Chapter 828: Reunion

It feels like nothing here has changed much, still so leisurely. Weineituo looked at the entrance of Old Street and said somewhat nostalgically.

Qin Ge nodded, "Yeah, not much has changed, or rather, nothing has changed since we left. Perhaps for us, over two years is already quite long, but for this place, two years are just two years."

"Let's go inside first and talk later; otherwise standing here would be a bit conspicuous." Bisimai said.

"Okay."

Several people nodded and walked from the Old Street entrance inward. Qin Ge came this time wearing a commander's uniform; although after the Siren Tide there are fewer commanders here, it doesn't mean there are none.

So the conspicuous ones are actually not him, but the ship girls following him.

Weineituo, Bisimai, Belfast, Tiancheng and the like naturally have outstanding temperament and physique, so even if they hide well, they will still attract countless gazes.

Fortunately, these gazes don't linger on them for long, after all, the people here have already seen too many ship girls and commanders.

As they went forward, when they reached a stall, Belfast stopped.

"Master, do you still remember this?" Belfast said, pointing at that stall.

"Hehe, dough figurines, I remember when the destroyers came over, they liked watching that old man shape dough figurines the most." Qin Ge laughed.

"Hehe, so the dough figurine in Miss Guanghui's hand is the one you and the commander shaped here?" Weineituo asked from the side.

Qin Ge nodded, but his face showed some surprise, "Is Guanghui's dough figurine still there?"

"It's still there; Miss Guanghui has protected it carefully. Although after so long the dough figurine has inevitably deformed somewhat, its outline can still be made out." Belfast said with a smile.

Qin Ge chuckled, recalling how Guanghui had held the dough figurine so carefully, feeling somewhat moved, "Alright."

"How about we come back later when we're free and shape dough figurines together here? At least we'll leave something as a memento." Tiancheng said, laughing as she made the suggestion.

"That's actually a good idea; I've actually wanted a dough figurine for a while. Although it's not something precious, it contains the experience we've shared with the commander." Weineituo said, eager to try.

Qin Ge chuckled, "Then let's come back later. Now we need to go to Wan Lao's home. Judging by the time, they might still be setting up their stall."

"Hmm."

After turning past the dough figurine stall, Wan Lao's home is actually not far away. The pedestrians on the road gradually thinned, we turned a small alley, and finally arrived at the familiar place.

From the intersection one can see inside the alley, just as Qin Ge had said before; at that familiar doorway there remains a stretch of familiar stalls, but unlike what we imagined, it's already time to pack up.

Seeing a familiar figure slowly moving tables and chairs toward the house, a feeling of homecoming excitement surged in Qin Ge's heart. He hurried over to that old man and, upon getting close, shouted loudly.

"Wan Lao!"

The old man's hand paused in what he was doing, he turned his head to look at Qin Ge, and froze on the spot.

But soon Lao Wan reacted, "You brat, how many times have I told you to call me Lao Wan, not Wan Lao? I'm not that old yet!"

"Haha, Wan Lao is certainly not that old; look at you moving tables so easily." Qin Ge said while laughing and walking forward.

"You brat." Lao Wan couldn't help but exclaim, "When did you come back!"

"I just arrived at the Commander Academy yesterday; I might stay in Donghuang for a while, so today I came running over to see you two." Qin Ge said, reaching to take the table from Lao Wan's hands.

But Lao Wan stopped that motion, "Don't move this; after they finished eating this morning there's still a lot of oil on it, and your uniform would get dirty."

"Hey. Back when you were in Minghai City you didn't say that; even if I wore new clothes, I still carried the table back and forth every day." Qin Ge said while laughing, and took the table from Lao Wan's hands.

"After all this time you still remember those things, really, are you that petty?" As he spoke, Lao Wan's eyes reddened, "Just coming back is fine, being safe is fine."

It was already time to pack up the stall, so Qin Ge's arrival was perfectly timed. With the help of a few ship girls, the tables and chairs and such were quickly put away.

Sitting in the living room, looking at some familiar furnishings, Qin Ge looked around and said, "Where's Elder Lady?"

"Oh, she's not here; her daughter took her away." Lao Wan sat beside Qin Ge, holding the tea poured by Belfast, and said, "How to put it... last year's Siren Tide caused your commanders to suffer heavier losses, and since you haven't written in over a year, she's been worried, afraid you'd end up like our son..."

"When people get old, they worry day after day, and being busy as well makes them prone to illness. Her daughter knew this, so she specially went to Shenhua City to fetch her and let her stay a while to rest properly."

"Who knew you'd come back now; if that's the case, she wouldn't need to be taken back. I believe that once Elder Lady sees you, her illness will improve even faster."

Qin Ge felt a bit guilty after hearing that, "When I wrote my last letter, I was still on Sun and Moon Island; there was also a Maritime Affairs Bureau there that could have helped send the letter back."

"Afterward I went to Guandao; that place isn't far from the Pacific center, so getting to Donghuang became difficult. Thus I couldn't send any letters, which made you worry."

"It's fine; we understand your difficulties. Just like when my son was away, he often went long stretches without writing, and we had already grown used to that."

"Only this recent battle was truly fierce; even we here could hear the artillery from the sea, so Elder Lady started to worry."

"But seeing you safe and sound here, we're relieved as well." Lao Wan said with a smile.

"However, Wan Da Niang has returned to Minghai; why aren't you going back?" Qin Ge asked.

"We can't both go back and bother the daughter, besides we've gotten used to living here, and the locals quite like eating my food, so we stayed. It's fortunate we did; otherwise when you came back and found neither of us here, you'd have missed us." Lao Wan said.

"That's true, but I remember when you were in Minghai, Wan Da Niang would simply not set up a stall if she didn't feel like it; now she seems much more diligent." Qin Ge laughed.

"Hey, you brat, have you grown wings and now you're teasing me?" Lao Wan laughed, "Actually, when Elder Lady left she left me some tasks, so I have to keep going."

"Hehe, no wonder!"