To entertain Lin Yao, Qiu Chunfang specially made egg sauce today, and took out half a can of luncheon meat from deep inside the cupboard, sliced it thinly and arranged it on top of the noodles.
Their family is large, so having meat in their bowls is considered respectable, let alone noodles with egg sauce and luncheon meat, which is already a very grand meal for entertaining guests.
But Lin Yao wouldn't even look at that.
She usually goes to state-run restaurants, where the two of them can order four dishes. Right now, she's looking at the luncheon meat mixed with fatty bits in her bowl, and the noodles coated in dark egg sauce.
When she caught sight of the three little ones staring intently at her bowl, her brow furrowed.
Just then, a strong aroma of chicken soup wafted from the neighboring courtyard before mealtime, and you could hear Zhang shouting loudly even through the wall.
"Qiqi, I bought an old hen at the market. I cut it in half and stewed it for you to nourish yourself!"
Lin Yao stirred the noodles in the bowl with her chopsticks, pouted and muttered under her breath, "It's like swill."
After saying that, she slammed down her chopsticks and said, "I'm not eating anymore, I have no appetite, I'm leaving now."
"Hey, Yao Yao, don't go! Tell me what you want to eat, and I'll get it for you..."
Before Qiu Chunfang could finish speaking, Lin Yao pushed open the door and left without looking back.
Zhao Yi, being a soldier, had sharp ears and had heard that muttering earlier. He didn't say anything in front of others, but after Lin Yao walked away, his face darkened so much that it could drip water, and he put the bowl on the table.
"Why are you trying to please someone like that? They even specifically asked me to come back at noon. It's obvious they look down on our family. It's better not to visit them."
Qiu Chunfang glanced at him sideways.
"What do you know! Yao Yao's parents are both doctors in the city, and they're rich. If we get on their good side, when Yi Meng graduates next year, we can get them to introduce her to a doctor! And for Er Meng, San Meng, and Si Meng, especially Yao Zu, they'll have someone to rely on for the rest of their lives!"
Don't let Zhao Yi's children's small stature fool you; Yi Meng is already sixteen years old and is currently a high school freshman in G City.
High schools are generally two years old now, and I'll be graduating next year.
Zhao Yi frowned.
"Isn't Yimeng longing for university? Why is she in such a hurry to find a boyfriend?"
Qiu Chunfang just pursed her lips.
"What's the use of a girl studying so much? If it weren't for the sake of saving face for her future in-laws, I wouldn't even want her to go to high school! Tuition, boarding, and food costs seventy or eighty yuan a year, which is almost your monthly allowance. It breaks my heart!"
Zhao Yi still wanted to persist.
"College students are so valuable. Yi Meng has good grades, can get into college, find a stable job and earn a salary. Isn't that better than asking a man for money?"
Qiu Chunfang slammed her chopsticks on the table.
"If she gets into university, you'll have to support her, right? Just for her sake, will the rest of the family starve? Will you neglect your parents' medical care?"
Zhao Yi's lips moved, and the words were on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed them back and turned them into a single sentence.
"Alright, let's eat first."
His words were like an imperial edict, and the two little girls, Sanmeng and Simeng, sitting at the table, lit up with excitement. However, instead of picking up their own bowls, they reached out with their chopsticks to grab the luncheon meat from Lin Yao's bowl.
Their bowls only had a small, thin slice, but Lin Yao's bowl had three slices.
Just as the two of them reached the edge of their bowls with their chopsticks, Qiu Chunfang glared at them and pulled them back.
"Why are you so greedy? Don't you already have enough in your own bowl?"
As she spoke, she picked up Lin Yao's bowl of noodles.
“Your little brother is growing, so give him this meat. You two can share some of the egg sauce. It’ll taste just as good! It’s more nutritious than luncheon meat!”
Two of the three slices of meat were given to Zhao Yaozu, who was slurping down his noodles and had egg sauce all over his face.
The other piece was given to Zhao Yi, who had to go to work in the afternoon.
Zhao Yi already had two slices in his bowl. After eating one, he still had one left. Seeing the two girls smacking their lips with longing, he felt bad and gave each of them a slice.
Zhao Yaozu already had three pieces in his bowl, so with these two more, there are five pieces now.
But when he saw that his father only gave food to his two older sisters and not to him, he immediately became unhappy, sat down on the ground, and started howling.
"He's being unfair! Dad's being unfair!!"
......
Compared to the noise here, the separate courtyard of Commissar Lei's house is much quieter.
After dinner, Political Commissar Lei kept telling Zhou Shuhua to get some sleep.
His snoring started, but Zhou Shuhua couldn't fall asleep.
While Political Commissar Lei was asleep, she secretly reached for the key on his waist, opened the desk drawer, took out the worn-out photo, and gently stroked it with her fingertips.
Then he tiptoed to the living room outside, picked up the receiver, and called the railway police.
Lei Ming never took a lunch break, but it took him quite a while to finally answer the phone.
Hearing the familiar voice, Zhou Shuhua's droopy lips finally curled up slightly.
"Mingming, when are you coming back? Judging by the days, you should be on your day off these next couple of days, right?"
"Auntie, there have been a lot of pickpockets on the trains lately, and my workplace is cracking down on them, so I have to work overtime!"
"You worked overtime last time you were on your day off, why are you working overtime again this time? You're not made of iron, you can't keep working overtime like this!"
"I'll definitely come back in a few days, after I have some rest! I have to go now, I'm rushing to my shift! Auntie, you can hang up now."
Zhou Shuhua replied, "Go and get busy," but her knuckles were white as she gripped the receiver.
Suddenly, a shout came from the other end of the line, "Leiming! Hurry up, we're just missing you for the basketball game!"
When I tried to ask anything else, all I heard from the receiver was a "beep beep" sound.
Zhou Shuhua understood perfectly well that Lei Ming wasn't trying to work overtime; he clearly didn't want to come back!
After we went to Shen Huaichuan's house for a meal last time, the child was sullen and hasn't come back since.
It seems she hasn't forgotten that vixen Zhou Qiqi!
Such a woman, who is actually a military spouse in their military dependents' district, is truly corrupting the moral climate.
If only Shen Huaichuan had married Lin Yao.
Zhou Shuhua was holding a grudge. When she went to the military district office in the afternoon, she spotted Lin Yao from afar before Lin Yao even saw her.
At first, she thought she was seeing things, until Lin Yao walked towards her with tears in her eyes and called out "Director Zhou" affectionately. Only then did she realize that Lin Yao was really in front of her.
She quickly led Lin Yao into her office.
"Why haven't I been able to reach you for so long? I've called you several times, asking you to call me back, but you haven't replied."
"that..."
This is because I thought I would never have anything to do with the military region again.
Lin Yao's eyes flickered twice, and she swallowed.
"Didn't my relationship with Brother Huaichuan break up a while ago? I felt I let you down, so I was too embarrassed to answer your call."
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