The Adopted Cannon Fodder Made a Comeback

After eating, Gu’er and the others went to visit Chen Fengjiao. Their train was in the afternoon, so they stopped by that morning to tell her that if anything happened, she could either go to the mall to find Liu Yuan or to the Sun family home to find Uncle Zhao. That way, she wouldn’t be left with no one to help her.

Chen Fengjiao knew their train was today and had prepared some food and drinks, which she set aside while waiting for Gu’er and the others to arrive.

Although Gu’er and Li Zhi had already packed plenty, Gu’er didn’t refuse Chen Fengjiao’s kind gesture and happily accepted it.

"Gu’er, I heard you went to the park yesterday?"

Chen Fengjiao asked, feigning nonchalance.

Gu’er paused, the cup of water halfway to her lips. ’Who could it be? They’re such a blabbermouth. How did word get over here so fast?’

"Yes, we did. I was originally planning to ask you, Sui’er, and Xiao Zheng to come with us, Mom, but I caught a bit of a cold yesterday and wasn’t feeling well, so I completely forgot about it. I didn’t even remember until Li Zhi knocked on our door, and by then it was almost noon. That’s why we didn’t come over to get you. We’ve already decided we’ll go out again after we get back. I’ll let you know in advance, and we should try to plan it for a weekend so we can bring Lin Zheng along. Or, whenever we have a free day, how about we all go visit Dad together?"

Gu’er started off by explaining things to Chen Fengjiao, but as she spoke, her thoughts drifted to Lin Shan. He had been gone for a month now and hadn’t returned. ’I really do miss him.’

At first, Chen Fengjiao’s expression was a little distant. She was still a bit upset that Gu’er hadn’t invited her. But when she heard Gu’er mention Lin Shan, a genuine smile spread across her face. "Okay," she said. "Wait until you get back. We’ll go visit your dad together then."

Seeing Chen Fengjiao smile, Gu’er secretly breathed a sigh of relief. ’I guess that settles it.’

"Don’t read too much into it. I just happened to run into Li Zhi’s mom—your auntie—when I was buying groceries today. I just heard her mention it in passing. She told me you all went to the park, but since I didn’t know anything about it, I couldn’t join the conversation. It just felt a bit awkward for me, but I’m not blaming you."

Chen Fengjiao explained herself to Gu’er.

’So it was Li Zhi’s mom.’ Though she now knew who it was, Gu’er couldn’t bring herself to blame the woman. It wasn’t like she had been deliberately gossiping, and besides, Li Zhi’s mom was a pretty nice person.

"Mm, next time we go out, I’ll definitely bring you, Mom. Even if no one else goes, I have to bring you. And Mom, even if you don’t want to go, I’ll drag you along until you get so annoyed with me you refuse to go out with me ever again."

Gu’er sat down next to Chen Fengjiao and hugged her arm.

"You silly girl, how come you’ve learned to be so clingy after getting married? You’re a grown woman now. Aren’t you afraid Jia Ming will laugh at you?"

Though Chen Fengjiao said this, she was secretly pleased. She felt that Gu’er had improved a lot since getting married; her personality was more cheerful, and she was more affectionate toward her than before.

Sun Jiaming just smiled. He didn’t need to say anything. At his mother-in-law’s house, all he had to do was maintain a good attitude.

Gu’er had never imagined she would one day be like this. She thought a day where she could be so affectionate with Chen Fengjiao would never come.

’Did Sun Jiaming really change me? It seems I truly have changed since getting married. My outlook on life is much better than before. Ever since the wedding, I feel like I’ve been happy all the time.’

As she thought this, Gu’er turned to Sun Jiaming with a smile.

When Sun Jiaming saw Gu’er’s smile, he wished he could shoo Chen Fengjiao away. ’Gu’er should be hugging me! But Chen Fengjiao is my mother-in-law, so I don’t dare. I can only watch helplessly.’

They didn’t stay for lunch at the Chen family home. After sitting for a little while longer, they picked up the things Chen Fengjiao had prepared for them and returned to the Sun residence.

Aunt Zhao had already prepared lunch. After they ate, the group began to pack.

The train journey would take several days, so they needed to pack clothes that wouldn’t show dirt easily. However, they also needed to look presentable once they arrived, so they each packed a couple of nice outfits as well.

They also brought plenty of food and drinks. As for money, they wrapped up the largest bills and hid them securely, keeping some smaller change in their pockets for easy access.

Just as they finished packing, Li Zhi and the others came over. Grandma Dingzi came as well, because she would be staying at the Sun residence from today until Dingzi and the others returned.

Grandma Dingzi didn’t stand on ceremony. She familiarly put her things away and climbed onto the kang to chat with Grandma Sun. She was already quite used to this arrangement. Whenever her grandson was away, she would stay at the Sun residence, treating it just like her own home.

The four people going on the trip were Gu’er, Jia Ming, Li Zhi, and Dingzi. Liu Yuan was staying behind to manage the mall. Lin Shuying, of course, was also going. Xinghua had wanted to tag along, but Gu’er talked her out of it. For one, she wanted her to stay behind and look after Zheng Zhongshan. For another, she was worried that if Xinghua returned, the Zheng Family would cause trouble. After all, Xinghua was only fifteen, and Gu’er was afraid she might be too soft-hearted.

But Lin Shuying definitely had to go. She was the person at the center of the issue; her presence was mandatory.

After saying goodbye to everyone, Gu’er and her group went to the station, boarded the train, and found their sleeper car.

Life on the train was boring, but thankfully there were several of them. With plenty of food and drink, they passed the time talking and laughing, so it wasn’t too bad.

After a transfer and four long days on the train, they finally arrived in G City, the city where Lin Shuying had married into a family.

They got off the train, left the station, hailed a taxi, and found a large hotel to check into for the time being.

It wasn’t that they were trying to show off. Staying in a nice hotel was also a form of intimidation, a way to let people know they weren’t short on cash and could afford to pay. That would make others more enthusiastic about helping them.

After resting for a bit, Li Zhi took Sun Jiaming to find his father’s old army buddy, Uncle Qi.

Meanwhile, Gu’er stayed at the hotel with Lin Shuying, since it wouldn’t be good for too many people to go. Dingzi was in charge of their safety.

Li Zhi and Sun Jiaming were gone for two or three hours. They returned just as it was time for dinner, so they all ate at the hotel’s restaurant.

Back in their room, Li Zhi and Sun Jiaming told Gu’er and the others that everything had been arranged. Uncle Qi had agreed to help and had already found the people they needed. They were from a local army unit; he was on good terms with one of its company commanders, who agreed to drive over and help them tomorrow. It wasn’t as if they were being asked to do anything illegal—it was just for intimidation—and they wouldn’t even accept anything from Li Zhi for their trouble afterward.

"Good heavens, what a huge favor that is."

Lin Shuying’s jaw dropped. ’They even managed to get people from the army? This would cause an absolute sensation back in the village. These young people nowadays are really something else.’

"Soldiers are people too, Auntie, don’t be scared. We’re just asking them to make an appearance. We’re not asking them to beat anyone up or do anything bad. Just think of it as a military exercise for them. They should be thanking us!"

Li Zhi was worried Lin Shuying would feel burdened by it.

’In truth, I’m a little shocked too,’ Gu’er thought. ’In my past life, I was the most ordinary woman you could imagine. Although I’ve been through a lot in this life, I never dreamed I’d be asking an army unit for help.’

But since they had accepted such a huge favor, they would just have to repay it properly later. Because of this, Gu’er wasn’t afraid.

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Happy weekend.