Dare to shirk responsibility? This adorable little one will tear down your military district!

Lei Zhentian's voice echoed in the empty, top-secret warehouse. He reached into the innermost pocket of his military uniform jacket and pulled out an old kraft paper envelope wrapped several times with red thread.

Yang Zhengjun stared at the envelope, his eyes widening, and strode forward. "Old Chief, you wouldn't have... given me that..."

Lei Zhentian waved his hand, interrupting Yang Zhengjun. He deftly tore open the envelope and pulled out a stiff sheet of yellow Xuan paper. Several lines of writing were densely packed on the paper, and at the bottom were three large, fist-sized, bright red seals stamped side by side.

The three crucial red stamps—the Beijing Garrison Command, the Public Security Bureau, and the Internal Affairs Department—were all present.

Yang Zhengjun gasped. He knew, of course, how important this piece of paper was. It was called a "special pass," which in the old society was a veritable get-out-of-jail-free card! With this paper, one could enter any state-run hotel, department store, or supply and marketing cooperative in the nine cities of Beijing without needing tickets or coupons, and buy whatever one wanted without restriction. If one encountered any troublesome officials, one could even call in the nearby armed patrol to clear the area.

This kind of thing is usually only issued to a very small number of special envoys who carry out top-secret missions. Lei Zhentian managed to get one approved for a five-and-a-half-year-old girl just by using his old connections!

"Here you go, little one!" Lei Zhentian shoved the pass into Ya Ya's chubby little hand, his voice booming, "From now on in the capital, if anyone dares to bully you, just slap this paper in their face! As long as you don't kill or commit arson, you can walk sideways and no one will dare to utter a word!"

Ya Ya held the paper, looking at it from left to right, tilting her little head and pondering for a while. "Grandpa, walking sideways makes a big crab. I just want to know, can this red stamp be exchanged for a big fat duck at Quanjude? Can it be exchanged for a big pork knuckle at the meat processing plant?"

Upon hearing this, Lei Zhentian was first stunned, then burst into laughter, the sound echoing through the underground warehouse. "Sure! Don't even mention trading it for pork knuckles, you can use it to pack sacks of fresh meat! Anyone who dares to stop you, I'll bring my troops and smash their shop!"

Ya Ya's eyes lit up. She quickly folded the special approval slip into a neat square and stuffed it tightly into the innermost pocket of the military green tactical vest Lin Wanrou had made for her, then patted it twice with her chubby hand. With this piece of paper, she would have a legitimate excuse to go out and rummage through the good stuff in her spatial storage, and she wouldn't have to hide anymore.

Gu Changfeng stood to the side, watching everything unfold, secretly pleased. He knew better than anyone the weight of this note; it was something even he, as the chief of staff, couldn't obtain. He knew Lei Zhentian was extremely protective of his own, and with this piece of paper, even when he wasn't home, this girl could cause a huge disturbance in the capital and escape safely.

Yang Zhengjun cleared his throat, turned to look at Gu Changfeng, his expression extremely solemn. "Gu Changfeng, you've made a tremendous contribution to the gold matter. This batch of hard currency can save the country's heavy industry. You led the team to retrieve the foreign exchange, annihilated the desert bandits, shook off the foreign mercenaries, and saved the lives of thirty soldiers. I'll report this to higher authorities right now! Your personal first-class merit is a certainty! And the elite platoon that went with you will receive a collective first-class merit!"

Gu Changfeng stood ramrod straight, feet together, and gave a perfectly standard military salute. "Serve the people!"

The gold transfer was top secret. Yang Zhengjun immediately ordered his trusted confidants in the Special Accounting Department to conduct an overnight inventory and seal of the gold. This matter was no longer within Gu Changfeng's or their group's purview.

Lei Zhentian personally escorted Gu Changfeng's family out of the underground air-raid shelter. It was already dark outside, and several large Liberation trucks with military license plates were parked in the yard, ready to pick up the elite soldiers and take them back to their barracks.

"Changfeng, you and your family have suffered these past few days, enduring wind and rain. Give those thirty brothers a three-day break! You should also go back and rest well. In a few days, when the commendation order comes down, I will personally go to Nanluoguxiang to congratulate you!" Lei Zhentian patted Gu Changfeng's strong shoulder forcefully.

Gu Changfeng nodded and turned to look at the group of elite soldiers, their bodies covered in yellow sand and their backs aching from exhaustion. These tough men had carried guns in sandstorms and crawled through piles of corpses; now, their eyes were bloodshot from exhaustion.

"Brothers!" Gu Changfeng boomed, "You've all risked your lives on this desert expedition. Going straight back to the barracks for the mess hall would be too unfair to you! The trucks will follow me to my place! Have a good meal before you go back to sleep!"

Upon hearing this, all thirty elite soldiers grinned, their chapped lips parting in a wide smile. They had been on edge the entire time escorting the gold, and were now truly hungry enough to devour a whole cow.

Lin Wanrou smiled too. She took Ya Ya's hand and started thinking about the family's food supplies.

These thirty big men have huge appetites, so there's no time to make elaborate stir-fries. We need to prepare some hearty meat dishes to fill our stomachs.

A large jeep with a red license plate, number 001, led the way, followed by large trucks. The convoy drove out of the garrison area gate and headed straight for Nanluoguxiang.

The jeep's heater was on. Niu Dan, clutching the cast iron boning knife, sat in the corner of the back seat, his head nodding off. He'd been on guard these past few days, constantly on guard against someone jumping out to steal his things, but now, smelling the familiar scent of soap on Lin Wanrou, he finally closed his eyes in peace.

The car sped along and soon entered Nanluoguxiang, stopping at the gate of the Gu family's side courtyard.

As soon as the thick, black lacquered gate was pushed open, a strong aroma of herbs wafted into the courtyard. Sun Shouzhen was bent over, holding a tattered palm-leaf fan, brewing medicine by a small mud stove in the middle of the courtyard. On the stone table next to him, Jiang Guo was fiddling with a large abacus, making a loud clattering sound.

"Grandpa Sun! Jiang Guo! We're back!" Ya Ya stepped over the threshold and shouted in her clear voice.

Sun Shouzhen's hand trembled, and the small stove almost tipped over. He threw down his palm-leaf fan and cheerfully rushed over. "Oh my goodness! You're finally back! The desert is full of sand, you haven't gotten thin from hunger, have you? Let Grandpa see you!"

Jiang Guo also stopped what he was doing with his abacus and walked over to greet Gu Changfeng and Lin Wanrou properly. His clear eyes swept over Ya Ya's bulging tactical pockets, clearly showing that the girl must have picked up a lot of good stuff in the Northwest again.

Lin Wanrou, without bothering with pleasantries, grabbed Sun Shouzhen's arm. "Master, there are thirty brothers outside who have risked their lives with Changfeng. They haven't had a hot meal in days. Do we have enough meat coupons and flour at home? I need to set up a pot right away and make a few pots of hearty meatball soup to welcome them back."

Upon hearing that thirty soldiers needed food, Sun Shouzhen quickly stroked his beard. "We have plenty of flour; Jiang Guo just got several hundred catties of high-gluten flour from the black market the day before yesterday. The only problem is the meat; we only have about ten catties of pork hindquarters left at home. How can that be enough to satisfy these ravenous men?"

Upon hearing there was no meat, Ya Ya immediately put her little hands behind her back and winked at Lin Wanrou. "Mom! I'll go look in the woodshed. I think I saw a big sack there before I left yesterday!"

After saying that, the little girl took off running into the dark woodshed in the backyard. Gu Changfeng watched her sneaky little figure, a smirk playing on his lips. He knew this girl's ways all too well; who knew she could probably pull out a whole bunch of fresh meat from that magical place of hers.

Less than two minutes later, a childish voice called out from the woodshed: "Niu Dan! Come quick and help! There are two large slabs of fresh pork ribs and three large pieces of hindquarter meat!"