Chapter 304

You all keep the children company first; we'll go to the kitchen to make you something to eat. Do you want egg noodles or knife-cut noodles?

Lu Lao Zu considerately asked his granddaughter for her opinion, his kind eyes almost overflowing.

His granddaughter had lost weight, his grandson-in-law had lost weight, his grandson's wife had lost weight, and even his grandson, uh, had lost weight.

Shen Man and her sister-in-law exchanged a glance and spoke in unison:

Grandpa, I want to eat the knife-cut noodles you make.

Jiang Ye placed the children on the grass mat, then, upon hearing that, chimed in:

Grandpa, I also want to eat knife-cut noodles.

As for Lu Xiu Bai's opinion, well, it doesn't matter.

Lu Xiu Bai let out an ah; he also wanted to eat—why didn't Grandpa wait for his answer?

Hmph, no love left.

But, old man, how did you get so thin?

Surely it's because you're worried about them, you can't swallow your food.

As expected, this old man is tough-mouthed but soft-hearted.

Lu Xiu Bai is easy to appease; look, no one had to coax him, he soothed himself.

Perhaps it's because he returned to a familiar place; this person had originally been sitting on the grass mat, playing with his daughter, but for some reason sleepiness overcame him, and as soon as he lay down he fell asleep.

Huh—

A deafening snore rang out, and everyone silently shifted their positions to the shade of the trees in the courtyard to chat.

"Kids change day by day; you've been away from home for over half a month, and the little ones have already tried seven or eight kinds of supplementary food..."

"After we left, did they make a fuss at night?"

"Don't even mention it; they're fine during the day, but as soon as night falls they wail loudly, the sound grating on our ears, tormenting us old folks so we never get a full night's sleep."

"You've worked hard, grandparents."

"Ah, we're safe at home, unlike you; it's really tough for you over at Hong Shan."

When Hong Shan was mentioned, Shen Man and the others fell silent.

That memory is etched deep into their bones; if they could, they wouldn't want to mention it again.

Ee-ya-ya.

Xiao Nuomi nestled in his mother's arms, seemingly trying to draw her attention.

Meow.

Master, you've finally returned!

Tangyuan shot out of the house like lightning, lunging at the master's feet and spinning around, dying of anxiety!

What's wrong? Did something thorny happen?

Shen Man patted her daughter's back while communicating with Tangyuan in spirit.

Meow.

Master, I've found the origin of that jade tablet!

It's a pair of matching jade tablets, a gift used in ancient betrothal ceremonies.

Simply put, it's a pair of jade tablets used for pledging affection.

Pledging affection?

How could an immortal like Lu Lao Zu pledge affection with someone?

Shen Man's pupils widened as she stared at Tangyuan in disbelief.

Obviously, this news shocked her.

Tangyuan also widened its round, plump cat eyes; it really wasn't just making baseless guesses.

But rather, it found records of the matching jade tablets in the books left by Lu Lao Zu.

This is the matching jade tablet, symbolizing the wish to find one true love and never part until white-haired.

However, it still hasn't figured out why this jade tablet passed down in the Shen family has no reaction to the master's blood.

Could it be that the destined person for this jade tablet is not the master?

Unconsciously, Tangyuan's gaze turned toward the big shot.

If you don't look, you won't know; but once you look, you'll be startled!

What's the situation?

Has the big shot's golden aura become this thick?

Before, the purple aura was absurdly strong; now the golden aura is also...

Meow.

As a hardworking cat, how could I forget to cling to the thigh!

Almost in an instant, Jiang Ye felt his calf being hugged by Tangyuan!

Fluffy, soft, and strangely hot.

Looks like Tangyuan misses you guys too.

Pei Lao Ye Zi, seeing this, made a teasing remark.

He's been here almost a year and has never seen his disciple's cat be so affectionate toward others.

Sure enough, what kind of person raises what kind of cat.

The cat raised by the disciple is also close to the disciple's son-in-law.

Meow.

Sniff sniff, rub rub, the big shot's body is full of merit light!

Among those present, only Shen Man could understand what Tangyuan was muttering.

Shen Man could naturally see it as well; since joining the disaster relief, she had noticed that the medical staff, including herself, all bore a light of merit on their bodies.

However, the light of merit on her body would be drawn into the space, turning into nourishment for that space.

Hold on, just now Tangyuan was reporting the discovery of the jade tablet's secret—how did she instantly turn into a little sexy cat, acting cute and selling her charms!

Little Mantou nestled in his father's arms, half-asleep, with no thought of competing for Tangyuan's affection.

He felt it had been ages since he'd seen his parents; he also wanted Mom to hold him, but Mom's arms were already holding his sister, so let the sister stay in Mom's embrace first.

Pei Yan Ting hadn't drunk the well water from her sister's courtyard in a long time, and she really missed it.

She sneakily took a few sips after washing, just to quench her thirst.

Although she had been on a few battlefields, witnessed the cruelty of war, and smelled gunpowder and blood,

but the human tragedy of Hong Shan, the foul smell in the air, truly left an indelible mark on her, impossible to shake from her mind.

She turned her head toward her husband's direction and saw her daughter climbing onto his chest, pinching his nose, twisting his chin, and pulling his face out of shape.

Even like that, her husband was still snoring, showing how tense he had been; only now that they were home did he dare to relax.....

Anyone who often eats knife-cut noodles knows that mixing the dough, kneading it, and waiting for the dough to ferment all take time.

Old Master Lu had plenty of patience; considering his grandson's big appetite, he stubbornly kneaded two jin of dough.

While waiting for the dough to rise, he also picked several ripe cucumbers from the courtyard, washed them, and made a plate of cold cucumber salad.

He sliced a plate of cold kelp strands, a plate of cold jellyfish strands, and fried ten sunny-side-up eggs.

Though the old man never said a word of concern, his actions all showed his care for the younger generation.

Shen Man and her sister-in-law wanted to help, but Grandfather and the master drove them out of the kitchen, telling them to just keep the children company while they handled the kitchen work.

At that moment, Amei Wang arrived with scallion oil pancakes, followed by Ye Qinghong, Zhao Cuicui and the others, who successively brought their homemade spicy crab and salt-baked shrimp.

Before the words of thanks were finished, Section Commander Duan arrived by car.

Seeing the leader arrive, Ye Qinghong and the others hurriedly took their leave.

They had merely heard that Shen Man had returned, brought some food over, and dared not linger in the leader's presence.

They slipped away.

"Section Commander Duan."

"Ah, you've worked hard."

After Section Commander Duan got out of the car, seeing the slender Shen Man and also Jiang Ye, his eye sockets reddened slightly.

How dire the situation in the disaster zone was—just hearing the reports made his heart ache.

This is the greatest domestic disaster since the founding of the nation!

Unfortunately, he couldn't be there in person, so he could only let the younger generation go to the front......

"Tell me about the situation in Hong Shan; I want to understand it objectively, and later, when I meet with other departments of the troops, I'll see which aspects of support to focus on......"

"Okay."

Jiang Ye gestured for Section Commander Duan to sit beside him for a chat, and based on what he had sensed, offered suggestions to Section Commander Duan.

Section Commander Duan's signal corps took out a notebook and silently recorded the proceedings.

Upon hearing the casualty numbers and seeing the scene of devastation, his eye sockets reddened involuntarily.

Tears dripped onto the notebook, blurring a patch of ink.

Several hundred thousand compatriots' lives, just gone like that!

Just listening made his chest feel constricted; as for Jiang Tuan and those who had gone to the scene to participate in rescue, they must be......