When they arrived at the courtyard house and the celestial bridal chamber, they discovered it was a

The train ran on the tracks for three days and three nights, and finally, on the afternoon of the fourth day, it slowly pulled into the Sijiucheng Station.

Zhou Zheng'an sat by the window, staring intently outside. The scenery outside the train window changed from fields to villages, from villages to low houses on the outskirts of the city, and finally to the pillars of the platform.

His hands were on his knees, clutching the photograph.

The photo I took with Liu Qianqian before I left.

Liu Qianqian looked beautiful in the photo, her eyes crinkling into crescent moons and her lips slightly upturned. He remembered that she had specially changed into a new outfit that day, a blue one with two small flowers embroidered on the collar.

"Staff Officer Zhou, we're almost there," the guard Xiao Li, sitting opposite him, reminded him.

Zhou Zheng'an nodded, carefully tucked the photo into his breast pocket, and patted it.

The train slowly came to a stop, and people were coming and going on the platform. There were family members waiting to pick up passengers, passengers carrying luggage, and vendors selling cigarettes and sunflower seeds. Zhou Zheng'an stood up, picked up his old canvas bag, and followed the flow of people toward the train door.

As soon as he jumped out of the car, he saw Liu Qianqian.

Liu Qianqian stood on the platform, wearing a yellow uniform, tiptoeing and peering anxiously towards the train car door.

Zhou Zheng'an stood there for two seconds, then strode over.

Liu Qianqian finally saw him, paused for a moment, and then ran over. When she got close, she suddenly stopped, her eyes red, her lips moved but she couldn't say a word.

Zhou Zheng'an put down his canvas bag and reached out to pull her into his arms.

Liu Qianqian's body trembled slightly. She buried her face in his chest and said in a muffled voice, "You're finally back."

Her voice was choked with sobs.

Zhou Zheng'an didn't say anything, he just hugged her tighter. She had a faint scent of soap on her, and her soft hair brushed against his chin.

He could feel her tears soaking his clothes at the chest, warm and wet.

Someone passing by glanced at them a couple of times.

Of course, most people weren't really interested in watching, since they were all there to pick up other people.

However, it wasn't just Liu Qianqian who came to pick up Zhou Zheng'an; even Director Huang came. These were all relatives, and people from the Special Staff Department were also there.

After all, when Zhou Zheng'an went there, he was an operations staff officer in the Special Staff Department.

Naturally, one should salute, shake hands, and exchange pleasantries.

Director Huang waved his hand with a smile: "Alright, alright, this is a platform, no need to be so formal. Especially since you are a special-class meritorious official of Great Xia."

She looked him up and down, saying, "You've lost weight, but you seem to be in good spirits."

Liu Qianqian stood to the side, her eyes widening when she heard the words "Great Xia Special Merit". She looked at Zhou Zheng'an, then at Director Huang, wanting to ask but not daring to.

Seeing her expression, Director Huang smiled and said, "Qianqian, you don't know yet, do you? Your man was amazing on the battlefield. He single-handedly blew up the US artillery base and rescued more than 700 captured comrades. The headquarters of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army said that he deserves the most credit for winning the Battle of Shangganling."

Liu Qianqian was stunned and turned to stare at Zhou Zheng'an.

Zhou Zheng'an scratched his head and said softly, "It's not that exaggerated."

Liu Qianqian didn't say anything, her eyes reddened again. This guy lied to her, staying in the Volunteer Army and not going to the front lines, what a bastard.

That's why Liu Qianqian, who was initially quite embarrassed, glared at him.

Of course, this glare wasn't very powerful.

Soon, a group of people walked out of the station. Liu Qianqian took a few steps and then turned to look at him, as if afraid he would run away.

Zhou Zheng'an let her look, a smile playing on his lips.

Upon exiting the station, there were three jeeps parked outside, each with a driver inside.

The jeep started and drove into the city.

Liu Qianqian sat next to Zhou Zheng'an, holding onto his sleeve tightly. Director Huang, also in the car, turned to ask Zhou Zheng'an a few questions about the situation on the battlefield.

Zhou Zheng'an answered simply, summarizing what he could in one sentence. When asked about the part about bombing the artillery base, he said, "We sneaked into their camp, seized a tank, and fired a few shots at the ammunition depot."

Director Huang glanced back at him and said with a smile, "You make it sound so easy. The battle report from the headquarters doesn't say that. Director Mo wrote the telegram himself, saying that you fought inside by yourself for more than half an hour and used up more than a dozen boxes of shells."

Zhou Zheng'an did not respond.

The car pulled up in front of the Military Control Commission in Shangcheng District and stopped. Director Huang said, "Take a good rest today. Come to my office at nine o'clock tomorrow morning. I have some work arrangements to discuss with you."

Zhou Zheng'an nodded: "Yes."

After getting out of the car, Liu Qianqian was still holding onto his sleeve. Afterwards, the two drove the jeep towards the courtyard house.

This was naturally because they knew that the two were more excited about their marriage after a short separation, so they didn't want to disturb them.

After driving for a while, Liu Qianqian suddenly said, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Zhou Zheng'an looked down at her: "What did you tell me?"

"Those things," Liu Qianqian said in a muffled voice, "blowing up artillery bases, rescuing prisoners. I thought you were just a staff officer at the headquarters and wouldn't go to the front lines."

Zhou Zheng'an was silent for a while, then said, "If I told you, you would worry. Besides, those are things that should be done, there's nothing to say."

Liu Qianqian stopped and looked up at him. Her eyes were red, but she wasn't crying. She stared at him for several seconds, then said, "Don't hide anything from me anymore."

Zhou Zheng'an nodded: "Okay."

The jeep continued on its way. Reaching the alley entrance, the gate of the courtyard house would be visible. Liu Qianqian suddenly squeezed his arm gently and whispered, "It's good you're back."

Zhou Zheng'an squeezed her hand and hummed in agreement.

Upon entering the courtyard, the sunlight was just right, bathing everything in a golden glow.

Yi Zhonghai and others were still at work, and the courtyard was unusually quiet. Only the deaf old woman sat under the eaves, squinting in the sun, and an older woman sat on a small stool nearby, holding a needle and thread, mending something.

Upon seeing Zhou Zheng'an, the deaf old woman's previously cloudy eyes suddenly lit up. She grinned, revealing a few sparse teeth, and exclaimed loudly, "Zheng'an's back!"

The voice, though somewhat muffled, was full of warmth. The older woman put down her needlework, stood up, and said with a smile, "Oh, Zheng'an, we've been waiting for you to come back!"

During this conversation, they discovered that Zhou Zheng'an had disappeared, which they found strange.

There were other ideas, but none of them expected Zhou Zheng'an to go to the front line against the United States and make such great contributions.

Zhou Zheng'an greeted them with a gentle smile: "Hello, Grandma Deaf, Aunt Yi."

Liu Qianqian stood to the side, watching her husband chat with the neighbors, her face full of pride, but her hand never loosened its grip on Zhou Zheng'an's clothes, as if she was afraid that if she let go, he would disappear again.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries with the two elders, she couldn't help but tug at Zhou Zheng'an's arm and whisper, "Let's go inside. You've had a long and tiring journey. Let's rest for a bit."

They can't wait.

Zhou Zheng'an said goodbye to the old lady and the deaf old woman, picked up his luggage, and was led by Liu Qianqian into the small house on the south side of the inner courtyard.

As soon as she closed the door, Liu Qianqian immediately bolted it shut with a soft "click," cutting off any noise from the yard.

The next second, she turned around and threw herself into Zhou Zheng'an's arms, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist, burying her face in his chest, standing on tiptoe, and kissing him on the lips without saying a word.