Uncle Shazhu, a simple-minded man in a courtyard house, persuades people with reason.

After He Ping'an left, Luo Chengjun took out a rarely used radio from a hidden compartment and urgently contacted the Northwest Headquarters.

In this revolutionary holy land of Northwest China, the beeping of the radio is even clearer at night. The big shots who often stay up late are still staying up late.

"This morning, a sudden rain and snowstorm struck. Taking advantage of this opportunity, He Ping'an, the leader of the Beiping operations team, avenged his defeat at Ma Hanshan. Not a single enemy agent survived. We seized US$100 million from the enemy leader, along with several locations where gold and silver jewelry were hidden. Furthermore, the evacuation plan is to be modified as follows… Please advise, Luo!"

The tycoon unconsciously moved his hand, holding the telegram, closer to the oil lamp, as if afraid he wouldn't have seen it clearly in the darkness. After confirming the amount of one million US dollars several times, he exclaimed in approval.

He then paced back and forth for a moment, then looked at his secretary beside him: "I am already aware that the seized money will soon be handed over to a designated person, and He Ping'an's plan has been approved. Furthermore, although Comrade He Ping'an acted out of personal reasons, he has rendered great service to the country and should not be punished but rather rewarded."

Although the big boss doesn't directly control intelligence, the Party commands everything. He Ping'an's private revenge can be considered settled—he did good and was not at fault.

While the $100 million played a decisive role in He Ping'an's safe passage, Luo Chengjun's contribution was also indispensable. He kept harping on about enemy agents and captured goods, practically declaring that killing the enemy was no crime.

The organization still needs to consider the feelings of the veteran revolutionaries!

Time flies, and a month has passed in the blink of an eye. As expected, the Military Intelligence Bureau's investigation into the Ma Hanshan family massacre, apart from the initial flurry of activity in the first few days, has been all bark and no bite.

As for Yama's name, it used to be only registered with the intelligence department, but now it is known to the people of the whole country. That's how the Kuomintang is... Since they can't investigate in detail, they just brazenly pin everything on Yama.

He Ping'an chuckled and shook his head, returning to his mundane life!

The He family now consists of four people. He Daqing has to work, He Pingan and his nephew He Yuzhu have to go to school, and the one-and-a-half-year-old Yushui has become a problem (He Yushui in the TV series should have been born in 44, but here he was born in 45).

They can't just keep leaving it at someone else's house; it'll grow up badly. Of course, it's not like no one has offered to help take care of it...

In the evening, He Ping'an, carrying the milk powder he had asked his teacher to buy, hurried back to the courtyard house. Before he even entered, he saw Jia Zhangshi talking incessantly to He Daqing. Not far from them, Yi Zhonghai also chimed in from time to time.

"Great Qing...don't you think what my sister-in-law said makes sense?"

"Yes, Great Qing! As the saying goes, a close neighbor is worse than a distant relative. Your three men don't know how to manage a household. It would be so much better to have Sister-in-law Jia help you with the laundry and tidying up!"

Behind the crowd, He Ping'an's warm smile turned icy. All these years of peace had almost made him forget this was a ruthless, beastly courtyard. His sister-in-law had just left… He was asking for it!

He Ping'an strode forward with a cold face, forcefully pushing past Jia Zhangshi, and held up the milk powder in his hand:

"Brother, this amount of milk powder should last the rainwater for about a month, and they even promised I can buy more if it's not enough. Let's collect the rainwater!"

The one-and-a-half-year-old baby was still breastfeeding, and there was really no one at home, so we could only send her to He Daqing's teacher's wife for help. We also asked the breastfeeding women in their courtyard to help feed the baby.

He Daqing had been annoyed by Jia Zhangshi and Yi Zhonghai for a long time, but he didn't want to directly turn against them because of their neighborly relationship, so he quickly used this excuse to get away.

"Okay, good! My brother's got guts. I'll bring the rainwater back tomorrow!"

Originally, Jia Zhangshi, who had been jostled and stumbled, was still somewhat embarrassed. But upon hearing that He Ping'an had bought milk powder, her eyes lit up, and she stepped forward again with a smug grin. She continued to talk about taking care of the children, doing laundry, and mopping the floor, trying to sell herself.

She even dragged Jia Dongxu, who was hiding in the distance, out to prove how good she was at taking care of children.

Glancing at the fair-skinned Jia Dongxu, He Ping'an sighed, the resentment that had been building up in his heart dissipating. Jia Zhangshi deserved to die, but she had truly taken good care of Jia Dongxu. Just like his sister-in-law had cared for him so diligently back then!

However… every parent loves their own child. Just because Jia Zhangshi can take good care of Jia Dongxu doesn't mean she can take good care of Yushui. To be precise, is she even willing to take good care of Yushui?

It's obvious what Jia Zhangshi is up to. It's nothing more than the same tactic Qin Huairu used to deal with Sha Zhu in the original drama... using the guise of taking care of him to extort money and favors, and then hooking up with He Daqing to form a gang.

He Ping'an looked at He Daqing, who seemed troubled, and gestured to his older brother to leave the milk powder to him. He Daqing understood, took the milk powder, and went straight back into the house.

Seeing that Jia Zhangshi still wanted to follow, He Ping'an turned around and reached out to stop her:

"Sister-in-law Jia, I believe you can take good care of my house and keep it clean. But one person's energy is limited. If you take care of my house, what about yours?"

As he spoke, he chuckled and pointed to Jia Dongxu, who was fidgeting and looking extremely uncomfortable to the side. He added meaningfully:

"Dongxu is 15 years old this year. According to the older generation's thinking, he'll probably be finding a matchmaker and a potential partner soon! If the matchmaker makes inquiries, and someone with ulterior motives spreads rumors... it's easy to say, but it doesn't sound good! Don't you think so?"

Following the direction He Ping'an was pointing, Jia Zhangshi also noticed her son's unusual behavior. Jia Dongxu, a young man at the age when he should be concerned about his reputation, certainly didn't want his mother to do this.

Seeing the strange looks from the crowd around him, he dragged Jia Zhangshi away from the crowd with red eyes and fled back to the Jia family.

After casually dismissing Jia Zhangshi, He Ping'an turned his gaze to Yi Zhonghai, who had been constantly chiming in from the beginning.

He could spare the Jia family's reputation out of consideration for Jia Zhangshi's deep love for her child. But for Yi Zhonghai, that hypocritical, childless old dog, even letting him die would be too lenient.

"Brother Yi, there's a saying in the countryside: 'Other people's crops are always better, but your own children are always the best!' If you want to secure your retirement, you have the best chance of having your own children. You're still young, don't give up, and trust science. Most of those itinerant doctors are swindlers; don't hesitate to spend money at a major hospital!"

"You...you..." Yi Zhonghai trembled with anger at He Ping'an's words, his fingers shaking so much he couldn't utter a coherent sentence for a long time.

Yi Zhonghai's agitation wasn't due to his youth or lack of cultivation. It was simply because He Ping'an's words were practically a blatant declaration: Yi Zhonghai was childless and wanted to rely on Jia Dongxu for retirement. Having his thoughts exposed, how could he not be anxious?

"Oh! By the way... science shows that a couple's inability to have children isn't solely the woman's fault. It's like farming; good soil or bad soil, as long as the seeds are good, seedlings will always sprout. But if the seeds are bad, even the best soil is useless!"

He Ping'an looked at the Yi family's daughter-in-law and spoke earnestly.

After delivering the decisive blow and finishing off the opponent, Yi Zhonghai suddenly felt everyone's gazes upon him were scrutinizing. Following Jia Dongxu's example, he hurriedly pulled his wife back into the house.

Seeing this, He Ping'an stopped pressing the matter, exchanged a few polite words with everyone, and pulled He Yuzhu, who was full of admiration, into the house!