73: Chapter 73 An In-Depth Chat with Shang Ningyong

The senior brothers gathered around the teacher's wife, wrapping dumplings, were pointing fingers and laughing.

A group of grown men were also happily watching the scene unfold before them.

The sisters-in-law, who were playing mahjong and giving advice on the side, were also watching this scene with smiles on their faces.

It was common for Shang Ningyong to get scolded, and everyone was used to it.

Who could blame him when there was such an outlier in the Shang family? It was only natural that he would be 'unwelcome.'

But Sun Ning getting scolded was a rare occurrence in the world—unheard of and seldom seen.

He was usually Elder Shang's treasure and the face of the Shang family's school.

For every academic research project or heavyweight conference, Elder Shang would always bring his precious disciple along.

Sometimes, when the senior brothers made mistakes, they would bring Sun Ning along when facing the teacher for punishment.

With Sun Ning there, their punishments would be much lighter.

Now, seeing Sun Ning being reprimanded, they were all watching with amusement.

In fact, several of them already knew about what happened between Sun Ning and Shang Rou.

They also knew that the old couple hadn't been giving Sun Ning a pleasant look for some time.

Especially seeing Sun Ning wearing a fawning smile to appease them.

Senior Brother Liu Zhiyuan couldn't even hold it back and burst out laughing.

This abrupt laughter drew a sharp look from Elder Shang, making Senior Brother Liu not dare to even breathe.

Senior Brother Liu Zhiyuan certainly didn't dare to offend Elder Shang at this moment.

He was among those with the lowest status in the family, and if he brought trouble upon himself now, he would have to join the two guys currently facing the wall.

Elder Shang's disciples had a hierarchy in the family.

Sun Ning and Shang Rou were uniquely favored.

Next were the two senior brothers who were in academia.

Finally, there were people like Senior Brother Liu Zhiyuan who had entered the system, along with Shang Ningyong.

Elder Shang gave a lukewarm reprimand and then ordered the two troublemakers to face the wall for reflection.

After they both stood in position, Sun Ning secretly shuffled over toward Shang Ningyong.

"Second Brother, you've slacked off quite a bit lately! If you don't have any strength, no one under your command will be convinced when you train those little wolves of yours!"

"Shut up, you aren't allowed to call me Second Brother!"

Sun Ning's sudden change in address caught Shang Ningyong off guard, making him feel a mix of annoyance and shame!

The reason the two of them had fought was precisely because of that matter.

Now that Sun Ning had changed how he addressed him, Shang Ningyong's anger flared up even more.

However, after Shang Ningyong subconsciously retorted, he realized that Sun Ning was mocking him.

Shang Ningyong threw another punch directly, but Sun Ning quickly caught the fist with his palm.

It looked effortless.

After catching the punch aimed at him, Sun Ning pursed his lips toward the old man.

Shang Ningyong quickly stepped back and stood properly.

He knew full well why he was being punished.

It was because he hadn't won the fight.

If he had won, he wouldn't be receiving this treatment; instead, he might have been drinking tea poured by the old man himself.

He could only secretly resent his own lack of competence.

"Second Brother, your division has really made a name for itself lately. I heard that in the recent exercises, you completely crushed several of the Blue Force's positions."

Hearing Sun Ning's praise, the corners of Shang Ningyong's mouth curled up even further in delight.

In the Shang family, all topics usually revolved around economics.

In fact, when Shang Ningyong was in school, he also studied economics-related subjects.

Later, his childhood sweetheart, Yao Xuejing, who came from a military compound, joined the army, and Shang Ningyong followed her to become a glorious guardian.

This incident caused Elder Shang to beat him with a ruler for a full half hour.

However, beating aside, Shang Ningyong's actions made Elder Shang very gratified, and he boasted about his son joining the army for quite a while.

On the surface, Shang Ningyong had the lowest status in the family, but in reality, he had always been the old man's pride.

Among the intellectuals of that generation, who didn't have a dream of trading the pen for the sword?

Unfortunately, talent was too scarce at that time, and they were all well-protected by the country, so they were never given the chance to take up arms.

Seeing Shang Ningyong's expression, Sun Ning couldn't stop complaining in his heart.

Who's praising you? I only said those things to open up a topic.

Sun Ning had a massive amount of information regarding military development in his mind.

These things were useless to him, but they were useful to Shang Ningyong.

Shang Ningyong held the rank of Senior Colonel and commanded a division, but moving to the next level was very difficult.

This step was the hardest in the entire pyramid, much like going from a Department-level official to a Vice-Ministerial-level official.

Although the position of Senior Colonel was neither high nor low, achieving significant results required a great deal of effort.

Even with the help of his father-in-law's family, he still had to endure and build up his seniority to move up.

If Shang Ningyong wrote an article about the reform of division-level units.

And his father-in-law happened to help submit it.

And if it happened to be seen by the leaders, who then established his division as a model—providing equipment when needed and talent when requested.

Plus the importance of this division in the Southeast.

And with Sun Ning's strategic advice, the time for Shang Ningyong to earn his general's star would definitely be reduced by several years.

Of course, there aren't that many coincidences in the world; all coincidences are merely the result of having support behind the scenes.

Otherwise, even with a university degree, which was rare in the military of that era, Shang Ningyong wouldn't have achieved so much at the age of forty.

"Second Brother, the prototype for the military's modernization and information-based construction has already emerged. While accelerating these, we must also pay attention to the firepower configuration of each regiment and battalion."

Then, Sun Ning explained the firepower configuration of heavy combined arms brigades from the future to Shang Ningyong.

Of course, given current conditions, it was difficult to achieve that level of large-scale, heavy firepower, and high mobility.

But supporting the construction of one brigade was not a problem.

Moreover, this brigade was also intended to be an experimental one.

In fact, after so many years of development, the national level was already exploring a brand-new path.

This path could not be achieved overnight.

But with Sun Ning's arrival, it was likely that the pace would accelerate significantly.

This conversation lasted for nearly two full hours.

At first, Shang Ningyong thought Sun Ning was just a military enthusiast and planned to chat idly with him.

As the topic deepened, Shang Ningyong had to interrupt Sun Ning and hurriedly went to the room to get a notebook.

He knew all too well the value of what Sun Ning was saying.

The old man saw the two of them's little actions, but he no longer had any intention of scolding them.

Sun Ning was his precious student, and he had a deep understanding of his precious disciple's sensitivity to the current situation.

Whether in business or politics, spending more time with Sun Ning was always beneficial.

And seeing his second son's serious expression, the old man knew that the two of them were discussing important matters.

To prevent others from disturbing them, the old man invisibly blocked many of the bratty kids who were looking for Uncle Sun Ning to play.

This face-the-wall punishment lasted until the meal was served, when the old man finally spoke up.

"Stop standing there like telephone poles and being an eyesore; come over and eat!"

The two of them felt as if they had been granted amnesty and quickly ran over.

In the North, it is customary to kowtow when paying New Year's greetings.

Some people kowtow the moment they enter the house, while others invite the ancestors out to kowtow together when taking their seats.

Elder Shang had so many rules that just saying a few auspicious words would suffice, but the disciples from the North were still accustomed to kowtowing to offer New Year's greetings.

Sun Ning had been punished the moment he arrived, so he hadn't had a chance to offer his New Year's greetings to the old man.

Now that the meal was about to start, Sun Ning went to offer his New Year's greetings to the teacher and the teacher's wife first.