Grandma heard the noise and ran out, stunned to learn that he had retired.
She snatched Grandpa’s bamboo stick and threw it away, glaring at him, "Why act without asking anything, Guan Chao is an adult now, doesn’t he know what he’s doing?"
"We still shouldn’t have retired!" Grandpa muttered, furiously puffing on his cigarette.
Grandma gently said, "Guan Chao, why did you retire? Tell Grandma, Grandpa won’t dare to hit you."
Song Guan Chao said, "There’s no special reason, I just felt tired of being a soldier."
Grandpa looked up at him sharply, "Nonsense! Were you just recruited yesterday? Why are you tired now?"
"I’ll call your unit and see if you’ve done something wrong!"
"Grandpa, I really didn’t do anything."
Song Guan Chao was almost at a loss for words.
Why couldn’t his own grandpa hope for the best for him?
"Alright, you’ve already retired, what would going back to the military do now?"
Grandma glared, and Grandpa fell silent.
Grandma asked, "So what are your plans after retiring? Going into business?"
Song Guan Chao shook his head, "We’ll see, I’ll just rest at home for a few days first."
"It’s time for you to rest, look at you, you’ve turned as dark as charcoal. You’ve had it tough in the army, Grandma made you some chicken soup, you’ll eat it all later."
Grandma went back to cooking while Grandpa threw away his cigarette butt and asked, "What’s the real reason you retired?"
Song Guan Chao said, "I want to go into politics."
Grandpa paused, this time he neither got angry nor agitated.
After a long while, he asked, "What made you think of entering politics?"
Song Guan Chao said, "There’s no particular reason, just like when I joined the military, I wanted to, so I did. Now, I want to go into politics, so I will."
Grandpa rifled through his pocket—Song Guan Chao had already passed him a cigarette.
Grandpa quickly smoked it down and said, "Politics is not like the military; the political field is chaotic! No matter how capable you are, it’s hard to make it alone."
Song Guan Chao replied, "Grandpa, I’m just starting out, what are you talking about?"
Grandpa said sternly, "Guan Chao, do you want a secure position regardless of drought or flood, or do you actually want to do something real for the people?"
"Of course, I want to do something real!"
"Then stick with it, don’t give up halfway, don’t conform to corruption, be an official who really does good."
Grandpa said, "If I find out that you’ve been accepting bribes or making life difficult for common people, don’t bother coming back home!"
Song Guan Chao knew that his grandpa wasn’t an ordinary old man.
He had served in the military and fought in several wars.
Occasionally, when drunk, he would tell Song Guan Chao about the tough days he and his comrades had on the battlefield.
Though those were tough times, Grandpa always felt they were his fondest memories.
He had never regretted enlisting; he was among the earliest generation of soldiers dedicated to protecting the nation.
A significant reason Song Guan Chao enlisted was the influence of his Grandpa’s example and teaching.
He just found it strange.
If Grandpa wasn’t lying, if he truly had fought in those wars and survived,
theoretically, with his years of service and the honors he claimed to have received, he should at least have been a general by now.
Yet, Grandpa had spent most of his life in this remote little village.
Song Guan Chao didn’t think Grandpa was lying, because during the holidays, some distinguished-looking people from out of town would come to visit him.
As a child, Song Guan Chao didn’t understand, but now he realized, those people who visited his grandpa weren’t ordinary; they were likely the descendants of his grandpa’s comrades.
"I will," Song Guan Chao nodded and replied.
Though Grandpa may not have had much education, his perspective was exceptional.
He had never held an office, yet he knew exactly what politics entailed. The source of this content ɪs 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡•𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚•𝙣𝙚𝙩
In some ways, Grandpa understood the core of politics better than most politicians.
Song Guan Chao joined Grandpa for a drink.
Grandma’s cooking was excellent, the farm-style stir-fries were colorful, fragrant, and delicious.
The chicken soup cooked in the clay pot had a thick layer of fat on top, rich in aroma.
After a hearty meal, Song Guan Chao took out the clothes Fu Ying had bought.
"Grandpa, Grandma, come try on the clothes."
The elders did not scold him for spending frivolously.
Grandchildren respect their own, and they should take whatever they receive.
Grandpa tried it on; it fit just right.
Grandma looked at herself in the mirror, touched the fabric of her clothes, and suddenly asked, "Did a young lady buy these?"
"Huh?" Song Guanchao looked baffled. "How did you know?"
Grandma smiled and said, "You blockhead, it’s easy to buy clothes for your grandpa, but for me, what could you possibly pick out? These clothes, from the inside out, have been carefully selected, not something a young man would think of. It must have been a young lady, so attentive."
She put down the clothes, grabbed Song Guanchao’s hand, and her eyes sparkled, "Tell me, which family’s young lady is she? How old is she? Where is she from? What’s her personality like?"
Song Guanchao felt a bit overwhelmed, "She’s my college classmate."
"A college classmate, that’s great. You’ve known each other for several years, and even after all the years you served in the army, she still keeps in touch with you. It shows she liked you back in college. Such a nice girl, you must cherish her."
"Mmm, grandma is right."
Song Guanchao nodded vigorously.
His slight understanding wasn’t enough at all in front of them.
The first night back home, Song Guanchao slept soundly and deeply.
The next day after breakfast, Song Guanchao followed his grandpa to the riverbank to fish.
Watching his grandpa catch one fish after another, Song Guanchao had no luck for a long time.
Adhering to the principle of not being ashamed to ask questions, he eagerly ran over to seek advice from his grandpa.
Half an hour later, he also caught a fish.
During the days Song Guanchao was at home, his phone never stopped ringing, though it was less frequent than the first few days.
He kept in touch with Mr. He, inquiring about the progress of setting up the project.
Liu Lanzi was going to make another trip to Dujiang County this weekend.
She had her eye on a piece of land and decided to secure it.
She had just finished reviewing the bidding documents; there were no issues.
She glanced at the time and said, "You take my place in the afternoon meeting."
"Okay." Ning Lin was curious. What was Chairman Liu going to handle?
She left the office when Liu Lanzi also got ready to leave.
Just as she reached the door, Ning Lin suddenly knocked and came in again. "Chairman Liu, Secretary Sun is looking for you."
"Secretary Sun?" Liu Lanzi glanced at her watch again, "Please let him in."
She returned to her seat by the time Secretary Sun had walked in.
Seeing the elegant Liu Lanzi, Secretary Sun managed to hide a hint of greed in his eyes.
He had been interested in Chairman Liu for several years, and they had met several times.
He had hinted a few times, but Liu Lanzi had pretended not to understand.
Secretary Sun knew that it was because Secretary Lu had been sidelined years ago, so his position in the City Committee wasn’t as powerful as one might think.
Therefore, Liu Lanzi did not take him seriously.
But now things were different.
He sat down and smiled, "Chairman Liu, long time no see."
Liu Lanzi politely asked, "What brings you here, Secretary Sun?"
Secretary Sun pulled out a cigarette and asked, "Do you mind if I smoke?"
Secretary Sun lit the cigarette, believing his smoking gesture was rather dashing.
"You’ve heard about the Lingjiang high-speed rail project, haven’t you?"
"Ha, the project leader, do you know who it is?"
Liu Lanzi shook her head, she didn’t know and wasn’t interested.
Secretary Sun gave a smug smile, "It’s me."
He had thought that revealing this would surprise Liu Lanzi.
However, he was wrong.
He couldn’t see any of the reactions he desired on Liu Lanzi’s face.
This gave Secretary Sun a sense of frustration of performing to an uninterested audience and annoyance.
He didn’t beat around the bush any longer and directly said, "The high-speed rail route has been confirmed, Chairman Liu, interested in collaborating?"
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