He Changjiang always thought of Fang Chengguang as his good buddy, even though Fang Chengguang treated others well and might have been a bit jealous.

He Liang was delighted.

Because Director Feng from the logistics political department hadn’t returned, Cheng Rushan and his children, Dabao and Xiaobao, couldn’t formally register their household or relationships.

They couldn’t enroll directly in school and had to notify the school to accept their student files.

In the end, it was Fang Chengguang who took Dabao and Xiaobao to the school.

Although Director He wasn’t there, his deputy was, and it wasn’t a big deal for Deputy Director Peng to handle it.

“Cheng Dabao and Cheng Xiaobao?” Deputy Director Peng looked at them. “Don’t you have proper names yet?”

Dabao said, “Yes, I do. I’m Cheng Li.”

Xiaobao said, “I’m Cheng Xin.”

Deputy Director Peng laughed, “Ren Yi Li Zhi Xin (the Five Constant Virtues), nice.”

Dabao added, “My grandpa says, ‘Li (ritual propriety) regulates the state, orders society, benefits the people, and ensures future generations.'”

Fang Chengguang smiled and asked, “Is your grandpa a private tutor? Not many people read the Four Books and Five Classics these days.”

Xiaobao said, “Yes, my grandpa teaches us in a private class! He’s really impressive!”

Deputy Director Peng and Fang Chengguang laughed.

Fang Chengguang said, “That’s really impressive. And you?”

Xiaobao said, “Me? I’m Xin (faith)… integrity, honesty, never breaking a promise! Haha.”

Dabao added, “Xin is the treasure of the nation, and the protection of the people. That’s it.”

Deputy Director Peng was curious, “Do you know what it means?” These two boys were quite interesting.

Xiaobao said to Dabao, “I know this, let me explain.” He thought for a moment and said to the two men, “My grandpa says, ‘Li means rules, laws, and regulations. Whether we do big things or small things, we must follow the rules and not be impulsive. Xin means honesty and integrity, which is the foundation of being a person and doing things. Without honesty, no one will want to be your friend.'”

When Cheng Yunzhi named them, he thought of many options, such as Cheng Wen and Cheng Wu, Cheng Jingyan and Cheng Shenxing, Cheng Juan and Cheng Siwei.

In the end, he chose Li and Xin.

These names encapsulated his life insights and hopes for his grandsons’ futures.

Dabao and Xiaobao didn’t think too deeply about it.

To them, everyone had a formal name and a nickname.

As long as the names were easy to call and didn’t sound silly like “Dog Egg” or “Dog Leftover,” they were fine.

Deputy Director Peng had a sharp political sense and quickly guessed what was going on, but he didn’t say anything.

He just copied the names and let them continue in the first grade.

After handling things, Dabao and Xiaobao followed Fang Chengguang as they left.

On the way, Xiaobao took out a few pieces of candy from his pocket and handed them to Fang Chengguang.

“Uncle Fang, we’re giving you candy,” he said, looking around cautiously.

Fang Chengguang smiled, “Are you worried someone might take it?”

Xiaobao whispered, “Shh, don’t let my mom see. It’ll be trouble if she does.”

Fang Chengguang, making a show of politeness, took a piece of the famous White Rabbit milk candy, unwrapped it, and put it in his mouth. “Thank you.”

When they returned, there was no one in the dormitory, not even He Liang.

Fang Chengguang was puzzled.

Dabao picked up a note from the table and said, “Uncle Fang, my parents went to dig up some land.”

Fang Chengguang asked, “Dig up land? What for?”

Xiaobao pointed to the northwest. “My mom said there’s a piece of land there. Since it’s empty, they might as well dig it up to plant vegetables.”

Fang Chengguang was speechless.

He had no plans for the day, so he decided to take the two kids over there.

Just as they were about to leave, a young soldier ran up and called out, “Chengguang, you’re needed back home. There’s something important.”

Fang Chengguang thought that anything involving “something important” was never good news for him.

It was probably just more matchmaking nonsense.

Why should he care if he gets married or not?

They always seemed to want to push a woman onto him.

Why would he be interested?

He said, “If you didn’t find me, He Liang must have told you I left early this morning to get breakfast next door and then went out. I’m not around.” With that, he quickly walked away with Dabao and Xiaobao.

The young soldier was left stunned, not understanding how Fang Chengguang could lie so convincingly.

On the way, Dabao and Xiaobao asked Fang Chengguang.

Dabao: “Uncle Fang, why don’t you go home? If something happens and they can’t find you, they’ll be so worried.”

Xiaobao: “Yeah, if my mom needed something and we were out playing, my dad would be mad at us.”

Fang Chengguang replied calmly, “I haven’t had a mom for a long time.”

“What?” The brothers glanced at each other.

No mom?

How sad!

Oh no!

They thought about it.

If their mom had really left with another man, they would have been heartbroken.

It seemed like Uncle Fang’s mom had left him for another man.

Xiaobao shook his hand. “Uncle Fang, don’t be sad. I’ll share my mom with you… Oh, no, I mean a quarter of my mom.” He didn’t quite understand how to say “a quarter,” and got confused himself.

Fang Chengguang: “!!!”

Dabao explained for him, “Don’t think we’re stingy, okay? We have an older cousin who also calls our mom ‘mom,’ so we share her with him.”

Fang Chengguang: “….!!!”

“Your cousin? Calls your mom ‘mom’?” He felt a bit confused.

Dabao: “Yeah, he’s a bit slow, like a kid, even younger than us.”

Xiaobao: “His name is Wensheng. My dad’s name is Dongsheng. Wensheng is really good, handsome, and can sing opera.”

As he spoke, he started to cry. “Dabao, I miss Wensheng so much. I wonder if he’s crying too?”

After listening to the brothers for a while, Fang Chengguang understood.

Cheng Rushan had an older cousin who was a bit mentally slow and called Jiang Lin “mom.”

Their whole family accepted this and treated him like a child.

He felt confused but touched as the brothers kept insisting on sharing their mom with him.

Fang Chengguang thought to himself, “I’m not stupid!”

Dabao continued, “My parents want to bring Wen Sheng and Grandpa and Grandma over, but there’s no room in the dorm.”

Xiaobao said, “I’m also worried about Wen Sheng coming here and people making fun of him or bullying him. It’s better to stay in the countryside. I really miss Wen Sheng and Grandpa and Grandma.”

As they spoke, they arrived at the piece of empty land in the northwest.

It was about an acre and currently unused.

Jiang Lin and He Liang discussed and thought it would be a waste to leave it empty.

They decided to dig up the land, plant some seeds, and grow vegetables.

Even if the area was to be developed later, growing a bit of food wouldn’t be a big loss.

He Liang agreed and actively went to borrow a hoe and a shovel to help with the digging.

Cheng Rushan did the digging while He Liang used the shovel to turn the soil.

They asked Jiang Lin to just clear the grass with a stick to avoid tiring her out.

While they were busy, some of the women and men from the nearby courtyard came over to ask, “What are you doing here?”

Someone laughed and said, “What can you do in this messy place? Grow vegetables? Isn’t there enough in the big yard?”

Others saw the activity and thought, “Such a large area, you won’t finish planting it all. We’ll plant some too.”

“Hey, Xiao He, dig a bit more and save us two plots. We want to grow some tomatoes and greens. Our family loves them.”

“Yeah, and save us a couple of plots too. We want to plant eggplants and peppers.”

“What about…”

He Liang called out, “It’s not us; it’s Chengguang who wants to plant vegetables here. Ask him.”

When people heard that Fang Chengguang was the one planting vegetables, they were shocked.

They couldn’t believe it.

He was known for not even lifting a finger, so the idea of him planting vegetables seemed unbelievable.

In their eyes, He Liang was just Fang Chengguang’s assistant, so if He Liang said it, it must be true.

If Fang Chengguang really was the one growing vegetables, no one would dare to take advantage of him.

Despite his decent appearance, when he decided to act tough, he was not someone to mess with!

They scrutinized Cheng Rushan and Jiang Lin, whispering among themselves, trying to figure out their background and how they got in.

If they came in through the proper channels, there was nothing to worry about, and everyone could feel superior to them.

But if they used connections, they’d need to see how strong those connections were.

If they just spent money and gave gifts to get in, everyone would look down on them and take any chance to step on them.

But if they had strong backing, they’d need to find a way to befriend them.

Cheng Rushan kept working the soil, not keen on answering their questions, so they turned to Jiang Lin.

Half of the questions directed at her were intercepted by He Liang.

Then Fang Chengguang arrived with Dabao and Xiaobao.

As soon as he appeared, the group quickly dispersed, chatting and making their exits.

Fang Chengguang asked Cheng Rushan, “Have you figured out a way to get a house?”

His underlying question was whether Cheng Rushan had found any connections.

Cheng Rushan replied, “I inquired a bit, and there are still two houses available here, but they’ve been reserved. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll rent a place outside.”

Of course, renting outside was just a backup plan; he already had his own plan.

Fang Chengguang smiled, “You could have asked me for help.”

Cheng Rushan glanced at him skeptically, “You?”

Fang Chengguang asked, “What, you look down on me?”

Cheng Rushan said, “Not at all. It’s just that we don’t want to use Commander Fang’s connections.”

Using Fang Chengguang’s connections to reach Commander Fang might not work and could leave a bad impression and offend people.