Shen Zhenbang is a tough guy who has survived countless battles. No matter how many enemies he faces on the battlefield, he will never flinch.

But when the topic of her second son, Huaiyue, was brought up again, she couldn't hide her sadness.

At this moment, he was no longer the composed old revolutionary he once was, but simply a father who could only watch helplessly as his child got into trouble.

Zhou Qiqi silently got up and poured her father-in-law another cup of hot tea, a silent form of comfort.

She sat back down quietly and listened to the old man slowly begin to speak.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Qiqi finally understood.

The experiences of her second brother, Shen Huaiyue, and his family were far more dramatic and tragic than she had imagined.

Seven years ago, Shen Huaiyue had just turned twenty-two. Unlike his older brother and younger brother, he did not choose to join the army, but instead chose to become a policeman.

He graduated from police academy with outstanding grades, and his abilities were the best among his peers.

He could have stayed at the B City Public Security Bureau, which is the capital city, and his future would have been absolutely bright.

At that time, he was young, promising, and full of vigor. He had also married Lin Wei, a classmate who worked in the public security system.

With success in both family and career, one could have a wonderful life.

However, in that same year, a major transnational drug trafficking case broke out. The drug traffickers were extremely rampant and used cruel methods, which shattered countless families and shocked the entire country.

The police force back then was vastly different from what it is now.

Especially in the border province of Y, where the situation is complex, there is a severe shortage of police force, a large ethnic group population, and various forces deeply entrenched in the region, making the situation extremely complicated and difficult to penetrate using conventional investigative methods.

At this point, the Ministry of Public Security made a decision to draw elite forces from the national public security system to form a special task force to investigate.

Shen Huaiyue and Lin Wei, the newlywed couple, signed up without hesitation.

Given their excellence, they were naturally selected.

Shen Zhenbang's voice carried a hint of bitterness as he slowly spoke:

"Back then, his mother and I were very supportive. We thought it would be just like when we fought the war, a real battle with real swords and spears..."

"Who could have imagined that the complexity over there would be far beyond their expectations? When they arrived, they found that they couldn't integrate into the local community at all. The local people were extremely wary, making the investigation work extremely difficult."

Faced with this predicament, Shen Huaiyue proposed an extremely bold, yet risky, plan.

He and Lin Xiaowei, along with several key colleagues, a total of five people, completely concealed their identities.

They disguised themselves as educated youth from the mainland, went down to the villages, ate and lived with the locals, gradually gained their trust, and pried open a breach.

"I thought we'd have a result in a year or two at most, but who knew..."

Shen Zhenbang sighed, his voice heavy with worry:

"Only after this in-depth investigation did we realize that the waters behind it were too deep. That drug gang occupied an entire village, and the inside was full of locals. It was impossible to get close to them. It was not a tough nut to crack in the short term."

In order to obtain core intelligence and gain the trust of the bandit leader, Shen Huaiyue, Lin Wei, and three other comrades had to go through a deep disguise.

They held a wedding ceremony according to local customs and lived as husband and wife in the village.

Later, Lin Wei even became pregnant and gave birth to a child before finally succeeding in infiltrating the village.

The couple became trusted confidants of the gang leader.

The three comrades who came with them were also taken inside by them.

For three whole years, in order to maintain absolute secrecy and protect his family from retaliation, Shen Huaiyue severed all contact with his family.

The elderly couple could only learn from the occasional reports from their superiors that their son and daughter-in-law were still alive and that the mission was still ongoing.

Apart from that, there has been no further news.

Those three years were the most difficult three years for the elderly couple. They lived in constant fear, yet dared not reveal a thing to the outside world.

“Until three years ago, on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, there was only one week left before the New Year. I remember it very clearly.”

Shen Zhenbang's voice began to tremble and weaken as he recalled:

"It was almost 2 a.m. that night when a leader from the B City Public Security Bureau suddenly came to my house urgently, asking me to answer a confidential phone call..."

On the other end of the phone was his son, Shen Huaiyue, whom he had missed for three years and had not heard from since!

That was the first time he had called home in three years...

Shen Zhenbang's eyes instantly reddened, and he struggled to hold back his sobs.

"He said on the phone that he would be home soon with their daughter, named Chen Duzhou, and that the little one was incredibly cute and they would love her..."

At this point, Shen Zhenbang could no longer hold back, and hot tears finally slid down his cheeks.

Zhou Qiqi handed over a handkerchief at the right moment.

Shen Zhenbang took the handkerchief, pressed it hard against his eyes, took a few deep breaths, and forced down his surging emotions before continuing in a hoarse voice:

"He...he only said that one sentence, it was very short, and it sounded chaotic on the other end, like there was some other noise...he hung up very quickly..."

Although his son didn't say anything in detail on the phone, Shen Zhenbang knew his son well and knew that the mission was about to be successfully completed!

Victory is just around the corner!

The son is about to return home safely with his wife and his granddaughter whom he has never met before!

That night, the elderly couple were so excited that they couldn't sleep, tidying up the house inside and out again and again.

They discussed how to welcome the hero's son and his family, and how to decorate the room for their granddaughter whom they had never met.

“Your mother wasn’t in such poor health back then; she was full of energy.”

Recalling that time, Shen Zhenbang's voice softened, and a faint smile appeared on his lips as he said:

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