Many children bring happiness, a shameless start

In the early morning, sunlight streamed directly into the room through the open windows.

Not sure if it was his biological clock or the light, Lip opened his eyes in a daze.

He noticed that the sky had already turned a clear blue.

Turning around, Ethel was breathing evenly, the corners of her mouth slightly raised, looking very cute.

Lip didn't want to wake her up, so he got up and dressed carefully, then left without washing.

He was going for a run.

Morning jogging had become a habit for Lip since the warmer weather.

After jogging for about half an hour and working up a slight sweat, Lip returned to the hotel.

However, when he entered the room and turned on his phone, he was surprised by how many missed calls there were!

After grabbing a glass of warm water, Lip walked out to the open-air balcony facing Lake Michigan to answer the phone.

The most missed calls were from Kevin.

"Hello, Kevin. What's going on? So many phone calls?"

"Lip, we made over $5,000 in one day yesterday!" Kevin's voice was full of excitement.

"What's the situation? So much?"

"Veronica and I worked overtime the night before to make special Marlboros. By yesterday, before they even went on sale, we had made over 3,000!" Kevin explained.

"Oh my God! You two didn't sleep all night?"

"Heh, not really. I got two or three hours of sleep."

"So you made all these calls just to tell me this good news?"

"Of course not! How are you and Ethel? Is the raw rice cooked?"

"Um…"

"Hey hey, how about that opportunity I gave you? Are you sure? Speak up!"

"Uh… got it!"

"Yeah, I told you my idea was great!"

"Kevin, thank you!"

"Hey, don't be so polite! If you really think Veronica and I did a good job, you can call us father-in-law and mother-in-law, haha!"

"Roll on!"

Lip laughed and cursed as he hung up the phone.

He couldn't help but think how only in this free land could such a weird situation happen so early in the morning.

"Call you father-in-law? You must be dreaming!" Lip muttered to himself.

Lip continued checking his missed calls. The second one was from Fiona.

"Hey, Fiona, what's up?"

"Lip, when Jimmy and I passed by your new house this morning, we saw people from the housekeeping company cleaning it. Are you moving?"

"Yes, it should be just a day or two!"

"Then tell me when exactly. Jimmy and I are free and can help."

"OK… I think it's better to choose the day than to hit it. I'll come back to move later."

"That works. Just call me when you're back!"

"OK."

Lip hung up and saw another call from an unknown number.

After thinking for a moment, he dialed the number.

"Hello, who is this?"

"Lip, it's Mickey!"

"Mickey, why did you change your phone number?"

"I dropped my phone, and I'm using my brother's phone."

"Oh, what's going on?"

"Lip, please talk to Ian! He doesn't want to enter the Junior Officer Training Department at West Point Military Academy. He wants to go to the combat camp in Afghanistan!"

"What?! Isn't that just asking for death? Riding a horse in Afghanistan! What is that brat thinking?"

Lip cursed loudly. After calming down, he added, "Mitch, thanks, I'll be back as soon as I can to handle it."

"Lip, Ian listens to you the most. I'll be relieved if you're willing to step in. Thanks!"

"Well, don't worry too much!"

After hanging up, Lip stared blankly at the calm lake.

He thought his efforts could help his brothers and sisters avoid the pitfalls of the original drama, but it seemed he had been overly optimistic.

At about ten o'clock in the morning, Lip returned home with the four girls.

As soon as he entered, Lip saw Mickey and Fiona sitting at the dining table, both with serious expressions.

"You two don't have to look so glum, right?" Lip asked, looking at them with concern.

"Lip, it might be worse than we thought!" Fiona said, covering her head.

"What's going on?"

"When Ian and I went to work at Linda's convenience store this morning, Ian told me he had already submitted his application to sign up," Mickey explained, looking desperate.

"What does that mean? I don't really understand," Lip asked.

Mickey continued, "I didn't understand at first either, so I asked Ian. He said if you sign up, you have about a 90% chance of being selected. If you don't, it will be considered desertion, and you'll be court-martialed."

"Court-martial? That's so serious?! Ian isn't even a minor anymore!"

"Lip, the military doesn't care about that. As soon as Ian reaches adulthood, they'll send him to Afghanistan."

"Damn it! Isn't this forcing people to be cannon fodder? Mickey, tell me everything from start to finish."

"Okay, Lip."

It turned out that Ian had performed well in the Reserve Officer Training Camp last year. He was promoted from squad leader to platoon leader and had the chance to be recommended to study at West Point Military Academy in New York during the summer vacation.

Originally, Ian and his family were happy about this, but the day before Mickey was released from prison, Ian received a package from the training camp in Chicago.

Inside were two VCDs, a large book, and a lot of promotional materials.

After reading them, Ian became extremely excited.

On the day Mickey was released, he told Mickey that he wanted to go to West Point's Combat Camp.

Lip pieced together the rest of the story from Mickey's detailed account.

On the night Mickey was released from prison, Ian went with Mickey to the old sports ground where they used to hang out and fight.

"It's so hot tonight!" Mickey complained, having been out of prison for less than 10 hours.

"I've been studying geometry, algebra, trigonometry, and chemistry…" Ian said, sharing his latest news.

"Studying during summer vacation?" Mickey asked, curious.

"I want to go to West Point," Ian confessed.

"Didn't you have a chance to go further?"

"Mitch, that's just an opportunity to try things out. I want to be a real soldier!"

"Uh-huh, if you want to join the army, the recruitment battle is just two blocks away."

"Mickey, I'm going to be an officer!"

"Are officers the first ones to take the shots?" Mickey complained.

Ian pursed his lips, speechless.

Mickey cracked open a beer, poked it with a knife, and started drinking. Halfway through, he passed it to Ian, and they began to argue.

"Mickey, enough! There's a minor here! No need to go into so much detail!" Lip interrupted.

"Karl, I have a mission for you."

"Your orders, sir! I promise to complete it!" Karl said, giving a standard salute.

"Go to the convenience store, bring Ian back, and tell him if he doesn't come with you within half an hour, I'll break his legs! He'll spend his life as a soldier and tremble whenever he thinks about it!"

Lip's tone was direct and domineering.

Fiona, Mickey, and the four girls exchanged confused glances.

"You four go play in your room for a while. I need to take care of something," Lip ordered.

The girls went to their room without a word.

"Mickey, Fiona, don't worry. When Ian comes back, I'll talk to him and try to talk some sense into him. I'm going to his room now to check out the materials you mentioned and see what's so magical about them," Lip said, walking toward the second floor.