Chapter 263 Popsicle

"Liangchen, the noodles are ready!" she called into the inner room, her voice filled with unconcealed anticipation. This bowl of sour soup noodles carried her most sincere love for her husband, and every noodle was filled with the taste of home.

In the kitchen, Jiang Haitang turned on the honeycomb coal stove to boil water.

While the water was boiling, she took the flour from the cupboard.

Jiang Haitang kneads the dough, rolls it out, and cuts it into strips in one go.

When the water boils, the long, thin noodles slide into the pot and float up after a while.

She added soy sauce, vinegar and chili oil to the bowl, poured a spoonful of noodle soup on it, and finally sprinkled chopped green onions.

This is Lu Liangchen’s favorite sour soup noodles.

"Why are you up so early?" Lu Liangchen's voice came from behind, hoarse from just waking up.

Jiang Haitang didn't look back, concentrating on scooping up the noodles. "I've been so busy these days that I neglected you and Xiao Taozi. I happened to wake up this morning, so I cooked noodles for you. Eat them while they're hot."

A pair of warm arms wrapped around her waist, and Lu Liangchen rested his chin on her shoulder, "Thank you, wife!"

Jiang Haitang blushed and struggled to get away, saying, "Hurry up and eat. The noodles are clumping."

Little Peach covered her big black eyes with her little hands and said, "Little Peach didn't see it, Little Peach didn't see it!"

"You little rascal, you opened your eyes so wide and you still dare to say you didn't see it!" Lu Liangchen tapped Xiao Taozi's forehead lightly, smiled and put Xiao Taozi on the small stool.

Xiao Taozi used a pair of small chopsticks to struggle with the noodles that had been broken into pieces by Jiang Haitang. Lu Liangchen wolfed down the noodles while Jiang Haitang sipped the noodle soup.

The morning light shines through the window, making the years peaceful and quiet.

"I might be a little busy today, so I'll be leaving first. You can go back to work after you send Xiao Taozi to school. Don't work too hard, there's always work to do."

Jiang Haitang knew that the factory must now solve the problems they found, so she smiled and nodded, saying, "I know, don't worry, you too, take a rest when you have time."

Little Taozi, who had not been sent to kindergarten by her mother for a long time, was extremely happy when she heard that her mother was going to send her to kindergarten.

Jiang Haitang took Xiao Taozi to pick up a few children from next door and took them to school together.

Aunt Kong originally wanted to send the children there herself, but seeing Xiao Taozi's eager eyes, she finally let Jiang Haitang send the children there.

Little Peach was chattering away, looking so happy.

"Mom, I want to go to the park to play on the weekend. Is that okay? Many children have been there."

"Okay, Mommy will take Xiao Taozi to the park to play on the weekend."

"Is Dad going too?" Little Peach asked, blinking her big eyes.

Jiang Haitang looked down at his daughter's eyes and said, "Dad may not have time, but as long as he has time, he will definitely take Xiao Taozi to the park."

Xiao Taozi was quite satisfied with this answer. However, she tilted her head and thought for a while, "Then I want to eat candied haws!"

"Okay, buy the biggest one." Jiang Haitang promised with a smile and pinched her daughter's face.

"Mom, don't pinch it. If you do, it won't be beautiful anymore!"

Jiang Haitang laughed at the little girl's words. She knew how to love beauty at such a young age.

In the finance office of the textile factory, Lu Liangchen and Zhao Kai were buried in thick account books.

Accountant Lao Zhang stood aside, explaining certain items from time to time.

"This advance payment for Xinjiang cotton," Lu Liangchen pointed to a line of records, "shows it was remitted on March 15th, for a total of 20,000 yuan."

Lao Zhang nodded. "Yes, I paid according to the purchase contract provided by the Supply and Marketing Department. I also have a copy of the bank remittance receipt here."

Zhao Kai took the receipt and examined it carefully. "Is the remittance account correct?"

Lao Zhang pulled out a document from a folder. "The account number is fine. This is a telegram from Xinjiang Province confirming receipt of the payment. It's dated July 20th."

Lu Liangchen and Zhao Kai exchanged a puzzled look.

If the payment for the goods has indeed been made, why does Xinjiang Province now say that it has not been received?

"Accountant Zhang, can you find the transaction records for this supplier in Xinjiang? This shouldn't be our first time working together, right?"

Lao Zhang pushed his reading glasses and said, "Of course I can, but Director Lu, what exactly are you investigating?"

Zhao Kai quickly tried to smooth things over, "It's just a routine inspection. Raw materials are in short supply lately, and Director Lu wants to get a comprehensive overview of the supply chain."

After Lao Zhang left, Lu Liangchen leaned back in his chair and whispered, "This account is so perfect, it's actually suspicious. The remittance receipt and payment confirmation are all available, but Xinjiang Province says they haven't received the money."

"I have an idea," Zhao Kai's eyes lit up. "Why don't we check the actual whereabouts of this remittance? I think I can find out."

Lu Liangchen knew Zhao Kai well. If he could find out, then he could find out. Therefore, he nodded and said, "Be careful and don't alert the enemy."

At noon, Jiang Haitang thought Lu Liangchen would be very busy, so she went directly to the cafeteria to pack some food and sent it to his office.

When she pushed the door open, she saw him whispering something on the phone. When he saw her come in, he said goodbye to the other end and hung up.

"How's the investigation going?" She put the lunch box on the coffee table.

Lu Liangchen rubbed his temples. "There's nothing wrong on the books, but I feel like something's amiss. Zhao Kai will try to verify it this afternoon. If you don't come, I'll miss dinner today."

When Jiang Haitang heard Lu Liangchen say this, she felt a little distressed and immediately opened the lunch box. The aroma of steaming hot beef with potatoes immediately filled the room.

"Let's eat first. We can take care of the work later!"

The couple exchanged a few words, and Jiang Haitang left in a hurry. She wanted to go home to take care of Xiao Taozi.

In the next few days, Jiang Haitang's work was relatively easy, which gave her a chance to adjust to the tension she had been feeling for several consecutive months.

Lu Liangchen was so busy that he didn't even have a fixed time to go home for dinner.

Jiang Haitang felt very distressed and had to make some delicious food for Lu Liangchen to nourish his body.

On the weekend, Lu Liangchen was still busy, so Jiang Haitang and Kang Xiaoxia, who was also free, took Xiao Taozi to the park.

Kang Xiaoxia treats Xiao Taozi like her own child and loves her very much.

Xiao Taozi also loves Kang Xiaoxia because Kang Xiaoxia would give him delicious food every time he saw her.

In the park, the sun shines through the leaves, casting dappled shadows, and the sweet scent of roses wafts through the air.

Xiao Taozi held Jiang Haitang's hand in one hand and Kang Xiaoxia's hand in the other, and skipped along the gravel road.

"Xiao Taozi, do you like coming to the park? How about we go to the Yellow River some other day?" Kang Xiaoxia asked.

The little guy thought for a moment and said, "Mom said we should be careful of drowning. The Yellow River is too dangerous and we can't go there."

Kang Xiaoxia was astonished and said, "Sister Haitang, she actually remembered that we can't go to the Yellow River?"

"I keep reminding her that even though we adults are around most of the time, what if something unexpected happens? Especially as she gets older, we can't always be with her. So I instill in her the concept of the dangers of the Yellow River."

"That's right. There are always accidents on our riverside. Just a while ago, when you were not here, a child fell in and couldn't be rescued." Kang Xiaoxia said with a sigh.

"Mom! Can I ride a boat in the park?" A few people just walked to the lake. Little Taozi pointed at several small wooden boats floating on the lake, her eyes shining, obviously very envious.

Jiang Haitang smiled and nodded: "Okay, today Mom and Aunt Xiaoxia are with you, so Xiao Taozi can go boating."

Jiang Haitang handed Xiao Taozi to Kang Xiaoxia and went to buy the ticket.

Kang Xiaoxia was standing aside holding Xiao Taozi, when two teenage boys came over with white boxes on their backs and shouted to buy popsicles.

Kang Xiaoxia immediately bought a few popsicles and took Xiao Taozi to the shade of a tree to wait for Jiang Haitang.

Little Peach licked the sweet popsicle and shook her legs contentedly: "So cold and sweet, Aunt Xiaoxia."

Kang Xiaoxia ruffled Xiao Taozi's hair and said lovingly, "Eat slowly, it's very cold. I'm almost having a stomachache from eating so much!"

The little girl nodded immediately.

At this time, Jiang Haitang had just returned from buying a boat ticket, and Kang Xiaoxia immediately gave him a popsicle: "If you don't come back soon, the popsicle will melt."

Jiang Haitang smiled and said, "It's okay. It will taste better if it melts a little."

"We are lucky. If we were any later, we wouldn't be able to buy it."

"Mom, the popsicles of those two brothers are almost sold out. After we bought them, there are only two left." Little Taozi explained to Jiang Haitang while licking the popsicle with her pink little tongue.

Jiang Haitang had just taken a bite of the popsicle when she heard an argument coming from not far away.

Following the sound, I saw three young men in flowery shirts surrounding the two boys selling popsicles. One of the young men with a slicked-back hair was pointing a popsicle at one of the boys' noses and cursing.

"Fuck it, I want three cream popsicles, and you only have two left, and you still dare to give them to me?"

The man with the slicked-back hair kicked the popsicle box, and the box fell to the ground with a clang.

"Or, just give us two popsicles and we won't sell them." The slightly older boy stammered.

Obviously, it took him a lot of effort to say this.

"Bullshit, you've already given it to me and now you say you don't want to sell it. Are you trying to tease me?" A young man with a face like a toad said with a grin.

A young man with yellowish hair added: "If you don't give us the third hair today, don't even think about getting your money!"

The two teenagers were so anxious that they kept rubbing their hands together, and the younger one was almost crying.

"Comrade, I'm so sorry, there are only these two cream ones left... How about you take the red fruit one?" The boy tried to communicate.

"Bullshit!" The young man with slicked back hair grabbed the boy's collar and said, "I want cream! Don't you understand what I'm saying?"

As they spoke, they were about to take out the cloth bag that contained the money of the two teenagers. Obviously, the purpose of these young people's trouble was to take the money in the hands of the two teenagers for themselves.

Jiang Haitang's eyes flashed, and he stuffed the popsicle into Xiao Taozi's hand: "Wait here."

She walked over quickly, her voice not loud but very clear: "Three men, what's the point of bullying a child?"

Jiang Haitang bent down to help the boy straighten the popsicle box and said calmly, "I saw they sold out first. How about this... I'll treat you to this red fruit popsicle."

Jiang Haitang wanted to help the two teenagers, but didn't want to cause too much trouble, so she planned to take out five cents to solve the problem.

The man with the slicked-back hair squinted at her and said, "None of your business! They took my popsicle, so they should give it to me. No one can stop me!"

The yellow-haired man turned his head and his eyes suddenly lit up.

He whistled: "Hey, where's this pretty girl?"

He looked Jiang Haitang up and down in a frivolous manner and said, "How about you accompany the three of us to go boating, and we'll give them the money for the popsicles."