"..."

"As a result, we adopted Lu Yun, who became Xiao Bai's older brother. And Lu Yun's bone marrow was successfully preserved in Xiao Bai's body after surgery at the hospital." At this point, Bai's mother took a deep breath and gave Missouri a sad smile. "So, Lu Yun is the benefactor who saved our family."

Chapter 2505 A Brief Discussion

"As a result, we adopted Lu Yun, who became Xiao Bai's older brother. And Lu Yun's bone marrow was successfully preserved in Xiao Bai's body after surgery at the hospital." At this point, Bai's mother took a deep breath and gave Missouri a sad smile. "So, Lu Yun is the benefactor who saved our family."

Missouri stared at the plate in the sink, silently processing the information from Mother White.

After a short while, Missouri finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"So... this is the kind of relationship the Admiral has with her brother?"

“Isn’t it amazing?” Mother Bai looked up at the ceiling and said softly, “Although Xiao Bai and Lu Yun are not biological siblings, they share the same blood.”

"No wonder they get along so well." Missouri smiled at Mrs. White.

"In the blink of an eye... more than ten years have passed." Mrs. Bai looked sadly at the water droplets on her fingers. "After the hospital check-up, Lu Yun's bone marrow was indeed, as he himself said, a rare bone marrow that could be matched with Xiao Bai's constitution. Although we don't know how he knew this back then, Xiao Bai's condition did improve rapidly after the bone marrow transplant. To repay Lu Yun's kindness—and to fulfill our promise to him—after Xiao Bai fully recovered, our family adopted him and raised him as our own son. Ah... speaking of which, they say you can tell what a person will be like at three years old, and Lu Yun really lived up to expectations."

As Mrs. White finished speaking, she rushed towards Missouri, a proud smile spreading across her face.

"Lu Yun is also very independent and has had very clear life goals since he was a child. As an adopted son, he has never rejected Xiao Bai. He has always been exceptionally fond of his little sister Xiao Bai and treats her like his own blood relative. Xiao Bai has also always been particularly dependent on her older brother Lu Yun."

Missouri listened silently to Mother White's words, a smile playing on her lips.

As if showing Missouri a treasured gem, Mrs. Bai told her many comments about Lu Yun.

According to Bai's mother, Lu Yun was indeed an outstanding son, someone the whole family could be proud of.

Mrs. White and Missouri talked and listened as they washed the dishes in the sink. Before they knew it, the clean dishes had piled up high.

After Mrs. White finished speaking her last words, Missouri also stacked the last clean plate on the top shelf.

“I see, Missouri understands.” Missouri smiled at Mrs. White. “Thank you, Auntie, for telling me all this.”

“That’s no secret.” Mrs. Bai took a deep breath, composed herself, and continued to Missouri, “Besides, your relationship with Xiaobai isn’t ordinary, is it?”

Missouri smiled.

"Let's get back to the topic we were talking about." Mrs. Bai stuffed the stacked plates back into the cupboard one by one. "When Xiao Bai was born, she was just an ordinary girl. Her extraordinary memory was something that Lao Bai and I discovered when she was about seven or eight years old. After discovering that her memory was beyond what ordinary people could achieve, out of curiosity, I asked Xiao Bai if she remembered anything from when she was in my belly."

"Doesn't the Admiral remember?"

“Hmm.” Mrs. White held up a clean white plate and said to Missouri, “When Little White tries to recall things, she can only remember things up to when she was about three years old.”

"..." Missouri nodded thoughtfully. "Was the Admiral three years old when he underwent the bone marrow transplant?"

"Hmm." Mrs. Bai looked down at the plate with a smile. "If there was any unexpected event that led to Xiao Bai's extraordinary memory, after thinking about it, it must have been that surgery."

"Would a bone marrow transplant... grant humans this ability?" Missouri asked.

“From a human medical perspective, there is currently no direct evidence to prove this,” Mrs. Bai said slowly, gently tapping the plate with her finger. “However, there are often rumors on the internet that a small percentage of organ transplant recipients will possess some of the characteristics of the organ donor, right? For example, someone who used to dislike a certain vegetable might start to like it after receiving a heart transplant, or a patient who used to be an alcoholic might become a teetotaler after receiving a liver transplant.”

“Missouri had heard similar rumors from patients when she worked part-time as a nurse at the clinic,” Missouri nodded.

“It seems we have something in common,” Mrs. White said with a smile to Missouri.

“…But Auntie,” Missouri continued, turning to Mrs. White, “from this perspective, it seems the Admiral’s extraordinary memory was acquired from his brother? And what about his brother’s memory?”

“Lu Yun’s academic performance is very good, but he has never mentioned his memory.” Mrs. Bai shook her head. “Old Bai and I have also tested his memory, and the results were only slightly better than the average person.”

"Is it possible that the admiral's brother is hiding something from you for some special reason?" Missouri thought for a while and then asked.

"..." Upon hearing Missouri's words, Mrs. Bai silently looked up and smiled at Missouri, "You seem to be particularly concerned about things related to Xiaobai."

“…” Missouri paused for a moment, then lowered her head apologetically, “I’m sorry, Auntie.”

“It’s alright, it’s alright. This is just your way of caring for Xiaobai, right?” Bai’s mother smiled and waved to Missouri. She put the last plate back in the cupboard, looked at the neatly stacked plates, and said slowly, “I… I’m not a stubborn mother. Xiaobai’s life hasn’t been easy. She almost left this world when she was little, so now I only hope that Xiaobai can live a healthy and smooth life… As long as she’s happy, that’s all that matters. As for what secrets Xiaobai has, what job she does, who she associates with, or… what her orientation is, as her mother, I don’t care.”

As she finished speaking, Mrs. White turned her head and glanced gently at Missouri with her gentle, watery eyes.

Just then, a firework bursts into view outside the kitchen window.

Colorful lights illuminated the dark kitchen.

Mother White's eyes contained love and tenderness, as well as an acceptance that seemed to see through the child's clumsy lies.

Missouri suddenly felt like an ant with nowhere to hide, her body stiffening abruptly.

"Auntie...you found out?"

“I’m Xiaobai’s mother.” Bai’s mother smiled at Missouri, gently took Missouri’s water-dampened hand, patted the back of her hand and said, “Although I don’t know what Xiaobai is thinking, I can still read the way she looks at other people.”

"..." Missouri looked at White's mother in surprise.

White's mother held Missouri's hand and shook it up and down in front of Missouri.

"Well, besides that, let me, as your elder, teach you a principle of how to conduct yourself in society."

"...Auntie, please speak."

"Some things in this world don't need to be understood too clearly. For most people, it's enough to understand whether something is good or bad."

"...?"

“For example, Lu Yun truly loves his little sister Xiao Bai,” Bai’s mother said to Missouri. “There is no more responsible brother in this world than him. Many times, as long as I understand this, other problems don’t matter.”

"..." Missouri looked at Mother White silently, then slowly lowered her head, "...Missouri understands."

"Good boy, good boy." Mrs. Bai smiled, raised her hand and patted Missouri's head. Halfway through, she suddenly seemed to remember something and said to Missouri, "Oh, right, speaking of which, I haven't thanked you for coming over to help me wash the dishes, and for the durian ice cream cake this morning. That was delicious, I really liked it."

“These were just small favors for Missouri,” Missouri nodded.

"Don't be so polite, we're all family now." Mrs. Bai gently waved her hand, then thought for a moment, moved both hands to her neck, took something off her neck, and said to Missouri with a smile, "By the way, I don't have anything worthwhile to offer, so I'll give you this as a gift."

Under Missouri's watchful eye, Mama White removed a delicate necklace from her neck.

“Auntie, this is…” Missouri looked at the necklace with some surprise.

"This is... a necklace my mother gave me, and my mother got it from her mother." Mrs. Bai looked down at the necklace in her hand, her gaze seeming to travel back to the past, and slowly said to Missouri, "In our family, it's considered a family heirloom passed down only to daughters?"

“Auntie, no, Missouri can’t accept something so valuable…” Missouri said immediately.

“It’s nothing valuable.” Mrs. Bai smiled, pulled open the necklace, and held it out to Missouri’s neck. “Little Bai is still a long way from wearing this. She’s out every day and rarely comes home. I don’t know if she’ll still be by her side when she’s old enough to receive this necklace. In any case, you should keep the necklace for now. When you feel it’s time to give it to Little Bai, then you can give it to her. Or… you can keep it for yourself.”

Mrs. Bai gently leaned forward.

Missouri eventually stopped resisting.

White Mother approached Missouri and tied the necklace in her hand around Missouri's fair neck.

Fireworks burst outside the window.

Multicolored light shone on Missouri's chest, and the simple platinum necklace against her skin shone exceptionally brightly under the light.

Chapter 2506 End of Vacation

Missouri touched the necklace pendant on her chest, her gaze fluctuating, unusually silent.

“Hmm.” Mrs. White took two steps back, put her hands behind her back, and looked at Missouri with a smile. “It suits you very well.”

“Thank you, Auntie.” Missouri looked up and said to Mrs. White, “Missouri will take good care of this necklace.”

"It's too dark in the kitchen, let's go back to the living room." Mrs. White smiled and patted Missouri on the shoulder before leaving the kitchen. "So many ship girls are staying at our house today, we still have to make makeshift beds for each of them."

Missouri gently held the necklace pendant, tucked it into her collar, and smiled and nodded at Mama White.

……

"Admiral, I'm so happy—" In the living room, Fubuki hugged Shiro's waist, slumped against Shiro's lap, and mumbled indistinctly, "Hehe, New Year's was so much fun, I want to come to the Admiral's house for New Year's next year too... hiccup!"

"There's no wine on the table for you, how did you get so drunk?" Xiaobai said to herself with a wry smile as she hugged Chuixue helplessly.

"Admiral, my sister is sleepy." Bai Xue said apologetically, stretching out her hands to Xiao Bai, "Please, Admiral, leave my sister to me."

"Oh, thank you for your hard work, Snow White." Little White handed Snow White a bundle of sweaty, exhausted snow.

Bai Xue bent down, hooked her arms around Fubuki's knees, and lifted Fubuki into her arms. Then, she gave Bai Xue a slight bow, looked apologetic, and left.

Xiaobai looked at Baixue and Fubuki with a sigh, when he suddenly saw Missouri and Bai's mother walking in from outside the living room door.

"Huh? Mom? Missouri? What did you two go out to do?" Little White asked curiously.

"It's nothing, we just chatted," Mrs. Bai said with a smile to Xiao Bai.

"Chatting..." Xiaobai looked puzzled.

“Auntie is a very talkative elder,” Missouri said with a smile.

"Oh..." Xiaobai still looked at Missouri with confusion.

Under Xiao Bai's gaze, Bai's mother walked to the sofa. She looked at Bai's father, who was sleeping on the sofa, and kicked him with her long leg.

"Old Bai, wake up! It's embarrassing to sleep in front of so many girls."

"Ah...ah? What happened..." Bai's father was shaken awake by Bai's mother with her foot, feeling dizzy.

Mrs. Bai put her hands on her hips and said to Mr. Bai, "So many girls need to sleep, how can you sleep? Come and help make beds for the children on the floor."

"Oh, oh oh oh..." Old Man Bai got up, feeling dizzy.

"Ah, Auntie, no need, we can sleep on the floor ourselves..." The ship girls who were still awake in the living room quickly got up and said.

"It's alright, it's alright. This is just a way to show hospitality to the host." Mrs. Bai put her hands together and smiled at everyone. "Besides, even if you don't need it, Old Bai will still make a bed for me on the floor."

"Eh? Auntie, you too...?"

"Yes, it's rare to have such a lively atmosphere today, and Miss Lu Ming, such a big star, is here too. Let Lao Bai sleep in the bedroom by himself. I want to sleep with my Xiao Bai!" Bai's mother smiled and hugged Xiao Bai. Then, she turned to the crowd and smiled, "You won't mind if I'm not around, will you?"

"No, no, no, no—" The ship girls immediately shook their heads upon hearing this.

"I can sleep with the Admiral's mother now!"

"Wow! I want to sleep next to the Admiral's mother!"

"Admiral Mom, can you continue telling us stories tonight?"

The ship girls seemed even more excited.