1970s: My childhood sweetheart ran away, and I turned around and married the wildest chief.

Qiao Wanqing smiled, "No, it's nothing! It's just a candy or a cookie, a casual snack. I won't hold it against you."

Qi Ya breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"what……"

A blood-curdling scream came from ahead, the sound piercing the sky and startling Auntie and Qiya, who had just recovered.

Qiao Wanqing stood on the balcony of the second-floor living room and looked down. The sound was coming from the house of Commander Sun in front. Because of the buildings, she couldn't see what was happening in the yard in front, but the group of onlookers seemed quite saddened.

Screams and cries filled the air, and faintly, Qiao Wanqing heard someone shouting things like "Don't take it!" or "That's mine!" It sounded like the voice of Commander Sun's mother.

It seems we've uncovered quite a few good things!

He Zhihua wanted to take the items away, after all, they were evidence, and Aunt Sun was heartbroken.

Today, the people in the family compound were terrified. He Zhihua and his men didn't even have lunch and kept searching until it was almost dark in the afternoon before they finally left with their men.

Once everyone had left, the martial law in the family compound was lifted, and everyone was free to move around.

But at this moment, no one had any desire to move around freely. Everyone was quite frightened. It was getting dark outside, and the entire residential compound was quiet. Everyone was hiding in their own homes and wouldn't come out.

The child, who is usually heard screaming and crying, was unusually quiet tonight.

The triplets were hungry, so Qiao Wanqing hurried to make formula and said to her aunt, "Aunt, go cook. Qi Ya and I will watch the babies."

Third Aunt nodded and hurried downstairs to cook. They stayed with Qiao Wanqing all day. Although the courtyard gate was locked from the inside, they were still afraid and stayed by Qiao Wanqing's side.

The next day was a workday, and everyone went to work. In such a large residential compound, it wasn't immediately noticeable that several people were missing. After those going to work or school had left, some family members started to come out. Everyone began to inquire about each other, but clearly no one dared to gossip openly. They were all very well-behaved, and their footsteps were barely audible.

This situation continued for three days, with no further developments, leaving the family members in a state of panic.

Qiao Wanqing was waiting for news. She was looking forward to the result this time, but instead of the result, she received news of Lu Mingzhou.

Lu Mingzhou returned to the army, handed over his work, and rushed home. Some of his family members who worked outside saw him rushing home and craned their necks to look at him, wanting to ask, but not daring to.

Lu Mingzhou ran all the way home and saw that Qiao Wanqing and the child were all alright, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Wanwan!"

When Qiao Wanqing saw him, she felt relieved. Her biggest worry these past few days had been that Lu Mingzhou might be in danger while he was away.

What if it's not just a report?

What if the other party feels that reporting is not enough and directly targets Lu Mingzhou?

She threw herself into Lu Mingzhou's arms, her voice trembling with tears, "So many people came to inspect, they searched the whole house inside and out, and they even checked our finances. There were a few people among them who were very hostile to me, they must have been specially arranged by hostile forces."

"We searched many families in the residential compound, and several families were taken away."

Lu Mingzhou hugged her and gently patted her back. "It's alright, don't be afraid, it's all over now!"

The two were in the bedroom, talking with the door closed. Qiao Wanqing asked anxiously, "How is it? Do you know about this? Has the result come out yet?"

Lu Mingzhou held her hand and saw that she was no longer afraid. He was at home now and didn't need to pretend to be so panicked as he had been outside.

"Of course I know. I heard rumors before I left, which is why I came back specifically to tell you. I originally wanted to check the house myself, but they acted very quickly and transferred me away immediately."

Qiao Wanqing was overjoyed. She knew Lu Mingzhou wouldn't remind her for no reason; he must know something. "So... are we alright now? Who reported you? What was the result?"

Lu Mingzhou held Qiao Wanqing's hand, a slight smile playing on his lips, and said with a hint of smugness, "Our family is definitely fine now. Of course, the people who reported me weren't the ones who did it themselves, but after so much time, I'm certain that it was the Gu family who instructed them. The Gu family is the one pulling the strings behind this. By the time I realized it, it was too late. There was no other way but to play along and take the opportunity to eliminate a few competitors as well."

Qiao Wanqing's eyes widened. "Did you arrange for the investigation of Lin Zhengjun and Brigade Commander Sun?"

Lu Mingzhou laughed and said, "I guess so, but I didn't do it directly. It was just a ruse."

"This matter was orchestrated by the Gu family. Old Master Gu is a man who cares about his reputation, so he will appear to be very fair and just on the surface. Therefore, I am definitely not the only one being investigated this time. Naturally, several other officers of the battalion level will also be implicated. Of course, the Gu family's main target is me, and the others are just incidental."

"After I received this news, it was too late to intercept it. I can't deal with Elder Gu. I can only turn the tables and expand the battle. By taking advantage of the momentum created by Elder Gu, I can also eliminate a few competitors."

"Lin Zhengjun's situation isn't too serious. Some of the money he had came from his brother-in-law. His brother-in-law has retired and poses no threat to others. No one would deliberately target him. He does have money, and it seems that someone in his family is in business. Although the money may not have come from clean sources, at least on the surface, it seems to be legitimate."

"They've all been dismissed. The higher-ups didn't pursue the matter, only Lin Zhengjun. He took money from his brother-in-law's local connections, which opened up his meridians, so he also took money from others and used his connections to protect those people. The circumstances were quite serious, so he was demoted three ranks and transferred to a local job."

"Brigade Commander Sun's family didn't have that much money. His situation was similar to Lin Zhengjun's, except that he was timid and not as wicked. He was demoted and transferred to civilian work."

"Another one was the director of the logistics department; he was seriously corrupt and was executed!"

Qiao Wanqing blinked. "Logistics department, embezzlement?"

Lu Mingzhou nodded, "Yes! He took a lot of military supplies. I've known about this person for a few years, but back then I had just returned from the battlefield and was so young that I was too inexperienced to touch him."

"This time, with the help of Old Gu, we dealt with him. He took a lot of military supplies back to his hometown. I heard that He Zhihua found out that many of his relatives in his hometown had military overcoats, enamel basins, and enamel mugs. Every household had more than enough of these things. At first, he was greedy for these things. In the following years, he became bolder and replaced the soldiers' winter cotton-padded clothes with inferior ones. He secretly took the good ones and sold them."

"In the past two years of reform and opening up, he embezzled even more. A large amount of military supplies were transferred, amounting to a considerable sum. The higher-ups were furious and had him executed!"

The military supplies are military necessities and cannot be arbitrarily exchanged by others. During the Korean War, some unscrupulous merchants sent expired medicines, substandard gauze, and inferior cotton clothing to the front lines. Many soldiers died in their own hospital beds because of these substandard items. Many people were punished back then.

There are still people like this in the military today. If it were just a small part of daily necessities that were swapped, he might not have died. Unfortunately, he became bolder and bolder, swapping more and more items of increasingly poor quality. In the end, he even took a batch of medical supplies, and that was the only thing left for him to do.

Qiao Wanqing couldn't understand these people. How dare they switch military supplies? They were really risking their lives for money!

"So... how's it going with the Gu family? Has Old Master Gu suspected you did it?"

Lu Mingzhou looked up, a slight smile playing on his lips. "He won't doubt me; I don't have that much power."

Qiao Wanqing was taken aback. Right, Lu Mingzhou shouldn't be able to do something this big. So who is it?

"Someone helped you? Who?"

Lu Mingzhou kissed her. "Uncle and Chief Jiang cooperated very discreetly. Old Master Gu should not be able to guess. Even if he suspects something, he will only suspect Chief Jiang."

"He's being transferred, but Old Gu won't leave. He wants to take advantage of Chief Jiang's transfer and replace him with a group of his own people before the next one arrives, in order to ensure that he has more say. In the past few years, with Chief Jiang around, he has been suppressed and has no chance to stand out. He can only obediently shrink under Chief Jiang."

"I am one of the main targets, but I can only say that I am incidental. He just wants to pave the way for Gu Xun and doesn't want his carefully cultivated son to always be subordinate to me."

Finally, Lu Mingzhou patted Qiao Wanqing's hand, "Don't be afraid, it's all over now, it's been mostly dealt with, our family is fine, just continue with what you were doing, don't worry."

"This time, I escaped unscathed, and was even praised!"

Qiao Wanqing: "..."

She excitedly jumped into Lu Mingzhou's arms, "You're so amazing!"

Lu Mingzhou's smile instantly stretched to his ears, and he hugged his wife tightly, showering her with kisses. "Really? How amazing is it!"

The couple stayed in the bedroom for a long time, whispering sweet nothings. They hadn't seen each other for many days and were incredibly happy.

However, Lu Mingzhou seemed to be very busy. He stayed at home for a maximum of two hours before leaving again, continuing his life of leaving early and returning late.

A few days later, Lin Zhengjun's family and Brigade Commander Sun's family returned. They came back to pack their belongings, as they were to leave the army within the stipulated time and the house would be taken back.

The Lin family's side was relatively quiet, because Wu Yuxiu and her two children were only crying silently. It was a different story at the Sun family's house in front. The old couple were wailing so loudly that the whole family compound could hear them. Their voices were so pitiful. All their wealth and glory were gone!

Lin Zhengjun packed his luggage and left with his wife and children. He saw the open gate of the Lu family's courtyard next door. The courtyard was still full of flowers and vegetables. The gate was open, but he did not see Qiao Wanqing. However, he heard some children's laughter coming from upstairs.

He stared at the Lu family for a long time with hatred, but in the end, no matter how unwilling he was, he could only turn into helplessness and leave with his family.

The Lin family left relatively gracefully, but the Sun family was a different story. The elderly Sun couple refused to leave the army, lying on the ground and throwing a tantrum. In the end, it was only by force that Brigade Commander Sun carried them away.

Besides these two families, several other families in the residential compound were also leaving. The compound was bustling for most of the day, and it didn't quiet down until evening.

Qiao Wanqing hummed a song, "So many roses have bloomed again!"

She took the scissors and cut off some of the withered flower branches, pruning them and waiting for more flower buds to grow.

She put the freshly cut flower branches into a vase in the living room. Every time she saw this vase, she felt incredibly angry because one of her vases had been broken on the day of the inspection. She had asked them to pay for it, but unfortunately, things escalated and she forgot about it!

She forgot!

She actually forgot!

She's so angry!

In the living room, her eldest child was lying on the carpet, engrossed in a picture book. Children's books are very rare these days. Children's lives are so monotonous these days; there are no cell phones, no computers, and even cartoons are scarce.

Looking at the sketchbook on the ground, Qiao Wanqing suddenly thought that perhaps she could draw a short storybook and submit it! She could draw it for children, with small animals as the main characters, and various adventure stories.

Just do it!

She picked up her eldest daughter and kissed her, "Ningning, you're truly my little darling, Mommy loves you to death!"

Uh……

Little Anning stared at her mother with wide eyes. She had just been looking at a picture book when her mother suddenly came over and kissed her. Her mother really loved her!

She loves her mother too!

Sure enough, the little guy kissed his mother's face several times, making Qiao Wanqing laugh heartily.

Qiao Wanqing went upstairs, picked up a pen, and began to draw an adventure story of a cat, a dog, and a beautiful little fox in the forest.

This kind of story is very simple, and Qiao Wanqing was very quick, completing it in about a month.

It was already November, the weather was getting cooler, and the babies in the family had grown a bit and were much stronger.

The new housekeeper had arrived, and Qiao Wanqing began to live a peaceful life again. She took the short story she had created to her mother's house, only to find that her father had also returned.

Qiao Wanqing's eyes widened. "Dad, you're back! You didn't even tell me. Am I no longer your favorite daughter?"

Qiao Yanshuo rubbed his nose. "What nonsense are you talking about? I just got home, so naturally I came to see your mother. She's been working really hard lately, so I came to tidy up for her. Otherwise, this place wouldn't feel like a home anymore."

Qiao Wanqing looked at the freshly mopped floor, the clean sheets and blankets, the gleaming furniture her friend had wiped, and the well-stocked food and vegetables in the kitchen, and gave her father a thumbs up.

"Dad, you're becoming more and more of a virtuous wife!"

Qiao Yanshuo: "..."

"Why are you here? With so many children at home, are you sure you don't want to come out? Is Xiao Lu home today?"

"Not here."

Qiao Wanqing sat down on the sofa. "There are three people in the family. My third aunt and Qi Ya are already trained, so I trust them to take care of the children. By the way, when are Grandpa and Grandma coming back?"

Qiao Yanshuo shook his head, "How would I know? I haven't even talked to your mother about this yet!"

Qiao Wanqing: "..."

So what did you talk about when you came back?