Chapter 34

On the way home.

Ji Wanqing curiously asked, “Can I know Aunt Zhuge’s background and identity? I might have to go there often in the future, and I can’t just ask her directly.”

This was not a secret in the military district, so Jiang Che simply said, “Aunt Zhuge is the mother of our military district’s Commander Fang, and she is also Marshal Fang’s ex-wife.”

… Marshal.

Ji Wanqing couldn’t help but ask, “Is it one of the ten who were awarded the title of Marshal during the founding of the nation?”

Jiang Che nodded.

Wow! She has such a big background!

As for why she’s an ex-wife, Ji Wanqing frowned and guessed.

Men become successful and abandon their wives, right? What else could it be?

Tsk tsk.

No wonder when they first met at the state-run restaurant, Aunt Zhuge said that men are no good, and the whole place fell silent, no one dared to respond!

She was truly ignorant and innocent, she was so bold!

Ji Wanqing said, “I see that Aunt Zhuge is quite familiar with you, it doesn’t seem like it’s through Commander Fang’s connections. How did you two meet?”

Jiang Che replied, “My father was Aunt Zhuge’s bodyguard when he was young. When my older brother was born, my mother didn’t have enough milk. At that time, Aunt Zhuge had just finished breastfeeding her youngest son, so she helped raise him for a while.”

She even had a bodyguard!

This shows that Aunt Zhuge was also a very important revolutionary comrade during the War of Resistance Against Japan.

“I see.”

The conversation accidentally turned to his father, and Ji Wanqing asked, “By the way, we’re about to get married, but I still don’t know much about your family.”

Jiang Che also felt that he should tell her. “My family has three brothers and one sister. I’m the third child. My father is currently the commander of the 111th Regiment of the Huaihai Military District. My older brother is the deputy commander of the 531st Regiment in Heilongjiang Province. My second brother is weak and didn’t join the army. He stays with our grandfather in Beijing and now works at the Education Bureau.”

Although the ranks of Jiang Che’s father and grandfather only differed by one level, the value of a main force regiment in the entire district and a local base regiment were vastly different.

“My younger sister passed the exam to work at the Municipal Government recently, so she must be very busy. As for the rest of the family, my uncle is the chief of staff of the Independent Regiment in the Northwest Military District. My third uncle has been on secret missions for the past few years and hasn’t returned home. My cousins have all developed well in the military and political fields. My two aunts married and followed their husbands to other places, and they only come back occasionally for the New Year.”

Ji Wanqing knew that Jiang Che’s grandfather was a division commander who had retired with honors, but even though he had retired, his connections and resources were definitely different from when he was still in office.

Although the Jiang family currently didn’t have a high-ranking official to support them, they had a large family, giving them the feeling of a local military power. It would be impossible for the higher-ups to easily dispose of them.

Ji Wanqing asked with concern, “How is your grandfather’s health? We should go back to see him during the New Year, right?”

Jiang Che nodded. “When I filed the marriage report, I used the regiment headquarters’ phone to tell my family that we were getting married. They also asked me to bring you back to meet them during the New Year.”

Okay.

They had to meet eventually, but luckily it was only during the New Year.

“Right.” Jiang Che had wanted to ask this for a long time, but Ji Wanqing had taken the lead in the conversation.

“What’s the deal with the witness and the commander that you mentioned to Aunt Zhuge?”

“Oh.” Ji Wanqing briefly explained the situation to Jiang Che.

In the end, his expression was indescribable. After a long silence, he slowly said, “… If Aunt Zhuge goes to invite him, maybe she can really get a small battalion commander like me to be the witness.”

Ji Wanqing smiled and patted his shoulder. “Humph, your wife is very capable, you’ll find out later.”

Uh-huh.

Wife.

Jiang Che was flustered and blushed as he looked at his fiancée’s excited back.

She, she’s so shameless, how could she say it so openly.

On the other side, at Aunt Zhuge’s house.

Commander Sun’s wife, Li Hongmei, brought out a bowl of braised cabbage and pork. She looked at the two aluminum lunch boxes on the table in surprise. “Mom, who sent these?”

Before anyone could answer, the two little ones, who were restless from the smell of the food, couldn’t help but chime in. “It’s the pretty sister! She’s so beautiful! Even prettier than Teacher Fangfang!”

Aunt Zhuge was pouring herself a drink. “It’s Jiang Che’s fiancée. That little girl is very clever, she can trick me every time!”

Although she was complaining, Li Hongmei could tell that her mother really liked the girl.

“Mom, you’re always worrying about Xiao Jiang’s marriage. Now that his fiancée is here, they must be getting married soon, right?”

“Soon, they’re already considering whether she should follow him to the army.” Aunt Zhuge put down her glass of ginseng health wine and didn’t even wait for her son to come to the table before taking a bite of the stir-fried pork slices.

The pork slices were tender, full of pepper flavor, and the aftertaste was slightly spicy!

Delicious!

Even better than the chef’s cooking at the state-run restaurant in the county!

“Mom! Why are you drinking again? Didn’t I tell you to drink less?” Commander Fang wanted to take the wine glass away, but Aunt Zhuge glared at him. “Today, we finally have some dishes to go with alcohol. Don’t try to ruin my mood, or I’ll slap you.”

“…”

Commander Fang cowered.

His mother was a sharpshooter who fought against the Japanese back in the day. She had killed hundreds of Japanese soldiers. If she really got angry, her aura was so intimidating that even his father would be scared, let alone him, her youngest son.

“You can’t drink too much.”

Commander Fang mumbled a few words and sat down. He was instantly drawn to the two aluminum lunch boxes on the table.

The colors were vibrant, the aroma was enticing, and the knife skills were excellent!

A master chef!

He suddenly realized that everyone at the table was silently eating. He quickly picked up his chopsticks.

He munched away.

Aunt Zhuge saw that her son, daughter-in-law, grandson, and granddaughter were eating and picking up dishes much faster than her. She didn’t even have time to drink her wine, so she quickly picked up some food and put it in her mouth!

Five minutes later, Commander Fang had mixed all the gravy from the aluminum lunch boxes into his rice.

“Mom, who is the chef? Their cooking is so good?”

Aunt Zhuge snorted. “It’s Jiang Che’s fiancée! What chef, chef? That girl is too lazy to go to restaurants every day. She has such good cooking skills, she’s going to waste them! If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t be able to eat these!”

“Oh, so it’s Xiao Jiang’s fiancée! Xiao Jiang looks like he’s twenty-five, it’s time for him to get married.”

Aunt Zhuge thought for a moment. “Isn’t the courtyard across from us empty? You go and arrange it for them.”

Commander Fang was reluctant. “Mom, the two-story buildings here are reserved for regiment-level or above cadres. How can I approve it?”

Aunt Zhuge rolled her eyes. “Heh, Xiao Jiang Che just came back after making a contribution, and he’s going to be sent to military school for further studies soon. I don’t believe that the army has no intention of promoting him! Approve it in advance, so they don’t have to move back and forth and cause trouble.”

Commander Fang wanted to say something, but Aunt Zhuge retorted, “That girl has a bit of a conscience. She knows she tricked me, so she made some delicious food to appease me. You guys go to work later, and I won’t have to ride my bicycle all the way to the county to eat anymore.”

This time, Commander Fang had no way to refute her.

After all, his mother always worried and complained about having to ride her bicycle back after drinking. She wouldn’t listen.

If they moved to the house across the street, it would be much safer.