April 10th, Saturday.

Shen Lie had a rare day off, so he stayed in bed until half past ten.

At the same time he opened his eyes, Ning Tang also woke up.

The two looked at each other and asked in unison, "What are we having for dinner today?"

Shen Lie, "You cook lunch."

Ning Tang was speechless. "Pike and yellow croaker are quite fat this month? How about steaming the pike or deep-frying the yellow croaker?"

Shen Lie ate these two kinds of fish every day on the boat when he went out to sea. When he heard Ning Tang said he wanted to eat these two kinds of fish, he subconsciously refused, "Goodbye."

Ning Tang thought for a moment, "Then? Do you want to eat shrimp paste?"

"Shrimp?" Shen Lie was stunned.

"Yes, it's made by chopping shrimp into paste and then blanching it into meatballs. Actually, it's almost the same as fish balls." Ning Tang said.

"It sounds good." Shen Lie thought he could give it a try.

Ningtang got up and went to the market to buy shrimps and fish balls, and also bought a pound of wild eels.

When we got home, the three of them, including Da Wa, also got up.

After washing up, the eldest child rubbed his eyes sleepily and said, "I found that I get up later and later."

Erniu yawned, "It must be my stepmother who brought me here. Before she came, we used to get up at seven in the morning every day."

Ning Tang said, "Yes, yes, it's all my fault. I was the one who tied you to the bed. Three little brats, you guys are lazy in bed and you dare to blame me."

Shen Lie chuckled, took the dishes from Ning Tang's hand, and asked her, "How are you going to cook these dishes?"

Ning Tang said, "You can fry the wild eels, just like you fried the crabs before, coat them with flour batter and fry them in oil."

Shen Lie poured the small eels into a basin of water, first rinsed the blood on the surface of the eels with clean water, then rubbed off the mucus on the surface of the eels with salt, and then coated them with the prepared flour paste and fried them in a pan.

While he was making fried eels, Ning Tang removed the heads, shells and shrimp threads of the blanched shrimps, chopped them into meat paste, then added egg white, starch and salt, stirred, and then made them into small meatballs. They are called shrimp paste, but in fact, they are similar to shrimp balls.

After making the shrimp balls, Ningtang took out the fish balls bought from the fish stall owner and cooked a pot of shrimp ball, fish ball and seaweed soup with the shrimp balls and seaweed.

The soup is ready, and Shen Lie's fried eels are also out of the pot.

He called Da Wa to come over and bring the dishes. Da Wa had been clinging to the kitchen door frame for a long time. When he heard Shen Lie calling him, he quickly went into the kitchen and said, "I'm coming."

Da Wa took the plate and walked two steps out of the kitchen, looked around, and while Shen Lie and Ning Tang were not noticing, he used his body to block them and pinched a fried eel and stuffed it into his mouth.

The flour paste was seasoned with chili powder and pepper. It was crispy, salty and delicious. The eldest boy couldn't help but eat one piece after another.

Ning Tang's voice came from the kitchen, "Shen Dawa, did you wash your hands before eating secretly?"

The eldest child almost choked, "How do you know I ate it secretly?" No, no, that would be a confession. The eldest child quickly changed his words, "I didn't eat it secretly."

Ning Tang was amused. "The important thing is not whether you stole food or not, but whether you washed your hands or not."

The eldest child said in a low voice, "No..."

Shen Lie really wanted to beat him up, "How dare you pick up things with your hands without washing them? Aren't you afraid of getting worms in your stomach?"

Da Wa didn't believe it, "How is that possible?"

"Really?" Ning Tang said, "I'm not lying to you. If you have worms in your stomach, the pain will kill you."

Seeing Ning Tang and Shen Lie's solemn promises, Da Wa suddenly felt a dull pain in his stomach and pouted to assure, "Okay, okay, next time, I'll wash my hands before eating, okay?"

Shrimp, fish balls, seaweed soup and fried eels were served on the table. Shen Lie couldn't wait to scoop a bowl. As soon as he took a sip, his eyes lit up, "This soup is delicious. I'll make it again next time."

The shrimp balls and fish balls are tender and chewy, and the seaweed soup has a light salty and fresh taste, which is very delicious.

For a moment, everyone was silent and just drank from their bowls of soup.

Ning Tang said, "You can make it again, but it's too greasy to eat this kind of food all the time. Next time, you can try tomato and shrimp vermicelli casserole."

"Tomato and shrimp vermicelli casserole?" Shen Lie asked.

"Yes, just crush the peeled tomatoes and add shrimp paste and vermicelli. It's just as delicious. Oh, and you can also add some enoki mushrooms." Ning Tang said.

Shen Lie imagined the taste and thought it was okay, "Okay, let's do this next time."

After dinner, Shen Lie went to the kitchen to wash the dishes, and Ning Tang helped him.

The eldest, second and third children were playing in the living room. The third child accidentally spilled the water. The eldest child opened his mouth and wanted to call Ning Tang, "Mom..."

He paused, and instead of calling Quan, he asked Erniu and Sanwa, "What do you think, should we call our stepmother "Mom" instead?"

Erniu tilted her head, "Why do you want to change your words?"

Sanwa was also very ignorant. He was still young and didn't remember much, so he couldn't tell the difference between his stepmother and his biological mother. In his subconscious, Ningtang was his biological mother.

The eldest child repeated what he had heard during the previous New Year's greetings, "Mrs. Luo said that it's not nice for us to call our stepmother 'stepmother'..."

After all, he is in elementary school and knows much more than Erniu and Sanwa.

They always call Ning Tang "stepmother". Even if Ning Tang herself doesn't care, outsiders will have a bad impression of Ning Tang. Small-minded people will even think that Ning Tang treats them harshly at home, so they are unwilling to change their way of calling her mother.

Also, it seems that the three of them are very impolite.

After hearing what Da Wa said, Er Niu said, "You can change your name, but why do you have to call me mom?"

In fact, Erniu felt that calling her stepmother was closer. Speaking of mother, she always thought of the woman who rarely talked to her and put all her attention on the eldest and third sons.

The adults only taught them to call this "Mom", but never explained to them why they should call her "Mom".

Erniu couldn't help but feel puzzled and asked Da Wa, "Brother, what exactly is a mother?"

Da Wa explained without thinking, "Mom is not a thing, she is the person who gave birth to us."

Sanwa tilted his head and asked tenderly, "Who gave birth to us? Who can be called mother?"

He thought of the Journey to the West that Shen Lie had read to them. The stone monkey Sun Wukong in the story jumped out of a stone. "Is there any difference between having a mother and not having a mother? Sun Wukong jumped out of a stone. He didn't have a mother, but he lived well."

"Uh." Da Wa didn't know how to explain it, but he had a quick mind and quickly came up with the answer, "We are different from Sun Wukong. He is a spirit, a god, and we are human. We must have a mother, and mother is the one who raised us."

The older child spoke more and more smoothly, "Raising means to feed us, and educating should mean to educate us, which means to teach us the truth."

Erniu said, "Then? I think I can call my stepmother "Mom."

Ningtang has achieved both of these points.

Even the most picky eldest child could not find any reason not to call Ningtang "Mom".

The eldest child nodded, "Then it's settled. From now on, you can call your stepmother "mom."

Erniu said, "Okay."

Sanwa was still young and didn't understand the situation, but that didn't stop him from imitating Erniu's response. He clenched his fist and said, "Okay."

After the discussion, the eldest child looked at the spilled water on the ground by the third child and wanted to continue calling Ning Tang, "After..." He called her out, and although he decided to change his words, he couldn't change them in a short time. He quickly reminded himself and called out again, "Mom!"

Ning Tang was washing dishes, and was stunned. She asked Shen Lie, "Is Da Wa calling me?"

Shen Lie was even more confused than her and asked hesitantly, "I think so?"

It's not the couple's fault for being confused. After all, the three children had always refused to call Ningtang "mom" and had always called her "stepmother".

Ning Tang suddenly felt a chill on her back, as if someone had suddenly blown a breath behind her ear. A chill ran from her tailbone to the top of her head. She looked at Shen Lie in shock, "Could it be a ghost?"

Shen Lie opened his mouth wide, his eyes almost falling out, "You mean, Da Wa saw his biological mother?"

He heard that some children, in certain circumstances, could see strange, mystical things.

Could it be that Da Wa has encountered a ghost? !

The two looked at each other, threw down their bowls at the same time, and rushed out of the kitchen.

Shen Lie grabbed Da Wa's shoulders and shook them a few times, "Dai Wa, what did you just say? Say it again."

Da Wa's brain was almost shaken by him, "I, I say, Mom."

Ning Tang made a martial arts start gesture and looked around the room cautiously, "Captain Shen, you watch over Da Wa while I go call for help. By the way, do you know anyone who can exorcise ghosts? I'd better be reliable."

Shen Lie was speechless, "Why not me?"

Besides, those who do that kind of stuff have all been sent to work in the cowshed in the past few years. There is no way he knows him.

Ning Tang said as a matter of course, "Because I'm scared, I have to hide away."

Shen Lie: ...You are so bold to say that.

After a while, the eldest child finally understood, "You guys? Do you think I saw my own mother?"

Ning Tang rolled her eyes, "Nonsense, why else would you call me mom?"

The eldest child puffed up his cheeks and said, "I was calling you."

"Call me?" Ning Tang pointed at himself, "You call me mom?"

She looked at Shen Lie and said, "Captain Shen, I think Da Wa is not very well. Can you tell me how to deal with it? Should we find an exorcist or see a doctor? Or should we combine Chinese and Western medicine?"

The eldest child was furious. "I don't need to exorcise ghosts or see a doctor. I just called you mom, so what? Mommy, mommy, mommy!"

He couldn't shout enough by himself, so he asked Erniu and Sanwa to shout, "You guys? Shout too."

Erniu followed behind Da Wa and called out crisply, "Mom!"

Sanwa motioned Ningtang to pick him up, then he nestled in Ningtang's arms, kissed her cheek, and said with a smile, "Mom."

Ning Tang was so confused by Sanwa's kiss that he responded without thinking, "Hey, dear son."

Erniu was unhappy and pointed at Sanwa and said, "You only let him kiss you and not me."

Ning Tang was amused. He bent down, pointed at the right cheek that Sanwa hadn't kissed before, and said, "Then? Kiss this."

Erniu's face turned slightly red, and she hesitated for a long time before she kissed Ningtang on the face.

Ning Tang pinched her little face and said nice things to her as if they were free, "Good girl, good girl, my little sweetheart."

Erniu's face was so red that she was about to explode. "Good daughter", "good girl", "little sweetheart", she had never been called like this before, it was like she drank a bag of sweet honey.

She turned her face away, the corners of her clothes were wrinkled, and she felt inexplicably that if she could be called like this, it would be worth it to call Ning Tang "Mom" a few more times, even if her voice became hoarse.

The eldest boy was dumbfounded. It was clearly him who asked everyone to call him "Mom" first. How come the second girl and the third boy both got a kiss, but he got nothing?

Shen Lie was even more dumbfounded. They were obviously his biological children? Why were the three little brats surrounding Ning Tang and calling her "Mom" all the time?

He inexplicably felt isolated...

Ning Tang held Sanwa and Erniu intimately for a while, and finally remembered to ask Dawa why he called her.

The eldest boy had a sullen face and said in a hoarse voice, "The third boy spilled the water, so I called you?"

"Oh, it's just a small matter." Ning Tang instructed Shen Lie, "Go, get a broom from the kitchen to sweep up the broken glass on the floor, then get a mop to mop the floor. Oh, and after that, wash the remaining dishes."

Shen Lie was speechless, "You only know how to call me." After all, he still obediently followed Ning Tang's instructions.

Ning Tang said, "What do you mean by 'to use'? 'To call you'? That means to rely on you to do things."

Seeing that the eldest child still had a stinky face, Ning Tang was amused and pinched his little face, "Hey, hey, why does our eldest child have such a stinky face?"

The eldest was very angry and pointed at the second and third children, "You only kissed them and not me."

Ning Tang felt that he had to treat them equally, "Well, I'll kiss you, right? You're treated better than the other two. They both took the initiative to kiss me, but you're different. I kiss you."

After saying that, he kissed the eldest child's little face. The eldest child was satisfied and smiled happily.

Ning Tang sighed, having three kids is just different. They are jealous of each other for her every day, just like a seesaw, when one end is pushed down, the other end will rise.

On April 13, after a written test and an interview, the Women's Committee announced the list of successful candidates for the cadre recruitment.

Zeng Xinlan went to see her performance, while Ningtang and Mrs. Luo were waiting for her good news at Mrs. Luo's house.

Mrs. Luo was very worried about Zeng Xinlan.

Ning Tang actually roughly guessed who would be selected this time, so he wasn't that nervous.

Zeng Xinlan came back with heavy steps. When Mrs. Luo saw her expression, her heart skipped a beat.

Zeng Xinlan smiled bitterly and said, "I've let you two down. I was looking forward to it, but I didn't pass the exam this time."

Mrs. Luo felt very distressed. She knew too well what this recruitment meant to Zeng Xinlan. She held Zeng Xinlan's hand and said, "Xinlan..."

"It's okay, sister-in-law." Zeng Xinlan forced a smile. "Although I couldn't go to the Women's Committee, the pharmacy at the health center told me that I could go and try it, so it can be considered a blessing in disguise."

She said, "Fortunately, I listened to Xiao Ning and made preparations. While preparing for the Women's Committee officer examination, I also did not forget to inquire about the information from the health center and the pharmacy."

In the past, many people would have fought hard for the job at the health center's pharmacy. But this time, when the news of the Women's Committee recruiting officials came out, everyone's attention was drawn to that, and few people asked about the job at the health center's pharmacy.

Zeng Xinlan initially planned to prepare wholeheartedly for the examination for the Women's Committee clerk, but Ning Tang advised her to make preparations for both situations. She could get in touch with the pharmacy at the health center. In case she failed the examination for the Women's Committee, she would still have the job at the health center as a backup.

Zeng Xinlan was very convinced by Ning Tang's opinion. After Ning Tang's advice, she took some time to go to the pharmacy at the health center to ask.

Fortunately, she asked, but no one was interested at the pharmacy. As soon as she asked, they almost decided on her, saying that they would let her give it a try. In fact, they just didn't say it so decisively. As long as Zeng Xinlan didn't make any big mistakes and passed the probation period safely, the job would be hers for sure.

Mrs. Luo's eyes lit up. "That's good. The pharmacy is also a good job. Although the salary is not high, only three yuan a month, the work is easy, you can work in shifts, and it won't interfere with your taking care of Dahu."

The work in a pharmacy is relatively easy. I start work at nine in the morning and work until twelve noon. I take a two-hour lunch break, then go back to work at two in the afternoon and get off work at five.

The lunch break was enough time for Zeng Xinlan to go back and forth between home and the clinic. In the afternoon, people got off work early, so she could go to the beach to swim, and she also had time to cook for Dahu and Captain Qi.

Zeng Xinlan also thought so. It was an unexpected success. This job in the health center's pharmacy was actually the most suitable one for her.

After thinking it over, her face brightened up, "Well, I think this job is pretty good too."

Mrs. Luo asked again, "So? Who got into the Women's Committee this time?"

She was also very curious about who defeated Zeng Xinlan and successfully entered the Women's Committee.

After all, she saw how hard Zeng Xinlan worked. How hard would it take for someone to defeat Zeng Xinlan?

Speaking of this, Zeng Xinlan looked at Ning Tang's expression, hesitated for a while, and said nothing.

Ning Tang smiled, "Just tell me, did Ning Xue pass the exam?"

Mrs. Luo was very surprised. "What? It's her? She passed the exam?"

Zeng Xinlan nodded, "She and another military wife named Zhang Mian passed the exam."

Ning Tang had guessed it a long time ago. With Ning Xue's hard work and cultural level, it would be difficult for her to fail the exam.

To be fair, Ning Xue only has a high school education, is not stage-shy, is a very opinionated person, and is very suitable for the job of Women's Committee officer, so it is normal for her to pass the exam.

Although Zeng Xinlan's cultural level is acceptable, there are many people with higher cultural levels than her. Not to mention others, even Li Yun, who often follows Ning Xue like a follower, is a high school graduate.

Moreover, Zeng Xinlan is rather shy and easily gets stage fright. She gets nervous when there are many people around. In this exam, her score in the written test was acceptable, but her score in the interview was very low.

Mrs. Luo didn't know what to say.

Ning Tang didn't know why he thought of Li Yun. Although he had only met her a few times, Ning Tang was quick to sense that this person was not an easy person to deal with.

She? and Ning Xue applied for the exam together?, Ning Xue passed, but she? didn’t, tsk tsk…

The next day, Saturday

Ningtang came home after buying groceries. As soon as she entered the house, her three children ran over.

"Mom!" the eldest child shouted, "What are we eating today?"

Ning Tang threw the bag into the kitchen, "Pork bones and kelp soup."

She bought three big bones and a bag of dried kelp.

I poured three buckets of water into the pot and heard footsteps. I turned around and saw that it was my eldest daughter. She asked, "What else do you want to eat?"

The eldest child thought for a moment and said, "Eat a cake."

"Go upstairs and call your dad to come down and make some pancakes." Ning Tang's hands were busy soaking the dried kelp and putting it into the water together with the washed pork bones to make soup.

Shen Lie went downstairs and fried the pancakes.

The pork bone and kelp soup and pancakes were served on the table. Da Wa took a deep breath of the aroma and said, "It smells really good."

Ning Tang often went to that pork stall to buy vegetables. The stall owner was familiar with her and knew that she had three children, so he often saved some good meat for her.

Today's pork bones are actually pork bones, but in fact, some of the meat on them has not been cleaned out, making it a fishy dish.

Shen Lie took out the pork bones from the soup, removed the meat from them, and put them into the bowls of Ning Tang and the three children. He then used chopsticks to dig out the marrow from the pork bones and shared it among the four of them.

After that, he tore the cake into small pieces, soaked them in the soup, and then ate them all together after the cake softened.

After dinner, Shen Lie went to the army as he had a meeting in the afternoon.

Before leaving, he reminded Ning Tang, "Remember to tutor Big Kid."

Ning Tang was speechless. She thought Shen Lie had forgotten about this.

This was the first time that Da Wa heard about this. He was dumbfounded. He turned his neck stiffly towards Ning Tang and said, "Mom, what do you mean by giving me extra lessons?"

Ning Tang was amused. "You forgot that you scored 60 points in Chinese in your last final exam. Your dad said that you did very poorly and asked me to help you with your lessons and bring your grades up."

Tuition means I can’t go out and play, and today is Saturday!

The eldest child burst into tears and asked, "Can I not make up for it?"

Ning Tang pulled him to the table and said, "You can tell Captain Shen about this. It's no use telling me. Do you think I want to help you make up for it? This is mine. Isn't it better to take a nap during lunch break than to help you make up for it?"

"Okay." Big Boy said weakly.

He saw two exercise books on the table, one for Chinese and one for math. "I only did poorly in Chinese. I got a perfect score in math. Mom, did you get the wrong textbook?"

"That's right." Ning Tang said, "It's your father's idea to teach Chinese, and it's my idea to teach math."

The eldest child was confused. He didn't understand, so Ning Tang explained to him, "Your dad thinks you did poorly in Chinese and you should take Chinese lessons. I think you are good in math and you should extend your strengths and take math lessons. Neither of us was convinced, so we decided to help you with both subjects at the same time."

The eldest child looked stunned. "According to what you said, if I did poorly on the test, it was wrong. If I did well on the test, it was also wrong."

"That's not the case." Ning Tang said, "As for Chinese, just make up for it. 70 or 80 points will be enough. As long as you can report to Captain Shen, it will be fine. As for math, I think you are a math genius. Learning advanced math knowledge in advance should be a piece of cake for you. So, our make-up class is still very easy. Don't worry."

After hearing what Ningtang said, Da Wa finally breathed a sigh of relief. Then, when he heard Ningtang praising him as a genius, his face turned red and he took the initiative to pick up the Chinese textbook.

In fact, first-grade Chinese is just like that. There is nothing much to make up.

Ning Tang had seen Da Wa's Chinese test paper last time, in which he scored 60 points. Da Wa's score was mainly due to carelessness and ugly handwriting, which was why he scored so low.

She taught the eldest child according to the knowledge in the Chinese textbook, starting with the most basic initial consonant table and final vowel table.

The eldest child gets a headache when he sees this thing. What are those initials and finals? After looking at them for a long time, they look like tadpoles. He is completely confused.

After all, he was a child and had no patience. He got angry and pushed the book away, "I don't want to study anymore!"

"Then? I won't learn it." Ning Tang said.

Now it was the eldest child's turn to be dumbfounded, "Mom, won't you try to persuade me?"

"Why should I advise you?" Ning Tang laughed, "If I don't learn Chinese well, then I will be beaten by Captain Shen? It's not me."

"Belts, rolling pins, hangers..." Ning Tang counted them while glancing at Da Wa's expression out of the corner of his eye.

After seeing his face turn from red to white, she smiled and asked him, "Do you still want to learn?"

The eldest child swallowed his anger and said in a gentle voice, "Learn."

Ning Tang picked up the Chinese textbook and placed it in front of him. "Be good, actually, learning Chinese has many benefits. If you learn well, you can read books by yourself."

The eldest child thought of the row of storybooks on the bookshelf and the wonderful stories in them, and asked hesitantly, "Really?"

"Really?" Ning Tang said, "What good would it be for me to lie to you? The reason why Captain Shen and I can tell you stories is because we studied Chinese well when we were young."