Chapter 182: Peace Lock

Yun Qin said with a grin, "I don't know how to make clothes. Before, I didn't know Nan Nan was my sister; I thought she was a sister from the Chen Family, so I even troubled Nan Nan to make several outfits for me. Those clothes were made very neatly and fit perfectly; there was no need to alter them at all."

Liu Xicai patted Yun Qin on the back, "You, you spend all day playing with swords and guns. If you had put even a little bit of heart into learning these things, you wouldn't have needed to make Nan Nan travel such a long way to make clothes for you two."

An Yinan smiled, "It's nothing, just a matter of convenience. I like making clothes when I'm resting."

"Right, let me go change first."

She was wearing a red dress, and in particular, it seemed her chest had developed further, making the dress a bit tight and uncomfortable to wear.

"Yes, yes, yes, go change first," said Liu Xicai.

An Yinan changed back into her own clothes and then looked at Yun Qin's figure. Because it had been less than a year since she gave birth, her chest was much larger than before, so her clothes also needed adjustments at the chest. Furthermore, she had left some room at the abdomen previously, but after these few months of training, Yun Qin's abdomen had recovered very well, and wearing them now would make them appear too loose.

Liu Xicai looked at the two of them, "You two, you didn't come back a day early. Both the wedding clothes and the new clothes for after the wedding need to be altered."

One was a soldier, and orders were a sacred duty; how could there be time to ask for leave?

The other was married to a soldier, especially one stationed at the very edge of the Northeast; a round trip was a month-long journey, making asking for leave even harder than ascending to heaven.

Except for the third year after he first went to the Camp, Chen Xun had only returned home once, and never again after that.

This was his first time back in Beijing.

Although they, as family members, understood, they still felt heartache for their children.

An Yinan looked at all the clothes, marked all the places that needed altering, and even specifically wrote a note to give to Liu Xicai.

"These are very easy to alter, Big Aunt, no need to worry."

Liu Xicai sighed; what else could she do?

"The Chen Family came over yesterday and discussed it. We've booked a State-run Restaurant to hold it together for both the bride's and groom's sides. Your leave is short, and there might be emergencies where you'd have to return to the Military at a moment's notice."

"It's just that it's a grievance to you two," Liu Xicai said, wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes.

Yun Qin hurriedly leaned in and wiped Liu Xicai's tears, "Mom, Dandan is almost a year old. I never cared about whether we held a wedding or not. Ours is a military marriage; the Military approval has already come down, and we've also received our marriage certificate. In the eyes of the law, we are already husband and wife. Holding a wedding is just a formality."

An Yinan also nodded. She had her marriage certificate too, though they hadn't reached that step yet, which was the result of Chen Xun's intentional restraint.

He said he wanted his girl to have a perfect wedding.

Whatever other girls had, his girl had to have as well.

"Big Aunt, they are soldiers; it's enough that they could get their marriage certificate. For us, a wedding is just a formality."

"You two." Liu Xicai felt extreme heartache.

"Alright Big Aunt, don't these clothes need to be sent to the tailor quickly?" As soon as An Yinan mentioned this, Liu Xicai couldn't spare the time to feel heartache and patted her forehead.

"They must be sent over quickly; these need to be altered immediately." Liu Xicai folded the clothes on the bed, put them into a paper bag, carried them in a box, and hurried downstairs.

An Yinan and Yun Qin looked at each other and smiled helplessly.

Everyone ate breakfast, and An Yinan checked her grandmother's pulse. Her grandmother had many old ailments on her body that needed a lot of conditioning, but she only knew how to check pulses and didn't know when she would learn anything else.

"Your grandmother's health is much better. Since taking the Small Silver Pill you left behind, she has rarely been sick in the past six months, and her energy is much better too." After finishing her work, Liu Xicai came over and looked at An Yinan with loving eyes.

She hadn't known before, but later she learned that the famous Hemostatic Pill came from An Yinan's hands.

Now, there was also the Frostbite Ointment being sent to all major Military Districts, which was also researched by this nineteen-year-old girl.

Because of the Frostbite Ointment, the heads of all major Military Districts held meetings for over half a month before deciding on the current plan.

An Yinan brought two more bottles of Health Pill back this time.

"Continue taking the Health Pill; other areas still need conditioning. I will slowly try to find a way." Although she could check pulses and diagnose the cause of illness, she didn't know how to cure them, and this feeling was very hard to endure.

She clearly knew where the problem was, but she simply didn't know how to treat it.

"Alright, I'm keeping these Small Silver Pill. Your grandmother is old and sometimes forgets, and I'm afraid she'll take too many or forget to take them." Liu Xicai smiled helplessly.

Last time, her mother-in-law did remember the instructions to take one pill every three days, but she always remembered the days wrong—either she took it after two days, or she took it after one day.

Later, fearing it would cause problems, she quickly took the medicine and kept it, only giving it to the old lady when it was time to take it.

"Right, the old man of the Chen Family hasn't been in good health these past two years. Before, the Chen Family side even came to ask what medicine your grandmother was taking. Without your permission, I didn't tell them."

"Actually, it's not just the old man of the Chen Family. Everyone in the Dayuan was a formidable character in their youth, and even with military doctors following them around now that they are old, their health is just getting worse and worse."

"After your grandmother took your medicine, her energy slowly improved. Occasionally she goes to the courtyard to practice Tai Chi, or goes out for a stroll, or dozes off on the lounge chair. Everyone who sees her comes over to ask what tonic your grandmother has been taking."

Liu Xicai shook her head with a smile. These old people now are all national treasures, and they represent the rise and fall of a family. Unlike the Yun Family, where Yun Fei took up the heavy burden early on, in other families, when the elders are there, it's one kind of scene, and when the elders are gone, it's another kind of scene entirely.

An Yinan thought for a moment and said, "I have prepared the Small Silver Pill for Chen Yeye, but I haven't prepared any for others. It doesn't seem quite right to just give them away like that. I'll discuss it with Big Uncle later."

Liu Xicai nodded upon hearing this.

Nan Nan is just a girl; if she were a boy, she would probably be more suited for a political path than Yun Qi.

"Qin Qin, Nan Nan, come, come, come, Grandmother has good things for you." Grandmother walked out of the room and waved at Yun Qin and An Yinan with a face full of smiles.

An Yinan and Yun Qin hurriedly gathered around and helped the old lady sit on the sofa.

"Grandmother, what good things? So mysterious," An Yinan asked with a chuckle.

The old lady's trembling hands opened a wooden box and took out two pure gold Peace Lock, "This one is for Dandan, and this one is for Nan Nan's future baby."

She gave one Peace Lock to each of them.