A stunning beauty arrived on the island; she invented everything from childcare to babysitting.

Upon hearing An Ning's words, Wu Dingguo fell silent. Her ears finally got a rest, and she focused on repairing the remaining parts of the branch so that it would be usable soon.

After a long while, Wu Dingguo finally spoke again: "You're not lying to me?"

"What good would it do me to lie to you? Otherwise, how do you explain that this thing isn't even in mass production yet, so why is it in my hands?" An Ning finished trimming the last bit of branches and tossed her cane into the lap of the old man sitting next to her. "Try it."

Wu Dingguo touched his cane. The bark was a bit rough, but the forked parts had been trimmed and repaired very well, so it didn't hurt his hand at all.

He managed to stand up and walk a few steps with his support, quite easily.

"Didn't you take it from your elders to play with?" he asked.

"We can't give our family members the military equipment we have. If we give them equipment that isn't widely available yet, and they find out, we'll lose our jobs, right?"

Anning rolled her eyes, stood up, dusted herself off, and went to the cart, casually covering the pile of loose change with a towel.

"Alright, rub some safflower oil on your foot when you get back, and it'll be fine. I'm going back now."

Wu Dingguo, leaning on his cane, hopped after him on one leg: "Wait, girl, wait for me! I was wrong just now, okay? Besides, I was just praising you. I didn't know!"

Seeing how energetic the old man was despite having an injured leg, Anning quietly slowed her pace so he could keep up with her.

"But what you made is really delicious. If you're not going to sell it, teach me how to make it. I'll pay you to buy the fruit."

Seeing that An Ning didn't respond, Wu Dingguo went around to the other side and asked, "Whose child are you? I've never seen you before."

“I’m not from a military family; I’m here to find my husband,” Anning said.

“Military wife! Military wife is great! You’ve come at the perfect time. Isn’t the military going to build a factory soon? With your skills, even if the marriage registration can’t be completed in a short time, you can still get a job in the factory.”

"The procedures for accompanying the military have been completed."

Wu Dingguo: "...My focus is on getting a job in a factory."

"The reward I received for handing over these blueprints to the military, besides a bonus, was a job."

Wu Dingguo, furious, glared and puffed out his beard: "Why don't you play by the rules, young comrade?"

An Ning suppressed a laugh and said, "I think you're a veteran who's been on the battlefield, sir. Don't you know what it means to beat a master with a flurry of punches? If you play by the rules, others will just counter your moves. But if you don't play by the rules, you can achieve unexpected results."

"I think you're just trying to annoy me!"

"No, I didn't, don't talk nonsense." An Ning immediately denied it three times in a row, and changed the subject, "The New Year is coming soon, what are you doing at the army? The distance between the town and the army is not close, but it is also far. If there is anything, you can ask the younger generation at home to go there. Why did you have to come here yourself? Now that you are injured, you will not be able to have a good New Year."

"Hey! I just heard that a really arrogant comrade came to the army. She doesn't respect the elderly or care about the young. Everyone avoids her when they see her. That's why I came to see what's going on."

“You’ve already retired from the military, but you still have a lot to worry about,” An Ning said meaningfully.

"Of course, old people can't stay idle," Wu Dingguo said with a smile.

"Was someone in your family bullied?"

Wu Dingguo's smile froze.

"How could that be? I'm not that kind of person!"

However, his eyes darted around, clearly indicating that he was somewhat guilty.

"Tell me who it is; maybe I can help."

"Forget it, you probably wouldn't recognize me even if I told you."

Wu Dingguo initially thought An Ning was the daughter of some military leader, but it turned out she was just an ordinary military wife. How could she possibly know that arrogant character who could turn the family area upside down?

Don't end up getting yourself involved instead of being able to help.

After all, that person was very arrogant. He not only tried to get military wives with connections out of the army, but even the regimental commander's niece couldn't escape him. What could an ordinary military wife like her do?

At her age, her husband is at most a company commander, and can't be of much help. It's best not to drag her down.

"How would I know if you didn't tell me?"

Seeing that Anning seemed very interested, Wu Dingguo told her some of the things his daughter-in-law had told him.

Anning felt that what the other person was saying was somewhat familiar, as if she had heard it somewhere before, but she couldn't remember who it was.

The main reason was that Wu Dingguo didn't mention anything specific, but rather left some details vague, as if he was afraid she would recognize him, so she couldn't possibly guess what he meant.

The two walked for a while, and just as they were about to see the gate of the military base, Zhao Xuemei's voice suddenly came from behind.

"Anning, you're still here? I thought you went back a long time ago!"

Wu Dingguo, who was standing to the side, turned his head in disbelief and looked at An Ning in astonishment: "You are that Shen An Ning?"

Seeing the old man's strong reaction, An Ning finally understood.

Those vague things he just mentioned, were they probably referring to her?

If you insist on saying it that way, it does seem to make sense, but it's clearly been exaggerated to some extent.

Thinking carefully about the people I've offended recently, it seems that Cao Huiyun is the only one, and there can't be anyone else.

"Are you a relative of Cao Huiyun?"

The two of them just stared at each other, wide-eyed.