"You're back. The food is just ready. Come and try my cooking. I don't know if it tastes good to your liking." Chen Yintang greeted them with a smile when he saw Zeng Wenjuan leading Goudan to the kitchen.

Zeng Wenjuan and Goudan sat on the chairs and asked in surprise when they saw the snails: "The shell can't be eaten, why don't you remove it?"

"This thing tastes good only with the shell. Use the chopsticks to poke the snail meat inside, and then... put it in your mouth and suck it out, and the meat will be sucked out." Chen Yitang demonstrated to the two people how to eat snails.

Zeng Wenjuan picked up a snail and tried to eat it. She first sucked the soup, and as soon as she tasted it, her eyes lit up.

"This is really delicious! It tastes really good."

Goudan’s snails were fried separately. A portion of non-spicy snails had the aroma of oil, salt, sauce, MSG and perilla. He imitated the adults and tried to eat the snails.

"Mom, why can't I eat it! Look, I try to suck it out but nothing comes out." Goudan said to Zeng Wenjuan while holding the motionless snail.

Chen Yintang looked at Goudan with amusement and stretched out his hand to him: "Goudan, give the snails to grandpa, and grandpa will teach you how to cook them." Goudan gave the snails in his hand to Chen Yintang.

Chen Yitang got the snails, took out a homemade toothpick from the side, put it in front of Goudan and said, "Look! We use this toothpick to poke inside, and then we can get the snail meat out... Don't take the rest, it's inedible."

Goudan followed Chen Yitang's example and took another snail and tried to stab it. Finally, Goudan ate the snail he stab. He cleverly dipped it in the soup and said, "Wow! It's delicious!"

Chen Yitang and Zeng Wenjuan were amused by Goudan's exaggerated praise, and the dinner table was filled with joy. Chen Yitang looked at Zeng Wenjuan and said in a deep voice: "Nannan...what are your plans for the future? Are you going to live in the village forever?"

Zeng Wenjuan was a little hesitant when she heard Chen Yitang's question, but then she shook her head: "No, after the autumn harvest, I will go to Zhanggong Province to join the army. Goudan's father is there, and I have separated from the Zhao family. I think it's better for the whole family to be together."

"Zhanggong Province...That's great! Your mother is an officer there. We will go back together after the autumn harvest. I will take you home first then. Our family is also from there and we have our own ancestral home there." Chen Yitang said to Zeng Wenjuan.

Zeng Wenjuan heard Chen Yitang say this and nodded in agreement: "Okay, can you tell me about my mother? Will she be very serious if she is an officer?"

"Your mother and I were childhood sweethearts. Later, when the Flower Kingdom was in chaos, we found a way to join the Red Army. Your father's ancestor was the emperor's imperial physician, and he served as a military doctor in the Red Army. Your mother was the descendant of a military general, and she was very brave in fighting the enemy without fear at all. Once, a bullet almost hit her heart. That time..." Chen Yintang thought of the past, and his voice choked up as he spoke.

Zeng Wenjuan didn't know what to say to comfort Chen Yitang, so she could only listen quietly. Goudan didn't dare to move when he heard the adults' conversation, and just looked at Chen Yitang.

"Your mother almost died, and I saved her by using our Chen family's secret medicine. Later, your mother and I gradually developed feelings for each other, and after the establishment of the New Flower Kingdom, your mother and I voluntarily got married, and two years after the marriage, you were born." Chen Yintang continued after calming down.

When Chen Yitang finished speaking, he realized something was wrong. He raised his chopsticks and said, "Eat! It won't taste good if it gets cold. Let's eat and talk at the same time."

Zeng Wenjuan and Goudan finally reacted, Goudan happily ate dinner. Zeng Wenjuan was a little sad, Chen Yitang and her mother whom she had never met were both admirable people, without their efforts, she would not have such a life now.

"When you were born, your mother was so happy. You had big double eyelids like hers, and long eyelashes. You blinked occasionally... Oh! It made people's hearts melt." Chen Yitang said as he thought of Zeng Wenjuan's appearance when she was just born.

Zeng Wenjuan blushed and lowered her head in embarrassment, but she still liked it very much. At least it proved that her background was liked and cared about by others.

"After you were one month old, we took you to take photos, including your one-year-old photo. We took you to take photos on every birthday. All these years... when you were missing, we lived by looking at your photos." Chen Yitang said to Zeng Wenjuan again.

Zeng Wenjuan also said after hearing about the photo: "We also took Goudan to take a photo when he was one month old, but we didn't have much money at that time, so we only developed one photo, which was then taken away by his father."

"What's the name of Goudan's father? Maybe I know him." When Chen Yintang heard that his daughter was willing to be Goudan's father, he asked.

Zeng Wenjuan thought for a moment, then said to Chen Yitang, "Goudan's father is Zhao Jianguo. He took good care of me when I came to the Zhao family when I was eight years old. Later, for various reasons, we voluntarily got married. He should be the head of the army now. He is twenty-seven years old today, four years older than me."

When Chen Yitang heard Zeng Wenjuan's introduction, he thought of a person. When that person first joined the army, he was like a risk-taker. He would come back seriously injured every time he went on a mission. He was still thinking about her at that time!

Whose unlucky child is this? Their relatives must have had their heads broken by using their connections! He became the head of the group at such a young age, while others would have to be over 30 to get this position. It was only after that guy got married that things got better.

"Dad, what are you thinking about! The food will get cold if we don't eat it now." Zeng Wenjuan looked at Chen Yitang who was in a daze, and she shouted.

"Oh oh oh..." After hearing Zeng Wenjuan's words, Chen Yitang finally reacted and said with a smile: "I was thinking about the past and was a little immersed in it. You guys eat too!"

Chen Yitang thought of something he had been ignoring. He ate a snail and asked, "Nannan! You said you came to this family when you were eight years old. Where were you in the years before that? Were you bullied?"

When Zeng Wenjuan heard this question, she didn't know how to explain it for a moment. She had no memory before the age of eight. But the book said that she had always been in an orphanage. That was a modern world, very different from the present.

Seeing Zeng Wenjuan's silence, Chen Yitang came to the rescue and said, "Let's not talk about what happened before. Mom and Dad will make it up to you in the future."

After dinner, Chen Yitang and Zeng Wenjuan both felt that their relationship had become closer and the gap between them had narrowed. It was as if they had been together for more than 20 years.