Chapter 22 The Second Meal
For a moment, He Yan felt his ears burning.
"This..." It has been quite some time since dinner time. Nowadays, every household has dinner very early, around five or six o'clock, or at the latest half past six.
Jiang Yingying looked at him with disapproval in her eyes.
"Captain He, people are made of iron and food is made of steel. No matter how busy you are, you must remember to eat."
She handed him the lunch box in her hand. "This is the egg tart I made at noon. It's a little cold now. You can eat it first."
Jiang Yingying looked around and saw a cafeteria not far away, but it was a cafeteria, not hers personally, so it was not appropriate for her to use the things inside without permission.
Her eyes fell on the cooperative next to the canteen. The cooperative provided a place for military comrades in the military region to buy what they needed. An old man was in charge of the cooperative.
Everyone called him Old Man Feng. Old Man Feng lived in a small house next to the cooperative.
Since this is where he lives, there must be a stove.
During the more than half a month that Jiang Yingying had been working in a cafeteria, she had gotten to know Old Man Feng to some extent.
He always came to get food when the soldiers were almost gone. On her first day at work, he accurately described the dishes she cooked and said that her cooking skills were better than those of Master Yang and Master Zhu.
After that, Mr. Feng went to the cafeteria to get food for every meal, even breakfast. He said that with her around, he wouldn't have to cook for himself.
Thinking of this, Jiang Yingying pursed her lips and looked at He Yan again.
"Captain He, if you don't mind, I will cook a meal for you."
"Sorry to trouble you..." He Yan frowned, looked at the lunch box stuffed in his hand, and licked his lips. "This is enough."
"It's not a big deal," Jiang Yingying said, "You soldiers all have big appetites, how can this be enough..."
As she spoke, she smiled at He Yan.
"I'll assume you don't mind, let's go!"
Jiang Yingying walked in front. He Yan was stunned for a moment, then raised his leg to follow.
"Grandpa Feng!" Jiang Yingying called out as she approached the cooperative.
Old Master Feng was lazily leaning on a chair at the entrance of the cooperative and raised his eyes when he heard the voice. "It's you girl, what's the matter?"
"Grandpa Feng, um," Jiang Yingying was a little embarrassed, "Can I borrow your stove and some ingredients? I will wash them and return them. No, I will buy the ingredients."
"What are you going to do?" Seeing He Yan behind him, Mr. Feng looked at him with a sharp gaze for a moment, but it quickly disappeared. When he looked at Jiang Yingying, he was still lazy.
The look in Mr. Feng's eyes changed very quickly at that moment. Jiang Yingying didn't notice it, but He Yan caught it clearly.
"Old..." Old Master Feng glared at him, and He Yan quickly changed his words. "Mr. Feng."
"Grandpa Feng, Captain He saved me. I happened to meet him and he hadn't eaten yet, so I thought of cooking him a meal as a small way of repaying him." Jiang Yingying explained.
He Yan said: "Don't bother too much. It's getting late. I'd better take you back to the family compound."
"no."
"That's easy."
Two voices spoke at the same time, the first one was Jiang Yingying's, and the second one was Mr. Feng's.
Hearing what Mr. Feng said, Jiang Yingying's eyes lit up again and again.
Old Master Feng said slowly: "You can start the fire here, but you have to count it as a bite."
"No problem, Grandpa Feng, I'll make you some snacks that you can eat even after a long time."
Jiang Yingying originally thought that Mr. Feng was an elderly man living alone and had been eating in the cafeteria every day recently, so there probably wasn't much food.
However, she had thought it through. At worst, she could still have some coarse grains. She could just make some sweet potato rice or something.
But when Jiang Yingying came to Mr. Feng's small kitchen as Mr. Feng said, and looked at the various ingredients piled inside, even fine grains, this grand scene shocked the "uninformed" Jiang Yingying for a moment.
If this happened in her previous life, this scene would be quite normal. After all, Chinese people like to stock up, and having more things is always better than having nothing.
Whenever I see a sale or go to the mall, I always do a lot of shopping before leaving feeling satisfied.
But this was at a time when most people were still barely able to make ends meet.
When Mr. Feng saw Jiang Yingying go in and there was no movement for a long time, he called out.
"Why, nothing useful?"
Jiang Yingying quickly came back to her senses and said, "It's useful, it's useful." She touched the money in her pocket and was glad that she had the habit of carrying money with her when she went out.
It was already past lunchtime, and Jiang Yingying thought that He Yan might not have eaten well for lunch, so she planned to cook some noodles, which were easy to cook and filling.
Jiang Yingying cooked a pot of tomato noodles for He Yan. Thinking that they needed to replenish protein due to their intense work, she also added two poached eggs.
She served a large bowl to He Yan and a small bowl to Old Man Feng.
He Yan was really embarrassed. He had just thought about going into the kitchen to help, but was sternly rejected by Jiang Yingying.
At this moment, he was playing chess face to face with Mr. Feng.
Seeing Jiang Yingying coming out, he immediately stood up and said, "Be careful..." Before the word "hot" came out of Jiang Yingying's mouth, He Yan had already placed the large bowl steadily on the table.
The last time they had dinner at home, Jiang Yingying envied him and Jiang Chao's big iron hands.
She was most afraid of heat, so every time she served the dishes she had to put a cloth under them or soak her hands in cold water before she dared to carry the dishes slowly, edge by edge, to the table.
He Yan stretched out his big hand and strode to the table with it.
Jiang Yingying could only envy this in her heart, as she couldn't learn it.
What Jiang Yingying just brought out was for Mr. Feng, and it was only a small bowl.
Old Master Feng stretched his neck, snorted when he saw the portion. Obviously, he also knew that this bowl was for him.
"Grandpa Feng, you've had dinner. It's not good to eat too much at night, as it's easy to get indigestion." Jiang Yingying coaxed with a smile, "I'll go down and fry some snacks for you later. You can eat them in the morning or whenever you feel hungry..."
"If you like this tomato and egg noodles, I'll make it for you next time, just for you."
After she finished talking, Mr. Feng felt relaxed. He was just pretending, but after being coaxed by Jiang Yingying, the old man felt a little embarrassed, but he still wanted to save face.
The old man looked stern and hummed.
Jiang Yingying, who saw through his arrogant nature, did not feel embarrassed at all, but only found it funny.
While Jiang Yingying was talking to Mr. Feng, He Yan just sat quietly by the side, watching the "confrontation" between the old and the young.
He was also thinking about how to smooth things over if Mr. Feng spoke rudely and the little girl was sad.
But unexpectedly, he was of no use from beginning to end, and the two of them began to laugh and chat again.
A smile appeared in He Yan's eyes, and then he met Jiang Yingying's gaze.
"Captain He, I've also prepared your noodles. They're in the kitchen."
"I can just get it myself."
He Yan walked into the kitchen and saw the full bowl of noodles, and his heart was filled with infinite warmth.
Jiang Yingying followed him into the kitchen and said, "If you don't have enough after eating, there's more in the pot."
The last time she treated everyone to a meal, Jiang Yingying had a slight understanding of He Yan's appetite.
This time, she prepared the food completely according to his appetite last time and Jiang Chao's usual appetite.
"What about you?" He Yan asked, looking at Jiang Yingying with deep eyes.
Jiang Yingying was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "I've already eaten. I'm not hungry. Come on and eat. I'll make some snacks for Grandpa Feng."
He Yan looked at her deeply and said, "I'll come down and help you later."
He didn't say anything hypocritical like eating together or that he would stay to help. From the fact that Jiang Yingying had just cooked noodles and he said he would help, as well as their previous two interactions, it can be seen that Jiang Yingying is a person who will not easily change her decision.
So, He Yan took the bowl, picked up the chopsticks, and went out to eat noodles with Mr. Feng.
After a while, the hot oil in Jiang Yingying's pot was not yet ready, but He Yan came in to add the second bowl.
Jiang Yingying widened her eyes in surprise, "Have you finished eating?" She looked a little dazed, which was very cute. "No, isn't it hot?"
"I'm done eating," He Yan replied, and then paused, "I'm used to this eating speed."
Jiang Yingying frowned, watching him finish dinner in less than three minutes. After eating all the remaining noodles, he washed his and Mr. Feng's dishes, then sat down to help Jiang Yingying light the fire.
Jiang Yingying frowned and wanted to say something to He Yan several times, but in the end, she swallowed her words back because they were not familiar with each other.
It’s not that He Yan didn’t notice the little girl’s gaze, but she didn’t say anything, so he didn’t dare to ask what was the matter.
At first, the atmosphere in the kitchen was inexplicably difficult as Jiang Yingying was hesitant to speak, but when the fragrance wafted out and Mr. Feng came to the kitchen to "supervise", the atmosphere suddenly became harmonious.
"Xiao Jiang, fry more for me, and I'll give you a small reward later."
"Grandpa Feng, just eat a little of this fried food. Don't eat too much, or you'll get angry easily."
"Oh, I know my limits. Fry more and I'll give them away..." Mr. Feng said he was giving them away, but in his heart he was thinking that he didn't have enough for himself, so he didn't give them away.
As the old man "requested" this, Jiang Yingying and He Yan looked at each other, feeling helpless.
In the end, Jiang Yingying only fried half a plate of French fries for Mr. Feng.
As for the money note she wanted to pay to Mr. Feng, the old man refused to take it, and He Yan also refused to take it.
Later, it was He Yan who stuffed money into Mr. Feng's pocket and borrowed a flashlight to send Jiang Yingying back to the family compound.
"Xiao He, remember to send Xiao Jiang home, it's late at night."
"Mr. Feng, I know. You should lock the door too."
More than half an hour had passed since their meal was delayed. After Jiang Yingying said goodbye to Old Man Feng, she walked back with a bit of urgency.
I don’t know if Jiang Chao and the others will be worried and come out to look for her…
On the way back, Jiang Yingying and He Yan walked side by side. If she wasn't afraid that her family would worry about her, she would definitely chat with He Yan for a few words.
The two had not been walking on the road for a while when a figure suddenly appeared on the road ahead.
"Yingying, girl, why have you been out for so long..." Jiang Chao walked closer and saw He Yan beside Jiang Yingying.
He was a little confused, "He Tuan, you are here too?"
"Brother, why are you here?" Jiang Yingying said, "I was delayed for a while and happened to meet Captain He on the road."
For some reason, Jiang Yingying subconsciously didn't want to tell Jiang Chao that she had wasted time cooking for He Yan.
He Yan saved her, and she wanted to repay him.
Jiang Chao had said before that she didn't need to worry about the favor, he would repay it. But Jiang Yingying didn't want this to happen. She was the one who was saved, so she should be the one to repay the favor.
She didn't want to take on the burden for Jiang Chao and the others. At this moment, she didn't know if it was for this reason that she concealed the fact that she had just cooked for He Yan.
"He Tuan, my brother is here, we can go back together, you don't have to see him off."
Jiang Yingying took a step forward, walked to Jiang Chao's side, and said goodbye to him.
"We are leaving, you should go back early too."
Jiang Chao came out to look for someone, and now that he has found that person, he will naturally go back.
"He Tuan, let's go then."
"Wait, this flashlight is for you," He Yan said, "Just remember to return it to Mr. Feng."
If Jiang Chao was alone, he wouldn't need a flashlight, but Jiang Yingying was there.
So, he thought about it, and naturally reached out to take the flashlight from He Yan's hand. If he looked carefully, he would find that the area behind his ears was red.
Even after Jiang Yingying was rescued by He Yan, he had many more interactions with He Tuan, but he still felt a little uncomfortable for a while.
After all, He Yan has been gaining power in his heart for a long time.
"Thank you, He Tuan. I will return it to Mr. Feng tomorrow."
Jiang Yingying pursed her lips and looked at He Yan. "He Tuan, we are going back."
"good."
He Yan stood still and watched the brother and sister walk away.
The sound of the wind faintly carried their voices, "Brother, I'll just give it back to Mr. Feng tomorrow."
"Okay, Yingying, you must have left something behind. You've been gone for so long..."
The little girl seemed to laugh awkwardly, "It's because I can't find it that it took me a little longer. I'll look for it again tomorrow during the day..."
…
When the wind blows, they disperse again.
He Yan looked at the lunch box in his hand and his face suddenly became hot. The thing the little girl was looking for was right in his hand.
After returning home, Jiang Yingying was nagged by Xu Zhishu and Jiang Yang for a long time. It was getting late, so she could quickly escape from the nagging, wash up and go back to her room.
This experience of being talked about by others is really a sweet burden.
Jiang Yingying lay on the bed, thinking about what dishes to cook tomorrow and what delicious snacks to make for Jiang Yang and the others. As she was thinking, she fell into a deep sleep.
On the other side, He Yan returned to the single dormitory.
He looked at the lunch box in his hand and opened it as if possessed by a ghost. Then he saw several "pastries" in the lunch box that he had never seen before?
The entrance is stunning.
He Yan fell in love with it at first bite, and then, he used his strong willpower to force himself to take his eyes away from the lunch box, intending to save it for breakfast tomorrow.
However, He Yan thought about it. This was not the first time he had accepted food from Jiang Yingying. Just now, the little girl even cooked a meal for him personally. What gift should he give in return?
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