Today, a guest came to Li Yifan’s house—the head of the county cultural troupe, Liu Minli.

Of course, Liu Minli was also a familiar face from the Qinzhou Military District, and an old acquaintance of Li Yifan.

Although Li Yifan was usually fiery and irritable in front of subordinates, she was surprisingly polite in front of the delicate and soft Liu Minli.

This was mainly because Liu Minli’s brother, Liu Zaiye, was the head of the Qinzhou City Revolutionary Committee.

If Fang Jinhui in Qingshui County made everyone nervous, he would be nothing compared to Liu Zaiye.

Who could offend revolutionaries in those days?

“Have you ever thought about taking Chengze in and raising him?” Liu Minli asked.

From her tone, it seemed like she was thinking about adopting Li Chengze.

Li Yifan replied, “Although Li’s family is miserable, Chen’s family is even worse, and so is Old Nie. Even the founding marshal’s children are scattered everywhere. How can I take care of so many? Besides, isn’t it your brother’s job to deal with them, since they are the ones trying to rebel?”

Liu Minli then suggested, “Since it’s the weekend and I’m not going back to Qinzhou, how about we go out and have a walk?”

After all, they were old friends from the provincial capital, and Li Yifan had a relatively indifferent relationship with her husband, Gu Bei.

It didn’t matter if they didn’t see each other for a month.

Moreover, Liu Minli had planned not to return to the city, so going out for a stroll was no problem.

However, Li Yifan didn’t want to deal with Liu Minli, so she simply said, “Aunt He, go get Zhi Zhi for me. I promised to play with her today.”

Wasn’t this essentially signaling the guest to leave?

Liu Minli, feeling unwelcome, reluctantly said her goodbyes.

Looking up at the yard next door, she saw Song Tuan, wearing a white shirt, brushing his teeth.

With his buzz cut and long legs, he was brushing away.

The previous winter, when Liu Minli had visited Dongfeng City for a performance, the main auditorium had caught fire unexpectedly, and everyone had panicked.

Only Song Tuan had rushed to the stage and rescued each of the girls from the cultural troupe, one by one, from the flames.

However, when they later went to thank him, Song Tuan had scolded them all: “Even if you’re artistic soldiers, you’re still soldiers. No matter how well you dance, what’s the use? Haven’t you ever practiced emergency evacuation? If not, go learn from Li Yifan and Hou Qingyue. They’re the real female soldiers, able to drink horse urine on the Tibetan Plateau and run a whole day and night in the deserts of the northern frontier. Look at you girls, if you were my soldiers, I’d skin you alive!”

The little girls had been terrified and fled in a panic.

This was exactly why Liu Minli had applied to transfer to the county cultural troupe.

Who was a soldier?

In her mind, only people like her older brother Liu Zaiye and Song Qingshan were real soldiers.

Early in the morning, she felt a little excited, but fearing Song Tuan would drag them off for military training again, she didn’t dare greet him.

Instead, she took a glance from a distance and quietly walked away.

Aunt He excitedly ran next door to fetch the child, only to see Zhi Zhi dressed in a gorgeous little blouse, looking adorable.

The other children were all neatly dressed, especially Song Donghai, whose pants were pulled up high to his stomach, making his little bottom taut.

“Are you going out?” Aunt He asked.

Su Xiangwan, holding Zhi Zhi, replied, “Our family is going to take a walk around the reservoir.”

Li Yifan somehow appeared out of nowhere and said, “Zhi Zhi definitely doesn’t want to go. Let her stay home. I’m resting today.”

“Li County Head, we’re not friends. Besides, Zhi Zhi surely wants to visit her dad’s reservoir. How about tomorrow? I’ll bring the child over tomorrow, okay?” Su Xiangwan replied calmly and logically.

But to Li Yifan, who had a stubborn or eccentric personality, this sounded like: “Ah, I, Li Yifan, really care about your Zhi Zhi, I really want to play with her.”

As a temperamental middle-aged woman, Li Yifan didn’t want anyone thinking she liked Zhi Zhi: “I have work tomorrow, and you all should find a nanny. He Ma won’t help you with the kids anymore.”

Li Yifan coldly rejected Su Xiangwan, not letting her think that she was fond of Zhi Zhi or wanted to be friends.

“Well, alright, Li County Head, we’re leaving.” Su Xiangwan got into the jeep, waving Zhi Zhi’s hand from the passenger seat. “Goodbye.”

However, Zhi Zhi didn’t want to leave.

She stretched out her hand, wanting Li Yifan to hold her.

In truth, Li Yifan was quite good-looking—she had deep features, thick hair, and after many years in the military, her figure was impeccable.

However, she didn’t know how to dress herself and liked wearing black clothes, so to the children, she seemed like a witch.

But Zhi Zhi liked her.

Compared to Li Chengze, who always scared her when no one was around, Li Yifan’s soft, fluffy hair and big, cat-like eyes were much more appealing.

When there were people around, Li Yifan seemed cold, but when no one was looking, she was very kind to her.

So, Zhi Zhi insisted on not leaving.

She stretched out her hands, looking up at Li Yifan with pleading eyes, wanting her to hold her.

Li Yifan finally grabbed the child from the car window, saying, “Alright, I’ll keep an eye on this little girl of yours. You all go to the reservoir.”

“Li Jie, isn’t this a bit much?” Song Qingshan wasn’t happy. “Our whole family is going out, why are you taking my daughter away?”

Li Yifan, cold and arrogant, retorted, “What? Are you really afraid I’ll eat your daughter?”

Song Qingshan put his hands on his hips. “That’s not what I mean, but give me the child.”

Li Yifan’s personality was domineering, prideful, and extremely concerned with her face.

Once she had made a decision, she didn’t want to back down, so she started to argue with Song Qingshan over the child: “Clearly, the child prefers being with me. How could you make her cry? Look at her, her tears are so dirty.”

Saying this, she snatched Zhi Zhi away and waved her hand at Su Xiangwan, “Goodbye, Mom. Have fun.”

It was really cheesy, but she actually said it.

No wonder Song Qingshan would describe Li Yifan’s personality as strange.

Su Xiangwan, not knowing what kind of danger the reservoir held, was actually relieved not to take Zhi Zhi, so she casually said, “Alright, Song Tuan, get in the car. Li Jie will take care of Zhi Zhi. She’ll look after the child properly, really.”

Li Chengze, seeing Li Yifan in her black clothes, looking like a black mountain goat, was the only one brave enough to speak: “Aunty Su, Li Yifan is definitely going to eat Zhi Zhi today.”

“You’re already an important person, yet you’re still thinking these childish things.” Su Xiangwan replied coldly. “Try to act like someone important, Lord Tusi.”

The little guy was always looking for ways to enjoy himself.

The night before, Su Xiangwan had overheard him teaching the other two to call him Lord Tusi.

The two little ones had probably been showered with his sweet talk lately and had even started calling him Lord Tusi on the kang (bed).

As the young master of the Tusi family, he had to pay attention to his appearance.

He secretly used Song Qingshan’s shoe polish to dye his autumn shoes black and used water to slick back his hair, now looking like a young gentleman.

“I didn’t really make her eat chicken poop. I was just pretending, threatening her, saying she should eat it,” Li Chengze hurriedly defended himself.

Of course, when Su Xiangwan wasn’t around, Zhi Zhi sometimes got dirty, but he still made sure she had enough food and fun when needed.

She loved putting chicken poop on his head, and he put up with it.

What else could he not bear?

“By the way, do you know why we’re going to the reservoir today?” Su Xiangwan suddenly asked.

Li Chengze, with his legs crossed in the air, replied casually: “Aren’t we going to play?”

“I also want to meet the owner of the mountain. Isn’t he your uncle? Since you’ve been disobedient and haven’t told me what you’ve been doing outside, I thought, why not send you to your uncle?” Su Xiangwan spoke casually, as if it was no big deal.

Li Chengze immediately stopped lounging: “My fifth uncle is really strict.”

“Well, that’s perfect. He can handle you,” Su Xiangwan said.

Li Chengze pursed his lips and hesitated for a moment before saying, “I’ll make sure to take better care of the child next time. Why are you acting like this, Mom?”

“It’s too late now.” Su Xiangwan replied. “You either tell me where you’ve been making money recently, or you stay at the reservoir. These are the only two options with me.”

“Tell me, why did you suddenly decide to go to the reservoir today?” Song Qingshan asked.

Su Xiangwan shook her head. “Nothing special. I just wanted to take a stroll. How about you show us your big reservoir?”

When they reached the reservoir, it was a massive construction site, with all kinds of huge Soviet-made machinery everywhere.

Even Li Chengze, who had seen the world, had never seen scaffolding that reached halfway up a mountain, tires bigger than a grown man, and various big dump trucks and bulldozers rumbling in action.

When the troupe leader’s car arrived, many soldiers stopped what they were doing and saluted.

Li Chengze immediately stood up straight, maintaining the salute position until the car passed them.

When the car stopped at the office area, the kids were the first to get out.

“Let’s go find a place to play,” Li Chengze said.

The most disciplined of them all, Li Chengze’s friend Lu Dan, replied, “We’re not familiar with this place. It might be bad to run around.”

Li Chengze said, “Your mom wants to send me to my fifth uncle, but I don’t want to stay here. I need to find a way to please her.”

This little guy had been out in the world for two years, and now he was a bit wild.

Whenever he wanted to do something, his first choice was always the crooked path.

His fifth uncle, Li Hongjun, was a good man, a former police officer.

But staying at the reservoir meant working with the construction team, whereas in the city, he could earn money, hang out with the little brothers, and enjoy the delicious meals Su Xiangwan made.

Recently, his belt had even loosened a notch.

After thinking for a while, the kid suddenly slapped his head: “Let’s find a place to fish two fish for Aunty Su. I bet she’ll be happy.”

It had to be said that, after all, he was still a kid.

“Brother, we don’t even have fishing rods. How can we fish?” Lu Dan and Gou Dan were confused.

But being a southern child, Li Chengze was the kind of person who could catch fish with just a needle if you handed it to him.

Sure enough, under the astonished gazes of Lu Dan and Gou Dan, Li Chengze pulled a needle out of his pocket, then took out a lighter.

After heating the needle, he shouted at the two little ones to grab worms for him.

He strung the worms onto the needle, found a stick, and used a piece of thin nylon string, which was usually kept in the car by Song Qingshan, to make a makeshift fishing rod.

The three children ran out of the construction dam area and made their way to the dock.

They lay down by the water’s edge and began fishing for their mom.

Meanwhile, Song Qingshan and Su Xiangwan were walking on the completed dam, which had already been filled with water.

Song Qingshan pointed out the various buildings on the reservoir.

“Commander!” Liu Xiangqian jogged over and saluted Song Qingshan. “What brings you here today?”

Song Qingshan replied, “The family heard that the hydroelectric station is completed, so they wanted to come see.”

Liu Xiangqian immediately started rubbing his hands. “How about I give Sister-in-law a tour?”

“No need, I’ll walk her around,” Song Qingshan said.

“That over there is our R&D center. It will probably be split off in the future. On the other side is the engineering troops’ dormitory. Would you like to see it?” Song Qingshan suggested.