It happened that little Qingming woke up. He was no longer playing with the doll as obediently as before, but was kicking his feet and humming.

Xu Yuting walked over and touched his butt, and found that his diaper was dry and he didn't poop, so she picked him up and fed him.

Xu Yuting brought a piece of cloth from home and covered her shoulders with it while breastfeeding so that others could not see anything.

"You're becoming more and more competent as a mother. When Aunt Wang left, I was worried that you wouldn't be able to handle it." Lin Tao smiled and joked when she saw Xu Yuting doing things in an orderly manner.

After all, when Aunt Wang was around, she took care of everything about little Qingming, and Xu Yuting only had to feed the child when he was hungry.

It's only been a month, but we've already got it done quite well.

"You don't understand this, right? I have a mountain to lean on, but I have to bear the consequences on my own. Before, my mother-in-law was around, so I couldn't show my abilities. Now I see my real strength." Xu Yuting raised her eyebrows at Lin Tao with some pride.

Then he asked, "Oh, by the way, Tao, has your brother found a partner?"

Lin Tao had never asked about this, but thinking back to what Li Mingcheng had said to her before, she thought that he probably didn't have a partner yet.

Lin Tao shook her head: "Probably not yet. Why, do you want to introduce him?"

"I don't have the time or interest to be a matchmaker and introduce people to potential partners. If something goes wrong and it's my fault, I'll be in trouble." Xu Yuting pouted, "I mean, if he doesn't have a partner, then those single female soldiers on our island will be in trouble."

Lin Tao recalled the look in the eyes of the female soldiers when they were on the road before, and it was really quite similar to that.

Then he smiled and didn't say anything.

Although she is Li Mingcheng's sister-in-law, she is not the kind of person who likes to meddle in other people's other people's affairs. She would never interfere in other people's personal problems as soon as she meets them.

During this time, Zhong Jing also finished her class. After a few more conversations, Zhong Jing went home first. Her classes today were consecutive, and she had just finished two classes, so she could go home early.

Xu Yuting also had to go to class, so she asked Lin Tao to help look after Xiao Qingming: "I put the diaper here. If he pees, you can help me change it. There are also spare pants here."

"Okay, I get it. Are you still worried about me?" Lin Tao was helpless. This was not the first time she helped look after Xiao Qingming, how could she not know this?

Xu Yuting pursed her lips and smiled without saying anything, as if she had become more nagging than before since becoming a mother.

Not long after Xu Yuting left, Jin Pingping came in.

Lin Tao teased Xiao Qingming for a while, then began to prepare for class. When she and Jin Pingping were alone in the office, they didn't talk to each other. As long as Jin Pingping didn't take the initiative to provoke her, Lin Tao would turn a blind eye.

But today, Jin Pingping came over and said to Lin Tao, "Teacher Lin, there is no sugar in your water cup, right? I have some brown sugar here, I'll add some to make your mouth sweeter."

Lin Tao paused in her writing and moved her gaze from the lesson plan to Jin Pingping's face. Seeing Jin Pingping's almost flattering smile, a hint of doubt flashed in Lin Tao's eyes.

Jin Pingping wanted to make herself some red sugar water? Lin Tao really didn't know whether she had taken the wrong medicine or Jin Pingping had taken the wrong medicine.

Of course, she refused very bluntly: "No, I just like to drink boiled water. Drinking brown sugar water is sweet but it will make my mouth dry and my throat uncomfortable."

After finishing speaking, Lin Tao continued to prepare for class.

But Jin Pingping obviously had no intention of leaving today, and she started talking about something else. Jin Pingping glanced at Lin Tao's bulging belly and said, "Teacher Lin, you should be giving birth soon, right? It won't be a big deal after you give birth, just stay at home and take good care of yourself. I'll tell the principal and come to help you with your classes."

Lin Tao frowned because she had never considered letting Jin Pingping substitute for her.

She had mentioned the substitute teaching matter to Zhong Jing long before, and Zhong Jing had already agreed.

Lin Taominle pursed her lips, put down the pen in her hand, looked at Jin Pingping and said, "Teacher Jin, if you need my help with anything, you can tell me directly. I will consider whether to help you or not depending on the situation. As for the substitute class, I have already found Teacher Zhong, so I won't bother you anymore."

Jin Pingping's thoughts were exposed by Lin Tao, and her face turned red, but it was not like before. She was angry and embarrassed.

She smiled, waved her hand and said, "Teacher Lin, you are right. I do have something I want to ask you for help. Actually, it's nothing. I just want to ask you some questions about teaching. Teacher Lin, is it okay?"

It's fine as long as Jin Pingping has a purpose. If she tries to please Lin Tao without any purpose, it might really scare Lin Tao.

Although Jin Pingping had always been at odds with Lin Tao before and would say a few sarcastic words to her from time to time, Lin Tao felt that even if she gave Jin Pingping some advice, the students would benefit in the future, which was not a bad thing.

So when facing Jin Pingping, Lin Tao told her a lot of educational methods.

Jin Pingping nodded repeatedly as she listened and even took notes of some parts.

"That's all I want to say, Teacher Jin. Is there anything else you don't understand?" Seeing that she had finished speaking and Jin Pingping still had no intention of leaving, Lin Tao raised her eyebrows and asked her.

Jin Pingping smiled and said, "That's all. Thank you so much, Teacher Lin. Teacher Lin, I was wrong in the past. Please don't be really angry with me because of those things."

Lin Tao: “…”

Lin Tao glanced out the window and confirmed that the sun was still rising from the east today.

Then he said, "It's okay. What happened in the past is in the past. I don't take it to heart. The most important thing is to wait and see what happens in the future."

On the way home from school, Lin Tao and Xu Yuting walked together. Xu Yuting was holding little Qingming, while Lin Tao was helping her carry the bag of clothes and diapers.

The two walked and talked, and Xu Yuting said, "Just now when I got out of class, I saw you talking with Jin Pingping."

Lin Tao found it a little funny: "What's wrong, Teacher Xu? Are you jealous? She asked me about teaching, so I just told her my thoughts. If she could change her previous practices, it would be a good thing for the students."

Xu Yuting curled her lips and snorted, "Teacher Lin, am I so jealous in your eyes? Even about this?"

"I don't know who it was, but because a female comrade delivered a document to Captain Wang, she scolded him." Lin Tao couldn't help teasing Xu Yuting.

At that time, she had just made a few small dolls and planned to give them to Xu Yuting, but she didn't expect to see such a drama.

Xu Yuting blushed and explained, "I wasn't jealous. It was because the female soldier screamed too loudly when she came. She screamed several times and woke up Xiao Qingming. I had a hard time coaxing him to sleep. It's not easy for me."

Lin Tao quickly said, "Okay, I won't joke with you anymore. Even your Captain Wang has nothing good to say, so why should I say anything about you?"

Xu Yuting also said: "That's right, I'm talking to you about serious matters. Looking at your expression, you must be wondering why Jin Pingping is so enthusiastic towards you today, right?"

Lin Tao: "Didn't she come here to ask me about teaching?"

Xu Yuting shook her head: "If she wanted to ask, she would have asked a long time ago. Why wait until now? I think she wants to be your sister-in-law."

Lin Tao blinked: "What do you mean?"

Xu Yuting said speechlessly: "Are you stupid? What else can it mean? You just like Captain Li's brother. You used to be very smart, but now you can't even see this. Pregnancy really makes you stupid for three years."

"But didn't Jin Pingping just go on a blind date a while ago? And it didn't work out?" Lin Tao asked.

The reason why she didn't think about it was because she learned not long ago that Jin Pingping went on a blind date. She heard that the other party's conditions were quite good. He was 30 years old, a math teacher, and had never been married before. He was just busy with academic theories, which dragged down his age.

No one heard about this matter again afterwards, and Lin Tao thought it was a done deal.

Xu Yuting shook her head and said, "It didn't work out. Jin Pingping thought the man was too old."

Lin Tao: "Didn't you say early thirties?"

Xu Yuting: "In his early thirties, that's right, but he died young. He was a math teacher, and I heard that he had done some academic theory before, so he used his brain a lot. People who work with math, physics, and chemistry use their brains a lot, so they tend to die easily."

Lin Tao didn't know whether this was true or not, but her former high school math teacher also passed away at a young age...

The two chatted and laughed all the way until they came to a fork in the road. From a distance they saw Wang Yuanliang waiting there.

Lin Tao handed the bag to Wang Yuanliang and said, "Captain Wang, I will take care of your family and son." Then she turned around and said to Xu Yuting, "Your Captain Wang is here to pick you up. I will go back first."

Xu Yuting nodded: "Well, drive slowly on the way. I'll come to your house and sit with you in the afternoon when the sun is not too bright."

"Okay, Mingcheng brought a lot of fruits yesterday, you can have some." Lin Tao said.

*******************************

At noon, Lin Tao remembered that she hadn't eaten wide noodles for a long time, so she kneaded the dough and made a large bowl of wide noodles herself.

She has been controlling her diet recently, advocating eating small and frequent meals, so that she eats less at each meal, digests faster, and is less likely to gain weight.

She couldn't eat much, but she knew very well how much Li Chengxi ate. Now with the addition of Li Mingcheng, if she cooked less, it wouldn't be enough.

Sure enough, Lin Tao was very far-sighted.

In the end, the whole bowl of wide noodles she made was eaten by Li Chengxi and Li Mingcheng.

Lin Tao and Li Chengxi both like spicy food, so they added chili oil to their wide noodles. Li Mingcheng was not like Li Chengxi, who was born and raised in Shanghai after studying in Sichuan. He gasped after adding half a spoonful of chili oil.

But that's how chili peppers are, the hotter they are, the more addictive they are.

Li Mingcheng was choked by the spiciness, but he kept praising Lin Tao's cooking skills, saying that this was the best noodles he had ever eaten. He also said that Shanghai food was too bland, and that Xiangcheng's peppers were more delicious, and that he wanted to find a Xiangcheng wife in the future.

There wasn't much wide noodles in Lin Tao's bowl, so she finished her meal early and sat down to listen to Li Mingcheng talk.

Li Mingcheng had obviously eaten a lot, but it seemed that it was not enough. Finally, he dropped his chopsticks into Li Chengxi's bowl, trying to pick up the wide noodles in Li Chengxi's bowl, but Li Chengxi just pecked at his hand with his chopsticks.

Li Chengxi said expressionlessly: "I added coriander, but you don't eat coriander."

Li Mingcheng rubbed his hand which was hurt by the chopsticks and said: "For the sake of noodles, I can endure the pain brought by coriander!"

Lin Tao found the two brothers very funny and couldn't help but said, "Okay Mingcheng, if you're not full, I'll make you some more. There's still some dough left, so it'll be done quickly."

Li Chengxi looked at Lin Tao, his tone much gentler than when he spoke to Li Mingcheng. He shook his head: "Tao, you must be tired after a whole morning of classes. Take a break and have a nap. Ignore him. I think he deserves to be punished."

Li Mingcheng quickly stood up and said, "Sister-in-law, my brother and I were just joking. I'm full, sister-in-law, if you're tired, go and have a rest. Just leave the dishes for me and my brother to wash."

After Lin Tao got used to taking a nap, she kept the habit and felt sleepy every noon.

At this time she was really a little sleepy, so she went into the bedroom to rest.

After she left, Li Chengxi left the bowl to Li Mingcheng to wash, and he took two apples and started cutting them.

"Brother, didn't we agree that we would wash the dishes together?" As Li Mingcheng spoke, he washed the dishes quite skillfully.

Li Chengxi glanced at him coldly and said, "If you want to eat, work. Otherwise, go back immediately."

Li Mingcheng quickly shut up and stopped talking. The meal his sister-in-law cooked was so delicious, he didn't want to leave so early.

Not only did he wash the dishes cleanly, he also wiped the kitchen stove again. He felt that he was a real good family man.

When he finished his work, he saw that Li Chengxi had already cut the apple into cubes, and said, "Brother, you don't need to cut mine, I can just eat it directly."

Li Chengxi took the apple and stuffed it into his mouth. He said ruthlessly, "Eat this."

After saying this, Li Chengxi turned around and left.

Li Mingcheng looked at his brother's ruthless back and took a bite of the apple core in his hand. Hmm, it's still quite delicious. My sister-in-law will definitely like it!

****************************

Not long after lunch, Li Chengxi had to go to the group, and Li Mingcheng followed him as he really couldn't sit still.

Lin Tao didn't go to sleep immediately after entering the room. She walked back and forth a few times. When she felt that she was ready, she took a book and sat on the bed to read.

After a while, Li Chengxi came in with some cut apples and told her to eat some fruit and go to sleep later.

He took out a thin blanket from the cupboard and told her to cover her belly when she slept, to prevent her from catching a cold. After getting pregnant, one cannot take medicine randomly, and if one gets sick, one has to bear it, so Li Chengxi was particularly cautious in this regard.

Lin Tao closed the book and nodded, "Okay, I understand."

She has been reading very slowly recently. This book alone has taken her almost a month to finish. On the other hand, Li Chengxi reads to her and the baby in her belly every night and has already finished several books.

After eating the apple, Lin Tao leaned on the bed, feeling a little drowsy, and fell asleep after a while.

When she woke up, it was already past three in the afternoon.

I slept for a really long time. It must have been more than two hours.

Normally, Lin Tao didn't take such a long nap, but today she slept longer and felt a little dizzy when she woke up. She sat on the bed for a while, looking at the sky and trees outside the window, and it took her a while to come to her senses.

There was a knock on the door, followed by Chen Shuifen's loud voice: "Teacher Lin, Teacher Lin, are you awake?"

Lin Tao opened the quilt, got out of bed, and walked outside while replying, "I'm coming."

I walked into the yard and opened the door. Standing outside was not only Chen Shuifen, but also Xu Yuting and little Qingming in Xu Yuting's arms.

Chen Shuifen said, "Teacher Xu came a long time ago. I called you several times at the door but you didn't respond. I guessed you must still be sleeping, so I asked Teacher Xu to come to my house and sit for a while."

Lin Tao said, "I'm so sorry. I was probably a little tired today and slept very deeply. I really didn't hear you calling me outside."

"That's nothing. I'm just worried that something might happen to you. So since you haven't come out yet, I asked Sister Chen to call you." Xu Yuting said.

Then he smiled and said, "It's mainly because Sister Chen has a loud voice, so you can hear her when she shouts."

After hearing this, Chen Shuifen smiled and said, "You just can't open your voice and are embarrassed to shout so loudly. In my opinion, there's nothing to be afraid of. Just open your voice and shout as loudly as you can."

While they were talking, Lin Tao washed two apples and two pears, cut each into four pieces with a knife, put them in a bowl, and took them out for everyone to eat.

Xu Yuting and Chen Shuifen each took a small piece and ate a few bites. Chen Shuifen said, "This apple is really sweet. Was it brought by Captain Li's younger brother? I saw him this morning. He's so handsome. How old is he this year?"

"He should be about my age, about 21 this year." Lin Tao said, "When you go back later, take two more and give them to Xiangyang and Hongxing."

"No, this is something Captain Li's brother brought specially for you to eat. If it was something else, forget it. There are not many fruits on the island, and it's hard to send them by mail. It's rare for you to eat them yourself." Chen Shuifen waved her hands quickly, "Don't worry about those two brats. They ate up all the radishes I planted in my yard, the radish seeds you gave me last time. I didn't plant them last year, so I planted them this year. They are really sweet, no worse than fruits."

When Xu Yuting was eating the fruit, little Qingming in her arms stared at the apple in her hand intently and smacked it a few times with his little mouth.

"You want to eat it too? You are too young now and can't eat it. Can mommy let you smell it?" Xu Yuting teased Xiao Qingming, put the apple to Xiao Qingming's mouth, and then took it back.

Lin Tao said helplessly: "Yuting, stop teasing Xiao Qingming. He can't eat it to begin with, and you're still teasing him."

Xu Yuting ate the apple in a few bites.

Chen Shuifen started the conversation and talked about Jin Pingping again: "She doesn't like military officers, and she doesn't like teachers either. I really don't know what kind of person can catch her eye. She's been dragging it on for another year, and she's probably 24 this year."

Lin Tao asked: "Wasn't she only 22 last year?"

Chen Shuifen smiled, "You should listen to her. She was 23 last year. She was probably one month away from her 23rd birthday when she told you, so she said she was 22. She must have been so picky that she must have been dazzled. She has been looking for a partner since she was 20. I introduced her to someone at first, but she didn't like him."

Xu Yuting became interested: "Have you introduced her to someone? Who?"

Chen Shuifen said, "It was our old Zheng's last security guard, but she thought he was too low-ranking and didn't agree. But that guy turned out to be quite capable and made great contributions soon. Now he has been transferred to another place."

"She has taken a fancy to Captain Li's younger brother and is trying to curry favor with A Tao today," said Xu Yuting.

"Ah, she's attracted to Captain Li's brother?" Chen Shuifen made a surprised expression, then suddenly realized, "But Captain Li's brother is handsome, no wonder she likes him. Teacher Lin, what do you think? Do you agree?"

This made Lin Tao laugh. She said, "What's the use of me agreeing or not? How can I, as his sister-in-law, control his personal feelings? I'll just pretend I don't know about this."

Xu Yuting nodded: "You are doing well. If it were me, I would tell her not to even think about it."

Although Chen Shuifen refused to take any fruit, Lin Tao still gave them each an apple and a pear when they left.

*********************************

Tonight, Lin Tao cooked fried pork, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, cold kelp salad and loofah soup.

The staple food is steamed bread. There is only so much rice in the house, so we have to eat it sparingly. This is because the conditions are good on the island. In the past, Lin Tao had never tried this way of eating.

This was Li Mingcheng's first time eating bacon. Lin Tao took into consideration that Li Mingcheng could not tolerate spicy food, so she deliberately used less chili.

Li Mingcheng had another delicious meal and praised Lin Tao to the heavens.

Li Chengxi couldn't bear to listen any more, so he kicked the stool where Li Mingcheng was sitting and said, "That's enough, even meat can't stop your mouth."

Lin Tao couldn't help but smile when she heard that.

Not long after they finished their meal, someone came to the house.

Lin Tao was about to go out to see who it was, but Li Mingcheng quickly said, "Sister-in-law, it's okay, I'll go open the door."

The person who came was Jin Pingping, who stood outside the yard and called Lin Tao. The door was not locked, but she did not come in. Seeing that the person who opened the door was Li Mingcheng, she deliberately rubbed her red face to make it even redder.

Li Mingcheng didn't know what Jin Pingping was thinking, so he asked, "Hello, who are you?"

"Oh, I'm here to see Teacher Lin. I'm a teacher at the school. My surname is Jin, and my name is Jin Pingping." Jin Pingping quickly took the opportunity to introduce herself.

"Are you looking for my sister-in-law?" Li Mingcheng turned around and called inside, "Sister-in-law, your school teacher wants to see you for something."

Inside, Lin Tao heard the voice, needless to say, the person who came was Jin Pingping on time.

When I walked out, it was indeed her.

Lin Tao noticed that Jin Pingping had dressed up specially, and her clothes were different from what she wore this morning. Her shoulder-length hair was tied into two braids with a red hairband.

It seems that what Xu Yuting said was right, Jin Pingping really likes Li Mingcheng.

"Teacher Jin, why are you here?" Lin Tao smiled, "How about coming in and sitting down?"

Jin Pingping followed Lin Tao in. This was her first time at Lin Tao's house. She couldn't help but look around a few more times, admiring how well Lin Tao had tidied the yard, with both vegetables and flowers.

That's the truth.

Lin Tao smiled and said, "Teacher Jin, just tell me what you want to say."

Jin Pingping glanced at Li Mingcheng who was busy washing dishes. From the yard, she could only see half of Li Mingcheng's body. She blushed and said, "Teacher Lin, does Captain Li have a girlfriend?"

"I really don't know. How about I call him out and you ask him in person?" Lin Tao said, "Teacher Jin, if you're interested, you can go and talk to him yourself. There's no need to do this in front of me. I can't control his affairs."

Jin Pingping said, "Teacher Lin, I was wrong to oppose you before. I will definitely not do that again in the future. I hope you can say something good about me in front of him, okay?"

"I won't say anything good or bad. Besides, love is not something that can be achieved by just nice words from others. Besides, he won't listen to me. If you really have any ideas, you can go and tell him clearly. If he is willing, I will definitely not stop you. You really don't need to do these things in front of me. I feel awkward watching you. But if you really want to say something, you better hurry up, because he will leave the island in two days."

Lin Tao said.

She knew why Jin Pingping came to curry favor with her. Wasn't it because she was afraid that she would say bad things about her in front of Li Mingcheng?

She simply made it clear to Jin Pingping that she would not say anything good or bad about it and she would not care about the matter.

Otherwise, Jin Pingping would have to blame herself for the success or failure of this matter, and Lin Tao would get into trouble for nothing.

However, Lin Tao guessed that this would most likely not succeed.

***************************

Sure enough, Lin Tao guessed correctly.

The next day, Jin Pingping got two movie tickets and said she wanted to go to the movies with Li Mingcheng, but Li Mingcheng flatly refused.

He said he had already seen the movie and didn't want to watch it a second time.

When he came back and told Lin Tao about it, he asked her why lesbians always chose this movie when they invited him to watch it. Several lesbians had already asked him to watch this movie. And this movie was obviously not good. The last time he and a friend watched it, they both fell asleep in the theater.

After hearing what Li Mingcheng said, Lin Tao held back her smile for a long time.

Why else could that be? Because there are too few romance films, there are only a few of them, and there are too few to choose from.

Before going to bed at night, Li Chengxi filled a basin of water and placed it beside the bed. He took off Lin Tao's shoes and then soaked her feet in the basin.

The water temperature is just right, and it is very comfortable to soak in.

When the two of them first arrived on the island, Li Chengxi had washed Lin Tao's feet. Now that his belly was so big, it was really inconvenient. Lin Tao didn't feel embarrassed when Li Chengxi washed her feet again and enjoyed it.

"What did Li Mingcheng say to you just now? You were smiling so happily." The foot soaking time should not be too long. After a few minutes, Li Chengxi wiped Lin Tao's feet dry with a towel.

Lin Tao sat on the bed, watched Li Chengxi take off his shoes, and continued to wash his feet with the water he had used to wash his feet.

She smiled and leaned on Li Chengxi's back, saying, "I used to think that you and Mingcheng were nothing alike. Not only do you look alike, but your personalities are also completely different. But after listening to what he said just now, I think you two brothers are quite similar."

Li Chengqi asked: "What did he say?"

Lin Tao repeated what Li Mingcheng had said, laughing as she spoke, teasing, "I think you two are really alike in this respect."

I heard that there were also lesbians who asked Li Chengxi to watch movies with them in the past, but they were also rejected by Li Chengxi. The words of rejection were even funnier than what Li Mingcheng said.

It seemed that the movie was shown during working hours, but the other party still took leave to go watch the movie with Li Chengxi.

As a result, after Li Chengxi found out, he gave her a very serious lesson.

The female comrade never dared to look for Li Chengxi again. She also heard that she had entered the Propaganda Department through her family's connections. It was common for her to be late and leave early because of her family's connections. After hearing what Li Chengxi said, she never dared to be late or leave early again. Not long after, her father was transferred, and she was transferred to her father's military region.

It was Chen Shuifen who told Lin Tao about this. Chen Shuifen had been with the army on the island for nearly ten years, and she knew a lot about the big and small things on the island.

Li Chengxi's face darkened from laughter, and he looked at Lin Tao, who was smiling with eyes crooked. His eyes darkened, and he suddenly reached out and hugged Lin Tao's waist, whispering in her ear: "Is it so funny?"

The warm breath exhaled sprayed on Lin Tao's ears.

A tingling sensation swept over her, scaring Lin Tao so much that she dodged backwards. She tried to hold back her laughter and begged for mercy, "It's not funny, not at all."

After all, out of consideration for the baby in Lin Tao's belly, Li Chengxi let her go after seeing Lin Tao begging for mercy. However, when he was sleeping, he reached out and grabbed Lin Tao's hand and put it on the rolling place.

Lin Tao touched it, and the huge, hard stone object in her hand actually moved. She was so scared that she quickly retracted her hand.

In the darkness, Lin Tao whispered, "What should we do?"

Li Chengxi kissed Lin Tao's eyes and said, "It's okay, go to sleep."

What can I do? I can only endure it.