As soon as Zhou Zhixin entered the house, he heard Zhou Zhigang standing at the kitchen door and calling, "Dad, Dad, the noodles are ready."

The aroma of fried eggs was still wafting through the yard. It seemed that Zhou Zhigang was quite generous today.

"Brother." Zhou Zhixin greeted him and walked towards his room with his head down.

After Zhou Zhigang and his brothers separated, they rarely went to each other's homes for dinner.

Gu Dahua and Li Chunjiao were reluctant to invite Zhou Zhixin's family to dinner because Zhou Zhixin didn't spend much time at home.

Every time he went home to visit his family, Zhou Zhixin would ask Zhao Yunxiang to prepare two large tables of food and invite his parents, brothers and the whole family to his house for a big meal. This year, Zhao Yunxiang went back to her parents' home, and Zhou Zhixin didn't have time to treat her to this meal.

Tonight, Zhou Zhixin was in a bad mood because of Zhao Yunxiang's incident. He had no desire to eat the noodles Zhou Zhigang had made. All he wanted to do was go back to his room and get a good night's sleep. Perhaps if he fell asleep, he would forget all the unhappy things. Zhou Zhixin thought.

Zhou Zhigang heard the greeting and turned around. Seeing Zhou Zhixin who had just walked in, he looked a little surprised: "Huh? It's so late, and my third brother is still out?"

"Zhixin, the noodles are ready, let's eat together." Zhou Chunping came out of the room and gave a light order.

"Dad, I'm not hungry." Zhou Zhixin really had no appetite. He had something else on his mind, so how could he eat?

"What? Is it difficult for you to accompany the old man to have something to eat?" Zhou Chunping's tone revealed displeasure.

Zhou Chunping and Zhou Zhigang had been home for almost half an hour when Zhou Zhixin finally showed up. The noodles Zhou Zhigang had cooked were almost burnt, and Zhou Chunping was getting a little impatient.

"Third brother, Dad was just being kind and worried that you were hungry. Come on and apologize to Dad. Big brother accidentally made too much noodles just now. Let's have some together." Zhou Zhigang hurriedly tried to smooth things over.

Zhou Zhigang had said this, and Zhou Zhixin had no choice but to turn around and walk towards Zhou Zhigang's kitchen even though he didn't want to eat anymore.

Compared to Zhou Zhixin's small kitchen, Zhou Zhigang's kitchen was much larger, almost twice the size of Zhou Zhixin's. Unfortunately, Li Chunjiao wasn't as good at tidying up as Zhao Yunxiang, so the large kitchen was crammed with things and looked a bit messy.

"Come here, Zhixin, this bowl is for you." Zhou Zhigang brought over a bowl of noodles with two poached eggs and greeted Zhou Zhixin warmly.

"Where's my sister-in-law?" Zhou Zhixin felt a little strange when he didn't see Li Chunjiao. Zhou Zhigang rarely cooked for himself at home.

"Oh, your sister-in-law has to take care of mom and several children during the day, so she is a little tired. I asked her to take the children to sleep first." Zhou Zhigang reacted quickly and responded to Zhou Zhixin's words easily.

"Thank you for your hard work these past few days. Yunxiang..." Zhou Zhixin felt very embarrassed. Wu Jinfeng was sick, but Zhao Yunxiang was not at home to serve tea and water.

"Qi, we are brothers. What's the problem if one of us does more work? There's no need to say such things." Zhou Zhigang consoled him.

"The noodles are all clumping together, why don't you eat quickly?" Zhou Chun said with a stern face, and took the lead in eating the noodles in his bowl.

Although Zhou Zhigang doesn't cook often, he fried a few eggs until both sides were golden brown. They smelled delicious and made people very hungry.

Zhou Zhixin lowered his head and picked at the noodles in his bowl twice, only to find they had become a mushy mess. These days, a bowl of noodles as a guest is considered a high-class treat, and two eggs on top is practically VIP treatment. Although Zhou Zhixin had no appetite, he still ate a few mouthfuls.

The noodles were bland and had a strange, indescribable flavor. Zhou Zhixin couldn't finish them after a few bites. Zhao Yunxiang was a skilled cook, and Zhou Zhixin's taste had become quite sophisticated. To be honest, Zhou Zhixin couldn't finish the noodles Zhou Zhigang had made.

Looking at the two fragrant fried eggs in the bowl, Zhou Zhixin felt a little sorry. Eating eggs wasn't easy these days. Just because he couldn't finish them didn't mean he couldn't give them to Zhou Zhigang and the others, right?

Looking at Zhou Chunping and Zhou Zhigang who were eating so hard, Zhou Zhixin picked up the fried egg in the bowl and put it in Zhou Chunping's and Zhou Zhigang's bowls, not more, not less, just one for each of them.

"Puff! Cough cough cough..." Zhou Chunping was startled, choked by Zhou Zhixin's sudden movement. The noodles in Zhou Chunping's mouth sprayed out of his nostrils, hanging comically from his nose. Zhou Chunping had just seen one and a half of Zhou Zhigang's two packets of medicine spilled onto two poached eggs.

"Dad!" Zhou Zhixin was anxious and quickly reached out to pat Zhou Chunping's back.

Zhou Zhigang looked at the fried eggs in the bowl in astonishment and forgot what to say for a moment.

Zhou Chunping finally calmed down his cough and cleared the noodles from his nostrils. He then started cursing, "Zhou Zhixin, you... you unfilial child, are you trying to choke your father to death?"

"Dad, I didn't expect to scare you. I can't eat anymore!" Zhou Zhixin felt a little aggrieved. It was normal for a family to share delicious food! They had done this before when they sat together for meals. Why did Zhou Chunping react so strongly today?

"Third brother, it's okay. Dad was just startled by you..." Zhou Zhigang put down his chopsticks and said, trying to smooth things over, "Third brother, eat quickly! The noodles are all mushy."

Zhou Zhixin didn't notice the strange look that crossed Zhou Zhigang's face. He shook his head and said, "Brother, you and Dad eat! I can't eat anymore."

Zhou Chunping and Zhou Zhigang exchanged a quick glance and said, "Zhixin, at least eat a few more bites. Don't waste food."

Seeing that Zhou Chunping had said this, Zhou Zhixin had no choice but to pick up his chopsticks again and take a few more big mouthfuls of noodles.

The noodles were already cold, and cold, clumpy noodles definitely didn't taste good, so Zhou Zhixin swallowed them without even chewing them.

Zhou Chunping and Zhou Zhigang only relaxed when they saw Zhou Zhixin eating the whole bowl of noodles with a frown on his face.

"San'er! Have you ever thought about demobilization and returning to your hometown?" Zhou Chunping asked cautiously.

"I didn't..." Zhou Zhixin was about to say he was doing well in the army, so why would he return home after being discharged? Hadn't Zhou Chunping always told him to work hard in the army, to bring honor to his country and his family? Over the years, Zhou Chunping had often boasted about Zhou Zhixin's reputation in the village. Even the marriage between Wang Xiaoqiang and Zhou Zhimei was arranged because Wang Xiaoqiang's mother was attracted to Zhou Zhimei's brother, who was a high-ranking official in the army.

"San'er, do you feel dizzy or uncomfortable?" Zhou Chunping asked again.

Dizzy? A little. Uncomfortable? A little, I suppose. Whenever Zhou Zhixin thought of Zhao Yunxiang, his heart felt like it was on fire.