Around five o'clock in the evening, Meng Yi and Chen Li returned home exhausted.
Seeing that everyone was waiting for them, the two of them were actually a little touched.
"Son! Xiao Meng! How is it?"
Lu Mei was the first to rush over and asked, followed closely by Shi Huan.
Su Keke and Grandma Qiao sat aside, smiling but not saying anything. Looking at their state, you could tell that they had passed.
She was so concerned that she was confused. Lu Mei, who was always good at observing people's words and expressions, didn't even notice it.
"We..." Chen Li deliberately dragged out the words, trying to play a joke on his mother.
"What are you talking about? Tell me! I'm so anxious!"
Lu Mei is so impatient that when she saw her son hesitating in speaking, she got so angry that she almost pulled his ears.
"Mom...Mom...don't be angry! I said it's not okay!"
When Chen Li saw his mother's attitude, he immediately raised his hands in surrender.
"We passed the assessment!" This time Chen Li and Meng Yi spoke at the same time.
"Really?" Lu Mei and Shi Huan high-fived each other, as if they had reached some kind of consensus.
"Son! That's great!" Chen Da also came over and patted Chen Li's shoulder happily to encourage him.
Shi Huan was more direct. He jumped up on the spot and gave Meng Yi a big hug.
"Congratulations! Congratulations! Come on! Come on, both of you, have some chicken feet to liven up the atmosphere. This is my personal treasure, I won't show it to other people. I'm sure you'll scream when you eat it!"
Su Keke stuffed two bags of chicken feet into Chen Li and Meng Yi's hands as if she was presenting treasures.
Meng Yi put Shi Huan down and took the chicken feet handed over by Su Keke with a suspicious look on his face, "Isn't this the chicken feet sold in our community supermarket? And... is it a private collection?"
Chen Li's situation was much simpler. He didn't think about anything and didn't ask any questions. He just bit open the package with his mouth. Like a greedy child, he took a big bite and the chicken feet was gone in half in an instant.
"Hmm...the meat of this chicken foot is soft and crispy, and it tastes especially chewy."
Chen Li said something vaguely, and quickly stuffed the other half of the chicken feet into his mouth, chewing it with a big crunch, not even willing to spit out the bone.
Grandma Qiao watched from the side and kept laughing. Seeing these children making noise, it seemed as if she had returned to her youth.
"Eat some peanuts, the buttery ones are really delicious."
Only then did Grandma Qiao remember that she had peeled a large plate of peanuts for them.
"Granny Qiao, you understand me so well!"
As soon as Chen Li finished eating the chicken feet in his hand, he reached out and grabbed a handful of peanuts. His mouth was bulging like a groundhog while eating.
"Son, please leave some for others to eat. Aunt Qiao spent most of the day peeling it."
Lu Mei pulled her silly son to her side and said, "If you want to eat peanuts, peel them yourself."
Seeing that they were enjoying their meal, Su Keke secretly ran back to get the spicy strips that Chen Li liked, the beef jerky that Meng Yi liked, and the salted egg yolk-flavored biscuits that Shi Huan liked.
"Coco, don't you and Grandma Qiao usually eat snacks?"
"Under such difficult conditions, you actually still have snacks at home. I really admire you."
Shi Huan asked as she was busy unpacking her favorite cookies.
"I'm fine, mainly because Grandma Qiao doesn't eat much."
As Su Keke spoke, she opened another bag of honey-flavored chicken feet and started eating.
She has a special liking for chicken feet and can't stop eating them once she starts.
"Coco! You still have more stock. I can't even find a melon seed shell at home now."
Chen Li held the spicy strips Su Keke gave him and put them under his nose and smelled them again and again. He was actually a little reluctant to eat them.
"By the way, when will you start your work?" Lu Mei suddenly asked.
"Report at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning!" Chen Li replied casually.
"Then you should go to bed early tonight!" Lu Mei quickly reminded.
"Mom! How can you be like this? It's only what time now! You're telling me to go to bed. Do you think I'm an elementary school student?"
Chen Li opened a bag of spicy strips, tore them apart one by one, and replied to Lu Mei with a depressed look on his face.
Looking at the spicy strips in my hand emitting a unique flavor, I quickly took a bite, the taste is really intoxicating.
Spicy noodles and cola, is it a must-have for otakus?
"You kid! How come you can't tell the difference between good and bad words!"
Lu Mei said something scolding, grabbed a handful of melon seeds from the coffee table, and went over to chat with Grandma Qiao.
…
The next day, Meng Yi and Chen Li both got up early.
I don’t know if it was because they were excited or nervous, but the two of them didn’t sleep well that night.
After quickly eating a piece of bread in the morning, the two went out together.
Changhong Community is about 40 minutes’ walk from the Municipal Office. Today is a rare good day. Although the temperature is low, there is no wind.
The snow on the main roads in the city had also been cleared, and Chen Li and Meng Yi did not feel cold even though they were wearing down jackets, masks and gloves.
There were almost no people on the streets in the early morning.
After being baptized by typhoons, floods and heavy snow, Lingcheng is now empty everywhere.
It's freezing cold, who would go out and wander the streets for no reason?
It was exactly 7:50 when Meng Yi and Chen Li arrived at the gate of the Municipal Office. In the end times, it would be nice to have a mechanical watch on your hand.
"You passed too! I knew you two had a chance!" A hearty voice came from behind the two of them.
"Sister in the flowery coat?" Meng Yi and Chen Li turned around and said at the same time.
"What do you mean by sister with flowery coat? My name is Qian Ru, I'm 38 years old, so I'm definitely older than you two. From now on, just call me Sister Qian."
"Please don't add a big word in the middle. If you do, it will make me look like Sister Qian. Don't you think I'll be called older?"
Qian Ru was still wearing the big flowery jacket from Northeast China. Her nose was red from the cold and the skin on her face was very dry and looked a little flaky.
He was not wearing a mask or gloves, and cold air was coming out of his mouth when he spoke.
"Sister Qian! Don't you wear a mask and gloves when you go out? It's so cold outside."
Chen Li asked in confusion.
He thought everyone was like the people on the 20th floor, stockpiling food and wearing warm clothes, so it was also their fault that they rarely went out.
Nowadays, most people outside have trouble getting enough to eat, let alone keeping warm.
The 20th floor in the previous life was robbed by the Shark Gang and suddenly returned to the time before liberation, where people had to go out to dig wild vegetables even in the extreme cold.
On the outskirts of Lingcheng, there is a place full of wild vegetables. When the extreme cold started, many people went there to dig them. Later, there were so many people that they almost plucked the land bare.
At that time, there were no warm gloves or masks on the 20th floor. Even the slightly better down jackets had been looted by the Shark Gang.
It would be nice to have a few worn-out cotton-padded clothes to wear.
"Where can we find these now? We're lucky to have something to eat. Didn't you know there was a robbery that night? Even if we had any, they were all taken away!"
Qian Ru then noticed that the two young men in front of him seemed to be wearing down jackets, gloves and masks tightly.
Unlike the others, who were wearing shabby and dirty clothes, these could be the two young masters!
Otherwise, who would have such good conditions nowadays?
"Sister Qian is right! We only have this set of warm clothes to wear when we go out. At home, we just wrap ourselves in a quilt."
Meng Yi quickly pulled Chen Li, signaling him to speak less and not reveal too much about himself.
"Then hurry in. It's cold to chat at the gate. It's almost eight o'clock. I guess we have to gather!"
Qian Ru is a carefree person, so she probably doesn't care whether what they say is true or false.
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