Lin Man's birthday is on February 9th, which is the coldest time of the year. Lin Zhongrong dropped all his other chores and rushed over to celebrate her birthday.

How could I miss my daughter's first birthday after we reunited? So even if we split up a base

It was a huge and complicated matter, and he also had to deal with those people who were chasing him for weapons. Lin Zhongrong was extremely busy, but he still found time to rush over.

Not only did Mr. Lin come in person, he also brought planeloads of gifts. He is simply the richest dad in the world.

Lin Man took the opportunity to tell him what Zhuang Xuzhi had mentioned. Lin Zhongrong paused for a moment and said, "He's very thoughtful. Dad has been too busy to think about this. I'll go talk to him in person later."

"Do you really want me to be the leader?" Lin Man asked.

Lin Zhongrong laughed and said, "Why, are you feeling stressed?"

"The pressure isn't that bad. It's just the same as before, except..." Lin Man hesitated for a while before finally saying, "Since I'm going to be the boss, why not change my age to one year older?"

Lin Zhongrong: “?”

Lin Man chuckled and said, "Let's consider today my eighteenth birthday."

Chen Yu put out the food and snacks from home to entertain the guests. Upon hearing this, he gave Lin Man a blank look and said, "Are you still struggling with this problem?"

Lin Man smiled and hugged her mother's arm. "I always thought I'd become an adult this year, but now I'm only seventeen. I'm so disappointed!"

Chen Yu smiled and said, "What are you disappointed about? Is age so important?"

Lin Man leaned against her shoulder, nibbling on a small cornmeal biscuit with a crunchy bite. It wasn't about whether it was important or not, but... well, it just gnawed at me. If I talked about it, I'd seem small and not majestic at all.

Lin Zhongrong felt a little lost when he saw his daughter acting coquettishly in front of him, as she had never hugged his arms or leaned on his shoulders... Oh, the old father's jealousy was about to bubble up again.

But she relies on the mother of her child, so it would be inappropriate for her to be jealous.

Lin Zhongrong's gaze fell on Chen Yu's face. Compared to the last time, she looked so much younger. Her skin was whiter, her complexion was better, her wrinkles were almost invisible, and her gray hair had turned black again. Her whole state was completely different. When Lin Zhongrong saw her just now, he was in a trance as if he saw her when he had just met her in school when she was young. He almost didn't recognize her.

It had been nearly half a year since they last met, and Lin Zhongrong hadn't known how to face his wife. She also seemed to dislike him. He had spoken to his daughter on the phone so many times, but he had never heard her voice. Occasionally, he would say hello, but all he got were a few words relayed by his daughter.

Lin Zhongrong was helpless but also knew that he couldn't force it. If it wasn't for celebrating her daughter's birthday, she probably wouldn't let him step into this room or sit at her table.

Lin Zhongrong was certain of this without even asking. From the brief glance they had just exchanged, he could tell there wasn't a trace of warmth in his wife's eyes towards him. Even the smile she wore when facing her daughter would fade when she looked at him.

He stared at the plates of food on the table in a daze until his daughter called him back to his senses: "Dad, are you sure there are no zombies in the north now?"

Lin Zhongrong said, "No, we are now mainly doing the cleanup work in the surrounding areas. After confirming that there are no zombies in the north, we will thoroughly clear the entire country."

They were also scared by these zombies. The small number of remaining ones almost caused a disaster more than ten years later and almost created a zombie king. This time they were determined to wipe out the zombies completely. Even for the current population, it would be a huge project to completely wipe out the entire country.

Lin Man asked: "Can I help?"

"No need, just stay on the mountain and we'll be there." It was so cold, and Lin Zhongrong was reluctant to let his daughter go out.

Lin Man frowned and said, "Since I'm officially in charge of a base, I have to take on the corresponding responsibilities. Now that there are no zombies in our province, I'll arrange for people to go to the neighboring provinces to check. And Dad, don't give me so many things in the future. We now represent two bases and need to settle the accounts."

Lin Zhongrong was amused: "Want to settle the score with daddy and daughter?"

"That's what I should do. That's what Mr. Zhuang said. I won't talk about the past. This time, I'll exchange the supplies with food." She didn't want to make things difficult for Lin Zhongrong. It wasn't a big deal to always use the things from the Reunion Base to subsidize his daughter. Although he always said that those things were his personal property, exchanged for his contributions to the Reunion Base over the years, including the wealth he had accumulated over the years, all of which belonged to him personally. But this time, the supplies were no longer his personal property, right?

Lin Zhongrong could also understand his daughter's feelings, and his heart was warmed. He said, "Forget it this time - these are all brought to you from the Dongyang base. They have been cleared. You made a lot of effort in making those weapons this time. This is what you deserve. Many people want to continue to do business with you at a high price."

Lin Man didn't even hear the last sentence. His eyes immediately lit up. "Really? Did Lin Cheng's knife come in handy?"

Lin Man was very happy to receive a very positive answer. She thought her tutoring was pretty good, so she said that Lin Cheng would not give those flowers for nothing.

"By the way, isn't Lin Cheng here?"

Lin Zhongrong said, "No, he has to take care of some things for me." He was just fulfilling his duties as a junior employee, and without him, he really couldn't get away. "But he prepared a gift for you."

"What is it and where is it?" Although she knew that it was impossible for him to send her flowers from thousands of miles away, she also wanted to know what he sent.

Lin Zhongrong pointed to a small box. He didn't think there was anything wrong with Lin Cheng giving Lin Man a birthday present. Lin Man gave him such a magical artifact, so any way he could repay him would not be excessive.

Lin Man happily took the box to his room to unpack it. Only Lin Zhongrong and Chen Yu were left at the table, and the atmosphere suddenly became cold.

Chen Yu smiled and said, "I'll go make noodles. I have to eat longevity noodles for my birthday."

Lin Zhongrong stood up: "I'll help you."

Chen Yu sneered subconsciously: "With your craftsmanship!" After saying that, she was stunned, and Lin Zhongrong was also stunned.

Lin Zhongrong's cooking skills are very bad, the kind that can blow up the kitchen. When Chen Yugang was pregnant, Lin Zhongrong was so excited that he couldn't calm down. He didn't let her do anything and volunteered to cook. As a result, he almost blew up the kitchen. Later, he managed to cook well, but the food he made was ugly and unpalatable. I don't know how much food was wasted.

Lin Zhongrong said with a guilty conscience, "My skills are better than before."

Chen Yu smiled and said, "Yes, it's time to make progress."

In the blink of an eye, so many years have passed and everything has changed.

The two of them went into the kitchen silently.

The mother and daughter still lived in the valley, but the cabin was replaced by a spacious and bright cement house, which was divided into several rooms. The interior was well decorated and warmly arranged. The kitchen was large and tidy, so it was no problem to accommodate two people.

Lin Zhongrong kneaded the dough while asking, "Xiaoman said you're also on the management committee now?"

“It’s about managing education.”

"Yes, your ambition is to become a teacher."

Chen Yu was born into a scholarly family, and several generations of her family were teachers. She had dreamed of becoming a teacher since she was a child, but she married Lin Zhongrong as soon as she graduated, and soon became pregnant. In the end, she never worked as a teacher for even a single day.

Silence again.

After a while, Lin Zhongrong racked his brains for a long time and finally came up with another topic: "Do your waist and legs still hurt?"

"It doesn't hurt. It's very good."

Then there was no more talking, only the sounds of kneading dough and chopping vegetables.

Lin Manze was opening her gift in her room. The small box was very heavy and was full of books, flower books in particular. Each of the yellowed color pictures inside was of very beautiful flowers, with detailed introductions to their reputation, characteristics, habits, etc.

Lin Man was immediately mesmerized. It was the first time she had ever seen so many vibrantly colored flowers in such detail, even though they were fake... Hmm? Fake?

Lin Man realized it belatedly. She had been chasing Lin Cheng for flowers, and Lin Cheng had given her a box of fake flowers made of paper. Wasn't this a fucking mockery of her?

So angry!

However, there were still a few pieces of jade of excellent quality in the box, which made Lin Man a little happy.

When she was called out to eat noodles, she was still wondering what Lin Cheng meant. Was he really mocking her for having a crazy mind? Then, what did she see?

"Is this... noodles?!" She was stunned when she saw the unknown object in the bowl.

Chen Yu mercilessly exposed someone: "Your father made the noodles."

Lin Zhongrong was a little embarrassed. "Well, don't you want every noodle to be perfect? ​​That's a little difficult. This is cornmeal, which isn't as easy to work with as wheat flour. But I managed to get through to the end without breaking a single noodle."

He tried hard to save his reputation.

Of course it wasn't broken, because it was less than half a meter from beginning to end, about as thick as a chopstick, and completely uneven in thickness, like a super ugly yellow worm coiled at the bottom of a bowl.

Lin Man: I don’t want to eat at all, okay?

She looked at her mother with some resentment and said, "Mom, why don't you stop me?"

Chen Yu: Your dad wants to show his love as a father, what can I do?

Lin Man sighed. What else could he do? Of course he would eat it. This was full of love!

Fortunately, the ingredients were excellent and her mother was a good cook, so the food tasted very good. Lin Zhongrong asked eagerly, "How is it? Is it delicious?"

Lin Man really wanted to say, the deliciousness has nothing to do with you, Dad. You just kneaded the dough and rolled out some extremely ugly noodles.

But could Lin Man say that? She could only smile and say, "It's delicious."

Lin Zhongrong immediately revealed a very pleased and satisfied expression, like a chef who was praised for his cooking skills.