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

As soon as Ya Ya shouted, Platoon Leader Li and Niu Dan ran faster than rabbits and rushed into the woodshed in two steps.

There were no lights in the woodshed, but by the moonlight in the yard, two large slabs of fresh pork ribs, red and white, were clearly piled on the ground, with three large pieces of lean and fatty pork shoulder meat next to them, weighing more than 100 jin (50 kg).

Platoon Leader Li gasped. In this day and age, who would find hundreds of pounds of fresh meat in their woodshed for no reason? He dared not ask, nor did he dare to inquire further.

Chief of Staff Gu's house is full of strange things. He can conjure up thousands of kilograms of gold in a top-secret warehouse, so what's a little pork to him?

Without a word, Niu Dan walked up, picked up a large rack of ribs with one hand, hoisted it onto his shoulder, and headed outside. His strength was extraordinary; he walked without even swaying. Platoon Leader Li quickly called over two elite soldiers, and they carried the rest of the meat out.

Hearing the commotion, Lin Wanrou came over and saw the pile of fresh meat on the bluestone slab. She knew immediately that it was her daughter who had made the noise. Without asking any unnecessary questions, she simply took a coarse cloth apron from the wall and tied it around her waist.

"Don't just stand there!" Lin Wanrou's voice rang out. "Everyone's been without any oil or fat for days, so let's eat our fill today! Grandpa Sun, set up those two big iron pots in the corner too, and light a fire with all three!"

Old man Sun Shouzhen was no longer arrogant at this moment, and happily ran to move fire bricks to support the pot.

Thirty elite soldiers, having eaten their fill of sand in the desert, now looked at the meat on the bluestone slab, their stomachs growling loudly.

Gu Changfeng strode to the hand pump, gripped the iron handle, and pumped it down a dozen times. Cool well water gushed through the iron pipe into the large wooden basin.

"Brothers, line up to wash your faces!" Gu Changfeng shouted. "Wash off all the dirt we brought back from the desert, and get ready to eat!"

Thirty tough men lined up in a row, taking turns burying their heads in wooden basins and slurping their faces. After washing their faces, the men all squatted under the eaves, watching the people busy in the middle of the yard with longing eyes.

Lin Wanrou took two large cleavers and began slicing meat with both hands. Niu Dan stood to the side, wielding a cast iron boning knife with lightning speed.

He cleaned the tendons and meat from between the bones, chopped the bones into large pieces and threw them into a wooden basin, and cut the large pieces of hindquarter meat into thick slices about two fingers wide.

Gu Changfeng washed his hands, rolled up his sleeves, and walked over. He scooped out most of a bag of high-gluten flour from the large vat, poured it into a porcelain basin, added water, and kneaded the dough.

Gu Changfeng's arm muscles bulged high, and he pressed the dough on the cutting board, kneading it with loud thumping sounds. In no time, it was kneaded into a large, white, and shiny dough.

Jiang Guo stood on the steps at the entrance of the main room, holding the large abacus in his hand, making a clicking sound as he fiddled with it.

"Aunt Lin," Jiang Guo reported, "thirty strong men. Judging by their physiques and how much they eat, our family will need to consume at least forty catties of high-gluten flour tonight. Half of this meat is just enough for stewing."

"Cut as much as you can, as long as the pot can hold it all, stew it all." Lin Wanrou's hands didn't stop, after cutting the meat she started chopping scallions and ginger.

The bottoms of three large iron pots were glowing red from the firewood, and a large basin of blanched ribs and meat chunks, skimmed clean of white foam, were poured into the pots.

A large lard is thrown in and heated to melt, then scallions, ginger, star anise, and a handful of brown sugar are added. With a flick of the large iron spatula, the intense and overpowering aroma of meat rises straight up and wafts along the courtyard wall into the alleyways of Nanluoguxiang.

Fill the pot with well water, cover it with a wooden lid, and simmer over high heat.

The veterans squatted there, swallowing hard.

Ya Ya moved a small wooden stool and sat down casually in the middle of the yard. She reached into the pocket of her tactical vest with her dirty little hands, took out the folded square piece of paper that Lei Zhentian had given her, spread it on her lap, and patted it hard twice.

Jiang Guo put down his abacus and strolled over. He glanced down at the paper and saw the three big red stamps at the bottom, his eyelids twitching.

"Where did you get this?" Jiang Guo was a connoisseur; he recognized that it was a special seal issued by the Beijing Garrison Command and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

"My godfather gave it to me." Ya Ya crossed her legs, her two short legs dangling in the air. "This is called a get-out-of-jail-free card. My godfather said that with this paper, I can buy braised pork knuckle anywhere in the capital without needing a ticket. If anyone tries to stop me, my godfather will bring his troops to smash down the door."

Jiang Guo squatted down next to Ya Ya, his tone revealing the shrewdness of a businessman: "This paper of yours isn't just for selling pork knuckles. Take it to those large state-owned factories or special supply and marketing cooperatives, and you can get some in-demand goods. We can resell it and double the profit. Want to partner up?"

"No way." Ya Ya stuffed the special permit back into her pocket. "This paper is my capital for saving meat coupons to exchange for grain. I'm not going to sell goods, it's too much trouble."

Jiang Guo had no choice but to shake his head and get up to continue settling accounts.

More than an hour later, when it was completely dark, the Gu family's side courtyard was still brightly lit.

Thick, white meat broth bubbled and boiled in three large iron pots. Lin Wanrou lifted the lid, arranged a thick dough ball along the edge of the pot, and then sprinkled in a handful of cabbage leaves.

"Out of the pot!"

Dozens of rough porcelain bowls were arranged on the stone table. Lin Wanrou took a long ladle and ladled meatball soup into each bowl. Each bowl was overflowing, with chewy flatbread at the bottom and five or six pieces of stewed meat on top. A layer of oil and chopped green onions floated on the surface of the soup.

Thirty elite soldiers each picked up a bowl, not minding the heat at all, and directly used chopsticks to shovel food into their mouths.

The courtyard was filled with the sounds of people slurping soup and chewing meat; no one spoke, everyone was focused on their work. After enduring so many days in the desert winds and sand, this bowl of steaming meat soup made the men sweat profusely, and they exclaimed how satisfying it was.

Gu Changfeng, holding a bowl of meat, leaned against the doorframe of the main room and ate heartily. He watched the soldiers wolfing down their food in the courtyard, watched Lin Wanrou bustling about in the firelight, and then looked at his daughter running around and Niu Dan guarding her.

He felt that all the battles he had fought and all the injuries he had suffered over the past few years were worth it at this moment.

Ya Ya's belly was already round and bulging, and she ate a few pieces of pork ribs and was stuffed. She let out a loud burp, wiped her greasy little hands, and looked at Sun Shouzhen, who was eating quietly beside her.

The old man sat in front of his medicine grinder, holding a small bowl, and ate his food very politely.

Ya Ya jumped down from the stool, toddled over to Sun Shouzhen, and furtively looked around. Everyone was focused on the meat in their bowls, no one was looking this way.

Ya Ya reached into her pocket. Actually, she was using her mind to retrieve something from her 200-square-meter personal space.

While traversing the weathered rocks and sand dunes in the desert, she casually gathered up a number of withered grass roots growing under the cracks in the rocks and threw them all into the soil next to the space-mutated purple grass. After being nourished and catalyzed by the spiritual spring water in the space for several days and nights, those few withered grasses had long since grown into strange shapes that no one recognized.

"Grandpa Sun." Ya Ya tugged at the old man's sleeve.

"Have you eaten your fill, my dear?" Sun Shouzhen put down his bowl and wiped his mouth with a cloth.

Ya Ya pulled her hand out of her pocket and, with a "smack," slapped two or three thick, long, strange-looking things covered in scale-like patterns onto Sun Shouzhen's flat medicine cutting board.

These things, still covered in yellow sand from the depths of the desert, had an eerie deep purplish-red color and a glossy sheen. Each one was as thick as an adult's arm, and as soon as they were taken out, a strong, pungent, and unique medicinal aroma wafted out.

The aroma was so strong that it completely overwhelmed the meaty fragrance emanating from the three large iron pots in the yard.

Sun Shouzhen didn't pay attention at first, but when the medicinal fragrance entered his nose, the old man's body, which was sitting on the stool, froze.

He quickly dropped the cloth he was wiping his mouth with, pounced on it with both hands, grabbed the thickest one, and smelled it three or four times under his nose.

The old man's hands, which were usually as steady as a mountain, were now trembling as if he had been electrocuted.

"This...this is..." Sun Shouzhen stared intently at the purplish-red herb in his hand.