Returning to the small mountain village of '86, intelligence updated daily.

Zhou Yong'an, who had been looking relaxed, suddenly straightened up.

He turned his head quickly, his tone urgent and incredulous:

"Who are you talking about? Zhou Jian? Is it the Zhou from our family?"

The old man asked three questions in a row, and Zhou Rui stopped massaging him when he saw this.

"Yes, he said he was recently transferred to our supply and marketing cooperative. I also confirmed with him that he does know you, Grandpa."

Zhou Yong'an stood up, no longer using his cane, and paced back and forth with his hands behind his back. After a while, a look of reminiscence appeared on the old man's face, and his tone was filled with deep sorrow:

"This child has a tragic fate. Back when we were fighting the Japanese, his whole family was massacred, and he was the only one who survived by hiding in the kitchen."

"I still remember when our class found him, he was covered in black soot, but his eyes were bright and alert."

"I comforted him and said, 'Little boy, don't be afraid, we're here, the bad guys will be driven away.'"

Zhou Rui listened intently, but Zhou Yong'an's tone changed slightly. He took a deep breath before continuing:

"At that time, he wasn't even as old as your younger brother. The child didn't answer whether he was afraid or not; he just kept repeating one sentence... 'I want to join the troops and fight the Japanese!'"

"And so, Zhou Jian joined us in fighting the Japanese. It was quite a coincidence, really. He was originally surnamed Zhou, but not the Zhou we know, but Zou with the 'Bao' radical."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Rui couldn't help but ask, "Then why was it changed later?"

Zhou Yong'an raised his head, looked in the direction of the village road, and said:

"Later, during a bayonet fight, this kid got so enraged that he was seriously injured. I carried him back to the rear and saved him."

"In the subsequent battles, large and small, he always rushed to the front regardless of his own safety. I managed to save him several times. So, after we achieved a complete victory, he changed his surname to mine, but kept his given name Jian."

Zhou Yong'an recalled some events from back then, sighing deeply. He then said:

"In the end, I only heard that he went to work as the head of the security department in a state-owned factory. I never expected to see him here today."

"Logically speaking, he shouldn't be here, much less working at the supply and marketing cooperative..."

Zhou Yong'an looked thoughtful, and Zhou Rui was also somewhat puzzled. Through his memories of his previous life, he roughly knew that soldiers with such merits were usually given a place to settle down.

Most of them were assigned to work as heads of security departments in factories or as police officers, while some remained in their original positions to continue protecting the motherland.

People like Grandpa, who return home after retiring from the military and ask for nothing in return, are still a minority.

But this person ended up in this remote and impoverished area and became a staff member of the supply and marketing cooperative.

This puzzled Zhou Rui.

Grandpa Zhou Yong'an continued:

"That's good. There aren't many of my old comrades left. It's a blessing to see them here before I die. Did he say anything to you?"

The old man asked Zhou Rui, who nodded and answered truthfully:

"He's coming over for dinner tonight. Oh, and he even gave us a big bag of sunflower seeds out of his own pocket. I offered to pay for them, but he absolutely refused to accept them."

Upon hearing this, the old man laughed heartily: "Haha, he still remembers this old man, even though I'm not that much older than him."

"Back then, he followed me around calling me Uncle Zhou all the time, and he visited me quite often afterward. Just keep the things, otherwise he'll feel uncomfortable."

Zhou Yong'an clearly knew the other party's temperament, and unusually, he did not lecture the younger generation as he usually did not accept anything from others.

Zhou Rui nodded, then walked towards his home, saying:

"Grandpa, I'll go help Mom cook now."

After Zhou Rui left, the old man slowly exhaled, muttering to himself:

"Back then, our class was doing so well, but now only the two of us are left. Fortunately, things are peaceful now..."

......

Zhou Rui walked through the inner room and headed towards the stove at the back, where his mother was cutting meat.

There's still quite a bit of musk deer meat left; I estimate we'll have two or three pounds left after tonight.

Zeng Jiamei knew that people would be coming that evening, so she steamed a whole steamer full of white rice, and then started washing the remaining one and a half pounds of deer tendons and the remaining musk deer meat.

The clever woman noticed something was wrong during the simple washing, because she had a feeling that the meat was not like that of the huge sambar deer, which she had seen before.

However, Zeng Jiamei did not make a fuss; she simply washed the food clean and then cut it into small pieces.

Zhou Rui glanced at his mother, and the two looked at each other, everything understood without a word.

Zeng Jiamei may have known something, but she didn't say a word. Zhou Rui just smiled and then helped add firewood.

After a while, several voices, some old and some young, came from outside the door.

"Dad, Mom, it's chilly outside, let's go home."

"Grandpa and Grandma, we're back! We missed you so much!"

"My grandchildren are here! Come, come, Grandpa, look at them! Oh, my little grandsons have grown up so much."

"Let Grandma hug our little Guoguo—did you miss Grandma? Come inside, your aunts are cooking, we'll have meat soon!"

Zhou Shiping came with his nephew, niece, and son. Just as Zhou Rui had guessed, he didn't bring his wife because the two had argued.

Zhou Shiping made a point of finishing his work early today, which is why he came home so early to bring his three children.

It was only a little past five o'clock at this time.

Zhou Rui followed the sound and went outside, where he soon saw his uncle Zhou Shiping and his three cousins.

Uncle Zhou Shiping was carrying a bag of fatty meat in one hand and a piece of fine pork tenderloin and some side dishes in the other.

He bought this on his way to work in the morning because sometimes you have to get there early to buy fatty meat, otherwise you might not be able to buy it if you go late.

Among the three cousins, Zhou Guo'er, the cousin from my second uncle's family, is the oldest, followed by Zhou Xing, the cousin from my second uncle's family, and finally Zhou Yun from my youngest uncle's family.

Zhou Guo'er is closest to her grandmother Meng Dan, and the two chat and laugh together.

Zhou Xing is very shy and reserved. Although he is returning to his own home, he is also very introverted due to the long-term influence of his mother, Yang Laidi.

On the contrary, Zhou Yun from his uncle's family ran over and hugged Zhou Ming, who was following behind Zhou Rui, even when they were still at the door. His voice was childish but full of joy.

"Brother Ming, I've come to play with you!"

Zhou Yun had the best relationship with this uncle's cousin because when they were little, Zhou Ming often took his cousin to play.

The once busy home was suddenly filled with the cheerful laughter of a group of children.

The youngest members of the Zhou family were all present, except for his cousin, who was a few months younger than Zhou Rui and was not home.

Zhou Rui was the eldest, but among his peers in the village, he was the youngest, because Zhou Yong'an and Zhou Shiwei had children born relatively late due to their involvement in the war and other factors.

In addition, Zhou Rui is not yet engaged, which means that the elderly man in his sixties does not have any great-grandchildren.