In the afternoon, the two parents started sorting through the meat and vegetables they had at home. Lately, Huo Haoshi and Huo Haojie had been going up the mountain whenever they had time, so they had quite a few chickens and rabbits at home. Adding to that the meat and two pig heads they had bought today, they felt it was enough.

They've discussed it with Grandma Li, and the wedding will be held at the Huo family's house; the Li family will just leave some wedding candy.

"Haoshi, this afternoon you take these wedding candies to your Grandma Li, and this dress too. If she doesn't want it, just say I made it myself and make sure she accepts it."

Seeing that everything was almost cleaned up, Grandma Huo handed the things she had prepared for the Li family to Huo Haoshi and told him to take them over. She said that she, being an old woman, would not bother with the fuss.

After the Huo family finished making preparations, they all went back to their beds to rest, as they were quite tired after being busy for so long.

Huo Haoshi took the things, dressed neatly, and went out.

On the other side, after Huo Haocheng and his group had rested, they also went to the Beijing Military Region for training. Their mission was to accompany the troops on their departure on January 3, 1974. Therefore, during this period, they needed to be on standby at the military region and also needed to get to know the diplomats. So, they would occasionally pick up and drop off Gu Wenpeng.

"Captain Huo, come and take a look. This is your route for this trip... Do you see if there's anything that needs to be changed?" Commander Ruan looked at the two people in front of him, one his son-in-law and the other his son. He wanted to plan the route as well as possible so that they could both return safely.

"Commander, we can't retreat by water anymore. Naval warfare isn't our forte, and once we enter international waters, we'll become sitting ducks. So this route is not feasible."

Huo Haocheng looked at the retreat route Commander Ruan had given them. If 520 hadn't told him beforehand about the current naval combat capabilities of the M Army, he might have agreed to take the risk. But now that he knew, he couldn't take everyone with him on that risk.

Commander Ruan knew that retreating by sea was risky, but it was the shortest route. Now that he heard Huo Haocheng's objection, he wanted to hear his opinion.

"Then tell me, what are your plans?"

Huo Haocheng walked to the wall with the map, then took a pen and marked a few places. "We can drive through here, then take a boat across, then cross this forest to get here. Once we get through here, we can reach our border. We'll need the Black Market Military Region to meet us here then."

Seeing the route he drew, it was risky, but much safer than crossing the high seas. However, there was a problem: "Your route is feasible, but the journey takes too long. If you're not careful and are discovered by another country, you'll face pursuit from both countries. Have you thought it through?"

"Don't worry, we won't enter any towns along the way. We'll hardly encounter any people. As long as we quickly cross this forest, we won't be discovered. What we need now is insect repellent. After entering the forest, we will face all kinds of wild animals. This season, wolf packs are the most likely to be encountered, so everyone must carry fire starters and various medicines, just in case."

"Alright, since you're confident, then do as you say. List out what you need, and I'll try my best to arrange for it."

After finalizing the route, Huo Haocheng and Ruan Shaohong returned to the group, repeated what they had just agreed upon, and explained the precautions.

In the following days, besides training hard, they occasionally went home to visit their parents. Huo Haocheng and Bai Sirui went back to the Ruan family together. It was understandable for Huo Haocheng to go back as a son-in-law, but Bai Sirui simply wanted to win over the Ruan family elders.

Back at the Huo family home, Ruan Ruan was idly chatting with 520 on the kang (a heated brick bed).

"Commander, has their route been finalized? We absolutely cannot let them travel by water!"

"Don't worry, host. I've already spoken to Huo Haocheng; he definitely won't be traveling by water."

"Do you know exactly where to go?"

"This morning, I saw him staring at the map, and he kept circling around these few places. I think he probably wanted to go this way..."

"Wow, she's definitely the one I've set my sights on."

Upon hearing the route he described, Ruan Ruan said it was good, showing that the two were on the same wavelength.

"and you......."

Just as Ruan Ruan was about to say something, she heard Huo Haojie knocking on the door.

"Ruan Ruan, open the door." Huo Haojie stood outside the door, holding the letter that the old man had asked him to give her.

Hearing the sound, she immediately jumped off the kang (a heated brick bed), and before she even finished putting on her shoes, she opened the door for him. "Brother Haojie, what's wrong?"

"This is what Grandpa asked me to give you." After handing her the letter, he noticed her shoes weren't on properly and added, "It's cold outside, go back to the kang (heated brick bed)." Then he turned and went back to his room.

Holding the letter, Ruan Ruan felt puzzled. They were all at home, so why not just say what they had to say in person? Why write a letter? She closed the door, lay back down on the kang (a heated brick bed), and slowly opened the letter.

The letter contained information left to her by her master, Bai Shu. It told her to give her contact information and names in various cities, and that if she needed anything, she could go directly to them. They were all brothers who had followed him through thick and thin, and were trustworthy people. It told her to use them without worry, and explicitly stated that she could just go by name and that no tokens were needed.

Moreover, the addresses given in the letter included not only domestic addresses but also international addresses, all of which happened to be places she would be passing through on this trip.

After reading the letter, she understood why her grandfather wanted her to return, but she couldn't understand why her master knew all this and was so certain that she would go.

Afterwards, she wrote down the points that Huo Haocheng had marked on 520 and the locations mentioned in her master's letter. After comparing them, they were exactly the same, which made her feel that her grandfather and master were even more mysterious.

"Master, what exactly are you and Grandpa planning to do?"

But no matter what they were planning to do, for some reason, she just felt that they wouldn't harm her.