"That's true. With his limited potential, keeping him around saves us a lot of trouble."

"Dinner's ready." Wang Xinyi came in to call for dinner; otherwise, the three of them wouldn't have gone to the dining room.

Tonight's dinner was especially lavish, with chicken, duck, fish, and meat.

"Hongmei, try this salt-baked chicken and braised duck. They were both made by your Aunt Wang. I could never make such exquisite dishes."

Zhang Hongmei picked up a piece of salt-baked chicken. With meat in her mouth, she couldn't speak, but she kept nodding and even picked up a second piece.

"Aunt Wang, this salt-baked chicken is so delicious, I'll make it again in the next couple of days."

"Okay, as long as you like it. Also, try this braised duck; it's one of my specialties."

Zhang Hongmei wasn't particularly fond of duck, and even with roast duck, she'd only take a bite or two before stopping. But seeing Wang Xinyi's expectant look, she picked up a piece and put it in her mouth. Wow, this was so much better than roast duck! It wasn't greasy at all, and there was no gamey taste.

"Delicious, I love both of them."

Wang Xinyi smiled contentedly. At least she could take care of Hongmei's meals. Since Hongmei liked it, she wasn't completely useless.

"Grandpa, you have to try it, it's so delicious! I think I've eaten too much today. Everyone, hurry up and try it, Aunt Wang's cooking is really good."

Everyone enjoyed the meal immensely. Zhang Hongmei controlled her appetite, not daring to eat too much, lest she eat like she did at noon. Wang Ying also thought of this, and it was really hard for her to hold back her laughter; her shoulders were shrugging, which annoyed Zhang Hongmei, who glared at her, thinking how unlovable she was.

After dinner, the three returned to the living room. Wang Xinyi brought over a pot of tea and then left.

"Hongmei, tell me what you saw and heard this time. I don't believe what others say, even Zhang Xingguo only reports good news and not bad news." Gu Chuanming asked Zhang Hongmei seriously.

"Grandpa, I cried when I saw the older brother from our village."

I couldn't bear to see him like that. He's now a deputy battalion commander, and he probably eats very little to take care of his men. He's become so thin he's unrecognizable. Otherwise, I wouldn't have risked getting another hundred tons of grain.

Grandpa, they've really had it so tough. I know it's because of the severe disasters of the past three years that supplies are scarce, but are we really going to send our soldiers to the battlefield to starve?"

Gu Chuanming finally spoke after a long pause, "Hongmei, you did the right thing. Shouyi, I will personally escort this batch of grain over."

"No." Zhang Hongmei objected before Zhang Shouyi could even reply.

“Grandpa, the journey is too far, and you are getting old. Also, I’m afraid you’ll end up like Uncle Zhang, staying there and not wanting to come back.”

"It's okay, I can manage."

“I know you can persevere, but Uncle Zhang is enough there. You can’t go. You’ve already retired, what would you do there?” Zhang Hongmei was very emotional and her opposition was particularly vehement.

Zhang Shouyi remained silent. "Hongmei, has my father also become so thin he looks unrecognizable?"

Zhang Hongmei didn't want to tell Zhang Shouyi, but it seems she has no choice but to.

"Yes, when I first saw Uncle Zhang, I wanted to pull him back immediately. But he's much better now; I've taken care of his health."

"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just that you haven't told me."

Zhang Hongmei thought to herself, "That's because I was afraid you'd worry."

“Hongmei, this time the supplies are really important. Elder Gu should go. First of all, these are his subordinates and his soldiers. Secondly, his presence can reassure people. Most importantly, the battle is about to begin, and Elder Gu is the most suitable person to go and give a pre-battle pep talk.”

Zhang Hongmei kept her head down and didn't speak. She understood the big picture, but she just felt uncomfortable. Not to mention anything else, the bumpy ride alone was enough to make the old woman suffer.

Zhang Shouyi rubbed Zhang Hongmei's head, unsure if he had succeeded in persuading her.

Gu Chuanming sighed, "Hongmei, you should trust me. I'm old enough to know what's important. I'll take better care of my health. I'm still waiting to hold my great-grandchild. I haven't even seen the next generation of the Gu family yet. How can I be willing to die?"

"Yes, you can rest assured."

Zhang Hongmei looked up at the two of them with a complicated expression. "I don't want anything to happen to my family. I'm selfish; all I want is for my family and friends to be safe and happy."

"Yes, everything will be fine. We know what we're doing." Zhang Shouyi patted Zhang Hongmei's head, feeling particularly reassured.

Even Gu Chuanming, this tough guy, was moved, realizing he hadn't made the wrong choice.

Zhang Hongmei calmed herself down and said, "I understand that you all have your own things to do, but you must promise me that you will take care of yourselves, even if it's just for my sake."

Both men nodded. It meant that there was hope for the future, that someone cared and thought of them.

Zhang Shouyi stood up first. "It's late, you should go to sleep. I'm going home tonight. Are you going to treat your classmate to lunch or dinner tomorrow?"

“I don’t know yet. I’ll go to the school to find Song Zigan tomorrow morning. I’m back, and I hope he can stay at home during this period before school starts.” Zhang Hongmei also stood up.

Zhang Shouyi felt a pang of jealousy, but he didn't show it on his handsome face. "That's how it should be. I've already made arrangements for today, and I'll be staying at home too. We can then properly entertain him."

After Zhang Shouyi finished speaking, Gu Chuanming, who was sitting next to him, chuckled. This guy was incredibly stingy, and quite the show-off. Thinking of this, Gu Chuanming chuckled again.

Zhang Hongmei glanced at Gu Chuanming with a puzzled look. Why was he smiling? But she didn't take it to heart.

Zhang Shouyi secretly resented that nothing could be hidden from this old fox.

Finally, Zhang Hongmei saw Zhang Shouyi off to his car before returning to the living room, where Gu Chuanming was still sitting.

"Girl, come, sit next to me."

"Grandpa, what's wrong? It's late. You can't stay up so late, or your health, which you've worked so hard to improve, will break down again. You need to maintain a regular schedule."

"Yes, I'm paying attention."

"Nothing much, I just haven't seen you while you were out, and I wanted to talk to you." Gu Chuanming hesitated, unsure whether he should entrust this heavy responsibility to the girl. Seeing her bewildered and confused look at him, he sighed and decided to just leave it to Zhang Shouyi for now. After all, he had ill intentions towards his granddaughter, so he would push all the responsibility onto him.

"Grandpa, what's wrong?"

"It's okay, really it's okay. I just need your opinion on something."

"What is it?" Zhang Hongmei asked, puzzled. What opinion could she possibly have? Their affairs were either military or political, neither of which she understood.

“I have now consolidated some of the military power, and I now have 40% of the military force in my hands, which I originally intended to hand over to you.”

"Grandpa, please spare me! I don't have that kind of brain, I really can't do it!" Zhang Hongmei was terrified.