Jiang Qiao didn't come back immediately. Instead, she delivered their rations first, then went out to rent a small storage room. After taking care of everything, she returned to tell the old man about the old soldiers in the courtyard.

After listening, the old man sighed, "It's really not easy. Let's move it then."

Ma Liu hesitated for a moment and said, "Brother, maybe I shouldn't go over there. I'll stay here. If anything happens, we can look out for each other. If I keep coming and going, people will inevitably have some opinions. It's more convenient for me to do things here."

"Girl, you need to prepare my things properly; they can't be left here."

Jiang Qiao nodded. "No problem. Here are the keys. Come out with us, and I'll tell you the location. You can handle the rest. Here's the money and the tickets."

When they saw the house Jiang Qiao rented, even Ma Liu and Qiao Jie were surprised. It hardly looked like a house; it was probably just a place to store firewood. They only had room to store grain because they didn't have much firewood left.

"You're really something, renting such a shabby place? Aren't you worried about the stuff inside?"

Jiang Qiao sighed, "Do you think I wanted this? I was just in a hurry. I didn't know where to rent one. Besides, we can't stay here for long. This is enough. And the most dangerous place is the safest place. It's right by the gate. Who would dare to mess with it?"

"Putting aside the fact that the owner lives right next door, and so many people coming and going in this yard, even if I wanted to, I wouldn't dare. I just said I'd be staying temporarily for a few days, so I paid a month's rent, two yuan. Don't worry about it. Let's get settled in as soon as possible so we can go home."

No one in this compound would have imagined that such an ordinary, dilapidated little shack would contain the grain they had been longing for, and it was all high-quality grain. Nowadays, even cornmeal is considered high-quality grain. There was no other way; they were short of food.

Every household was just trying to get by, barely enough to fill their stomachs. If anyone knew there was actually food stored here, it would probably be stolen before the night was even over.

Unfortunately, no one knew, so the days that followed made it easier for Ma Liu to move around.

Jiang Qiao led Qiao Jie over, and when they saw the courtyard full of wounded veterans, even the old man couldn't help but have tears in his eyes.

"Grandpas and uncles, we've arrived. This is my Grandpa Qiao."

Qin Junlin and the others said repeatedly, "Welcome, welcome, Elder Qiao, please come inside. Some of the brothers have difficulty getting up, please don't mind."

Qiao Jie sighed, "Why should I care? Who are you all doing this for? Isn't it all for us ordinary people? You're the ones avenging our family."

"Young man, let me tell you, my family was also killed by the Japanese devils back then. If I had to say, I should thank you people. Without you, where would I have gone to get revenge?"

The seated men smiled and waved their hands, "That's what we should do. Old Joe, come and sit down for a while. We'll be cooking soon, just wait for our meal."

Grandpa Qiao wasn't unaware of the situation in the courtyard, especially after hearing his granddaughter tell him about grinding leaves. He quickly said to his granddaughter, "Qiao'er, hurry over and help. Make the things we brought for all your uncles and grandfathers."

He remembered that when his granddaughter came back, she brought back a lot of fish and wild game. Since the child was prepared, he decided to do her a favor.

"Hey, I'll go help right away—"

The others felt bad, saying, "We can't accept this. This meat is so expensive. You should keep it for yourselves. There are so many of us here."

The old man smiled and waved his hand, "Don't say that. No matter how expensive the food is, we don't mind. It's what we should do. Without soldiers like you, it's hard to say whether we would be alive today."

Don't be so polite with me. We're already embarrassed that you've come to stay, we can't let you treat us like this. We've already brought food, it's better if we don't eat it, it'll just go bad.

Jiang Qiao went to the kitchen to help. Qin Junlin and Wu Dong, although each of them was missing an arm, seemed to be used to kitchen work.

"Uncle Qin, please help me start the fire. Uncle Wu, you can go outside and enjoy the cool air. It's fine for the two of us to stay here."

With only two people left in the kitchen, Qin Junlin didn't beat around the bush with Jiang Qiao and went straight to asking her what her relationship with Gu Zhengfeng was.

Jiang Qiao gave a bitter smile. She didn't know what the other party had used to guess her relationship with Gu Zhengfeng.

However, since Qin Junlin has already revealed himself, there's no need for her to hide it anymore.

"He's my dad. What, you know him?"

Qin Junlin gave a wry smile. "You silly girl, you've made us search so hard. Back then, we stayed here not only because we had no relatives, but also because your father entrusted us with the task of finding his daughter. I never thought I would see her in person one day."

Let me see, who did you take after?

Jiang Qiao's face was clean this time. Qin Junlin looked her over for a while, then smiled and nodded. "You've inherited all the good features of your parents. No wonder your grandfather doesn't let you go out like this. It's true, it's not safe for a pretty girl to go out alone. But you've lost a bit of weight. Remember to eat more in the future."

"Girl, where have you been all these years? We can't find you no matter how hard we look."

Jiang Qiao really didn't expect there to be this twist in the story. For Qin Junlin to be able to tell this, he must be very familiar with his father.

"Well, it's a long story. I live in the same county as my grandfather, but I didn't know my identity before, which caused so many years of delay. Later, my grandfather saw me and we finally recognized each other. Uncle, thank you for all the trouble you've caused me over the years. You were all my father's comrades-in-arms."

Qin Junlin sighed, "Almost all of them. Besides me, there are three of your father's direct subordinates. The others are also our comrades-in-arms, soldiers under Lu Zhiyuan. We used to be in the same unit."

Chatting didn't stop Jiang Qiao from working. She quickly chopped up the pheasant, stir-fried it in a pot for a while, added seasonings and water, and simmered it slowly.

Making time, she started preparing the fish, wanting everyone to have a satisfying meal, since the chicken wasn't even enough to fill their teeth.

"Let's skip the fish and save it for the next meal?"

Jiang Qiao smiled and shook her head. "If you want to eat fish, we can go fishing anytime, as long as no one sees us."

Qin Junlin glanced at Jiang Qiao in surprise. This little girl was to his liking. Actually, he had thought of secretly going fishing before, but everyone disagreed, so he didn't do it.

While cooking, Jiang Qiao casually asked, "Uncle, there's something I'm not sure if I should say."

Qin Junlin shook his head indifferently, "Girl, just say what you want to say. There's nothing you can't ask here with your uncle."