Inside the Su family's living room, Su's second uncle sighed, "A man lives only once, and when you get to my age, all that's left are memories."

"Yes, my father always says the same," Gui Mengjun echoed with a nod.

Su's second uncle turned to look at Gui Mengjun, "How are they doing?"

"Well... they have basic living security," Gui Mengjun was a man of high EQ. He didn't want to lie to the old man, so he chose a more subtle way to answer.

"Ah, from their perspective, our group are all rebels who failed, especially those who were military officers. When the war ends, they won't have a good life," Su's second uncle said with some sentimentality, "For two or three decades, the politicians were satisfied, the generals glorified, but who remembers the hundreds of thousands of soldiers who died on the North-South battlefields?"

Gui Mengjun: "But that was an era."

"Yes, an era," the second uncle agreed. "We are people of that era, and no one can change anything."

"Uncle, I've already spoken to the company in the Ninth District. If conditions permit, I will arrange some work for your comrades," Gui Mengjun said softly, "A stable life, a peaceful old age, that's all they need."

The second uncle was stunned for a moment, then immediately waved his hand, "No, no, I don't owe you such a big favor. When you leave, just let Tianyu arrange it. I'm not a wealthy family, but I can still help my old comrades."

"Uncle, you're being too polite, haha," Gui Mengjun replied softly, "We are a commercial organization, not a charity. I just said, if conditions permit, I will arrange some work for them, such as factory gatekeepers, warehouse keepers, these are jobs they can do, and I won't be giving money away for nothing. Even if I don't hire them, I have to hire someone else. What's more, you're so far away, you can't keep helping them, can you?"

"My meaning is..."

"Uncle, there aren't many old people left. This isn't a burden. If we're going to help, we should help where it's needed, don't you think?" Gui Mengjun asked with a smile.

Su's second uncle slowly nodded, "You have a good heart."

As they were talking, the second aunt and the third sister came over with tea, "Have some tea."

"I don't want any, these two letters have made me depressed," Su's second uncle waved his hand, "Miao Miao, go to the kitchen and see if there's anything to eat."

The third sister was stunned for a moment, "What time is it? Are you going to 'hold up your cup and invite the bright moon'?"

"You're the only one who can spout poetry, stop talking nonsense and go," Su's second uncle scolded, then turned to look at Gui Mengjun, "You're a busy man, coming all the way to my house, and I haven't entertained you properly. Are you in a hurry? If not, have a drink."

"Okay!" Gui Mengjun said happily, "To be honest, I didn't eat well at the hotel just now, those people were too pretentious."

"Have a couple of drinks!" The second uncle was still acting like an elder, with hardly any smile on his face.

Nearby, Su Tianyu, smoking a cigarette, asked his second brother, "How do you rate Gui Zong's move?"

Su Tianbei pondered for a moment, then replied with two words, "Silky smooth."

"How silky smooth?"

"...As silky smooth as if it's been oiled!"

"Accurate," Su Tianyu agreed.

One hour later.

Su's second uncle sat at the dining table, tears welling up in his eyes as he grabbed Gui Mengjun's arm, his voice hoarse, "Xiao Gui, you don't know, in the last battle of the great retreat, our regiment received a death order to cover the families' boarding... all the soldiers and junior officers had even written their wills. Having fought for so many years, that was the only time I was really scared, because South Shanghai was already surrounded, full of Qin Laohei's direct troops inside and out. At that time, Li Zhan, Qi Lin, Chen Jun, and the Gu main force of the Eighth District were almost all in the south... so to be honest, that order was a death sentence."

"I've heard of that battle. I think the Zhou upper echelons made a mistake in their decision-making," Gui Mengjun frowned, "The families board the ship first, and the soldiers board last. How can the soldiers be at ease if their families have already left?"

"That's exactly what I'm talking about! At that time, Li Bokang wasn't there, and the Zhou family generals were in charge of the command. Those bastards were all incompetent," the second uncle shouted excitedly, "Originally, we really wanted to fight the opposite side to the death. We're soldiers, regardless of our position, we must unconditionally execute orders. But later, when I inquired, the officers above the regimental level had already run away on helicopters before the battle even started, leaving us mud-legged guys to risk our lives?! Besides, your aunt was pregnant with your second brother at that time, with a big belly... I was so worried about her."

"Hehe, you didn't slip away, did you?"

"It was impossible to slip away, after all, our wives and children were in their hands, and if we left the war zone without permission, we would definitely be brought before a military court if someone reported us," Su's second uncle said proudly, "So I came up with a trick. I specifically had the brothers in my battalion stationed around the headquarters in the rear. When the artillery fire started, the officials who stayed behind were also afraid without people risking their lives in the front! So I gave him an idea. I said, 'If we fight, we'll die for nothing. It's better to strategically preserve our strength and retreat to the coastal harbor.' The acting regimental chief of staff, who had been temporarily promoted, slapped his thigh when he heard this and took us to the coastal air-raid shelter."

"Why go to the coastal harbor?" Su Tianbei asked.

"Stupid, there are warships on the coastline, and infantry usually won't rush here," Su Tianyu interjected from a professional point of view.

"That's right!" Su's second uncle said very happily, "We hung out there for two days, and the chief of staff finally hijacked a fully loaded ship and took us away."

"Uncle, your era was wonderful!" Gui Mengjun sincerely exclaimed.

"Haha, it's wonderful as long as no one dies," Su's second uncle took the initiative to invite, "Come on, let's drink!"

That night, Su's second uncle and Gui Mengjun and the others drank until more than three o'clock in the morning. Each of them had at least four hundred grams of baijiu before it ended.

That night was the most sentimental and happiest night for Su's second uncle in recent years.

Su Tianbei secretly commented that Gui Mengjun was a master of flattery, but Su Tianyu didn't think so. He thought Gui Mengjun was actually a very good listener.

Before this, although the younger generation of the Su family would come back for dinner every Friday night, no one had made the old man so happy.

Gui Zong has lived more than ten years longer than everyone else, it was not lived in vain!

...

Before leaving, the third sister looked at Gui Mengjun in a daze and said, "Thank you!"

"Silly girl!" Gui Mengjun took out a gift box from his arms, reached out and handed it to the third sister, "Take it. Find an opportunity, and I'll marry you!"

Dominating, straightforward!