The Rise of a Special Forces Soldier Abandoned by a Wealthy Family

In the suite, Lin Xiaoya spoke with Ronnie on the phone for a while. Her originally decisive tone gradually became hesitant and cautious.

Finally, she covered the microphone, turned her head, and looked at Zeng Long on the sofa, who seemed to blend into the shadows. Her bright eyes were filled with worry.

"Boss..." Xiaoya's voice was a little tight, and her knuckles turned white from gripping the phone so tightly:

"Ronnie...he...he said..." She swallowed hard, managing to utter the last part of her sentence, "He wants to talk to you directly."

The air seemed to freeze instantly.

Zeng Long remained staring at the television screen, his body stiffening almost imperceptibly for a moment.

He turned his head very slowly, his gaze falling on the satellite phone that Xiaoya had handed him, his eyes looking as if he were staring at something incredibly heavy and burning hot.

Then, he stood up, took a deep breath, and walked heavily towards Xiaoya. His fingertips trembled slightly as he took the phone.

He pressed the cold receiver close to his ear, Zeng Long's Adam's apple bobbed, and his voice became hoarse and dry, as if he hadn't drunk water in a long time.

"Hello, Mr. Ronnie."

A deathly silence fell over the other end of the phone. This silence lasted for a full five or six seconds, so long that Lin Xiaoya, sitting beside her, felt suffocated.

Finally, an aged yet still powerful voice, now brimming with suppressed emotion, came through the radio waves, each word seemingly carrying immense weight:

"Should I call you 'Ling Ye' now? Or 'Zero'? Or... Zeng Long?"

These three titles, like three invisible keys, instantly unlocked the tightly locked door in Zeng Long's heart, a door sealed with the past.

An extremely bitter smile involuntarily appeared on his face, a smile mixed with apology, helplessness, and deep weariness.

"I'm...sorry." His voice was even hoarse, filled with deep remorse. "Please forgive me for...leaving without saying goodbye."

"You don't need to apologize to me!" Ronnie's voice suddenly rose, filled with barely suppressed excitement and anger!

You could even hear a dull thud, like a fist slamming on the table, on the other end of the phone. "Go tell my beloved granddaughter Anna!"

Go ahead! Do you know how terrible Anna is right now?!

She turned herself into a cold working machine, she…” The old man’s voice trembled slightly with heartache, and he seemed unable to bear to say the rest.

Zeng Long felt as if an invisible hand was gripping his heart tightly, causing a sharp, agonizing pain.

He closed his eyes, and a distant figure uncontrollably appeared before him—

Her long, golden hair flowed like honey in the sunlight, and her azure eyes, once brimming with the passion and vibrancy of the world, now seemed to hold only silence and gloom.

That figure appears so lonely on the other side of memory, as if abandoned in an endless wasteland, enduring the slow torture of longing.

He could almost feel the sorrow and anticipation that had traveled across the ocean, making it difficult for him to breathe.

Ronnie, on the other end of the phone, seemed to realize his loss of composure. He took a few deep breaths and forced himself to calm his surging emotions.

I heard his heavy breathing through the receiver. After a long while, he let out a long sigh, filled with endless exhaustion and a sob.

"Alas—!" This sigh seemed to have exhausted all the old man's strength.

"Listen! Dragon!" Ronnie's voice rang out again, still trembling with emotion:

I'm so angry! I'm really furious!

But I'm not upset that you left without saying goodbye, which is making Anna worse!

I know you have your own troubles. I, an old man, can't interfere in the complicated emotional entanglements between you young people, nor can I understand them!

His words struck Zeng Long like a sudden storm:

But please remember! You, Zeng Long, are my best friend in this life!

She is the younger generation I value most and have high hopes for!

He is also my savior and the savior of my entire Luo family!

You not only saved this old man from his sickbed countless times, but you also saved Anna's life from a hail of bullets!

In the end, it was you again! You turned the tide and saved my entire family from the brink of collapse!

This kindness is immense! Can it be measured by cold, hard money?!

Do you think my life, Ronnie's life, and the survival of my Ronnie family, are so damn cheap?!

The old man's voice was filled with insulted anger and unspeakable heartache:

You even had your team call me? Don't you know my phone number?! Huh?!

What infuriates me most is this! You're talking to me about commission? Do you think I, Ronnie, need your small commission?!

You're stabbing me in the heart with a knife! You're looking down on me, Ronnie, and my entire Ronnie family!

Zeng Long listened silently, gripping the phone tightly until his knuckles turned white from the excessive force.

His once upright figure was now slightly hunched. This was the first time he had been rebuked so mercilessly yet with such genuine affection, and he couldn't utter a single word in rebuttal.

He could only bear it, feeling the impact of the heavy sentiment in those words, sentiments he had unintentionally underestimated.

After Ronnie finished venting, his tone gradually softened, but the heaviness in his voice remained undiminished!

"Dragon! Listen!" His voice became incredibly solemn, even carrying a resolute air of entrustment:

This time, I will not ask any questions about the reasons for the financial storm you have stirred up, nor will I care about how much interest is involved or how much risk is involved!

Tomorrow! Right tomorrow, I'll wire you 1000 billion US dollars!

I'll prepare another 100 billion for you within three days! That'll make a total of 200 billion US dollars!

Let me see just how outstanding my savior, my most valued junior, and the man my granddaughter Anna has been longing for, really is! And just how much of a storm he can stir up!

His words carried a sense of world-weariness and pride:

I'm old! In this life, what storms haven't I weathered? What riches and honors haven't I enjoyed?

For me, money has long been nothing more than a string of cold, meaningless numbers.

Before I die, I will have the chance to repay your kindness and to see my beloved Anna find her happy ending. I will have no regrets in this life.

At this point, Ronnie's voice trembled slightly, almost imperceptibly, revealing a vulnerability rarely seen in an old man who had lived a proud life.

"Dragon! Can you grant this old man's last request... and my final wish in this life?"

He paused for a moment, as if using all his strength:

This financial crisis... I want Anna to be involved.

She's really... terrible. Only you, only by fighting alongside you, can she perhaps 'come back to life'.

Please... I'm begging you.

"..."

Zeng Long closed his eyes tightly, his thick eyelashes trembling violently.

He tried his best to suppress the guilt and anguish surging within him like a tsunami. The intense emotions were pounding through his body, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

In his mind, there was Anna's bright smile from the past, Ronnie's trusting and expectant gaze, and the unspeakable past and responsibilities he carried... All sorts of emotions intertwined and tore him apart.

After a long pause, he responded with extreme difficulty, in a hoarse voice as if it had been sanded by sandpaper, softly yet with immense weight:

"Thank you... Old Ronnie."

A simple sentence, a seemingly ordinary "thank you".

It contains far too many complex emotions that cannot be expressed in words—

I am deeply grateful for Ronnie's unwavering trust and support!

I feel incredibly heartbroken and guilty about Anna's current situation!

He felt endless regret for leaving without saying goodbye back then!

There is a solemn promise to this affection that is as heavy as a mountain!

There is also a kind of understanding and trust between men that transcends life and death and worldly interests.

These simple words echoed in the quiet suite, as if they had exhausted all of Zeng Long's strength.

On the other end of the phone, Ronnie seemed to understand all the profound meaning contained in those short words.

He didn't say anything more, only let out a long, relieved sigh, and then the call was gently cut off.

"Beep...beep...beep..."

The busy signal sounded again, but this time, the air was no longer filled with the oppressive atmosphere before a storm, but rather with a settled, complex feeling mixed with sadness, emotion, responsibility, and determination.

Zeng Long remained motionless in the position of answering the phone, as if he had transformed into a sculpture carrying too many secrets and emotions.

The lights outside the window reflected in his tightly closed eyes, but they could not illuminate the turbulent sea within his heart, a sea intertwined with old debts and a new journey.

Lin Xiaoya stood to the side, holding her breath, not daring to make a sound.

She knew that from this moment on, not only was a financial storm about to sweep the globe, but the emotional storm that her boss had suppressed for so long was finally... coming.