Starting from the deputy company commander of the Soldier Assault Team

The 702nd Regiment's family compound is relatively remote, but parking is very convenient, unlike the military compound where you have to park in a designated parking lot.

Zhang Anbang lightly turned the steering wheel and parked the car directly on the side of the road.

"Anbang, what kind of fruit do you think we should buy? Do you know what kind of fruit Uncle Wang and Aunt Wang like to eat?"

"Honey, I have a question. Why am I sometimes called Anbang and sometimes Comrade Xiao Zhang?"

"Haha, guess?"

Zhang Anbang shook his head helplessly. Guess? How does that song go again? "Boys, don't try to guess what a girl is thinking. You'll never figure it out no matter how much you try." He didn't want to guess.

There's no reward for guessing correctly and no benefit for guessing incorrectly; it's purely a thankless task. Just observe it yourself.

"Uncle Wang and his family like to eat strawberries and apples, so let's just buy some of the better quality ones from this stall."

Gu Xiaonan nodded, "Okay, the loquats we had at my sister-in-law's house at noon were pretty good. Let's see if there are any for sale nearby, and if so, we can buy some."

"Okay, whatever you say."

……

Bang Bang Bang!

As Zhang Anbang knocked on the door, he said, "Uncle, open the door. I've brought your niece-in-law to see you."

As soon as she finished speaking, the door opened, and Aunt Zhang looked at the two people standing at the door with a big smile. She grabbed Gu Xiaonan's hand and said, "Oh, Xiaonan, you've finally come! It's been so long since I last saw you. You've finally come again."

Come on in and sit down. Anbang, you little rascal, you wouldn't have brought Xiaonan over if I hadn't told you, would you? And another thing, I'm not trying to be mean, but you have no sense at all. How could you let Xiaonan carry all that stuff?

"You're so immature! Hurry up and pick it up. If you do this again, I'll give you a good thrashing."

Gu Xiaonan smiled and handed the strawberries she was carrying to Zhang Anbang, "Auntie, these things aren't heavy at all, not even as heavy as the computer I carried when I was in the army."

Besides, Anbang just drove by, and I just picked it up. He was carrying the heavier one.

Ah, listening to Aunt Zhang's rapid-fire words, Zhang Anbang felt that this was quite a change. Aunt Zhang's attitude was not like this in the morning; she used to dote on him.

It hasn't been long, less than ten hours, and it's already changed.

With Gu Xiaonan's arrival, it feels like his status has dropped quite a bit.

Wang Qingrui also arrived at the door. "Xiaonan is here. Come in and sit down."

As the two entered the house, before Zhang Anbang could even sit down, Aunt Zhang's words rang out, "Anbang, there's some juice next to the coffee table. Get Xiaonan a bottle; she must be thirsty after the journey. Let her quench her thirst."

"Okay, Auntie," Zhang Anbang said, placing a bag of apples and strawberries on the coffee table. He hadn't managed to buy any loquats.

"Oh, Auntie, you've bought quite a lot! Why didn't you have this much when I came last time?" Zhang Anbang looked at the five or six kinds of drinks next to the coffee table. Seeing his wife being so pampered by his elders, he felt both warm and amused.

He took out a bottle of coconut juice and handed it to Gu Xiaonan, then turned to Aunt Zhang and said, "Auntie, so you're saying I'm only fit to drink tea here, while Xiaonan gets all the juice and fruit?"

"Otherwise what?" Aunt Zhang rolled her eyes at him and replied with a smile, "Xiaonan is a young lady who has traveled a long way to get here, so of course we should take good care of her."

You're a grown man, training under the sun and wind every day, enduring simple meals and barely having anything to drink.

Wang Qingrui put down his teacup, raised his hand and patted Zhang Anbang's arm: "Your aunt just likes girls, especially girls like Xiaonan who are steady and sensible. She's already been very good to you. Your older brothers are disliked even more at home."

Anbang, you two are getting your marriage certificate tomorrow. I just want to tell you one thing: live a good life together from now on, be understanding and tolerant of each other, and no matter how busy you are with work, don't neglect your family.

"Okay, Uncle, I understand," Zhang Anbang replied solemnly.

However, Wang Qingrui's words definitively settled his mindset: he no longer needed to feel anything; with his wife's arrival, his status had plummeted.

Aunt Zhang brought out a plate of washed fruit from the kitchen and said as she walked, "Anbang, when you left this morning you said you were going to take pictures. I told you to bring a group photo, you didn't forget, did you?"

"No, no, how could I forget what you told me, Auntie?"

As he spoke, Zhang Anbang took out a photo of the two of them that was already in a frame from his bag and handed it over.

Aunt Zhang placed the fruit on the coffee table, urging Gu Xiaonan to eat it while taking the photo frame. "Hmm, it's a pretty good photo. Xiaonan looks just like the real person in it. It's just that Anbang, why are you so dark-skinned?"

Especially next to Xiaonan's porcelain-doll-like fair skin, he looked even darker and seemed somewhat unworthy of her.

Gu Xiaonan burst out laughing upon hearing this. When they were taking the photos, the proprietress had already said that Zhang Anbang was ruthless, and now she had been stabbed in the back again.

"Hahaha," Wang Qingrui, unable to suppress a laugh, put down his teacup and said, "Old Zhang, what kind of talk is that? Even among the clerks and staff officers in the army, not many are truly white."

A good young man is one with real skills; there's no point in talking about right and wrong.

Aunt Zhang gently stroked the edge of the photo frame with her fingertips. "I was just joking around. Xiaonan is fair-skinned and pretty, so the two of them standing together make each other stand out."

Anbang is reliable and capable, and he cares deeply for Xiaonan; how could I not know that?

She straightened the photo frame and placed it on the TV cabinet, next to a group photo of Wang's three sons and their respective partners.

"Anbang, you stay here with Xiaonan and watch TV for a while. Your uncle and I will go cook."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Anbang and Gu Xiaonan replied simultaneously, "Auntie, let's go help out."

"No need, no need," Aunt Zhang waved her hands repeatedly. "Old Wang can come with me. You two have been running around all day. Just sit down and rest for a while."

Besides, the dishes I prepared today are all local dishes, which you don't know how to cook.

Hearing this, Gu Xiaonan smiled and said, "Auntie, I can do it. Your hometown isn't far from mine, so I know how to make it."

After saying that, she turned to Zhang Anbang and said, "Comrade Zhang, I'm entrusting you with an important task. Stay here with Uncle Wang, have some tea, and chat. I'll go help your aunt."

……

As Aunt Zhang led Gu Xiaonan to the kitchen to get busy, Wang Qingrui took a sip of his tea and asked, "Anbang, how's work at the division's training section lately?"

"Uncle, you're doing alright, but how should I put it, you're always lacking that grassroots drive and that decisiveness."

Wang Qingrui put down his teacup. "Well, you came from the front line, working in the government. You must feel that you're lacking something. But reports, plans, and all kinds of documents require careful consideration at every level."

The situation at the headquarters is different from that at the grassroots level. At the grassroots level, the problem is a single point, while at the headquarters, all issues of the entire force must be considered, requiring comprehensive coordination capabilities.

The army group went to great lengths to bring you back, so they're definitely going to give you an important role. For now, just focus on doing your job well.