Chapter 70 Learning Arithmetic

The next day, the bugle call had just sounded.

Lu Mingyue rubbed her sleepy eyes, got out of bed, and tiptoed into the yard to wash up.

Hearing the noise and seeing her busy figure, Huo Zheng couldn't help but ask, "So early?"

Lu Mingyue smiled and said while washing up, "We have to go buy things early, otherwise there won't be any fresh ones left."

Huo Zheng frowned and thought for a moment, then put on his clothes: "You stay home and watch the kids, I'll go."

Lu Mingyue looked at him and said, "Aren't you in a hurry to go to training?"

"I'll be back soon, I'll make it in time."

Huo Zheng walked into the supply and marketing cooperative carrying a basket. Just as he was about to ask about the price, he heard a burst of laughter behind him.

Looking back, I saw several women, each carrying a vegetable basket.

"Hey, isn't this Comrade Huo? Buying meat?"

"Is this for my wife to nourish her body?"

"Judging from this, are you going to make braised pork or stewed ribs tonight?"

The women chatted away, their smiles bringing wrinkles to their eyes.

Huo Zheng felt a little embarrassed by what he was being said, so he coughed and said with a smile, "The kids are craving something sweet, so I'll buy them some meat to treat them."

The sales clerk laughed and said, "Improvement? You bought top-quality pork belly, it's obviously for your wife."

"That's right, that's right," a woman chimed in, lowering her voice to tease, "Huo Zheng, are you worried about your wife losing weight and feeling really sorry for her?"

Huo Zheng didn't reply, but just smiled and picked out a piece of meat with a good balance of fat and lean meat, as well as the lean meat that Lu Mingyue had specifically asked for.

His sisters-in-law were still playfully pushing and shoving each other around him until he paid, carried the meat out of the butcher shop, and a burst of teasing laughter followed behind him.

After delivering the items home, Huo Zheng went straight to training.

Qin Lie raised an eyebrow, crossed his arms, and stood by the training field, watching Huo Zheng jog over.

"Hey, has the sun risen in the west?"

Huo Zheng took a breath and lowered his voice: "Something happened on the way."

"What could be more important than training?" Qin Lie joked, but his eyes held a hint of curiosity.

Huo Zheng didn't explain, but just patted him on the shoulder: "We'll talk about it later."

Training began, and Huo Zheng, as always, gave it his all, sweat streaming down his face.

Qin Lie saw this and his doubts deepened.

Huo Zheng is a man who values ​​rules more than his own life; anything that could make him late must be extraordinary.

During the break, Qin Lie leaned over and whispered, "What happened?"

Huo Zheng was silent for a moment, but the corners of his mouth turned up slightly: "I bought a good piece of meat. I'll make an extra dish for my wife and kids tonight."

Qin Lie was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter: "Well, you're something else! You'd even be late for training for your wife and kids!"

Huo Zheng just smiled and didn't say anything, but the tenderness in his eyes was impossible to hide.

Lu Mingyue had already cleaned the piece of meat that Huo Zheng brought home.

When the two children got up, a rich aroma filled the yard.

The aroma of braised meat in the yard, like a mischievous little hand, slipped into the house through the window cracks, gently tickling the tips of the siblings' noses.

Leilei rolled over first, sniffed sleepily, and murmured before even opening his eyes, "It smells so good."

Yao Yao was also awakened by the aroma. She curled up like a kitten, then suddenly sat up, her eyes lighting up: "It smells like meat!"

The two jumped off the bed one after the other, and without even putting on their shoes, ran barefoot to the kitchen door.

"Mom, is there something delicious to eat today?"

Yao Yao tugged at Lu Mingyue's clothes, her voice soft.

Lu Mingyue smiled and gently pinched her little nose: "Little glutton, go wash your face and brush your teeth first, breakfast will be ready soon."

After saying this, she noticed that the two children weren't even wearing shoes.

Why aren't you wearing shoes?

The house was all muddy; if you didn't wear shoes, you'd be standing on dirt.

Leilei scratched his head a little embarrassedly and whispered, "I forgot about it as soon as I smelled it."

Yao Yao nodded in agreement, her voice barely audible: "I forgot too."

Lu Mingyue sighed, took their shoes, and said seriously, "Remember, from now on, the first thing you do when you get up is to put on your shoes. You're not allowed to run around barefoot anymore."

The brother and sister exchanged a glance and nodded in unison: "We'll remember, Mom."

"Let's keep breakfast simple," Lu Mingyue said, wiping her hands. "There are still some leftovers from last night, so I'll cook some noodles."

The two children smelled the fragrant braised pork and wanted to eat it, but when their mother told them that it wasn't ready yet and needed to soak for a while to absorb the flavor, they gave up on the idea.

Not long after the two children finished washing up, Huo Zheng also finished his morning training and went home.

Lu Mingyue poured the leftovers into the pot and stir-fried them, added water and brought it to a boil, then added noodles and sprinkled on some chopped green onions.

The steaming hot noodles were served, and the children couldn't wait to pick up their chopsticks and eat them in big mouthfuls.

Breakfast was simple, but the two children ate it with great relish.

After breakfast, Huo Zheng had already gone to the military camp, and the courtyard became quiet.

Lu Mingyue cleared away the dishes and called the two children to the table.

"Today I will teach you arithmetic."

She took out notebooks and pens, distributed them to the two children, and said with a smile, "Today we're going to learn arithmetic."

Leilei is five years old this year, an age when he can go to preschool.

With the start of the new school year approaching, Lu Mingyue was thinking about how to find some time to go to the school and ask if Leilei could enroll.

"Mom, can I go to school now?" Lei Lei asked, tilting his head.

Lu Mingyue patted his head. "Do you want to go?"

Leilei's eyes lit up, and he nodded emphatically: "I want to!"

Yao Yao chimed in anxiously, "What about me? I want to go too!"

Lu Mingyue smiled and gently pinched her nose: "You're still young, wait a couple of years before you go."

While teaching the children to count, she silently planned to discuss it with Huo Zheng when he returned from training.

Not knowing how well Leilei was doing, Lu Mingyue first gave him a few addition and subtraction problems within ten.

Some were difficult, some were easy, and to her surprise, Leilei got them all right, and he did them very quickly.

Have you studied arithmetic?

"No, but I heard Feifei and Tingting mention it when they were doing their homework."

Lu Mingyue was somewhat surprised; her little mind was quite sharp.

Since he could do math, Lu Mingyue gave him some problems to practice while she sat down, and then taught Yao Yao what 1+1 equals.

Lu Mingyue has her own methods for dealing with her little foodie at home. She took out two candies and placed them on the table.

"Yaoyao, look, how many are there?" she asked, pointing to the first one.

"One!" Yao Yao answered loudly.

"And how many are these?" she asked, pointing to the second one.

"One!"

"Then how about putting them together?" Lu Mingyue pushed the two candies together.

Yao Yao tilted her head and counted: "1, 2... there are 2!"

“That’s right!” Lu Mingyue smiled and wrote “2” on the paper. “So 1+1=2.”

"Wow, so this is arithmetic?"

Yao Yao felt that she could become as amazing as her brother.