Returning to 1949, I decided to hand it over to the state.

Jiang Daiji glanced at him, seemingly surprised that this young man would be so interested in these old stories, chuckled, and continued his tale.

"You child, you really enjoy listening to stories about the older generation."

"Later... in 1928, Marshal Zhang passed away."

In 1928, Marshal Zhang passed away.

Of course he knew what this was about.

The earth-shattering explosion at Huanggutun not only killed Zhang Zuolin, but also completely changed the power structure of the entire black soil region.

This left the entire Northeast in a precarious state for a long period of time.

Sure enough, Jiang Daiji continued:

"With the death of Marshal Zhang, the whole Northeast was in a state of panic, and nowhere was safe. Your father and I also felt that it was not safe to stay in Harbin, and that something big was going to happen, so we took our families and fled elsewhere."

"During that period, we traveled to almost half of Northeast China, stayed in all sorts of places, but dared not stay in any place for long."

"It wasn't until the end of the year, when the young marshal handed over the reins, that things finally calmed down a bit in Northeast China."

Jiang Fan listened and nodded.

1928 12 Month 29 Day.

The Northeast Flag Change.

Zhang Xueliang declared his allegiance to the Nationalist government, and the Nanjing government nominally unified the country. This was undoubtedly a crucial turning point in modern Chinese history.

But for ordinary people back then, they might not have understood what "geopolitics" or "nominal unification" meant.

All they knew was that with the change of flag, life might be a little more stable, and they wondered if they could continue to make do.

"And then...?" Jiang Fan couldn't help but ask again.

"And then," Jiang Daiji sighed.

"Your father said that although the Japanese were in charge in Anshan, there was a large steel mill there, so it was relatively stable and we should be able to find work there. So we came to Anshan together."

"Back then, this place was called Showa Steel Works."

"Your father was literate, so he went to work in the factory as a clerk. As for me, I don't know many characters, so I went back to my old job in Shandong."

Jiang Fan was startled as an extremely crucial detail came to mind.

He swallowed hard and asked, enunciating each word clearly:

"Uncle Jiang... what's your old profession?"

Jiang Daiji didn't notice anything unusual about him and answered casually:

"Me? I'm just a carpenter."

carpenter!!

The moment those two words were uttered, Jiang Fan's mind went completely blank.

Grandpa once said that the Jiang family's livelihood in Northeast China in their early years was carpentry!

His great-grandfather was a highly skilled old carpenter.

In addition, yesterday at Aunt Su's house, Aunt Su clearly explained that Jiang Daiji was a technician at the factory!

The exact same wording.

The exact same background.

The exact same escape routes and means of survival!

If this can still be called a coincidence, then the probability is even lower than winning the lottery jackpot.

Jiang Fan's breathing became uncontrollably heavy, and his hand trembled, almost spilling the water in the bowl.

He quickly used this action to raise the bowl to his mouth and tactically swallowed a large mouthful of water to hide the expression on his face that was almost about to burst.

Jiang Daiji continued speaking:

"Later, Ansteel changed hands several times. The Japanese left, the Kuomintang came, the Kuomintang withdrew, and then our People's Liberation Army took over."

"Your father worked as a clerk for the past few years. When the People's Liberation Army took over, they saw that he was not only literate but also meticulous in his work. Since Shenyang was in dire need of manpower, they transferred him there."

At this point, Jiang Daiji turned to look at Jiang Fan and asked with some surprise:

"What? Didn't your father mention any of these things to you?"

Jiang Fan's mind was in complete turmoil.

He quickly shook his head, then nodded haphazardly, and mumbled:

"It was mentioned, it was mentioned... but I didn't listen carefully when I was a child, so I don't remember many of the details."

His words were extremely perfunctory, because his mind was no longer on the matter.

Fortunately, Jiang Daiji didn't think too deeply about it, and simply nodded in agreement.

"That's true. You were so young back then, what did you know?"

Jiang Fan fell silent.

His heart was pounding like a drum, and an indescribable sense of shock and absurdity was churning inside his chest.

It seems things really are as I thought.

The middle-aged man in front of me, dressed in work clothes, carrying water, and who had just been telling me stories from the past, is most likely the great-grandfather that my grandfather mentioned as having a "tough life"!

He even felt that he shouldn't have asked any more questions.

If I were to completely expose this, how would I face this elder in front of me?

Call him Great-Grandpa?

Should we continue to call him Uncle Jiang?

However, a strong urge within him made it impossible for him to suppress that last question.

"Uncle Jiang."

"Hmm?" Jiang Daiji turned to look at him.

"I remember...you seem to have a son, right?"

Jiang Fan tried his best to make his tone sound like he was chatting casually, but his voice was still a little tense.

Jiang Daiji didn't notice and just smiled.

"Yeah. When you were little, you were always following my rascal around around, and the two of you would cause trouble together. You'd have snowball fights, raid bird nests, go fishing in the river, and do all sorts of naughty things."

"Looking back now, although we were poor back then, the children were happy."

"But now you've both made something of yourself. He joined the People's Liberation Army, and you've served our country's development. You're both excellent."

Jiang Fan's heart was pounding in his chest.

Yes, yes!

My grandfather did indeed serve in the military. He started in the Northeast Democratic Allied Army and later joined the Northeast People's Liberation Army. He participated in the Liaoshen Campaign and fought in many battles, both large and small.

Everything matches perfectly!

So Jiang Fan hurriedly asked:

"What's his full name?"

This question left Jiang Daiji somewhat bewildered. Why was he suddenly being asked about his child's name?

He asked back, somewhat puzzled:

"What's wrong? Didn't you always call him Brother Shun when you were little?"

Seeing the somewhat puzzled look on Jiang Daiji's face, Jiang Fan realized that he had asked the question a bit too hastily.

He bit his tongue sharply, then immediately switched back to normal.

He quickly tried to salvage the situation, saying:

"Ah, right, right, it's Brother Shunzi. What's his real name? What if we run into each other someday and I only know how to call him Brother Shunzi and can't even remember his real name? That would be so embarrassing, hehe."

As he spoke, he deliberately scratched the back of his head, making a gesture that only young people would make.

Jiang Daiji was amused by his appearance and didn't think much of it, casually saying:

"Too."

His full name is Jiang Xingkui.

Jiang Xingkui!

The last shred of hope in Jiang Fan's mind was completely shattered by this name.

That's his grandfather's name!

Jiang Daiji seemed to be recalling something, his eyes slightly narrowed, and his tone carried a hint of emotion:

"Your father gave you this name."

"Your father said, 'To revitalize the nation and bring prosperity to the country, one must achieve the highest honors.'"

"I don't really understand what it means, but it sounded like a good name, so I used it."

He added at this point:

"Your father was a cultured man after all; even his choice of a name was more refined than those of us roughnecks."