On August 14th, the sun was already high in the sky, but Ning Tang had not yet gotten up.

Erniu glanced at the wall clock and pouted, "It's already eleven o'clock, and stepmother hasn't gotten up yet. Brother, Sanwa, let's go call her."

The eldest and third child said hello.

The three children climbed up to the second floor proudly and ran to Ning Tang's room.

Sure enough, Ning Tang covered his head with the quilt and was still sleeping soundly.

The three children were so angry that they stood in a row, their hands crossed in unison, and shouted in unison, "Stepmother! Wake up!"

Ning Tang was having a sweet dream. In her dream, she went back to the year 2024, worked hard, got a promotion and a raise, but was woken up by the hoarse voices of the three little ones.

Ning Tang threw the quilt aside and frowned at the three little ones, "What are you three yelling about? Are you going to let me sleep?"

The eldest child said, "Stepmother, don't you see what time it is? It's already late and you haven't gotten up to cook yet."

Ning Tang waved his hand. "There are some red dates on the counter. You can eat them to fill your stomach. I'm lazy today. No, I'm not feeling well, so I won't cook."

As soon as Chen Lie left, all the big and small matters of the family fell on her.

She has to buy groceries, cook two meals, wash clothes for herself and her three children, and do housework every day. Even an iron man is not made for this. Ning Tang is rarely lazy and wants to take a day off.

Erniu reached out and pushed Ning Tang, "Red dates don't matter if they're filling, we're hungry."

In response to her, Ning Tang turned over and covered his head with the quilt again.

The three children had no choice but to run downstairs to the first floor.

The three children were discussing how to get the red dates when the third child suddenly shouted, "What a smell! It smells so good!"

Da Wa and Er Niu sniffed and also smelled the fragrant aroma.

The three children followed the scent and finally arrived at Su Junyan's house.

Ning Xue was having dinner with Su Guangzong and Su Yaozu in the living room on the first floor. There were three dishes and a soup on the table, including braised lion's head, crab with ginger and scallions, and fish head and tofu stew. Every dish was delicious.

"Slurp." The third child was the youngest and had no concentration, so he couldn't help but slurp.

The eldest and second daughter were also very greedy, but they were older kids after all, so they were not as out of control as the third child. However, they couldn't help but keep glancing at the food on the table.

Ning Xue was serving food to Su Guangzong and Su Yaozu when three little heads popped out of the door, startling her. "Hey, Big Boy, Second Girl, Third Boy, why are you here?"

Sanwa held his finger in his mouth and looked at Ning Xue expectantly, "Aunt, can we come to your house for dinner?"

Ning Xue rolled her eyes, trying to get Sanwa to talk more. "Don't you cook at home? Why do you want to come to our house to eat?"

Erniu sighed, "My stepmother refused to get up to cook for us, so we haven't eaten yet."

"You haven't eaten yet?" Ning Xue exaggeratedly covered her mouth. "Your stepmother is really lazy. It's already so late, and she still refuses to get up to feed you."

Su Guangzong nodded as he ate, agreeing with Ning Xue, "Exactly. We're both stepmothers. Look at my mom. She goes to the market at seven o'clock every morning to buy the freshest vegetables, and then she cooks a big meal for us at noon."

Su Yaozu raised his head proudly and said, "You must be envious."

They were quite envious. The three children looked at the food on the table without blinking.

"I'm so envious. Can you give us something to eat?" Big Boy looked at Ning Xue expectantly.

This cousin is the most considerate. She gave them a lot of delicious food before. She should give them some this time too, right?

Ning Xue curled her lips and looked at the three children with a look of regret. "It's not that I don't want to invite you to dinner, but the meal is over, and there are only empty plates left."

While Ning Xue was talking to Da Wa, Er Niu and San Wa, Su Guangzong and Su Yaozu had already devoured all the food on the table.

The three children were not as thoughtful as Ning Xue. Seeing that there was indeed no food on the table, they had to say goodbye to Ning Xue and the Su twins with regret.

But this was just Ning Xue's assumption. In fact, as soon as they left the Su family's house, Erniu couldn't help but complain to Da Wa, "Brother, my cousin did it on purpose!"

Big Boy sighed, "It was intentional, but she didn't want to give it to us. We can't just pester her for it. We are a man and a woman, we need to have some backbone."

Sanwa nodded his little head, stretched out his hand and clenched his fist, "Guardian!"

After returning to their home, the three children sat in the living room for a while. Their stomachs were rumbling and they couldn't help but go upstairs to look for Ning Tang again.

Ning Tang was really tired during this period. After sending the three children away, he fell asleep again.

When I was half asleep and half awake, I heard the familiar magic voice of Da Wa again, "Stepmother! Get up and cook!"

Ning Tang opened her eyes and saw Da Wa with her hands on her hips. She said, "Look at the stepmother next door. She's so nice to Su Guangzong and Su Yaozu. She's already prepared dinner for them at this hour."

The eldest child often goes to the Su family to play during this period. Ning Xue takes good care of Su Guangzong and Su Yaozu. The twins keep calling their mother "my mother" all day long.

At Ning Xue's instigation, the twins would occasionally mention to Da Wa and the others how good my stepmother was, how good your stepmother was. In short, they would say that Ning Xue was good and Ning Tang was bad.

Da Wa was smart and could draw inferences from one example. He learned it quickly and used it on Ning Tang.

Stepmother next door?

Ning Tang was stunned for a moment, then realized that Da Wa was talking about Ning Xue.

On the entire island, Ning Tang submits to no one but Ning Xue.

What’s more? They are not her biological children, and she hasn’t been with them for long, but Ning Xue treats them more like her own children than her own.

Ning Tang asked himself, he definitely didn't have the same broad mind as Ning Xue.

When Da Wa and the other two were lying in front of Ning Tang's bed and crying out for food, Ning Tang looked at their three little faces and didn't feel any of the pity or love described in novels. He just thought they were annoying.

A bunch of little brats, if they go hungry for a meal, they will make a big fuss, almost tearing down the house.

Ning Tang scratched her ears. Big Baby's devilish voice had just pierced her ears, and she almost suspected she was deaf. "What year were you three born?"

The three children looked at each other, and the eldest child said, "I was born in 1969, Erniu was born in 1971, and Sanwa was born in 1973."

"Oh." Ning Tang turned over with a clear conscience, thinking, I was born in 2000, and my actual age is much younger than you guys. Why should I take care of you?

If it were 2024, the eldest child would be 55 years old, and the second and third children would be 52 and 49 years old respectively.

Ning Tang looked at the three smooth and tender little faces in front of him, and felt that the three of them must be more than 150 years old in total!

Thinking this way, I feel even less guilty.

Da Wa didn't know why Ning Tang asked them what year they were born, and after getting the answer, he ignored them.

They thought Ning Tang was hinting that they were grown-up kids now and shouldn't quarrel or make a fuss.

Da Wa angrily put one hand on his waist, pointed a finger at Ning Tang on the bed, and yelled, "Humph, if you don't cook for us, we will cook it ourselves."

Erniu followed closely behind, "That's right, cooking is not that difficult."

The third child, with his round belly, imitated the eldest child and hummed in a baby voice.

The three-headed little man looks not only unimpressive but also very cute in this way.

"Erniu is right. Cooking is not that difficult. I cook for you every day," Ning Tang counted on his fingers. "Steamed prawns on Monday, steamed mackerel on Tuesday, steamed scallops on Wednesday, steamed crabs on Thursday... You see, every meal is different."

"It's the same every time?" Big Boy's eyes widened. "I think it's just a different name."

Uh, Ning Tang was speechless. He turned his back to them and responded by pulling the quilt over his head.

Seeing Ning Tang ignoring them, Da Wa snorted, "Stepmother, if you don't cook for us, we'll just cook for ourselves. What's the big deal?"

Erniu said, "Don't get up to eat until we're done."

Sanwa agreed, "That's right."

Ning Tang stretched out a hand from under the quilt, waved it, and said, "Go, go quickly, you just need to fill your stomach, I don't need you to worry about me."

The three children snorted in unison, and then Ning Tang heard a series of footsteps coming down the stairs.

Ning Tang felt sleepy again, and fell asleep again without paying attention to the three children.

She closed her eyes for a while, and suddenly heard a ding-dong sound coming from the first floor. She opened her eyes suddenly. Could it be that the three little brats, Da Wa, were here for real? Were they really going to cook?

Cooking is fake, but not tearing down the house is real?

She quickly lifted the quilt, put on her shoes, and went to the kitchen to take a look.

In front of the stove, the one standing on a small stool waving a spatula, if it’s not the eldest boy, then who else could it be?

The eldest boy grabbed the egg with his left hand, knocked it against the stove, and poured the egg into the pot. He held the spatula in his right hand and stirred it from time to time. He looked quite professional.

But the next second, a burning smell rushed into Ning Tang's nose. She waved away the smell with her hand, "Comrade Shen Dawa, are you planning to burn down the house?"

Ning Tang's voice suddenly came from behind, and Da Wa was startled. "Stepmother, what? When did you come?"

"Just now, I came to see how your cooking was going." Ning Tang said.

Erniu pouted, "Well done! Just wait and eat."

Ning Tang was amused and pointed at the burnt scrambled eggs in the pan. "Are you sure it's okay to eat this?"

Da Wa choked, rolled up his sleeves and prepared to start over, still saying stubbornly, "I just made a mistake, I'll cook it again and let you taste my cooking skills."

The little man, who was only three blocks of tofu tall, said these words while holding a spatula, which really made Ning Tang laugh.

Ning Tang chased away the three children gathered around the stove and said, "Alright, let me cook. Your cooking skills can't be improved."

Da Wa snorted, "You don't have to do it, I can do it myself."

Ning Tang laughed, "Really? You're just bragging, you're just talking too much. Look at the scrambled eggs you made, they're almost sticking to the pan. Do you still want our pan?"

Da Wa took a look at the dark bottom of the pot, handed the spatula to Ning Tang, and said with his hands on his hips, "Then you come, let's see how well you can cook. Eat."

Ning Tang took the spatula and pinched his little face, "Oh, you still don't believe me? Don't forget who cooked the meals you've been eating recently. Look, I'll show you my cooking skills."

This time, Ning Tang was really ready to show off her cooking skills for the three little kids. She remembered the sugar cakes made by Ning's mother in her previous life. The dough was coated with syrup and rolled into a cake shape, then fried until both sides were golden brown. When you took a bite, you would first taste the crispy crust and then the hot and sweet syrup. Just thinking about it made her very greedy.

She described the delicious sugar cakes to the three children. The eldest child was already hungry, so he urged Ning Tang to make sugar cakes.

Ning Tang was not troubled by the dough kneading step, but the sugar cakes he rolled out were either not round or had broken crusts.

After finally rolling out a few oddly shaped sugar cakes, Ning Tang poured oil into the pot, and the three children gathered around the pot expectantly.

Ning Tang chased the three little ones away, "Stay away, or you'll get splashed."

The eldest, second and third kids had no choice but to stay away, but they still kept a close eye on what was happening in the pot.

Ning Tang rolled up his sleeves and stared at the sugar cakes in the pot without blinking.

About seven minutes later, Da Wa shrugged and looked at Ning Tang in confusion, "Stepmother, do you smell anything?"

Ning Tang said guiltily, "No..."

Erniu raised her hand, "Erniu smells it, it's a burning smell!"

The eldest child sighed like a little adult, "Stepmother, did you forget to turn it over?"

Ning Tang clumsily flipped the sugar cake over with a spatula, and wow, the side of the sugar cake near the bottom of the pan had turned into charcoal.

Ning Tang glanced at the black sugar cake and said stubbornly, "It's okay. As the old saying goes, eating black steamed buns can help you pick up money!"

Erniu hesitated and said, "Is this true? Stepmother, are you lying to us?"

Da Wa glared and said, "Then you eat it, stepmother, I'll give you the money."

Ning Tang touched his nose guiltily, "Don't be so picky. It doesn't matter whether it smells good or not. It's meat after all."

The eldest, second, and third daughters didn't respond, but just stared at her.

Ning Tang raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright, let your dad make you some sugar cakes when he gets home. Let's eat something else today, okay?"

Big Baby nodded, "That's about right."

After saying that, he led Erniu and Sanwa out of the kitchen.

Ning Tang looked at his back and waved his fist in the air. He really wanted to beat up this little brat.

Ning Tang was preparing to make steamed seafood as usual, but suddenly remembered that she didn't go shopping for vegetables today. It was almost two o'clock now, and the vegetable market must be closed.

When Ning Tang came out of the kitchen, Da Wa, Er Niu and San Wa were already eating red dates.

The eldest child, holding a red date in his mouth, tilted his head and said, "Stepmother, is the meal ready? So fast."

"Um..." Ning Tang said, "I didn't buy any vegetables, so I have nothing to cook now."

The eldest child sighed like a little adult, "Ah, what can we say about you?"

Erniu and Sanwa imitated him and sighed in unison, "Alas."

Ning Tang pinched their little cheeks one by one and said, "Why are you sighing? Children who sigh won't grow tall. It's just that I didn't cook. Come on, I'll take you to a restaurant."

"Eating out?" asked the eldest child. "What does eating out mean?"

"Let's go to a restaurant to eat." Ning Tang said, "Big Boy, you are more familiar with the island. Tell me which restaurant on the island is better?"

Da Wa shook his head. "Stepmother, you're overthinking it. The army has a cafeteria, the school has a cafeteria, and everyone knows how to cook. Who would open one on the island? A restaurant? Only the city has state-owned restaurants."

Erniu: "Brother, you are wrong. Not everyone can cook, but my stepmother can't."

Ning Tang choked. "What's so great about being able to cook? I can do a lot of things besides cooking."

"For example?" Big Boy tilted his head.

"I'll tell you when I think of it." Ning Tang said, "Let's think about how to fill our stomachs first."

Ning Tang touched his empty stomach and thought, if only it were 2024 now, I could just order takeout when I'm hungry or boil some instant noodles.

Instant noodles?!

Ning Tang immediately had an idea. He took out five dollars from the cabinet and put them in his pocket. He called to Da Wa, "I'm going out for a while to buy you some food. You just wait for me at home."

The eldest boy replied weakly, "I know. I hope the three of us haven't starved to death before you come back."

Erniu asked doubtfully, "Is this vegetable market closed?"

Ning Tang went straight to the supply and marketing cooperative as soon as she left the house. During this period, she went out to buy groceries every day and became more and more familiar with the distribution of facilities on the island. She would never again be in a situation like the first time she went out to buy groceries and needed her eldest son to lead the way.

The supply and marketing cooperative is located in the east of Hailang Island, opposite to the vegetable market.

It was called a supply and marketing cooperative, but in fact it was just a storefront of nearly 100 square meters. It was a sultry afternoon, and there was only one young male salesperson in the supply and marketing cooperative. He was leaning listlessly against the glass counter and dozing off.

Ning Tang knocked on the glass in front of him, "Hello, I want to buy something."

The male salesperson was initially upset at having his nap interrupted, but upon seeing Ning Tang's innocent and beautiful face, his anger subsided and his tone softened. "Okay, what would you like to buy?"

Ning Tang gestured, "You have instant noodles here, um, square noodles?"

"Instant noodles, yes we do." said the male salesperson.

He kindly reminded Ning Tang, "Instant noodles are quite expensive. Do you have enough money?"

Today's instant noodles are not cheap. Their price and value are comparable to Maotai in later generations. Moreover, they are all sold in bulk, and there are only four or five bags left in the supply and marketing cooperatives.

Ning Tang nodded and thanked the salesperson for his kindness. "It's okay. I have enough money. Go get me three bags."

Hearing this, the male salesperson stopped talking and took out three bags of instant noodles from the counter. "Eighty cents a bag, three bags for two dollars and forty cents."

Although he was mentally prepared, Ning Tang couldn't help but ask in surprise, "So expensive?"

The male salesperson took the instant noodles back and said, "This thing is so expensive. When it first came out, everyone wanted to buy a pack to try it out, but when they asked the price, they backed off."

In other words, it doesn’t matter if Ning Tang asks the price but doesn’t buy it, because she is not the first one anyway.

Ning Tang quickly stopped the male salesperson's action, "No, no, no, I want to buy it."

Now it was the male salesperson who was surprised. "Are you really buying this? Think carefully. This is two dollars and forty cents."

Ning Tang took a look at the Fang instant noodles. The yellow packaging had a pattern of braised pork ribs noodles printed in the middle. The more he looked at it, the more tempting it looked.

And the comforting thing is that the instant noodles are quite large in quantity. One pack contains more than two taels of noodles. Buying three packs is enough for Ning Tang and the three children.

Ning Tang nodded and said, "Okay, please pack it for me." After that, she counted out two dollars and four cents and handed it to the male salesperson.

The male salesperson counted the money and saw that she really wanted to buy something. He looked at her with surprise and thought, I wonder whose spendthrift woman this is. She spent three bags of instant noodles for just two yuan and forty cents. If she used two yuan and forty cents to buy vegetables, I don't know how many kilograms she could buy and how many meals she could eat.

Ning Tang went out with five dollars in his pocket. He bought instant noodles for two dollars and forty cents, leaving him with two dollars and sixty cents.

She thought for a moment and asked the salesperson, "Do you have any candy for sale?"

She didn't cook today, and the three little kids were hungry. She still had an unshirkable responsibility on her shoulders. She bought some candy to comfort them, so that they wouldn't have to wait for Chen Lie to come back and complain to him.

The male salesperson handed her an oil-paper bag and said, "Yes, brown sugar cubes, ten cents a bag."

Ning Tang opened the oil-paper package, which was filled with red candy pieces about the size of a thumb. Compared with the fruit candies and milk candies with brightly colored wrappers, this one looked like kitchen candy.

But it’s better to have it than nothing, so Ning Tang spent ten cents to buy the brown sugar cube.

When they got home, Ning Tang handed the oil paper bag to Da Wa and said, "Take it and sweeten your mouth. I'll go make some instant noodles for you."

The eldest boy took the oil paper package, opened it, and gave each of them a piece of brown sugar.

Sanwa, holding a candy in his mouth, mumbled, "Stepmother, what are instant noodles?"

Ning Tang showed them the square noodles, "This is the square noodles."

The eldest child took a look and said, "Why is it called Fang? Instant noodles are not called troublesome noodles. Stepmother, are you kidding us?"

Ning Tang glared. "Why would I try to trick you?" She pointed at the three large characters 'Fang Jian Noodles' on the bag. "Isn't it written right here? Three large characters: Fang Jian Noodles."

Just after he finished speaking, Ning Tang patted his head and said, "Hiss, I forgot, you three can't read."

The three children were very clever, especially the eldest one, who was very smart. Ning Tang really didn't forget for a moment that the three younger ones were not yet old enough to go to school.

The eldest child puffed up his cheeks and said, "What's so great about knowing how to read? Dad said I'll be in first grade in September, and by then I'll be able to know so many, so many, so many words."

Ning Tang pinched his little face and said, "Then wait until you know a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot of words before you tell me."

Erniu is only five years old. It's too early for her to go to school. She only cares about how to fill her stomach. She swallowed her saliva and said, "Stepmother, are these instant noodles good?"

Ning Tang had never eaten instant noodles like this before, but it was probably about the same. "It should be delicious."

"Should?" Big Boy looked at the square noodles weakly. The square noodles might be delicious, but he didn't dare to believe in Ning Tang's cooking skills. After all, he had been eating tasteless steamed seafood for so many days.

Erniu urged, "No matter whether it's good or not, just eat it. Stepmother, hurry up and make it. The three of us are almost starving to death."

The eldest child agreed, "That's right. If you don't cook, we don't know if we can live until Dad comes back."

Ning Tang rolled up his sleeves and said, "Don't worry, I guarantee you three little ancestors will be satisfied."

Ning Tang picked up three packets of instant noodles and went into the kitchen. The three children followed her like three little quails, following her closely.

Ning Tang first boiled water in a pot, then tore open the instant noodle bag. In addition to the noodles, there was also a small bag of seasoning.

She put the noodles into the pot, and soon the aroma of noodles wafted out. Then she added the seasoning packet, stirred it a few times, and scooped the soup and noodles into the bowl, the aroma filling the air.

"Wow, it smells so good." Sanwa couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

Ning Tang took four small bowls, poured noodle soup into each, and placed them in front of them. "Try it."

Big Boy couldn't wait to pick up the chopsticks, picked up the noodles and put them into his mouth. The noodles were chewy and the soup was rich in flavor. Big Boy swore that this was the first time in his life that he had eaten such delicious food.

Erniu held the bowl with her two little hands and slurped the soup, her little face almost buried in the bowl.

Sanwa wasn't as skilled with chopsticks as his older brothers and sisters, so he could only blink his big eyes and look at Ning Tang for help, saying coquettishly, "Stepmother——"

Ning Tang raised his hands in surrender, "Okay, okay, I'll feed you."

Sanwa ate the noodles contentedly in small bites. After he was full, Ning Tang sipped a few mouthfuls of the noodle soup.

The current instant noodle making process is certainly not comparable to that of later generations, but the taste is still acceptable, and Ning Tang was quite satisfied after eating it.

Da Wa finished the entire bowl of noodles, not even leaving any soup. After finishing, he wiped his mouth with a look of unsatisfied satisfaction and asked Ning Tang, "Stepmother, when can we have instant noodles again?"