Lin Qingqing had been incredibly busy these past few days.

She was working on the military’s Deserted Land Utilization Plan, which required thorough investigation.

The first task was to investigate the ownership of these deserted lands, which meant she couldn’t stay in the military base.

She started by asking around at the local production team about the lands, then visited the county government to gather more information.

Once she confirmed the ownership, she began working on drafting the plan.

Meanwhile, Lin Qingqing’s family in Gaoshan’ao was taken aback by some surprising news.

“What did you say? Our Qingqing is going to become a female soldier?” Grandma Lin’s eyes widened in shock as she looked at the people coming to investigate. “What… how could our Qingqing become a soldier? Isn’t she working in the military’s cafeteria?” This all seemed so sudden.

It had only been a month!

The investigator smiled and explained, “We aren’t sure about this. Our job is just to investigate your family’s political background. Although we looked into it when Lin Qingqing married Commander Lu, we still need to follow the procedures and investigate again.”

“Wait, wait! You’re going to our house? My old man’s home, and our political background is definitely fine,” Grandma Lin said, still in the field.

When the investigation team entered the village, it didn’t take long for the news to spread.

Soon, everyone in the production team would know about it.

Grandma Lin took the investigators back to their home, leaving a group of villagers looking at each other in confusion.

“Really? Lin Qingqing’s going to be a soldier?”

“Even though Dr. Lin is good, Lin Qingqing used to be so lazy. How could someone so lazy become a soldier?”

“Why does it matter if Qingqing is lazy or not? She doesn’t eat your food!” Lin Qingqing’s mother quickly retorted. “And besides, we only have one daughter, and we spoil her a little. What’s wrong with that?”

The idea of their daughter becoming a soldier was something they couldn’t let anyone ruin.

“Where’s the laziness in Qingqing?” Lin Qingqing’s aunt added. “She works hard at home; you just don’t see it.”

“Exactly! Qingqing helps my mother cook, chop wood, and fetch water. Does she have to do it in front of you for it to count as work?”

“Whether she’s lazy or not, she’s never done anything bad.”

“Exactly. And when any of us feel unwell, we’ve often seen her take medicine to Dr. Lin.”

Although Lin Qingqing’s reputation in the production team wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t terrible either.

Most people thought of her as a pampered girl, which was a bit unusual for that era, especially since the Lin family had no sons.

But everyone understood because Lin Qingqing was the only girl in a family that had three generations of men.

Despite being spoiled, she wasn’t malicious or lazy—just well-loved.

Lin Qingqing’s family was quite wealthy, though their money couldn’t always be openly flaunted.

Still, they didn’t mind small amounts of money.

Lin Qingqing’s grandfather, Dr. Lin, didn’t charge for herbs he picked from the mountains, earning the gratitude of the villagers.

This was something Grandpa Lin had done intentionally, knowing that small acts like this earned him goodwill in the community.

The villagers respected him, and in turn, Dr. Lin always got the highest work points in the team, even without going to the fields.

Who else in the village could do that?

At home, Grandpa Lin was busy making a cooling soup.

The hot August weather had the farmers working hard, and anyone who wasn’t careful could easily suffer from heatstroke.

The soup he made in the morning would be cooled in well water in the afternoon, creating a refreshing and cooling effect.

“Old man… old man…” Grandma Lin called out urgently.

Hearing her voice, Grandpa Lin hurriedly left the kitchen, worried something had happened. “Wife, what’s wrong?” he asked, a soft smile on his face as he thought back to her fiery spirit, which had never changed over the years.

His fate with his wife could be traced back to his father-in-law.

At that time, he often rode in his father-in-law’s rickshaw.

Because he rode so frequently, they developed an understanding, and his father-in-law often passed by his house.

One evening, a group of people barged into his home, looking for someone.

When they couldn’t find the person, they intended to kill him.

His father-in-law, who had been pulling rickshaws for many years and was quite strong, had some skills.

That night, when he noticed some movement at his son-in-law’s house, he came in to investigate and ended up saving him.

In fact, the people they were looking for were a soldier carrying vital intelligence, who was injured.

His father-in-law had indeed saved him, but he also hid him well.

His father-in-law saved him but got injured in the process.

As a result, he met his wife.

He developed feelings for this young and beautiful, yet strong-willed woman over time.

She was different from the other women he had known.

When Grandpa Lin saw his wife entering with two unfamiliar male comrades, and noticed the energetic expression on her face, he guessed that everything was fine.

But who were these two men?

“Old man, here’s the thing,” Grandma Lin said. “Our Qingqing is about to become a female soldier, and these comrades are here to investigate her political background.”

When Qingqing married Lu Cheng, although there was a political review, no investigators had visited their home.

She wasn’t sure how the political background checks were done.

Grandpa Lin was surprised.

His granddaughter, who couldn’t even carry a bucket of water, was going to become a soldier?

But since the investigators brought documents for the investigation, he naturally trusted them. “Our family is politically clean. In fact, we even have a personal inscription from a high leader.”

Grandpa Lin, suppressing his excitement, led the investigators into the main room.

He then went to his room, where he took out some treasured items he had kept for decades. “Look, this is the inscription from a high leader for our Lin family. This is a letter of gratitude from another leader to our Lin family.”

During the national war, Grandpa Lin and his father had secretly transported many medicinal herbs for the country.

They even helped rescue a certain leader, who later wrote a letter of thanks to the Lin family.

This made the Lin family’s political background quite clean, and their actions could even be seen as heroic.

Looking back three generations, Grandpa Lin’s father had sent medicinal herbs for the country.

The second generation, Grandpa Lin, also sent medicinal herbs for the country.

The third generation, his father, was just an honest farmer, with the cleanest background imaginable.

As for Grandma Lin’s family, their background was even more spotless.

Grandma Lin herself didn’t have much to say, but her father had been a rickshaw puller.

While he hadn’t contributed to the country, that day he saved Grandpa Lin, indirectly helping that certain soldier.

The investigators hadn’t expected Grandpa Lin to bring out such precious treasures, especially ones that had been preserved in such good condition.

The inscriptions and seals from a senior leader were from the time before the founding of the new country.

In fact, even Lin Qingqing didn’t know her family had these treasures.

With their minds stunned by what they saw, the investigators walked out of the Lin family home, still in shock.

Meanwhile, Grandma Lin and Grandpa Lin were discussing the situation. “Old man, how did Qingqing become a soldier? How did this happen? I don’t believe she was selected for this. Everyone knows we’ve spoiled Qingqing. She’s a bit lazy, and with her physique, she definitely wouldn’t be eligible.”

Grandpa Lin said, “I don’t know either. I’ll give our son-in-law a call at the town office. Doesn’t he have his office phone number?”

Grandma Lin replied, “Yes, yes, go call him.”

Grandpa Lin carefully put away the treasures, and as he did, he said, “If Qingqing really became a female soldier, these things should be passed on to her.”

“Ah?” Grandma Lin was stunned.

The old man treated these items like his lifeblood.

To him, the ginseng was just an external thing, while these rare treasures held far more value.

Grandma Lin understood why Grandpa Lin didn’t care much about the old ginseng.

As a doctor, he saw it merely as medicine—valuable, yes, but its true worth was in its ability to help patients.

Therefore, even without Lin Qingqing’s involvement, Grandpa Lin would have been willing to sell the ginseng to Lu Cheng.

Grandpa Lin said, “Only when Qingqing becomes a soldier will she understand the true meaning of this. Others, who live ordinary lives as farmers, may not see its worth—perhaps it won’t even be worth a meal of meat in their eyes.”

Grandma Lin chuckled at his words.

After handling the stove fire, Grandpa Lin and Grandma Lin decided to head into town.

……

Ding-ling-ling…

“Hello, this is Lu Cheng,” Lu Cheng’s voice came through the phone.

He didn’t get calls often—except for when there was something urgent at the gate or when the higher-ups needed to reach him.

Lower-ranking officers usually came to his office directly.

“Lu Cheng… is that you?”

Lu Cheng recognized the voice immediately.

His sharp ability to distinguish voices told him that the person on the other end was Grandma Lin.

He quickly asked, “Grandma, is that you?”

“Indeed, it’s Lu Cheng,” a male voice responded. “Lu Cheng, I’m Qingqing’s grandfather, and her grandmother is here too.” The phone was passed to Grandma Lin.

Grandma Lin quickly took the phone. “Lu Cheng, my grandson-in-law! It’s Grandma. How’s Qingqing doing? The things you sent last time, we got them. Did you receive the things we sent you?”

“Hello, Grandma. Yes, we received the items. We’ve eaten the dried goods a few times already. Qingqing really likes them, and she cooks them very well,” Lu Cheng replied.

Grandma Lin laughed, clearly pleased. “That girl just loves those things. But she never used to cook at home. I didn’t expect her to start cooking in the military. Did everything go well in the kitchen?”

“No problems. Her cooking skills are pretty good. At home, she always left the cooking to you, so she never had to show off her skills. But after seeing how often you cooked, she started to learn by watching you and experimenting with the ingredients. She turned out to be quite good at it—guess it’s just talent, takes after you,” Lu Cheng explained.

Grandma Lin was known for her generous use of ingredients when cooking.

In her younger years, the Lin family was well-off, so she never hesitated to spend on food.

While their financial situation had changed now, and she couldn’t afford to be as lavish with ingredients, her experience still guided her in preparing delicious meals.

She knew exactly how to make dishes taste great, even with more modest means.

“She has this talent too?” Grandma Lin couldn’t help but feel proud. “But when I cook, she likes to stand by the stove and watch. I never expected she’d actually learn my cooking skills.”

She always thought that her granddaughter liked to stand by her side in the kitchen just because she wanted to eat, and she often gave her food to taste.

But now it seemed that while her granddaughter did want the food, she had also learned her culinary skills.

It’s a good thing she never kicked her granddaughter out of the kitchen.

Originally, she had wanted to secretly prepare special meals for her, but now that her granddaughter was making something of herself, who could still say they spoiled her into being lazy?

Lu Cheng smiled over there.

He knew telling the truth about the situation was the right decision, as it would allow him to handle things more smoothly in front of the Lin family. “So, I’m the lucky one, huh?”

“You child…” Grandma Lin laughed. “Lu Cheng, your grandfather has something to ask you. I’ll pass the phone to him.”

Grandpa Lin immediately took the phone and said, “Lu Cheng, this is Grandpa. We’re calling mainly to ask about Qingqing becoming a female soldier. Today, some investigators came over to check her background—what’s going on?”

Lu Cheng had expected that with Grandpa Lin and Grandma Lin’s personalities, they would definitely call him if the military sent people to investigate. “It’s like this, don’t worry…” He explained the situation about Lin Qingqing.