Chapter 989: Chapter 862: Returning Home Alone

In the courtyard of the county town, Mr. Zhang and Mother Zhang thoroughly checked from the inner room to the outer room, and from the kitchen to the warehouse, even scrutinizing the toilet, finding nothing unusual.

Standing in the courtyard, the old couple glanced at each other and remembered the small storage room in the old house. There’s quite a bit of stuff in there, and if things get worse, it would be more troublesome to handle.

"Xiao Wu?"

The old couple simultaneously thought of their youngest son, but with the distance being far and him being a soldier, now belonging to the state, how can he come and go at will!

Outside, the rumbling of cars was heard, but Mr. Zhang and Mother Zhang paid no mind. Several nearby units often had provincial city leaders coming down, especially since the investigation began.

But after a while, the figure in military uniform appearing at the door was none other than their youngest son!

Mr. Zhang and Mother Zhang instinctively wiped their eyes.

Zhang Guoqing strode forward amusingly and saluted them when he reached his parents, "Father, Mother, your son is unfilial and couldn’t come back sooner."

He could well imagine how unsettled his parents had been during this time. But as he had thought when he joined the army, being a soldier meant losing freedom.

This time, he managed to escort valuable supplies to the Northeast Military District, and as a member of the logistics department, he had the opportunity to come back on a military plane; otherwise, it was inconvenient to speak much in letters, and even talking to Zhao Chuan Guang on the phone wouldn’t necessarily be safe.

Mr. Zhang patted his old son with slightly red eyes, "Good, good, I’ve been hoping you would come back. Didn’t you say there was no leave? Won’t you be punished for coming back like this?"

"Father, let’s not talk about that now." Mother Zhang pulled the old son towards the kitchen, "Are you hungry? I’ll make cold noodles for you. Tell me how things are over there? Is your father-in-law doing alright?"

Zhang Guoqing held his father’s rough hand with one hand and walked along as he laughed, "All is good. Before I came over, Jiao Jiao asked me to bring you back with me."

Mother Zhang chuckled at her old companion, "Let’s talk about it later. How many days can you stay this time? I’ve prepared a lot of dried goods; are they easy to carry? Otherwise, I’ll send them by mail."

Seeing the expectation in his parents’ eyes, Zhang Guoqing replied guiltily, "This time, I have a mission here, and I must take the plane back to Beijing tomorrow afternoon."

"It’s alright; official duties are important. Just being able to come back to meet is already good enough. I heard Uncle Dashan say you usually only get about twenty days off a year, and sometimes it’s hard to get a break. As long as you’re safe in Beijing, everything is fine. Your father and I will visit you when we miss you."

Zhang Guoqing saw the strength with which his mother held him, and although her face was smiling and she kept nodding, how could he not know she was unwilling to part?

For a moment, he was at a loss for words.

What can be said? Forcefully dragging them back to Beijing? Not to mention, there’s no worry about the courtyard, and according to current regulations, both he and Zhou Jiao would be allocated a two-room and one-hall apartment. Housing is not a problem, and supporting both the elderly is not an issue either, but they have four children, a bunch of grandchildren—how can they bear to leave?

Watching his busy and delighted mother, Zhang Guoqing sat at the table listening to his father talk. From his father’s words, he learned about the current situation in the county town.

Fortunately, he came just in time.

When Mr. Zhang mentioned the things in the old house’s small warehouse, Zhang Guoqing suddenly recalled that the cellar he had dug before going to college should be used now.

Thinking of this, he checked the time, worried his brother and sister-in-law might come over, he quickly put a couple of pieces of wood on the burning fire, stood up, and pulled his father.

"What’s up?"

"Your youngest son wants to show you something."

Mother Zhang quickly added, "It will be ready soon. Eat before you go, but don’t go far."

"It’s right at home, Mother. I’ll have father tell you later." As for asking his mother to keep it secret? With his father around, there was no need for him to say more.

In the wood shed, Zhang Guoqing smiled mysteriously at his father and cleared the firewood and miscellaneous scraps from the corner near the flower bed.

Mr. Zhang watched his actions, pondering.

When Zhang Guoqing bought this courtyard, apart from one adobe house serving as a toilet, the other two housed gardening tools and farming implements, bamboo baskets, sieves, coal balls, and such.

The floors were originally dirt, which wasn’t a big problem in the winter, but during the summer rainy season, stepping in from the courtyard left everything wet. So, every time they returned to the village, he and Zhou Jiao collected many stones, placing small pieces in the toilet room, and the remaining larger ones were neatly laid in the other two rooms.

Later, considering some issues, he followed the side of the flower bed vegetable garden to dig a basement. With his strength, and Zhou Jiao’s extra space, it was modeled after the cellar under the kitchen and completed in a few months. Over the years, he kept it secret from his parents, intending to use it in times of need.

The cellar in the kitchen was known to too many people and couldn’t be hidden. Who knows, when he’s not at the family home, if someone would try to bully his parents?

This cellar, as long as his parents kept quiet, no one could imagine there would be such a large cellar under the vegetable garden near the toilet. Regardless of whether anyone was spying, who would care about a few trips to the toilet?

Zhang Guoqing pointed to a small stone nestled among the kindling and then to a bluestone slab mixed in with it at the corner of the wall, "Father, step hard on that stone slab three times, then turn this small stone five times."

Half doubting, Mr. Zhang followed his instructions and, after turning the small stone five times, widened his eyes in disbelief and quickly surveyed outside.

"Father, don’t worry, I can hear the surrounding noises. No one is around, I’ll take you down in the afternoon to see it. Now you understand why I always told you not to tidy up the village anymore, right?"

Mr. Zhang instinctively nodded, touching the entrance big enough for a fat person to enter, gently stroking its edge.

"Xiao Wu, where did you find a master craftsman? Is that person trustworthy?"

Zhang Guoqing chuckled, "Father, this master craftsman is actually your son’s wife. Do you think she can be trusted?"

"What?" Mr. Zhang exclaimed, nearly staggering onto the steps. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"Yes, it’s our Jiao Jiao. She knows many things; these were all designed and altered by her. Fortunately, your son had the strength for some hard work."

"We didn’t dare tell you and my mother before, afraid that one day it would be needed. Now, with the situation being not looking optimistic, it’s time. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have hurried back."

Mr. Zhang stood there silently for a moment before advising, "Don’t worry about anything else, but Jiao Jiao’s skills should definitely not be shared. If your mother asks, just say you found a master through your father-in-law."

Zhang Guoqing agreed with a smile.

His wife had once built secret rooms, devoured those ancient mechanism manuals, and this was considered a small task. If Beijing weren’t unsafe, she would have dug many holes by now, like a rabbit.

"Xiao Wu, our family really married a golden baby. No, not even a golden baby can compare. I should light incense for your grandfather later; he did say this child was meant to be with you in heaven."

Ah, when talking about his wife, Zhang Guoqing grinned even more widely. Luckily, he didn’t forget the main matter, "Father, let me take you down to have a look; it has a ventilation hole, so there’s no need to worry about toxic gases accumulating over time."

Upon descending the steps, Mr. Zhang watched his son light an oil lamp on the wall, then saw him turn a lever nearby five times.

"Father, see, here you also turn five times, above is to open, here is to close. If little devils had come before liberation, you and Mother could have hidden here."

This was also what Zhou Jiao had always considered. She had said that if her grandfather had known a bit of such peculiar arts, the Zhou family wouldn’t have met such a fate.

Currently, she plans to teach their three sons someday. Who knows when it might come in handy?